Chapter 243: (Small Chapter Explanation)

Shivering.

Yin Qingcheng couldn't stop trembling.

Her eyes were filled with horror, even a faint trace of despair.

This time, she had been slain by Lu Ye's own hand.

She had already proven her identity, letting Lu Ye know she was his Dao companion. She told him that Lu Ye excelled in a hundred paths, that he was skilled in loving others, that he liked...

When she began to speak of what Lu Ye liked, Yin Qingcheng abruptly stopped.

What did Lu Ye like?

Her mind was suddenly blank—she had no idea what Lu Ye liked.

Lu Ye, however, remembered what all of them liked.

But what Lu Ye liked? He had never mentioned it, and they had never asked—as if... Lu Ye wasn’t worthy of having preferences.

"You like protecting, you like guarding those you love!"

This was Yin Qingcheng’s desperate reply.

Yet, to her surprise, Lu Ye shook his head gently.

"Wrong."

In the final moments before her death, Yin Qingcheng asked one last question.

"Lu Ye, what do you like?"

Lu Ye gave his answer.

"I like..."

"Boom!"

Yin Qingcheng only saw Lu Ye’s lips move, but his voice became so faint she couldn’t make it out at all.

So, in the end, she still didn’t know what Lu Ye liked.

It seemed he had spoken, but she simply couldn’t hear it.

"What did he say? What exactly did he say?"

Yin Qingcheng was nearly frantic. She couldn’t accept that she, who prided herself as the woman who loved Lu Ye the most, didn’t even know what he liked.

And there was something even more terrifying.

Lu Ye was now passing through one tribulation point after another in the TriLife Tribulation—each likely a point where he had lost a life in his past existence.

Now, the Vermilion Bird, Yue Hongling, Bai Qiulan, Shangguan Huanling, Chu Ling, and Jiang Die—six in total—each had cost him one life.

And in his previous life, when he faced the Eternal Tribulation, Lu Ye had only one life left before he self-destructed in a cataclysmic explosion.

He was supposed to have nine lives.

Which meant... Lu Ye had most likely died once for her as well.

But why didn't she know?

Why was there no memory at all?

When exactly did Lu Ye lose a life for her?

The truth might lie in the next tribulation point.

Did Lu Ye... really lose a life for her?

Yin Qingcheng's face turned pale.

Staring at the cracked Tri-Life Stone before her, she clenched her teeth—could she still hold on?

But she had no other choice.

She had to see where Lu Ye had lost a life for her.

The Tri-Life Stone emitted its final glow.

...

From afar, Lu Ye observed Jiang Wuya, whose aura surged violently, lost in thought.

In truth, Yin Qingcheng hadn’t heard Lu Ye’s final words clearly because he had intended it that way.

He knew all too well—though he wasn’t sure what method she had used—no, just a simple thought made it clear. Yin Qingcheng must have invaded his TriLife Tribulation through the Three Lives River Lord’s Tri-Life Stone.

And she was a cultivator of the *Heartless Immortal Scripture* from the Heartless Immortal Sect.

So, she had failed to make him reach the pinnacle of affection for her, thus preventing her from achieving heartlessness. Invading his TriLife Tribulation was her desperate attempt to force him to develop ultimate affection for her within the tribulation, only to then sever it—allowing the *Heartless Immortal Scripture* to reach perfection?

That must be it.

But so far, she hadn’t succeeded, and had failed more than once.

Lu Ye shook his head lightly.

Seems like his path of emotions wasn’t smooth at all.

No matter.

Right now, all he sought was invincibility.

Time to move to the next tribulation point!

Lu Ye’s figure vanished.

When he reappeared, he was already outside the Heartless Immortal Sect—and there she was.

Yin Qingcheng had just materialized.

Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted.

The Three Lives River Lord, his aura frenzied, had finally found Yin Qingcheng’s hiding place.

A shrill, furious scream echoed across the heavens and earth.

"Return my Tri-Life Stone!!!"

PS: Really can’t write today, no update at midnight. I’ll wake up early tomorrow and write as fast as I can, updating before noon. Don’t stay up late tonight, love you all!

Mwah!