BAAF Chapter 123

As memories continuously flooded in, Shen Liuxiang’s struggling movements gradually weakened, the panic on his face slowly fading away.

 

He remembered everything.

 

When he was still a youth, choosing a place for training, Fang Zhongqing told him to go to the East Wilderness in the demon realm, explicitly stating that his destined love was there.

 

Following the instructions, what Shen Liuxiang found after great difficulties was a large black egg. This black egg was quite troublesome, occasionally emitting golden light that attracted many demon beasts trying to snatch it. Shen Liuxiang had no choice but to carry the black egg around, hiding here and there, helping it resolve one crisis after another.

 

Later, he discovered it was a dragon egg.

 

The eggshell was sometimes nearly transparent, and inside, a small black dragon would bump against the shell with its horn, nodding and shaking its head to greet him.

 

Dragons were legendary great demon beasts with far-reaching connections. If news spread, it would cause a bloodbath across the continent, with countless people coveting it. After reading what was recorded on the dragon shell, Shen Liuxiang ultimately decided to leave the dragon egg in East Wilderness.

 

Five years later.

 

Shen Liuxiang returned to East Wilderness and saved the small black dragon that had hatched and transformed into human form during a beast tide.

 

He had prepared for five years; this time he came specifically to save this dragon.

 

According to the records on the dragon eggshell, in ancient primordial times, the demon race was tyrannical and faced heavenly tribulation. The powerful dragon clan, unwilling to be destroyed, used a method defying heaven to send away their unborn younger generation. Whether other youngsters succeeded or not, Shen Liuxiang didn’t know, but on the continent during this period, only Zhou Xuanlan existed.

 

And the Heavenly Dao would not allow him to live.

 

But the Heavenly Dao couldn’t always detect the dragon clan’s aura. The greatest opportunity was shortly after hatching.

 

If they survived that period, as long as they didn’t actively expose their identity, the Heavenly Dao wouldn’t discover them.

 

The dragon eggshell recorded how to interfere with the Heavenly Dao and conceal the aura of a newly hatched dragon.

 

Shen Liuxiang followed the instructions, taking the small black dragon into hiding. Just as they were about to survive the dangerous period, unexpectedly, the Heavenly Dao still found them and sought to kill the dragon. Fortunately, Shen Liuxiang was prepared and sent the young dragon away right under the Heavenly Dao’s nose.

 

The Heavenly Dao missed its chance to kill and was furious, vowing to punish whoever angered it.

 

But as the law of this continent, the Heavenly Dao could punish those who violated the rules, like the primordial dragon clan that crossed time and space, with heavenly punishment. However, Shen Liuxiang hadn’t directly violated any laws, so the Heavenly Dao couldn’t touch him.

 

So, the Heavenly Dao deliberately let a system from another dimension enter this continent without hindrance.

 

This system immediately discovered Shen Liuxiang’s excellent fate pattern. If it could seize it and transfer it to its host, it wouldn’t worry about failing its mission.

 

Generally, seizing a fate pattern is difficult to achieve. The Heavenly Dao wouldn’t allow external forces to interfere and disrupt the order of this dimension. But this time, the Heavenly Dao covered its eyes, allowing the system to act maliciously, using external forces to destroy Shen Liuxiang’s soul and body.

 

But the system had its own plans. After planning everything, it designated Shen Liuxiang as a villain, leaving him with a wisp of remnant soul, making him confused and becoming a walking corpse completing villainous tasks.

 

However, this left hidden dangers.

 

The Heavenly Dao worried that someone might notice Shen Liuxiang’s changes and trace back to the truth, so it diluted or even tampered with everyone’s memories of Shen Liuxiang.

 

The Heavenly Dao didn’t want anyone to know what it had done, especially that it had violated its own laws. So it didn’t spare the system either, erasing this part of its memory. Due to some deletions, it disrupted the system’s normal operation, causing it to degrade from a high-level system to a low-level one, with intelligence not as good as before, becoming the later Tong Xi.

