Chapter 220 - 216: Consumed by Thunder and Fire, A Thousand Miles in a Day

Song Ciwan moved, but this time she used no Cultivation and Martial Technique, just walked normally.

The twisting, disorienting power did not reappear. A moment later, Song Ciwan reached Mr. Gao’s side without incident.

But Mr. Gao’s body trembled as he shook his head at her. "You... don’t come any closer!"

Song Ciwan already sensed it. Though Mr. Gao hadn’t said anything specific, it was clear that his current state was not good. ’And this decline... it seems to have started right after he confessed his "original plan"!’

Song Ciwan immediately raised her hand and cast another Ganlin Spell on herself.

Soon, the disorienting power went to work, and the Ganlin Spell once again landed on Mr. Gao.

A fine, dense shower of rain fell, transforming into a luminous mist that merged into Mr. Gao’s body.

The tension in Mr. Gao’s features eased slightly, but he still said, "It’s... it’s no use, Xin Mian. I... I broke the rules. I don’t think I can get better... My time has come!"

"You were right. I should have let it go. My enemies are all dead. I don’t need to take revenge, so what am I still clinging to?"

"The Yun Country is gone, the Gao Family is gone. It’s been a thousand years, and nothing is left. Why can’t I just let it all go?"

"Father, Mother, Great-Grandfather, brothers, sisters..."

"Are you all still there? I... I..."

Mr. Gao’s voice grew fainter and fainter until his body suddenly went limp. He collapsed into Song Ciwan’s arms and began to convulse violently.

The Heaven and Earth Scale materialized and collected two more wisps of energy in quick succession: [Small City Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit. Emotions: Melancholy, Relief, Grief. Weight: one jin and two taels. Exchangeable.]

[Small City Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit. Emotions: Sorrow, Bewilderment, Lingering Attachment. Weight: eight taels and seven maces. Exchangeable.]

Mr. Gao was providing less and less Mysterious Ghost Spirit, but Song Ciwan could sense that he still had a lingering attachment to this world... or perhaps, to his very existence.

He wasn’t truly willing to just fade away!

Song Ciwan didn’t know if the power of the Deceitful Realm’s rules would spare him if he were to suddenly lash out and harm her—

Song Ciwan was still in the process of figuring out the finer details of the Deceitful Realm’s power, so she couldn’t be certain.

’But what’s the use of such hypotheses? Mr. Gao clearly has no intention of harming me.’

Not even now, in so much pain and filled with such lingering attachment.

’Gao Xiaolang... Beneath this ghostly shell, he’s still just a kind child.’

Song Ciwan cast the Ganlin Spell on herself twice more in succession, increasing the infusion of True Qi until she was using almost all her strength.

However, Mr. Gao’s pain only seemed to lessen slightly, while thin, dry tendrils began to fall out of his left eye.

His intact right eye was fixed on Song Ciwan, the light in it seeming to travel across time and space to bring back the purest joy he had ever known.

He said, "Xin Mian, are you worried about me?"

Song Ciwan quickly replied, "Yes, Xiaolang, I’m worried about you. I hope you’ll be okay."

Mr. Gao’s purplish lips stretched to the sides, revealing a hint of a smile. He said, "How wonderful. Besides my father, mother, great-grandfather, and my brothers and sisters... there’s someone else who worries about me."

Song Ciwan gently placed a hand on his face, caressing it as she said softly, "Xiaolang, let me try again, okay?"

As she spoke, the divine figure in her Sea of Consciousness stirred. This time, Song Ciwan didn’t cast the Ganlin Spell. Instead, in the instant of the Divine Eye Opening, she unleashed the Life and Death Decision!

The Life and Death Decision: to reverse it is to bring death; to follow it is to grant life.

Although she had currently only learned the First Layer of the Life and Death Decision, its Taoist Thought and the profound meaning between life and death were deeply branded on her soul.

’I have to try,’ she thought. ’Can I use this Spell to find the source of Mr. Gao’s vitality?’

’If I inflict the path of death upon a ghost, could it lead to a rebirth from the brink of destruction?’

And so, Song Ciwan cast the Life and Death Decision on herself, choosing the path of death!

The disorienting power appeared again. This time, in the instant of the Divine Eye Opening, the Life and death Decision once again fell upon Mr. Gao.

The convulsing Mr. Gao let out a sudden, low cry. "It hurts! AHHH—"

The next moment, the floating red clouds in the sky suddenly began to stack and converge, and a deafening clap of thunder boomed.

’What’s happening?’

’The Life and Death Decision landed on Mr. Gao and actually summoned the Deceitful Realm’s Celestial Thunder?’

BOOM!

Before Song Ciwan could even comprehend the origin of this Celestial Thunder, a vicious bolt of lightning was already descending from the sky.

Its thunderous might seemed powerful enough to tear this world asunder.

In a fleeting glimpse, as the divine figure in her Sea of Consciousness opened its eye, Song Ciwan felt as if she had seen the other side of a crack in reality.

’What was that?’

’A slowly rising Red Lantern?’

In an instant, the hazy red light vanished, so quickly that Song Ciwan almost suspected she had imagined it.

And in that flash, the lightning had already struck.

Without a second thought, Song Ciwan threw her arms around Mr. Gao, using her own body to intercept the lightning.

BOOM!

The Deceitful Realm’s Celestial Thunder struck her. Sheltered in her arms, Mr. Gao cried out, "Xin Mian! Let me go!"

The Heaven and Earth Scale appeared again, collecting a wisp of energy: [Small City Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit. Emotions: Touched, Pained, Sorrowful. Weight: one jin and six taels. Exchangeable.]

Song Ciwan instantly operated the Heaven and Earth Scale, selling the one jin and six taels of Mysterious Ghost Spirit.

As the Celestial Thunder struck her, Song Ciwan’s flesh was torn open, and sparks flew from her body.

Even the Jade Bone Dharma Body she had forged with the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique couldn’t withstand a single blow from the Deceitful Realm’s Celestial Thunder. Song Ciwan’s flesh disintegrated, and her face was blasted out of shape.

At the same time, however, the one jin and six taels of Mysterious Ghost Spirit she had just sold took effect.

[You have exchanged one jin and six taels of Small City Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit (Emotions: Touched, Pained, Sorrowful). You have received one hundred sixty years of Cultivation feedback.]

One hundred sixty years of Cultivation!

An abundant tide of Vitality surged in, and Song Ciwan poured all of it into the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique.

She currently possessed the cultivation methods for the first two layers of the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique, but her progress with this particular Cultivation Technique had always lagged far behind her others.

The reason was that the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique required special conditions for Cultivation.

The cultivation time she gained simply by exchanging "human desires" was fine for her other Cultivation Techniques, but it was completely ineffective for the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique!

When it came to this Cultivation Technique, Song Ciwan couldn’t take any shortcuts at all.

She never could have imagined that one day she would be able to cultivate this shortcut-proof Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique using such a method.

On the Insight Technique panel, the experience value for the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique was skyrocketing.

It took Song Ciwan only a few dozen breaths to go from having Mastered the First Layer to reaching Masterful Skill with it.

Under the force of the Deceitful Realm’s lightning, the meridians and bones throughout Song Ciwan’s body rapidly disintegrated, only to be instantly repaired by the surging influx of Cultivation.

The Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique circulated, repeating the cycle over and over.

The thunderclouds in the sky converged, growing denser. RUMBLE... It was as if the heavens themselves were enraged!