“Father…” Feng Tianyao looked as though he had seen a lifeline, his eyes filled with both hope and despair. “What’s happening? Why are they all talking nonsense, and Ling Luo… why does she know the divine sword intent?”

His voice trembled and broke toward the end, almost tearful.

The scene before him was truly unbearable for Feng Tianyao.

The father he had revered as a divine, heroic, and powerful figure since childhood, and the person who had first changed his view of girls and whom he had tried to get close to, suddenly shared a secret that transformed them both.

Feng Yunhong’s gaze swept over Feng Tianyao before finally landing on Ling Luo.

The little girl from his memories, who used to follow behind him with small steps, refusing to let go, had now grown up.

Her features resembled her mother’s, but she lacked her mother’s gentle tranquility.

The White Bone Demon clutched his chest, laughing softly at first, then increasingly louder, almost unable to straighten his back.

“Feng Yunhong, even you have a day like this!” The White Bone Demon laughed until tears nearly came. “Not satisfied with destroying my master, you didn’t even spare your daughter. Truly worthy of being the venerable one of the Feng family and the master of Xuehe—ruthless enough!”

Feng Tianyao’s eyes reddened as he listened.

His heart raced, and he dared not look back at Ling Luo. Even knowing her gaze wasn’t on him, he still couldn’t bear to look at her at all.

Shock, embarrassment, helplessness, and other emotions overwhelmed him.

Feng Yunhong drew his sword, instantly teleporting to the White Bone Demon and pushing him back, shattering the white bones that restrained Feng Tianyao. Everything happened in an instant. His divine sword intent, with an even more domineering and fierce momentum, took control of this realm.

The White Bone Demon frowned slightly, retreating to Zuo Bai’s side in front of the house. The two divine sword intents made him quite uncomfortable.

By the time Feng Yunhong looked back at Ling Luo, she had already drawn her sword to attack. The collision of divine sword intents swept across the entire mountaintop, shocking the disciples of the immortal sects who were still below.

“Is that… divine sword intent?” Zi Xiu asked in surprise. “That sweeping momentum across thousands of miles couldn’t have been unleashed by the young master. Sect Master Feng must have arrived!”

Yu Cang looked at the spiritual energy turmoil above and sighed with relief. With the Sect Master here, the young master should be safe.

No one would doubt the Xuehe Sect Master’s strength. With Sect Master Feng present, everything would surely be fine.

The vast majority of people thought this way.

Only Yue Liangze frowned, quickening his pace upward.

Song Yuanyuan said, “Little Father, why are you in such a hurry?”

Yue Liangze replied, “Ling Luo is up there.”

Song Yuanyuan wiped the sweat from her forehead, reassuring him, “But Sect Master Feng is there, right? Once he takes action, that Twenty-Six Demon will certainly die. Ling Luo will be fine.”

Yue Liangze pressed his lips together without answering. It was precisely because Feng Yunhong was there that he was more concerned.

On the mountaintop, Ling Luo and Feng Yunhong crossed swords. The majesty of their divine sword intents collided, creating a grand spectacle. Feng Tianyao watched with both amazement and despair. The White Bone Demon, though taking pleasure in their misfortune, also paid a considerable price, as being a demon meant he was inevitably injured.

During their battle, he kept his eyes fixed on Feng Yunhong’s every move, waiting for an opportunity.

He found it.

While Feng Yunhong was focused on fighting Ling Luo, the White Bone Demon suddenly made his move. A white skeleton frame flew out from the void like a cage, covering Feng Yunhong and falling to the ground. However, the White Bone Demon’s lethal sneak attack was blocked by a layer of golden light surrounding Feng Yunhong.

“Father!” Feng Tianyao called anxiously.

“No need to worry,” Feng Yunhong said calmly. “Just stay there and watch.”

As he spoke, he drew a barrier in front of Feng Tianyao with his fingers.

The White Bone Demon’s expression darkened: “Sect Master Feng is as arrogant as ever.”

Feng Yunhong cast a contemptuous glance at him.

This man still maintained his composure today, with the bearing and posture of a sword cultivator, along with the authority of a powerful figure.

