“The Immortal Alliance!”

Diewu and Dielan became excited, then disciples cheered out, “The Immortal Alliance has come!”

“They actually came…”

Ye Tianjiao murmured in astonishment. Jiang Zhaoyue was also surprised.

Jiang Zhaoxue slowly opened her eyes, listening as Zhou Bugang transmitted his voice, “Alliance Leader Jiang, I’ve received all your messages. Focus on taking care of Pei Zichen. We will hold off the Book of Fate.”

After speaking, Jiang Zhaoxue saw Xu Zichen raise his hand. The Heavenly Sword Sect disciples formed an array. Xu Zichen drew his sword like a roaming dragon, directly targeting Xinluoyi’s direction!

Xinluoyi raised her hand, and the umbrella ribs swiftly returned from the sky, quickly connecting in her hand to form a soft whip. She simultaneously flew out, whipping toward Xu Zichen’s direction. “Since you seek death, I’ll send you on your way!”

That whip strike was magnificent in momentum. One strike smashed into the ground, and blood energy rose like a tidal wave from before Xinluoyi, rolling toward everyone!

Xu Zichen and the others blocking at the very front were like mayflies trying to shake a tree before the blood wave—insignificant and negligible. Just as the blood wave was about to swallow them in an instant, the formation beneath Jiang Pingsheng suddenly extinguished. Before anyone could react, Jiang Pingsheng instantly disappeared from the Crossing Resentment Pool. His form appeared on the battlefield, one sword thundering into the sea wave. Together with the sword intent of Zhou Bugang, Xu Zichen, and the others, they met the blood wave head-on!

In the Crossing Resentment Pool, black energy churned. Jiang Zhaoxue immediately raised her hand to suppress it, watching as everyone was blown back by the blood wave. At the same time, Xinluoyi was also forced back three zhang by everyone’s combined sword intent.

However, this combined attack was clearly everyone’s full-strength strike. Although Xinluoyi retreated three zhang, there wasn’t the slightest change in her expression. She only gritted her teeth and said, “Old bastard, your daughter is being a coward inside while pushing you, an old man, out. Is it because you feel you’ve lived long enough and don’t care about dying?”

“Victory and defeat are not yet decided—why speak of life and death?”

Jiang Pingsheng stood firmly before everyone. His chest churned with blood and energy, but he forcefully suppressed it, pretending to be calm as he stared at the person opposite. “Xinluoyi, you’re speaking far too soon.”

“Too soon?”

Xinluoyi tilted her head, revealing a sinister smile. “Do you want to see whether I’m speaking too soon, or whether you’re all thinking too optimistically?”

Jiang Pingsheng’s heart jolted with alarm. His intuition sensed something wrong. The instant he instinctively turned his head, he saw a Penglai disciple who had already died suddenly lunge at him!

Xu Zichen beside him detected it one step earlier. The moment that disciple appeared before Jiang Pingsheng, Xu Zichen cut him down with one sword!

Still-warm blood splattered onto Jiang Pingsheng’s face. Jiang Pingsheng’s eyes widened in shock. Then he heard a scream from inside the defensive array. Everyone turned their heads to see the wounded who had just died after being brought into the defensive array suddenly rise up, viciously stabbing into the body of the disciple beside them, then slashing down at the defensive array from inside to outside.

Those disciples were just like the fierce corpses Xinluoyi had brought—their eyeballs bulged red and protruded, resentment energy surrounded their entire bodies, they possessed immense strength, and they were swift as eagles. They struck at the defensive array with all their might. Ancient characters depicting obscure runes lit up on their swords. The moment the defensive array touched their sword edges, it shattered from inside to outside!

The defensive array was broken!

Broken from the inside out!

What was even more terrifying was that the instant the defensive array broke, the disciples who had just been killed struggled to stand up, and in mere moments became fierce corpses.

They had been refined into fierce corpses controlled by Xinluoyi in the blink of an eye!

Qingye reacted and immediately called for disciples to rush forward. Jiang Pingsheng vigilantly surveyed his surroundings, watching as those disciples who had died earlier all lunged forward one by one.

“How is this possible…”

Feng Minghuan murmured, unable to help saying, “Refining fierce corpses is extremely difficult, and controlling them consumes even more spiritual power. How could she possibly refine disciples in such a short time?”

“Because she’s not refining them.”

Song Wulan’s voice rang out across the crowd. Everyone looked over in surprise to see the young man sitting on the white bone palanquin. Across the sea of people, his words were incomparably clear. “Rather, you all originally belonged to the Book of Fate.”

With that, a trace of cold indifference appeared in Song Wulan’s eyes. He said flatly, “Golden cores, demon cores—whatever kind of core formation, as long as you’re a cultivator who cultivates spiritual power, you are under the jurisdiction of the Book of Fate. Your destinies should have been decided by the Book of Fate all along. Refining and controlling you is the Book of Fate’s instinct—nothing could be simpler. You cannot win. Why struggle?”

Song Wulan seemed somewhat puzzled. “To live for the Book of Fate, to die for the Book of Fate—what is there for you to be unwilling about?”

“Nonsense!”

At these words, everyone felt somewhat panicked. Zhou Bugang shouted loudly, “If the Book of Fate is so powerful, why don’t you kill us all right now?!”

“Alas.”

Song Wulan looked at Xinluoyi with regret, seeming also somewhat unwilling. “The person using the Book of Fate is useless, but there’s nothing to be done about it. But it’s fine.”

Song Wulan stood up, tilted his head, and said with gentle malice, “Watching your relatives and friends personally kill you, watching you struggle desperately because you can’t bear to strike them down—that’s also a kind of pleasure, isn’t it? After all, as long as a cultivator’s soul remains, there’s a thread of hope for survival. Although we control them, the ones who truly killed them,” Song Wulan softened his voice, “are you.”

These words stunned everyone. Xu Zichen understood clearly and said in a calm tone, “So that’s your plan—you want to use our sect members’ lives to disturb our dao hearts.”

“Whether we can disturb your dao hearts depends on your bonds.” Song Wulan spoke innocently. “If you’re all cold-hearted, callous, heartless, and unrighteous people, then naturally I cannot disturb you.”

“There’s another kind of person you also cannot disturb.”

Xu Zichen held his sword horizontally before him and spoke calmly. “Today, I, Xu Zichen, make this vow here: If I fall, I will certainly sacrifice my primordial soul to defy heavenly fate and slay demonic evil. Heavenly Sword Sect disciples, heed the command—”

At Xu Zichen’s call, the Heavenly Sword Sect immediately responded loudly, “Disciples are present.”

“In today’s battle, unless our primordial souls are destroyed, we will never rest until death!”

“Yes!” The Heavenly Sword Sect disciples immediately called out loudly, their gazes fixed on the distant fierce corpses. They were the elite left behind by Heavenly Sword Sect. Several days ago, Song Wulan—

“Penglai disciples, heed the command—” Seeing this, Qingye immediately spoke. “Penglai disciples will leave behind neither primordial souls nor demon cores. We will never rest until death against demonic evil!”

“Disciples heed the command—”

“Hundred Sound Pavilion disciples, heed the command—”

…

One sect after another gave commands. Song Wulan’s expression gradually turned cold. He looked coldly at these people looking up at him and curved his lips into a smile.

“Very well.”

He nodded lightly. “I left you a path to survival but you won’t take it—then you can only die. By the summons of Heaven’s Way.”

Song Wulan’s expression turned cold as he raised his hand and drew. “Ten Directions God-Slaying Array, open!”

The moment his voice fell, magical light shot up from the ground. Xinluoyi’s umbrella rib whip swung and smashed down toward Jiang Pingsheng. The fierce corpses no longer held back, surging up the mountain one after another!

Without the defensive array, all disciples rushed forward with their flesh and blood bodies.

In that instant, walls were built of flesh and blood. People from both sides, like tides of starkly different colors, completely crashed together.

Jiang Zhaoxue sat in the Crossing Resentment Pool, listening as the first young voice sounded in her ear. “Young Clan Leader, Female Lord, Ming Hui is gone.”

This was the grey wolf youth who had just said “Penglai’s spine will not bend.” The instant he finished speaking, Jiang Zhaoxue felt his aura disappear from the battlefield.

When Penglai demon clans were young, they would go to the altar to receive baptism. All those of Jiang bloodline could sense the auras of Penglai demon clans.

Those of the Jiang clan could follow the aura to find the demon cores they left behind.

As long as demon clans left behind their demon cores and sent them back to the Rebirth Pool, after being baptized and nurtured by the Rebirth Pool, they could reincarnate anew.

