Mysterious mirror hanging high

Chapter 1032 Living a life of ignominy, facing death with composure

Zhu Hongluan never expected Guo Tingshu's refusal to be so direct. He seemed completely unconcerned about the vast difference in their cultivation levels and social status, and felt that this person before her was truly a stubborn individual she had never seen before. Therefore, she said:

"I'm not negotiating with you, but rather informing you of my needs and asking for your price."

“You can think of this as a transaction, a transaction in which you exchange your path and your life for something else.”

"If I can overcome the tenth tribulation and achieve the unprecedented status of a [Ten Tribulation Loose Immortal], or even glimpse a higher realm, then within my capabilities, as long as it does not violate my principles and morality, I can agree to any compensation or promise you make—whether it is to avenge you, protect someone you designate, or strengthen a certain force... as long as you ask, I will do my best to fulfill it."

She looked at Guo Tingshu: "Even a cultivator with no relatives or ties still has a price to pay for his death, so what exactly do you want?"

"I do not want anything."

Guo Tingshu refused again: "Senior Zhu, we are not related, why should I risk my own cultivation and life to save you at all costs?"

Zhu Hongluan gritted her teeth and said, "When you saved those innocent cultivators in the square, weren't you also risking your life and determined to sacrifice your own cultivation path? Are you related to those cultivators?"

"How can that be the same?" Guo Tingshu shook his head: "The reason I was willing to save people in that situation was because I was still somewhat confident in my own speed. It was far from a certain death situation. Could I share the tribulation with a [Nine Tribulations Loose Immortal]?"

"Senior Zhu, just tell me how much hope I have of surviving."

Zhu Hongluan did not hide anything from Guo Tingshu, saying, "I have only been a Loose Immortal for a hundred years now, and there are still more than nine thousand nine hundred years before I can undergo the tenth Loose Immortal Tribulation."

"If you can cultivate to the Celestial Immortal realm within these less than ten thousand years, I estimate that you should have a one in ten thousand chance of surviving."

"If you are still only at the Mahayana stage at that time... then you will surely die."

Guo Tingshu couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this: "Senior Zhu, you... I'm only at the early stage of the Cave Heaven Realm right now. Whether I can even reach the Great Ascension Realm in ten thousand years is still uncertain! Let alone transcending the mortal realm and becoming an immortal?"

"Isn't this a death sentence?"

"If I were to share the tribulation lightning with you, how confident are you that you could survive the tenth tribulation of a Loose Immortal?"

Zhu Hongluan gritted her teeth and said, "The tribulation of a loose immortal not only includes the lightning tribulation targeting the physical body and nascent soul, but also the soul tribulation targeting the spirit and the void tribulation targeting the consciousness..."

"To be honest, even if you do manage to weaken the intensity of the lightning tribulation for me, the probability of me surviving the tenth Loose Immortal Tribulation is still less than one in ten thousand."

"Isn't that still a high probability of death?"

Guo Tingshu sighed, "It's true that I like to meddle in other people's business, but I also know the importance of doing what I can. Besides, if I put in so much effort and it all comes to nothing, then I'll have died for nothing."

The crimson flames in Zhu Hongluan's eyes suddenly contracted, and the surrounding temperature instantly soared.

"Guo Tingshu, you don't seem to understand."

Zhu Hongluan said, enunciating each word clearly, "If you shake your head now and say 'no,' I can immediately annihilate you, leaving not even a trace of your soul behind."

“You will die here, silently and meaninglessly. Your cultivation in your grotto-heaven realm, your Yin-Yang Thunder Technique, everything you might have in the future… it ends here.”

"But what if you nod?"

Zhu Hongluan softened her tone slightly: "Even if it's just a perfunctory promise, we'll have a ten-thousand-year pact."

"Over the next ten thousand years, I will do everything in my power and use all available resources to help you—cultivation techniques, elixirs, rare and precious materials, opportunities to hone your skills... I will nurture you as my true disciple."

“A prodigy who cultivates according to this standard... may become a Celestial Immortal after ten thousand years. At that time, you may still die, but at least there will be a glimmer of hope for survival, however faint.”

"Is it better to die now, or to fight for a chance of survival ten thousand years from now? It doesn't seem like a difficult choice."

Despite the immense pressure, Guo Tingshu showed no fear on his face, but rather an indescribable calm.

He met Zhu Hongluan's burning crimson eyes and slowly but clearly shook his head.

"Senior, these are two different things."

“If you kill me now, it is because you are strong and bullying the weak; it is you who want to take my life.”

"I may be unwilling, or I may be powerless to resist, but that was your choice. My death is merely a matter of a strong person's whim; countless people in the Immortal Realm die like this every day."

He paused, then continued, "But if I were to agree against my conscience and make a promise today for that vague glimmer of hope ten thousand years from now, I would be selling my own path and my life for a price."

"Ten thousand years of cultivation, every step of which is prepared to die in place of others... Ten thousand years of life, every moment lived in the shadow of inevitable death."

"What difference is there between such a cowardly existence and being a walking corpse?"

Zhu Hongluan felt a surge of irritation: "Wouldn't it be better to live another ten thousand years?"

Guo Tingshu looked serious and said, "Senior Zhu, you shouldn't have said that."

Zhu Hongluan was slightly taken aback, then a surge of embarrassment and annoyance rose in her heart, and she said, almost with a mixture of shame and anger:

"You're all doomed! I'll kill all of you geniuses first, and then I'll go and face the tribulation myself. Do you really think I can't survive the tribulation without you?"

Unexpectedly, Guo Tingshu thought about it carefully for a moment and then said:

“Well… Senior Zhu, since you’ve put it that way, then I, Guo, might consider helping you avoid this calamity.”

Zhu Hongluan was momentarily stunned and exclaimed, "What does this mean? Why have you suddenly changed your mind?"

Guo Tingshu sighed, “Alas, you are threatening Jing’er with his life. I have a very close relationship with him and I cannot just stand by and watch him die. I have no choice but to agree to this... But you must make a vow from your heart that you will never harm Jing’er in the slightest again. Otherwise, I, Guo, would rather die than submit, and we will all part ways.”

Zhu Hongluan frowned and said, "Didn't you say that you and that Xuanjing Daoist are not even close friends? Why would you risk your life and your path for him for nothing!"

Guo Tingshu laughed upon hearing this, "Jing-ge and I are indeed not close friends now, but if I were to risk my life, I wouldn't need to be considered a close friend. Just being very good friends would suffice."

"If Senior Zhu is a good friend of Guo's, let alone guiding you through the tribulation ten thousand years later, it would be no difficult thing for Guo to die in your place right now."

Zhu Hongluan was stunned by his words, but a glimmer of hope suddenly rose in her eyes: "You mean, if we become very good friends, you would be willing to die for me?"