True despair, they knew, was far more than just the painful memories transmitted from the avatars.
Li Wei pressed forward relentlessly, sneering.
"If that weren't the case, why have you never dared to enter the Tian Xing Cultivator Abode your entire life?
It's because that old ghost Baimei wouldn't allow it!
He entered your Abode, he seized your soul!
The Tian Xing Cultivator Abode was never your core; it was merely the place where your memories were sealed.
It was also the hidden card that old ghost Baimeie used to take everything from you!"
"Your core," Li Wei continued, "is at that old ghost Baimei's side. That is your true, reincarnated body, Tian Xing! Your divine soul was split in two.
Your primary soul... is the disciple that old ghost Baimei has doted on for the last ten thousand years—Ah Xiu!"
"Hahaha, you are nothing but a blade," Li Wei's voice continued, filled with mockery.
"Your memories were altered by that old ghost Baimei.
He was afraid his unconscionable acts would attract the attention of the Azure Dynasty's powerful experts, so he used you!
He had you spread your avatars across the world, had you lay down your spiritual arrays in every corner of the land to absorb the life essence of the common people and cultivate a hundred different Rules and Domains!"
"So what if you had succeeded? Everything you achieved would have just been taken by that old ghost, Baimei.
In the end, he would have brought you into the Tian Xing Cultivator Abode.
He controls Ah Xiu, and by devouring Ah Xiu, he would have devoured you as well!"
"The world would only ever know that you, Tian Xing, were executed by the old ghost Baimei, who righteously placed justice above his own kin.
No one would ever know that he had simply used his disciple to obtain everything!"
Li Wei's words completely shattered Tian Xing's inner defenses.
It drove Tian Xing to tear at his hair like a madman.
Everything the Li family's Old Ancestor had said... it was all true!
He remembered everything now. How utterly laughable he had been. With his myriad avatars, he had remained safe and sound within the Eternal Sun Prefecture.
He had treated the Prefecture as his safest haven because the world believed he and Venerable Elder Baimei were wary of one another.
But no one knew that Venerable Elder Baimei had been in contact with him all along, secretly plotting with him to ascend the Great Dao together.
He had even willingly promised his Master to gift him half of all his gains.
His Master was his confidant, the one who led him on the path!
But now he knew. This had never been a warm haven; it was a complete and utter sham, a man-eating demon's den!
"No, this isn't real! It's not real!"
He cried out, yet Tian Xing tightly gripped the Old Tree's root, piercing his abdomen.
Incredibly... he began to pour all of his own power into that root. The man he was now, so consumed by despair, wished only for death!
His worldview was collapsing, his faith shattering!
Suddenly, He raised his head in a daze and looked at Li Wei.
That Tree... it was only absorbing his power, yet it was simultaneously using life force to sustain his vitality.
Clearly... those other avatars were enough to allow the Li family to continue siphoning the essence Qi from across the world.
The black-misted figure sneered.
"You want to die?!! Hahaha! How ridiculous! You want to die?!! No. You don't get to die. I want you to live.
I'm telling you the truth precisely so that every single moment, you can remember everything, that the Great Dao you pursued was all for nothing, that your life's work was a complete sham.
I want you to live and endure eternal torment!"
"Kill me! I'm begging you, kill me!!!"
Self-detonation? Useless. The Old Tree had sealed all his power.
Bite off his own tongue and die? That would only bring more pain. The Old Tree's power could grow flesh on bare bones!
All the Li family members watched as Tian Xing wailed in agony.
Even the most hateful people have their pitiable aspects, but no matter what, the Li family would never forget that day.
Tian Xing had sent his avatars storming into Merit City, slaughtering their descendants and forcing them to wander as fugitives for nearly two hundred years.
Such suffering had to be repaid by Tian Xing for all eternity. As long as he suffered, that was enough!
Li Wei paid no more heed to the screaming Tian Xing on the ground below.
He and the other Li family members continued to ascend into the sky.
Thunder roared, it was the lightning tribulation being welcomed by the Li family disciples who had just emerged from the Tian Xing Cultivator Abode!
They were seizing everything that belonged to Tian Xing.
The Li family of today knew only one thing: only with absolute power could they prevent the tragedies of the past from ever reoccurring.
With absolute power, they could shatter any and all illusions!
To rise, to continue rising, to ascend the Great Dao that reaches the very heavens, so that the Li family would never again be deceived by the world!
Gazing at the crimson moon that seemed to float at his shoulder, with the Li family members held aloft behind him by the Old Tree, Li Wei slowly lowered his head.
He looked down at the wailing Tian Xing on the ground. The Li family of today now stood above Tian Xing.
He murmured, "Actually, there's something I haven't told you. At the same time that old ghost Baimei seized your divine soul and cultivation techniques, you also left behind a hidden card of your own."
"It was your own redemption. It was what caused the Tian Xing Cultivator Abode to open, an attempt to let those who came after know the truth and stop Baimei. A pity..."
"I will not allow you to remember this," he said.
A spirit tablet rose, and from it, the soul form of Li Yaowen appeared, her eyes glowing with red light.
"Ancestor," she reported, "I have found Baimei. The fate technique is complete; for all eternity, he will never be able to escape my sight. As long as this child informs the Grand Tutor and the Imperial Preceptor of his location, he is certain to die."
"I want him to live," Li Wei commanded. "He should die at the hands of our Li family."
Li Wei spoke with a calm voice. Li Yaowen nodded deeply in agreement, and the spirit tablet containing her soul was wrapped by the vines of the Old Tree.
Before the crimson moon, the Li family members were immersed in the essence Qi of the world.
"Today, our sworn enemy has fallen into our clan's hands," he declared. "So let our clan now ascend to the very peak of Eternal Sun Prefecture!"
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