 

After dealing with Shen Liuxiang, the Heavenly Dao didn’t forget about the small dragon. It placed a strand of itself on Ling Ye, who had a high heavenly mandate and could become its incarnation in the world, continuing to search for the dragon’s figure.

 

Find it, eliminate it.

 

Everything proceeded smoothly, but the Heavenly Dao never detected the dragon clan’s aura again, and Tong Xi’s host failed in their missions.

 

Zhou Xuanlan, without his memories, became an ordinary five-year-old child, only remembering in his mind that he needed to go to Qinglin Sect.

 

He traveled from the demon realm to the cultivation world, eating discarded vegetable leaves when hungry, drinking rainwater when thirsty, stumbling all the way. By the time he finally reached Qinglin Sect, two or three years had passed.

 

In the sect’s entrance trial, Zhou Xuanlan took first place and chose Shen Liuxiang as his master. But as he grew up, his mind only remembered that his master had long neglected him, and his memory began to deny that he had chosen Shen Liuxiang as his master.

 

He grew up on his own to become an excellent Qinglin Sect disciple. He should have continued smoothly, but midway he lost all his cultivation. This was the turning point the system was most pleased to see, actively promoting the relationship between its host and Zhou Xuanlan. But the system misjudged Zhou Xuanlan.

 

It didn’t know Zhou Xuanlan’s true identity and planned based on human standards, but Zhou Xuanlan, being of the dragon clan, had long diverged from what it imagined.

 

Therefore, until the end, the system never completed its mission.

 

Zhou Xuanlan hid his dragon clan identity well, never exposing it, planning to find the other half of the dragon eggshell and break through space to leave this dimension. But unexpectedly, on the other half of the dragon eggshell, he found traces left by Shen Liuxiang.

 

He began to investigate the origin of these traces and eventually learned everything.

 

By that time, Shen Liuxiang’s three souls and six vitalities were gone, with only a broken primordial spirit floating in the world. Zhou Xuanlan painstakingly searched for his primordial spirit bit by bit, gathering it back together, nurturing it with primordial energy day and night without rest.

 

After confirming that the primordial spirit was fully repaired, Zhou Xuanlan, at the cost of the entire dimension, opened a time-space technique to send Shen Liuxiang’s primordial spirit to another dimension to develop a soul.

 

At the same time, he conveyed what he had discovered about what the system wanted to accomplish. Once Shen Liuxiang’s soul was safe, he would return to his original world.

 

The original story Shen Liuxiang saw was everything the system wanted to achieve.

 

Shen Liuxiang’s eyelashes trembled lightly, his fingers clutching the wide sleeve tightening: “I remember now.”

 

Zhou Xuanlan’s expression was complex as he stroked the soft black hair, saying gently: “Master has suffered. Leave the rest to me.”

 

Shen Liuxiang shook his head, breaking free from his embrace, looking toward Tong Xi in the distance.

 

He had confronted it before, but none of his techniques could harm this thing in the slightest. The other seemed to be in another space, impossible to catch: “Where is this?”

 

Zhou Xuanlan said: “The space where this thing resides.”

 

Zhou Xuanlan had agreed to go to the Imperial Palace with Shen Liuxiang that day, but just as Xu Xingchen didn’t trust him, he didn’t trust Xu Xingchen either. So before that, he decided to go to the Imperial Palace first to meet Xu Xingchen, but he met the person midway-not his real body, but an avatar.

 

Xu Xingchen took him to meet two unexpected people, Ling Ye and Ye Bingran.

 

After Shen Liuxiang’s death, Ye Bingran harbored some resentment. He went to see Ling Ye and asked about childhood events, questioning why Ling Ye had said the child in the snow was Su Baiche when there was no such person in Qinglin Sect at that time. If not for Ling Ye’s misdirection, perhaps…

 

But Ling Ye’s memories differed from his, insisting that it was his junior brother Shen Liuxiang.

