After clearing the level, the fairies were reborn!

Xi Rou is fully awake now. Apart from occasionally rubbing her temples, she seems to be fine.

She was holding a grape, carefully peeling it, then popping it into her mouth, her eyes squinting with satisfaction.

Ding Wan sat to the side, holding a book in her hands, reading quietly.

The setting sun shone through the window, bathing her in a soft glow.

Xi Yue sat by the window, still with a cool and aloof demeanor, but occasionally when she looked at Xu Ze, there was a hint of indescribable complexity in her gaze.

Seeing Xu Ze return, Bai Yuxi immediately put down the fruit plate and skipped over.

"Master! You're back!"

She took Xu Ze's arm, her face full of smiles.

Ding Wan also looked up, closed her book, and nodded to him.

Xu Ze walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa.

Bai Yuxi immediately clung to him and leaned on his shoulder.

"Master, have the company matters been settled?"

Xu Ze shook his head and sighed:

"It's very troublesome."

Bai Yuxi blinked, wanting to ask more, but was stopped by a look from Ding Wan.

Xu Ze leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

Those images, those conversations, those pieces of information were all swirling in his mind at that moment.

Lin Yueyan, Mu Yan, Su Yunshang, the Savage Demon Realm, the Heavenly Court...

There was just too much information; he needed to sort it out carefully.

Just then, Ding Wan suddenly spoke:

"Xu Ze".

Xu Ze opened his eyes, looked at her, and asked in confusion:

"what happened?"

Ding Wan stood up and walked up to him.

Those once cool eyes now held an unprecedented seriousness.

"We have something to tell you."

Chapter 165 Have you regained your memories too?

"what happened?"

Xu Ze leaned back on the sofa, looking at the unusual expression on the face of the aloof woman in front of him.

Ding Wan was always aloof and rarely showed her emotions.

But at this moment, her brows and eyes held an unprecedented solemnity.

Those cool, clear eyes stared straight at him, as if trying to etch something important into his heart.

"Sister, you tell me..."

Bai Yuxi also came over, and the little fox, who was usually so lively, was unusually quiet at the moment.

She glanced at Ding Wan, then at Xu Ze, and unusually refrained from making any jokes, simply waiting quietly.

The two girls exchanged a glance, their eyes revealing a rare unspoken understanding.

Xu Ze also became serious.

"What exactly happened?"

He sat up straight and his gaze swept across the two faces.

Ding Wan took a deep breath and slowly opened her mouth:

"Did you get the 'sword'?"

Xu Ze was stunned for a moment.

sword?

What sword?

But almost instantly, he understood.

"The Flame-Slaying Sword?"

Ding Wan and Bai Yuxi nodded at the same time.

The two hesitated for a while, seemingly organizing their thoughts.

Finally, Ding Wan spoke. Her voice was soft, but every word was clear:

“You once told me that if you ever get your hands on this sword again, please let me tell you, under no circumstances should you ‘ascend’.”

Xu Ze frowned slightly.

"why?"

The information he just received from the game is that he needs to reach the Ascension Realm as soon as possible, become an immortal in this fourth instance, and go to the Heavenly Court.

The things Lin Yueyan said at Canghai Academy, and the information about the Savage Demon Realm provided by Su Yunshang, all pointed in the same direction.

Become stronger, reach the Ascension Realm, and go to the Heavenly Court...

But at this moment, Ding Wan said she didn't want to ascend?

"Because ascension is a hoax."

"Although I don't understand the meaning of those words either, it was the last thing you told us."

Ding Wan's words were like a boulder thrown into the already turbulent lake in Xu Ze's heart.

He paused for a moment, then slowly spoke:

"What...does that mean?"

Ding Wan did not answer directly, but looked at Bai Yuxi instead.

The little fox nodded and continued the conversation:

"Master, do you remember how we were reborn?"

Xu Ze shook his head blankly.

How could he know why rebirth exists?

Even his own 'Ghost Brain System' is shrouded in mystery, and Xu Ze hasn't fully figured it out yet.

How can one possibly understand the mysteries between two worlds?

“That power,” Bai Yuxi continued, “did not come from any Heavenly Dao, nor from any fortuitous encounter. It came from you.”

Xu Ze was stunned.

"I?"

“Yes.” Ding Wan continued, “You broke an ancient ‘spiritual treasure’ and used its power to seal a wisp of our remnant souls, and then sent them back to the past at the right time.”

She paused, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

"At that time, you had already entered the 'True Immortal' realm after ascension, but you resolutely chose to end your life, even paving the way for us."

Xu Ze remained silent.

He recalled the images he had seen in the 'fragments of memory'.

The Xuanling Sect was destroyed, its allies betrayed it, and then came that white-clad figure who descended from the sky, uttering the words, "Wasn't your soul already thrown into the cauldron?"...

It turns out that it wasn't death.

Was that the path he chose himself?

"Where will you go after you ascend?" he asked.

“The Upper Realm,” Ding Wan said, “but the so-called Upper Realm is not what you think it is.”

She stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the bustling city night view.

"Do you know why, for so many years, no one has ever returned from the Immortal Realm on the Tianyuan Continent?"

"Did those powerful beings who ascended to heaven disappear without a trace, without any further news?"

Xu Ze did not answer.

Ding Wan turned around and looked at him.

“I now have serious doubts because they have all been ‘assimilated’.”

"assimilation?"

Xu Ze seemed to be deep in thought, having his own understanding of this word.

If Mu Yan is captured and taken to the Upper Realm, will she also be 'assimilated' in the same way?

Shouldn't this be called 'brainwashing' instead...?

“Yes.” Bai Yuxi continued, her little face full of seriousness, “The so-called ascension is being absorbed by the Heavenly Court and becoming a part of them.”

"Your memories will be wiped clean, your will will be erased, and you will become a puppet that can only carry out orders."

Xu Ze's pupils contracted slightly, finding it somewhat unbelievable:

"Then what should we do? Suppress our cultivation level?"

"But if one's cultivation level isn't high enough, how can one contend with these cultivators from the upper realms? That doesn't make sense..."

Faced with this question, Ding Wan and Bai Yuxi exchanged a glance and shook their heads simultaneously.

"do not know."

They haven't even reached the Ascension Realm yet; at most, they have the strength to contend with them at the Mahayana stage.