Icy Peak Mountain

Hao Meng arrived riding an icy cloud. He landed softly and stepped on the frozen path before him.

His steps were hurried. He was excited to meet Qinyang.

A guard of Icy Peak arrived to greet him.

"Lord Hao Meng, welcome to Icy Peak."

"I came for Qinyang. Take me to her."

"Of course, just follow me."

The guard led the way, and after a few steps, a beautiful woman in a white dress appeared.

"Qinyang! You're alive! I'm, I'm so, so glad you are well!"

"You…?" - Qinyang narrowed her eyes questioningly.

"Who is this man? Should I know him?" - She wondered as she looked over the young man before her.

The young man had a short stature. His face was lively, and his eyes were full of vitality. The long black hair hung in a ponytail on his back.

"You don't remember me? I'm your lover! Your suitor! You future husband! It's I, Hao Meng!" - The young man said as he stepped forward.

Qinyang had a puzzled expression as she tried to recall the name from the diary with difficulty.

Hao Meng had a strange expression. He turned to the guard, who was on his way to leave them to themselves.

"What's wrong with her? She hasn't cursed or hit me yet." - He whispered to the guard.

In the meanwhile, Qinyang remembered something: "Oh, it must be him! The original Qinyang referred to him as the 'snotty brat'. She wrote in a cold attitude about him every time. The higher ups want me to marry him? Seems like I was the only one against it. I can't have the appearance of just changing my judgement of him suddenly, even if I have no memories."

"So it's you! I might have amnesia, but how could I forget you falling off your cloud when you tried to peep in my window?" - She tried to act according to what she imagined the original Qinyang would say. She didn't want to expose her situation to him.

Hao Meng turned red, and he was about to say something, but Qinyang spoke first.

"How about we go and sit down? I'll tell you about my recent experiences." - She took his hand and led him inside.

They walked on the frozen path. After a few steps, they reached a small garden, where the flowers were blooming.

Qinyang sat down on the stone bench. She was about to begin her story, but Hao Meng interrupted her.

"I have something to ask you." - He said as he sat down next to her.

"What is it?" - Qinyang was confused as she looked at him.

"Do you… Do you love me?" - He asked as he looked into her eyes.

Qinyang remained silent for a moment.

Hao Meng continued: "Sorry. I didn't mean to- I mean, I do love you... You, you just held my hand for the first time. I thought you liked me as well."

"What the hell? They were so distant, yet he has the face and calls himself my lover and future husband?" - Qinyang was shocked. She adjusted her attitude again.

"Ha, dream on! If you want to be my lover, then you have to prove yourself!" - She announced matter-of-factly.

Hao Meng's face changed. From a momentary delight, he became serious and looked at her with determination.

"What do you want me to do?" - He asked.

"I don't know. You have to prove that you love me. Employ your imagination." - Qinyang said as she crossed her arms.

"In that case..." - He looked at her and took out his icy cloud he arrived on.

"Come, I'll show you what's outside Icy Peak and how big the world really is!"

* * * * *

Sun Lotus City

A lone figure was standing among the piles of debris. Not long ago, this place was the city's main square. Now the only things distinguishing it from its surroundings were the scattered black shards of the two cultivation boards that proudly stood before the city hall.

"Zhao Feng's nowhere to be found, Ye Ruogang is gravely injured."

Ding Shuren was panting heavily. He became the last supporting pillar of the city.

The horde of Stone Skin Rhinos stampeded through the buildings and crowds like they were made of thin paper.

"No!" - Shouted Ding Shuren as he struck at another beast.

Killer move - Sun Lotus Burial!

The rhino stumbled in its own feet and skid on the ground before coming to a stop. It turned into a moss covered statue under Ding Shuren's hands. At the next moment, yellow lotus flowers bloomed from the dead body.

Huff. Huff. Huff.

He stopped for a brief moment to catch his breath.

"My health isn't as it used to be. If I were forty, no, just twenty years younger..." - He cursed his inability.

Ding Shuren fought valiantly. He decimated the incoming horde of beasts as a rank five gu master. But they just kept on pouring, dozens after dozens breached the city walls, or what little remained of it.

"Not yet!" - Ding Shuren got back on his feet to intercept a pack of Forest Apes that headed toward the evacuated people.

The forest Apes were the weakest of the bunch. They numbered only a few hundred. But even the weakest of them had a body the size of a house. Their fists were like boulders and their claws were like daggers. They were the easiest prey to hunt among the other beasts. But they were also the most dangerous, they were the fastest and their mobility was not restricted by the buildings.

"To hell with it!" - Ding Shuren was exhausted, he was aching all over. He was not even sure if he could still kill a few of them at this point.

The pack of apes neared the survivors.

Ding Shuren was still a distance away.

"No. This can't be the end." - He gritted his teeth.

"I need to use the last measure!" - He shouted. This time, his voice was transmitted to all the remaining gu masters.

There was a moment of silence.

A faint glow emerged throughout the whole city.

"Is it daybreak already?" - A confused survivor looked around.

