Chapter 193 - Undying Obsession

That smile sent a chill through Xu Ying.

Serene and carefree, Li Xiaoke’s smile had shed his former fixation and the hypocrisy that had once lurked beneath it. Yet that only made Xu Ying’s skin crawl.

Nothing remained of Li Xiaoke but his skin. He was no longer the man he had been.

He was dead.

Someone had hollowed him out, carving away his flesh and blood, his Primordial Spirit, his grotto heavens, and the immortal herbs of his Six Secret Troves. He was an empty shell.

Li Xiaoke dispersed his sword qi, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked toward Xu Ying with a smile. He was nothing but skin and could no longer sweat, yet he wiped his brow with care.

Xu Ying smiled back.

Seeing that they hadn't come to blows, the woman sighed in relief and smiled. “I’ll brew you a pot of tea. Have a seat.”

Xu Ying thanked her.

Li Xiaoke gestured for him to sit at the stone table outside the thatched cottage and admire the sunset over the Radiant Vestige land of sublimation.

The woman’s Radiant Vestige land of sublimation was a pastoral scene, filled with the simple beauty and ease of everyday life. The bloodshed, grudges, and entanglements of the Martial World seemed to recede into the distance.

Time seemed to stand still. It was so beautiful that it scarcely seemed real, so beautiful that it brought tears to the eyes.

Watching the woman walk away, Li Xiaoke said softly to Xu Ying, “Don’t tell her.”

Xu Ying’s gaze flickered. He asked tentatively, “Don’t tell her what?”

“That she’s dead. She doesn’t know. Her obsession preserves her shell, allowing her to keep living here. This is also how I remember her from many years ago. She was a woman without ambition, and I don’t want her to be hurt, even if all that remains is an obsession.”

Xu Ying looked at the woman.

She, too, was nothing but a husk, devoid of flesh and a soul. Her obsession sustained that husk, making her seem alive.

In fact, her obsession believed she was alive.

As long as no one exposed the truth, her obsession would go on living here as though nothing had changed, until the passing years wore it away.

“She’s my peaceful haven. I often came back here to talk to her and just spend some time with her. Those moments felt like the old days. Days when we didn’t have a care in the world.”

A rare peace settled over Li Xiaoke. He smiled. “That part of me didn’t chase longevity or power. I’ve always wanted to return to that life. ”

He turned toward Xu Ying, unburdened and at ease, as though he had let everything go.

“I used to think I had to attain longevity. It became my fixation, my obsession. But whenever I came back to her, all that seemed inconsequential.”

Xu Ying stared, stunned. Li Xiaoke seemed utterly unaware that he was dead. He was like a recluse speaking of the life he longed for most.

“When I looked into my heart, I found that I didn’t want to live forever. I wanted to live with her. Even if I could not attain longevity, I would be content with just a few short years by her side.”

Li Xiaoke smiled. “Is this because you taught me the Heavenly Dao? I feel as though I’ve just understood something profound.”

Now Xu Ying was certain that Li Xiaoke truly did not know he was dead. What surprised Xu Ying most was that Li Xiaoke’s lingering obsessions were not his desire for longevity or revenge. After all, hadn’t he longed for longevity for more than three thousand years?

Why, then, was the obsession he revealed after death this peaceful, pastoral life?

He should have been like Chen Mianzhu, the ruler of the Southern Dian Kingdom, unable to let go of longevity and vengeance even after being devoured down to a husk of skin.

Why wasn’t he masquerading as an immortal and teaching harmful methods to make it easier to steal bodies through spirit possession?

He should have even enslaved deities, harvested Souls, and refined the Myriad Spirit Pill!

Xu Ying thought Li Xiaoke should have been capable of far greater evil than that. Even after death, he surely could have wrought far greater atrocities!

He was certain that Li Xiaoke had committed countless evils over the past three thousand years. He had secretly taught many people exorcism arts riddled with traps, harvested many Exorcist Immortals, and harmed countless people.

He had grown addicted to devouring people, stopping at nothing to attain longevity. Even when teaching his disciples, he had harbored malicious intent, planning to steal their bodies through spirit possession.

