Senior sister, stop working and go home for dinner.

Chapter 350 The Price of Protection

A professional novel website offering the most comfortable reading experience.

Lu Kong didn't answer, but instead walked to the other side of the stone chamber. There was a seemingly ordinary stone wall there, with intricate cloud patterns carved on it. He stretched out his hand, placed his five fingers on the center of the cloud patterns, and without using any spiritual power, simply pushed it gently.

The stone wall silently slid inward, revealing another passage.

This passage was different from the one we had come through; it was narrower, deeper, and without any ever-burning lights. Only at the end of the passage, a faint halo of light shone through, a dark red halo like congealed blood or a dying ember, flickering in the thick fog.

An indescribable aura wafted over from the end of the passage.

That wasn't spiritual energy, nor was it malevolent energy. It was something much older, much heavier, as if it had condensed endless years and sacrifices... "Intent".

Chen Anran's heart skipped a beat.

He smelled blood.

It wasn't the smell of fresh blood, but rather a mellow, concentrated, dark scent of blood that seemed to have become one with the rocks and soil.

"Those blood beads..." Wei Qingyi hesitated for a moment, then took out the thousand-year-old peach wood sword that Chen Anran had given her from the space ring that she always wore on her finger.

Upon seeing this, Feng Xiaolu said, "Second Senior Sister, you..."

Wei Qingyi did not answer.

Chen Anran and the others also saw it, but none of them said anything.

The passage is short, only a dozen or so steps.

At the end was a small, round stone chamber, much smaller than the study outside. In the center of the chamber was a sunken pool.

The pool is not filled with water.

Instead, it was thick, dark red, almost black blood that couldn't be dissolved.

The blood pool wasn't large, only about ten feet in diameter and half a person's depth. Its surface was calm and still, like a dark red mirror. But the blood wasn't inanimate; it flowed and swirled slowly, extremely slowly, as if it had a life of its own. The pool's edge was covered with densely packed, intricate runes, so complex they were dizzying to look at. These runes were deeply embedded in the stone, displaying a dark gold color, and were now flickering faintly with the flow of the blood.

Above the blood pool, from the dome of the stone chamber, hung countless thin, almost transparent "lines." These lines, densely packed and numbering in the thousands, extended down from the dome, their other ends disappearing into the blood pool, as if drawing something from it.

Most chillingly, a person sat cross-legged beside the pool of blood.

Su Wan.

She sat upright, her back to the entrance and facing the pool of blood. She was still wearing that simple, elegant long dress, her long hair cascading down her back, the ends almost touching the ground. Her figure was slender and serene, forming a shocking contrast with the eerie and bloody scene.

Before her, on the stone platform at the edge of the blood pool, were nearly a hundred... blood beads neatly arranged.

Those blood beads, formed from the lives of nearly a hundred cultivators, flew from the plaza. They varied in size, were dark red in color, and had slightly wriggling surfaces, radiating residual spiritual energy and life force. At this moment, they were displayed here like the most devout offerings.

Hearing footsteps, Su Wan slowly turned her head.

Her face was still the same as they knew. Her brows and eyes were gentle, her skin was as white as jade, and her lips naturally held a slight curve. However, those eyes, which were always full of gentle smiles, now had blood-red pupils.

She looked at Chen Anran, then at Wei Qingyi, then at Feng Xiaolu, her gaze sweeping over them one by one, before finally speaking softly:

"You've arrived."

The voice was still the same, gentle and soft, as if it were just an ordinary day, calling them to eat at the kitchen door.

But in this situation, this ordinary tone of voice instantly brought tears to Feng Xiaolu's eyes.

"Senior Sister..." Feng Xiaolu's voice was choked with sobs. She rushed forward two steps, but then suddenly stopped, looking at Su Wan, then at the pool full of blood and the strange blood droplets. Her face was a mixture of fear, confusion, and an unbearable attachment. "What... what's going on? This blood... those people... is it really you..."

Su Wan's gaze fell on Feng Xiaolu's face, and a very faint ripple seemed to appear in her calm eyes, but it quickly subsided.

She didn't answer Feng Xiaolu's question, but looked at Chen Anran instead.

"Junior Brother," she called softly, "do you still remember what Master said to you before he passed away?"

Chen Anran felt as if his heart was being clenched by an icy hand. He met Su Wan's gaze and slowly nodded.

"I remember," he said. "My master said... the legacy of the Cloud Hidden Sect lies not in magic or supernatural powers, but in 'protection.' Protect this mountain, protect the people on the mountain, protect... the 'common sense' of people's hearts."

"The 'common sense' that protects people's hearts." Su Wan repeated, "Then An Ran, do you know what 'common sense' is?"

Before Chen Anran could answer, she turned her gaze to the slowly rotating pool of blood, her voice like a dream:

"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural order. Spring sowing and autumn harvest are the natural order. Sunrise and sunset are the natural order. Parents are kind, children are filial, husbands and wives are harmonious, friends are trustworthy... these are all the natural order."

"Cultivation, on the other hand, is going against the will of Heaven, seizing the creation of Heaven and Earth to prolong one's life and strengthen one's body. Foundation Establishment can extend one's life by three hundred years, Golden Core by eight hundred years, Nascent Soul by three thousand years... If one reaches the Deity Transformation, Void Refinement, or even higher, one will live as long as Heaven and Earth and shine as brightly as the sun and moon."

"But the spiritual energy, resources, and even... 'vitality' of this world are finite."

Her voice was soft, yet every word struck like a hammer blow to everyone's heart.

"How many mortal paths must be devoured for the rise of an immortal path? Behind every immortal being lie the withered bones of countless short-lived beings? How much spiritual energy, which should nourish all things, must be plundered for a single breakthrough in cultivation?"

"I have seen countless beings in a world refined into blood pills by a powerful being, just to extend their lives by a hundred years; I have seen a vibrant star shattered and torn apart by a struggle for 'celestial destiny'; I have seen a glorious civilization lose its color and wither away due to the excessive absorption of spiritual energy, ultimately returning to eternal annihilation."

Su Wan turned her face and looked at Chen Anran again. In her eyes, a clear and discernible sadness and weariness accumulated over countless years finally appeared.

"The 'common sense' that Master speaks of is the common sense of mortals, the original order that this world should have. Cultivation, however, is the sharpest knife to break this order. While the blade may bring individual transcendence and brilliance, the price is the collapse of the 'common sense' of this world, and the endless game of plundering that billions of lives cannot choose or understand."

She raised her hand, her slender, pale fingers pointing to the beads of blood on the stone platform.

"Why have they come today? For the revenge of Zhang Tianshi? For the sake of righteousness? No, they are after the 'furnace' qualities of the pure Yin body, and those magical treasures they have never seen but believe to be 'opportunities'. Why did He Qingyun kill his master? Why did Han Bailian fan the flames? All of them were driven by greed, magnified and distorted by the word 'cultivation,' ultimately extinguishing their humanity."

"Continuing down this path will only make this world more and more like those I've seen before... ruins filled with nothing but plunder, slaughter, betrayal, and despair."

The stone chamber was deathly silent.

Only the faint sound of the blood pool slowly rotating and the suppressed breathing of a few people could be heard.

Feng Xiaolu's tears finally rolled down her cheeks. She looked at Su Wan, shook her head, and murmured, "But...but Senior Sister, we're cultivating too...Master, you, me, Second Senior Sister, Junior Brother...aren't we all cultivators? Are we...are we wrong too?"

Wei Qingyi, who had been silent all along, raised the peach wood sword in her hand, the tip of the sword pointing directly at Su Wan.

"Third Junior Sister is right, so you are wrong, Eldest Senior Sister."