Perhaps Nie Xu’s own soul is currently in some other universe, shouting “Long live!” and thanking himself for finally escaping the Sasa Universe to arrive in a more normal universe… who knows?

The possibility of the Tree of Life is greater than the universe Sasa created, or perhaps his soul was flicked away to a place even more miserable than the Sasa Universe. That would be really pathetic.

Unfortunately, these were all just wild thoughts. Qi Xing himself didn't know anything, and in the end, he could only admit to the Zombie Immortal: "I don't know. Asking the King of Hell might yield an answer."

"But Ancestor, perhaps it's due to some residual feelings in this body of mine, but I have to tell you."

"— — Nie Xu himself definitely didn't want to do anything with his own mother. That's why I instinctively felt that something was wrong, and why I hurried away."

"How is that possible?"

The Zombie Immortal of the Nie Family, the one named Nie Xiaoyue, was finally taken aback upon hearing this.

"I didn't intend to hurt him, harm him, or use him as a cultivation vessel. The dual cultivation technique passed down through generations in our Nie Family is meant to be beneficial for everyone, to make everyone closer. How could there be any reason for me to scare my own son away?"

This logic left Qi Xing somewhat speechless.

At this point, even though he didn't want to deal with this bizarre family anymore, he couldn't help but frown:

"Seriously, Ancestor, what is the deal with your family? Why must you insist on inbreeding?"

Hearing Qi Xing say that he was just a soul-transmigrator and that the person inside had already changed, the Zombie Immortal was still a bit dazed and sorrowful. But she answered honestly: "To become an immortal."

"You are already an immortal."

"But I cannot ascend, and the other juniors in the family cannot become immortals either. The child is weaker than the mother."

The Zombie Immortal shook her head sadly.

"The path to immortality is too difficult to tread. None of us can reach the level of our Matriarch. We are getting weaker and weaker."

"Therefore, we can only go against the flow and regress."

Hearing this, Qi Xing truly couldn't pretend he hadn't heard: "What? This body of mine is a descendant of Duo Chenzi?!"

"The Matriarch reincarnates as easily as changing clothes; her current body is not the one she had when she gave birth to me. However, Venerable Leipu, if you really want to analyze it carefully, it is indeed the case."

The Zombie Immortal nodded.

Qi Xing was speechless.

He really was… Good heavens… He had had enough of the thought patterns of the people in this world.

Fortunately, Duo Chenzi had already changed bodies, and fortunately, Qi Xing's current body had no blood relation to Duo Chenzi; otherwise, the hierarchy would be too chaotic.

"Do you know where the ritual Duo Chenzi is currently holding is hidden?"

"I do. But the Matriarch also knows that I know, and even more so, she knows that I am now in your hands and must have already made preparations."

Could Duo Chenzi not guess that Qi Xing would soon come to her door to cause trouble? Unlikely, she wasn't that stupid.

"It doesn't matter."

But Qi Xing still said calmly to the Zombie Immortal,

"Ancestor—or if you don't mind, I'll just call you Senior Nie—to be honest, regarding this inexplicable fate between us, I really don't know what to do either."

"Whether I volunteered or not, and regardless of how he is now, I did indeed take your son's body, used it for ten years, and will continue to use it in the future."

"If you want me to return this good body of immortal bone to you, I'm afraid it's impossible. Not just because of the power, but also because I've grown accustomed to this body—it is already my body."

… Speaking of this, Qi Xing himself felt it was somewhat ridiculous.

How is this attitude any different from what Sasa said, that this world is already her world?

But regardless, it was truly impossible for Qi Xing to return this body—even if he did, it would be useless.

"I possess overwhelming power, enough to tell you to f*** off, this body is mine… but I don't want to do that after all."

So Qi Xing continued, speaking calmly to the Zombie Immortal,

"So, let's negotiate terms, Senior Nie."

"I want to reconcile with you all."

— — Transmigrated by soul, traveled through time, stole someone else's son's body, what to do?

No way.

Either punch the family members until they explode and be a shameless villain, or be patient, talk to the family members about how to reconcile and handle things, and reach a conclusion through discussion.

