Forge a path to success

She looked up at Chu Hengkong, whose face was solemn, and gripped the man's hand tightly, pleading humbly and helplessly for the first and last time.

"Please, Chu Hengkong," Qingxia cried, "Please kill me!"

She received no response from the man, and Chu Hengkong withdrew his hand. There was not a trace of pity in the man's eyes, but rather a cold, steely ferocity.

“It’s not time to die yet,” the assassin said coldly. “Your mission isn’t over. You must avenge your grandfather. You must kill Wen Yao. You must defeat Vansalar. Only when all your enemies are dead will you have the right to die!”

Qingxia utterly broke down; even the only person she could rely on failed to respond to her pleas. She heard her most cherished ideals—responsibility, duty—but in the face of cruel reality, they were all like bubbles. She screamed in anguish, "I can't do anything!"

Chu Hengkong bent down and hugged the helpless girl tightly, embracing the monster who was determined to die. Qingxia stared at him in disbelief.

“I’m here,” the assassin said. “I’ll kill her for you!”

Chapter 216 Three Days of Despair (Part 2)

Within minutes, everyone was summoned by Chu Hengkong, and they all witnessed Qingxia's current predicament. She was like a dying patient who had ingested too much stimulant—excessively active yet on the verge of death.

"Vander, I need your help."

Vande paced back and forth, as anxious as a squid on a hot plate: "Dude, to be honest, I'm helpless! Even if I put her to sleep, the Plague Demon's commands will still exist. I can't reverse the nature of a race."

Chu Hengkong sat beside Qingxia, holding her hand and urging her to control herself as much as possible. He spoke rapidly: "What's the principle behind the Desire Demon's control over its subordinates? Is it related to the heart?"

“The scientific name for that organ is ‘Heavenly Demon Furnace Heart,’ and this mechanism is far more complex than you imagine. It involves pheromones, mental suggestion, bloodline factors, and deep information interaction within the ghost body.” Vande tried to organize his thoughts. “You can imagine a hand clenching a heart. Whatever that hand writes on the heart, the lustful demon must do. If that lower-quality lustful demon disobeys, that hand will clench. And then bang! It’s all over, understand?”

"Understood." Chu Hengkong nodded. "Fande, I'd like to ask you to perform surgery."

Vande slammed his tentacle onto the ground: "I told you I can't do it! If it were just the influence of the ghost body, I could try to use hypnosis to perform precise manipulations, but this is a racial trait, a mechanism created by the damned heretic ancestor. I'm not powerful enough to cure this!"

"I know."

"You don't understand!" Vande grew increasingly agitated. "If I can handle this, there won't be any more lustful demons, you understand? If I can perform this surgery, they can return to being the Myriad Transformations Immortal Clan!"

Chu Hengkong pressed it flat on the ground, using the simplest and most effective method to calm his buddy down.

“I have a treatment plan,” he said. “It’s the transplantation surgery of the Immortal Machine.”

Van der was so angry that he closed his eyes on the spot.

"Dude, ultimate-level mechanical devices aren't a cure-all. Even if I transplanted your spine into Qingxia, it wouldn't solve the problem; the rejection reaction would just kill her on the spot—"

“It’s not the spine, it’s the heart,” Chu Hengkong said calmly. “If Qingxia no longer has the Heavenly Demon Furnace Core, then Wen Yao’s commands have no reason to take effect.”

"It will still work. It will just weaken, its effect reduced to one-tenth or one-twentieth of what it was before, but... but..."

The tentacles dangled in mid-air for a while, and Vande's voice was filled with disbelief: "Oh fucking, it's definitely possible! But there's no material! The Blood Knight's infectious power is too strong, and besides, the artificial heart can't handle the power of the Asura's Heart—"

“We have them,” Chu Hengkong said, pointing to his chest, “with my heart.”

"Then how will you live?!"

"You transplant Qingxia's heart into me," Chu Hengkong laughed. "That solves the problem, right?"

For a full ten seconds, no one spoke, then Ji Huaisu clapped his hands vigorously.

"Awesome, Akong!" Ji Huaisu exclaimed excitedly. "You're simply a genius!"

