It took Ma Ru a little less than two hundred years to ascend into the True God Realm. A far, far shorter period than Han Jianying, which made her gush about his talent and also made her beg him to join her sect.

Ma Ru was beginning to seriously consider it.

Ma Shi had also reached the final stage of the Demigod Realm, so there was not even the slightest chance she would not be bullied within the sect or looked down upon as an individual, not that anyone would really bother. Things like that only really happened in the earlier stages of the Demigod Realm, and Ma Shi had both Ma Ru and Han Jianying backing her.

And he wanted to spend more time with Han Jianying.

Han Jianying still tried her best to spend time with them in the cave, but being an elder meant her departures were far more frequent and lasted far longer, too. If he joined the sect and they publicly married, he could stick with her far more shamelessly and not leave her side at all, and that was very, very tempting.

Well, maybe he could decide once Ma Shi was in the True God Realm too.

—

[Use Han Jianying and Ma Shi’s lives as collateral?]

[Analyzing…]

[Possibility accepted. Victim Ma Ru is both highly attached to Han Jianying and Ma Shi and feels satisfied with his life. With flattery and inducing acceptance, the goal of extracting Ma Ru’s lifespan using this scenario is possible.]

[Attempting…]

[Directing illusion…]

—

“I-it hurts, Ma Ru…” Han Jianying groaned, grasping onto her heart, tears of blood leaking out of her eyes.

Ma Ru stared at her with wide eyes, not sure what to do. He held her in his arms gently, letting his Qi wash over her, trying to find the source of the problem. No, he knew what the source of the problem was.

Her Qi Core was diseased.

It was not due to being poisoned or attacked, it was natural.

And currently, what he had to try to do was think of a solution for it.

But he didn’t even know where to begin. He was already failing miserably.

Even as sat here, even as the second ticked by, her Qi Core continued to throb irregularly. Blood continued to leak out of her reddening eyes. Black veins continued to spread across her skin.

All of it was slow, ever-so slow, and all of it steady.

Yet it felt so endlessly fast.

“We—We’ll figure out a cure, Han Jianying. We’ll figure out a cure. Deep breaths, deep breaths…” Thoughts raced through his mind. He’d never heard of a disease that could affect a True God Realm Cultivator, but then again, this world was only similar to his previous world. It was not the exact same. There were many differences.

But to think that a disease, a plague that could affect True God Realm Cultivators existed…

He’d told Ma Shi not to enter the cave for that very reason. It could be contagious, could spread to her, and she was only in the final stage of the Demigod Realm. God knows if she would be able to deal with it, survive it… He could not deal with both his dearest people ill right now.

No, he could not deal with this alone. He had to go to the sect, he had to find assistance. Surely the other elders of the sect would help once they knew Han Jianying’s situation.

—

It… was horrifying.

All the cultivators in the sect were dying.

Any cultivator below the True God Realm was all but sentenced to death as they seized on the floor, black tinged blood leaking out of their mouths. They scratched at their bodies desperately as they violently thrashed on the ground, unable to die yet unable to live.

The elders were in no better state than Han Jianying herself. No, the disease had progressed more than Han Jianying in their cases.

Ma Ru ran out of the sect, a variety of emotions fighting for dominance in his heart.

—

The plague took the entire cultivation world by a maelstrom.

No matter where Ma Ru went, no matter where he searched, the disease had already begun spreading. True God Realm Cultivators were desperately searching for a cure, but none of them seemed to be making any progress. They certainly did not seem to be in the mental state to even entertain collaborating with some random outsider.

They wouldn’t even talk to him.

Left with no choice, Ma Ru returned back to the cave, only to find that the disease hadn’t spared his sister.

—

Ma Ru spent day and night researching the disease, but it was unique. Without completely crippling Han Jianying’s cultivation… And even that was a gamble. It was completely possible the disease would take her weakened body anyway. He couldn’t think of a way to even try and alleviate the disease. It had infected the Qi Core, after all.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

And perhaps it was only to be expected that he too had become infected, especially since he basically lived right next to two infected people all day everyday.

But he didn’t let the pain that assaulted his Qi Core stop him. He wasn’t a normal cultivator! No, he was Ma Ru!

He still researched, still looked into it, still tried his best to find a way to cure them, but as the days passed and their health worsened, he began feeling… panic.

He was making absolutely no progress, and they were dying.

Slowly and steadily, Han Jianying and Ma Shi were dying.

Painfully.

Moaning, begging him to help them.

And yet he could do nothing.

Could he do nothing?

No, there was something he could do.

The senior had said… If Ma Ru was willing, he could sacrifice his lifespan and ask for a favor. Ma Ru could sacrifice himself and ask for Han Jianying and Ma Shi to be saved in exchange.

But… Ma Ru would die.

The senior would have won.

No, would the senior have won? Ma Ru was not quitting life, escaping being humiliated as a slave, escaping punishment. No, he had thrived in this life, blossomed a flower out of the ashes. He would be sacrificing himself in exchange for his loved ones. Would bowing his head to the senior in exchange for Han Jianying and Ma Shi’s survival not be worth it?

It would be worth it, may it be in his past life or this life.

