Chapter 360: Let’s Clear the Tower Together, Young Maiden

　　“I indeed thought like that in the past.” Zhu Yao frowned. “Because from my perspective, Xue Yi did not do anything extremely vile. Though there were many people who came hunting him down and sought trouble with him, claiming that he’s an evil Deity, I did not see those acts with my own eyes. So it’s natural that I don’t resonate with them. Instead, as a weapon, Xue Yi did take care of me considerably well. Though his words were a little irritating, at the very least, he did not use me to attack his enemies.”

　　“Then why…” Yu Jin became even more confused. “If he leaves Lightning Divine Palace now, even if I don’t cause trouble for him, the various sects and clans may not let him off easily. It can be imagined just how hard his life will be. If you do this…”

　　“Then, from what you’re saying, I should let him stay and protect him under the Lightning Divine Palace’s name? After that, chase away or kill all those who are looking for him for trouble?”

　　Yu Jin frowned and did not reply.

　　“I understand Floor Master’s intentions. I indeed had thoughts of helping him in the beginning. Though we were together for merely a few days, we are still acquainted to a certain degree. If I simply left him to die, it will indeed hurt my conscience a little. That was why I didn’t stop great great grandmaster from bringing him here back then.” Zhu Yao sighed. “There was even that one moment when I thought that it would be great if we could have him stay in Lightning Divine Palace. That way, no one will be able to find him. However… If I do that, Xue Yi will still be Xue Yi, and no change would occur to him like this. The people that died in his hands cannot be revived, and the sins he had committed cannot be cleansed. There’s an even a possibly that it would worsen in the future, that more lives would die in his hands and he would become even worse than now. In that case, if I truly decide to help him, I will become the executioner that’s handing him the knife. With every blood he spills, half of it will be on me.”

　　“Xue Yi indeed did not do anything bad to me in any way, but he’s not a good person either.” Zhu Yao said solemnly. “At the very least, in the eyes of the various sects, and in the eyes of all the people hunting him down, he’s most likely an evil Deity whose hands are completely stained in blood. This point cannot be changed just because he treated me well. A wrong is a wrong. This cannot be changed even if the motive for doing the act is correct. This is the same as how a murderer’s sin cannot be removed just because he once saved someone. A rapist cannot be forgiven just because he truly loves his victim. Taking that Gold Deity from before as an example, he and his wife were innocent, yet Xue Yi killed his wife just for a single cave residence. Even if this matter doesn’t concern me, I don’t recognize his actions. Though the Divine Realm is built upon the law that strength reigns supreme, I feel that in this world, nothing is more important than life itself. Since he had actually done it, then he should shoulder the consequences.”

　　Yu Jin let out a long sigh. “You’re planning to hand him over to the sects and clans?”

　　“Nope!” Zhu Yao shook her head. “I’m not an attorney. I don’t have the authority to judge someone’s sins. And it’s not just me, this goes the same for the sects and clans as well. Xue Yi had done many bad things, but out of all of these Deities that had ascended, who could say that they had never done a single wrong? And which one among them do not have their hands stained with blood? They had all done the same once, so who could judge others on what’s right and wrong? Even those that came forward to hunt Xue Yi today might not be doing it for the sake of justice either.”

　　“Then, you…” Yu Jin was utterly confused.

　　“Let them tear up their own matters between themselves. Since neither side is good, then I might as well not bother myself with either side.”

　　“……”

　　“…”

　　“So, Floor Master, please release Xue Yi. I will not protect him or help him carry his debts of blood. Because I do not wish to become an accomplice. I will not hand him over to the sects either, because they do not have the authority to judge or punish others. If Xue Yi wants to hide, the sects might not be able to locate him either. If the sects truly have the intentions to hunt him down, they will have the ways to do so. Only time can tell everything, while I… will simply be myself.”

　　Yu Jin was stunned for a while. Suddenly, he laughed, and his laughter continued to grow louder. “Little little grand disciple, you… sure shock me quite a bit.” Taking the opportunity Yu Yan wasn’t here, he reached out his hand to stroke her head. For some reason, he could faintly see something that that could not be found in the entire Divine Realm, something known as an “untainted heart”. Though it was a little silly, it was unexpectedly something that could make people envious.

　　Zhu Yao awkwardly stepped aside and then slapped away his hand.

　　He did not mind either, and simply shook his head as he waved his hand to cast an art. In an instant, the heavy lightning clouds that surrounded Lightning Divine Palace scattered as one formation after another was released. Right at that moment, a blue figure turned into a ray of light and flew straight out.

　　It was Xue Yi.