If he could bring back Nie Xu's own soul, Qi Xing might try it. But he always had an intuition: Nie Xu himself might not necessarily want to come back.

In many transmigration web novels, the protagonist can help the original owner of the body they transmigrated into fulfill their regrets, and then they are even. If he could, Qi Xing would like to do that too, but unfortunately, he couldn't.

— — Helping the person fulfill a regret and then being even, how simple is that? It's f***ing simple. Unfortunately, this world doesn't operate that way.

This reconciliation, Qi Xing could only discuss with the family of the deceased.

Things in the past couldn't be changed. Things that couldn't be figured out couldn't be figured out.

So Qi Xing had to move forward; he could only move forward.

Settle accounts with the past, reconcile, and only then could Qi Xing continue to move forward.

Otherwise, he would have no face to criticize Sasa.

This must be a debt problem that both he and Sasa have to solve.

Volume 7: Age of Dharma Decline and Apocalypse: 254: Educating the Female Devil

Now there were only the two of them left, alone in Qi Xing's own room.

Which two people? Of course, it was Qi Xing and Sasa, who else could it be?

When Sasa woke up, she found herself lying on a four-poster bed in the center of the room. The curtains were half-drawn, and Qi Xing was sitting by the bedside, looking down at her, his expression so calm it was almost unsettling.

As soon as she opened her eyes, Sasa felt a sharp, needle-like pain in her head, as if someone had forcibly driven iron nails into her skull. Warm blood gushed down her temples, soaking the pillow. In an instant, Sasa couldn't help but feel a surge of sorrow rising from her heart.

Anyway, there was no one else around to see, so she just gave up on appearances and wailed loudly.

But Qi Xing just watched from the side.

His gaze was not cold to the point of cruelty, but it certainly wasn't gentle either.

Why just watch from the side, Qi Xing? Do you really think Sasa deserves to suffer all this?

… What else?

However, Qi Xing didn't kick her while she was down or further mock Sasa. He reached out, grasped Sasa's cold little hand, and transferred the primal divine power from the [World] silver coin.

In an instant, the cracks, whip marks, and bloody wounds all over Sasa's body closed up and recovered, visible to the naked eye. It was as if someone had used an eraser to wipe away wounds drawn in pencil and then redrawn smooth skin.

This was indeed a divine realm that could not be achieved by human magic.

Sasa felt her whole body lighten, and the pain vanished instantly. She rolled over and sat up, her eyes shining.

… Unfortunately, this method treated the symptoms but not the root cause. After just a moment, her noble body suddenly twitched, and her flesh split open again. A whip mark appeared out of thin air, and she screamed in pain, falling back onto the bed with a thud, clutching her buttocks tightly with both hands.

After all, Duo Chenzi's ritual was still continuing, so how could it be finished just by treating Sasa a little?

Qi Xing frowned, but still mobilized the power of the [World] again to erase the wound, yet he didn't speak.

Because he didn't speak, Sasa became increasingly nervous and couldn't help but feel a bit afraid. Her eyes shifted for a moment, and finally, she couldn't help but ask timidly: "Qi Xing… do you think I deserve this too?"

Qi Xing sighed.

Sasa waited obediently. She would never discuss this question with anyone else. Because she knew that no one would answer this kind of question seriously. Only Qi Xing would ponder it first before giving her an answer.

"I have also often thought about this question recently,"

Qi Xing finally said,

"You certainly deserve it, but if you also deserve to suffer this current torment—doesn't that imply that whatever Duo Chenzi does to you is justifiable and reasonable? That clearly doesn't make sense."

"Only the Demon of Anger would shout things like 'receiving retribution is deserved, being stabbed is karma.' Only a fool would believe that everyone in the world who suffers does so because they are guilty themselves and therefore deserve their bad luck."

"Pushing the cause of all suffering onto the person who is suffering is the easiest logic, but it is just giving up on thinking."

"If that were really the case, why would I bother going to risk my life against Duo Chenzi?"

His tone was cold, but the content of what he said was not as indifferent as Sasa had feared.

"Actually, before, when the King of Hell told me the truth about this world and made me understand your nature, I was also wondering if I should let you, now turned into a human, suffer a little more."

