Chapter 14: Determination

The shattering of one’s life essence core is akin to the self-destruction of an immortal body. In that fleeting moment, one’s cultivation can be pushed to its limit, allowing one to transcend one’s own level to harm others and traverse freely to any corner of the world.

Mi Chu’s situation was different. She had intended to use the Rebirth Mirror to escape to another place without paying the price of shattering her life essence core. However, when she attempted to flee, Feng Fuming discovered her and extracted her life essence jade bamboo. Forced into a corner, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and shatter the bamboo, taking advantage of Feng Fuming’s momentary hesitation to make her escape.

Even so, Mi Chu could not bear to completely destroy her life essence core. She only dared to create cracks, temporarily borrowing its power while waiting for a future day when she could repair the jade bamboo and return it to her body.

If Liu Shuang wished to leave, she could not afford to pay the price of just a few cracks. Her cultivation was far inferior to that of Mi Chu, who was thousands of years old. Liu Shuang would have to crush her entire heart to break free.

Liu Shuang did not know what would become of her if she truly lost her heart.

Would she die? Or would her soul scatter to the winds? She was acutely aware that she did not possess the same good fortune as Mi Chu, the Heavenly Consort. If she truly paid the price of shattering her life essence to leave, Yan Chaosheng would not save her, nor would he use all the rare treasures of heaven and earth to nourish her soul as he had done for Mi Chu.

Even the beryl bead that ShaoYou had left for Liu Shuang had fallen into Mi Chu’s hands.

Without this heart, there would be no Liu Shuang left in this world. Her eyes dimmed with sorrow.

The celestial maids did not notice Liu Shuang’s distraction. After bathing and dressing her, they brought forth a set of resplendent white garments.

“What is this?”

Most of the maids who came here knew the backstory and dared not meddle in the affairs of the Heavenly Lord. Thus, they dared not say much. They could only reply, “This is the wedding attire for the Immortal Maiden.”

Liu Shuang’s fingers brushed over the embroidery on the white wedding dress, and she murmured softly, “I do not like this color. Could you bring me a red one instead?”

The maids exchanged glances. Her docile cooperation, without any of the hysterical outbursts expected of a prisoner, her polite negotiation, made them reluctant to disappoint her. Finally, one of them said, “This servant will go and seek permission.”

Not long after, the maid returned and said, “The Immortal Maiden is truly blessed. The Heavenly Lord has granted your request.”

Liu Shuang merely smiled. She did not feel particularly blessed. The respectful attitude of the maids gave her a vague inkling that Feng Fuming was merely trying to intimidate her. It was likely that he wanted to marry her to provoke Yan Chaosheng.

If she had been afraid and angry before, now that she knew what she had to do, she was no longer afraid.

For Liu Shuang, wearing a wedding dress for the second time was akin to dressing beautifully for her own death.

She would not return to Yan Chaosheng’s side, nor would she allow herself to be a plaything for anyone else, including Feng Fuming. They were all the same—these lofty figures who would not save Canglan, nor truly love her. Was Feng Fuming trying to make her a substitute for someone else? Was it Mi Chu again?

Liu Shuang did not let them help her. She dressed herself and looked into the mirror, smiling faintly as if she saw her naive and carefree self from a hundred years ago.

How beautiful, she thought.

The maids moved to help her with her makeup, but she gently waved them away, “No need, I can do it myself.”

The maids stood by, heads bowed, still not daring to untie the immortal-binding ropes around Liu Shuang. Seeing her movements restricted, they loosened the ropes slightly. Liu Shuang said, “Thank you.”

Liu Shuang dipped her fingers into the rouge and dabbed it lightly on her lips. She was already breathtakingly beautiful, but the recent events had left her increasingly pale. Now, with this touch of color, she looked radiant and festive.

Liu Shuang clumsily imitated the hairstyle she had worn a hundred years ago, recalling the first time she had donned a crimson robe, when ShaoYou had done her hair.

There should have been countless auspicious blessings, but when they reached his lips, ShaoYou, looking at the joyful little immortal grass in the mirror, said with a choked voice, “As you venture into the demon realm, may he cherish and love you.”

“Thank you, ShaoYou.”

Liu Shuang had been born without parents, accompanied only by the immortal creatures of Canglan. Liu Shuang was simple and inexperienced in the ways of the world, as were the creatures of Canglan.

When she boarded the golden-winged bird’s cloud carriage to leave, she looked back at ShaoYou and her home in the Canglan Immortal Realm, and for some reason, she was suddenly filled with unease about the future.

ShaoYou stood by the misty immortal pond, his features as exquisite as a painting, smiling as he watched her. It seemed as if he was reassuring her with his gaze, “Don’t be afraid.”

Somehow, she truly wasn’t afraid. She smiled and waved at him, “Goodbye, ShaoYou.”

At that time, Liu Shuang did not know that the wedding attire of the heavenly realm was white, that of the demon realm was purple, and only the wedding attire of the mortal realm was the festive red.

Before the wedding, as her mother had instructed, she earnestly asked Yan Chaosheng for a bridal gift of ten miles of red dowry. Yan Chaosheng had merely smiled and said, “Alright, what else?”

Liu Shuang counted on her fingers, seriously recalling, “We need to match our birth charts, and we need red dates, peanuts, longan, and lotus seeds, and a big red wedding dress.”

Yan Chaosheng raised an eyebrow, “I’ll remember that.”