He was certain that Li Xiaoke was a hypocrite. When his courtship of Qingbi failed, he had slandered her, all while maintaining his own glorious, upstanding public image.

But why had none of those things become his obsession after death?

Xu Ying collected himself and asked, “How did your wife die?”

The skin of Li Xiaoke’s face rippled. Clearly, his wife’s death had become an obsession he could never forget.

Back then, he had cut away his negative memories and sealed them inside the mirror, creating another Li Xiaoke within it. Yet he had never cut away this memory, painful as it was.

Recalling the past, Li Xiaoke said, “At the time, because Qi cultivation could not grant longevity, the exorcism system was beginning to spread. It was gradually becoming clear that it might supplant Qi cultivation.”

Xu Ying knew this history. Once a Qi Cultivator reached the Ascension Stage, they had to face heavenly tribulation. Even powerful Qi Cultivators with ways to evade it had to flee from one hiding place to another, trembling at the mere sound of thunder. Qi cultivation was no longer a joy. It meant living in constant dread, unable to pass a single day in peace.

With the exorcism system, by contrast, one could become an Exorcist Immortal after opening all nine levels of the grotto heaven. This groundbreaking approach created an Immortal Realm within the body, offering another path to longevity. The exorcism system was less difficult than Qi cultivation and had fewer stages. It was only natural that it would replace the more complicated practice.

“By then, the conflict between the two systems had begun to take shape. Some Qi Cultivators believed exorcism art was an illegitimate practice that corrupted Qi cultivation. Some Exorcist Immortals believed Qi Cultivators were suppressing them by burning their books, burying Exorcists alive, and persecuting Exorcist Immortals.”

Li Xiaoke’s eyes were full of tenderness. “Duels between the two sides were common then, and many were killed or wounded. I suppose I was still a good man back then.”

Chance had played a large part in bringing the young man and woman together and allowing them to fall in love, especially as the divide between Qi Cultivators and Exorcist Immortals grew increasingly irreconcilable.

Exorcist Immortals were often found dead in their Radiant Vestige land of sublimation. Suspecting that Qi Cultivators were behind that, the Exorcist Immortals retaliated in kind. The hatred between the two sides deepened. As a standout among that era's Qi cultivators, Li Xiaoke naturally became a target.

He was gravely wounded, and the woman saved him.

He was talented, and she was beautiful, and they fell in love at first sight. The Exorcist Immortals continued their pursuit, and the pair supported each other as they fled. Though both sides misunderstood them, their feelings for each other deepened by the day.

Their romance was beautiful, and they became husband and wife.

Li Xiaoke’s mind had not yet become so warped. Back then, he was an idealist, determined to recover the mystic arts and divine abilities lost since ancient times and restore Qi cultivation's former glory.

He discovered that the decline of Qi cultivation was, in fact, connected to a break in the lineage of Qi Cultivators during the Great Shang and Great Zhou eras.

Through his wife, he came to appreciate the exorcism system's unique beauty and realized it wasn't as flawed as he had once thought. He even began to consider combining exorcism arts with Qi cultivation.

But happiness was always fleeting. At the height of his joy, his wife died, leaving behind nothing but her skin.

Li Xiaoke changed.

Pursuing her killer, he uncovered more of the truth about how exorcism systems devoured people, alongside the reality behind the burned books and buried Exorcists. As he delved deeper into ancient history, his discoveries grew increasingly horrifying.

During his search, white hair began appearing at his temples, and he realized he was growing old.

A fear of death took hold of him.

He began to crave young, vigorous bodies and developed feelings for Qingbi, who often sought his instruction in Dao arts and divine abilities. He tried to save himself from aging and death.

Then one day, as he pushed Qingbi, who had repeatedly rejected him, into a stone well and sealed her there, he came to a realization.

If others could devour people to live forever, why couldn’t he?

Enlightenment dawned on him, and he burst out laughing.

Reaching this point in his story, Li Xiaoke looked at the woman approaching with tea. A happy smile returned to his face, every bit as radiant as it had been three thousand years ago.

Xu Ying raised his cup and drank.

Li Xiaoke took a small sip as well. He said with a smile, “I practiced your Thirteen Techniques of the Heavenly Sword, but I could never master them. Then my mind suddenly cleared, and I understood everything. Those obsessions vanished. If I can spend one happy lifetime with my wife, does living forever truly matter?”

