Chapter 1567: New choice

　　Pavilion Master Chu Two softly said, “The effect of merging with this head might be even better than merging with my own.”

　　With the completion of her ‘path to immortality’, her strength also experienced a change.

　　Pavilion Master Chu Two already had half a foot in the Immortal Realm, but because she had not been able to merge with the head of her main body, she could not bridge that gap and reach the Immortal Realm.

　　At this time, her ‘path to immortality’ was completed, and the strength of her body changed.

　　The nature of her physical existence also changed… She would no longer be restricted by a lifespan, as she had become a genuine Immortal.

　　In the air, Pavilion Master Chu Two’s ‘Thriving and Withering Trees’ were summoned. They appeared behind her, resonating with her body.

　　Despite the name, there was only the ‘Withered Tree’ at this time. Only a shadow was left of the Thriving Tree.

　　When Pavilion Master Chu Two was born, the Withered Tree swallowed the Thriving Tree in a single gulp—that scene represented the ‘path to immortality’ that Pavilion Master Chu One had stepped on at the time. She wanted to use her body to nurture a brand-new Pavilion Master Chu Two. If there had not been any interference from Song Shuhang, Pavilion Master Chu One would have disappeared completely, leaving only Pavilion Master Chu Two behind.

　　Watching the scene in front of him, Song Shuhang pinched his chin and fell deep into thought. Pavilion Master Chu Two had just put Skylark’s head on, and she had been able to use it.

　　He had a bold idea—since Pavilion Master Chu One was the original one, could she also do the same?

　　If that was the case, could he simply go through the pile of Skylark’s body parts to form a headless body, and then put it under Senior Chu’s head to form a complete Pavilion Master Chu One?

　　“Boom~”

　　At this time, the giant turtle of disaster reappeared.

　　It flashed directly behind Pavilion Master Chu Two this time. After that, it opened its huge mouth to bite down on her.

　　But at this moment, the Thriving and Withering Trees suddenly shot out, and pierced the shell of the giant turtle of disaster.

　　The roots of the Withered Tree grew out, and plunged into the shell of the giant tortoise.

　　The giant turtle of disaster loudly screamed, “Ah! What is this? It pierced my shell!”

　　The sound made by this giant turtle of disaster was actually the shrill voice of a woman. It wasn’t the same one that Song Shuhang had met back in the Wielder’s small black room.

　　The giant turtles of disaster rarely spoke. Normally, they would show up, capture any Skylark’s body parts, and then disappear. The whole process usually went smoothly and quickly; ordinary cultivators wouldn’t have even noticed them appear and disappear.

　　Even during times when they encountered relatively powerful cultivators, and couldn’t retrieve the body parts, the vivid expressions on the giant turtle’s face would let others understand its intentions.

　　Pavilion Master Chu Two descended, her feet stomping on the shell of the giant turtle.

　　Behind her, after the Withered Tree took root, it began to sprout and grow new leaves.

　　This represented ‘rebirth’.

　　The rebirth of Pavilion Master Chu Two… and the rebirth of the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion.

　　The Withered Tree grew larger and larger, its canopy stretching outward like a giant umbrella.

　　Beside the ‘Withered Tree’, the illusory Thriving Tree solidified and became real.

　　However, after the Thriving Tree reappeared, it quickly withered and turned into a new ‘Withered Tree’.

　　The Withered Tree turned into a Thriving Tree.

　　The Thriving Tree decayed into a Withered Tree.

　　The cycle of life.

　　Pavilion Master Chu Two stood under the huge new Thriving and Withering Trees, stepping on the turtle shell with both of her feet.

　　She closed her eyes and stretched her hands outward. On the new Thriving Tree, a small white flower blossomed, and petals soon came raining down.

　　And on the new Withered Tree, the leaves fell one by one, falling along with the petals.

　　“Don’t prick my shell, it feels itchy!” the giant turtle of disaster spoke with the voice of a woman once again.

　　In the next moment, it activated its innate talent, the ‘Space-Time Traversal’. Its body disappeared into the void.

　　But then… Pavilion Master Chu Two and the Thriving and Withering Trees disappeared along with the turtle.

　　“!!!” Song Shuhang.

　　What happened to Pavilion Master Chu Two? She was here just now. How did she and the two trees disappear just like that?

　　While he was in thought, a huge spatial gate emerged in the sky.

　　Pavilion Master Chu and the Thriving and Withering Trees reappeared.

　　The giant turtle of disaster reappeared together with them.

