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Chapter 340 Going Home
When I opened my eyes again, the temple was still brightly lit by candlelight.

This time, Zhou You was able to clearly see the change.

First of all, the temple has expanded considerably. Originally, only faint traces could be seen, but now, the corners around it are a whole circle larger—but still, nothing else can be seen, only the ever-burning candlelight.

Secondly, the statue was more complete than before. Although it still had no face, when you touched it, you could faintly hear sounds similar to praise and prayer.

Soon, the system notification sounded again.

It was that mechanical female voice that had returned to calm.

"Congratulations, player. You have achieved the ending of the story: Judgment."

However, Zhou You interrupted him midway through his speech.

"Hey, young lady, after what we've done, stop pretending to be a robot. If you have time, let's chat—don't worry, I definitely won't be a jerk."

The voice paused for a moment, but then returned to its mechanical tone.

"Congratulations, player. You have achieved the ending of the story: Judgment."

"Um, let's not pretend we didn't hear that, okay?"

"Congratulations, player. You have achieved the ending of the story: Judgment."

"."

Feeling that the other party had no intention of paying attention to him at all, Zhou You could only shrug helplessly.

"Alright, I won't ask anymore, you can continue."

Upon hearing this, the woman's voice finally stopped repeating itself like a broken record.

"Because this script is over 100% complete, it will be completely excluded. You have corrected this story that should not exist. Now, let's proceed with the reward calculation."

"You have slaughtered the bandits in northern Songzhou, bringing peace to this place for more than ten years. You have been awarded 500 Soul Stones."

"You killed Wang Chengen, the future successor of the Houtu Sect, and single-handedly severed the inheritance of a lineage. You have been awarded 800 Soul Stones."

"You have killed the future infamous traitor, Song Hu, and have received a reward of 600 Soul Stones."

"You killed the true uncrowned king of the court, the Hidden King who had poisoned the court for hundreds of years, and stopped his life-extending magic, restoring stability to the court. You have been awarded 1200 Soul Stones."

In total, the number eventually reached eight thousand.

The last few statistics are the biggest part.

"You killed Xie Anming, the leader of the Thick Earth Sect, saving Songzhou from catastrophe and turning the tide, thus saving the people from great calamity. You have been awarded 2000 Soul Stones."

In the illusory shadow, Xie Anming's face completely turned to ashes.
"You killed the leader of the ancient people and stopped the birth of the first god: the Saint of the North who saves life from the yin, thus removing a key point of pollution from this world. You have been rewarded with 4200 Soul Stones."

"In recognition of your achievements, the current emperor has personally bestowed upon you a title, and your name will be known far and wide. You have fulfilled the conditions for this special achievement and have received a reward of 4200 Soul Stones!"

Although he didn't achieve the Three Immortals this time, he killed a lot of people along the way, so his total number of Soul Stones was actually more than when he had the Buddha Heart, reaching nearly 20000.

Unfortunately, the store still didn't offer any discounts this time.

The selection process followed as usual, with three people given the slots. First, Xie Anming, the leader of the early people who belonged to the final boss, and the Saint of Northern Yin-Slaying and Life-Saving were both eliminated. Although there were quite a few left, most of them were basically trash—like Wang Batian, who was a complete waste of the slots.

After picking and choosing for a long time, Zhou You still managed to find a few barely acceptable candidates.

The first one is Wang Chengen. Although he is only a geomancer, his overall strength is definitely at the level of a celestial master. And most importantly, he is cheap. The complete set of secret alchemy techniques can be obtained for only about 4000.

The second one is the Hidden King. This guy has a lot of skills and magic weapons, and quite a few of them are of high quality. After all, he has been in control of the court for more than two hundred years. Unfortunately, after sorting them out, I found that they are mostly methods for health preservation and prolonging life. His combat-oriented skills are only two: his Heavenly Silkworm Silk and his Frosty True Breath.

The third is Old Taoist Yu. He only has one thing: a completely unpolluted corpse refining technique. Although the price isn't high, the restrictions are quite severe. One must find a corpse that died on an unlucky day, in an unlucky month, and after finding it, a 49-day-long ritual of deliverance must be performed before it can be used for corpse refining. This doesn't even include the subsequent nurturing period.
The fourth one is Fatty Xun. There's not much to say about this guy; what he's after is the money that can slow down or even stop the flow of money around him.

