Gentle snow drifted through the air. The twelve stone pillars plunged straight into the demonic clouds. In the centre hovered a large demonic egg of chaos, pulsing away like a heart.

  Chao Tianjiao completely disregarded Li Qingshan’s petty tricks; she was like a eunuch, completely immune to the temptations of lust. She was just waiting for him to fail so that she could mock him viciously.

  The surroundings were all chaos, like a boundless world, but she was truly trapped in this narrow space at the same time.

  The two drastically-different experiences did not cause any sensations of conflict. It was as if she had experienced it somewhere before.

  At this moment, a strange warmth welled up in her heart. The sensation that she had not experienced in a very long time made her heart thump suddenly.

  She felt disbelief. Don’t tell me it’s true… this kid is definitely a spy from the Demon domain. He is one even if he isn’t!

  She was just about to rebuke Li Qingshan or downright finish him off.

  With a thump, her heart beat.

  She abruptly remembered. This was the sensation of being in her mother’s womb!

  Crack!

  It was like the rupturing ice lake, seeping forth with the warm water of spring, rippling and spreading.

  Her memories were like a flood that breached a dam. They could not be stopped anymore.

  She had once been a little girl as well…
Li Qingshan saw the valiant outline of her face suddenly soften up. Her expression even became rather lost and illusionary, like she had become someone else altogether. Even someone extremely familiar with her could fail to recognise her.

  This was not the expression of someone being lost in lust. Instead, she was like a regular person, reflecting on her life on the verge of death.

  “Now that’s… more human!”
Li Qingshan was rather speechless. All of a sudden, he found that while these demonfolk were wicked and twisted, they seemed more human from a certain perspective. Even if they were the ugliest side of human nature, it was still human nature at the end of the day.

  Meanwhile, her will was the exact opposite. It was more like the cold light of stars, magnificent but not human.

  With a thought, he poured even more demonic thoughts into her—fear, pain, sorrow…
She furrowed her brows and remembered how she had once tripped over a door railing when she was three, making her burst into tears, not because of the pain, but because she had dirtied her new clothes. That was a great red jacket that was extremely warm to wear. Her granny picked her up in a hurry and even kicked the door railing a few times, gently coaxing her. She had been extremely warm and gentle as well.

  However, the warmth made her shiver. She remembered how she had advanced along in the cold alone for all this time.

  No matter how cold it was, she would never stop, abandoning all warmth and blindly chasing after the illusionary, cold stars of night.

  Only like that would the cold be relatively more bearable. Once she stopped, she would lose everything.

  But at this moment, coldness surged forth as well, basically making her tremble all over.

  However, since she was already in dire straits, she could finally stop and get some rest.

  With that, the glow of the stars dimmed. She stopped resisting the infiltrating demonic thoughts, even proactively welcoming it. Even when it brought her pain, she could not help but awaken these warm memories one by one.

  The warmth and coldness that had accumulated over an entire millennia constantly merged together and reflected each other, gradually shaking her willpower.

  Her expression changed, sometimes sorrowful and sometimes joyful, sometimes worried and sometimes fearful. She was filled with human emotions, and she seemed rather feeble as well.

  Li Qingshan discovered that she really was an extremely beautiful woman. He could not help but admire the methods of the Demon domain a little.

  The reason why she would not surrender was not because of some debt, but because the path she walked could not allow for any weakness or wavering, or she would suffer from cultivation deviation and be destroyed by her own powers.

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  And they actually had a way to undo this dead knot, to shake her will from her core and twist her beliefs, all the while without making her suffer from cultivation deviation.

  From a certain perspective, it even paved a new path for her.

  Li Qingshan thought, At this rate, she might actually choose to join the Demon domain and become a Demon Sovereign. What am I supposed to do if I stop her? Sigh, if she becomes a Demon Sovereign, what benefit will that bring me? I’ll probably be affected by the demonic thoughts as well.

  He circulated the Heavenly Tome of Liberty again, blocking out all the demonic thoughts for her.

  Chao Tianjiao opened her eyes. Her cheeks were red, and she was still a little lost. Suddenly, she realised something and said with great sincerity, “Thank you.” If it were not for him, she probably really would have demonified.

  “You’re welcome. You’re not completely unfeeling either!”
“Yeah!” Chao Tianjiao said glumly, “I really want to keep living!”
An unprecedented desire for survival surged forth from her scorching heart, and an even deeper pain welled up as well, which made her clench her fist. It was not just now. She had fallen into dire straits a long time ago. She knew her chances were slim, almost non-existent, yet she was forced to continue down this path at the same time.

  Li Qingshan asked, “Are you going to surrender to the Demon domain?”
Chao Tianjiao’s gaze gradually became determined again, but she was no longer influenced by her power. Instead, that was a decision she had made with her own free will.

  “Let’s die together!”
The Yang Soul lit up with the cold light of stars again. She no longer tried to buy any more time, or her desire to live would crush everything else.

  “Hold on!”
“You afraid? That’s fine, I’m a little afraid as well. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt,” Chao Tianjiao spoke like she was comforting a child as the Yang Soul’s glow became scorching.

  Li Qingshan asked, “Do you want to undergo the sixth heavenly tribulation?”
“You have a way?” Chao Tianjiao’s eyes shone.

  “Yeah, but it’s very dangerous.”
“What is it?” Chao Tianjiao instead became a little more convinced.

  Li Qingshan spat out two words slowly, “Dual cultivation.”
Chao Tianjiao was taken aback. She sneered. “You’re not trying to deceive me, are you?”
Li Qingshan said seriously, “Of course not.” Of course, I’m toying with you.

  In the past, Chao Tianjiao probably would have killed him on the spot without batting an eye. Even at a time like this, this shitty man is trying to take advantage of my situation. However, prompted by her will to live, she decided to hear him out before killing him on the spot.

  “Go on.”
“You walk the path of xuanwu. Your power is too pure and too extreme, gradually eating away at your mind and turning you into a slave to power. Of course, you don’t have the right to undergo the sixth heavenly tribulation and become a Human Immortal.”
Chao Tianjiao nodded. She had reached the peak of the fifth heavenly tribulation a long time ago. There was nothing impressive about that either. As long as no accidents happened, all Human Sovereigns would eventually reach that stage. However, most of them would be stuck at this stage forever, unable to overcome the barrier to immortality.

  That was because Human Sovereign was the limit for cultivators, forced to wield unprecedentedly tremendous power as “mortals”, which would definitely lead to all kinds of problems and trials.

  Seeing how she had taken the bait, Li Qingshan continued to persuade her. “Meanwhile, I practise the Heavenly Tome of Liberty, and I walk the path of Maheśvara. Sects and schools that worship Maheśvara have been labelled as lesser, heretical paths, and among them is one called the Śāktaṃ school. They are most skilled in dual cultivation methods. Perhaps we can try and use dual cultivation to help you control that power and wear away its edge.”
Chao Tianjiao sank into her thoughts as if she was rather tempted. In this demonic egg of chaos, she could indeed see that possibility.