Lights flickered all around, East Sea whale oil spreading rich fragrance. The newcomer had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, divine grace and jade-like handsomeness, wearing moon-white robes with elegant flowing style. His lips held a trace of warm smile, his complexion slightly pale but still not diminishing his peerless magnificence. It was unmistakably the Great Qin War God, Qin Zhiyan!

Qing Xia was petrified on the spot, held firmly in his arms. She felt her strength gradually draining away, her eyes slowly misting over, starlight reflecting in his water-like starry eyes.

Xi Linyu snorted coldly: “Even the volcanic eruption at Tianyi Gorge couldn’t kill you. Your ghost truly lingers on.”

Qin Zhiyan held Qing Xia in his arms, his gaze lightly glancing at Xi Linyu, smiling softly: “Since you’re still so vigorous and alive, how could I bear to depart before you?”

“Salt in the sea, sand in the river—you truly are everywhere.” A cold snort immediately rang out. The unruly man in black-gold robes slowly stepped forward, his gaze coldly sweeping over Qin Zhiyan’s arms holding Qing Xia, his eyes almost wanting to carve a hole in his body.

Qin Zhiyan smiled faintly: “With great enemies before us now, His Majesty and this king’s grievances are best set aside temporarily. Once matters here are settled, this king doesn’t mind having a decisive battle with His Majesty.”

Chu Li snorted coldly and slowly turned his head to look at Xi Linyu, who had nearly killed Qing Xia. His gaze was forest-cold, saying nothing but filled with thick killing intent.

Seeing these two enemies actually turning their spears to jointly face him, Xi Linyu couldn’t help feeling chilled, though his expression didn’t show it. He merely laughed: “You two reaching an agreement—two men serving one woman—how novel. If word spreads, it will surely become a tale for the ages.”

Chu Li snorted coldly, sharp light flashing in his eyes. His silver spear thundered upward, countless dust rising with it as silver radiance enveloped Xi Linyu.

Qin Zhiyan’s lips curved in a faint smile, but his eyes were sharp as snow. Immediately his spear struck out, joining Chu Li in flanking Xi Linyu. For a moment, Chu Li’s every move was ferociously unparalleled with alarming power, grand and sweeping like violent storms engulfing heaven and earth. Qin Zhiyan’s spear took unconventional paths, unrestrained and flexible, light and agile like dense tidal waters meeting head-on. The two joined forces with fierce techniques, breath swallowing rivers and seas, forms like antelopes hanging by horns leaving no trace, complementing each other in coordinated fierce attacks. Instantly, Xi Linyu fell into disadvantage.

At this moment, in this ten-thousand-zhang cavern, within the ancient stone chamber, two of the most prominent young kings of the contemporary world, who were also bitter enemies who had repeatedly clashed, actually joined forces to severely suppress Xi Linyu.

Just then, heavy sounds suddenly rang out. Everyone looked up in horror to see the entire massive mechanism creaking into operation, the earth continuously trembling with those hooks and chains. Qing Xia knew this enormous mechanism buried underground for unknown years was finally being slowly activated.

Zhu Qinghe suddenly laughed heartily. A wave of heart-rending pain struck his chest. Those memories he had long sealed away roared and struggled to emerge again. The tragic pain made his eyes blood-red. His already mangled body had skin bursting all over due to the tremendous force needed to activate the mechanism, blood and flesh spattering. He suddenly clutched his head with both hands, howling toward the sky with mournful voice like the shrill wailing of ghosts from the nine nether realms. Ancient winds from distant years howled and blew his robes. His graying hair flew in disarray, his bloodied body in complete chaos, countless torn flesh exposing terrifyingly white bones. Those green-white parasitic insects still remaining on his body had long turned charred black. The elder cursed by the Seven Departments for decades stood thus in mid-air, appearing mad, singing loudly as if crying.

A trace of uncontrollable sorrow suddenly flashed through his heart—a desperate, death-seeking pain. Blurred images flashed through his mind’s sea. Those flying, unforgettable snow-white faces spread overwhelmingly before his eyes.

Thirty years had passed like drifting time. The handsome youth who once wore fine clothes and rode spirited horses was now neither human nor ghost. In this vast world, was there any place for him?

For someone like him, abandoned by heaven and earth alike, did his heart deserve to hold such enormous grief? It turned out that over these years, besides hatred, such beautiful memories still existed in his heart’s sea.

Zhu Qinghe howled toward the sky with shrill voice. The massive mechanism seemed to respond to his resentment, suddenly blazing with brilliant light, so bright everything was bathed in ghastly white radiance. At this moment, only one final step remained before the Heavenly Mechanism Lock would open!

Qing Xia was greatly alarmed and immediately jumped onto the mechanism, quickly climbing upward.

Xi Linyu sneered coldly, blade light like snow, immediately charging forward: “Doesn’t the young lady think she’s being too meddlesome?”

In a flash, two tall figures rushed forward, blocking Xi Linyu’s path. Their spears like dragons, radiance flickering, forcibly carving out a path for Qing Xia.