"The problem is solved." Qingye nodded repeatedly.

“It’s very feasible, why not?” Shakes asked, looking down. “How much time do you need? Two hours?”

Van der was already in research mode. He pulled out a travel guide and buried it deep within: "At least three hours, no, four hours… two and a half hours of which will be spent reviewing the relevant content of the paper. You all have to assist me—"

"Chu Hengkong, what are you talking about?!"

Qingxia's scream shattered the heated discussion. She gripped Chu Hengkong's hand tightly, almost hysterically: "The Heavenly Demon Furnace Heart is no different from poison to you. You will die!"

Chu Hengkong patted her head: "You underestimate me a bit."

"You've gone too far! After the transplant is successful, Wen Yao's instructions will be transmitted to you, and she will try to control you!" Qingxia stammered. "Moreover, your current life essence is insufficient to withstand Xu Lie's heart. You must undergo a transformation to survive, and once you transform, she will find out! We can't hide it from her!"

"I can just endure not upgrading," Chu Hengkong said with a relaxed expression.

Qingxia was on the verge of a breakdown: "That's not what you think—"

“Listen to me, Qingxia,” the assassin interrupted her forcefully. “You’ve endured this long for everyone, so can I. We believe in you, and please believe in me too.”

Qingxia looked into the man's eyes and realized there was no contempt or pretense in them. He fully understood the danger of this decision; he knew what this choice meant. But he stepped forward without hesitation to put it into practice, not only because only he could do it, but also because he was determined to do so.

He asks you to trust him.

Qingxia collapsed to the ground, clutching the assassin's hand as if in prayer.

"Thank you..." she sobbed softly, "Thank you."

Chu Hengkong vigorously ruffled the girl's hair, appearing much more relaxed. Shakes, standing nearby, coughed.

"Let me interrupt your touching conversation. What happens after the heart transplant is successful?" His gaze swept over everyone in the room. "If it were just that woman, we could go all in. But now there are three... Amazonian centaur warriors..."

“Blood Knight,” Van Der corrected.

“Three Blood Knights.” Shax nodded. “A head-on fight is hopeless.”

“We won’t fight a direct battle,” Ji Huaisu continued. “When we first arrived in the Despair Wilderness, Akong also received a gift from the Benevolent Elder. It was a ‘story’…”

She recounted the old man's words of advice: "Pass through the underwater valley, traverse the misty forest, and you will arrive at the Allied village. From the north of the village, cross the former battlefield and head to the mountains littered with corpses. In the deepest part of those mountains, lie the weapons that once slew the evil god. That is your hope for victory."

“We already saw the mountains when we were on the battlefield,” Chu Hengkong said. “We’ll go into the mountains, one of us will find a way to get weapons, and then kill all the outsiders. That’s the battle plan.”

“Excellent, insane, fantastic.” Shaks nodded repeatedly. “How did you manage to keep it from the outsiders?”

Qingye had an idea: "We have Wacro's pen! We can use it to draw illusions, and combine it with my Substitute Technique to create the illusion that we are still here."

"That thing can only be used by non-Buddhists..." Ji Huaisu felt a headache coming on. "We..."

Qingxia silently raised her hand.

"Please let me draw... I'm an outsider after all!" she said haltingly. "I promise... I'll draw everyone!"

“Sure, we absolutely believe in your artistic talent; it's far superior to Chu Hengkong’s,” Van der agreed. “Now, the last question: what about the settlement?”

Chu Hengkong blurted out instinctively, "There's a sacred pillar—"

“The Holy Pillar is being held up by Ji Huaisu alone, and she is the strongest fighting force.” Shakes pointed out the key point: “If she’s not here, the barrier can’t hold up, and everyone will die. If she stays here, we have no chance to fight that woman, and we will all die.”

The discussion fell silent as everyone pondered a way to break the deadlock, but no one could come up with a solution. The settlement had sheltered them in the wilderness until now, and everyone here bore responsibility for its safety. But the Sacred Pillar wasn't something that could be bypassed with tricks; Ji Huaisu carried the core, and no one else could use any illusion to keep the Sacred Pillar going.