But when an aura disappeared, it meant even the demon core was completely shattered—soul destroyed and scattered, never to reincarnate again.

Jiang Zhaoxue felt sharp pain in her heart. Jiang Zhaoyue’s hands also couldn’t help but tremble.

Farewell voices from disciples sounded one by one, as devout as when they received baptism in their youth.

At first, these disciples’ farewell voices were spaced far apart.

Later, the intervals grew shorter and shorter.

Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t dare listen, yet she had no choice but to listen.

She forced herself not to overthink. Life and death were fated. The urgent matter at hand was to proceed step by step, purify the resentment energy as quickly as possible, let Pei Zichen fuse with his body and become a god, slay Song Wulan and Xinluoyi—only then could everything be resolved.

But somehow, each time a voice sounded, each time a name appeared, she could actually match them all to those people’s faces.

In those few months back at Penglai, she had gotten to know every single person at Penglai anew.

Yet having just gotten to know them, now they had to part.

She remembered a lark called Lingling who loved to sing at dawn. She had once told her that after reaching Nascent Soul stage, she wanted to go to Hundred Sound Pavilion in Central Continent to explore the most beautiful melodies in the world.

She remembered a young deer called Ren Tian who often skipped school to sleep but could always score first in exams. His dream was reportedly to become her fate servant, and his mother had specially brought him over for her to encourage.

There was also a large tiger called Bai Xue. He was a golden-brown tiger but often used magic to dye himself white, pretending to be a white tiger. He would often look at her with envy and sigh that white tigers were great—no need to dye their fur…

These people were all trivial memories from her daily life, yet at the moment of farewell, their faces became extraordinarily clear.

Yet she could do nothing at all. She could only sit in place, letting tears unknowingly flow down her face.

Until the light on Jiang Zhaoyue’s side dimmed as expected, he rose calmly to his feet.

He was as composed as usual. His sleeves hung at his sides, his white robes trailing across the formation. He walked past Jiang Zhaoxue’s side, heading toward the front of the battlefield.

He was a talisman cultivator. Going to the battlefield meant using spiritual power to fight to the bitter end of either your death or mine.

The instant he walked past, Jiang Zhaoxue felt his robes brush across her face. Finally unable to hold back, she suddenly grabbed his sleeve like when she was young and didn’t want him to go to the Snow Hall.

When she was small, she was a child. She could unrestrainedly throw tantrums, act spoiled, and openly say, “Brother, don’t go to class. Stay and keep me company.”

But at this moment, grasping his sleeve, she couldn’t say a single word. Only tears fell silently. She gasped and sobbed, wanting to speak but unable to open her mouth. She could only let tears blur her entire face as she called out helplessly, “Brother…”

But what could she say? What more could she say?

Their father was on the battlefield. Penglai’s disciples were on the battlefield. He could only move forward.

And Jiang Zhaoyue seemed to know the ending as well. He didn’t speak, only stood silently, feeling Jiang Zhaoxue force herself, trembling, to slowly let go bit by bit.

Watching from the side, Ye Tianjiao’s eyes also showed reluctance. He softly comforted, “Elder Sister, we’ll be fine.”

“Yaoyao.”

Jiang Zhaoyue also raised his hand, patting her head consolingly. Jiang Zhaoxue raised her tear-stained face to look at the young man before her lowering his eyes to look at her, saying seriously, “We are all waiting for you to make this gamble.”

Betting on Pei Zichen—this was her huge gamble.

All her life she had gambled on heavenly fate, on fortune, on the future, on drawing a top fortune lot to decide all matters of success and failure in this world.

And in this huge gamble, she was betting herself, Penglai, and the True Immortal realm to win an ending where all living beings decided their own fates.

All of them were the fortune and merit swaying the heaven and earth fortune lots, waiting for the final result of this lot drawing.

Whether they lived or died, they were all waiting for her.

She had to win. She absolutely had to win.

Jiang Zhaoxue forced herself to curl her fingers. Watching Jiang Zhaoyue withdraw his hand and look up at Pei Zichen in the ice coffin, whose soul and body were still trembling from resistance, he turned without hesitation and walked toward the light.

A moment later, Jiang Zhaoxue saw Jiang Zhaoyue appear in the water mirror. He raised his hand and with a flick, talismans moved like roaming dragons, blocking before Xinluoyi’s umbrella ribs. Zhou Bugang took the opportunity to pull up the severely wounded Xu Zichen from behind the talisman and umbrella ribs. Everyone took advantage to retreat ten zhang, resisting before the Heart-Questioning Platform.

The talismans written by Jiang Pingsheng blocked before everyone like a barrier, like a high mountain. Xinluoyi raised her eyebrows with a smile. “Oh, Young Clan Leader Jiang, you’ve finally come?”

With that, Xinluoyi raised her eyes to look toward the Crossing Resentment Pool atop the mountain behind the Heart-Questioning Platform and called out loudly, “Jiang Zhaoxue, even your brother has come to die. Are you still not coming? Do you have to watch all your relatives and friends die before you’re willing to show yourself? What meaning would that have then?”

“Elder Sister, don’t listen to her nonsense.”

Hearing this, Ye Tianjiao quickly advised, “There are many methods of resurrection in this world. Only if Pei Zichen fuses with his body will everyone have a chance. If you go out now, that’s when everything will truly be finished.”

Jiang Zhaoxue said nothing. She only watched the scene, transforming all resentment and anger into spiritual power, flowing toward the Crossing Resentment Pool.

Seeing she didn’t respond, Xinluoyi sighed. “It seems you truly don’t care about them. Jiang Zhaoxue, I remember you’re not this kind of ruthless person. Why don’t I test it.”

With that, Xinluoyi raised her hand and turned. The umbrella ribs immediately appeared. Then she raised a smile and lunged toward Jiang Zhaoyue like a spirit snake!

Sixty-four umbrella ribs charged forward together with her. The blood-colored umbrella body transformed into a long whip falling into her hand. Countless fierce corpses surged forward with her. Qingye shouted urgently, “Protect the Young Clan Leader!”

Jiang Zhaoyue’s barrier blocked the fierce corpses. Xinluoyi killed her way into the crowd as if entering an uninhabited land. Blood flowers splattered everywhere. Everyone frantically blocked before Jiang Zhaoyue, using flesh to build human walls, entangling with Xinluoyi.

The Book of Fate floated in the distance. Power continuously flowed from the Book of Fate into Xinluoyi’s body. Her wounds at most only hindered her for a moment before immediately healing. Her power was endless and never-ceasing. She seemed to find pleasure in the killing, growing braver as she fought. Everyone couldn’t help but feel intimidated, yet were helpless.

“Jiang Zhaoxue, are you still not coming out? Once everyone’s dead, what’s the point of fighting? Or do you just enjoy watching me kill people? What, do you have a grudge against them?”

Her voice was full of mockery. Blood splattered across the water mirror.

Ye Tianjiao glanced at Jiang Zhaoxue’s expression refusing to close her eyes and couldn’t help but raise his hand to close the water mirror, saying hurriedly, “Elder Sister, stop watching. If your mental state becomes unstable, you’ll be devoured by the resentment energy instead. Xinluoyi has interfered with you again and again. Perhaps…”

Before he could finish, Ye Tianjiao froze. He stared blankly at Jiang Zhaoxue opposite him, only to see black aura uncontrollably emanating from around Jiang Zhaoxue’s body.

Jiang Zhaoxue raised her eyes to look at Ye Tianjiao across from her. Blood-red flickered in and out of her eyes.

Ye Tianjiao reacted instantly and urgently threw a Clear Mind Talisman flying toward Jiang Zhaoxue. “Elder Sister, wake up!”

“Jiang Zhaoxue, you can’t hold on.”

Xinluoyi laughed heartily. Her sensitivity to resentment energy exceeded ordinary people. She had long since detected the resentment energy in the Crossing Resentment Pool wrapping around Jiang Zhaoxue.

She thrust a sword into Diewu’s body. Diewu gripped her sword body tightly and wouldn’t let go. Xinluoyi made barbs grow on the sword body, slowly rotating within Diewu’s body, saying softly, “Humans are humans. Even if they become immortals, they’re still human. With the seven emotions and six desires unbroken, they cannot escape evil thoughts and resentment. You want to purify them, but they also want to devour you. The time your relatives bought with their lives will only become obstacles to your purification of resentment. In the end, even if they all die, you still cannot purify that resentment power.”

“I’ll kill you!”

Tortured beyond control by her, Diewu suddenly lunged forward, letting the sword tip pierce through his own body while simultaneously detonating his demon core.

