Chapter 597: Chapter 496: Only Death
When Han Zhan gave this answer.
For some reason, every contracted spirit girl breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.
They feared death, no one is unafraid of death.
But they feared even more that Han Zhan would make another choice out of fear of death, submitting to the Queen Mother of the West.
"That’s right, we won’t bow!" Gongyang Jin was the second to step forward, resolute.
"We won’t bow!"
"We won’t bow!"
A chorus of steadfast voices echoed on both sides of Han Zhan.
All the contracted spirit girls raised their heads, their eyes firm.
"Then... as you wish."
The Queen Mother of the West’s expression was indifferent as she slowly raised her hand.
"How many more times do you think the world will reset?"
"No, none at all."
"The cost of failing this mission is your total annihilation."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Golden Imperial Decree appeared in her hand, the text regarding the Peach Blossom Banquet started turning crimson and began to burn.
At the instant it caught fire, every person surrounding Han Zhan also began to ignite with a nameless fire.
This was the Queen Mother of the West’s method.
The method of a Saint, one they couldn’t possibly resist under a Saint’s power.
Submit, or face death.
In flames a hundred times more painful than the Six Ding Divine Fire, Han Zhan still held his head high, looking at the towering figure in the center of the Jasper Pool.
He neither twisted his face in pain nor lowered his head to the imminent death.
He repeated the words he had just said.
"We won’t bow!"
"And who says we’ll definitely lose, isn’t that right, Queen Mother of the West?"
Han Zhan’s last words brought the first look of surprise to the Queen Mother of the West’s eternally unchanged face.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, glancing in Han Zhan’s direction.
There, Han Zhan and his contracted spirit girls had been completely incinerated, reduced to ashes.
...
"How did you find out?"
At the center of the Jasper Pool, a huge and ugly toad spoke.
This toad was exceptionally large, its body covered with rough, mottled skin in an uneven gray-brown color.
The toad’s head was extraordinarily wide, its bulging eyes large and prominent, with deep hollow black pupils that seemed to devour all light.
Its mouth was split up to the ears, revealing jagged teeth inside, its robust limbs had pronounced muscular lines, and the bone structure beneath its skin was twisted, giving it a deformed appearance.
Especially on its back, where countless irregular lumps grew, adding to the air of terror.
Han Zhan heard the voice of the Queen Mother of the West.
He gradually regained consciousness from the bone-gnawing pain of the nameless fire, opening his eyes to survey his surroundings.
This is the Jasper Pool.
Yet, it wasn’t the Jasper Pool.
Unlike the Jasper Pool he saw before, surrounded by immortal energy and ethereal music, the one before him now was deathly still.
Blood had dyed the entire Jasper Pool water red.
Countless immortals lay in blood, slumped in their seats, their eyes still reflecting disbelief and confusion.
Barefoot Immortal, Yellow-Horned Immortal, Taibai Jinxing, Southern Dipper Star Monarch, Beidou Star Monarch.
Even Emperor Chong’en, the Celestial Emperor, Taishang Laojun, were amongst them!
Each one, utterly devoid of life, dead beyond any death could claim.
Blood-colored Jasper Pool, Tomb of Immortals.
This was the "truth" Emperor Chong’en spoke of.
"If I’m not mistaken, this here is the real Kunlun Immortal Court, am I correct, Madam?"
Seeing this scene, Han Zhan looked at the grotesque giant toad before him and spoke.
"How did you find out." The giant ugly toad gave no explicit approval to Han Zhan’s question, merely repeating its own question.
"It’s simple." Han Zhan raised his palm towards it, now entirely devoid of any digital display, "Because of motive."
"From the beginning, I’ve been pondering one question—what is your motive for doing all this?"
Upon entering the Kunlun Twin Fruit World, Han Zhan noticed the numbers in the palm of everyone’s hand.
The number "3," representing three lives, typically in understanding meant losing all three equated to "death."
The reality was just the same.
Mission, penalty, death, reward, each segment highlighted the same thing over and over—the importance of "life."
"However, even then, one crucial question remains unresolved, which is the motive. In other words, what is the ultimate goal of the Kunlun Twin Fruit World?"
This wasn’t the first time Han Zhan entered a Fruit World, nor was he a complete novice in understanding.
The ultimate goal of the Hundred Herbs Sacred Heart was to break the generational curse.
The ultimate goal of Zither Harmony Fu Lai was Fu Xi and Nuwa’s fallback for the Insect Race’s Origin.
The ultimate goal of the Wilderness of Zhulu was for the Yellow Emperor and Chi You to complete a fated battle.
And the ultimate goal of the Kunlun Twins?
Could it be to watch the Queen Mother of the West continuously repeat the process of having everyone bow to her and the Kunlun Mirror?
Clearly, that wasn’t the case.
"Whether it’s rebirth or world reset, these are your methods, or rather, the methods of the Divine Weapon Kunlun Mirror under your control."
"So one thing is clear, you don’t want us to die."
This was Han Zhan’s initial hypothesis.
But later, he himself overturned this hypothesis.
If the Queen Mother of the West truly didn’t want them to die, then why set so many rule traps in the Peach Garden, so many chilling challenges; and why have them attend the Peach Blossom Banquet almost impossible to survive?
Everything must have a reason why.
Understanding why would elucidate the true motive of the Queen Mother of the West.
"Later, I realized, you don’t want us not to die, but rather to ’fear death.’"
Nothing instills fear more potently than experiencing death.
If anything could, it would be experiencing it again.
One death after another, with the numbers in the palm diminishing each time, all gnawed at each person’s faith and determination, even Han Zhan wasn’t exempt.
What needs to be acknowledged is that the Queen Mother of the West’s approach was more effective than direct threats and indeed subtly altered some of their outlooks.
They truly began to fear losing their lives, to fear death.
But amidst all this, two "variables" arose.
The first variable was Heart Ape.
The appearance of Heart Ape, noticeably beyond the Queen Mother of the West’s control, gave two assists regardless of various constraints.
Firstly, allowing Jiang Lingling to eat the flat peach.
"Eating the flat peach" in the Kunlun Twin Fruit World essentially meant one thing, "death."
Thus, Jiang Lingling, after eating the flat peach and through "death," saw the true Kunlun Immortal Court.
And the difference between a three-thousand-year, six-thousand-year, and nine-thousand-year flat peach likely pertains to killing immortals of different Realms.
At the time, Jiang Lingling was only Tier Seven, and the three-thousand-year flat peach was already sufficient.
Secondly, helping them mitigate the impact of their flawed characters, a crucial aspect as well.
The second variable was Emperor Chong’en.
Though Emperor Chong’en neither overtly nor covertly offered assistance, he subtly conveyed his viewpoint in a conversation with Shang Siteng:
The endless cycle of revival and the agony of not being able to truly die.
This also pointed out the answer.
Only in death lies true "release."
Only in death can one truly pass the "Peach Blossom Banquet!"
