The Skeleton Demon was also engulfed by the magma.
Now, Xue Dili and Barak had become the Undead. They were no different from the Witch Demon King; the blazing flames would purify all evil, and it was the same for them.
But for some unknown reason, the melting speed of the Skeleton Demon was much slower than that of the Witch Demon King.
The magma corroded the Skeleton Demon, burning its skeleton full of holes.
In an extremely short time, the Witch Demon King had repeated the "death-resurrection-death" cycle hundreds of times.
In the Consciousness Space, however, it was deathly silent.
"Xue, is Da Gu fake?" Old Barak looked at the completely Undead-transformed Xue Dili and asked this question.
Xue Dili remained silent. At this moment, he already felt an incomparable heat, as if the high temperature would burn out his fragile Soul Fire.
"Actually, there are many flaws, but I've always wanted to believe that Da Gu is based on a real story, just like how Minstrels sing ancient legends, which may gradually twist and change with the singing, but there must be an original..."
"But whether it's real or not, it doesn't matter anymore..." The old Undead looked at the undead Xue Dili, who was already curled up, about to spontaneously combust.
"Crack!" The chains imprisoning him broke one by one. They were the seal imposed by the former Pope, as well as the world's "God" against evil. At this moment, they shattered completely, freeing him from the confinement of Xue Dili's internal Consciousness Space.
The old Undead used his body to shield the young Undead.
"To me, you are the real Light..."
"Perhaps, the real Barak died twenty years ago, and what survived was just a pitiable ghost inheriting his memories..."
"Thank you, lad."
The old Undead laughed as his body purified in the lava, and his soul was completely transformed at this moment.
The once hideous Skeleton Demon, its frame slowly gathered, its sharp bone spurs melted, and the gaps were filled.
Pure white feathers began to sprout from the once grotesque bone wings, reshaping and reforging the once dreadful skeleton into that of an Heroic Spirit...
The Skeleton Demon spread these white wings in the lava, possessing none of the former Undead appearance, having undergone a complete transformation from Undead to the concept of being an "Heroic Spirit."
The sword that symbolized Old Barak's sealed Demon Sword, its grotesque eyeballs turned into radiant gems, its massive guard transformed into wings, and the original bone blade completely became a Holy Sword radiating a metallic gleam!
Having been transformed from a Holy Knight to an Undead, and purified by the Church Court for over twenty years, carrying Xue Dili on a journey that finally allowed him to let go.
In a vague way, this Undead who had dedicated his life to the Empire and ultimately only wished to escape, completed his sublimation.
He crossed the boundary between life and death, transitioned from evil to the sacred, with a once hideous frame becoming akin to sacred armor of an Arbiter Paladin, and grotesque bone wings turning into noble wings.
Truly transformed from an Undead into an Heroic Spirit, Barak regained the heroic bearing he had before his Undead Transformation.
"No matter what, you must live to return home... I will definitely let you go home, definitely..."
The wings wrapped around the Undead-transformed Xue Dili.
For Xue Dili, who was undergoing a complete transformation into an Undead, it was the excessive use of Undead power suppressing his Life Force, leading to an irreversible Undead Transformation.
And since this Undead corrosion originated from Barak during his Undead phase, then...
In the moment when Xue Dili's soul was not entirely consumed by the Undead state, reality reversed!
"Thank you, Xue Dili."
The Teleportation Gate to an Otherworld opened in the Consciousness Space. This time, the old Undead had already separated from Xue Dili. He sent Xue Dili towards the other world he had always longed for, the world he once gazed upon with so much hope and admiration.
Actually, he really wanted to listen to "Da Gu" in concert one more time...
Whether true or false, it no longer mattered.
"Goodbye, may Holy Light protect you!" Old Barak performed a standard Holy Knight salute, just like decades ago when he was still a Holy Knight.
The Teleportation Gate to the Otherworld closed. After feeling the disconnection with Xue Dili completely, the exalted body of the old Undead slowly transformed into light particles, dissipating into the volcano lava.
It was as if he had become one with the volcano.
Meanwhile, the Witch Demon King continued repeating the cycle of "resurrection-death," sinking into the deepest part of the magma, descending to the deepest layer of the crust, tens of thousands of meters underground, an unfindable place.
It still had cognitive abilities and sometimes struggled, but in the endless loop, eventually, the Witch Demon King gave up thinking...
...
The sound of cicadas chirping echoed outside the window in the summer.
The morning sun shone on the bed, and Xue Dili slowly opened his eyes. He subconsciously asked, "Old Deng, what time is it now?"
However, upon seeing his familiar room, Xue Dili paused slightly in a daze.
He instantly touched his eye, intact, neither rotten nor hollow.
He immediately got out of bed and looked at his own hands and body.
In the last moment of consciousness, he should have been in the Undead form, starting to decay, but now he was perfectly intact, seemingly healthier than countless normal people.
"Hey, old man? What's happening to me?" Xue Dili immediately looked into the Consciousness Space, intending to ask that old Barak.
Yet at this moment, the Consciousness Space was empty, with only 19 hours and 48 minutes left, counting down slowly.
Looking at the empty Consciousness Space, Xue Dili seemed to have understood something.
At times like these in the past, the old guy would always be yelling, either urging marriage or incessantly advising him to run away, or shamelessly repeating how long-legged and slim-waisted his granddaughter was, with a big chest...
Yet when these voices were gone, Xue Dili felt a slight discomfort.
People are always contradictory.
Xue Dili checked the time, August 14th, exactly three days had passed.
This otherworldly journey felt like a dream. Xue Dili reached out, slowly chanting: "Holy Light Technique..."
The spiral of gathered light appeared in his palm, reflected in Xue Dili's pupils.
The knowledge of the Otherworld taught by the old man may truly be the real gift.
Xue Dili immediately got up, opened his notebook from school, and began to record all the knowledge that Old Barak had taught in the book.
Imperial Swordsmanship, Holy Light Technique, Holy Shield Technique, Holy Judgment Skill...
These were the most precious treasures, a wealth of knowledge that allowed Xue Dili to keep training in the real world, elevating him from Elite Level to Legendary Level.
After finishing all of this, looking at the dozens of pages filled with Chinese interspersed with Imperial Language notes, Xue Dili nodded with satisfaction.
Even if this notebook were lost, the half-understood Imperial Language understood only by Xue Dili had strong anti-counterfeit measures.
After all, he had only learned Imperial Language for a few days, and many places where he couldn't write well were spelled out using a mix of pinyin and Imperial Language phonetics, comprehensible only to him.
If a linguist got hold of this notebook, they'd probably be scratching their heads.
He opened the curtains, letting the summer rays of sunlight pour over Xue Dili. Outside the window, the summer cicadas sang their crisp sounds without stopping.
"Goodbye, old man, you were my best teacher."
The sun was warm, and Xue Dili smirked slightly, "Today is another day full of hope."