Chapter 70: Ascension Is Death

Unable to explain clearly, Xuan Yuan Tunhan was not the patient type to offer lengthy explanations. He simply fixed Ning Xianyu with a cold stare and asked, “Why do you say I want to eat you?”

“It was you who said it! Half a month ago, you said you’d cook me and eat me,” Ning Xianyu declared with conviction. And indeed, he had said those words.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan suddenly remembered and felt a bit helpless. “That was just to scare you. If I truly intended to eat you, why would I have endured half a month of hardship to help you improve your cultivation?”

Ning Xianyu pondered for a moment. “Maybe… to make me taste better?”

She looked as if she had suddenly understood. That must be it. The great demon had refined her into a supreme heavenly spiritual root, raised her cultivation level, and only then would he eat her—turning her from inferior fare into a delicacy.

That had to be the reason.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan suddenly asked, “How old are you this year?”

“Seventeen!” Ning Xianyu blurted out, then quickly covered her mouth. “No, I forgot.”

Her current body certainly wasn’t seventeen, but she had forgotten how old it was now.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan gave her a look as if everything made sense. Only seventeen—a child. No wonder there was a screw loose in her head.

In the world of cultivation, seventeen was still a child, not much different from an infant in the mortal world.

He didn’t bother explaining further. With a flick of his hand, he summoned his storage pouch and took out another golden ring.

He placed it on Ning Xianyu’s wrist. This ring was identical to the one he’d previously given her, the original still on his own wrist.

He activated his spiritual power and turned to leave.

Ning Xianyu was confused by his actions, but suddenly found her feet moving of their own accord, following after him.

“Hey, hey, what’s going on?”

Xuan Yuan Tunhan replied, “This is the Yin-Yang Ring. Your ring will automatically follow wherever mine goes.”

What? Isn’t this just an automatic leash?

Ning Xianyu tried to remove the ring, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t succeed.

Walking ahead, Xuan Yuan Tunhan sneered, “Don’t bother trying. Only I can remove that ring. Even if you cut off your hand, the ring will still follow you around.”

Ning Xianyu was furious. She felt like a canine being walked by him.

Hmph! The great demon lord was no good person.

Suddenly, Xuan Yuan Tunhan spun around, his voice icy with warning: “This is the last time I’ll say this. If you turn me into a cat for no reason again, I’ll cut off your hands and feet, bury you under this mountain, and let you suffer the battering of ice and snow for thousands upon thousands of years.”

Ning Xianyu, terrified, clutched her head. “No, I wouldn’t dare!”

This was a man-eating demon lord—how could she dare?

Thinking about it, she wondered why, when he’d threatened to eat her, she hadn’t thought to turn him into a cat. She decided she’d have to ask the system why she could turn the demon lord into a cat whenever she wished.

Meanwhile, Xuan Yuan Tunhan was considering something else. If this woman could make any wish come true, what if he had her wish away the demon creatures of the Demon Realm? Could she make them disappear?

He glanced at Ning Xianyu, then looked away, considering the possibility. Perhaps it was worth a try—but only after a month.

Ning Xianyu, unaware that she was being plotted against, followed him to the edge of the camp, where she saw the whole encampment had been blasted apart.

She was just wondering about the fate of the protagonist when she saw a spirit-formed egg floating above the camp. Spiritual energy swirled endlessly within, and inside lay a man.

Wasn’t that the protagonist?

Xuan Yuan Tunhan surveyed the surroundings and saw that everything had been torn apart by a violent surge of spiritual power.

What had that so-called protagonist used this time?

As he was puzzling over it, the world’s spiritual energy suddenly shifted dramatically. Just as when Ning Xianyu had advanced, a massive vortex formed around Yi Tianling, drawing in all the surrounding spiritual energy.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan felt the spiritual power within his own body being tugged at. He immediately steadied his mind and anchored his energy.

Looking over, he saw spiritual energy already leaking from Ning Xianyu’s body. He hurriedly pulled her away, retreating quickly.

Finally, having led Ning Xianyu far from Yi Tianling, he set up a protective formation around them.

Ning Xianyu was badly shaken. It had felt as if all the strength in her body was about to be sucked away, even her soul seemed to be pulled from her.

“Is Yi Tianling advancing to the next stage? Why is it so terrifying?”

Such cultivation was like robbing the heavens—utterly frightening.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan kept his eyes fixed on Yi Tianling’s direction. “Cultivation is, by nature, the act of seizing spiritual power from the world, an act against the heavens. That’s why it’s so difficult.”

“Normal cultivation is gradual and steady, not so domineering. But forcefully advancing to the next level causes such a violent reaction.”

Ning Xianyu realized that the great demon had improved her cultivation in a similar way, making her feel like a bandit herself.

“But… isn’t the world’s spiritual energy fixed? If everyone keeps absorbing it, won’t it eventually run out?”

She couldn’t help but recall that in her own world, there were once legends of immortals, but those had faded away.

People said it was the end of the age of magic, that immortals had declined. Could it be that the immortals of old had absorbed all the spiritual energy, so now the world was devoid of it, leaving no one able to cultivate to immortality?

Xuan Yuan Tunhan was surprised she’d thought that far, and decided she wasn’t entirely foolish.

“The laws of heaven and earth are about cycles. When people live, they seize energy from the heavens and earth. When they die, they return to dust and nourish the earth. It’s a cycle.”

“When cultivators reach the peak, they disperse all their spiritual energy. That energy returns to the world to be absorbed by those who come after, and so the cycle continues.”

Ning Xianyu looked at him in surprise. “So ascension is just dying?”

Why, then, did people pursue ascension?

Xuan Yuan Tunhan shook his head. “I don’t know if it’s death. Perhaps it’s just the beginning of the next cycle.”

Whether it’s dying or ascending doesn’t matter—it’s just stepping out of this cycle into the next.

Ning Xianyu was still puzzled. “Elder, do others know about this?”

If everyone knew, why did they still strive so hard?

Xuan Yuan Tunhan shook his head. “They only care about the lofty heights of cultivation; they don’t notice these things.”

“But since you know, why do you still pursue ascension?”

Ning Xianyu couldn’t understand him. Wouldn’t it be better to remain a high and mighty elder? Why seek the unknown?

Xuan Yuan Tunhan didn’t answer. He only turned his head and gave her a look she couldn’t fathom.

Her smile was innocent, and even when she pondered, she was so naive. Sometimes, innocence itself was a kind of cruelty.

A child who understands nothing—how enviable.

“Heh, aren’t you the same?”

From her usual behavior, she must have come from a simple world, yet she didn’t know how to cherish it and came to this hell instead.

Wasn’t she courting death?

Just as the two were staring at each other, clouds gathered in the sky and thunder brewed high above.

Yi Tianling had advanced to the next stage.