?

  Mo Qingchen only felt that she was walking in a muddy swamp that seemed to have no end. When her legs could no longer move and stopped, her body began to slowly sink down, the wet and slippery mud slowly covering her calves, thighs, until her neck. A feeling of panic and suffocation enveloped her, but she could only stare blankly as the mud engulfed her entire body. At that moment, she let out a desperate scream.

  Mo Qingchen sat up straight, panting heavily, and only then did he realize that it was just a nightmare he had just had.

  After a brief daze, Mo Qingchen's face changed: "Grandpa!"

  She looked around and found that the surrounding trees were towering, the green grass was lush, and a yellow dirt road wound its way to the distant horizon.

  An old man with white hair and beard leaned against an ancient tree, his eyes tightly closed.

  Mo Qingchen's expression changed, and he slowly moved under the old tree, looking again and again before suddenly shouting: "Grandfather?"

  Originally with a full head of black hair and a radiant complexion, Mo Dajian looked to be in his fifties. Now, however, he was white-haired and covered in wrinkles, looking incredibly old and no different from an ordinary 100-year-old man!

  Mo Qingchen finished shouting, but Mo Danyan remained motionless. Mo Qingchen's face was deathly pale as he suppressed the endless fear in his heart and stretched out a hand to check for breath under Mo Danyan's nose.

  Still alive!

  Mo Qing let out a sigh of relief, but his heart sank again. His grandfather's appearance had changed greatly, and his breath was extremely weak. He reached out to grab his wrist and felt that the spiritual energy inside his body was in disarray, clearly indicating that he was seriously injured!

  Calm down, must calm down!

  That nightmarish scene flashed before Mo Qingchen's eyes, she suppressed those thoughts, enduring the throbbing pain in her temples, and reached out to take the storage bag from Grandfather's waist.

  "Ji Ling Wan, Huang Long Gao, Tian Xing Cao..." Mo Qingchen muttered to himself. Suddenly his eyes lit up, "Hui Chun Wan, that's it! That's the one!"

  Mo Qingchen opened a porcelain bottle marked "Huisheng Pill" and poured out a pale green bean-sized pellet.

  Huisheng Pill is a medicinal pill that Qi-refining stage cultivators often use. It specializes in treating internal injuries and has a good effect. Mo Qingchen had been familiar with these common medicinal pills since he obtained the beast skin book on alchemy from his grandfather, and could be said to have them at his fingertips.

  Mo Qingchen put the Hui Chun pill into Mo Danyan's mouth, and the spiritual energy in his hand gradually condensed, pushing the Hui Chun pill to help Mo Danyan take it.

  After a while, Mo Danyan's face turned from pale to white, and he looked much better. However, the person still didn't wake up, so Mo Qingchen gritted his teeth and poured out two more Resurrection Pills from the porcelain bottle, giving them to him again.

  "Grandpa, you must wake up." Mo Qingchen grasped Mo Danyan's old and rough hand, murmuring.

  It was unclear whether Mo Qingchen's prayer had been heard by Mo Danyan, or if the Revival Pill had indeed taken effect, but after another moment, Mo Danyan finally slowly came to.

  "Grandpa——" Mo Qingchen saw Mo Danyan open his eyes, his gaze dull. The usual radiance was gone, the tightly strung heartstrings relaxed, and tears pattered down.

  "Good girl... don't cry, don't cry." Mo Danyan stretched out his large hands like old tree bark. Gently wiping away Mo Qingchen's tears.

  But this action made Mo Qingchen's highly tense spirit lose control, and her original fear and despair surged up together. She suddenly threw herself into Mo Daren's arms and burst out crying loudly.

  In the midst of crying, a glimmer of light gradually appeared before Mo Qing's eyes. Pavilions, towers, artificial hills and flowing water unfolded before her like a painting. She was shocked to discover that this familiar scenery was actually the Mo Manor where she had lived for two years.