Feng Yunhong’s gaze passed over the White Bone Demon, falling on Zuo Bai behind him.

“A long-decayed corpse, brought out by you to suffer further torment—is this your love for your master?” Feng Yunhong mocked softly.

“Shut up! What right or face do you have to mention my master!” The White Bone Demon’s face contorted with anger, his demonic energy erupting.

Trapped in the white bone cage, Feng Yunhong remained calm and unhurried, maintaining his lofty disdain and coldness toward everything.

“The Moon Palace’s spell didn’t work, but the Flying Thunder Pearl has already helped restore her physical body. So you planned to forcibly call her back using blood from the same lineage, which is why you captured Ah Yao to lure me here.” He spoke deeply, with a hint of mockery, drawing his sword across his palm to create a wound. Fresh blood splattered into the air, carried by spiritual energy toward Zuo Bai. “I’ll fulfill your wish. Let’s see if your demon realm methods work.”

“What trick are you trying to pull?” The White Bone Demon cautiously intercepted Feng Yunhong’s blood.

“Afraid?” Feng Yunhong said. “Afraid that if your master comes back to life, she’ll find the demonized you disgusting?”

The White Bone Demon clenched his fists, veins bulging on his temples on the half of his face that remained: “If it weren’t for you condemning her for taking a half-demon as a disciple, and not being satisfied even after she exchanged spiritual veins, still forcing her to leave Xuehe and marry that beast of a man!”

Feng Yunhong’s face showed a mocking smile: “She could have refused to marry if only she had abandoned you, her useless disciple.”

In the constantly recurring past of Shunyi Town, among the guests attending that wedding was a young man wearing Nanshan Xuehe sect attire who had come to present gifts.

He stood outside, looking at the festively decorated mansion gates, watching the smiling servant girls carrying wedding clothes and trays of fruits and wine pass by.

The young man both despised and envied his sister.

Her ugly appearance, her blind eye, and her existence brought shame to the family, but most of all because she was stronger than him.

The White Bone Demon said through gritted teeth: “You clearly knew that the Zhao man harbored hatred toward my master, yet you still made her marry him. Feng Yunhong, someone as ruthless and cold-blooded as you, with a human face but a beast’s heart—how are you any different from the demons that everyone in the cultivation world calls for killing?”

Feng Yunhong wasn’t concerned with his words at all. He looked at Zuo Bai with a cold gaze and said: “Cultivators eliminate demons—this is the rule, not a matter of good and evil.”

Feng Tianyao’s heart trembled upon hearing this, his mind momentarily dizzy, looking at his father in disbelief.

Ling Luo couldn’t help but laugh.

This was the second time she had heard these words.

The first time, she had been quite shocked as well.

The mighty cultivator who had eliminated countless demons maintained order in the human world, and always stood at the forefront during times of great chaos and disaster, revered by thousands—the master of Nanshan Xuehe—was merely following his family’s beliefs and rules.

He did eliminate demons and save people, that was true.

But he never thought of himself as a righteous or good person. It was his foolish sister who thought that way, which led to her tragic end.

In her previous life, Ling Luo hadn’t revealed her identity at this point. Instead, after eliminating the demon, she met with Feng Yunhong privately to confront him.

At that time, Feng Yunhong had looked down at her and asked: “How do you think you’ve survived all these years?”

Only then did she realize.

The Eastern Island’s Tianji and Nanshan Xuehe were on good terms, and the two sect masters were close friends.

Yun Shouxi knew her identity and Feng Yunhong knew where she was.

Yun Shouxi had promised Feng Yunhong that he wouldn’t let Ling Luo return to Nanshan Xuehe, nor would he let her use the divine sword intent.

Over the years, Yun Shouxi had taught her to forget hatred and the past and to start a new life. Originally, Ling Luo had been touched, believing her master was good to her and wanted the best for her.

But the truth was always hard to accept.

So Ling Luo returned to Eastern Island’s Tianji to confront Yun Shouxi, was imprisoned underwater by him, and after escaping, went alone to Nanshan Xuehe to kill and become a demon.

Now, she didn’t plan to follow the original path and waste time.

