Su Xiaobai stared at the Immortal Fetus, suspended in the eerie blue light above the Fate-Deceiving Coffin.
His eyes locked on the faint pulsing of its heartbeat, the sound tugging at something deep within him.
If he had found it earlier, there would've been no hesitation. The stories about the Immortal Fetus said it could turn even a talentless mortal into a peerless genius—if he consumed it, he could've accelerated his cultivation to heights unimaginable.
But now?
Su Xiaobai clenched his fists, his heart pounding in sync with the soft thumping from above. The embryo had already developed. It wasn't just some bundle of energy or potential anymore; it was alive. It had grown. And that was the problem. It was too far along.
If he revived Yue'er, Tianlong's beloved, she would likely be nothing like the kind, delicate girl the Emperor remembered.
No, she would be furious—a soul trapped for centuries, consumed by disease, only to wake up in a body formed by stolen lives. And Su Xiaobai?
He would be the first person she would see. The first person standing in her way.
He'd seen it before. People brought back from the edge of death never came back the same.
Their rage, their anguish—it twisted them into something unnatural. If he touched the Immortal Fetus, it wouldn't be gratitude that greeted him, but hatred. No, she'd likely kill him the moment she opened her eyes.
His fingers twitched toward his storage ring, considering for a moment if he should try to destroy it. The Infernal Flames could refine almost anything.
The heat of those half-step sky-grade flames was enough to melt through the toughest of treasures. But as he listened to the rhythmic beating of the embryo's heart, something made him pause.
"..."
His mind, usually quick and decisive, stalled. Su Xiaobai had no problem killing anyone for his gains. He'd slaughtered rivals, stolen their treasures, and burned down entire sects if it meant furthering his path. Even infants.
The world was ruthless, and so was he.
But this... this sound.
The faint heartbeat echoed in his ears, soft yet insistent, as if it was calling to him. Stirring something in him that he didn't understand.
He gritted his teeth, cursing under his breath. 'Why now?' Why, when the right answer was so clear?
All he had to do was burn it, destroy it, and walk away stronger.
But something about that soft, steady thump made his chest tighten. Made him hesitate.
The embryo had developed too far. Even if he tried to revive Yue'er, the woman who had once captured the heart of an Emperor was long gone.
Her body may remain, but what would wake up wouldn't be her.
The Immortal Fetus had already turned into something more. Something... different.
"..."
The woman was already dead. The fetus was already an embryo. Even if Su Xiaobai didn't know what it would grow into, he knew that it could become a calamity.
He had no doubt that it would be powerful—legendary even. Left unchecked, it could mature into an Immortal Child, the kind of being that would reshape the world in ways no one could predict.
And usually, when something powerful woke up, it wasn't to bring peace.
He should kill it. He should refine it and absorb the power for himself. It was the smart choice.
Not only would it save the world from a potential disaster, but it would increase his strength by unimaginable leaps.
But could he even do it? Could his Infernal Flames refine something like this? And if he failed, would it destroy him instead? Would it tear his very soul apart before he had a chance to react?
Su Xiaobai's head buzzed with conflicting thoughts, the weight of the situation pressing down on him like the cavern's cold, dead air.
"Fuck this…" he muttered, shaking his head. This was too much. It was like some cursed horror story where every wrong move led to death.
He wasn't some blind fool who wandered into a death trap just because the opportunity was tempting. He had his limits.
Grinding his teeth, he made his decision.
"I'm out. I'll come back when I'm strong enough to claim the Fate-Deceiving Coffin, but as for the Immortal Fetus? If it's destined to become a demon that destroys the world, that's not my problem." His words came out more bitter than he intended, but it was the truth.
There were some things even he wasn't ready to deal with. Not yet.
"I have my own destiny…" he muttered to himself, his voice steadying as he spoke the words aloud. "I have my own path. My own revenge."
Tianlong's story was tragic, yes, but it was also a cautionary tale.
A reminder of what could happen if you lost sight of your goal. If you let emotions blind you to the truth. Su Xiaobai wasn't like that emperor. He wasn't going to spend thousands of years chasing shadows, clinging to the past, and watching everything slip away until he was nothing but a hollow shell of himself.
No, he couldn't die like Tianlong—wasted and broken, defeated by the very thing he sought to conquer. He had an objective. He had his own path carved out in blood and vengeance. He would not become a nameless casualty, swallowed by some ancient scheme or devoured by the very treasures he sought. Su Xiaobai had people to defeat, enemies to crush, and power to seize.
There were debts to be repaid.
"They are still out there," Su Xiaobai growled under his breath, his eyes narrowing. The people who had destroyed his family, humiliated him, left him for dead—they were still walking free, untouched.
He could see their faces in his mind, their laughter, the smug satisfaction in their eyes as they watched him struggle, helpless. They had taken everything from him.
But that wouldn't be the end of his story. No, not like this.
He couldn't afford to die here, not with so much left undone. His destiny wasn't to be another forgotten soul fueling an Immortal Fetus, trapped in a cold, dead cave.
His destiny was to rise, to burn brighter than the stars, and to crush those who had wronged him.
"Not yet... Not until they pay," he whispered, his fists clenching tightly at his sides. The Infernal Flames within him stirred, sensing his determination, flickering with a hunger of their own.
He could feel the heat simmering beneath his skin, ready to devour anything in his path.
He could come back here one day—when he was stronger, when he was unstoppable—and claim whatever he wanted.
The Fate-Deceiving Coffin, the power that lay dormant in this forsaken place, all of it would be his.
But for now, he had to live. He had to survive.
Because his true enemy was still out there. The people who had taken everything from him—their blood was the only thing that mattered. His revenge was the only thing that mattered.
Tianlong had lost sight of his purpose. He had allowed grief to steer him off his path, to trap him in an endless cycle of regret and failure.
Su Xiaobai wouldn't fall into that same pit.
No matter how tempting the power in this place was, no matter how strong the pull of the past, he couldn't let himself be chained by it.
He had to move forward.
"Fuck this place," he spat, turning his back on the chamber for good. "I'm not dying for someone else's mistake."
He forced himself to turn away from the fetus, wrenching his gaze from the eerie, beckoning light. It took all his willpower not to glance back, not to let his curiosity or greed sway him.
The aura of death in the chamber was too dense, suffocating, pulling at him like unseen hands.
This whole place reeked of desperation and death.
It was haunted—by the souls that had fed the Immortal Fetus, by the Emperor's madness, by the untold centuries of sorrow.
He wasn't staying to be another victim. He wasn't ready for this treasure, and he wasn't about to touch something that could kill him.
"Let the world deal with whatever comes out of this place," he muttered to himself, each step away from the coffin feeling like a small victory over his own greed. "I'm not dying here for some cursed treasure."
WHOOOSH!
The cavern's winds whispered one last time, as if sighing in disappointment as Su Xiaobai disappeared into the shadows, the echoes of death and forgotten love chasing him out.
He might come back one day, but not today. Not now.
For now, he had cultivation to focus on.
A world filled with treasures and dangers awaited him, and there were plenty of other ways to rise to power.
This cursed cave could keep its horrors—he wasn't ready to gamble his life on something so uncertain.
The world of cultivation was merciless, and Su Xiaobai had no intention of being caught in its cruel hands. Not here. Not now.