Original subtitles

[Fate Chooses You]

[Episode 35]

I'm Lu Qianqiao.

What happened?

Qinghong Sect's

Lord Baori is here.

Behind the Qinghong Sect

is indeed the Tianyuan Sect.

♪ Hear the Gu curse turn into cries for help ♪

♪ Blood-stained hand, sword drawn ♪

♪ Trapped in Qianyan Cave ♪

♪ Even hell must be broken free from ♪

♪ With every stroke of hatred ♪

Take it off.

♪ Let it grow into a dagger I wear ♪

Take it off.

♪ No need to show me mercy there ♪

♪ Let me take every blow ♪

♪ Drag my wounds through the hollow road ♪

♪ I'll pluck the passion locked in my brow ♪

♪ At the end of the mountains, I pick up fireflies now ♪

♪ Burn me down, I feel no pain ♪

♪ I believe Heaven sees all ♪

♪ Its wrath shines upon demons ♪

♪ But who will show me mercy? ♪

♪ I believe I'm innocent ♪

♪ Turned into dust and scattered away ♪

♪ I accept the blame of numerous accusations ♪

♪ I offer no defense ♪

♪ I accept this as my only choice ♪

♪ I admit my heart is as hard as iron and stone ♪

♪ Call me cold if you must ♪

♪ Until I die ♪

♪ I accept this trial of love fate has given me ♪

♪ I take in both love and hate alike ♪

She can't hold on any longer.

Go get the medicine!

What medicine?

The medicine in the medicine box downstairs.

Bring every last one of them,

all without exception!

Hurry!

Okay.

Who is there?

[In Perfect Safety]

Young Master,

you're dressed so thinly.

Are you heading out?

I'm waiting for someone.

Waiting for someone?

Are you waiting for your wife?

This manor has fallen into disrepair over the years.

Only passing travelers and hunters

take shelter here from the rain temporarily.

It's cold outside.

Don't catch a cold.

Young Master,

you're still here.

Hasn't your wife come yet?

Go inside and wait.

Don't get wet.

Senior.

You're finally awake.

Sheng,

what happened to you that day?

You went completely obsessed.

You lost consciousness

and just kept lashing out at me.

I barely managed to wake you up

with the Seven-Star Acupoint Extraction Art.

Then I passed out.

I don't remember anything.

What exactly happened,

Sheng?

Senior,

I'm fine.

Give me a few more days,

and I'll solve my own problem.

Don't overthink it.

Just focus on recuperating, okay?

How did I advance?

How come I have the power of the Void Stage?

Sheng.

I saved you with the golden lotus.

What golden lotus?

Jin Lun's soul-bound golden lotus.

Your life was at stake.

Only the golden lotus could save your life.

It's just a golden lotus.

It's nothing serious.

Even without the golden lotus,

Jin Lun can still live on.

Doesn't Tianyin Mountain

always claim to deliver all living beings

and cherish every creature under heaven?

Have you lost your mind?

Do you know

you'll get him killed?

You owe him such a debt,

such a bond of affection—

how will you ever repay him?

I can't worry about all that anymore.

Senior,

the debt I owe him

is far beyond repayment.

Sect Master.

What is it?

Senior Bai committed suicide in prison.

The wound has been bandaged.

They know their place well enough

and have shown you no disrespect.

Why?

Why is that?

You cut your wrist to lure me here,

just to ask me why?

Fine.

I'll tell you.

Back then,

when I first reached the Deity Transformation Stage,

I had

a horrible dream.

In my dream,

I walked on the street alone.

Tall buildings lined both sides of the road.

On the wide streets,

small wooden carts

raced along.

They needed no one to push them,

nor horses to draw them,

yet they raced as swift as the wind.

I lifted my head.

Gigantic airships

drifted across the sky,

swooping past above me,

as if about to blot out the sun and moon.

I had never seen

such a sight before.

Merely crafted from a few planks of wood,

they wielded power

rivaling that of gods.

