A Cunning Pervert in the Cultivation World Chapter 570: The Finale (3)
Previously on A Cunning Pervert in the Cultivation World...
Li Feng’s soft smile lingered as he slowly looked up toward the sealed black sky.
’Since it hasn’t even been a week yet... it should be possible.’
With that, he decided to choose...
"[Temporal]!"
In the next instant, the final remaining use of that power fully unfolded.
Strange rivers of chaos and order appeared above the dead Fen Dynasty, flowing like the current of time itself.
Sensing something strange, Venerable Realmwalker frowned and decided to attack.
She formed a hand seal.
Then every face on the dark walls turned frenzied. Together with the dark waves, they all rushed toward Li Feng.
And for the final time... Li Feng murmured with a smile.
"[Kālaviparyaya World]."
The world stopped.
Everything simply stopped... in a quiet, absolute stillness... as if existence itself had been asked to hold its breath.
The black walls, the chanting grotesque faces, the Deep Tide liquid surging toward him, the drifting ash, and even the lingering traces of destruction across the Fen Dynasty all fell into perfect suspension.
Then.
Everything began to reverse.
It did not happen all at once.
Time peeled backward in layers, like pages of a vast book being turned in reverse by an unseen hand.
Venerable Realmwalker was no exception.
The black walls she had raised shattered in reverse.
The Deep Tide liquid sealing the sky was pulled backward into the Yin Realm rift.
Her own figure, which had been calmly retreating with a predator’s patience, was caught by the reversing current of [Kālaviparyaya World].
In a single, irresistible motion, she was forced back through the path she had taken... her form rewound toward the rift from which she had emerged, and every calculated step undone as time itself rejected her presence in this rewritten moment.
Then the rivers of crimson flame that had once poured into the False Crown’s maw reversed their course, surging back into the bodies from which they had been stolen.
A great wave of beautiful fire unfurled across the silent sky of the dead dynasty, painting the heavens in beautiful light.
Ash rose from the ruined ground and returned to the form of walls, rooftops, and streets.
Collapsed halls reconstructed themselves in silence.
The bisected capital slowly drew back together, the great wound across the city sealing as if that absolute slash had never fallen.
...Across the entire Fen Dynasty, the silent dead began to breathe again.
Farmers in distant villages opened their eyes as the crimson fire that had consumed them withdrew from their flesh and vanished into nothing.
City lords, soldiers, servants, children... one by one, each life that had been devoured by the calamity was gently returned to its place.
It was a magnificent sight.
...And a sorrowful one.
For this was not a true salvation written into the natural flow of the world.
It was a borrowed miracle... paid for with the last remaining authority of a man who did not belong to this time, rewriting a tragedy that had already been completed in his own long years of memory.
Li Feng stood at the center of it all, dark cloak stirring faintly in the reversing wind, watching the dynasty return to a state of fragile life.
For the first time in a very long while, he had chosen not to cut the future down...
But to give it back.
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Inside the imperial palace, Grand Tutor Wei suddenly staggered.
One moment, his body had been consumed by silent crimson flames, the painless yet absolute sensation of being hollowed out still vivid in his mind.
The next, he was standing whole within the hall, breath caught in his chest, the heat of that fire gone as if it had never truly touched him.
"...What?"
His aged eyes widened as he looked around in confusion.
All around him, the servants and guards who should have already been reduced to pillars of silent flame were still standing.
Some were frozen mid-step, others staring at their own hands in disbelief, as though their minds had not yet caught up with the fact that they were alive.
A few of the younger attendants collapsed to their knees, trembling, while others simply looked at one another with pale, shaken faces.
Grand Tutor Wei’s gaze swept across the hall again and again, unable to immediately accept the scene before him.
Every person who should have burned... was still here.
A trembling voice then rose from nearby.
"...Grandpa..."
Concubine Wei stood a short distance away, her beautiful face still pale, eyes wide with lingering fear as she looked at Grand Tutor Wei.
Her hands were tightly clenched in front of her as if she still expected the silent crimson flames to return at any moment.
"...Are we dead?"
At those question, Grand Tutor Wei was silent for a moment.