 

Subsequently, the two investigated Su Baiche and discovered that his appearance at Qinglin Sect coincided with shortly after Shen Liuxiang’s incident in East Wilderness. He had no background, only a name. Though full of loopholes, everyone overlooked these, as if Su Baiche was meant to be that way, with no one ever questioning it.

 

Ling Ye and Ye Bingran speculated that Su Baiche might have used some deceptive technique.

 

Meanwhile, Xu Xingchen had been searching for a method of resurrection. Midway, he discovered that in the ten years after the East Wilderness incident, Shen Liuxiang seemed like a completely different person. So he went to ask Ling Ye, who, along with Ye Bingran, was investigating this matter and shared their conjectures with him.

 

Xu Xingchen had a suspicion then, and when he discovered that Ling Ye and Ye Bingran’s destined loves on the Three Lives Stone were also Su Baiche, he became even more certain.

 

Su Baiche must have taken something from Shen Liuxiang, and what assisted Su Baiche was the Heavenly Dao.

 

Xu Xingchen secretly had people monitor Su Baiche, not rashly moving against him, just constantly keeping track of his situation. He had planned to deal with him after uncovering the truth, but unexpectedly, Shen Liuxiang returned alive.

 

Xu Xingchen had said he didn’t trust anyone and wanted to personally guard Shen Liuxiang, but the moment he received the communication talisman, he clearly knew he couldn’t keep him. Given that Shen Liuxiang had immediately gone to find Zhou Xuanlan, he couldn’t hold him back.

 

Xu Xingchen thought that since he couldn’t keep him, he would eliminate all threats to Shen Liuxiang.

 

This matter required extreme caution. To ensure absolute success, he sent an avatar to find Zhou Xuanlan and informed him of their conjectures.

 

To be able to cover the sky with one hand to this extent, making even people of their cultivation level unable to detect it, if not the Heavenly Dao, it could only be an external force, or perhaps both were involved.

 

After hearing the familiar conclusion, Zhou Xuanlan was inspired, his memories gradually surfacing. He then confirmed one thing: killing Su Baiche would be useless; the system still wouldn’t die. The other resided in another space, unreachable by any technique. To kill it, they must enter its space.

 

After lengthy discussions, they decided they could only wait for the system to expose a weakness. When it acted, its power would traverse between two worlds, and the space it occupied would be detectable.

 

But inducing the system to act was no easy task. In his previous life, Zhou Xuanlan had killed Su Baiche, but the system had shown no reaction, wisely hiding in its space.

 

So they finally decided to stage a play, trying to anger the system.

 

However, the play had just been set up when it was aborted the moment Zhou Xuanlan couldn’t restrain himself and revealed his presence. Fortunately, the final result wasn’t bad.

 

Shen Liuxiang and Zhou Xuanlan entered the space, while outside, chaos ensued.

 

Su Baiche was trapped in the pavilion, with Tong Xi’s voice gone from his mind. He looked at the rapidly changing scene, then at the white-robed figure guarding him: “You discovered it, it was deliberate.”

 

Ye Bingran stood holding his sword. Hearing this, he turned to look at the delicate face that had removed its disguise technique, unseen for a long time: “I once mentioned the snow figure to you, and you didn’t deny it.”

 

Su Baiche smiled: “If I had denied it, I wouldn’t have fared well.”

 

When he first arrived in this world, he was unfamiliar with everything and unclear about Tong Xi’s methods. For the sake of his life, he dared not resist. Later, not completing missions was because he discovered Tong Xi couldn’t threaten his life. If it could, he might have obediently completed the missions.

 

Ye Bingran: “So you accepted it with a clear conscience.”

 

“You mean those magical tools and techniques, or various care and attention? When offered, how could I refuse?”