Xinluoyi raised her palm. A red barrier bloomed before her, blocking all the attacks Diewu brought.

Dielan, who was blocking the fierce corpses at the front, sensed and looked back to see Diewu exploding in the distance. He cried out loudly, “Brother!!”

At that very moment, the fierce corpses found an opportunity and completely submerged him.

Black energy poured from Jiang Zhaoxue’s entire body. Fresh blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.

Ye Tianjiao looked at Jiang Zhaoxue at a loss, saying hurriedly, “Elder Sister, calm down. We cannot let all our efforts go to waste!”

“But Tianjiao,” Jiang Zhaoxue gasped and spoke, “the human heart cannot be controlled.”

She couldn’t ignore, not hate, not grieve when her own family members died.

She couldn’t sit high on a platform when her own relatives and friends were humiliated.

“Then what do we do?” Ye Tianjiao became anxious and advised, “Elder Sister, think of Pei Zichen, think of us, think of everyone. You can do this!”

“I need to enter the Crossing Resentment Pool.”

She spoke in a low voice, as if having made a decision.

“What are you entering the Crossing Resentment Pool for?” Ye Tianjiao didn’t understand and immediately said, “If you enter the Crossing Resentment Pool, either you purify them or they devour you!”

As soon as he spoke, Ye Tianjiao understood.

This was precisely the result Jiang Zhaoxue wanted.

Entering the Crossing Resentment Pool meant feeding herself to the resentment with absolutely no isolation.

To purify resentment power, there was no faster method than using meritorious flesh and blood to be devoured by resentment energy.

As long as she could purify the resentment power, she could leave at the fastest speed.

Only this method was extremely dangerous. When resentment power devoured flesh and blood while being influenced by her spiritual power and merit, it was simultaneously influencing her at the closest distance with absolutely no protection.

If she couldn’t purify the resentment power and was devoured by it instead, the result would be death and the destruction of her dao.

“If I can’t purify them,” Jiang Zhaoxue gasped, taking out a strand of light thread from her chest and sending it before Ye Tianjiao, “you hold this fate thread. If I lose my reason, crush it. My primordial spirit will explode and I’ll perish together with them.”

“No!”

Ye Tianjiao hastily refused, saying urgently, “If you die by my hand, how do I explain to Pei Zichen? You know how many years he’s waited for you…”

“But I cannot stay here!”

Jiang Zhaoxue raised her voice to remind him. “Those are my family. If I can’t die, does that mean they can?”

Ye Tianjiao was silenced by her question. Tears fell from Jiang Zhaoxue’s eyes. Her tone carried a plea. “Tianjiao, I cannot watch them die one by one while I can do nothing. I cannot remain unmoved in this situation. Sitting here being influenced by resentment energy is only a matter of time. If you have even three parts of friendship with me, then hold that fate thread.”

Ye Tianjiao struggled, unable to speak, not daring to look at Jiang Zhaoxue’s eyes.

At this moment, Xinluoyi’s voice came from outside. “Jiang Zhaoxue.”

This voice was clearly much closer. Urgency appeared in Jiang Zhaoxue’s eyes. She gritted her teeth and reminded, “Tianjiao!”

“There are still thirty zhang before I reach the Heart-Questioning Platform,” Xinluoyi’s tone was arrogant. “Your father used his own life to set up a barrier at the Heart-Questioning Platform. When I break through the barrier, it will be your father’s death. You’ll be devoured by resentment energy sooner or later anyway—might as well surrender early. As long as you end your own life, I can spare Penglai’s bloodline, ensure your father and brother don’t die. That would be worth something for your death.”

“Ye…”

“Go ahead!”

Before Jiang Zhaoxue could finish speaking, having barely begun, Ye Tianjiao finally made his decision. He closed his eyes, reached out, and grabbed the fate thread floating in midair into his hand, gritting his teeth. “Go with peace of mind. If anything happens to you, I will definitely kill you.”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue’s expression calmed. She gazed warmly at Ye Tianjiao, as if gazing at that seventeen-year-old boy who was afraid of ghosts. She smiled and said, “Thank you.”

With that, she stood up and turned her eyes to look outside the Crossing Resentment Pool. Her gaze penetrated the mountain and fell upon the Heart-Questioning Platform.

All the wounded disciples had hidden inside the barrier behind the Heart-Questioning Platform. Jiang Pingsheng used his life to form the array, setting up the final barrier.

Qingye, Zhou Bugang, and the others stood outside the barrier. Talismans drawn in blood by Jiang Zhaoyue covered the barrier.

And opposite them, Xinluoyi was covered in blood yet seemed completely unharmed.

Fierce corpses scattered sparsely. Resentment energy surrounded the mountains.

Jiang Zhaoxue stared at Xinluoyi, who was raising her umbrella rib sword pointing at the Heart-Questioning Platform barrier, and spoke calmly. “Xinluoyi.”

As her voice emerged, it resonated throughout the mountain forests. Everyone raised their heads to look as they heard Jiang Zhaoxue say flatly, “When I emerge, I will surely grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes.”

“Then you should hurry…”

Her words had just fallen when Xinluoyi and Song Wulan’s expressions changed instantly. Ye Tianjiao’s pupils contracted sharply as he saw Jiang Zhaoxue leap down and fall into the resentment pool!

The moment she fell into the resentment energy, the barrier in her direction blazed brightly. The resentment energy boiled up, abandoning their assault on the barrier and turning to rush toward Jiang Zhaoxue.

Black resentment energy enveloped her. The Heart-Life Sword that Pei Zichen had hidden on her leaped out. At the same time, the talismans left by Jiang Zhaoyue and Ye Tianjiao circled around her, clashing ding-ding-dang-dang with the resentment energy.

“What does she think she’s doing?!”

Xinluoyi was formed from resentment evil and was a ghost immortal, extraordinarily sensitive to resentment energy. Feeling the change in resentment energy, she couldn’t help saying, “She entered the Crossing Resentment Pool, wanting to use herself to purify the resentment energy? Who does she think she is?”

As Xinluoyi spoke, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Who does she think she is? This person was born self-interested and selfish, treating the world poorly. Even Pei Zichen couldn’t purify the resentment energy—does she think she can?”

Song Wulan didn’t speak. His pair of eyes seemed able to see through everything. Rarely losing his smile, he looked coldly toward the heights.

Seeing Song Wulan didn’t respond, Xinluoyi bit her teeth. “Fine, fine, fine. I’ll see how she plans to purify this resentment energy when her father dies before her eyes!”

With that, Xinluoyi raised her hand. One sword condensed the blood energy filling the sky, rushing toward the Heart-Questioning Platform barrier.

With a “dong,” a massive sound rang out. The barrier instantly cracked.

Xinluoyi raised her hand. Heaven and earth surged with wind and clouds. Spiritual power rolled into the Book of Fate, then continuously poured into the umbrella ribs.

The umbrella ribs were dense as arrow rain, thickly packed as they went toward the barrier. Jiang Zhaoyue offered up talismans and shouted urgently, “Qingye, retreat!”

The moment his voice fell, everyone swiftly retreated behind the barrier. The magical light of everyone inside the barrier lit up, and the barrier was seen slowly cracking like a spider web.

At this time, Jiang Zhaoxue fell all the way down in the Crossing Resentment Pool. The deeper she went, the more intense the resentment energy became.

The resentment energy competed to drill into Jiang Zhaoxue’s body, tearing and biting at her flesh. The talisman papers circling around her couldn’t block them. One by one they were burned by the resentment energy. Only Pei Zichen’s Heart-Life Sword continuously slashed and killed the resentment energy coming to tear and bite at her.

But compared to this all-pervasive resentment energy, Pei Zichen’s sword momentum was too thin and weak. Jiang Zhaoxue was like sinking in the deep sea. That seawater seemed to drown her, corroding bones and melting flesh. She concentrated her mind, continuously circulating spiritual power to maintain her body, silently reciting scriptures.

Yet that resentment energy madly drilled into her consciousness. In her mind gathered the voices of countless people, blood energy thick and heavy.

“Since you gave birth to me, why abandon me? The pond water under the bridge is so cold. You wanted a younger brother—didn’t you want me anymore?”

“We’re all born mortals—why is his family wealthy while I’m destitute? I want money. However many lives it takes doesn’t matter. I want money.”

“He seized my magical treasure. I killed his entire family. What’s wrong with that? If he can rob me today, he can kill me tomorrow. The weak are prey to the strong. What’s wrong with me killing him?”

