"Disciple Bai Shengyi, thank you Master for your teachings!"
Returning to her senses, Bai Shengyi made a decision and bowed respectfully to the spot where Sun Ying had previously sat by the chessboard.
She recalled Sun Ying's parting words on the letter and added, "Disciple will continue to perfect the Chunhong Swordplay from now on, and will slay those two sneak-attacking scoundrels for Master!"
Although the Chunhong Swordplay was incomplete, and according to Sun Ying, she herself had only created two-thirds of it, with the remaining one-third needing Bai Shengyi to explore it herself, Bai Shengyi accepted Sun Ying's kindness!
Shortly after Bai Shengyi finished speaking, the space constructed from Sun Ying's fragmented memories let out a crisp cracking sound.
"Crack..."
The surrounding space fissured inch by inch. Before the space vanished, the previously disappeared Buddhist cultivator reappeared, collected the chessboard, and turned to leave.
"If Lord Sun knew this outcome, he would surely be even happier," the Buddhist cultivator murmured, "Amitabha..."
Perhaps it was due to Sun Ying and the Buddhist cultivator that the Lingxi Jade Bangle had lost its function.
Now that the space had shattered, the winding path reappeared before Bai Shengyi. On the Lingxi Jade Bangle, Qin Si's light dot was rapidly approaching Bai Shengyi's location.
However, Qin Si soon stopped as if he had discovered something.
Bai Shengyi peered closely and saw that the direction was none other than Mount Wutai. Recalling Sun Ying's words, she hurried forward.
The reason the Path of Utter Abandonment was so mysterious was that it was a winding path with an unknown future, from which countless branching paths emerged.
Some of these branching paths changed location, while others were fixed. Despite the endless variations, cultivators of the Divine Abandoned Continent had, over the years, managed to record information about five of these branching paths.
One of these was Mount Wutai.
Beside the path leading to Mount Wutai stood several miniature mountains, each about half a person's height, all possessing anthropomorphic emotions – some smiling, some foolish, some angry... These features were very distinct, but with so many branching paths, Bai Shengyi had to put in considerable effort to find the right one.
"Qin Si?"
Bai Shengyi frowned slightly. Qin Si's light dot was right beside her, so why couldn't she see him? Was there a barrier here as well?
"Hiss..."
In the brief moment of distraction, Bai Shengyi's arm was grazed by a bloody mark.
This world seemed like a glass bottle that had shattered and been poorly pieced back together, with turbulence and fissures appearing everywhere. Bai Shengyi had no choice but to gather her wits to deal with it.
At the same time, in another area just ten meters away from Bai Shengyi.
The illusion here was even more severe than Bai Shengyi's. Turbulence swirled like a dense gale, and a dark, pitch-black gap, two people wide, had appeared in the sky. Space overlapped and pulled, making the entire area seem precarious.
Qin Si, holding a man in white whose upper body was half-immersed in the gap with his left hand, planted his sword in the ground with his right. The wind blades and spatial rifts tore at his hand bones, leaving them bloody and mangled in a short while.
The man in white said helplessly, "Your Highness the Underworld King, I truly am crossing this rift of my own volition. Please stop holding onto me."
Qin Si's phoenix eyes were cold and indifferent. If he weren't truly saving someone, one might mistake his gaze for a desire to kill.
"A'yi came to the Path of Utter Abandonment herself despite the danger to find you, and you just abandon her and leave? Are you worthy of her?"
Whenever Qin Si thought of what he had coincidentally witnessed, he couldn't help but feel that Bai Shengyi was wronged.
Bai Shengyi had always worried about Bai Qingjiang encountering danger, but Bai Qingjiang was actually creating danger for himself.
It was unclear how Bai Qingjiang had managed it, but he had broken through the barrier between the Divine Revelation Continent and the outer continents. Of course, Bai Qingjiang himself was also left with only half a life.
When Qin Si arrived, Bai Qingjiang, barely clinging to life, was trying to crawl into the dark, gaping hole.