 

Su Baiche narrowed his eyes slightly: “As for whether my conscience is clear, if you had given them to me sincerely, I might have hesitated somewhat. But you wanted to give them to someone who wasn’t me; you just mistook the person. Since it wasn’t sincere toward me, of course my conscience is clear in taking them. I even feel like I’ve made a great profit.”

 

Ye Bingran looked at him: “In that case, I should thank you.”

 

Su Baiche’s face showed surprise as he heard Ye Bingran say: “Fortunately, you didn’t respond to me, otherwise I would have made one mistake after another.”

 

Su Baiche inwardly sighed. Just as he was about to speak, Tong Xi’s panicked voice sounded in his mind, and simultaneously, his body moved out of control, suddenly striking to break the barrier outside the pavilion, then flashing away.

 

“Quick! I’ve been discovered! Help me escape!”

 

Seeing the situation was unfavorable, Tong Xi threw Shen Liuxiang and Zhou Xuanlan out of the space, making Su Baiche carry him to escape.

 

As long as they escaped beyond a certain range, even if these people had marked his space, they wouldn’t be able to sense it. Tong Xi controlled Su Baiche to escape from the pavilion, heading toward the horizon, when an invisible barrier stopped him.

 

Tong Xi’s face changed as he used all his strength to crash into it, but the barrier formed by the formation was indestructible, showing no signs of breaking.

 

Rolling black clouds covered Yingxue City above, looking from afar like a dark, bottomless hole, inverted and continuously expanding, as if about to swallow the entire city.

 

Above where the union ceremony was being held, lightning flashed and thunder roared.

 

Countless lightning bolts accompanied by sparks struck down from the sky, with continuous thunderous sounds. The moment Shen Liuxiang and Zhou Xuanlan appeared, all the lightning surged toward the two, along with scorching fireballs descending from the sky, suddenly expanding, carrying heat waves that exploded with a “boom.”

 

Several aerial pavilions in the sky and the square on the ground were instantly engulfed, turning into wisps of blue smoke dissipating in the world.

 

-The Heavenly Dao had arrived.

 

Zhou Xuanlan used a barrier to block the heavenly lightning and fire waves, taking Shen Liuxiang suddenly high into the sky. At the same time, Ling Ye rushed to the front of the two: “Go deal with the thing inside Su Baiche. I’ll handle the Heavenly Dao.”

 

Shen Liuxiang looked up at the black vortex overhead, which emitted a terrifying power. Just a small release of this power had turned the entire city into scorched earth.

 

He narrowed his eyes slightly, holding Zhou Xuanlan’s hand: “Leave the system to me. You and Senior Brother deal with the Heavenly Dao together.”

 

Though the Heavenly Dao had leveled this place, it hadn’t harmed anyone, only wanting to kill him who had just learned the truth of the past, and Zhou Xuanlan who was of the dragon clan. But if Ling Ye intervened, even with a strand of the Heavenly Dao attached to him, given the Heavenly Dao’s nature, it would also strike at him.

 

Just as when Shen Liuxiang saved Zhou Xuanlan before, the Heavenly Dao does not allow anyone to defy it. Despite Ling Ye’s profound cultivation, relying on one person alone would be difficult to resist it.

 

As he finished speaking, Shen Liuxiang saw Zhou Xuanlan’s brow furrow, knowing he was worried about his safety, and immediately said: “It’s just a system, I can handle it. The Heavenly Dao is the most difficult to deal with.”

 

As he spoke, killing intent appeared in Shen Liuxiang’s phoenix eyes: “This vengeance, I’ll take it personally.”

 

Zhou Xuanlan’s black eyes stared at him, somewhat compromising: “Keep the reverse scale with you.”

 

Although they had been forcibly ejected from the space, its location had already been locked. Zhou Xuanlan had originally wanted to go with Shen Liuxiang to ensure his safety, but now that the Heavenly Dao had arrived, Ling Ye alone was indeed not enough. Moreover, judging by Shen Liuxiang’s appearance, if he didn’t personally resolve the system, the killing intent in his heart wouldn’t dissipate.