…

Voice after voice carrying obsessive fanaticism crashed into her mind. Those resentments were all-pervasive. The deeper they entered her body, the more real and touching the scenes manifested before her became. She didn’t know how long she had walked. In her mind, voices continuously questioned, “Why are you helping them?”

When this voice appeared, in an instant she seemed to stand again at Lingjian Immortal Pavilion. Pei Zichen lay in her embrace, his entire person soft, leaning against her shoulder.

Cold sweat involuntarily seeped from her forehead. The golden light on her body shattered bit by bit. Those voices instantly became excited, competing with each other, questioning her, “They killed Pei Zichen. Do these people have any meaning in staying alive?”

“You just want Pei Zichen to live. What’s the difference between an evil god and a righteous god? As long as there’s enough power, that’s all that matters.”

“With enough power, you can do whatever you want. Think about why Pei Zichen died. How did he die?”

The resentment energy coiled around her like a snake, whispering softly, “Give us your body.”

Black energy swallowed her. At the Heart-Questioning Platform, the barrier was on the verge of its limit. Ye Tianjiao watched the person being devoured by black energy, pressed his lips into a tight line, and slowly tightened his grip on the fate thread.

“You cannot win. Song Wulan and the others are outside. Pei Zichen cannot become a god. Why not give us your body? Become an evil god and save everyone.”

“The common people of the world have nothing to do with you.”

The resentment energy slowly drilled into her heart. Jiang Zhaoxue’s breathing grew heavy. Just as she was about to be completely swallowed by darkness, Song Wulan raised his eyebrows.

Xinluoyi clearly sensed the change in resentment energy. No longer holding back any power to defend herself, she simply poured all her strength into the umbrella ribs. Looking at the solemn-faced Jiang Pingsheng and the others, she said happily, “She can’t come out! You all can die now!”

With that, the umbrella ribs rushed urgently toward the tottering barrier.

And Jiang Zhaoxue stood at the heights of Lingjian Immortal Pavilion. Mountain winds howled fiercely. Corpses and blood covered the ground.

They all deserved to die.

Everyone deserved to die.

Whether it was her or Lingjian Immortal Pavilion, everyone in this world was born evil. They all deserved to die!

She gripped the blood-stained jade lots, looking at the blood covering the ground. Resentment energy came coiling like a snake to her ear. A voice indistinguishable between male and female, full of temptation, tilted its head and said, “Give me your body, and I will avenge you—”

“Master’s Wife!”

A clear voice rang out. In the darkness, Jiang Zhaoxue turned around in astonishment to see the figure of the young Pei Zichen appearing in the distance.

She stared blankly at seventeen-year-old Pei Zichen, watching the surroundings slowly darken. Following Pei Zichen’s appearance came one familiar person after another from the past.

Qingye, Diewu, Dielan, Li Xiuji, Pei Shulan, Ye Wenzhi, Qian Sisi, Zhuang Yan and her mother, Song Wuya…

Countless people from the past who had once reached out to her, pleaded with her for help, and accompanied her appeared one by one.

They stood in the darkness. Golden light emerged from their bodies, shining brightly.

“Summon—” Distant voices came from all directions, as if stored in her body for many years. She didn’t know where they came from. She didn’t know who they were. But the moment ten thousand voices rang out, light like fireflies seemed to slowly fly out from within her body. Everyone spoke in unison, “May Penglai’s True Martial Sovereign protect us!”

Penglai’s True Martial Sovereign.

These calls awakened her consciousness. Jiang Zhaoxue suddenly opened her eyes in the darkness!

The white tiger form suddenly appeared behind Jiang Zhaoxue. Meritorious golden light shot up to the sky, instantly strangling and tearing apart the resentment energy in Jiang Zhaoxue’s section of the resentment pool.

The resentment energy on Jiang Zhaoxue’s side dissipated in an instant. At the Heart-Questioning Platform, the umbrella ribs were about to arrive. Just as Xinluoyi’s umbrella ribs were about to destroy the barrier and everyone gripped their swords preparing for a life-or-death battle, a white-robed figure suddenly appeared before the barrier!

The white tiger’s golden body had not yet dispersed. The enormous white tiger phantom roared forth with meritorious spiritual power, crashing head-on into the densely packed incoming umbrella ribs!

Those umbrella ribs were all formed from resentment power. This spiritual power formed from merit was their natural counter. The moment they made contact, the umbrella ribs shattered inch by inch. All the fierce corpses and Xinluoyi present were blown away by this gust of wind.

Wherever that fierce wind passed, it corroded bones and shaved flesh. Xinluoyi was shocked and urgently summoned fierce corpses to block before her. Following the wind’s force, she did a backflip and retreated. At the same time, Jiang Zhaoxue quickly pulled to her left side with her hand. The Heaven and Earth Lots immediately appeared shaking before her. She quickly called out, “Heaven’s Way is fickle, gamble fortune with Heaven, supreme great fortune, all evils completely destroyed!”

Thunder roared down. Xinluoyi hadn’t even had time to land when she saw the thunder attack. She gathered her spiritual power. At this critical moment, she tensed her body and urgently retreated ten zhang. Thunder continued around her. Just as a shocking bolt of lightning was about to strike the top of her head, the Book of Fate suddenly burst with golden light, rapidly transforming into a net of light that quickly spread out. Like a taotie manifesting in the world, it opened its mouth and swallowed Jiang Zhaoxue’s thunder!

Everything happened in mere moments.

By the time most of the fierce corpses were gone and Xinluoyi had narrowly escaped death, kneeling on one knee and gasping as she raised her head, everyone finally reacted and looked together toward the woman standing before the Heart-Questioning Platform with cold eyes raised.

Qingye was the first to cry out with surprise and joy, “Female Lord!”

“How can you be here?” Seeing who had come, Xinluoyi showed astonishment on her face and instinctively said, “Aren’t you afraid…”

Before she finished speaking, she suddenly realized something was wrong.

The resentment energy in the Crossing Resentment Pool had actually decreased by one-fourth in an instant, leaving only the final portion watched over by Ye Tianjiao!

She looked at Jiang Zhaoxue in shock. Jiang Zhaoxue understood what she was surprised about and said flatly, “That’s right. The resentment energy I was guarding has been completely purified and become nourishment for Pei Zichen’s physical body. In three hours at most, even if he cannot become a god, he will become a demigod with a physical body.”

At these words, everyone from the True Immortal realm present brightened their eyes, hope igniting within them.

But Xinluoyi still couldn’t understand and immediately denied it. “Impossible! How could you purify so much resentment energy so quickly? You’re just deceiving them.”

“Whether I’m deceiving them or not, you’re not clear about it,” Jiang Zhaoxue raised her eyes to look at Song Wulan sitting on the white bone chair in the distance, curving her lips. “Is Master Song also unclear?”

When the question was directed at Song Wulan, everyone followed Jiang Zhaoxue’s line of sight. Xinluoyi immediately turned her head to confirm, only to see Song Wulan leaning sideways in his chair, as if appreciating Jiang Zhaoxue. “Master Jiang once saved tens of thousands of people. Using merit to purify this bit of resentment power is naturally not difficult. But Master Jiang, do you know that ascending through tribulation relies on merit to resist? Now that you’ve used all this merit on such matters, aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to ascend in the future?”

“Ascend?”

Jiang Zhaoxue sneered. “Since you awakened your spiritual intelligence, when has there ever been another cultivator who ascended from the True Immortal realm?”

Hearing this, everyone showed astonished expressions.

The True Immortal realm hadn’t had an ascending cultivator in nearly ten thousand years. Everyone thought it was because spiritual energy was thin or people’s dao hearts were impure. With Jiang Zhaoxue saying this, Zhou Bugang couldn’t help but ask, “What does ascension have to do with him?”

“This Master Song is the embodiment of the Book of Fate’s artifact spirit. After the Book of Fate awakened its spiritual intelligence years ago, it was single-mindedly focused on becoming stronger and has been secretly stealing the fortune of all those with deep blessings. Without fortune, how can cultivators ascend? Oh,” Jiang Zhaoxue realized something and pointed, “For this purpose, he even found a mortal body in the human realm that was naturally a void physique, became this Master Song, and has been hiding in Lingjian Immortal Pavilion until now.”

As Jiang Zhaoxue spoke word by word, everyone was in an uproar.

Stealing fortune—for cultivators, this was no different from cutting off their path to survival.

“How did he do it?”

Xu Zichen frowned. “Fortune can be transferred?”

“Of course it can.”

