Chapter 161: Chen Changsheng’s Promise, Little Black is Saved
Chapter 161 – Chen Changsheng’s Promise, Little Black is Saved
As Chen Changsheng’s grievous wounds knit back together, the horde of pursuing Demon Beasts froze in sheer disbelief. A moment later, they turned tail and fled.
Having been ruthlessly hunted and battered for so long, Chen Changsheng was not about to swallow such foul resentment. Without missing a beat, the prey became the predator.
“Don’t you dare run! Whoever cowers now is a mutt!”
He hurled curses into the wind, his figure blurring as he gave chase.
Yet the fleeing horde paid him no heed, scrambling desperately toward the sanctuary of the central domain.
All the while, the beasts formed a living shield around the surviving eighth-realm Demon Beast, utterly terrified that this relentless human would slaughter it too.
Rumble!
Countless ancient trees, each dozens of feet thick, violently uprooted themselves from the earth to form a towering barricade across his path.
Seeing his advance blocked, Chen Changsheng didn’t bother trying to shatter the wooden fortress. He simply stopped and sneered at the barrier.
“Spineless cowards! If you have any courage, come out and let us exchange another three hundred bouts!”
“Where did all that arrogance from the past thousand years go?”
“Suddenly acting demure? Let me make one thing clear—do not think a few rotting logs can hold me back.”
“At worst, I will spend another millennium chopping them down to kindling. I want to see if you can nurture a ninth-realm Demon Beast in that time.”
Throwing out those parting words, Chen Changsheng turned and strode away, the Golden Silk Cocoon resting quietly on his shoulder.
Wherever his footsteps fell, all living flora and fauna melted away into the earth, as if the forest itself was terrified he would plunder its essence once more.
…
“Ugh…”
Slumping heavily against a weathered stone tablet, Chen Changsheng let out a low, ragged groan.
Sixty unbroken years of slaughter. The blood loss alone was staggering; even he had lost count of how many times his life had nearly been snuffed out.
Had it not been for the heaven-defying resilience of the Golden Silk Cocoon and the tyrannical foundation of his cultivation path, his bones would have already rotted into the soil.
Truthfully, his refusal to hunt the Nether Forest to extinction wasn’t born of mercy; he simply couldn’t afford to burn this bridge entirely.
He still needed the consciousness of the Nether Forest to save Little Black. If he truly forced the ancient will into a mutual death pact, his dog would remain lost forever.
Amidst his grim musings, the soil parted before him, and a fragile sapling pushed its way into the mortal realm.
A single branch, bearing a plump, radiant fruit, extended toward him with almost trembling caution.
Chen Changsheng cast a sidelong glance at the tiny manifestation of the forest. Without a word of false modesty, he plucked the fruit and bit into it.
Crunch!
As the sweet, spiritual nectar flooded his palate, a dazzling, vital light erupted from his pores.
It was as if his very flesh and marrow were singing hymns of profound relief.
Decades of accumulated hidden trauma melted away like snow beneath the summer sun, while deep within his spiritual heart, a few drops of pristine, ruby-like blood condensed.
The spiritual fruit vanished into his stomach in mere moments.
Yet, that singular morsel contained enough primordial essence to restore seventy percent of the Qi he had exhausted over a sixty-year bloodbath.
“Haa…”
He exhaled a long breath of foul, stagnant Qi, feeling the crushing weight on his soul finally lift.
“In truth, there is no need for us to fight until the heavens collapse. You and I hold no true karmic enmity.”
“I came here for one purpose alone: to save my dog.”
With a wave of his hand, he drew out Little Black, whose lifeless form remained perfectly preserved within the amber hue of a Longevity Blood Stone.
Sweeping its divine intent over the hound’s condition, the sapling shuddered, its leaves shivering in stark refusal.
“Hold your refusal. I am well aware of how dire his state is, and I know the sheer magnitude of Heaven and Earth Qi it will cost to pull him from the abyss.”
“But I swear this to you upon my Dao—whatever essence you expend to restore him, I will repay in full.”
“A promise from Chen Changsheng holds true even if the Nine Heavens collapse and all creation withers into dust.”
“Pull him back from the cycle of reincarnation, and should a day come when you face utter ruin, I will intervene on your behalf.”
“This is the zenith of my sincerity. If you still refuse to yield, then I will carve the life out of you by force.”
