We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real? Chapter 566: Junmeng, Would You Be Willing? (2 in 1)

In the blink of an eye, a year and a half quietly passed after Xiao Mo arrived at Seeking Immortality Temple.

To ordinary people, a year and a half was certainly not a short time.

But to cultivators, that year and a half was like a dozen or so days to mortals, gone in the blink of an eye.

After arriving at Seeking Immortality Temple, Xiao Mo abandoned Buddhism and followed the Dao, beginning his cultivation of Great Dream of Yellow Millet from the very start.

Dao arts and Buddhist teachings were, in the end, very different.

Moreover, because of the special nature of Great Dream of Yellow Millet, if Xiao Mo wanted to cultivate it, he first had to disperse all his previous cultivation and begin again from nothing.

For most cultivators, dispersing one’s cultivation and starting over required tremendous courage.

Because it meant returning to the state of an ordinary mortal. All the effort one had made in the past would vanish into nothing and be cast away like water down the drain.

Xiao Mo, however, did not particularly care.

Without much hesitation, he directly dispersed his cultivation.

Originally, Gui Junmeng had thought that since Xiao Mo had only just begun cultivating Dao arts, she might need to answer his questions often, or perhaps transfer true qi to him to help him pass smoothly through the transition.

But Xiao Mo’s comprehension of Dao arts still displayed the same astonishing talent he had shown in his previous life.

If Great Dream of Yellow Millet were compared to a long road, then when Xiao Mo cultivated this method, it was as though he remembered every step he had once taken along that road with perfect clarity.

It was merely that he needed to walk that already traveled road all over again.

During the days Xiao Mo devoted himself to cultivation, Liu Shui was also the one who took care of his daily life.

In truth, Xiao Mo had already refused Liu Shui many times, saying that he could take care of himself.

But Liu Shui was especially stubborn and refused to yield no matter what.

In the end, Xiao Mo truly could not decline any further, and could only let Sister Liu Shui do as she wished.

It was just that Liu Shui seemed to have no sense of guarding herself at all when she looked after Xiao Mo.

When she bent over to clean the courtyard, she would occasionally “unintentionally” reveal a glimpse of pale skin in front of Xiao Mo.

Sometimes, when she told Xiao Mo about certain matters in the Daoist temple, she would quietly press close against him, standing extremely near.

But every time, Xiao Mo would silently keep a proper distance from Liu Shui, neither embarrassing her nor allowing himself to cross the line.

In truth, Liu Shui also understood the matter between Gui Junmeng and Xiao Mo.

She knew Xiao Mo needed to dual practice with Junmeng and help Junmeng complete her Great Dao. His primal yang had to be left for Junmeng.

Therefore, Liu Shui did not take any further action and always restrained herself.

During the days Xiao Mo devoted himself to cultivation, he also heard news from the outside world—the demon army was launching an offensive toward Seeking Immortality Temple.

The commander of this allied demon army was none other than the Tushan holy daughter herself.

Now, throughout the entire demon-race world, rumors were spreading that the holy daughter of the Tushan clan had already stepped into the Immortal Realm.

Even by the fullest count, that holy daughter was still not yet eighty years old, yet she had already entered the Immortal Realm.

Such world-shocking talent was unmatched throughout the demon-race world.

However, Seeking Immortality Temple was located in the rear of the Human Alliance.

For the demon-race world to attack Seeking Immortality Temple, it would not be that simple.

In fact, many among the upper ranks of the Demon Alliance had already proposed taking Seeking Immortality Mountain directly.

In their view, as long as they captured Seeking Immortality Mountain, the symbol of the Human Alliance, it would deal a devastating blow to the Human Alliance’s morale. From then on, the humans would become a sheet of loose sand, unable to gather together again.

And if they dragged things out any longer, it would instead give the Human Alliance more time to develop and give the Ten Thousand Arts world a better chance to interfere.

However, such a decision meant that the Demon Alliance would have to fight the Human Alliance to the bitter end, leaving no further room for maneuver. Because of this, quite a few among the upper ranks were hesitant and could not make up their minds for a long time.

Now that Tushan Jingci was leading an army straight toward Seeking Immortality Mountain, she had merely lit the fuse for all of this.

And precisely because of that fuse, the other two demon armies no longer hesitated either, intending to destroy the Human Alliance as quickly as possible.

Thus, an all-out war between the humans and demons erupted.

More and more Daoists of Seeking Immortality Temple rushed to the front lines, and Xiao Mo was no exception.

In the tenth year after he arrived at Seeking Immortality Temple, Xiao Mo stepped into the Golden Core Realm and also set foot on the battlefield.

At first, Xiao Mo was nothing more than an unknown Daoist.