I walked onward,

yet my heart grew increasingly uneasy.

The ability to traverse heaven and earth

was meant to be the power

only we cultivators possessed.

How is it that they all wield it?

Where then does that leave us cultivators?

I searched and looked for them desperately.

In the end,

I found that in this world,

there was not a single cultivator left.

Not a single cultivator left, Bai.

Aren't you afraid?

Where were all the cultivators?

But you should not

exterminate them all

for something that hasn't even come to pass.

The "Unparalleled Secret Magic"

is no demonic or forbidden arts.

It's Craftsmanship,

Astronomy, and Calendar,

the very knowledge

that can prosper and strengthen the Human Race.

You're afraid.

You're afraid that the Human Race will become stronger.

But don't cultivators

belong to the Human Race?

We share the same bloodline.

We have the same appearance,

language,

and civilization.

We're one.

No.

We are better than them

and stronger than them as well.

Bai,

do you know

what the most similar animal

to the Human Race is?

It's a monkey.

You must have seen those

monkey entertainers wandering the streets.

Trained by their masters,

those monkeys

can not only understand human speech

but even learn to count

and dance.

Yet in the eyes of humans,

aren't they still mere beasts?

We are born with immortal perceptions

and are inherently superior to them.

Hypocritical pretense,

nothing but absurd nonsense.

When I first entered the sect,

you once told me

cultivators

shall take the world as their duty,

and uphold righteousness and banish demons as their calling.

Even at the cost of their own lives,

they must protect all living beings under heaven.

Yet what you do now

bears not the slightest resemblance

to what you once said.

The Tianyuan Sect

is the foremost leader of the righteous path,

a Taoist sect standing for 100 years,

revered by all under heaven

and worshipped by countless mortals.

Yet who could ever know

beneath that immortal,

saintly guise

lurks a heart long rotten

and crawling with corruption—

utterly hideous

and repulsive.

Bai,

you are

the disciple in whom I place the highest hopes.

For you are

truly so much like me.

I was once young too

and once burned with the passion of youth.

Back then, the War Demon

launched the Battle of Pinghu

to hasten the growth of the Jianmu Heavenly Ladder.

The Twelve Immortal Sects

allied with the Youhu Clan

to fight against the War Demons.

Three of our sect's tribulation-crossing elders

chose to seclude themselves behind closed doors,

refusing to join the battlefield.

Only my brothers and I

rushed forth, risking our lives.

Why?

When I returned to the sect,

I once asked the very same question

you do now.

Why?

They could wield the power

to traverse heaven and earth,

but why did they refuse to lend a hand,

standing by and watching as the sect's disciples

perished one and all?

Yet they claimed

that staying away from the fray

was the greatest help they could give us.

Many years later,

I finally understood.

Had they joined

the Battle of Pinghu back then,

they would most likely

have lost control of themselves

and sided with the War Demons.

For they too

craved immortality—

a temptation

even they could not resist.

Back then,

I once severed the Jianmu Heavenly Ladder with my own hand.

I thought I had won.

Yet only today do I finally realize

that what I severed

was not merely the War Demons' path of survival

but also the very lifeline of us cultivators.

What do you want to do?

You want to rebuild the heavenly ladder?

Ninefold palace realms and blessed immortal abodes

are where we belong!

Born with immortal perceptions,

we ought to ride the wind and soar,

treading the boundless starry sky and vast rivers and mountains

beneath our feet,

instead of lingering in this narrow realm,

wasting away until our end.

Are you crazy?

I think you're really crazy.

Bai,

this is a struggle of the great Dao,

a clash of civilizations,

and above all, a fight for survival.

One day,

you will understand me.

I won't kill you today.

But if you wish to die again...

I won't stop you.

You guessed right.

Where is it?

If it exists,

it must be at the Rainwatch Terrace.

The Jianmu Tree is a spirit

born of heaven and earth.

To hasten its maturity,

it requires immense resources.

At the heart of the desolate wasteland,

where the springs run dry,

there lies the Jianmu Tree.