But if he died, would Ma Shi and Han Jianying be fine?

Ma Ru sighed. They’d be fine, yes. Han Jianying was in the True God Realm, and Ma Shi was in the final stage of the Demigod Realm and would definitely be able to break into the True God Realm. They’d not had any debate or conversation without her in relation to the Dao, and the theoretical knowledge she had would not pale in comparison to Han Jianying. And besides, she’d have Han Jianying to help her if she ever needed it.

And, with the plague, many cultivators would die and the balance of the world would undoubtedly change. Han Jianying and Ma Shi would definitely be able to accumulate a lot of power post-plague, may it be in the sect or in the outer world in general.

Yes, they’d be just fine even if he died.

And they wouldn’t survive this plague. They would continue to die excruciatingly slow deaths. They were showing no signs of healing, and he did not have a single clue on how to even begin.

Ma Ru grit his teeth.

Seconds ticked by.

Minutes ticked by.

Hours ticked by.

Days ticked by.

He sat there, his Qi Core throbbing, watching them, still desperately analyzing their cores, a small part of him hoping he would find some way to heal them using his own Qi. But with every one of their groans, with every drop of their blood, with every second, that small part was whittled away.

It took him nine more days and his sister going into a seizure for him to finally give in.

“Senior,” he called out, “if you can hear me, I am willing to hand over my lifespan to you.”

Two crystalline eyes bore into Ma Ru’s soul once more, and the eerie calmness Ma Ru had been filled with in what felt like a lifetime ago returned. Seconds passed by, but the mockery that Ma Ru had been expecting did not arrive.

Instead, the androgynous voice sounded mildly impressed as it said, “I had thought that you would have fared far more terribly.” The voice paused for a second. “And to think you would end up wanting to sacrifice yourself for your loved ones. Truly, you are an interesting creature, Ma Ru. A creature that disproved my expectations.”

Ma Ru blinked. The senior was… praising him?

“Well, I can heal both your loved ones and make them immune to the plague, yes. In exchange, are you willing to hand your lifespan over to me?”

Ma Ru nodded, feeling surprisingly unburdened as he did so. Even the small spiteful part of him that had not wanted to give in to the senior had turned silent once the senior had acknowledged him.

“Yes, senior. I am willing to hand my lifespan over to you in exchange for Ma Shi and Han Jianying’s safety and health.”

“Excellent.”

[Host has died.]

[Illusion collapsing.]

[Purpose of illusion has been achieved.]

[Transferring lifespan from faux entity to shop.]

—

The final cultivator afflicted with the Torment Slug (S-Grade) has died, representative James. There are no attachments left to be fulfilled in this world and the shop can leave anytime the representative wishes for it.

James smiled and nodded. Alright. They could leave now. “Shop, tell my sister and Shen Ai to gather in the hall. We'll do a final summary of He Xing’s actions, and then we'll leave this world.”

Understood, representative James.

—

He Xing has made sure to free all the remaining slaves, the ones bought already and isolated from the world, the ones bought to do sect errands, so on and so forth. There are no more slaves existing in this heavenly realm except for Luo Mingli.

He Xing is now attempting to rebuild the order of the heavenly realm. He has created a sect, the Equal Under Heavens Sect, which will likely be the only sect to exist for a long time to come. New ascendants shall trickle in eventually once the lower realms recover, and based on the rules of the Equal Under Heavens Sect and the general attitude of the remaining cultivators, these new ascendants shall be welcomed with open arms and plentiful guidance.

“So we go meet him once? Tell him we're leaving?” Ivy asked, looking at James.

“About that.” James hummed. “I was thinking it's better we don't.”

“Don't? Why do you say so?”

“See, won't the fact that the seniors that saved and helped him still exist, watching over him, help He Xing continue to walk on the path of justice?” James explained, stroking his chin like he was someone wise and old. “I mean, if we tell him we're leaving, then he'll know he has free reign to do anything. And absolute power corrupts absolutely, as we've experienced ourselves.”

Ivy hummed under her breath too and Shen Ai looked contemplative, nodding along with his words lightly. It took a few seconds before Ivy nodded too.

“Then, shop, I have a question for you.” James turned towards the shop's golden letters. Once this doubt of his was clarified, he would be officially fully ready to leave this world. “Is it really fine if we leave He Xing's memories as is? Hadn't you tampered with our first customer's memories?”

The shop had to tamper with the first customer's memories since he left the world he was residing in, representative James, and would inevitably come under the scrutiny of multiple entities, such as constellations and soul administrators. He did not possess a sufficient grasp on his memories to be able to conceal or hide them if the situation ever demanded it.

Cultivator He Xing, on the other hand, does not have any intention of leaving this realm anytime soon. However, by the Rule of Failsafe, Cultivator He Xing's memories shall still be wiped automatically when the situation arises where it is required. The Rule of Failsafe applies to everyone who has interacted with the shop in any way and is aware of its existence, so representative James does not need to worry.

James nodded.

“Then let's leave this world and go to nowhere, shop.”

He turned towards Ivy and Shen Ai, waiting for a few seconds for them to raise any objections or questions they had, before finishing,

“It is time to break through that barrier of yours.”