Even within the Human Alliance, those who admired Gui Junmeng saw him walking so closely with the woman they cherished, and more or less treated him with exclusion and cold eyes.

But in Xiao Mo’s first battle, with Golden Core Realm cultivation, he forcibly crossed realms and killed a Nascent Soul Realm great demon. In that moment, everyone was forced to look at this “newcomer” with new eyes.

At the same time, the demon race also placed “Xiao Mo” on the battlefield list of those who had to be killed.

Whether human or demon, both sides did their utmost to strangle a genius in the cradle before he could grow. They absolutely would not allow him to mature freely on the battlefield.

For the next twenty years, Xiao Mo rarely stayed at Seeking Immortality Temple anymore. He was almost always fighting on the front lines.

During one brutal battle, the humans and demons fought fiercely for three days and three nights before each side finally sounded the retreat.

Xiao Mo had also reached his limit. Bathed in blood from head to toe, he slowly flew away from the battlefield with Gui Junmeng supporting him.

Just then, Xiao Mo seemed to sense something and suddenly stopped.

He slowly turned around and looked into the distance.

Behind the demon army’s formation, incomparably vast Immortal Realm pressure spread across the sky.

A woman in a white dress walked through the air, gazing coldly in Xiao Mo’s direction.

Their eyes met, and they stared at each other from afar.

It was as though, in that moment, only the two of them remained between heaven and earth.

Gui Junmeng’s gaze swept lightly between Tushan Jingci and Xiao Mo beside her, but in the end, she said nothing.

“Let’s go...” Xiao Mo withdrew his gaze, then turned and left the battlefield with Gui Junmeng supporting him.

Tushan Jingci watched Xiao Mo’s figure gradually recede into the distance. Beneath her skirt, one foot moved forward of its own accord, but in the end, she forcibly stopped herself.

Another five years passed.

Xiao Mo finally stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm.

After entering the Nascent Soul Realm, Xiao Mo could cultivate the dual-practice method in the latter section of Great Dream of Yellow Millet.

However, this so-called dual-practice method was not so direct and explicit from the very beginning.

That sort of “straight to the point” dual-practice method was not the proper path to the Great Dao. Most of it consisted of shortcuts that took an unorthodox route. To put it plainly, it was harvesting and supplementing, and in the end, it could hardly be considered respectable.

A true dual-practice method required gradual progress.

At the very beginning, Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng had to sit facing each other on the bed every night, guiding spiritual power into one another so that the yin and yang within their spiritual power could harmonize.

Only after Xiao Mo stepped into the middle stage of the Jade Pith Realm would they be able to carry out dual practice on the level of the soul.

And once both sides stepped into the Immortal Realm, they would be able to formally begin dual practice in which soul and body merged together simultaneously.

However, even though they could only carry out yin-yang harmonization of spiritual power for now, Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng’s cultivation still improved extremely quickly.

Even Xiao Mo himself felt somewhat astonished.

He discovered that even a single night’s effort brought him gains equal to half a year of solitary cultivation...

And whenever Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng cultivated together at night, Liu Shui would stand quietly outside the courtyard, staring blankly at that tightly shut door. Her small hands clenched her skirt tightly until dawn.

Before anyone realized it, another twenty years quietly slipped by.

Aside from dual practice, life-and-death battles on the battlefield were always the fastest way to raise one’s cultivation. Even for Xiao Mo, this was so.

It was just that Xiao Mo was, after all, an orthodox Daoist cultivator.

After these twenty years of bloody fighting on the front lines, the bloodlust and demonic nature accumulated in his heart had become far too heavy.

Thus, Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng temporarily returned to Seeking Immortality Temple together to stabilize his dao heart.

Meanwhile, the great war between the Human Alliance and the Demon Alliance spread across an ever-widening range. Even the border regions could no longer escape disaster.

Xiao Mo was somewhat worried about his master and his senior and junior brothers at Sikong Temple, so he asked Gui Junmeng to help inquire about news from that area.

Naturally, Gui Junmeng did not refuse and immediately agreed.

However, three months later, Xiao Mo learned that Sikong Temple and the surrounding villages had all been reduced to ruins. The ground was scorched everywhere, not a single living person could be seen, and only traces of a blood-sacrifice formation remained.

Gui Junmeng said that many years ago, several demon sects had joined forces to launch a surprise attack on villages and towns such as Cloud Village, wanting to blood-sacrifice the common people in order to refine pills.

The monks of Sikong Temple had fought desperately to protect the commoners, and Abbot Yuankong had not escaped calamity either.

And the one who had supposedly ordered everything from behind the scenes was a Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox.

After hearing this news, Xiao Mo sat alone in the courtyard, silent for a very, very long time.

“I think... Jingci would not have done it.”

At night, beside Xiao Mo, Gui Junmeng spoke softly.