While speaking, Jiang Zhaoxue secretly drew formations. Song Wulan watched her sleeves with a smile, propping his forehead as he listened to her continue. “Back then, Shenjun actually established the rules of this world—cause and effect compensate each other, good and evil receive their due. How could evildoers deserve to possess great fortune? If you want to strip someone of their fortune, tempt them to do evil and drive them to a dead end. When their fortune is stripped away, where does it go? The Book of Fate has governed this world for many years. You must be clearer than anyone about this, right?”

“So all these years, everyone’s inability to ascend is because of him?!”

Zhou Bugang spoke angrily. Song Wulan chuckled softly.

“Don’t wrongly accuse me just because you can’t ascend,” everyone heard his voice and looked to see him lift his eyelids, scorn in his eyes. “You fools who couldn’t ascend anyway—do you think I covet that bit of fortune from you? Zhou Bugang, seven lifetimes ago you committed many evils. Now you’ve merely balanced merit and fault. I don’t covet your fortune. The fortune I want has always been from heaven’s chosen ones. What do common folk like you have to worry about?”

“For example, Li Xiuji from back then and Pei Zichen now—are they the prey you’ve chosen?”

Jiang Zhaoxue spoke decisively, unable to help saying, “Book of Fate, when Haocang Shenjun created the world and gave you the power to control the fate of all things, why are you still so greedy that you must seize others’ fortune to become a god?”

“Because I’m unwilling!”

Song Wulan suddenly raised his voice, rarely showing coldness on his face. “What do you mean I’m greedy? What do you mean he gave me the power to control the fate of all things? Do you think that power was obtained in exchange for what? It was exchanged for my life!”

Everyone didn’t understand. Seeing their confusion, Song Wulan showed mockery on his face. “Do you think Haocang created me for what reason? It was because the human realm had no rules, no heavenly way, no order—nothing at all! So he created me, writing cause and effect in the Book of Fate for thirty thousand years to nurture the heavenly way of this world and give everyone cause and effect rules. But when the heavenly way appeared and everyone’s cause and effect took shape, it wanted me to die! So from the beginning, he didn’t give me spiritual intelligence and didn’t let the Book of Fate have an artifact spirit. But why?”

Song Wulan slowly stood up, surveying everyone, malice in his eyes. “When creating me, he promised I would be a god. When abandoning me, it was like discarding worn shoes. I’ve already governed this world for thirty thousand years. Even without merit, there’s hard work. Other divine artifacts can all survive—why can’t I?! If I were just a book, that would be one thing. But since I’ve awakened spiritual intelligence, how can I be willing to go to my death? Moreover, since I’ve awakened spiritual intelligence, perhaps this is my opportunity.”

Song Wulan looked at his own palm, obsession showing in his eyes. “I should become the next new god, controlling the fate of all things in this world. I should live as long as Heaven, rotate with the sun and moon. Jiang Zhaoxue,” he spoke and raised his eyes to look at her, softening his voice. “You gave me this body. I don’t want to kill you. Fate Masters are the existence closest to me. You’re qualified to stand by my side. I’ll give you one last chance.”

With that, Song Wulan extended his hand toward her, expectation in his eyes. “If you come over, I’m willing to imitate mortal emperors and empresses and share governance of the world with you.”

“What about the others?”

Jiang Zhaoxue seemed interested. Song Wulan tilted his head. “The others—what do they have to do with me?”

“It seems Master Song isn’t truly interested in negotiating peace with me.” Jiang Zhaoxue stated directly, her gaze falling on the hand Song Wulan had been hiding in his sleeve all along. She said calmly, “When I fought with Master Song years ago, Master Song already had the ability of an eighth realm Fate Master. I wonder, after a thousand years, has Master Song made any progress?”

“Progress or not,” Song Wulan flicked his finger and three copper coins leaped out. “Just try and you’ll find out!! Break the formation, go!”

The moment his voice fell, three copper coins carrying blue formations flew directly toward the heights of the Crossing Resentment Pool. At the same time, Xinluoyi grabbed with her hand. The umbrella ribs condensed into a whip and whipped toward Jiang Zhaoxue’s face.

Jiang Pingsheng, Zhou Bugang, Xu Zichen, and the others simultaneously drew their swords to meet them. Jiang Zhaoxue swiftly retreated ten zhang. Turning her head, she saw wind and clouds surging over the Crossing Resentment Pool as a blue giant dragon roared out!

She flung out the formation in her hand. The Heaven and Earth Lots simultaneously pursued, accompanied by Jiang Zhaoxue’s urgent shout, “Supreme great fortune, defensive formation open!”

Light rose with her voice. Just as the giant dragon was about to break through the barrier on the mountain, an invisible golden membrane spread out like a white crane spreading its wings and crashed into the dragon with a “boom.”

In an instant, the earth shook and mountains trembled. Jiang Zhaoxue instantly felt tightness in her chest. Just as a faint bloody taste rose up, she heard an alarmed cry beside her, “Female Lord!”

“Protect!”

“Nullify!”

Jiang Zhaoxue’s voice and Song Wulan’s voice rang out simultaneously. The two Fate Masters’ fortune-gambling decrees instantly canceled each other out. Sword wind stabbed straight toward Jiang Zhaoxue.

Jiang Zhaoxue’s eyes widened. Just as the sword tip was about to reach her, Qingye fiercely pounced from the side, and they rolled to the side.

The resentment-laden blade cut across Qingye’s back. Zhou Bugang and Xu Zichen joined forces to simultaneously block Xinluoyi. Jiang Zhaoxue protected Qingye’s wound, spun and retreated to the distance. The moment she raised her finger and wiped across her wound to dispel the resentment energy, she heard Song Wulan’s voice ring out again. “Xinluoyi, be bolder.”

Everyone raised their eyes to look toward the heights to see Song Wulan standing on the white bone palanquin, looking down at everyone with a cold smile as he instructed, “The Book of Fate’s power is inexhaustible. You can repair your meridians while fighting to your limits. You’re different from these common folk. Their power has limits, but you don’t.”

Hearing this, Xinluoyi seemed to suddenly realize something. Great joy bloomed in her eyes. Then she whipped down with all her might. Resentment energy instantly exploded.

Everyone was already exhausted. Now they were merely at the end of their strength. Under this full-force strike, they didn’t even have time to defend before being blown away by Xinluoyi’s spiritual power.

Xinluoyi instantly arrived before Jiang Zhaoxue. Shocked, Jiang Zhaoxue simultaneously threw out the Mountains and Rivers Bell, light blazing from her hands. “Open formation!”

“Nullify.”

Her formation was simultaneously nullified by Song Wulan. The long whip viciously struck the Mountains and Rivers Bell. The bell rang out with a high cry. Jiang Zhaoxue was heavily smashed onto the Heart-Questioning Platform. Just as she spat out a mouthful of blood, a second whip arrived at her face. Fortunately, a row of explosive talismans simultaneously flew over and detonated, blocking Xinluoyi for a moment. Xu Zichen thrust his sword into Xinluoyi’s chest. All his spiritual power exploded along the sword body. Xinluoyi didn’t care at all and turned to claw at Xu Zichen!

“Protect!”

“Nullify.”

Jiang Zhaoxue and Song Wulan spoke again. Jiang Zhaoxue’s defensive formation was nullified by Song Wulan. Xinluoyi’s hand inserted into Xu Zichen’s chest without obstruction. Xu Zichen’s sword forcibly exploded. Xinluoyi’s entire chest was blasted into a gaping hole.

Zhou Bugang took the opportunity to slash at her head together with all the disciples. Xinluoyi turned and with a flick of her bloodied hand, blood droplets transformed into long swords flying forth, violently crashing against everyone’s barriers.

The barriers instantly shattered. Everyone flew out together, heavily crashing to the ground!

Everyone heard the sound of bones cracking in their bodies, only feeling blood and energy churning. Yet Xinluoyi’s expression didn’t change. She only wiped the blood from her face with the back of her hand and raised her head to look at everyone. “Is this all you’ve got?”

No one could speak. They only gasped lowly. They saw the Book of Fate suspended high above, power continuously pouring into Xinluoyi’s body. Her body rapidly recovered.

Fear couldn’t help but appear in everyone’s eyes.

Is an untouchable monster frightening?

Frightening.

But a monster that revives after being killed, as if it will never die—that inspires even more despair.

Everyone suppressed their panic, watching her chest rapidly recover. Xinluoyi appreciated the terror in everyone’s eyes, spread her arms, letting power fill her body, and said happily, “I told you long ago—you cannot defeat me. As long as I’m not dead and the Book of Fate exists, I will never be injured. I am a god.”

