The woman stood in the black wasteland, the long wind lifting her robes and dark hair. Surging Demon Lord yuanli emerged from within her body like countless silky mists, vast and endless, shocking to the heart.

“Such powerful Heavenly Demon force.” Rongshuang’s expression tightened.

After Demon Lord Gui Diao Tang’s death, the demon race had declined. It had been a long time since anyone had seen such pure Heavenly Demon power. Everyone’s impression of Zanxing remained from Gufeng Mountain, when she was barely breathing after being forced into the Ten Thousand Kill Formation. In just two short years, having achieved Golden Core dissolution, she had become an absolute powerhouse in another way.

Gui Yansheng fell against the gray cliff wall. He tried to climb to his feet, but the Ten Thousand Ghosts Devouring Heart technique from before had exhausted all his strength. That snow-white oiled paper umbrella fell not far from him. The densely packed human figures were no longer on it, and the umbrella surface was stained with large patches of blood, like blooming flowers.

Not a single piece of intact skin remained on his face; only those golden pupils remained as brilliantly bright as ever. Gui Yansheng stared at Zanxing, slowly and laboriously speaking: “Why… can you manipulate the Xiaoyuan Pearl?”

Fusing with the Xiaoyuan Pearl didn’t mean one could manipulate it. Two years ago, when he had snatched the pearl from Zanxing’s hands, he had tried many methods, but this demon pearl was extremely cunning. So in the end, he had offered himself to the Xiaoyuan Pearl, becoming one with it.

Zanxing said, “I never thought of manipulating it.”

Before being cast into the Extreme Ice Abyss, she had fortunately obtained this pearl, becoming a variable in the “Heavenly Way.” After that, she had been constantly pursued for elimination by the “Heavenly Way,” deeply constrained by “fate.”

Under the desperate circumstances of having the Xiaoyuan Pearl stolen by Gui Yansheng and being cast into the Extreme Ice Abyss, the moment the Xiaoyuan Pearl left Zanxing, all the red marks on her palm completely disappeared.

That was when Zanxing suddenly realized that for her, the Xiaoyuan Pearl was not a spiritual treasure, but a trap set by the Heavenly Way.

“It’s indeed not easy to control, so I gave up controlling it. As you said, it was formed from an ancient demon stone and inherently possesses intelligence. The so-called power to control the three realms was originally a trap. If you want to use it to become stronger, once you actively satisfy its bloodthirsty desires, it becomes unstoppable.”

“Since I obtained this pearl, I have never killed a single person. It couldn’t control me, and naturally, I couldn’t completely control it either, so I abandoned it.”

The “Peerless Heart Scripture” said that to practice this heart method, one must abandon all cultivation and start from the beginning. In essence, it was nothing more than the word “abandon.”

When cultivators practice to the end, they want more and more – higher-level techniques, more precious spirit artifacts, rarer pills, a higher-level self… Desires are endless. Immortal cultivators naturally must continuously explore the Great Way, but sometimes, severing and abandoning is the true path to glimpsing the Great Way.

Hearing this, Gui Yansheng slowly began to laugh. He said, “Are you saying that you just defeated me without borrowing the Xiaoyuan Pearl’s power, relying solely on your own Heavenly Demon force?”

“Correct.”

His smile suddenly froze, a trace of unwillingness appearing in his eyes, his voice cold and heavy: “In the end, your Heavenly Demon bloodline is simply more noble than my half-demon body.”

Zanxing said nothing. She walked to Gui Yansheng’s side and extended a hand toward him. From within Gui Yansheng’s body, a black light shadow gradually emerged.

This light shadow was dense, like a winding thin snake, gradually drilling out from Gui Yansheng’s heart, carrying countless howling cold currents.

“The other half of the Xiaoyuan Pearl.” Mu Cengxiao’s gaze sharpened.

Zanxing frowned slightly.

Gui Yansheng’s half of the Xiaoyuan Pearl was extraordinarily different from the half within Zanxing’s body. Perhaps because it had devoured too many living souls, this half of the Xiaoyuan Pearl carried intense malevolent qi. The moment her fingertip touched it, a heart-piercing burning sensation was transmitted over.

Just as Zanxing was about to put away this half pearl, suddenly her body transmitted a wave of longing. That wisp of black mist seemed to come alive, drilling into Zanxing’s heart with a “whoosh.”

“Zanxing!” Gu Baiying’s gaze turned stern.

In an instant, Zanxing felt a strange sensation.

Her original half pearl had left no trace after emerging from the demon yuanli pool, clean and untraceable, yet she could always sense the Xiaoyuan Pearl’s aura. Now, as the black mist drilled into her body, that aura scattered throughout her limbs and bones gradually began growing from within, as if gentle warm currents were wrapping around her entire body, and as if she had become a Xiaoyuan Pearl, a cold, heavy Heishi.

But there wasn’t a trace of killing intent.

“Zanxing!” Bujiang looked at her with concern. The people from the cultivation world tensed up, each gripping their magical artifacts tightly. The Xiaoyuan Pearl was a supreme treasure of the demon realm, but it could also bewitch people’s hearts. The Demon Lord had gone astray precisely because of this back then. Now with the two halves of the pearl reunited and fused into Zanxing’s body, who knew if Zanxing would become a second Gui Diao Tang?

Gui Yansheng slowly began to laugh. He said: “It’s useless. This pearl has already been fed quite a bit of human blood by me. Since it’s entered your body, sooner or later you’ll become just like me…”

Zanxing didn’t speak. She only felt that within her body, infinite vitality suddenly burst forth. In a trance, she seemed to see rolling torrential rivers before her eyes, heaven and earth shrouded in chaotic mist, with a giant chessboard falling on distant mountain peaks. Black and white chess pieces intersected in rows and columns, and crowds of people with blurred faces stood before the chessboard, slowly bowing down toward the vast sky—

The scene in her spiritual platform was suddenly interrupted. She abruptly raised her eyes.

“Junior Sister?” Tian Fangfang asked.

Just then, from the pitch-black wasteland, a strange man’s voice suddenly came. This voice seemed to have been sleeping for a long time, still carrying the laziness of dreams, yet also containing a bit of pleased laughter, sounding quite amiable.

“Why is it so lively here? In this godforsaken place where birds won’t even lay eggs, have people come again?”

Zanxing was startled. This voice was so familiar…

Near the light purple long flute slanted into the earth before that massive deep pit, a layer of snow-white cloud mist gradually rose. From within the cloud mist, a human figure slowly emerged.

“Gu…” Zanxing said in amazement: “Ancestor Gu?”

This was a young man in spring-colored robes, his long hair tied with a hair ribbon, making his spirit and bearing appear even more distinguished. He had an extremely handsome face, with clear and bright eyes. The smile at the corner of his mouth was excessively flamboyant, yet standing here without alarm or fear, composed and elegant, he was like a banished immortal from beyond the world.

When Zanxing had been in the painted境 of Li’er Kingdom, she had briefly seen Gu Caiyu once. Though she couldn’t see his appearance clearly, she knew this person must be exceptionally charming, otherwise he wouldn’t have captured the heart of Qinghua Xianzi, who had extremely high standards.

Seeing him in person now, as expected, he was both handsome and upright, though his smile carried a few traces of playfulness and innocence.

Gu Caiyu looked at Zanxing and smiled: “This beautiful fairy, do you know me?”

Zanxing cleared her throat lightly and looked toward Gu Baiying.

His son was right there in front of him, yet he spoke so boldly. This… wasn’t appropriate, was it?