Collapse Iron: The Five Heroes of the Clouds Won't Let Me Go

He had a strange feeling from the moment Cheng Xiao offered help to the child.

He is currently being locked onto by some entity!

A powerful imaginary energy suddenly appeared, and the resulting fluctuations were felt by the Cloud Cavalry and even in the distant universe!

Jing Liu was startled. What had happened where Cheng Xiao was?!

"Jingyuan, you stay here! I'll go take a look!"

"Master! I want to go too!"

"Nonsense! This is not a place you can access!"

Jingliu rebuked him and rushed towards the location of the energy burst with his sword.

At this moment, Cheng Xiao felt as if his soul and body had separated. When he opened his eyes again, he was in an endless starry sky.

This is a narrow passage between fates, a place where all paths intersect.

Cheng Xiao looked up and a figure as majestic as a Buddha appeared before him.

Holding branches in four hands, with kind eyes and gentle features, their faces veiled by light gauze, their bodies covered with malevolent eyes.

The god of paradise, the lord of immortality, his branches spread everywhere, as holy as the Buddha.

Cheng Xiao simply looked at Him, and the concepts belonging to Him flooded into his mind all at once. Without needing any explanation, he already knew what was before him.

The Medicine Master saw Cheng Xiao.

With a compassionate and merciful face and a body of endless lifespan, he is clearly a god who brings life, yet he is filled with a strange, inhuman feeling.

Never judge deities using worldly notions of good and evil.

The sins committed by the bountiful people have nothing to do with abundance. The Medicine Master has never harmed anyone; He simply responds to the desires of the world and bestows His miracles.

Even though the pursuit of the celestial boat and the hunting [Lan] never ceased, He never resisted, but simply continued to spread His compassion.

When facing a deity, anyone under His gaze may have their faith shaken.

Cheng Xiao instantly broke out in a cold sweat. His eyes looked over, staring intently at Cheng Xiao.

He did not wave the golden branch in his hand to bestow blessings, but descended slowly!

Looking around, He actually wanted to embrace Cheng Xiao!

As He drew closer, Cheng Xiao felt his soul transform into a seed, with buds and roots growing from it, and his soul was being deformed and torn apart!

Cheng Xiao seemed to be transforming into a tree, each new leaf carrying his thoughts and memories, his branches stretching into the distance, representing the divergence of his thoughts.

Cheng Xiao's remaining consciousness only saw His eyes looking at him.

With blood-red eyes on his body and golden eyes on his face, he was clearly a god, yet he showed an emotional longing for Cheng Xiao!

"Meow~"

Just as his soul was collapsing, the bleating of a sheep suddenly appeared, and Cheng Xiao's soul was instantly restored, all the confusion in his eyes disappearing!

He retreated instantly, creating distance between himself and the [Pharmacist]. His heart pounded like a drum, and the joy of surviving a close call leaped through his chest.

Disappointment flashed in countless eyes of the Pharmacist. The god seemed like an abandoned soft cat at this moment, with a hint of grievance between his brows.

Cheng Xiao decisively activated the [Sheep] talisman. The soul that had been forcibly pulled to the narrow passage of fate was returning to its body. He was about to leave.

In the final moments, Cheng Xiao only saw a bright shooting star fall towards Feng Rao, and then everything began to collapse.

......

Upon waking, Cheng Xiao suddenly opened his eyes wide!

At this moment, he was resting his head on Jingliu's lap, enjoying a rare lap pillow.

"Cheng Xiao! You're finally awake! You...you were being watched by the [Pharmacist]?"

Jingliu's tone was filled with worry and panic, and Cheng Xiao asked in confusion:

"I guess so. How did you know?"

"Look..."

Cheng Xiao raised his head following the direction of the mirror, and with him as the center, the barren land within a hundred miles had been transformed into a lush green forest!

Cheng Xiao was alarmed and began to thoroughly examine the state of his body and even his soul.

Sure enough, his soul was marked with [Abundance] and [Hunting]!

Without hesitation, the power belonging to the divine mark was absorbed by the magic array on Cheng Xiao's chest and transformed into the power to nourish the talisman.

The traveler, caught between the contradictory paths of abundance and hunting, once again became an ordinary person.

"It's alright, let's go back."

"Should we just go back like this? Won't it cause problems?"

"It's alright, I was just unlucky. Don't worry, I didn't receive the bounty, so the immortal ship won't reject me."

Jing Liu's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, quietly settled down. If Cheng Xiaozhen was not tolerated by the Immortal Ship because of his abundant destiny, she would go to the stars with him.

Even though the Immortal Boat raised her, and even though many of her friends lived on the Immortal Boat, none of that mattered.

Now that they've become the two who have betrayed their sect, I wonder what their master will think...

And what about Danfeng and Jingyuan? What should they do?

After much thought, they realized that their world had expanded to an enormous extent, with countless entanglements added to it, making the decision to let go so painful.

Cheng Xiao sensed that Jing Liu was lost in thought and quickly interrupted her.

"Don't panic. You're just overthinking things, that's why you're getting stuck in this mindset. You can't let this happen!"

"It's alright. Even if I really have to leave, you don't need to follow. The Immortal Ship... is your true home."

Jing Liu panicked. What did Cheng Xiao mean by that? Why did he seem like he was about to leave?!

"What are you saying! You're not allowed to leave! Didn't you say you wouldn't abandon me?!"

"You know... things are always unpredictable..."

"I don't care! If you say that again, I'll cut off your legs and tie you to my side!"

Jingliu's words were somewhat terrifying, but tears were endlessly accumulating in the dam, about to burst at any moment.

Silence, still silence. Cheng Xiao sighed.

"I was wrong. I shouldn't have made the choice for you. Thank you for standing by my side."

"Isn't this what I'm supposed to do?"

"....Thanks."

Cheng Xiao hugged Jing Liu; they had rarely comforted each other like this since they grew up.

Feeling the warmth of the mirror flow, Cheng Xiao's anxiety lessened considerably.

For the first time, facing the gods directly, the mindset that had been nurtured for hundreds of years began to loosen for the first time.

He was insignificant, utterly insignificant. The power of the talisman was a manifestation of the rules that could protect him, but aside from protecting himself, he could save no one.

This is still the non-aggressive "Abundance". What if it encounters something like "Destruction" or "Nothingness"?

The essence of having these thoughts is that he is no longer alone. He is no longer fixated on the way home, but only wants to be with his family in this world.

To fight against God, one must at least have equal resources.

Will he ascend to godhood, or succeed the old gods? Cheng Xiao will begin to ponder this question from this day forward.

At the southernmost point of this planet, a strange golden tree takes root at the pole.

Its root system stretches across the entire southern continent, and every branch has a human face on it!

Countless human faces are densely covered on the branches, trunk, and leaves of this golden tree.

The faces possess consciousness; they are people who are not yet dead! They are the survivors predicted by the Immortal Ship!

But now they can only groan, scream, and pray among the branches.

Their bodies, memories, and existence are intertwined; they gather as a group, and they merge into one.

More and more faces began to assimilate, and people started reciting scriptures in different tones.

The tree trunk opened countless eyes; this was the [Thousand Blood Branches]!

Its consciousness is fleeting; the two assimilate into one, becoming indistinguishable.

"He came! He came! Our beloved teacher actually came here! What a blessing!"

Then, the expressions in countless eyes froze.

"They refused! They refused! Who?! Who refused to become my equal?"

"Hahaha, I'll find you! I'll find the life even my mentor longed for!"

(Shuhu was a disciple of the Medicine Master before he became a god, and he continued to follow in the Medicine Master's footsteps after the Medicine Master became a god.)