Do you want a lifetime of peace, or a great upheaval

"Save me?"

Hearing this, Bingxuanzi said coldly, "What is there to save about me? Besides, you greenhorn, although you have extraordinary talent and astonishing potential, you are merely at the Foundation Establishment realm. What makes you think you can save me?"

Ye Shu wasn't annoyed by this.

"You are a great Soul Formation cultivator, known as a martial fanatic. Now that your cultivation is sealed and you are down and out, you don't dare return to the Taiwu Imperial City to find a solution. Instead, you hide in this desolate desert because you are afraid. Afraid of being mocked by your former rivals and ridiculed by old acquaintances."

"And what you fear even more is going back and being beaten to death like a dog!"

"Bullshit!"

Bingxuanzi shouted coldly, the temperature around him plummeting.

Ye Shu remained unmoved and continued.

"You are unwilling to return to the Taiwu Imperial City, and you don't dare face Medusa again. You can only hide here, day after day, year after year, wasting your life and idling away your time, replaying that past battle in your head over and over again."

"You would think,"

"'If I had done this, would I have won? If I had done that, would my cultivation not have been sealed? How great would it have been if I had just died directly in the Snake-people tribe.' But all of this just turns into a sorrowful sigh, sighing over why you ever went to challenge Medusa in the first place."

"Bullshit!!!"

Bingxuanzi roared in anger, pointing at Ye Shu and cursing.

"I have lived my whole life with a clear conscience! I have never blamed the heavens or other people, much less regretted a single thing!"

"Then why are you still here?"

Ye Shu spoke lightly, his voice flat.

"Why haven't you returned to the Taiwu Imperial City? Why haven't you gone to the Snake-people tribe to fight again?"

"Is the scenery of this desolate Gobi Desert too beautiful?"

"Is the midsummer sunlight too warm?"

"Or is the sand brought by the sandstorms too charming?"

"Or do you and the lizards in this sand have some unspeakable love story? They refuse to leave, and you bitterly stay by their side."

"I..."

For a moment, Bingxuanzi was choked up, unable to speak.

Yes, he really didn't dare to go back. When he first entered the Soul Formation realm, he was young and aggressive, offending countless sects. Now that his cultivation was sealed, going back meant he would surely be chewed up and swallowed by those people.

But having it exposed by a junior...

It made him lose face somewhat.

"What does this have to do with you?"

Bingxuanzi said coldly.

"You don't think that just by saying a few words, I'll have a great epiphany and bow down to you, do you?"

"What exactly is your purpose?"

"I am going to the holy city of the Snake-people tribe." Ye Shu didn't hide anything and spoke bluntly.

"Why?"

"The Green Lotus Heavenly Flame."

Ye Shu slowly said, "Medusa has the Green Lotus Heavenly Flame, and I need it to fulfill a promise."

Hearing this, Bingxuanzi couldn't help but burst into loud laughter.

"A mere Foundation Establishment brat like you is going to snatch the Green Lotus Heavenly Flame? Do you know how rare a Heavenly Flame is? It is definitely locked away in the most secretive and precious treasury of the Snake-people tribe by Medusa."

"Even at my peak, I was not her match."

"What gives you the right?"

"With your meager martial skills?"

Mocked like this, Ye Shu wasn't angry, merely stating lightly, "This is the difference between you and me."

"When your opponent is stronger than you, when you feel there is no hope, you don't dare to act. You only dare to suppress others with your cultivation. You consider yourself a martial fanatic, but which of your battles didn't you have bottom-line confidence in? Even when fighting above your realm, you always had some assurance. Have you ever faced a truly invincible opponent?"

"You fell to the Golden Core realm, so you cower in a corner."

"How pathetic is that?"

"Heh, nicely said."

Bingxuanzi just sneered. "Ignorant brat, having never seen the brilliance of the bright moon, you merely talk on paper, believing there are no heroes in the world. If I weren't down and out today, would you even be able to catch a glimpse of me?"

"Having never seen the heroes of the world is like having a leaf blocking your view."

"If you saw my true form, it would be like an ancient ape gaining intelligence."

"Not seeing a Soul Formation expert is like..."

Once Bingxuanzi opened his mouth, he spoke eloquently, pouring out ancient texts, completely confusing Ye Shu, who had just managed to act cultured.

He had wanted to show off his literary skills to act cool.

But it turned out this old bastard had actually read some books.

And was spouting things much more cultured than him.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

He quickly raised a hand to interrupt, throwing out a Record Stone.

"Stop with the damn ancient text, I don't understand it. You desert caveman, you haven't even seen what's going crazy out there."

Bingxuanzi, who was still talking endlessly, took the Record Stone and looked, his expression instantly changing.

He was far too familiar with the person inside.

The Sect Master of the Yunxiao Sect—Feng Mengli.

"The other person in here is you?"

"Does it not look like me?"

"This..."

Bingxuanzi was shocked in his heart, but his face remained impassive.

"You're alive, so Feng Mengli is dead?"

"Not sure. I chopped off her head, but there's a high probability she had some kind of substitute magical treasure and escaped." Ye Shu didn't even blink when he said this, his expression as calm as if he had just eaten a dozen small bread rolls.

"..."

Bingxuanzi held the Record Stone and remained silent for a while.

Of course, he didn't believe that Feng Mengli could be killed by this kid, but for a mere Qi Condensation brat to escape from a peak Soul Formation expert... even he asked himself and knew he couldn't do it.

And this kid now wanted to trespass into the holy land of the Snake-people tribe.

Should he say he was courting death?

Or that he was bold?

"You said you are getting the Green Lotus Heavenly Flame to fulfill a promise. What promise?" Bingxuanzi, holding the Record Stone, suddenly asked.

"I need to use three Heavenly Flames to refine a pill to save my wife."

Ye Shu said lightly.

So he was a hopeless romantic.

Bingxuanzi's heart wavered as he suddenly remembered an incident from his youth. Back then, he was young and frivolous, at the height of his popularity, wanting to venture out into the martial world.

He had promised to return home at thirty, but when they met again...

He only saw a pink skeleton.

He gripped the Record Stone, his eyes no longer holding any hostility.

"Why should I help you?"

"I can help you restore your cultivation..." Ye Shu said, while recalling the tropes he had read before, and asking in his mind, "Master, if it's just refining a pill to temporarily restore Bingxuanzi, can we do it right now?"

"Just temporarily breaking the seal should be possible."

"However, with the materials currently available on the market, it will last an hour at most."

"Alright."

Ye Shu nodded and then continued:

"I can refine a pill that breaks your seal, but it will only last for an hour. If we succeed this time, I will find a way to help you fully recover."

"An hour?"

Bingxuanzi frowned and cursed under his breath:

"What the hell use is an hour!"

"A cultivator's life is very, very long, seeking the Great Dao and pursuing immortality. But a cultivator's life is also very, very short, so short that the brilliant moments are but a few fleeting instants."

Ye Shu stared into Bingxuanzi's eyes, enunciating every word clearly:

"Do you want to spend the rest of your life here achieving nothing, wasting away your years making fucking shaved ice for others, or do you want to come with me and be an hour-long firework, blowing this world completely upside down?"