  "Sixteen sister, look at my swing, isn't it beautiful? Let's come and compare, see who can swing higher." Mo Ning Rou called out with a gentle smile on her eyebrows and eyes.

  "Come on, get on quickly! Don't worry, you won't fall off. Shall we go visit the Weaving Maiden's home together?" The tiger-headed creature sat on a large paper crane, stretching out its hand to Mo Qingchen.

  "Mo Qingchen, don't be so smug! I won't believe that I can't beat you. If you're capable, let's meet again next year!" Mo Yuqi's face turned red with rage as she pushed the tray to the ground with a loud crash.

  "Xiao Shi Liu, thank you for taking care of Xiao Shi Si." Mo Ran Yi said with an unusually gentle tone as he carried Mo Ning Rou on his back.

  The expressionless young man returned from outside, covered in dust, and happened to meet Mo Qingchen. After nodding slightly as usual, he finally couldn't help but say: "Sixteen sister, don't be discouraged, breaking through to the middle stage of Qi refining isn't just about talent."

  This is Mo Xiaoyu, who has five spiritual roots and entered the fifth layer of Qi Refining at the age of sixteen.

  "Sixteen sister, hurry up and grow up, brother is still waiting for you to give me a proud smile. Look at Chen Ming that kid still showing off in front of me." Mo Xiaobao said with a sly face, pinching Mo Qingchen's chin and smiling, but was slapped on the hand by Mo Qingchen.

  "Xiao Shi Liu, Auntie doesn't have anything good either. You can play with this invisibility charm, bookworms still like to read:" The lovely woman in pink dress mischievously winked at Mo Qingchen.

  "Xiao Shi Liu, Second Grandfather has never given you a meeting gift before, let me make it up to you today." White-haired and shaky, Second Grandfather handed over a string of red beads to Mo Qingchen.

  In the blink of an eye, the people in front of me, whether joyful or angry, calm or vivid, suddenly became fragmented and scattered. The scene shifted, and Mo Ran's clothes and Hu Tou disappeared under the yellow light in an instant. Mo Xiaoqi's eyes widened, refusing to close even in death.

  Mo Xiao Ba covered her abdomen, and fell to the ground with a thud. Mo Yu Qi looked at her in disbelief, staring at the wound on her chest that was gushing out blood, as if she wanted to say something. The bright red wedding dress of the 13th aunt fell to the ground, her entire body feeling icy cold.

  They're all dead. Mo Yuqi, who was always at odds with her, is dead. Mo Xiaoseven, who buried his head in bitter practice and refused to bow to fate despite being a Five Spirit Root, is dead. Mo Xiaoba, who laughed and joked every day, eager to grow up and see the beauty of the world, is dead. Thirteen Aunt, who was overjoyed at marrying a good man, is dead. Second Grandfather, who spent his life stuck in the initial stage of refining his Qi and lived a life of melancholy, is dead. The Patriarch, who longed to revive the Mo family's fortunes, is also dead.

  Since people will eventually die anyway, why bother cultivating?

  What is the point of cultivating anymore?

  Figures overlapped in an instant, shouting out all kinds of desperate cries, the last calls of those on the verge of death.

  These figures began to spin rapidly in front of Mo Qingchen, and for a moment, Mo Qingchen felt the sky spinning and the earth turning, his eardrums buzzing.

  That thought is like a maggot in the heel, it can't be shaken off. Why cultivate? Since people will eventually die anyway, what's the point of cultivating?

  What's the point of all this cultivation I've been doing? What's the use and meaning of it all?!

  At this time, Mo Qingchen was completely unaware of it. The spiritual energy around her surged wildly, the spiritual power inside her body ran amok, her body trembled non-stop, and her face alternated between joy and sorrow. Large drops of sweat mixed with tears flowed down, and her complexion turned paler and paler.

  This is a sign of being possessed by an evil spirit!

  Mo Dayan, who was beside him, supported his weak body and reached into the storage bag to grab something and threw it at Mo Qingchen's head.