The fifth is Sect Leader He. His Life-Slaying Sword likely belongs to Maoshan, so it's not on the exchange list. The rest are mostly ritualistic spells involving summoning deities, which are quite expensive. The rest are Maoshan's numerous unorthodox techniques—such as aphrodisiacs and techniques for maintaining an erection.
Wait a minute, remember that this Sect Leader He practiced the Boyhood Skill? Why is he practicing this?

Zhou You scratched his head, then looked at the last one.

Tao Le'an.

Unlike Cai Yuankui, who was previously a general store owner, his methods were quite simple, consisting of only one talisman technique, the "Shangjiuxiao Xuanguang Lufa," and a few consumables.

But the main thing is that the item that was given to Zhou You before is still on the redemption list.

"Illusory Light Relic"

"Special item".

(This item would not normally appear in the redemption list, but it has been added because the player's scenario completion rate has exceeded 100.)
"Effect: This item can be pseudo-represented as any consumable item you have ever used (cannot be pseudo-represented as a special item). It can be used a maximum of two times per scenario, and cannot be pseudo-represented as the same item in the same scenario."

"This item will be destroyed when its spiritual energy is exhausted, and the spiritual energy cannot be replenished in any way."

[I now abide in these three dharmas. For the sake of all sentient beings, this is called entering Nirvana—this is one of the skull relics found after the Buddha's cremation, signifying both reality and illusion.]

Like the Heaven-Shaking Arrow, this is something that only appears when the script is exceeded. As for its attributes, they are similar to before, except that it no longer has the blessing of lifespan and has the restriction of 'not being able to mimic special items'.

At this moment, with no one else in the temple, Zhou You was able to slowly reflect.

After a long while, as his finger fell, he made his own choice.

First up is Fatty Xun. He's been eyeing this guy's copper coin travel ability for a long time. After all, it's something that can even hold onto that mountain of flesh. If he ever encounters a big boss in the future, those few seconds might be his last resort to save his life.

"Hun Yuan Coin"

"Consumables."

"Effect: This coin contains a certain amount of 'chaotic energy'. After being thrown, it can consume a certain amount of energy to forcibly slow down the actions of surrounding enemies. The duration of the effect and the duration depend on the strength of the enemy. When the energy inside is exhausted, the coin is destroyed."

[The secret magical artifacts of the Xun family in the Three Families Association require hundreds of thousands of copper coins that have been passed down for hundreds of years and handled by countless people to be forged.]

His second choice was the Hidden King.

The combination of the Heavenly Silkworm Silk and the Frost Heart Technique was indeed powerful, but since Zhou You was a swordsman and had never come into contact with such an unusual weapon, it was not very useful to him.

What he was really interested in was the Hidden King's methods for prolonging life—after all, he only had a little over a year left to live, and the script hadn't been giving out many rewards in this area lately, so what if his time really came?
It's too shameful that a dignified Taoist priest like Zhou Dao didn't get killed by any demons or monsters, but instead died of old age.

"The Rejuvenation and Regeneration Technique"

"Rank: Purple".

"Effect: Practicing this skill can enhance some of the body's basic values, significantly reduce the physical decline caused by aging, and extend lifespan by three years."

The secret technique of the Spring Breeze and Rain Hall was also the reason why the Hidden King wiped out the entire clan.

"Changchun Powder"

"Rank: Purple".

"Effect: Taking this medicine can slow down facial changes caused by aging and extend lifespan by three years (the effect diminishes with repeated use)."

The secret recipe for pills from Medicine King Valley takes ten years to complete in one batch, but none of them are ever leaked out; they are all purchased by mysterious individuals.

The two things combined don't amount to much, only extending lifespan by six years, but that's enough for Zhou You now. Finally, there's Tao Le'an.

It's not just the relic; you have to know that he has personally experienced the talisman techniques he has mastered. Although its direct killing power may not be as good as the Evil-Slaying Bow and the Moon-Slaying Bow, it is much stronger in terms of restraint and support.

The total cost of the "Shangjiuxiao Xuanguang Lufa" plus the Illusory Light Relic was 9000.

