Chapter 126: Boundless Now

Although his remaining merit gold light was scarce, it still provided some assistance.

Xu Cheng, now nothing but a skeleton, held the boy embracing the bell without fear, quietly watching.

“Original Seal! The Past Root Seal!” Xu Cheng muttered softly. The jade-green and black magical forces within him surged simultaneously, transforming entirely into chains of nether flame under the influence of immortal arts. These nether flame chains carried an inexplicable aura.

Several segments of the black nether flame chains glowed red-hot as if seared by a branding iron. The original golden patterns had completely fused with the chains themselves.

With a clear “clink-clink” sound, they resembled real iron chains, not mere illusions conjured by immortal arts.

Then, with a sudden thrust, they pierced into the void, aiming at the lingering ghostly soul.

But before touching the soul, a sudden voice emerged, uttering a few words: “Stubborn and unyielding!”

The nether flame chains, unleashed at full power, could nearly rival the spells cast by a cultivator who had undergone the trial of heavenly thunder once.

With a humming sound, the chains disintegrated into sparks and vanished into the air.

Immediately after, a fleshly palm struck down through the void, completely enveloping Xu Cheng.

“Be careful!” Shopkeeper Chi shouted, hurriedly forming a protective layer of compacted earth around Xu Cheng in this critical moment.

Yet, beneath that fleshly palm, even the earth was powerless to halt the assault.

In the next moment, Xu Cheng’s entire body shattered, merging with the earth, his primordial spirit nearly extinguished.

“Why?” Xu Cheng unconsciously asked, lost in a dark void of nothingness.

“Do I need to spell it out? The cycle of reincarnation is unalterable! Allowing you to extend someone’s lifespan is already a mercy beyond the laws of Heaven. You still want to pull those who have entered reincarnation back to the mortal realm?” The voice sneered, brimming with fierce anger.

“Then... what can I change?” Xu Cheng said blankly, his magical power depleted and all forms shattered—there was nothing left to do.

At this point, he never imagined that a moment of stubbornness and a foolish bet with that boy would plunge him into such an irredeemable abyss.

“Figure it out yourself! If you can’t understand, you will completely vanish from this world!” With those words, the voice disappeared entirely, abandoning Xu Cheng to his fate.

---

Standing still in the void, Xu Cheng quietly pondered.

Time seemed to pass in an instant, or perhaps a thousand years.

Seemingly enlightened, he decided to restore his primordial spirit first, regardless of everything else.

Muttering that the Past Root Seal was unshakable, he began to draw tiny stars of light that gradually swelled into a golden radiance flowing from the river of past time itself, aiding the restoration of his spirit.

The void shone brightly until he finally recovered.

Yet, Xu Cheng’s heart remained troubled by that question; it seemed he had not truly understood, only clinging to a survival instinct to revive himself.

“What can I change?” he whispered, using the immortal runes on his spirit to reconstruct his body.

“Can I change nothing at all?”

After long meditation, this was the conclusion he reached. But in a moment, his body rapidly turned to dust, followed by his spirit, both returning to nothingness.

Indeed, if he could not understand, he might truly vanish from this world.

This cycle repeated once,

twice,

thrice...

After several iterations, Xu Cheng thoroughly comprehended the Past Root Seal, even grasping the ultimate truth of the Heavenly Dao of the past.

“The past has become history, unchangeable; the present moment is ever-changing, and the future holds multiple choices. But I...”

“Hm? Past, present, future?” Xu Cheng murmured, suddenly recalling the scriptures on past, present, and future he had once studied.

“The present moment is ever-changing; every moment must be seized, thus the present is infinite!”

“The only thing I can change is... myself!”

A glimmer of enlightenment surged within Xu Cheng’s heart.

With his thoughts finally clear and profound, he roared, “The present is boundless and endless, filled with countless variables. The only thing I can change is the present! Present Infinite Seal, condense for me!”

With his fierce cry, there was no need to gather bit by bit—the golden light exploded forth from nothingness. Not only was his spirit restored, but everything within his body, including the treasures refined into him, returned to their original form. He emerged from the earth once more.

He fixed his gaze on the boy holding the bell and said, “Some things you may only watch helplessly without changing, but you can choose to change yourself—to change the present. You can learn medicine or even magic to save others; do your best and leave no regrets!”

---

As he finished speaking, color brightened in the boy’s eyes. Compared to the lifeless gray they held before, now they shone radiantly.

“This question has found its answer within you! Time for a fresh start, Wang Jie!”

“Xu Cheng!”

The two locked eyes for a moment before Wang Jie stepped briskly toward his residence.

“Senior, are you all right?”

Since Xu Cheng’s full recovery, Shopkeeper Chi had been in shock, constantly feeling over his body.

“Take your hands away!” Xu Cheng frowned, thinking this old fellow must be a bit fragile.

Fortunately, after confirming Xu Cheng’s limbs were intact and unharmed, Shopkeeper Chi quickly withdrew his hands and said, “Senior, you’re truly formidable to emerge unscathed from such an attack!”

“Enough flattery! You should think about how to handle those who still bear demonic runes but refuse to come!” Xu Cheng said, unable to forget the sight of those city dwellers turned into shambling monsters, this time even more vicious—their very essence had been drained.

“I...” Shopkeeper Chi sighed inwardly. This was truly a difficult problem; those residents were as stubborn as could be, unwilling to heed warnings until disaster struck.

In his hometown dialect, it was simply three words—“beat their heads!”

Ignoring what others might do, Xu Cheng returned to his room in the tavern and sat cross-legged, consolidating what he had gained—the Present Infinite Seal.

It represented the endless changes of the present moment, capable of refining his heart until it was clear and pure, akin to the clarity of mind and insight into one’s true nature spoken of in both Daoism and Buddhism.

Without vexation, he would attain eternal freedom.

An entire night passed; his heart felt unburdened, and his spirit was invigorated.

But Shopkeeper Chi, having exhausted himself all night, looked pale and worn, unable to find a better method to persuade the residents to come.

His only idea was to secretly touch them and remove the demonic runes—a feasible but troublesome approach.

Many had not come the previous day, so if nothing else worked, this crude method would have to suffice.

Unexpectedly, after someone suddenly died overnight and the news spread by dawn, those stubborn residents abruptly changed their attitude, eagerly rushing to ask Xu Cheng to remove the black lotus demonic runes from their bodies.

These people truly would not act until the coffin was at their door.