Because just seeing Feng Yunhong’s face made her unable to control her killing intent.

What did it matter if he had cleared mountains and made roads, eliminated demons, and saved people? It was all hypocrisy. In this life, she didn’t seek world peace or people’s admiration and praise.

She would go to Nanshan Xuehe and kill Feng Yunhong at the celebration banquet with the twelve great immortal sects.

That night, the heavy snow had just stopped. The divine sword intent swept across Xuehe with the potential to destroy heaven and earth.

Ling Luo threw Feng Tianyao on the ground, his body covered in blood, unable even to hold his sword. She looked at Feng Yunhong’s proud and cold face as anger appeared on it, then smiled and drew her sword.

Ling Luo settled accounts with Feng Yunhong one by one, questioning why he had done such things. He was a venerated cultivator who eliminated demons and protected the Way, yet had committed acts worse than those of demons and monsters.

Feng Yunhong had said those words then too.

Cultivators eliminate demons—this is the rule, not a matter of good and evil.

When she shattered Feng Yunhong’s divine protection barrier, then broke his divine martial sword, striking him from the void to the ground where stone slabs cracked and caved in, making his blood splatter everywhere, and dislocating his jaw so that blood trickled from the corner of his mouth but he couldn’t speak.

With each sword strike, Ling Luo asked if he regretted his actions.

The lofty person was trampled by her into the mud.

His body, stained with blood, was utterly filthy. Unable even to hold his sword, his appearance was embarrassingly wretched, worthy of ridicule.

Feng’s wife knelt on the ground, crying and begging for mercy, revealing in detail how she had secretly contacted Ling Luo’s mother when she was pregnant. She was a woman from a brothel who wanted to escape her bitter life, so she clung to the Nanshan Xuehe connection and fought for her life. In the end, she won.

Because she gave birth to a son.

“I’ve already given you blood of the same lineage. I don’t care if you resurrect her,” Feng Yunhong said calmly. “I’m curious to see how she would react if she truly came back to life and saw what you’ve become.”

The White Bone Demon darkened his face. In the end, he couldn’t resist the temptation to resurrect his master. This was his last chance; he had to take it.

He waved his hand, sprinkling the floating fresh blood into the Flying Thunder Pearl.

Feng Yunhong watched with an indifferent expression.

But Ling Luo said, “You’re still just as foolish.”

The White Bone Demon watched as the Flying Thunder Pearl burst into brilliant light. A fierce wind lifted his master’s long black hair, and the woman’s pale face gradually regained its luster and rosy color, filling him with wild joy.

“Master…”

The White Bone Demon’s joy had barely begun when golden light erupted. Familiar sword intent burst forth from Zuo Bai’s body, spreading in all directions, penetrating the White Bone Demon with unrelenting dominance.

One after another, sharp sword momentum fell upon him.

The White Bone Demon’s blood-red eyes reflected Zuo Bai’s rapidly decaying body as it fell to its knees.

Feng Tianyao stared at this scene, his throat moving as he struggled to utter a few words: “Fang Tian sword intent…”

Fang Tian’s sword intent, only to eliminate all demons.

The blood of the same lineage that Feng Yunhong gave was not meant to awaken Zuo Bai, but the Fang Tian sword intent she had left in the mortal world.

The White Bone Demon had only thought about resurrecting his master, never imagining he would die by her sword intent.

He knelt beside the chair, looking up at the woman with deep affection, ultimately turning into a skeleton.

Feng Yunhong didn’t even glance at the pair, intending to turn to look at Feng Tianyao, but a sword momentum blocked his path. Left with no choice, he turned to look at Ling Luo.

“Sect Master Feng’s move truly impresses this junior,” Ling Luo laughed strangely. “After many years, doesn’t Sect Master Feng want to know how well I’ve practiced the divine sword intent?”

The demon was dead, but there was far more than just this one.

Feng Yunhong gazed at Ling Luo with an inscrutable expression, his five fingers tightening around his sword hilt again.

“Father… it’s not true, right?” Feng Tianyao struggled to his feet, leaning on his sword, forcing an awkward smile. “Ling Luo… she’s not your daughter, is she?”