Forming a seal with my fingers, I rose swiftly before he could react, pressing my glowing hand against his chest. His eyes widened in shock, but I smiled faintly. “It’s my decision, not yours.”
With a shove, he staggered back, clutching his chest in pain. His face turned deathly pale as he dropped to one knee.
“This is a spirit-binding curse,” I said. “Remember this pain, Qian Gu. Should you ever approach the summit of Kong Ling, the pain will be a thousand times worse. Before the tribulation, I’ll reinforce a barrier around the peak. Your junior disciples—your so-called followers—don’t have the ability to break through, nor do they have the desire to try. But you, Qian Gu…”
My voice softened, yet carried the weight of finality.
“Only you.”
I crouched down, and he looked up at me, his dark eyes brimming with barely concealed pain. Gently, I patted his head and said, “I know my body well. On the day of the tribulation, I… may not make it. No matter what happens, don’t come looking for me. When I delivered those three lashes of the Soul-Devouring Whip, I ceased to be your master.”
He tried to grab my hand but only managed to clutch my sleeve. His voice trembled as he spoke, the pain in his eyes impossible to hide. “I’ve worked so hard… for so many years, just so that one day I could stand at your side as an equal. My only wish in life… is you, Master…”
My heart clenched.
Over the years, I had heard countless tales of his ruthless methods in the demonic world, a man capable of decisive and brutal actions. Yet now, looking into his eyes, he seemed like that same boy who had once stayed by my side, whose greatest fear was being cast away by me.
And yet, what I had to do was precisely the thing he feared the most.
I ruffled his hair gently and said, “Go.”
Though Qian Gu had fallen into the demonic path, his cultivation still couldn’t match mine. With a wave of my sleeve, he was swept away from the summit of Kong Ling Mountain.
And he would never be able to return.
Suddenly, I remembered a moment from many years ago, under the mottled sunlight of a great tree. I had cleaned the dirt and dust off a young boy’s face and promised to protect him for the rest of his life.
But in the end, I was the one who hurt him the most.
* * *
On the day the heavenly tribulation descended, I was in the study flipping through an old book. By chance, I turned to a page filled with clumsy notes I recognized immediately—they were written by a young Qian Gu. The crooked, uneven characters brought a smile to my face. Flipping further, I found a blank page, but on it was a crude drawing of me, lying asleep on the desk.
As my fingers traced the rough paper, a sudden bolt of heavenly lightning struck me. Though I was unharmed, the book in my hands was burned to ashes.
Startled, I looked up to see a hole blasted through the roof of my great hall. Through it, I could see the sky outside, dense with thunderclouds. The second bolt of lightning was already gathering.
“It couldn’t strike earlier or later?” A surge of irritation rose in my chest. With a flick of my sleeve, I sent a counterattack toward the sky. “You’re deliberately trying to make me miserable, aren’t you?”
My immortal energy clashed with the descending lightning, illuminating the heavens and earth. From below, I heard the startled cries of disciples rushing up the mountain.
I stepped outside, instructing the disciples to enter the great hall and guard the seal on the source of malevolent energy. Meanwhile, I went to the Ling Xu Cave and set up a barrier, bracing myself for the relentless strikes of lightning.
The mountain peak above the Ling Xu Cave was gradually leveled by the successive strikes of lightning. When the final bolt struck me, I no longer bothered to shield my flesh, focusing entirely on protecting my inner core.
The agony of the tribulation exceeded anything I had ever endured. It was as if I were being flayed and torn apart, and yet, amidst the searing pain, my mind wandered to thoughts of my disciples.
Though all three of them had caused me no end of frustration, I couldn’t deny that they had also brought me moments of joy. And of the three, my thoughts lingered most on Qian Gu—my first disciple, the one who…
…had loved his master the most.
A sudden thought came to me: if I somehow survived this tribulation, perhaps I should seek out Qian Gu. I would undo the curse I had placed on him and bring him back to Kong Ling Mountain. I would guide him, help him return to the immortal path, and we could guard the mountain together. Perhaps I could even…
…relate to him in a different way.
But before I could dwell further on the thought, the final bolt of lightning struck, and my consciousness began to fade.
In that haze, I seemed to hear a voice, raw with anguish and pain, crying out again and again:
“Master! Master! Master…”
I thought to myself, Perhaps I didn’t survive the tribulation after all.
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