Later, he had even gone so far as to capture the Divination Immortal Lord to match their birth charts.

The Immortal Lord’s legs trembled as he glanced at the Demon Lord. Yan Chaosheng smiled faintly, and the Divination Immortal Lord immediately declared that the Demon Lord and Liu Shuang’s birth charts were a match made in heaven, so perfect that it seemed they were destined for each other. Liu Shuang was overjoyed, repeatedly saying, “Thank you, Immortal Lord.”

The dowry sent by Yan Chaosheng’s generals filled nearly a third of the small Canglan Immortal Realm, far exceeding ten miles.

On the day Liu Shuang married a hundred years ago, the plants and trees were lush, and the immortals cheered. ShaoYou was also there. Liu Shuang had family, friends, and a lover.

Yan Chaosheng stood on the back of the red phoenix, dressed in red to welcome her, his eyes filled with joy. On their wedding night, he peeled a lotus seed and asked her, “Do you know what all these things mean?”

Liu Shuang shook her head.

Her mother had said they were necessary, so they must be good things.

Yan Chaosheng glanced at her and chuckled, “Shameless.”

Much later, when Liu Shuang recalled that time, she could vaguely remember the feeling.

She had married Yan Chaosheng with boundless joy and hope, and for a time, she had truly believed that Yan Chaosheng loved her deeply, willing to follow mortal customs with her, discarding his black robes for a set of red attire.

A hundred years had passed, and she finally understood.

It had not been out of accommodation for her that Yan Chaosheng had worn the red wedding attire with her. It was because, in Yan Chaosheng’s heart, that grand wedding had been nothing more than a farce. His purple wedding attire had been reserved for another.

Liu Shuang smiled. This was for the best. At least after a hundred years of drifting in a daze, she could finally awaken.

The maids who came to serve Liu Shuang had never had such an easy task. They did not need to do anything, merely standing by and watching in astonishment as this Immortal Maiden, who bore a striking resemblance to the Heavenly Consort Mi Chu, dressed and adorned herself, then boarded the cloud carriage drawn by nine divine birds.

Behind the gauzy curtains, a splash of red was exceptionally vivid. Liu Shuang’s hands rested on her knees, her entire demeanor serene and composed.

The maids’ eyes involuntarily followed her. It was strange; though this Immortal Maiden bore an uncanny resemblance to the Heavenly Consort Mi Chu, not a single person would mistake them for each other.

Apart from their similar appearances, they were too different in every other way.

The Heavenly Consort Mi Chu was desperate to assert her presence at every moment, managing to subdue all the Immortal Maidens in the heavenly realm. In contrast, this Immortal Maiden was as tranquil as a painting, her smile pure and delicate.

She did not exude an air of oppression, yet one could not help but be drawn to her.

With similar faces, yet they could be so different.

As the divine birds took flight, their golden wings were a breathtaking sight. They carried Liu Shuang through the vast and beautiful heavenly realm.

Liu Shuang did not know how long it had been since Lord Su Lun had returned, or whether Yan Chaosheng had already obtained Mi Chu’s life essence jade bamboo.

Liu Shuang’s eyelashes lowered slightly. The heavenly realm was truly beautiful, no wonder Yan Chaosheng had once waged wars across the lands, seeking new territories for his people who had been confined to the shadows for so long.

As the Demon Lord, Yan Chaosheng was destined to become one of the most legendary figures in the Eight Desolates.

Liu Shuang’s hand rested on her heart, feeling the steady and powerful heartbeat beneath her palm.

Her life essence seemed to sense something, filled with profound sorrow, pleading with her not to do this. She wanted to say, “Don’t be afraid,” though she did not know whether she was comforting this purple jade or the part of herself that curled up in fear.

Her hand glowed with green radiance as she forcefully extracted her own heart.

In that instant, the divine birds let out mournful cries, refusing to fly any further. The maids and generals sensed something amiss, yet they could not discern what was happening behind the gauzy curtains of the cloud carriage.

All they could see was Liu Shuang in her red attire, her ink-black hair, and a faint purple light that inadvertently escaped.

The soft purple hue reflected in Liu Shuang’s eyes as she, her face deathly pale, released her grip and gazed upon the beautiful stone.

It was pure and warm, surpassing all colors in the world, with a luminous radiance swirling within. To be loved by such a heart should have been something no one could resist.

Liu Shuang closed her hand.

The faint purple light scattered across the sky, and now the stars fell to the earth, the white radiance disappearing without a trace.

Within the palace, Feng Fuming suddenly opened his eyes and flew out, arriving at the cloud carriage in an instant. The soldiers and maids around him had all fallen unconscious, and all that remained were countless purple lights, like drifting feathers, falling piece by piece.

Countless Immortal Lords followed closely behind, all marveling at this beautiful sight.

Feng Fuming lifted the gauzy curtains of the cloud carriage, but inside was empty, save for a lingering fragrance.

The purple light fell into Feng Fuming’s palm, and he was momentarily at a loss, unsure of how to react for the first time in his life.

Thousands of miles away, Su Lun had just handed over the life essence jade bamboo he had obtained to Yan Chaosheng, when he saw the Demon Lord, clad in black, suddenly change his expression.

Su Lun had followed Yan Chaosheng for hundreds of years, yet he had never seen such an expression on the Demon Lord’s face—a moment of bewilderment, followed by emptiness.

Almost instantly, Yan Chaosheng transformed into a streak of black light and vanished before his eyes.