 

With the reverse scale, he could always sense Shen Liuxiang’s situation, and if there was danger, he could immediately rush over.

 

Shen Liuxiang: “I’ve been wearing it all along.”

 

Zhou Xuanlan extended his hand to block the incoming lightning and fire: “The Heavenly Dao cannot interfere inside the space, but Master must be careful of that thing’s methods.”

 

Shen Liuxiang nodded, glanced at Su Baiche who was still desperately searching for an escape route, cast a spell to re-enter the space, and saw the knee-high thing in the place surrounded by white mist.

 

Seeing Shen Liuxiang return alone, Tong Xi’s panicked retreating footsteps paused, and he stopped in place, laughing “hehe.”

 

Although in this space, cultivators from this dimension could attack him, Tong Xi didn’t find a mere Nascent Soul realm frightening.

 

He twisted his neck, making cracking sounds, transforming from a small machine-like form into a human-shaped black shadow composed of countless symbols, moving like a ghost, appearing before Shen Liuxiang. With a flash of symbols in his hand, thousands of wind blades surrounded Shen Liuxiang.

 

Shen Liuxiang flashed to dodge, staring at the dense symbols on Tong Xi’s body. Though they changed constantly, he recognized most of them.

 

At Qinglin Sect, Fang Zhongqing had taught him to identify them. Later, during his years at the Imperial Palace, unable to improve his cultivation due to demon poison, he could only study techniques daily, consulting Di Yunyu about symbols he didn’t understand. Some of Di Yunyu’s techniques were in symbol form, and he had great attainments in this area, teaching him many profound symbols.

 

Shen Liuxiang cut his fingertip, using blood to write symbols in mid-air, activating them with spiritual power.

 

In an instant, identical wind blades appeared in the air, but Shen Liuxiang’s had a bloody hue, like countless blood blades, attacking the hurriedly retreating Tong Xi.

 

Before long, the white mist turned crimson.

 

Tong Xi had never expected Shen Liuxiang to know this wind-system symbol. No wonder he had let him escape earlier.

 

He screamed in agony as dozens of cuts appeared on his body, then arrogantly shrieked: “The symbols on my body each contain boundless magical power. Even if you can break this one, you’ll never be able to defeat me! You can’t kill me!”

 

“Is that so?”

 

Shen Liuxiang slowly approached, his phoenix eyes slightly raised, filled with cold killing intent, his lips curving slightly as he said, “But that’s only if all one thousand eight hundred symbols on your body are beyond my knowledge.”

 

Tong Xi paused, finally retreating in fear, stammering: “Impossible, how could you know them all? I was born in a higher-level dimension. How could you know these symbols?”

 

Shen Liuxiang lowered his eyelids, raised his hand, and the mist-filled space bloomed with bloody light.

 

When Su Baiche was pulled into the space, all that remained on the ground was something like a charred lump, from which came Tong Xi’s hoarse, weak voice: “Quick, quick, kill him, save me.

 

Su Baiche widened his eyes, unable to believe this was Tong Xi. He looked at Shen Liuxiang who was pacing closer, his gaze falling on the blade formed by symbols in his hand, and immediately dodged to the side.

 

Tong Xi on the ground noticed his movement and, filled with anger and hatred, shouted: “Save me, save me quickly!”

 

But seeing Su Baiche’s cold gaze, he knew how ruthless this host was and that he wouldn’t save him. Facing the approaching Shen Liuxiang, Tong Xi curled up, trembling all over, racking his brains for a way to survive. Suddenly, he shouted: “Save me, and I can give you all my abilities!”

 

Su Baiche’s eyes changed: “Really?”

 

Seeing hope, Tong Xi spared no effort in enticing him: “Then you’ll know the fate of everyone in this world, and gain the power from another dimension that I possess!”