“I know.”

Xiao Mo nodded. His gaze was fixed on the stars in the sky, his tone calm yet tinged with heaviness.

“Jingci is not that kind of person. She might not even know about this at all.”

“If my guess is correct, Tushan Meng should be the one who did it. As for the reason... most likely, she wanted me to give up completely on Jingci, or perhaps on the entire demon race.”

“It’s good that you can think of it that way.”

Gui Junmeng gently let out a breath of relief, then comforted him softly.

“And Xiao Mo, you don’t need to worry too much. My master has already gone there personally to inspect it. She said there was something wrong with that blood-sacrifice formation. It seemed to have been added afterward. If nothing unexpected happened, those commoners and the monks in the temple should all still be alive, only...”

As she spoke, Gui Junmeng lowered her head and lightly bit her thin lip, as though she could not continue.

“Only my master... may have met with trouble.” Xiao Mo finished for her, his voice gentle and warm.

Gui Junmeng did not deny it. She merely remained quietly silent.

“In truth, I had guessed that too.”

Xiao Mo sighed softly.

“Master’s realm was already very high, and in Sikong Temple, there was also a secret method called Lotus Crossing. My master should have used that secret method to burn through all his blood essence, thereby sending the others away safely.”

“But this cannot be blamed on you.” Gui Junmeng raised her head and said seriously, “My master also said that Tushan Meng would have gone to Sikong Temple sooner or later—because that abbot’s relationship with Tushan Meng was far from ordinary... Tushan Meng always wanted to kill him.”

Seeing Xiao Mo remain silent without replying, Gui Junmeng softly said again, “Xiao Mo, you have to believe me. I’m not lying to you. I really am not saying these things on purpose just to comfort you.”

“I know.” Xiao Mo nodded gently and sighed deeply.

“When I was little, Master explained Buddhist teachings to me. When we discussed the topic of ‘life and death,’ he once said that if possible, he wanted to die by a certain person’s hand, so that he could repay the karmic debts he owed in this life.”

“At the time, I asked Master who that person was, but every time, Master only smiled without speaking and never answered.”

“Xiao Mo...” Gui Junmeng looked deeply at him, her gaze full of heartache and worry.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine.” Xiao Mo smiled faintly and shook his head. Then he turned to look at Gui Junmeng. “But Junmeng, I am a little curious—why were you worried I would misunderstand Jingci? You know, Jingci may hate the two of us to death now.”

“That may be true...” Gui Junmeng gently folded her hands on her knees and looked up at that brilliant night sky with him. “But no matter what, I still count as Jingci’s older sister... I don’t want you to hate Jingci.”

“Why?” Xiao Mo tilted his head and asked softly.

“Because Jingci... really likes you...”

Gui Junmeng slowly withdrew her gaze and looked at Xiao Mo, blinking softly. Her clear eyes reflected the starlight, and also his shadow.

“My cultivation of Great Dream of Yellow Millet is going fairly smoothly right now. However, according to the latter section of Great Dream of Yellow Millet, if you and I are to truly cultivate this method together, we have to wait until I step into the Immortal Realm.”

Gazing into Gui Junmeng’s pure eyes, Xiao Mo merely smiled softly and changed the subject.

“Judging by my current progress, it should not take too long. Perhaps... two hundred years or so should be enough.”

“That’s all right...” Gui Junmeng nodded gently. Two faint blushes quietly rose on her cheeks, and her voice was so soft it seemed afraid of disturbing the moonlight in the sky. “I’ll wait for you...”

“However, before we formally begin that step, perhaps we can make some preparations first.”

Xiao Mo continued speaking.

“Daoist Yunxi once had a deep discussion with me about this matter. The essence of the chapter called ‘Shared Dream’ in Great Dream of Yellow Millet lies in linking and merging both sides’ Great Daos with each other, and the great wedding rites by which men and women marry in the secular world happen to have a very similar effect.”

“Eh?” Gui Junmeng seemed to suddenly understand something. “Xiao Mo, you mean...”

“If you and I marry first, then our Great Daos will be linked beforehand. In that case, when you and I walk the path of dual practice together in the future, perhaps we will be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort. I only do not know... Junmeng, would you be willing?” Xiao Mo looked at her, his gaze gentle.

“I... I’ll listen to you and Master...” Gui Junmeng’s small face flushed red, and her small hands involuntarily linked together.

“That’s good.” Xiao Mo smiled. “But Junmeng, when we marry, may I... invite one person to the banquet?”

“Mm. You can invite whomever you want. But this person is...” Gui Junmeng tilted her head slightly, her fox eyes looking at him curiously.

Looking at the quiet and pure woman beside him, Xiao Mo smiled softly.

“Jingci.”