  Mo Qingchen was trapped in her own world, completely unaware of Mo Daxian's actions. All she heard was a seductive voice constantly persuading her to just give up, after all, effort was useless. Look at Mo Xiaoxi, who had managed to enter the Refining Qi stage with great difficulty, yet still died so easily. What was the point of cultivating? In the end, it was all just an empty endeavor, everything was predetermined by fate.

  Just as Mo Qingchen's thoughts were about to turn to dust, he felt a chill on his forehead, and in front of him, like lightning cutting through the night sky, a clear light appeared.

  Mo Qingchen suddenly woke up, wondering what was wrong with himself, why he felt that life had no meaning, and cultivation had no meaning. Was it just because people would eventually die, so they didn't do anything? If so, then the heaven and earth gave birth to all things, for what purpose?

  There is death with birth, and death is the ultimate outcome that all living beings will face. It is precisely because all lives are different paths with the same destination that their significance lies in how to live and make themselves better.

  And isn't the meaning of cultivation precisely this? Cultivation is for transcending reincarnation, coexisting with heaven and earth, and it's the loftiest pursuit of all living beings!

  I don't know if eternal life is possible, but what I do know is that I don't want to be at the mercy of others anymore, helplessly watching my loved ones pass away. I want to live freely in this world! Cultivation may not necessarily help me achieve this, but if I want to achieve it, then cultivation is the only way.

  In an instant, all sorts of chaotic scenes vanished into thin air. What was reflected in Mo Qingchen's eyes was Mo Dajian's anxious and aged face.

  "Grandfather——" Mo Qingchen opened his mouth, only to find that his voice was hoarse and he was drenched in sweat.

  Mo Danyan let out a sigh of relief: "Girl, you're finally okay."

  "Grandpa, I..."

  "Girl, it's the heart demon that took advantage of your emotional ups and downs to sneak in. It was really treacherous just now. If Grandfather hadn't accidentally obtained a few drops of Clear Spirit Dew in his early years, you would have been in trouble today." Mo Danyan said with a face full of lingering fear.

  Mò Qīngchén bowed his head in shame and said: "Grandfather, it's just that Qingchen's state of mind is too poor."

  Mo Danyan's large hands gently stroked Mo Qingchen's head, his eyes slightly narrowed: "Girl, this isn't your fault. Our Mo family has gone through a great calamity; even I, who have experienced wind and rain, can barely withstand it..."

  Listening to Mo Danyan say this, Mo Qingchen's eyes became hot and he couldn't help but choke with sobs: "Grandfather, they're all dead... Seventh Brother, Eighth Brother, Eleventh Sister, Fourteenth Sister, and Thirteenth Aunt... Grandfather, Qingchen is so sad..."

  Mo Qing's tears flowed down like a stream, pouring out her emotions, but in her heart, she was clear and calm.

  Mo Danyan didn't say anything either, letting Mo Qingchen cry her fill before speaking in a hoarse voice: "Girl, stop crying. Have you noticed any changes in yourself?"

  Mo Qingchen wiped away her tears with her sleeve, looked at herself in confusion, and suddenly brightened up, exclaiming: "Grandfather, my cultivation!"

  Originally, Mo Qingchen's cultivation had suddenly jumped from the middle of the third layer of Qi Refining to the peak of the third layer.

  Mo Daxian nodded calmly and said, "This is normal. Since you withstood the invasion of the heart demon, it's natural that you'll gain something, whether it's an increase in cultivation, a rise in mental state, or a solidification of your foundation."

  Mo Qingchen's heart was delighted, but looking at Mo Danyuan's appearance, his expression suddenly dimmed: "Grandfather, your hair..."

  Mo Danyan smiled wryly and thought that he would have to rely on his little granddaughter in the future, so there was no need to hide it. He said, "Grandpa is now..."

  Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard the sound of horseshoes coming from afar and getting closer.