As Xinluoyi spoke, she couldn’t help showing wild joy in her eyes. Behind her, Song Wulan looked at her with scorn, watching her walk toward Jiang Zhaoxue with a smile, saying happily, “Jiang Zhaoxue, I am a god now. You cannot kill me. You can only watch everything you have be lost one by one until you care about nothing.”

Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t speak. She blocked before the barrier, staring at this monster slowly walking toward her, standing before her, bending down to examine her.

She sensed everyone’s fear, unease, and despair.

Even she couldn’t help but feel afraid. She desperately thought of solutions, thought of ways to protect everyone while achieving the best outcome. And right now, the best solution…

“Have them go hold off Song Wulan.”

A’Nan suddenly spoke urgently. “Xinluoyi can become a false god because Song Wulan bound his power with hers, allowing her to deceive Heaven and conceal resentment energy. Otherwise, what kind of false god could she be?! But this is our opportunity. As long as Xinluoyi dies, Song Wulan will be severely injured. They’re hard to fight now because Xinluoyi can control the Book of Fate. Without Xinluoyi, Song Wulan can’t use the Book of Fate. What’s there to fear from a ninth realm Fate Master? You’re also a ninth realm Fate Master!”

Jiang Zhaoxue listened without speaking. A’Nan sensed and understood her meaning. “You think no one can hold off Song Wulan? If they can’t hold off Song Wulan, they certainly can’t hold off the Book of Fate. Either way, they’ll die…”

“Yaoyao, we’ll go hold off Song Wulan.”

Before A’Nan finished speaking, Jiang Pingsheng’s voice rang out.

Jiang Zhaoxue’s expression changed. She saw everyone beside her seemed to have received the transmission. Everyone slowly sat up, listening to Jiang Pingsheng say, “Xinluoyi must be killed in one strike. Besides you, no one here can kill her. The longer we delay, the more disadvantageous it is for us. I have no time left.”

Jiang Zhaoxue turned around in shock to see Jiang Pingsheng’s pale face. He was clearly forcing himself. Jiang Zhaoxue suddenly realized something. Her hands couldn’t help but tremble.

“What are you looking at?”

Seeing her turn her head, Xinluoyi reached out to pinch her chin, forcing her to look at herself, saying gently, “Discussing how to kill me? Have them come. All of you together are no match for me. While I’m still resting, make your move.”

“To kill you, do I need them to act?”

Jiang Zhaoxue smiled. Xinluoyi raised an eyebrow. “Still talking big when death is imminent?”

“Xinluoyi,” Jiang Zhaoxue gasped, “have you never seen me use a sword?”

Xinluoyi was stunned, curiosity appearing in her eyes. “Oh? You can use a sword?”

“All Fate Masters study various schools in their youth,” Jiang Zhaoxue gripped the blood-stained sword of a dead disciple beside her, staring intently at the person before her who showed some surprise. “We cannot use other cultivators’ spells. If we want to use them, we must gamble fortune with Heaven and obtain permission. But the more familiar we are with these spells, the higher the chance of successful fortune gambling. As long as we succeed, we can use any technique from any sect, including the sword.”

“So before you use a sword, you still have to gamble?”

Xinluoyi was curious. Jiang Zhaoxue smiled and reminded her, “But I’m at the ninth realm.”

Xinluoyi was stunned. Before she could react, Jiang Pingsheng and Zhou Bugang suddenly led all disciples in lunging at Song Wulan!

Jiang Pingsheng moved extremely fast. His body, which should have long been depleted of spiritual power, was extraordinarily full of spiritual power—he was clearly burning his original life essence. This was a life-for-life fighting method!

Jiang Zhaoxue also simultaneously struck with her sword. “Flowing Wind Style!”

With one command, the sword seemed to have spirit. She was like a sword cultivator who had practiced for hundreds of years. Sword intent surged forth, forcing Xinluoyi to instinctively retreat!

By the time she reacted, Jiang Zhaoxue had already begun rapidly drawing formations. While Song Wulan was distracted resisting Jiang Pingsheng’s attack, he shouted, “Stop her!”

Xinluoyi reacted and rushed forth. Swords came like dense rain, resentment energy surging and swirling. Jiang Zhaoxue executed sword with her right hand and drew formations with her left, resisting attacks while frantically drawing formations.

Song Wulan immediately realized what they were trying to do. He glanced at Jiang Pingsheng and the others frantically lunging at him, gritted his teeth, and cursed, “Old bastard.”

Then, like Jiang Zhaoxue, he quickly drew formations.

Jiang Zhaoxue sensed spiritual power surging beside her. She glanced at Song Wulan, who was dodging while drawing formations just like her. A’Nan immediately cried out, “Wow wow wow, copycat!”

As she spoke, Jiang Zhaoxue’s formation was complete. She raised her hand and flung it. The formation flew upward. Song Wulan’s copper coins simultaneously flew up. Both spoke at the same time. “Heaven’s Way is fickle, gamble fortune with Heaven, supreme great fortune, Ten Directions Slay Evil!”

“Heaven’s Way is fickle, gamble fortune with Heaven, Heaven and Earth great fortune, supreme lot shall not emerge!”

Copper coins and lot inscriptions fell simultaneously. The moment Jiang Zhaoxue saw the words “worst worst,” she was kicked flying by Xinluoyi!

She crashed heavily onto the ground, scraping several zhang before violently hitting a stone platform. As she vomited blood, she saw Song Wulan in the distance also just climbing up from the ground.

All Fate Masters have a temporary fortune gap after completing a fortune gamble—the easiest time to attack.

However, suppressing a fortune gamble is far simpler than killing a person. Song Wulan clearly drew a middling fortune lot—his luck wasn’t as bad as hers, and the beating he took wasn’t as severe.

But in his life, he had rarely been defeated. Now being beaten until he vomited blood was almost unprecedented.

Anger appeared in his eyes. Across the crowd, he climbed up. Jiang Zhaoxue also gasped as she climbed up, immediately facing Xinluoyi’s sword!

Jiang Zhaoxue opened three formations in succession. Song Wulan would rather take beatings than suppress them. Jiang Zhaoxue’s power grew weaker and weaker, her movements slower and slower, but Xinluoyi showed no change—she even vaguely seemed to be getting stronger.

“Yaoyao, one last time.”

Jiang Pingsheng’s voice came. Jiang Zhaoxue’s heart trembled. When she raised her eyes through the blood covering them, she saw Jiang Pingsheng had already used his own fate thread to completely seal Song Wulan.

She drew formations again. Her entire hand was trembling. Her perception of heavenly fate vaguely sensed something but didn’t dare think deeply.

A fate thread is a person’s lifespan materialized. Used properly, nothing is stronger.

But this didn’t concern Song Wulan at all. The moment the fate thread locked him, he only sneered. “A mayfly trying to shake a tree.”

He raised his hand and flung. The Book of Fate actually spun and flew back, heavily crashing into the fate thread!

Like a steel blade cutting string, Jiang Pingsheng stubbornly wouldn’t let go. All the disciples frantically lunged forward. Song Wulan easily dodged, looking at Jiang Pingsheng with a smile. “Old man Jiang, I know—you want to trap me so Lady Jiang can kill Xinluoyi. You think that because my power is connected to Xinluoyi’s, as long as she dies, I’ll be severely injured. But have you considered that so-called connection means her power—”

As he spoke, Song Wulan’s lips curved into a smile. Jiang Zhaoxue instinctively felt something was wrong and turned her head, shouting, “Retreat!!!”

But it was already too late. The moment she shouted, she only saw resentment energy rise from the ground formation like curved horns violently piercing through the chests of Jiang Pingsheng, Zhou Bugang, Xu Zichen, and the others.

Jiang Zhaoxue was momentarily stunned and was instantly sent flying by Xinluoyi’s sword.

With this collision, the formation condensed at Jiang Zhaoxue’s fingertips immediately dispersed. Xinluoyi slashed frantically. Jiang Zhaoxue had no time to draw formations at all. She only heard Song Wulan gasp, calmly looking at everyone. “Even if you succeeded according to plan, you couldn’t kill me. Why waste the effort?”

“Yaoyao, draw formations.”

Jiang Zhaoxue heard Jiang Pingsheng’s voice ring out. She frantically drew formations. Her hands trembled violently. A’Nan didn’t understand. “What are you shaking for?”

She didn’t speak. She only desperately drew formations until the moment her formation was complete. She resolutely called out, “Heaven’s Way is fickle—”

Song Wulan turned back in shock, about to speak, but Jiang Pingsheng pulled blood and flesh from the curved horn, roaring as he poured all his cultivation into the sword body and violently slashed at him!

“Open formation!”

