**Chapter 571: Don’t Talk Like We’re About to Kick the Bucket in the Next Episode**
“Communication is completely cut off, huh…”
Luo Qianqian muttered to herself as she eyed the jade pendant in her hand that had turned a dull shade and sported several cracks. Ever since her other self made her the sole Luo Qianqian to live on, there hadn’t been any contact, and now, even the pendant that symbolized her connection to her other self was starting to fall apart. This meant they were truly out of touch.
“What on earth does she want?”
Luo Qianqian propped her chin up with one hand, gazing at the expanding cracks on the pendant, estimating that in a few days it would shatter completely.
Although she had no clue what her other self was up to, one thing was for sure: that other self wanted to sever their bond entirely, and she had succeeded.
“Forget it, I won’t think about it anymore.”
She flopped onto her desk like a deflating balloon. Since she had decided to live as the only Luo Qianqian, she might as well live well!
With that thought, she pushed herself up and grabbed a pile of books piled high beside her. “This is my first venture into independent array research, and I have to leave a good impression on the teacher!”
Meanwhile…
The Hundred Faced Saintess glanced at the jade pendant in her hand, now riddled with cracks. In the next moment, she squeezed hard, and the pendant shattered into fragments, turning to dust that the wind whisked away, vanishing into thin air.
“Finally… ‘I’ can live the life I’ve always wanted.”
She stared at her empty palm and let out a slow sigh.
“But why her? Why not you or us?”
“Yeah, we also want to live that kind of life.”
In the flickering candlelight, her shadow seemed to come alive, whispering in her ear.
She looked down at her shadow, which was now back to normal as if her earlier hallucination had never happened. Staring at her shadow, she slowly opened her mouth, seeming to answer the shadow’s question while also responding to herself:
“Because I am the Hundred Faced Saintess, I am Qian Mian, and…I can’t live that kind of life.”
Choosing to sever all ties with Luo Qianqian was partly because, given her identity, she couldn’t live the life she desired. So, Luo Qianqian could only be Luo Qianqian; she could never be the Hundred Faced Saintess.
After answering, she couldn’t help but chuckle. “Who would’ve thought I would do something so silly one day?”
She had been protecting the ‘Luo Qianqian’ that offered her no help, even a potential weakness, only to ultimately separate and send her to the righteous Heavenly Sword Sect. Although her initial intent was to have ‘Luo Qianqian’ keep an eye on Bai Feng, she couldn’t deny that she had a desire to fulfill the wish that was almost stamped out. Ironically, it was Luo Qianqian, whom she had protected, who achieved that wish!
But… it was all worth it. Luo Qianqian wasn’t her but was her, as if she was living out a fantasy of what if she hadn’t been sent into the Demon Path by her parents but instead entered righteous cultivation.
Now, Luo Qianqian had given her the answer, just like… no, exactly like how she hadn’t been sent into the Demon Path but had instead entered righteous cultivation. No longer worrying about being eaten alive by others, no longer living in fear every day, and no longer having to k*ll and devour others just to survive.
“Ha! I’m getting all sentimental now.”
The Hundred Faced Saintess shook her head gently. Perhaps everyone gets this way while waiting for d*ath’s arrival?
She turned around to look at the statue behind her that looked exactly like her, except for the different attire. With a swift motion, she kicked it to pieces and promptly left the place.
After she departed, the statue’s fragments began to come together, reforming into the Hundred Faced Saintess, and this time, the outfit bore more resemblance to hers.
…
“Finally done!”
Bai Feng stretched his arms and yawned after a long stretch of overtime—he had finally modified the Enlightenment Array successfully!
The core modifications revolved around three things—reducing the number of practitioners, extending the cultivation time, and allowing for temporary pause of the array.
Now, a bunch of people wouldn’t be crammed together to cultivate, and he could finally get a breather.
After finishing, he glanced at the system and found that it was still absorbing.
“How long is this going to take? Is the Heavenly Path’s absorption of an Immortal’s Divine Consciousness really this slow?”
Bai Feng couldn’t help but grumble. However, he had no control over the system’s speed, and no matter how anxious he was, he could only continue waiting.
“Time to cultivate then; I suppose I should test the modified Enlightenment Array. But who should I get to help with the testing…”
After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly noticed Yun Yue Yao sneakily pushing the door open and stepping in.
“What are you up to?”
“Hehe, I had a sudden feeling that something good was about to happen, so I came to check it out,” Yun Yue Yao replied, briskly walking over and slipping into his embrace when spotted.
Bai Feng ruffled her hair. “Well, you’re quite right! Something good is indeed happening.”
“Oh? Really? Something good?” Yun Yue Yao blinked in surprise, then shyly smiled at his curious gaze. “I just came up with a random excuse, but since you’ve been busy lately and haven’t visited much, I thought I’d come over to recharge some Bai Feng energy.”
“… Am I a power bank now?” Bai Feng retorted playfully. “But if you’re in need of energy, I just happen to have a test for you to help with.”
“What’s that?”
“I modified the Enlightenment Array a bit; now, we don’t need to cram in a bunch of people, and we can pause the array midway,” Bai Feng explained. “But I haven’t tested it yet, and I was just thinking about who would be good for that.”
“Okay, okay.” Yun Yue Yao nodded eagerly. “So where’s the array?”
“In the next room.”
“Time’s a-wasting! Let’s get started!”
Yun Yue Yao grabbed Bai Feng’s arm and dashed towards the next room, making it seem like he was the one being dragged to help with testing.
“…”
Several hours later.
Bai Feng raised his hand to pause the array and examined the consumption of celestial energy, nodding slightly. “Looks like the modifications worked pretty well.”
After his tweaking, the celestial energy consumption had significantly decreased. Plus, considering dual cultivation, since only two to three people entered at a time, the efficiency actually improved. No longer would it be a case of some CPUs having one core in trouble while the other cores just watched idly.
“Wow, the energy is overflowing so much, it’s about to spill out… no, it’s already spilling out.”
Bai Feng felt somewhat helpless as he pinched Yun Yue Yao’s cheek upon hearing her words, which seemed to hold another meaning. “Let’s see you act all high and mighty after this!”
“I can’t help it! Being with you makes my heart race with excitement,” Yun Yue Yao exclaimed, unfazed, as she wrapped her arms around him. “Even after all this time, it still feels like a dream.”
She tilted her head slightly, looking at Bai Feng with a smile at the corners of her mouth. “We can cultivate together, live together, and all the enemies that dare to disturb us have been defeated. It really feels like…”
“Don’t talk like we’re about to kick the bucket in the next episode,” Bai Feng interrupted with a hand over her mouth, “If you keep saying that, I might do something that won’t feel like a dream for you!”
“But I really do feel like I’m dreaming…” Yun Yue Yao blinked at Bai Feng, “I really need my dear to wake me from this ‘dream.’”
“…”