　　Pavilion Master Chu had dragged the giant turtle of disaster back.

　　“…” Song Shuhang.

　　What is this?

　　Pavilion Master Chu softly said, “Illusory reality, real illusion… This is what the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion is.”

　　With her voice, the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion—with the ‘Thriving and Withering Trees’ at its center—emerged little by little.

　　The first thing that reappeared was the ‘Celestial Pavilion’, which Song Shuhang was the most familiar with. He had been hung at the gate of the Celestial Pavilion in a shameful posture for a good amount of time; it was a memory that he found unbearable to recall. Anyway, it was where Pavilion Master Chu resided.

　　Afterward, the mountains and rivers of the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion and each pavilion began to emerge.

　　Is Pavilion Master Chu Two directly building the new Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion on the back of this giant turtle of disaster?

　　The giant turtle of disaster seemed to have also noticed what the human on its back was trying to do.

　　In the next moment, she decided to get rid of her own turtle shell.

　　Her body shrank into the shell before quickly drilling out of it.

　　“!!!” Song Shuhang.

　　Just what’s going on?!

　　After the giant turtle of disaster escaped, its bare body was exposed in the air.

　　She stared at Pavilion Master Chu Two.

　　Pavilion Master Chu Two slowly opened her eyes, and stared back at the giant turtle of disaster.

　　The giant turtle of disaster said, “Did you fuse with that head?”

　　Pavilion Master Chu Two nodded. “Mm-hm.”

　　The giant turtle of disaster said, “You will regret that.”

　　Pavilion Master Chu Two remarked, “But I feel great.”

　　The giant turtle of disaster responded, “Since it’s already fully fused with you, then I won’t take it back. This is already beyond the scope of my responsibilities. Right, before I leave, I will give you a piece of advice… if you have any other matters in this world which have yet to be finished, go and finish them quickly. Because after some time, you will never be able to step in the ‘main world’ again. And, this is a piece of advice coming from a female turtle that usually takes pleasure in other people’s misfortune.”

　　After saying that, Miss Giant Turtle displayed her racial talent once again, and disappeared into the void.

　　Pavilion Master Chu Two went silent.

　　“Senior Chu?” Song Shuhang asked anxiously—was there a problem with Skylark’s head?

　　“It’s fine,” Pavilion Master Chu Two said. “I know the price I must pay.”

　　In the meantime, the entire Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion had been reconstructed.

　　The buildings and trees were vivid and lifelike. They were exactly like what Song Shuhang had seen back when he visited the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion.

　　Afterward, one after another, figures that Song Shuhang was familiar with appeared in the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion.

　　All of them were members of the pavilion.

　　Among them were the ‘male and female attendant’ who had welcomed Song Shuhang, as well as the other members he’d met while roaming the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion back then.

　　The members of the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion appeared one after another, and they all seemed to be alive as they walked, talked, and laughed.

　　However, this was only an illusion.

　　It was the same as the ‘Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion’ that had been cast by Pavilion Master Chu at that time. No matter how lifelike it was, it was still only composed of illusions.

　　So, what was special about Pavilion Master Chu Two’s path to immortality? Could she really bring all of the members in this Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion back to life?

　　Pavilion Master Chu Two said, “My original idea was to use my ‘inner demon’ as a foundation, and then with the help of my path to immortality, to cast a physical body for every member of the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion. It was equivalent to recreating them. However… the success rate was not high. Even with the help of a path to immortality, it was impossible to ‘recreate life’. As for using an inner demon as the foundation, it was even crazier.”

　　Song Shuhang was dumbfounded.

　　He didn’t understand what Pavilion Master Chu was trying to express; what she was talking about was beyond what he could understand at his current realm.

　　Pavilion Master Chu Two continued, “I recreated myself through an inner demon, but this technique cannot be used to recreate the ordinary members of the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion.

　　“But now, it’s different.” Pavilion Master Chu Two smiled happily.

　　Her smile was like a blooming flower.

　　She stretched out her hand, and tapped the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion.

　　In the next moment, every member of the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion had ‘threads’ extend from them. There seemed to be millions upon millions of inextricably connected threads, all of which shot out from the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion and plunged into the air.

　　Song Shuhang’s Sage’s eye was able to see these threads.

　　He curiously said, “What are these threads?”

　　He seemed to have seen this kind of thread, or a similar one, in the past.

　　Pavilion Master Chu Two said, “It’s karma, the ability that this new head has brought me.”