[Tianyuan Sect]

Does it look like

it's going to rain?

Rain?

Don't get your hopes up.

I was wondering

you'd fear me so much

as to walk straight into a trap.

So you really came here for it after all.

Back at the Qinghong Sect,

Fan asked me to help him

translate the War Demons' scroll.

Now it all makes sense—

it was meant for you all along.

Why have you secretly been nurturing

the sacred seed of the Jianmu Tree?

You want to ascend to the sky?

Not just me.

Who among all the immortal sects

and cultivators in this world

would not long for it?

Don't you want to ascend to the sky?

You're a War Demon.

Others may refuse it,

but you should long for it more than anyone.

How can you be so certain

that there are none of your own kind

left in this world,

lingering on in desperate survival

and living a life just like yours?

Do you not long to ascend to the sky

to beg the deities above

to lift the curse upon you?

And then ask them—

why cast you down into the mortal world

and abandon you without a care,

letting you live a life of utter humiliation and degradation?

But I will never

pave my own way

at the cost of the lives of others.

How hypocritical.

Do you not understand?

Whether it be the War Demons,

the Youhu Clan,

or the Twelve Immortal Sects,

all who cultivate with spiritual energy,

we are of the same kind.

The same kind?

For the clothes you wear,

silkworm farmers need to tend silkworms with great care

to reel raw silk,

and weavers need

to spend hours on end

just to make a single garment.

For the spirit rice you eat,

an entire mu of land

yields but a small bowl.

And this Rainwatch Terrace

cost countless craftsmen's efforts

to build it to completion.

Yet you claim we are the same kind.

You call us kindred spirits,

yet you grow reliant on them

and oppress them.

You are no different from a parasite,

sustaining your own life

by draining the very blood and flesh of those you look down upon.

Do you want to die?

I knew you'd use this move.

Stop it!

Senior Bai.

Senior Bai.

I'll take you away.

Were you at your full strength,

I might not even be your match.

But you've brought this upon yourself.

Instead of being a War Demon,

you insist on being human.

Don't you know

humans die eventually?

How are you going to fight me?

Xin Xiong,

you gave me your word

never to set foot in the Tianyuan Sect again.

Five days ago,

a letter

was delivered to Xin Xie Manor.

It was written by my disciple,

Xin Mei,

laying bare the entire truth

of what happened in North Xiang.

After I learnt

the full story behind the Qinghong Sect,

suspicion of you has taken root in my heart.

Yet I still clung to hope,

unwilling to believe

that Li Mofu—the man who once

bore compassion for all living beings—

could have turned into who you are now.

So,

I hurried to Tianyuan Mountain that very night,

determined to uncover the truth

with my own eyes.

I kept watch at the Tianyuan Sect for 4 days,

yet found no trace of wrongdoing on your part.

I already planned to leave.

I'd already made up my mind to leave,

yet it was right then

that you gave yourself away.

You should never have come.

I shouldn't have come?

Should I just be supposed

to stay fooled by you forever?

Back then,

you somehow obtained

the sacred seed of the Jianmu Tree from who knows where,

planted it at the Rainwatch Terrace,

and sought to nurture it to full maturity.

I refused at first.

But you swore to me

you would never offer human lives as sacrifice;

you'd only let the sacred seed of the Jianmu Tree

draw spiritual energy from Tianyuan Mountain.

Fine! I agreed.

So I left the Tianyuan Sect

and founded a new sect at the foot of the mountain,

all for one reason:

to keep a close watch over you

and stop you from straying down a path of no return.

Yet my watch was not tight enough,

and still you went on

to commit unspeakable atrocities!

For everything

I've done,

I have a clear conscience.

Have a clear conscience?

Before the immortal ancestors of the Dao,

before the countless souls

who perished for the sacred seed of the Jianmu Tree,

dare you stand before them

and still claim

your conscience is clear?

Back then,

you too fought in the Battle of Pinghu,

bravely charging into the fray on the battlefield.

