Chapter 257 Dissipation

For a fleeting moment when Lu Fuyue's heart stopped beating, everything turned to ashes and gradually dissipated into the air.

When she opened her eyes again, the air around her was thick with the smoke of war. Countless sounds of fighting rang in her ears: the mournful cries of warhorses, broken walls and severed limbs. The ground was a mixture of fire and blood, covering the mutilated bodies of soldiers.

This is the scene of Pear Blossom Fairy's former homeland in the mortal realm, where she was at war with a neighboring country. However, at this time, her beloved husband secretly colluded with the enemy country, killed her entire clan, and even killed their only child.

"Fairy Lu, what do you think of this painting I made for you, 'A Lifetime in the Mortal World'?" Fairy Pear Blossom appeared beside her at some point, her gaze lingering on the scene before her.

Lu Fuyue turned to look at the person beside her, her expression slightly taken aback.

Perhaps everything that just happened was nothing more than a few strokes of the pen for the Pear Blossom Fairy, but for her, it was a real life she had lived.

It's unclear whether it was because the power of this magnificent landscape painting was too great, or because her resolve in the Dao was not firm enough.

From the moment Lu Fuyue was sucked into the painting, her mind was stuck before she was fifteen years old. She lost her memories, her cultivation, and all the experiences she had accumulated over the years, becoming an ordinary mortal woman.

Fifteen was an extremely important turning point in her life. For the first fifteen years, she lived quietly without any worries, entanglements, or hatred, waiting for the calamity that would come at the age of sixteen.

After she turned fifteen, she died once and was reborn, completely changing the course of her life. As she cultivated for longer and longer, her emotions toward all things in the world became increasingly indifferent.

But her mind suddenly returned to before she was fifteen years old, and she became an ordinary woman in the mortal world. She had a loving husband and a child, and the three of them lived a simple and peaceful life together.

Lu Fuyue's heart was stirred to some extent, although these waves gradually dissipated as her cultivation memories were restored.

However, she knew very well that her Dao heart had wavered for a moment.

Because, before the age of fifteen, all Lu Fuyue wanted was to live a healthy life.

The Pear Blossom Fairy seemed to have noticed something. She suddenly smiled and said, "Fairy Lu, if your mortal husband and daughter returned to you, and you could only choose between cultivating the Great Dao and them, what would you choose?"

With that, she raised her hand and waved it, and the scene changed once again.

Below the cliff, molten lava surged and churned, and scorching heat permeated the air. A five-year-old girl was suspended above the crimson molten lava by a wisp of spiritual energy.

She kept crying and shouting, "Mother, save me! Father, save me! I'm scared! I'm so scared..."

After Lu Fuyue saw the little girl clearly, she paused almost imperceptibly for a few seconds, then looked up at the person beside her. "Senior, what does this mean?"

The Pear Blossom Fairy's gaze fell on the pitifully crying little girl. "It's nothing, I just wanted to see what choice you would make."

The next second, she changed the subject and reminded him, "However, if you choose her, it means you are willing to be immersed in this world of paintings and never be able to leave."

Upon hearing this, Fairy Pear Blossom vanished from her spot. "Fairy Lu, I'll only give you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

Just as the Pear Blossom Fairy left, Qi Yuan's figure also appeared here. Upon arriving in the new environment, he drew his long sword from his waist and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

But when he heard his daughter's cries, his face turned pale. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw Xin'er's small body enveloped in a strange blue light, floating above the rolling lava.

Qi Yuan's expression changed drastically, and he rushed over, calling out, "Xin'er..."

However, a familiar white figure appeared in his line of sight.

"Cousin, what are you doing here?"

Suddenly, he seemed to realize something, and quickly ran up and hugged her tightly. "Xin'er, I will save you. You stay here and wait for me. Don't go anywhere."

After saying that, Qi Yuan made arrangements for Lu Fuyue and was about to leave, but the next second someone grabbed his sleeve. He subconsciously turned his head to look, but was stunned.

Lu Fuyue's face no longer held the familiar expression; instead, she exuded an aura of cold indifference, like the moon. Her beautiful eyes were devoid of any emotion, as cold as the perpetual snow on the Tianshan Mountains.

The sound of Xin'er's frightened cries continued to ring in his ears, but Qi Yuan had a bad feeling.

In the seven years since he and his cousin got married, he had never seen her like this before. Even when she was a child and had a terrible temper, she never showed him such an expression.

"Cousin, what's wrong?"

Lu Fuyue looked up at the man in front of her, and after a moment, she looked at the little girl who was crying. After a long while, she sighed softly and said slowly, "It was just an illusion in a painting, why make it like this?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she closed her eyes, her inner energy surged, and her spiritual power condensed in her heart. In a daze, with a crack, something seemed to transform into a golden light and fly out of Lu Fuyue's body, falling into the rolling lava.

Subsequently, her aura became even more indifferent, like snow, and the barrier of the Tribulation Transcending stage began to loosen.

Everything around them began to shake. Qi Yuan disappeared, Xin'er disappeared, and the rolling lava disappeared as well.

As long as her Dao heart is firm, all illusions that disturb her are nothing but illusions, even the ninth-grade spiritual artifact that is closest to a celestial artifact.

On the arena.

As everyone watched the scenes in the landscape painting floating in mid-air constantly changing, they were filled with curiosity.

From the initial shattered landscape painting, it transformed into a picture of a grand wedding couple, and then in a short while, it transformed into a picture of a blissful marriage... until finally, only a vast expanse of white mist remained.

The moment the Pear Blossom Fairy emerged from the world within the painting, a sudden surge of blood rushed through her body, causing her expression to change drastically. Her painting was broken—how could it have happened so quickly?

Thinking of this, she suddenly turned around and looked around, only to see that her map of the vast land was completely black, and there was no trace of Lu Fuyue.