Smiling, Xu Ying said, “You’re right. And that’s a relief to hear. You were always trying to kill me, so I could never let my guard down around you.”

Li Xiaoke laughed heartily. “You can rest easy now. From this day forward, you have one less enemy.”

Xu Ying rose. “In that case, I won’t trouble you any longer.”

Li Xiaoke gazed at the beautiful sunset and smiled. “You and I were enemies, after all. I won’t see you out.”

The woman said with a gentle smile, ”Even an enemy is a guest. How could we not see him off? I’ll walk him out.”

Xu Ying followed her to the broken doorway. Still smiling, she pleaded softly, “Please don’t tell him I’m already dead. He’s never known. I want to stay by his side like this.”

A faint tremor ran through Xu Ying, and he turned to look at her.

The woman looked back at Li Xiaoke beside the stone table, her gaze tender. “I’ve never seen him so peaceful. He was always rushing off somewhere. I can’t let him go.”

Xu Ying nodded gently. He stepped through the broken doorway and turned to see the woman walk over to Li Xiaoke. They nestled against each other, watching the sunset. He closed the broken door, sealing off the Radiant Vestige land of sublimation.

Melancholy settled over the young man. He was not Master Ying, who had lived through untold ages. His memories began with catching snakes in Jiangjiatian. Had he been the Master Ying who weathered countless joys, sorrows, partings, and reunions, he likely would not have felt so saddened by Li Xiaoke's fate and his wife's.

Li Xiaoke gradually lost sight of his original purpose on the road to revenge. His desire for vengeance became a fear of death. He went from hunting down those who devoured people to becoming one of them.

Xu Ying followed the Hell River downstream. He became what he hated most. Worse, he reveled in it. He thought he was pursuing his own aspirations, his own dreams, but the passing years had blinded him to his true heart.

Only after death, when his flesh, Primordial Spirit, grotto heavens, and immortal herbs were stripped away, did he discover what he wanted was beside him all along. Yet, he never cherished it while he lived.

By then, it was too late.

Now, all that remained in the Radiant Vestige land of sublimation were the couple’s lingering thoughts, inhabiting their empty skins, pretending they were still alive and offering each other warmth. Li Xiaoke and his wife had already passed away.

“Grave Grass, you said Li Xiaoke took the herb of immortality. Will he come back to life if he returns to Five-Color Immortal Mountain?” Xu Ying asked the Purple Immortal Herb after a moment’s thought.

The Purple Immortal Herb was hiding in his Gushing-Spring Secret Trove. Hearing his voice, it swam out of the Gushing Spring, emerged from his ethereal void, and settled on his shoulder. Its roots danced through the air, forming words.

“No. The herb of immortality resides in his flesh, Primordial Spirit, divine sense, and primordial qi, not in his obsession or his skin.”

The Purple Immortal Herb continued writing, “If anyone comes back to life, it will be whoever ate him, not him.”

Xu Ying nodded gently.

Li Xiaoke really was dead.

“I should inform Qingbi, so she no longer has to cling to her desire for revenge. I should tell Xue Ying'an, too, so he no longer has to live in fear. They should both be able to enjoy life with lighter hearts.”

A smile spread across his sun-tanned face. Leaping into the air, Xu Ying landed on the surface of the Hell River as two lotus leaves formed beneath his feet. Standing atop them, he drifted downstream with the current.

He said with a smile, “It’s time I went back to Haojing. Master Zhong, Master Qi, and Master Jin must be beside themselves waiting for me. And Zhu Chanchan probably doesn’t miss me, but she’s bound to be thinking about my treasures. Grave Grass, you’ll like them.”

The purple herb of immortality wound his roots around Xu Ying’s neck and tried to strangle him.

Xu Ying paid it no mind. “They’re all friendly and kind, especially Master Jin. Oh, have I told you about Master Jin? He’s sure to like you. Let him take a bite. He’s getting old, and a bite of you would be a good precaution.”

At that, the Purple Immortal Herb tied his roots into a tight knot around the neck and squeezed with all his might.