You witnessed firsthand

just how brutal and harrowing it all was!

Why...

Why are you doing this?

All great undertakings in this world

are forged in blood

and sacrifice.

Junior,

you berate and resent me today,

but when the Jianmu Tree fully matures in time,

its grace will bless all under heaven.

Then you will see

how right my choice truly is.

Senior,

you have strayed down a crooked path,

and there is no turning back now.

Today,

I shall keep the vow I made long ago

and take your life with my own hands.

Xin Xiong,

out of our shared brotherhood as disciples,

I have held back my blows time and again.

You leave me no other choice.

Sir!

Senior!

Senior!

Junior,

are you satisfied now?

Satisfied?

I'll only be satisfied after you die!

Senior.

We're fellow disciples from the same sect,

and there's no need to strike to kill.

You all knew it long ago, didn't you?

About him cultivating the Jianmu Heavenly Ladder,

you've known all along!

If I hadn't uncovered

the truth today,

how much longer would you have kept this hidden from me?

Had we told you sooner,

you would never have let me

bring the sacred seed of the Jianmu Tree back to the Tianyuan Sect.

Senior Mofu speaks the truth.

If the Jianmu Heavenly Ladder is restored,

it will bring immense blessings

to...

all of us cultivators, Senior.

He speaks the truth?

Good for you!

I'll spread this matter

far and wide at once

to let all the great immortal sects

and every living soul under heaven

be the judge.

You nurture the sacred seed of the Jianmu Tree

by draining mortal lives—

what kind of righteous reasoning is that?

Stop right there!

Why?

You want to kill me?

Junior,

this is my fault.

If the sacred seed of the Jianmu Tree

draws the wrath of the entire world

and brings about Tianyuan Sect's ruin,

a hundred deaths would not atone for my sins.

If you still insist on

spreading this secret to all,

then strike me down with your own hand.

We are fellow disciples.

Can't we just talk this through?

Must you and I really end up

as bitter enemies like this?

The sacred seed of the Jianmu Tree

is the lifeline for all cultivators under heaven.

Now that it is in my grasp,

I will never back down.

Senior, put it down!

Don't hurt yourself!

Let's talk this over calmly, Senior!

Senior!

I promise you,

I won't spread this matter to the world.

But you must swear an oath with me by clapping hands—

you may nurture the sacred seed and draw spiritual energy,

yet you shall never step foot beyond Tianyuan Mountain.

Otherwise, I'll never let you off lightly.

Fine.

I promise you.

Second,

I'm moving out of the Tianyuan Sect.

Xin Mei has to come with me.

I want to establish my own sect.

From now on,

I'll sever all ties with you

and with the Tianyuan Sect forever.

Senior, please think twice!

Fine.

I promise you too.

From now on,

I will never step into

the Tianyuan Sect again.

Then you stay and guard

your sacred seed of the Jianmu Tree well.

Step over the line even once,

and do not blame me for claiming your head.

We'll return to our sect tomorrow.

Having lost his golden lotus,

Jin Lun is as good as crippled.

We must find a way to make amends.

After we meet Master,

we'll decide.

Do you not feel sorrow for him at all?

What's done is done.

Sorrow serves no purpose.

Tianyin Mountain cultivates the Path of Detachment,

to attain the great Dao

and deliver all living beings.

Senior,

you and I are both living beings.

Jin Lun saved your life,

and in turn saved mine as well.

He traded his own life for two,

which is a worthy exchange.

Sheng,

how could you say that?

You must be very angry,

thinking I'm a bad person.

But truth be told,

I was never much of a good person

to begin with.

Don't speak of yourself like that.

I've long kept a secret hidden

deep in my heart.

In truth, my encounter with you back then

was all carefully planned by me.

Senior.

I've never properly told you

about my past, have I?

Xia Xuanzi was blessed with extraordinary talent.

He unraveled the mystery of the womb,

forging for himself

an almighty, supreme true form.

Yet powerful as Xia Xuanzi was,

with the heavenly ladder severed,

he lost all path to ascension.