The door to the cabin was flung open with a bang, and a small, pure white animal stood in the doorway, panting, but with its chest puffed out and head held high. It proudly held out its bright red nose.

"Everyone can stop worrying now!" Gulibo said smugly. "My job is done! All the problems are solved!"

Qingye crouched down, forcing a smile: "Gulibo, things aren't as simple as you think..."

Guli Bo is right.

At that moment, a familiar voice rang in everyone's hearts.

In conclusion, I've journeyed with everyone to this point. I've received so much support along the way, and now, please allow me to contribute my share in return.

The stone seed—no, the divine tree—explained its opinion in detail, and the final question was answered. Thus, this insane, brutal, and fantastical plan began to take shape. Every decision was a gamble; every time they had to succeed, and everyone had to push themselves to the limit. An excessive reliance on luck and perseverance was indispensable to even be qualified to fight the enemy.

But this is the battlefield, this is reality, and so they stepped forward without hesitation, despite the difficulties.

"I just realized we haven't discussed the payment for this commission yet," Chu Hengkong said before the surgery. "What's the price?"

“No thanks, it’s voluntary work.” Shakes fiddled with the unsmoked cigarette butt. “God would hate me if I charged him this time.”

"You actually believe that?"

I believe it occasionally.

Shakes collected his cigarette butts, and the surgical instruments he had prepared were neatly arranged on the wooden tray. He walked out of the operating room, closed the door, and the room was left only by the light of twilight. Vande picked up a small drill, beside which Qingxia was groaning unconsciously. She had been pushed to her limit and was now only able to enter a deep sleep through hypnosis, otherwise she would have transformed on the spot.

"I just did the math. Are you interested in knowing the success rate of this terrible surgery?"

"One hundred percent." The assassin laughed.

"By the way, one hundred percent," Van der laughed. "You're not so fragile as to die here. It's guaranteed to succeed!"

·

At the same time, in the deep valley at the bottom of the sea.

Bernhard sat at the church entrance and heavily closed the book.

The Requiem records the fate of all beings. Because of his contact with the settlement, Eternal Time also made inferences based on the information he knew. It was a cold number, a certain conclusion: regardless of the process or the plan, the fate of the group was determined at the moment the decision was made.

But Bernhard didn't want to see that conclusion. He was a bone-praying monk, a member of the funeral procession, and in this hell where there was no rest and no death, he shouldn't and couldn't do anything. He could only fulfill the wishes of the dead.

He wandered through the desolate valley. He had personally buried the souls who had lost hope; now less than a third of the Mist People remained. The poor souls, tormented by nightmares, merely shook their heads as he approached, determined to persevere. They knew not what they were waiting for, nor what they were hoping for.

Bernfar felt a growing sadness, a sorrow that deepened as he passed the sand houses, destroyed and rebuilt, and discovered a figure in the mist who had not yet gone inside to rest. The man, torn apart by the vicious dogs of his nightmares, gazed forlornly at the black moon, seemingly having not slept in a long time.

“Sir, do you need help?” Bernfar approached. “You…”

He froze, recognizing the man in the mist. The man being mauled by the hounds turned around; it was Vovka, a former miner from the Kingdom of Lennar. He stared at the man dressed as a priest, distant memories drifting like a dream in his lifeless eyes.

"You, you!" The dog-bodied man, Wolfka, seemed to suddenly come to his senses. "I remember you... Bernfar! You were the priest who warned us!"

“...It’s me,” Bernfar said with difficulty.

"My God, so many years have passed, how are you still alive?! You were right, we should have listened to you back then, you..."

When Vaughka saw the Requiem, he understood everything at once. Bernhard bent down and took his old friend's hand.

“Mr. Wolfka, if you need any help…”

“I need it. I need it!!” Wofka’s voice trembled. “You will fulfill the dead’s wishes, won’t you? You…you will! Right?”

"It is my duty. I will do everything I can to meet your expectations."

Wofka tugged at his clothes like a drowning person grasping at the only straw.

“I need nothing now, Father. But you don’t know, there’s a group of people fighting against the devil,” he said, trembling. “They might die. I beg you, Father! Please! Help them!”