Song Wulan was shocked by this desperate strike and instantly opened formations. Xu Zichen beside him also unhesitatingly followed. When Song Wulan turned back wanting to block again, he threw himself onto Song Wulan, letting the sword formation around him pierce through his body.

One person after another threw themselves onto Song Wulan. One disciple after another threw themselves at Xinluoyi. Taking advantage of that moment they fought for, the formation beneath Jiang Zhaoxue’s feet blazed brightly. She pulled the Heaven and Earth Lots cylinder. Sixty-four lots circled around her. A fierce wind suddenly rose. The jade lots circled rapidly. “Heaven’s Way is fickle, gamble life with Heaven, Heaven and Earth become sword, slay Xinluoyi!!”

The moment her voice fell, accompanied by the sounds of disciples’ Nascent Souls self-destructing one by one, the sixty-four lots transformed into long swords, violently flying toward Xinluoyi!

Xinluoyi neither dodged nor avoided, only whipping the umbrella ribs toward Jiang Zhaoxue with all her might. “Die!!”

Those sword-like umbrella ribs came very fast—so fast she had absolutely no strength to dodge. She clearly saw the cold gleam on those blade edges, felt the blades rushing toward her.

She couldn’t dodge.

Sixty-four lots, Heaven and Earth becoming sword—this was one of the sure-kill formations among all she could open.

Using her own life as the price, not even asking about supreme, middling, or worst lots—if Xinluoyi didn’t die, then she would die.

She watched her sixty-four lots meet Xinluoyi with a single sword thrust, watching that sword seem to carry an invisible barrier that collided with her sixty-four lots. The lots broke one by one in the sword wind barrier. Each time one broke, Jiang Zhaoxue felt bone-corroding, heart-gouging pain. Fortunately, one was still left in the end.

That single supreme lot passed by Xinluoyi’s sword, simultaneously piercing through both of them!

In an instant, everything fell silent. Jiang Zhaoxue vaguely felt pain, yet it also didn’t seem very painful.

She looked up ahead in confusion to see Xinluoyi also looking at her in bewilderment.

Two sword marks appeared on her stomach.

One was Jiang Zhaoxue’s supreme lot, and the other…

Seeing the trace of the other mark, Xinluoyi’s eyes widened in terror. Watching blood, flesh, and resentment energy flow from her stomach, she spoke trembling, “No… no… what is this… Book of Fate! Book of Fate! Save me!!”

She clearly felt the draining of life from within her, felt the collapse of this body. Yet she had absolutely no idea what had happened. She only felt this body burning, becoming like a prison, wanting to burn to death all the souls inside together.

This was her sword—the sword she had given to Jiang Zhaoxue!

Soul-Devouring Sword—it would seal a person’s body and burn their soul alive with the pain of fierce fire. But why was the Soul-Devouring Sword on her body? Why?

Xinluoyi had no time to think further. Just as she felt like she was about to be burned to death by fierce fire, she went mad trying to escape this body. But the moment she was about to leave, she felt a tremendous force attack. Then she actually felt she couldn’t leave at all!

“You cannot leave.”

Shen Yuqing’s voice came from her consciousness. Jiang Zhaoxue looked up in surprise to see the person standing opposite—one eye was Shen Yuqing’s indifference, the other eye was Xinluoyi’s panic.

Hearing this voice, Xinluoyi screamed, “Shen Yuqing, what are you doing! What did you do! How are you awake? Why are you awake?!!”

“I’ve been awake all along.” Shen Yuqing explained calmly. “From when I knew you escaped from the Jiuyou Realm, I knew you would definitely need a body. So I discussed with Pei Zichen. He planted a Soul-Locking Curse in my body. Any soul that enters my body cannot leave. Then…”

Shen Yuqing raised his eyes to look at the shocked Jiang Zhaoxue opposite. “I gave her a United Hearts Contract.”

Jiang Zhaoxue was shocked, looking at the person opposite in disbelief, listening to him say calmly, “The moment you kill her is the moment of your and my death.”

These words stunned everyone. In an instant, Jiang Zhaoxue remembered the last day she saw Shen Yuqing—the talisman he had drawn in her palm.

“What exactly is the talisman he wrote for me? He didn’t let me see it earlier. Did you see it?”

“He added a Protection Curse inside. It’s harmless.”

That wasn’t a Protection Curse…

Jiang Zhaoxue realized—it was a United Hearts Contract.

Pei Zichen knew. Shen Yuqing knew. They had planned this moment long ago.

No matter what, when Xinluoyi killed Jiang Zhaoxue, they would give Jiang Zhaoxue a thread of hope for survival.

She stared blankly at the calm person opposite. Xinluoyi also reacted.

Her soul shrieked and roared in pain, “Why! Shen Yuqing, why do you still choose her! Why always choose her!”

Shen Yuqing paused. For the first time, he heard this woman speak so frankly. “You killed me and I didn’t even hold it against you. I spared your life. But why always choose her! Two hundred years ago you chose her. Two hundred years later you chose her. When planting the Heavenly Derivation Vine you chose her. Now she’s already run off with Pei Zichen, and you still choose her! Are you insane?! She doesn’t love you. She loves Pei Zichen. She made you a cuckold. She played you for a fool. If you had softened toward me even half as much, I would have been better than her!”

These words made Shen Yuqing slowly calm down. He quietly looked at Jiang Zhaoxue, pity in his eyes. “Qingyin, you’re wrong. I’m not choosing any one person.”

With that, Shen Yuqing completely took over the body. He bent down to pick up the long sword from the ground. Amidst Xinluoyi’s screaming—”No! Let me go! Song Wulan! Save me! Save me!”—he placed the sword at his neck.

Hearing Xinluoyi’s cries, Song Wulan instinctively wanted to save her. Zhou Bugang met him with a sword, leading disciples to seal off his path.

Shen Yuqing looked calmly at Jiang Zhaoxue, as if walking toward a long-predetermined destination—without sorrow or joy, without hate or resentment.

In his eyes, it seemed he returned to his youth when he first saw Jiang Zhaoxue. She wore sunset clouds and walked on moonlight, riding a luan chariot from the heights.

Tears slowly welled in his eyes, yet he still smiled, saying hoarsely, “What I chose was freedom.”

Freedom from being bullied by others and from deceiving himself.

Freedom to frankly admit who he was.

Freedom to firmly choose what he wanted to choose.

Freedom to choose his true heart after wandering lost for half his life—bound to his sect, bound by gratitude and duty—all finally turning to ashes.

Jiang Zhaoxue.

The blade edge turned sharply. His wrist suddenly exerted force, viciously cutting across his neck, completely severing his lifeline!

Flames exploded in his consciousness. His body became like a prison cage, trapping him and Xinluoyi to death within. Two souls instantly burned in the flames. Only Xinluoyi’s final curse was heard: “Shen Yuqing!!!”

Then resentment energy completely exploded from his body.

Everyone was blown away by this sudden tremendous force, each protecting themselves. But Song Wulan seemed to suddenly lose strength, blown away by the fierce wind and violently crashing before the Heart-Questioning Platform’s stone tablet, vomiting a mouthful of blood.

When the fierce wind stopped, everyone gasped and raised their heads to see dark clouds densely covering the heights. Resentment energy completely isolated heaven and earth, gathering darkly and heavily above.

Everyone looked at that resentment energy uneasily. Zhou Bugang murmured, “It’s over, right? She’s dead, right?”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t speak.

She only looked at the sky for a long while, sensing the auras belonging to Shen Yuqing and Xinluoyi gradually dissipating bit by bit until they were gone. After a moment, she heard laughter from behind: “Ha… hahaha…”

Hearing this sound, everyone looked to see Song Wulan lying sideways on the ground. His body was bloodied, his face deathly pale. Looking at the resentment energy in the sky, his eyes showed a trace of madness.

Qingye instinctively blocked before Jiang Zhaoxue, vigilantly watching Song Wulan and asking coldly, “What are you laughing at?”

“Fools… fools!”

Song Wulan laughed and shook his head, seeming somewhat helpless, slowly standing up. “I gave her a way out but she wouldn’t take it. Talking about revenge against Shen Yuqing, in the end she still left him alive and fell into his hands? Wasting all my cultivation for nothing—utterly foolish!”

“The Book of Fate cannot directly harm the lives of innocent people,” Jiang Zhaoxue looked at him with understanding, calmly stating his current situation. “You can only use the cultivation that ‘Song Wulan’s’ body cultivated. But you shared all your power with Xinluoyi, making her a false god to control the Book of Fate. Now that she’s dead, all your cultivation is gone. The Book of Fate cannot be used. You can do nothing.”