The light further intensified. Like scattered little stars.

The small sources shone brighter and brighter till it looked as if they merged into one.

It was dazzling, it was blinding.

From far away, one could see, that the location of Sun Lotus city was in a bubble of light.

Inside, there were no shadows.

Thousands of Sun Lotus and Brilliance Lotus gu were activated by the gu masters!

Rank five Sun Flower gu, Gather Light gu!

Rank five killer move - Sun Lotus Brilliance!

Ding Shuren raised his palm and attacked mercilessly.

Each of his strikes were fast like lightning and weightless like feathers.

The pack of Forest Apes were lit on fire as the strikes landed. Immediately after, their flesh and bones were stripped and vaporized into thin air.

Ding Shuren was exhausted, but he did not stop. He kept on fighting the horde of beasts.

The Sun Lotus Brilliance was a move that could only be used once. Even the gu masters that have been collecting the gu for decades could only muster this much. Their essence would soon run dry and gu would be burned out. But if it could lend them even a bit of strength, then it was worth it!

The horde of beasts was scattered by the explosion of light. The survivors were saved from certain death.

The intense light in Ding Shuren's vision slowly turned from white brightness to a pitch black darkness. The tears in his eyes now were replaced by tears of blood. He lost his sight from the intense radiance.

His disheveled hair and beard fluttered in the wind.

He fought and didn't back down. These were his people. The children and grandchildren of his generation.

After an incense stick of time, the dome of radiance, Sun Lotus Brilliance receded and disappeared.

The scared onlookers and beasts alike slowly regained their vision.

"No! No-o-o-oh..." - Ding Shuren collapsed on his knees as he heard the beast's furious shouts from outside the city.

He was already a spent force.

The beast rushed ahead.

The people were not spared. The apes pounced on them and ripped them limb-from-limb.

A blood covered ape landed among the evacuated crowd. It pounded its chest triumphantly with human remains still clutched in its huge hands.

Screams of agony and feral howls resounded.

Ding Shuren's body twitched as he tried to gather his strength and get up, but it was in vain.

Next, a voice resounded from seemingly every direction.

"This is enough."

"This voice!" - Ding Shuren recognized it.

An immortal descended from the clouds. It was naturally Bao Xu Lian. He recalled the beasts and stored them away in his aperture.

Ding Shuren, albeit blind, could still sense it with his gu worms. His jubilant face contorted at once.

Ding Shuren: "This... You- You did this? You killed my people!"

Bao Xu Lian: "I just killed the useless ones."

"Oh and the unlucky ones. The clan has no need for unlucky people." - He added plainly.

"You... You!" - Ding Shuren seethed in anger.

"Ding Shuren, I'm really disappointed in you. You could have become an immortal. But you still lack the mindset of an immortal. You failed to see through the mortal dust!" - Bao Xu Lian answered in a displeased tone.

Ding Shuren gathered his courage, he had nothing to lose anymore as he rebuked the immortal in front of him: "Mortal dust? Are human lives as cheap as grass for you? They are loving families, friends and acquaintances! You killed their parents! You destroyed their homes! Not only that, but you robbed them of their future! Are you even human?!"

Bao Xu Lian raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

Bao Xu Lian: "I am a cultivator. I just happen to be a human. I am no different from the beasts, I am not bound by mortal ethics and morals. I stand solely on the path of an immortal."

Ding Shuren: "Hah! Whoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or an immortal... If that's the mindset of an immortal, I'd rather die honorably than become a sinner for eternity! Oh immortal, you will surely fail on your path! I will be waiting for you in the netherworld!" - Laughed Ding Shuren maniacally as tears of blood streamed down on his face.

Bao Xu Lian's eyes twitched.

"The mortal texts recorded the Eighteen Levels of Hell, but those are just the imaginations of those who have not died yet. What is hell, there is no such thing as eighteen levels of hell, there is only one level of hell, and that is this world!"

"The so-called Eighteen Levels of Hell is merely a state of mind, it is just a mental state, it is not real! The ancient texts also said that there is only one heaven, but what is heaven? Heaven is just a state of mind, a mental state, it is not real! Heaven and hell are just two mental states, one is a state of mind that is mired in desire, and the other is a state of mind that is free of desires."

"There is no heaven, there is no hell, there is only this world!"

"This is the only world, the only place where one can pursue immortality!"

"This is the only place where one can pursue the ultimate!"

...

Bao Xu Lian got carried away as he preached, he didn't even notice that Ding Shuren's body was already lifeless up until he finished his monologue.

"Tsk." - He felt annoyed as he realized he spoke into thin air.

He felt, that the frozen grin on Ding Shuren's face was mocking him even after his pitiful death.

"I am right! And a dead man has no say!" - He thought, but he couldn't take off his eyes of the corpse.

Bao Xu Lian waved his hand and turned the body to dust with an irked expression.

"Right, I came here to gather the talents."

Next, he activated his investigative killer move and turned his attention to the few surviving people among the wreckage, and the remaining evacuated people underground.

* * * * *