Speaking of this, Qi Xing frowned,

"But the problem is… I haven't figured out how to make you suffer this."

This topic immediately made Sasa shiver, and she obediently lowered her head.

"Buddhism says there are eight sufferings in life. When Mara turned you into a human, he must have really wanted you to taste them. But birth, old age, sickness, and death, the pain of separation from loved ones, the pain of being with those you hate, the pain of not getting what you want, and the suffering of the five aggregates—you have already been 'born,' and I don't have time to let you 'age,' let alone let you 'die.'"

Besides, Sasa wouldn't really die. Even if her human body died, her spirit would just return to the Black Throne and continue rolling in pain.

"Sasa,"

So Qi Xing asked again, his tone calm but carrying an unavoidable sharpness.

"It's been two thousand years. Do you know where you went wrong now?"

Sasa immediately lowered her head obediently and hurriedly admitted her mistake: "I shouldn't have stolen my dad's database, eaten all the fallen angels, and then tried to create my own world for fun."

"No."

"… Huh?"

Sasa looked up, eyes wide, somewhat surprised.

"Of course f***ing not. I'm not a Christian. Are you expecting me to say that your attempt to be a creator god is a form of blasphemy or overstepping?"

As Qi Xing said this, he shook his head and couldn't help but laugh himself.

"That's not the point, is it?"

"The point is not at all about whether you wanted to be a creator god, nor is it about whether you stole the database or ate the fallen angels. These might be important to the people involved—but to me, and to this world, they are simply invisible and intangible things that don't matter at all."

Some people might say—Ah, stupid Creator! You created such a lousy world, let me be born into this broken world; it would have been better not to create the world at all, not to let us exist!

But Qi Xing felt that this kind of talk was just like saying, "You gave birth to me, why can't you live a good life? If you don't have money, don't have children! If you give birth to me, you have to be responsible for me until the end!"

At first glance, it seems to make sense, but if you think about it carefully, it always feels a bit off.

How do you define whether parents are qualified to have children? What counts as "qualified"? Is there a recognized standard? It can't be that if the child thinks it's qualified, it is, and if the child thinks it's not, it's not, right?

If parents can't provide an ideal living environment and let the child suffer in the world, then it would be better not to give birth. But what counts as an "ideal" living environment?

A desperate child pushed to the edge saying these words, and a spoiled, immature, ignorant, and arrogant child asking this question—the nature of it is obviously different.

Therefore, the same logic probably applies to being a creator god. That one must make the world a utopia to be a qualified creator god… sounds like only people on the rich list are qualified to have children. This obviously doesn't make sense.

The concept of parents having no grace is something Qi Xing can understand. But to say "parents are guilty for giving birth," yeesh, that seems a bit too extreme.

He used to be troubled by how to answer this question, but now he understands a little—because that is not the point at all.

The point is what this creator god, or parent, actually wants to do, and what they specifically did.

"In my previous life, when I was still in junior high school in a normal world, my math teacher once said something very interesting."

Qi Xing suddenly changed the subject,

"I once heard him say to a classmate's parent: 'If a child cheats on an exam, at least in their heart, they still want to do well.'"

Suddenly popping out with such a sentence left Sasa stunned for a moment. But she couldn't help but retort: "Why do I feel like he was just worried about being beaten by his parents if he failed the exam?"

"Correct, well said, Sasa. But,"

Qi Xing turned to look at her, staring straight into her eyes,

"Did you ever worry about being beaten by your dad if you failed? Did you cheat to prevent being beaten?"

No.

Of course not.

Sasa stealing the database and eating the fallen angels were all because she had that thing she wanted to do.

"… I wanted to create my own world to prove that I could create better creations than my dad, especially humans."

"So, did you succeed?"

"No. But…"

But Sasa still didn't understand. Although she vaguely had some realization, she was still unconvinced. After hesitating for a moment, she hurriedly added:

"… But I failed because my ability was insufficient. Are you trying to say that all the suffering I deserve today is because my level is too poor? That it's my own fault for failing, and I shouldn't have tried?"

"No." Qi Xing shook his head again, his tone decisive, his expression carrying a heavy seriousness.