Endurance, Shatter, Death
Chang Ji You screams so pitifully that the sound could pierce eardrums, his muscles exploding and the six arms on his back thrashing with a noise like wind and thunder as he shakes from head to toe in pain. Fang Yuan needs only one hand to hold him in the air. ch. 590
His eyes flash like lightning as he manipulates his Gu worms and shouts for his son to endure, that now is the moment. Chang Ji You is close to losing his reason to an inhuman pain, and even as a heavenly zombie who has nearly lost his sense of pain, he still feels every piece of skin and muscle tearing. Fang Yuan’s words fall on his heart like cold spring water. He forces himself to his limit. Just as he is about to faint, the intense pain subsides like a receding tide. Breathing roughly, he asks if it worked, and sees the skin on his arm has already turned back into living flesh while the six arms on his back begin slowly shrinking. Nothing is more welcome to him than turning back into a human, and he is almost moved to tears of joy. ch. 590
Suddenly Fang Yuan speaks in a solemn tone, and Chang Ji You’s newly recovered arm turns back into the heavenly zombie state at once, like a rotting log. The six arms on his back grow back too, tougher and stronger than before. Screaming in fear, Chang Ji You turns to Fang Yuan and asks why he changed back. Seeing the intense fatigue Fang Yuan pretends to show on his face, Chang Ji You cannot bring himself to say another word. He tells himself his father is only tired, that these days he has been trying hundreds of methods without rest or sleep, and that he saw at least seventy to eighty rank five Gu spent in the effort. Heartbroken and ashamed, Chang Ji You blames only himself for the mistake and feels cared for like a small plant sheltered by a tall tree. ch. 590
Fang Yuan secretly grits his teeth at how stubborn the heavenly zombie form is proving and asks Mo Yao’s will in his mind for other ideas. The dozen methods he has already tried all prove useless one by one, and the current experimental method is Mo Yao’s own idea. This is part of Fang Yuan’s own scheme: he experiments on Chang Ji You to search for a cure, while also making Mo Yao’s will think and spend her limited energy. Mo Yao says there is still one way, though it is dangerous, since the test subject would endure three times the previous pain and would most likely die from the pain alone. Fang Yuan asks how a dead heavenly zombie can still feel pain. Mo Yao explains that he is only half dead, since his body has died but his soul remains, and he would be truly dead only if his soul were absorbed into the Door of Life and Death. She explains that this domain of heaven and earth has vanished, and that after passing through many owners its command over the souls of the dead has weakened greatly, which is why monsters like zombies exist at all. ch. 590
Mo Yao’s method carries a huge risk, since the pain could shatter Chang Ji You’s soul into irrecoverable pieces, and a shattered soul means he is truly dead. She warns that where there is gain there is loss, that the killer move’s unrivalled attack power makes its flaws just as hard to remove, and that Fang Yuan has already spent a fortune experimenting, even borrowing heavily from Hei tribe. She calls this her final method, with no guarantee of success and barely a chance it works, and leaves the choice to Fang Yuan. Since Chang Ji You has already fully transformed into a strong and obedient heavenly zombie, she suggests keeping him as a helper instead of risking him this way. Fang Yuan stays silent. ch. 590
Overhearing this, Chang Ji You tells his father to rest more and says he is not anxious. Fang Yuan looks at him and sees that despite his ugly zombie form, his eyes still show admiration and love. Fang Yuan tells him he has thought of a dangerous method that risks his life, claiming its success rate is very high, and says he cannot decide this for him. Because Chang Ji You hates his current form and wants to recover, he decides at once to beg Fang Yuan to use the method, saying life like this is worse than death. Fang Yuan says that Chang Ji You is his only child. Weeping, Chang Ji You hugs Fang Yuan’s leg and says he cannot bear to part with him either, but he cannot live with such an appearance and will fight for even a small hope. Fang Yuan sighs and agrees, saying humans should live by their own wishes, and tells him to rest for a few days while he prepares for the final attempt. ch. 590
A few days later, Chang Ji You’s screaming has turned hoarse. Fang Yuan encourages him to endure a little more, his gaze warm though his heart is cold as ice. Chang Ji You’s screaming suddenly stops, and this is the three hundred and seventh time he has fainted from the pain. ch. 590
Calling it completely useless, Fang Yuan stops using the Gu worms, his expression dim. This experiment only works while Chang Ji You stays conscious, so his fainting means his soul is already cracking and near collapse. Fang Yuan has to stop and use soul path Gu worms to nourish and heal his soul. Mo Yao says again, sadly, that this method has little hope and that it is better to preserve his life. Fang Yuan snorts coldly, his eyes flashing cold, and insists on one more, final try. ch. 590
Chang Ji You slowly wakes and sees that Fang Yuan beside him looks worn out and exhausted, which tightens his heart with shame as he says “Father…” through tears. Fang Yuan laughs and tells him to try again and not lose hope. Chang Ji You says that if he faints again this time, Fang Yuan should stop trying and truly rest. Fang Yuan agrees that after this attempt it will really be time to rest, though the deeper meaning in his tone escapes Chang Ji You. Three rank five Gu worms are activated together first. More Gu worms are added, floating around Chang Ji You’s face, some drilling into his skin and others mixing into his blood as they flow toward his heart. ch. 590
Intense pain assaults him again, and he grits his teeth, growls, and twists in agony as Fang Yuan smoothly and methodically adds still more Gu worms. The more Gu worms that go in, the more intense his pain, until he struggles desperately with rolling eyes, nearly losing his reason. Mo Yao urges Fang Yuan to stop, warning that his soul cannot take it. Fang Yuan ignores her and keeps adding Gu worms. She protests again that this has already exceeded every previous attempt and that he is truly going to collapse. ch. 590
Fang Yuan says nothing and snorts coldly. She protests once more that he will really die if this continues. Laughing coldly and asking what can be achieved without risk, Fang Yuan adds Gu worms until he reaches the limit, then counts down three final ones, first, second, and last. The surrounding Gu worms suddenly break apart like scattering fireworks, and Chang Ji You stops struggling, floating motionless in the air. He is dead, his soul shattered and dissipated by the pain, his expression calm. ch. 590
Silence falls over the scene. In Fang Yuan’s mind, Mo Yao tells him coldly that he has killed him. Fang Yuan agrees, laughing lightly that Chang Ji You did not die for nothing, since it let him learn just how stubborn the killer move’s flaw truly is. Unwilling to respond to his cold and unscrupulous nature, Mo Yao hides her form and vanishes from his mind. Fang Yuan’s smile fades. ch. 590
He is increasingly aware of how large a threat this will of Mo Yao inside his mind has become. He wonders whether she knows how to resolve the six arm heavenly zombie king’s flaw and refuses to say, or does not know and stays quiet only to protect herself. He notes that if her will were to attack his mind at the crucial moment and throw his thoughts into chaos, he would be unable to stop the killer move even if he wanted to. Despite collecting information on the wisdom path and buying many wisdom path Gu worms that create wills, he has found none that let a will hide and conceal itself the way hers does, and he calls it an unfathomable will. He notes that Eighty-Eight True Yang Building has already formed about sixty floors, that Hei Lou Lan is attacking the thirty-ninth floor at full force, and that his target appears to be the wooden chicken Gu. He tells himself he has little time left. He cannot afford to wait any longer. ch. 590
