Luo Chen and the others struggled to come to Tang Li’s rescue.
But they were violently thrown aside by Zhe He, collapsing to the ground coughing up blood incessantly.
Tang Li, frantic and terrified, wept bitterly as she demanded, “Master, do you resent and hate me so deeply that you insist on killing me no matter what?!”
“Why won’t you believe me, Master!”
Zhe He gazed at those swollen, tear-filled Peach Blossom Eyes, his chest heaving with turbulent emotions. The feelings he had suppressed for years erupted like a volcano.
“You think I resent and hate you?” The man’s eyes were bloodshot, his voice trembling with anguish. “I wish I could bind you to my side for all eternity, never letting you leave!”
“I resent you for abandoning your master without a second thought—I resent it so much I’d bury the entire world as tribute if it could bring you back to life!”
“You say I hate and resent you, when clearly I…!”
His breath grew ragged, lips trembling uncontrollably, unable to continue.
Tang Li wept until her heart ached, her lips turning pale as she looked at him with shattered devastation, her voice fading. “I was wrong, Master. I was wrong.”
The Demonic Markings rapidly spread across half his face with his emotional turmoil. Demonic energy churned within Zhe He while immortal energy remained unresolved.
Multiple forces tangled violently, causing blood to trickle from his lips, his meridians on the verge of rupture, and his energy sea in chaos.
He was succumbing to demonic deviation.
“Master, what’s happening to you?” the girl cried out in panic before being thrown to the ground.
Zhe He’s figure vanished from the spot as if he had never been there.
“Master! Master?!—”
Tang Li pushed herself up from the ground with difficulty, looking around desperately. “Master!”
“He’s gone. He won’t return for some time,” Luo Chen said between low coughs.
“Why?” Tang Li asked, supported by Yuan Lan as she stood.
“…Master’s cultivation runs profoundly deep. Before falling to demonic ways, he was already half-step to ascension,” Yuan Lan explained quietly. “After your death, Master gradually descended into demonic cultivation, but his righteous foundation was too solid to fully embrace darkness.”
“Having perfected the Path of Emotional Detachment and accumulated immense merit slaying demons for the mortal realm, even demonic energy retreats from such a cultivator.”
Luo Chen sighed deeply. “So now he belongs neither to the righteous path nor the demonic realm. Rejected by both, eventually even the Heavenly Dao will reject him.”
“The orthodox sects denounce Zhe He as a traitor and enemy, while demons fear his accumulated merit and cultivation, unable to walk beside him.”
“The mortals often speak of being utterly alone—that’s essentially his situation now.”
Tang Li clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white, staring blankly. “Master…”
“Enough about him. Let’s return to rest and recover from our injuries,” Luo Chen said, leading everyone back.
Jade Spring Palace had long been abandoned. Though this mountain once overflowed with Spiritual Power, now that its spiritual veins were destroyed, it differed little from any ordinary mountain.
Living here, Luo Chen and the others farmed and rested like mortal peasants, merely surviving.
“If Master is rejected by both paths, then where… where is he?”
Tang Li murmured softly as she sat in a chair.
Yuan Lan shook her head. “We don’t know. Master has his own Cave Mansion.”
“The immortal path bears deep hatred toward Master. Whenever he appears, they hunt him relentlessly.”
…
Meanwhile.
Zhe He staggered back to his Cave Mansion before collapsing into the lake with a splash.
Had any Jade Spring Palace disciples witnessed this scene, they would have been astonished.
This place was identical to Jade Spring Palace! The pavilions and towers, mountains and lakes—everything was the same.
He had even set up Formations to simulate whispering voices and shadowy figures passing by.
As if this were still the Jade Spring Palace from before everything went wrong.
Zhe He lay heavily at the bottom of the water, watching the interplay of light and shadow beneath the surface.
Feelings that could never be spoken aloud.
What meaning was there in ascension without her?
Thus, he hated himself even more.
Why had he chosen to cultivate the Path of Emotional Detachment?
Why had he distanced himself from her for the sake of ascension?
If not for that, she would never have slipped away secretly, nor would she have died.
It was all his fault.