At this point, the 18,000 soul stones he had just acquired were reduced to a little over 2,000. Zhou You then bought some other items, such as healing pills, century-old cinnabar, and consecrated talismans, before finally concluding his shopping trip.

However, he wasn't in a hurry to go out.

Based on the previous situation, there should have been a recap of the plot, and he wanted to see what happened to those people in the end—however, after waiting for a long time, there was no movement at all in the seating area.

"Uh, are you not awarding a victory bonus this time? Or did your computer crash again?"

However, at that moment, a gust of wind suddenly blew by.

Zhou You initially thought there was no problem, but he quickly realized the truth.

—Where does the wind come from in this sealed-off temple?

In a daze, all the candles went out at once.

A pale blue fragment rose from his chest—it took Zhou You a while to recognize it before he realized it was the stone he had taken from the slug.

—But didn't this thing already shatter into dust? How could it still be here?
Before the thought could even finish running through my mind...

then.

Pure, unadulterated blackness engulfed everything.

This kind of black is hard to describe. It's not like a color, but like a simple existence. Darkness occupies everything, and even the 'self' will be swallowed up by it.

Zhou You had seen this kind of pure black before.

That was in the Temple of the Three Saints, when the bonfire inside was extinguished, and this darkness enveloped everything.

But now it's even worse.

The malice within seemed endless, and a voice could be faintly heard praising a name.

Supreme Emptiness
This is not a divine name, but rather the essence of existence.

And so, something noticed him.

Similarly, it also touched on him.

I remember Master Yu once said that one must not know, not listen to, and not understand these things.

Now, Zhou You understands what that means.

Because once you know it, this thing can project itself to your side without any limits!

When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the temple.

The sky is boundless, and so is the ground. Looking out, two infinitely extending planes form a whole, and there is nothing else besides them.

—This is a prison.

For some reason, the thought flashed through my mind in an instant and then became a deeply ingrained consciousness.

In the absolute silence, a voice suddenly rang out.

It is not a language known to humans, yet it can be understood.

"You came?"

There was still nothing there, but for some reason, Zhou You felt that something had 'filled' the place. So much so that his entire body made a sound of being squeezed and unable to bear the weight.

But the voice didn't even acknowledge him—it wasn't even directed at him, it was just talking to itself.

"again."

"How many times have they come, over and over again?"

The voice paused for a moment, then continued.

"But the essence remains unchanged."

Fortunately, every failure allows us to take another step forward.

"Many a little makes a mickle, and a little bit of sand makes a great tower."

"As long as I can find an opportunity, I will eventually be able to break free from here."

"Remember, my name is..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Zhou You's vision blurred, and he felt as if he were being pulled away by something, and in an instant he was pulled out of this world.

The world is spinning.

When Zhou You regained his vision, the first thing he saw was a familiar ceiling.

The ceiling of my own house.

He wasn't even thrown back into the temple; instead, he was actually swept back to his own home.

The surroundings were clean and bright, the tables and chairs were neatly arranged, and even the corners were spotless. There was no indication that the owner of this place had been gone for half a month. Zhou You was stunned for a while before taking out the black book from his pocket.

However, the book was now dull and gray. Although the place of incense offerings could still be felt, it was as if there was a layer of mist in between, making it difficult to see clearly.

Only now did the sluggish feeling slowly return to me.

—What was that thing just now?
—What else did I see?
It felt as if a bunch of things had been forcibly stuffed into his head, making it feel like it was about to burst. But just as he staggered to his feet, wanting to gulp down a mouthful of the Wine Immortal gourd to soothe himself, a cold hand suddenly touched his forehead.

Looking up, a face filled with shock and extreme worry came into view.

It's a little female ghost.

For some reason, the moment I saw that face, all my discomfort vanished. At the same time, the sounds of the television in the bedroom, the honking of cars outside the window, and the arguing of the couple upstairs all reached my ears.

Thus, we truly returned to reality.

Zhou You opened his mouth as if he had a thousand words to say, but in the end he just shook his head.

—Forget it, who cares what that thing is? There's always a way out. I'm a bachelor, I'll figure something out if I really run into it.

He placed his hand on the little girl's head and rubbed it a little harder. Looking at the little girl crouching down with her head in her hands, Zhou You finally said something.

"So.

"I am back."

(End of this chapter)