The man in black robes did not advance further, but stood still, silently gazing at the stone statue. Lu Xuan and Xiao Bai, with their limited cultivation levels, could barely hear what he was saying.
"Your Majesty, you made a mistake back then. But I don't know if what I did was right or wrong. But no matter what, there's no going back."
This person, or rather, this half-human, half-ghost being, should be one of the seven warriors who followed Linglong into the mountains back then. He is one of the two who died. Clearly, he knows some of the inside story from back then, knowing that Linglong created the Beast God. That's why he says Linglong was wrong. But what he's doing now is clearly preparing to release the Beast God. Although the exact reason is unknown, it's obvious that he himself doesn't know if what he's doing is right or wrong.
The lich stood before the statue for a full two hours. In the end, nothing happened. Somewhat dejected, he turned and left. Just after he left, Lu Xuan and Xiao Bai approached.
"This must be the place where the Linglong Witch sealed the Beast God back then. And this must be the statue of the Linglong Witch," Xiaobai said softly, gazing at the statue before her.
"This is indeed the Demon-Sealing Cave. But this statue is probably no ordinary statue."
As Lu Xuan spoke, he condensed a ball of white moonlight in his hand, preparing to merge it into the statue. But at that moment, a loud shout rang in their ears.
"How dare you!!!"
Suddenly, a cloud of white mist surged around the statue, rapidly twisting and transforming into a human figure. It was the image of a tall man, holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Without hesitation, he slashed his greatsword towards Lu Xuan.
"Xiao Bai," Lu Xuan called softly. Xiao Bai immediately took action and stopped the Yin spirit.
Speaking of spirits, in the world of Xianxia (fantasy martial arts), they are practically everywhere. However, most of them are actually quite weak. In the early stages of the game *Zhu Xian*, the Abyss of the Dead contained tens of thousands of spirits, even in a place as rich in spiritual energy as the Abyss of the Dead. Yet, only a handful truly became powerful. It's conceivable that for spirits in this world to gain significant power is even more difficult than for demons.
The main reason is that spirits are essentially unable to maintain consciousness. Even if they initially possess it, it will dissipate after a period of time, transforming into unconscious spirits. They can only rely on their own spiritual cultivation and are afraid of sunlight, so naturally, they cannot survive for long.
However, this spirit before them not only possessed an incredibly high level of cultivation, but also retained its consciousness completely. This was extremely unusual and astonishing.
After blocking the opponent's attack, Xiao Bai frowned slightly. The next second, his demonic power surged, clearly indicating that he was using his true abilities.
Lu Xuan ignored their fight and instead slowly poured the moonlight in his hand into the statue.
A miraculous scene unfolded. The already exquisitely crafted statue became even more lifelike. Furthermore, a phantom image began to appear around the statue—the very shadow of the exquisite witch.
The spirit fighting with Xiaobai was stunned. It abandoned its opponent and rushed to the statue.
"Your Majesty!!!! Your Majesty, you're alive... Your Majesty... It's me, Black Tiger!!!"
The ethereal shadow seemed to pause for a moment, then revealed a look of sudden realization.
"Black Tiger, I didn't expect you to still be here. Where's Blackwood? Did he leave?"
"No, no, Your Majesty. That traitor, Kuroki, he betrayed Your Majesty and wanted to release the Beast God..."
"Kuroki... he finally took this step."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you must stop him! If the beast demon resurrects again..."
He couldn't continue, because when the Beast God appeared, his first act was to almost wipe out the entire Southern Frontier.
Linglong didn't respond to him. Instead, she turned to look at Lu Xuan and Xiaobai beside her.
"You two must have awakened me? Such pure lunar essence, your Taoist magic is exquisite, Linglong admires you."
“This bit of moonlight won’t last long. Your soul is too weak to withstand many more infusions like this. So, let’s hurry. I need to know everything about the Beast God. In particular, how did you give it sentience?”
This is the point that Lu Xuan, the Beast God, finds most incomprehensible. Using the malevolent energy of heaven and earth, or rare and precious materials, to create a humanoid avatar for battle, while difficult, isn't impossible. But the Beast God is a being with complete consciousness. Isn't this equivalent to creating a person out of thin air? This is truly divine skill. Even if Linglong is strong, she hasn't reached that level.
After hearing this, Linglong glanced at Lu Xuan. Unexpectedly, she spoke without the slightest hesitation.
“I cut off a wisp of my divine consciousness and then severed the connection with it using a secret technique. Then I let this wisp of divine consciousness grow in the malevolent energy of heaven and earth, and eventually it became a completely new consciousness.”
Good heavens, this is the "Zhu Xian" version of Voldemort! Lu Xuan was first startled, then amazed by Linglong's idea. However, he quickly realized the consequences of doing so.
"Has it really been completely severed?"
Linglong gave a bitter smile.
“Fellow Daoist, your cultivation and insight far surpass Linglong’s. I only understood this after things had become uncontrollable. Some things can never be completely severed. At first, I didn’t understand why I fell in love with it. Later I realized that it wasn’t entirely love, but rather an entanglement of our souls. I can never get rid of it, and it can never get rid of me.”
"I see, I think I understand now. So, that guy named Kuroki is preparing to resurrect the Beast God. I'll try to stop him, and I want to know what to do if I can't?"
Upon hearing Lu Xuan's question, Linglong's face revealed a complex expression.
"No, you're wrong. If you truly want to destroy the Beast God, then what you need to do is not to prevent its resurrection, but to help it resurrect."
"Reason?" Lu Xuan asked directly, not angry.
"The Beast God was born from the combined malevolent energy of heaven and earth. Theoretically, it is impossible to kill because it is not a being like us, or a demon. Its existence is closer to a concept. However, if it is resurrected this time, then it can be killed."
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Chapter 450 Atonement and Redemption
How do you kill a concept? You'd need a causal attack like the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. And it would have to be a causal ability developed to its extreme. In the world of cultivation, you'd need to be able to sit high in the heavens, becoming one of those powerful figures, to manipulate the cosmic energy and obliterate certain beings on a causal level.
But now, Linglong has offered another method. It's a concept, so if we want to kill him, we have to make him a physical entity first.
Do you know what's sealed at the deepest part of this cave?
"Isn't it the Beast God?"
"Hehe, everyone thinks I successfully sealed the Beast God. But no one knows that I actually just scattered it. If you calculate the time, it could have been resurrected long ago. But it didn't do that. Instead, it secretly collected the magical artifacts left behind by the Witch Clan tribe. Because those artifacts were left by me, and they are also the means to safely break the seal here. The Beast God hopes to break the seal here and then complete its return."
Lu Xuan only vaguely heard the description, because the original novel of *Zhu Xian* had a rather poor ending. Countless details were unclear, and many plot holes were left unresolved. Therefore, Lu Xuan couldn't know the exact plot and could only try to find out for himself by following some general storylines.
The Demon-Sealing Cave doesn't seal the Beast God. Because that thing has no physical form; once defeated, it dissipates and then reassembles over time. This explanation made Lu Xuan think of another possibility. If that's the case, then this exquisite witch's thoughts are truly... Lu Xuan simply cannot describe them.
"May I venture a guess? Is what's sealed inside this Demon-Sealing Cave your physical body?"
“Fellow Daoist is indeed exceptionally insightful. The only way to kill the Beast God is to make it become like us. The Beast God will not truly merge with any body unless that body... is mine. Our two souls are intertwined. This entanglement... my physical body is the most suitable for it.”