Qin Si's assessment was cutting: "You are truly not a competent father."
Bai Qingjiang, the man in white, who was seriously injured and half-dead, showed no change in his expression. However, upon hearing Qin Si's words, his face turned pale, and he fell silent.
He was unaware that Bai Shengyi was not far from him, nor did he know of Bai Shengyi's relationship with Qin Si. However, as someone who had been through life, he saw the tenderness in Qin Si's eyes when he mentioned Bai Shengyi and suddenly understood something.
"Yes, I am incompetent. I have failed my precious child."
"You..."
Qin Si was wondering if his tone had been too harsh when his left hand suddenly went numb and lost its grip uncontrollably.
"Bai Qingjiang!" Qin Si exclaimed his name in anger!
"Since Your Highness the Underworld King knows my precious child, please convey a message to her for me: I am sorry, I love her, but I must go find her mother."
In less than half a breath, Bai Qingjiang's figure completely disappeared into the gap, his last words echoing within it.
The turbulence, with the force of thunder, surged towards Qin Si. Qin Si drew his sword with a grim expression and coolly cleaved it apart.
Damn it!
If not for A'yi, he wouldn't have bothered with Bai Qingjiang's life! But it was also fortunate that he had encountered Bai Qingjiang, otherwise, Bai Qingjiang's words would have been so cruel to A'yi.
Did Bai Qingjiang truly know what A'yi had gone through in his absence? Did he know how the Bai family treated A'yi? Did he know how dangerous it was to come to the Path of Utter Abandonment?
Yes, he was going to find A'yi's mother, but was A'yi, as the child of both of them, deserved to be owed and abandoned?
If parents cannot take good care of their children, why have children in the first place?
Qin Si rarely got so angry at a stranger.
"Bang!"
Qin Si crudely repaired the shattered continental barrier before forcefully piercing the space that had sealed it with his sword. He tore open a passage large enough for one person to pass through with his hands along the rift and walked out coldly.
Outside, Bai Shengyi was locked in a fierce battle with a woman.
Just moments ago, while searching for Qin Si, this woman had appeared silently and attacked her directly with her sword. If not for her quick reaction, her arm might have been severed.
The woman's identity surprised Bai Shengyi greatly, but at this moment, Bai Shengyi dared not be distracted, as the figure in black robes behind the woman made her even more wary.
The black-robed figure's aura was almost nonexistent, with no fluctuations whatsoever, yet Bai Shengyi had instantly guessed his identity.
"Daoist Shancheng went to such lengths just to lure me here?" Bai Shengyi snorted, "And I actually thought you were a close friend of my father!"
The person entirely cloaked in black robes was not surprised at Bai Shengyi guessing his identity. He simply removed his hat, revealing a plain and harmless face.
He smiled faintly, as if Bai Shengyi were not his target, but truly the daughter of his friend, his voice carrying the indulgent warmth of an elder, "Little niece, if I were not your father's friend, how would the Bai family trust me?"
"I heard that cultivators who come to the Path of Utter Abandonment are prepared to die. Little niece, are you ready? You know, for the... Huh? I didn't expect someone to be here." Sensing someone approaching, Daoist Shancheng frowned.
However, he quickly regained his calm expression. "Oh? Just a young lad, that's no matter. Little niece, it seems heaven is helping me today. Let me deal with this blind youngster first, then I'll come to admire your dying struggle."
As he spoke, he flashed and blocked Qin Si, who had just emerged, and threatened, "Boy, if you know what's good for you, hurry and leave..."
Before he could finish speaking, Qin Si punched him in the face!
"You court death!"
Qin Si swung his sword again, quickly freezing Daoist Shancheng with frost before darting towards Bai Shengyi.
Bai Shengyi was engaged in a fight with a woman nearby. Although not in mortal danger, for some reason, she seemed to be suppressed, and her counterattacks were strenuous.
"Sun Mingyu?"
Qin Si, upon seeing the woman's appearance, couldn't help but be startled.