　　“Haah, it seems like even if you want to save him, he seems eager to head out?” Yu Jin said smilingly. “Most likely, he would seek you out to avenge that ‘divine sword maiden’ or something. Even if that’s the case, will you still persist on staying your hand?”

　　“Who can tell the future? What I can do is simply hold on to this self of mine of this moment, and prevent it from being changed by this world.” Zhu Yao glanced at him and then suddenly smiled. With a joking tone, she said. “If everyone had held onto their own selves, maybe the world could have changed by now?”

　　“…” Yu Jin was stunned. Suddenly, he felt as if his heart quivering, as though the sun had appeared after the clouds had scattered.

　　Before he could even understand what this feeling was, the earth and heavens suddenly shook. The entire Lightning Divine Palace began to tremble. Rays after rays of blinding light appeared above its peak, instantly shining the entire floating mountain with a spectrum of colours.

　　“Lightning Divine Tower!” Yu Jin’s expression changed, and in an instant, his figure disappeared without a trace.

　　——————————————————

　　Zhu Yao was a little confused as well as she watched the sudden burst of strange light rays raining down. The light consisted of all sorts of colours.

　　This… Is the sky raining down rainbows?

　　The light did not have any offensive capabilities, and when bathed in it, she instead felt a comfortable and warm. Why did she find it a little familiar though? Before she could even ponder about it, she heard a light buzz. Her Life Artifact suddenly flew out on its own and circled around her. When she reached out her hand, it then returned to her grasp. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed a little excited.

　　“The light is coming from Lightning Divine Tower.” Her master walked out from the house as well. He looked at the sky and said. “An unforeseen event must have occurred. Wait for me here, don’t run off.”

　　“Wait!” Zhu Yao pulled onto her master. “Let’s go together.”

　　Yu Yan hesitated for a moment, before he finally decided to grab hold of his disciple and fly to the peak.

　　The moment they arrived, they were stunned by the tower in front of their eyes. The tower that was initially as clean and white as jade, was beginning to open up from the very bottom, as though a layer of its skin was being ripped apart. The tear slowly rose upwards, leaking out colourful streams of light.

　　Zhu Yao once saw the Lightning Divine Tower opening up before, but the tower was being more open this time. The tear in the body of the tower was constantly rising up, and slowly, what they could see with their naked eyes were just the colourful streams of light.

　　“Great great grandmaster…” She could not help but call out to Yu Jin who was standing in front with a stern expression.

　　“I don’t know the reason either.” He sighed and said. “I did not activate the Floor Master’s divine token, yet the Lightning Divine Tower opened up by itself. Furthermore, the way it’s opening itself is…” Too strange.

　　If what the Lightning Divine Tower was doing now was considered as opening its tower gates, then what they had been doing in the past was just digging holes. It was as though the entire tower was shedding its skin, as its white parts were slowly being replaced with blinding rainbows. Presently, not just Lightning Divine Palace, even the entire forest below was being showered by the light.

　　The three of them were dumbfounded. They did not know if this was a good or bad thing either. They could only watch as the white portion of the tower rise higher and higher, and finally disappearing into the horizon. What was revealed in the end was a tower body with dazzling colours, and an enormous ‘bug’…

　　Eh!?

　　Why are the three letters ‘bug’ written on the tower surface!?

　　When did the Lightning Divine Tower become a bug? It clearly wasn’t just before! Is it hinting her to enter the tower?

　　You’re treating this as a MMORPG, hey!?

　　“Yu Yao…” Yu Yan at the side suddenly turned his head and looked at her, his hand tightly held onto hers.

　　Zhu Yao was startled, and she suddenly widened her eyes. “Master, don’t tell me you too…”

　　“Mn.” He nodded.

　　It can’t be? Why is master able to see it too? Realmspirit, what are you trying to pull?

　　Ting!

　　Suddenly, a string of red words flashed in front of her eyes: Your vacation has ended. Brave young maiden, it’s time to begin on your final journey!

　　Vacation? So the reason why she hadn’t seen a single bug before, was because she was still on vacation. Then what was with switching her avatars back and forth? Who the hell would wear their work clothes daily during their vacation? Zhu Yao was instantly enraged, and she seriously wanted to pull out that shameless person behind the string of red words.

　　Ting!

　　The string of red words in front of her flashed, changing into another set of words: Congratulations on completing the ‘Correcting the Source Code’ Quest. You are rewarded with a catfight expert. You are rewarded with the title: Pui! Let’s just say I was blind!

　　“……”

　　“…”

　　What does these all mean? Are you certain you’re not cussing at me? Is this ‘catfight expert’ referring to the case with Xue Yi?

　　Ting!

　　Before she could even reach, the string of words once again changed: Final Quest has now been activated. Description: Enter the tower! Clear Reward: Plane Movement Permit (Amount: 2).