 

Su Baiche’s eyes flickered. He was not a waste like Tong Xi; with such abilities in his possession, he could trample the entire continent under his feet: “How will you transfer them to me?”

 

Tong Xi said: “Just give me your hand, but first kill him.”

 

Shen Liuxiang’s fingertips moved slightly, the blade in his hand turning a circle, receiving Su Baiche’s transmission, while a stream of spiritual power attacked him.

 

Shen Liuxiang dodged, turned the symbol blade in his hand into a strange shape, then threw it from a distance, embedding it in Tong Xi’s body. Tong Xi screamed: “What’s happening? Kill him quickly!”

 

Su Baiche said: “I can’t beat him. Give me some abilities first.”

 

Though Tong Xi didn’t trust Su Baiche, he had no choice. After Su Baiche’s palm fell on him, he actively transferred the black symbols from his body to Su Baiche.

 

Su Baiche’s lips involuntarily curved upward.

 

Shen Liuxiang glanced at him, his gaze slowly falling on the symbol blade embedded in Tong Xi, watching as it gradually merged with the black symbols, transferring into Su Baiche’s body.

 

Su Baiche was completely unaware.

 

Tong Xi stopped and said: “I’ve given you half, that’s enough. Quickly take him out of the space and use my power to kill him outside!”

 

Because of his fatal weakness with the space, even with world-destroying power, he didn’t dare use it easily. But Su Baiche was different; he had no space and could use it without restraint.

 

Su Baiche nodded, his palm just leaving Tong Xi’s body when he suddenly struck down again. The charred thing on the ground shuddered, and blood oozed out.

 

Tong Xi was incredulous: “You…”

 

Su Baiche raised an eyebrow, praising: “Your power is indeed good. Though not much, I’ll take it all.”

 

Tong Xi’s form immediately distorted, filled with endless hatred as he tried to bite Su Baiche, but before he could open his mouth, he was struck by Shen Liuxiang and shattered into fragments.

 

Shen Liuxiang gave a cold look, turning to leave, when a figure blocked his path.

 

“Burning bridges so quickly is a bit too hasty.”

 

Su Baiche slightly raised his long eyelashes, his delicate face blooming with a smile: “I’m sorry, but I’m not a person of much integrity.”

 

Su Baiche was so excited his fingertips trembled. Now his body was filled with power, as if the entire world was in his grasp. This long-dreamed-of state was too wonderful for him.

 

No longer needing to act subservient to these people, he would start by killing Shen Liuxiang, then kill Zhou Xuanlan and the others as well. This way, no one could block his path, and he could fulfill his wish to become the ruler of this continent.

 

Su Baiche’s body emanated pressure as he looked at the person before him, his eyes vicious as he smiled: “Don’t blame me for being underhanded. The victor becomes king.”

 

Having said this, he attacked directly, with vast spiritual power surging toward Shen Liuxiang in an overwhelming manner.

 

But in the next moment, Su Baiche’s entire body violently shook. He clutched his head and screamed, as if something in his brain was tearing at every nerve, causing him to instantly break out in a cold sweat, his head feeling like it was about to explode.

 

Su Baiche was in such pain that he rolled on the ground. After it slightly subsided, he gasped for breath, pondering why this had suddenly happened. Perhaps it was related to the power he had just obtained. Could it be that Tong Xi had set a trap for him before dying…

 

Su Baiche’s temple throbbed with bulging veins, wishing he could grind Tong Xi’s bones to dust. At this moment, a pair of white boots appeared in his blurry vision.

 

Su Baiche was slightly stunned, remembering Shen Liuxiang’s calm demeanor earlier. His face changed as he suddenly looked up.

 

The red-clothed youth with a fair face slightly curved his lips, raising a lazy voice: “Sorry, I placed something inside your body. Don’t blame me for being underhanded. The victor becomes king.”

 

Su Baiche’s eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

 

##

 

---

 

 (advanced chapters available on kofi)