Then a wry smile slowly formed on his aged face as he lifted his gaze toward the clear, bright sky.
"...Probably not," he said quietly.
"Hell wouldn’t look this peaceful... would it?"
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Elsewhere within the palace grounds, Censor Zhao stepped out from the reinforced chamber with the infant Ninth Prince carefully held in his arms.
The protective formations behind him were still intact, yet the oppressive sense of approaching death that had filled the air only moments earlier had completely vanished.
The baby in his arms had also stopped crying, tiny hands now resting quietly against his chest as if the earlier distress had been nothing more than a fading nightmare.
Censor Zhao’s steps slowed as he walked into the open.
"What happened..."
All around him, people were moving in confusion, as if they had all shared the same nightmare.
Holding the Ninth Prince closer, Censor Zhao surveyed the strangely peaceful scene in silence, the same unanswered question reflected in every confused face around him.
But then he saw a familiar face.
"...!"
Some distance away, a woman stood frozen in place.
One hand was pressed tightly over her mouth as she struggled to hold back her tears, her eyes locked onto him and the infant in his arms with a mixture of disbelief and overwhelming relief.
Censor Zhao’s eyes widened.
"Sister!"
The next moment, both of them moved at once.
They rushed across the path and collided into a tight embrace, the Ninth Prince carefully held between them.
"S-Sister! I thought...!"
The composure Censor Zhao had forced himself to maintain completely collapsed as he held his sister with one arm, his forehead pressed against her shoulder.
"Hic... Hic... I’m sorry..."
She, too, could no longer hold back her tears, gripping him as if afraid he would disappear the moment she loosened her hold.
"Waaa...! Waaa...!"
Sensing that familiar warmth, the Ninth Prince also began to cry... yet this time it was not the anguished, fearful cry from before.
It was smaller, softer, filled with the simple instinct of a child who had found safety again.
In the middle of the palace path, the three of them remained locked together, then began crying out loud without restraint.
All around them, the surviving officials, guards, and servants stopped what they were doing and watched in confusion... an adult man, a woman, and a baby, holding one another and weeping beneath the newly restored peaceful sky.
Among the spectators stood Bai Lingyu.
Her eyes were wide as she took in the impossible scene before her, lips parting slightly as a single stunned murmur escaped.
"...How..."
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Elsewhere within the restored capital, Li Feng remained standing amid the quiet streets.
Around him, the world had completely changed.
The thick stench of death and ash was gone.
In its place was only a soft, peaceful breeze carrying the faint sounds of living voices... confused chatter, relieved sobs, and the unsteady footsteps of people who had only just realized they were still alive.
Now... the ruined silence of a dead dynasty had been replaced by the fragile noise of life returning.
Li Feng looked at it all and smiled.
"...It is indeed beautiful."
But the smile did not last.
In the next instant, his expression twisted in pain.
"Ughh!!!"
He clutched his head with one hand as a sharp, tearing sensation ripped through his soul.
It felt as though his own consciousness was splitting apart from within.
His steps then faltered.
Gritting his teeth, he leaned heavily against the side of a nearby building for support, the dark cloak hanging loosely around his trembling frame as the pain continued to deepen.
His breathing grew rough and uneven.
"Haa... haa... Indeed," he muttered through the pain, "messing with the flow of time... and with life and death... is truly painful."
Even so, a faint smile remained on his lips.
"...But the sight was worth it."
His blurred gaze drifted once more toward the restored streets, toward the fragile noise of people who should have already been gone.
For a brief moment, he simply looked at that living world he had forced back into existence.
Then another sharp pain tore through his mind.
"...!!!"
A silent scream locked itself in his throat as his body shuddered under the force of his consciousness beginning to split apart.
Just as his strength threatened to give out completely... a soft, cool warmth touched him.
Li Feng froze.
With great effort, he struggled to lift his head.
What entered his fading vision was... Yue Lan’s worried face.
Her golden eyes were filled with clear alarm as she supported him, her voice breaking with urgency as she saw Li Feng’s twisted, pain-filled expression.
"Li Feng! What’s wrong?! Are you okay?!"
