Chapter 921: Upper Door

Wang Mingren sighed softly and flew into the distance.

Lu Yuhuan stepped into a cave, preparing to perform the Soul Revival Art to resurrect Chen Yang.

According to Wang Mingren, there were many resurrection spells, but most had significant limitations and drawbacks. The Soul Return Art and the Soul Revival Art were the two most widely known. The Soul Return Art involved factors like spiritual root attributes, birth time, time of death, and whether there was any injustice. Even the slightest error would cause the spell to fail.

The Soul Revival Art had even stricter requirements. The caster's cultivation level could only be higher than the target's. The higher the target's cultivation level in life, the lower the success rate. Regardless of success or failure, the caster would drop one major cultivation realm.

The Soul Return Art required a complete Nascent Soul, but Chen Yang had been dead for many years, and his Nascent Soul had long since dispersed. Therefore, Lu Yuhuan could only attempt the Soul Revival Art.

Three days later, at exactly 1:45 PM, when the Yang energy was at its peak.

Wang Mingren stood atop a high peak, gazing at the cave where Lu Yuhuan was.

Inside the cave, Lu Yuhuan sat cross-legged on the ground, with Chen Yang's body laid out before her. Nine lotus lamps, lit around them, encircled them.

"Husband, I must save you. If I cannot, I will join you. We swore to be together in life and death."

Lu Yuhuan's gaze was resolute. She and Chen Yang had joined the sect at the same time, and Chen Yang had always taken good care of her. They loved each other deeply, supported each other, and both advanced to the Core Formation stage. On their wedding day, they had both sworn to be together in life and death.

After Chen Yang's death, Lu Yuhuan had clung to life solely to avenge him. To increase the chances of resurrecting Chen Yang, she had even knelt and kowtowed to a fellow disciple who admired her, offering to serve them like an ox or horse for ten years, all just to obtain the Soul Revival Pill. The contribution points required for the pill were so high that she couldn't accumulate them in ten years.

The disciple had used the Soul Revival Pill as leverage to force her into marriage. As if that wasn't enough, the disciple repeatedly behaved inappropriately towards her. Having no other choice, Lu Yuhuan, with nothing left to lose, killed the disciple and seized the Soul Revival Pill.

If given another chance, she would still do the same.

She took out a white porcelain bottle, poured out a pale golden pill, and placed it into Chen Yang's mouth, mumbling incantations.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, fierce winds began to howl, the sky changed color, and a massive dark cloud appeared above the island, accompanied by gusts of chilling wind.

Wang Mingren stood far away, his expression solemn.

The dark cloud enveloped the entire island, casting it into gloom and emanating an oppressive aura.

A rumble!

A tremendous peal of thunder echoed, and faint silver lightning flickered within the dark cloud. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and winds swirled, creating an apocalyptic scene.

The seawater around the island churned violently, with waves splashing several feet high.

Another immense thunderclap sounded, and a thick silver bolt of lightning streaked from the dark cloud, striking the cave where Lu Yuhuan was. Countless golden specks of light appeared out of thin air.

Wang Mingren's heart tightened, and a hint of worry appeared in his eyes. To be honest, he hoped Lu Yuhuan would succeed in her spell.

The dense golden specks of light surged towards Lu Yuhuan's cave, as if guided by an unseen force.

An hour later, the dark cloud churned, and over a dozen thick silver lightning bolts shot out, striking downwards.

The lightning bolts struck the peaks, instantly creating large craters.

The dark cloud churned violently, then slowly dissipated, and the golden specks of light also vanished.

Wang Mingren transformed into a streak of light and flew towards Lu Yuhuan's cave.

Lu Yuhuan sat slumped on the ground, holding Chen Yang's body in her arms. Her expression was blank, and her aura was weak. The nine lotus lamps around her were all extinguished, clearly indicating the spell had failed.

Lu Yuhuan's cultivation had plummeted to the Foundation Establishment stage, and recovering her previous cultivation would be extremely difficult.

Wang Mingren sighed deeply. Resurrection spells inherently had low success rates; otherwise, the cultivation world would have long since fallen into chaos, with powerful cultivators simply being revived upon death.

"Senior Sister Lu, don't be too sad. The success rate of the Soul Revival Art is inherently low."

Wang Mingren offered words of comfort.

Lu Yuhuan wailed loudly, clutching Chen Yang's body tightly.

"Husband, we swore to be together in life and death. Wait for me; I'm coming to join you now."

Lu Yuhuan gently caressed Chen Yang's body, murmuring to herself.

She turned her head to look at Wang Mingren, giving a tragic smile. "Junior Brother Wang, thank you. My husband and I swore to be together in life and death. Since I can't save him, I'll go join him. Without him by my side, my life has no meaning. Take my head back as proof of your mission! You can keep my belongings. I only ask that you bury us together. Thank you."

With those words, she flipped her palm, and a shimmering red flying sword appeared in her hand. She plunged it into her own heart.

Thud!

The red flying sword pierced through Lu Yuhuan's heart. She collapsed into Chen Yang's embrace, blood streaming down the sword and staining the ground crimson.

Witnessing this scene, Wang Mingren felt a mix of emotions. After a long moment of contemplation, he let out a soft breath and murmured to himself, "Fine, I'll be willful just this one more time."

He removed Lu Yuhuan's storage bead bracelet, dug a large pit, and buried both Chen Yang and Lu Yuhuan.

"Senior Brother Chen, Senior Sister Lu, I hope you can be together in your next life. This is all I can do."

Wang Mingren spoke to himself, his expression complex.

If he were to bring Lu Yuhuan's head back to report his mission, it would undoubtedly be a great achievement. However, Wang Mingren admired Lu Yuhuan's devotion to Chen Yang. He could not bear to separate her body, hoping that they would remain together in their next lives.

After burying Chen Yang and his wife, Wang Mingren transformed into a streak of light and soared away. His journey to the South Sea had brought him many insights. First, Ye Lang had self-detonated to avenge his clan, harming his enemies. Then, Lu Yuhuan had sacrificed herself for love. One for family, one for love—both had willingly abandoned their paths of cultivation.

Was cultivation, then, truly just for eternal life?

***

East Barren, Yu Kingdom, Tang Family.

Tang Tianyou was four hundred years old, with a cultivation base at the eighth level of Core Formation. Few Tang family members who joined the Myriad Blossom Palace ever returned, making Tang Tianyou the de facto leader of the Tang family.

In a quiet courtyard, by a green stone pavilion, a young woman in a green dress, in her early thirties, sat within the pavilion. Tang Tianyou stood beside her, his expression respectful.

"Young friend Tang, I have matters to attend to at the Palace, so I must leave. Take care of yourself. Do you want me to bring anything to Senior Sister Tang for you?"

The young woman in the green dress spoke in a calm tone.

Tang Tianyou dared not be negligent. The young woman's surname was Shangguan, and her given name was Qing. She was a newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator from the Myriad Blossom Palace. Shangguan Qing and the Tang family's Nascent Soul cultivators belonged to the same faction and had close dealings.

"No, thank you for your kindness, Senior Shangguan."

No sooner had Tang Tianyou finished speaking than a sharp, urgent whistle sounded. Tang Tianyou frowned slightly; generally, his clansmen wouldn't disturb him unless it was something significant.

"It's fine. See what it is. If you encounter any trouble you can't resolve, I can help you with it."

Tang Tianyou thanked her, took out a communication plate, and channeled a spell into it. A rather grave male voice immediately rang out: "Seventh Brother, two Core Formation cultivators from the Wang family are here, both at the ninth level of Core Formation."