　　Nani!?

　　Zhu Yao could barely control herself and she had almost crashed into the string of red words. With widened her eyes, she ascertained herself that she was not seeing things! Putting aside how she was informed about the quest beforehand and that it was clearly stating that this was the final quest, the key thing here was that clear reward, the Plane Movement Permit! She wasn’t seeing things, right?

　　“Master, can you pinch me a little?” Please tell me it isn’t a dream?

　　The hand Yu Yan was holding onto hers with tightened. Though he could see the word ‘bug’ on the tower surface, he could not see the string of red words. Looking at his disciple’s tensed expression, he could not help but pull her a little closer and said with a sunken voice. “Are you sure?”

　　Zhu Yao nodded. No matter if this was truly the final quest or not, she had to clear it for the sake of the Plane Movement Permits.

　　Yu Yan sighed. Reaching out his hand, he habitually stroked her head and said with a low voice. “Your master shall accompany you.”

　　“… Mn.” Zhu Yao hugged her master. This time, they were not going to split up again.

　　***

　　“The cause behind this situation is still unknown.” Yu Jin inspected it for a short while, but he still could not figure out any clues. “I think it’s best for us to return… Eh? Where did they go?”

　　He looked around, yet he was about to find their figures.

　　A cold breeze blew…

　　He turned around and looked at the Lightning Divine Tower which had its doors wide open. As a Floor Master who had guarded the tower for n thousands of years, he suddenly had a bad premonition.

　　He recalled that… his little little grand disciple seemed to have just reached the cultivation level of a High Deity.

　　“……”

　　“…”

　　Can I ask something? Can I cuss at someone?

　　————————————————

　　The moment they entered the tower, Zhu Yao’s vision was occupied by darkness. Everything in her surroundings had disappeared.

　　She grew anxious and she subconsciously looked for her master, but she couldn’t see anything at all.

　　At this moment, it was as if a lantern had swept across her mind. Flashing past was everything that had happened to her ever since the first day she came into this world. Not a single detail was missed out, including those long forgotten memories… and those memories that were “intentionally” forgotten.

　　She trembled at that moment. Things that she couldn’t figure out before were suddenly all clear to her as she linked up every single clue she had. The anxiety in the depths of her heart instantly disappeared without a trace.

　　Looking at the surroundings, she found it a little funny. She actually took so long to guess this out, and she found herself quite stupid.

　　Taking a deep breath, she called out. “Realmspirit.”

　　The moment her voice fell, the dark space suddenly flashed. A familiar QQ chat window was hanging in the air with the same familiar interface.

　　Realmspirit: Yo, young maiden! I missed you so much. How was your vacation? Did you have fun? Did you get me a souvenir?

　　The corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched. As expected, he deserved a beating for daring to bring up that troll of a vacation. She had to take a deep breath in order to suppress the irritation in the depths of her heart. She glanced at the chat window with the corners of her eyes and sighed. “Are you sure you’re going to talk to me like this forever? Realm! Spirit!”

　　The screen did not have any reaction for a while. After a long time, a question appeared on the screen.

　　Realmspirit: You found out?

　　“You didn’t keep it from me since the very beginning, did you?” Zhu Yao pouted. “Realmspirit, Realmspirit! The moment you first contacted me on that very day, you had already clearly told me your identity. Realmspirit… The spirit of the Three Realms.”

　　The moment her voice fell, the chat window disappeared with a flash. Even the entire space underwent a change. Like curtains rolling up, an immensely beautiful scenery appeared in her surroundings. Beneath her feet was a sea of flowers, and divine mountains and blessed lands could be seen afar. Mountains shrouded in divine energy were floating in the air above, and there were even waterfalls flowing down like silver silk. A pleasant scent was suffused in the air.

　　The scenery here could not be compared by any of the places she had seen in the Divine Realm.

　　Five steps away from her, a figure was slowly appearing. Dressed in a snow-white robe, he possessed a peerlessly beautiful appearance. With just a small smile, he could turn overshadow everything in his surroundings. He walked over to her with a smile, and the surrounding flowers and plants split to the two sides on their own, making a path for him. They even bent their stems, as though they were worshipping him in silence.

　　Her appearance was reflected within his ink-black eyes, and he reached out a hand towards her. “Zhu…”

　　Before he could even finish, Zhu Yao grabbed onto his arm and pulled him. Stepping to the side, she then held onto the back of his head and heavily slammed him into the dirt on the ground.

　　“Aiya! It huuuuuurts…” The flowers at the sides instantly moved several meters away.

　　“The hell did you take up my master’s appearance for?” Don’t think I won’t dare to bash you up if you take up that appearance. I’ve endured you for far too long!