After that,

he believed the Crazy Taoist's prophecy

and set his heart on seizing

the divine fate

destined for one of his own descendants.

He believed the destined descendant had to be male.

Thus he wielded magic to manipulate fate,

ensuring every child born in his line was a boy.

I alone

was born a girl.

He thought his magic

had gone awry.

Little did he know,

I too had unraveled

the mystery of the womb just as he had.

I was raised in the Qianyan Cave from childhood,

reduced to a menial servant,

living a life of utter humiliation and degradation.

Let my precious one take a small bite.

It won't kill you!

Inside this Qianyan Cave,

we're one.

Misbehave,

and you shall be punished.

Senior,

Qianyan Cave is a demon cave.

The father abandons his duty, and children forsake theirs.

Everyone is crazy.

When I was young, I made a vow

to burn the Qianyan Cave down.

If the Crazy Taoist's prophecy

is true,

that god must be me.

After all, the Demon God is a god,

right?

Sheng.

You endured such bitter hardships back then,

yet I never knew a thing.

Why didn't you ever tell me?

There are still many things

I've never told you.

Back then I fled to the Central Plains,

hoping to join an immortal sect.

The Twelve Immortal Sects held harsh entrance trials.

Only Xin Xie Manor was different.

Xin Xiong was originally

an elder of the Tianyuan Sect,

a cultivator at the Great Completion Stage.

He was eccentric and erratic,

with only you as his sole disciple.

So I pretended to be bullied,

certain you would take pity on me

and bring me back to the sect.

At first,

Master was wary of me.

Only you

taught me to read and write,

guided me in cultivation,

and passed down martial arts to me.

Senior,

everything I am was taught by you,

all but this wicked heart of mine.

Sheng.

Don't speak of yourself like that.

Sheng,

you're good.

Truly, you are.

Senior,

I will never

do anything to hurt you.

You have to believe me.

I will always believe in you.

I only ache for you

and grieve for all you've been through.

It's just ahead!

Sir,

how are you?

I've cast the Soul-severing Technique,

breaking Li Mofu's Wandering Soul Technique.

Leave at once.

Take Xin Mei with you

and find a place to hide.

Li Mofu is a man who bears

every slight in mind and repays every grudge.

He has suffered a crushing defeat

at your hands,

and you nearly destroyed

the sacred seed of the Jianmu Tree.

He will never let you off lightly.

Sir,

let me take you to see Xin Mei.

No need.

I've read her letter

and known everything between you two.

With you by her side, I'm at peace.

I'll take good care of her.

My cultivation is fading away by the moment.

Rather than letting it go to waste,

I'll give it back to the earth.

Only then may I wander free and untroubled.

♪ What do you think is ♪

♪ The most impressive farewell in the world? ♪

♪ The endless slaughter and massacres ♪

♪ Do not wait until that thin snow on the eaves ♪

♪ Turns a young man's hair white before you regret it ♪

♪ When do you think ♪

♪ The bloody strife will come to an end? ♪

♪ Burn myself to prove it without looking back ♪

♪ Holding the morning glow in hand, I paint the world ♪

♪ Someone's got to clean up this mess ♪

Sheng,

are you up?

It's time we set off.

Sheng?

Landlady,

have you seen Sheng?

No, I haven't.

Honestly,

she's all grown up now.

Must you worry about her

every single day?

I'd better go look for her anyway.

Xin Mei.

Has Lu come back yet?

No, he's not here.

Didn't he go to Chongling Valley

to undergo the heart transformation?

Grandmaster never returned to the valley at all.

What?

Lu's gone missing.

He put me under a spell and knocked me out.

When I woke up,

I headed straight for Chongling Valley,

only to find he never showed up there.

So

we couldn't stop worrying

and came along here.

Landlady,

what month is it now?

Why have all the flowers outside

suddenly bloomed?

It's true.

We hurried back and didn't notice.

A cultivator at the Great Completion Stage is dissipating their cultivation.