Chapter 217 The Mountain Where the Demon King's Bones Are Buried

When the third morning arrived, the flame in Wen Yao's hand went out.

She moved her fingers extremely slowly, letting the charred skin fall off and her fair skin regenerate. A miracle, like a withered tree coming back to life, spread from her fingertips to every part of her body. In just a few seconds, the dried-up, charred corpse disappeared without a trace, and a naked, white-haired woman emerged from the ashes, her skin as delicate as a newborn baby's.

She reached out, and the prepared Locust King knelt beside her, offering a black robe embroidered with red. The Blood Knights had sewn this cheongsam-like garment from the skin of exotic beasts as a gift to celebrate the master's resurrection.

"Congratulations, Lord Wenyao, on your improved strength," Huang Li said.

Wen Yao glanced at her: "So eager, are you in such a hurry to come to my bed to wait for me?"

Huang Li, being perceptive, quickly helped Wen Yao put on her clothes and used his bony claws to comb her long hair. "If I could please Lady Wen Yao, I would gladly do anything, not just in bed, but even in the wild forest, in the mud, under the watchful eyes of many. However, my main purpose in congratulating you today is to celebrate your great improvement in cultivation. After this ordeal, the Discipline Knights' pure fire will no longer be able to harm you."

“You’re quite clever; you can see through my intentions.” Wen Yao said with a half-smile. “But if you dare to neglect our business, I’ll skin you alive.”

She arrived at the edge of the barrier and saw Fu Huo and Jiao Du wielding bone hammers and whips, attacking and killing each other around the barrier. The steel bones used to make these weapons were the "eggshells" they had during their Hungry Shell form, and most Blood Knights choose this as their first weapon after their transformation.

Inside the barrier, there was no sign of the group, only layers of defensive fortifications erected overnight, and timid settlement warriors left behind to scout. Wen Yao was not surprised to smell the aura of the "heroes" near the sacred pillar; clearly, they were prepared to fight to the death, waiting for the barrier to break.

And the most crucial step is to remove the flaws...

Wen Yao did some quick calculations and laughed, "It seems you won't be able to wait for a second good master. You'll get a new useless subordinate."

“We’ve never needed such trash,” said Huang Li. “Why don’t you eat her? She’s still a descendant of our loving mother; it’s a waste for her to rot here.”

The Heavenly Demon Furnace's resistance reached a critical point last night, then subsided due to its dying state, but is now steadily rising again. That fool must have used the demonic trick of feigning death to resist for a while, but it hasn't evolved yet; it has likely deliberately destroyed its core. A Blood Knight without the Heart of the Rising Sun is naturally useless; the Myriad Transformations Immortal Clan doesn't need such trash.

"Let's talk when we've had our fun." Wen Yao walked away. "Break through the wall and massacre the city within half a day."

"Yes!"

Huang Li obeyed the order and rushed out to join the ranks of those besieging the barrier. Her weapon was a purple spear. "Lord Wen Yao has ordered that this sacred pillar be broken within half a day. Give it your all!"

The orange-haired Fu Huo swung her bone hammer and rolled her eyes: "Good sister, is Lord Wen Yao testing us?"

"Shut up, the master has her own arrangements!" Huang Li scolded.

The man wielding the bone whip gave a cunning, bitter smile: "But this sacred pillar barrier is exceptionally strong. Let alone half a day, it would probably take a whole day and night of relentless beating to even budge it..."

Upon hearing this, Huang Li hesitated to respond. She knew her compatriots were telling the truth, but she feared offending Wen Yao and being branded as incompetent. However, Wen Yao had already arrived. With a single glance, she made the three Blood Knights stop fighting, and she herself struck the Holy Pillar Barrier with a palm strike.

A new bloody handprint appeared on the barrier, and Wen Yao's expression changed slightly. The strength of the already riddled barrier had increased dramatically overnight, becoming almost the same as it had been two days ago.

"The core of the Holy Pillar has changed... Who are you?!"

The banshee's shouts traveled through the barrier to the center of the settlement. A calm and peaceful voice echoed from afar, as if it had been prepared all along.

“You seem to have forgotten that there is a sacred tree called Senluo in this settlement.”