“And whether this forest is reduced to ash or I am buried in its roots… we will let the Will of Heaven decide.”
Confronted with the weight of that ultimatum, the sapling remained motionless, offering no immediate response.
The ancient consciousness of the Nether Forest was weighing the heavy karmic scales of this transaction.
Hum—
Chen Changsheng’s vision suddenly rippled, the space around him folding until he was deposited at the edge of a pristine, ethereal lake.
At the heart of the azure waters sat an island of soil roughly thirty feet across. Anchoring this island was a single, luminescent sapling—the true core of the forest.
Splash!
Pale roots breached the surface of the earth, surging forward like gentle serpents to carefully pry Little Black from Chen Changsheng’s grasp.
Crack!
The roots crushed the Longevity Blood Stone with casual, terrifying ease, ripping Little Black back into the waking world.
Instantly, a sphere of lake water, impossibly dense with raw vitality, swallowed the hound whole. Thousands of roots, fine as silk threads, plunged deep into his flesh and meridians.
Witnessing the sheer metaphysical artistry of the Nether Forest, Chen Changsheng couldn’t help but arch a brow in quiet respect.
It was no wonder the ancient entity had so stubbornly refused. To mend shattered souls and reweave destroyed flesh demanded an oceanic sacrifice of Primordial Breath.
To rewrite a divine beast’s martial foundation and reverse the decree of the Underworld… such techniques touched the very pinnacle of the Heavenly Dao.
Whoosh!
The fragmented shards of the Longevity Blood Stone were greedily sucked into the rich soil.
The Nether Forest was evidently starving, practically choking on its own depletion.
Acknowledging its hunger, Chen Changsheng flicked his wrist. He emptied his void-pouch, violently expelling a millennium’s worth of pillaged spiritual timber and the hoarded corpses of countless Demon Beasts.
The hulking, blood-drenched carcass of the fallen eighth-realm Demon Beast was tossed among them.
Three literal mountains of timber crashed to the ground, accompanied by a nauseating peak of butchered flesh.
These four colossal mounds cast dark shadows, forming a macabre ring around the central island.
The stolen essence of heaven and earth was finally returned. Like a dying man presented with water, the Nether Forest frantically began to consume it.
In the span of a mere ten breaths, the monumental piles of wood and bone dissolved into dust, thoroughly devoured by the roots below.
Restored by the massive influx of lifeblood, the entire Nether Forest quaked, a low thrum of renewed power vibrating through the earth.
“I have returned what was yours,” Chen Changsheng said calmly. “My oath remains ironclad. How long until he is whole?”
In response, a pale root coiled gracefully into the air, tracing out glowing characters before his eyes.
‘He was destined for the Yellow Springs. Yet, an object defying the Heavenly Dao bound his spirit.’
‘To fully subvert the laws of life and death, I will require two thousand years.’
‘Furthermore, the beast resting upon your shoulder harbors a terrifying lineage. I need a single drop of its blood to ignite this rebirth.’
At the mention of a two-millennium slumber, Chen Changsheng’s eyelid twitched.
“I suppose dragging a divine beast out of the underworld is worth a two-thousand-year wait.”
He sighed, lifting a hand to gently run his thumb over the Golden Silk Cocoon.
“Little Gold, surrender a drop of your vital essence. What can we do? We owe the forest a heavy debt.”
Hearing its master’s plea, the Golden Silk Cocoon bobbed its tiny head. Its jaws parted, coughing up a single, pearlescent bead of milky fluid.
The moment the fluid left its body, Little Gold’s robust spiritual aura dimmed, visibly withering like a frosted leaf.
As the drop of life essence drifted into the lake, a ripe, blood-red fruit descended gracefully into Chen Changsheng’s palm.
‘This vessel of Qi shall hasten its recovery,’ the roots spelled out.
Reading the ethereal script, Chen Changsheng immediately offered the crimson fruit to his weakened companion.
Squeak!
The listless Golden Silk Cocoon instantly perked up, pouncing onto the fruit and gnawing at it with ravenous fervor.
“Very well. Since a pact has been forged between us, I will keep my vigil in silence.”
“Although, I plan to till a modest plot of land here to cultivate some Spirit Grass. You shouldn’t have any objections, right?”
‘Acceptable.’
Seeing the forest’s reluctant concession, Chen Changsheng flashed a sharp, sardonic grin. Without another word, he drew his farming hoe from his void-pouch.