Zhu Qinghe suddenly sneered coldly, his form ghostly as he viciously kicked Qing Xia’s shoulder. The pale woman cried out in alarm. The two men standing behind her simultaneously looked back in great alarm, their movements identical as they prepared to rush upward.

“Where are you going?” Xi Linyu sneered coldly, entangling them in battle.

Chu Li frowned and shouted sternly to Qin Zhiyan: “I’ll tie him down, you go help Qing Xia!”

Qin Zhiyan was slightly stunned, not expecting him to say such words. Seeing multiple wounds on his body, he said with furrowed brow: “You go, I’ll fight him.”

“Don’t be verbose!” Chu Li roared angrily, his gaze like snow. His spear shaft forcefully pushed against Qin Zhiyan’s body as he shouted sternly: “Quickly!”

Qin Zhiyan’s brows locked tight as he turned and leaped lightly upward.

Long winds passed over the man’s body covered with wounds. His ink-colored hair flew back and forth in the air, stained with crimson blood. Below him, blood gathered like a small stream, gurgling and flowing. Chu Li held his spear single-handed, planted in the ground to support his body exhausted from three days in Hongtian Water Prison. He tightly pressed his lips, looking at the man opposite him like an eternal, unmelting block of ice, his voice cold and stern: “Do you think you can get past?”

Heaven and earth split apart, countless trees surged like waves, endless winds swept by. Above heaven and below earth, the brave were invincible! Just then, the entire stone chamber suddenly shook again. Xi Linyu raised an eyebrow and looked up carefully at the mechanism’s arrangement, immediately understanding that Zhu Qinghe had neither listened to his advice to only flood Penglai’s Ministry of Works, nor followed Ousi Lanya’s instructions. Instead, he had triggered both flood and earth fire. Once the mechanism opened, it would surely destroy heaven and earth, causing enormous disaster to the entire continent. Even he couldn’t help but change expression dramatically, roaring sternly: “Zhu Qinghe! Are you mad?”

The old man’s white hair flew wildly, his face full of wrinkles, half his face bloodied and mangled. Under the billowing wind, the once graceful youth now appeared like a mad demon, filled with insanity. He laughed shrilly, his entire body constantly trembling, his robes blood-soaked, emanating terrible fierce wildness. His hoarse voice cried out: “I am mad! I’ve been mad for long! I went mad the day she married Tan Mianzhi, I went mad the day Valley Master Tan Bian deceived me, I went mad the day the sect I served loyally and faithfully imprisoned me! You just realized? You just realized?”

The entire stone chamber filled with the old man’s mad laughter, roaring sounds echoing in Hongtian Water Prison’s enormous cavern.

Zhu Qinghe stood in mid-air. Seeing the heaven-shaking stone seal about to be released, he couldn’t help laughing shrilly, his voice hoarse like ghosts: “Good! Good! Let’s all die together!”

Suddenly, countless silver lights shot skyward with earth-shaking momentum resounding through the clouds. The massive stone chamber began swaying before such power. Walls covered densely with text cracked inch by inch, ancient stone statues on the walls crumbled apart, scattering pervasive dust and debris.

An alarming hurricane arose from the ground. In a trance, ancient winds seemed to traverse the entire stone chamber. This underground nest buried for unknown years finally ceased its silence on this day, radiating all its life’s brilliance, releasing its terrifying earth-shaking power.

The entire world trembled in this second.

“Haha! Heaven wronged me, so I’ll make this entire world be buried with me!” Zhu Qinghe’s voice was shrill like ghost wails, shrieking hoarsely with sharpened throat, his state mad like a demon. His bone-white face was particularly mad and terrifying, black robes spinning and dancing in mid-air like desperate, shattered moths!

At this critical moment, a clear bird cry suddenly rang out from the corridor direction. Everyone’s expressions changed as they felt this sound was clear and sacred, filled with righteous luminous power, sounding like flowing clear springs, cooling the entire body.

Hearing the sound, Qing Xia’s face instantly showed the joy of finding life in desperate circumstances as she quickly turned her head toward the sound’s source.

What was surprising was that Zhu Qinghe, who had appeared mad, froze completely at this phoenix cry. His turbid eyes looked toward the corridor direction in bewilderment, as if petrified, motionless. His sinister, terrifying face gradually radiated wild joy, making one afraid to look directly. His hand pressed on the final gear mechanism, but he could no longer operate it.

Several clear cries came through in succession. A fiery red shadow immediately flashed into the stone chamber—a gigantic firebird. The firebird stood proudly in the stone chamber with entire body of fiery red plumage, sharp beak and red tassel, a pair of green phoenix eyes flashing cold light, showing off majestically with rather arrogant demeanor.

A white-haired old woman gripped a dragon-head walking stick, sitting upright on the firebird’s back. Her face was covered with clustering wrinkles, wearing spotless green robes that seemed to have been worn for many years and washed to pale white. The old woman’s eyes were calm like ancient wells, her countenance gentle, quietly watching the old man without saying a word.