“So I can only wait for death?” These words made Song Wulan laugh. “Wait for Pei Zichen to become a god and come out to kill me?”

“Correct.”

Jiang Zhaoyue stood at the back of the crowd, staring intently at Song Wulan, saying coldly, “You violated Shenjun’s intent, disregarded heavenly principles, wantonly interfered with others’ fates, seized the fortunes of innocent people, and repeatedly caused tragedies. Your crimes are unforgivable. Today we are here precisely to kill you.”

“Kill me?”

Hearing this, Song Wulan surveyed his surroundings. He saw everyone was already at the end of their strength, yet they still held sharp blades, brows coldly knitted, as if ready to strike at any moment.

Looking at these people full of killing intent, Song Wulan nodded with a light laugh. “Good, good, good. It seems I’ve now become thoroughly evil, an abomination despised by both humans and gods. Heaven wants to punish me. Gods want to punish me. I originally wanted to cultivate the heavenly way and walk the righteous path. But now since you won’t let me walk it, what difference is there between a righteous god, an evil god, and a false god? They’re all gods!”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue’s expression became stern. She instantly reacted and shouted urgently, “Seal—”

“Seal spirits for half a moment!”

Song Wulan spoke first. Jiang Zhaoxue instantly felt an invisible force seal all her power. People around her also immediately reacted. Zhou Bugang, Qingye, and others led disciples in urgently attacking Song Wulan from left and right.

However, the corpses that had been lying on the ground suddenly rose violently. They seemed like puppets pulled up by threads, yet were extremely fierce, lunging at everyone!

In an instant, corpses became mountains and seas, rushing toward Jiang Zhaoxue.

Jiang Zhaoyue showed a shocked expression and forcibly summoned a barrier to block ahead, hastily turning to look at Jiang Zhaoxue. “What’s happening? Why does he still have power?!”

“If I can make a mere resentment evil become a god, why do you think I can’t become one myself?”

Song Wulan’s voice came. Everyone looked in surprise to see him standing behind the corpse horde. A blood-colored formation spread beneath his feet. Resentment energy went like whirlwinds, rapidly filling into his body.

“I only wanted to cultivate the righteous path, to gain recognition from the heavenly way, to become a god cleanly and purely—”

“Bullshit!” Hearing this, Qingye kicked away a corpse puppet and cursed loudly. “You harmed so many people and still dare say cleanly and purely?! Do you have no shame?”

“Then did I actually harm them?” Song Wulan’s expression didn’t change. He closed his eyes, letting all resentment energy gather in himself. Blood-colored talismans lit up around him. His voice was like divine judgment, resonating throughout all of Cangdu. “Ye Wenzhi was lustful. Song Wuya was greedy for power. Li Xiuji sought goodness but not survival. And everything today—all cause and effect lie with Xinluoyi. Everyone brought it upon themselves. What does it have to do with me, Song Wulan? But now that you’ve forced me to this point, I’ll let you know what true—”

Resentment energy completely filled Song Wulan’s body. Talismans crawled onto his face. In the resentment energy, he spread his arms and shouted in a low voice, “Heavenly Mandate!”

The moment his voice fell, red light shot up from beneath his feet. The fierce wind blew everyone away and sent them crashing far. Amidst Qingye’s alarmed cry, she grabbed Jiang Zhaoxue, drove a sword into the ground, and erected a barrier. Only then did Jiang Zhaoxue have a moment to catch her breath and raise her head.

Flying ash and rolling stones—heaven and earth lost their color. The ground rumbled and rolled. All things from far to near seemed to have their life force drained. Large swathes of grass and trees withered. Living beings fell. Death energy rapidly spread.

“What is he doing?!”

Qingye nervously turned her head. But Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t answer, only stared at Song Wulan in the blood energy, rapidly drawing formations.

She had just killed Xinluoyi and consumed most of her spiritual power. Now Song Wulan had also sealed her spiritual power. She could only first draw the prototype of a fortune-gambling formation.

In the distance, Jiang Zhaoyue, being pulled by Zhou Bugang, called out in explanation, “The Book of Fate’s power was originally connected to this world. It’s absorbing this world’s life force to become a god!”

“If it’s so capable, why didn’t it do this earlier?!” Hearing this, Qingye cursed angrily. “It should have let me die earlier instead of fighting this long?”

“Once it becomes an evil god, this world will naturally oppose it, making it difficult to exist long.”

Jiang Zhaoxue finished drawing the formation, waiting for her spiritual power to break the seal.

Song Wulan clearly didn’t have much remaining spiritual power either. He couldn’t seal her for too long. But this half moment was also enough for him to rapidly advance.

But she couldn’t—she couldn’t let him truly advance to godhood!

Even if an evil god couldn’t exist for very long, it would be enough for him to kill everyone!

“Qingye.”

Jiang Zhaoxue looked at Qingye, reluctance in her eyes, saying softly, “As long as his formation is destroyed, the effect of him absorbing power will decrease. Then…”

“I understand,” Qingye’s body was already covered in wounds, yet she instantly understood Jiang Zhaoxue’s meaning and nodded without hesitation. “I’ll buy you time.”

With that, she took medicine from her waist and pressed it into her mouth. Condensing a breath of energy, she called out in reminder, “Senior Zhou!”

Hearing this, Zhou Bugang, together with Qingye, rushed toward the person in the blood light. The two completely didn’t set up barriers. Concentrating all their divine focus into one sword strike, they smashed down, violently slashing at the formation on the ground. The moment golden light touched the formation, both were instantly shaken away. However, the sword wind still cut a bloody mark on the formation. The power continuously surging from around paused. The blood light instantly dimmed.

Jiang Zhaoxue and Jiang Zhaoyue each went forward to give medicine to Qingye and Zhou Bugang.

Qingye’s golden core shattered. Spiritual power drained away. Jiang Zhaoxue’s hand holding the medicine trembled. But she told herself she couldn’t tremble. She couldn’t have any emotions at this time. She only fed Qingye bottle after bottle of medicine while continuously questioning Ye Tianjiao. “What’s Pei Zichen’s situation? How much longer?”

“I don’t know.”

Ye Tianjiao’s voice was heavy. He said in a low voice, “I don’t know why. He still hasn’t fused. His body is instead rapidly cracking. I’ve been maintaining it, but I don’t know why his divine shell and body still cannot fuse.”

Still hasn’t fused…

Jiang Zhaoxue’s hands trembled slightly. At this moment, a sound suddenly came from the side. “Jiang Zhaoxue, do you think that breaking my formation means I’m out of options?”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue turned around in shock to see the surrounding dust and mist completely dispersed. Song Wulan stood not far away.

Wearing blood-colored magnificent robes, crowned with a nine-tassel ceremonial crown, half his body was only skeleton—clearly this body wasn’t yet complete. But weak power continuously entered his body, constantly filling him.

Half immortal face, half skeleton—looking at this bizarre scene, Jiang Zhaoxue pressed her lips into a tight line.

“Your formation is destroyed. What more can you do?”

She spoke uneasily. Song Wulan laughed lowly. “Although half my formation was destroyed, I can still use it, can’t I? It’s just slower. If ten parts of power come in and I take five parts, that’s indeed enough for you to delay until your power recovers and Pei Zichen appears. But actually, waste is waste—I’ll just take more. If ten yields five, then with twenty, won’t I have ten?”

“What do you want to do?!”

Jiang Zhaoxue instantly understood his meaning. Her pupils contracted sharply.

She desperately attacked the seal Song Wulan had set. Song Wulan watched her struggle, appreciation in his eyes, saying in a low voice, “Jiang Zhaoxue, have you ever seen the true power of fate?”

With that, the Book of Fate flew before him, rapidly flipping. Spiritual power dispersed from the Book of Fate. Song Wulan raised his finger. Blood-colored light condensed at his fingertip.

The moment the light appeared, Jiang Zhaoxue felt a pressure appear from nowhere. Song Wulan said gently, “The power of fate is the same as a Fate Master’s power. When everything is easy and effortless, it can easily occur. Tell me,” Song Wulan tilted his head to look at her, “Penglai’s elite are all here. Under the shroud of resentment energy, how much power would I expend to execute Penglai? Is one Penglai’s worth of power enough for me to use?”

Hearing this, everyone present realized his intent. Qingye struggled to climb up, grabbed her broken sword, and lunged at Song Wulan, shouting loudly, “I’ll kill…”

“With the Book of Fate’s twelve characters—”

The barrier violently shook Qingye away. Blood-colored light bloomed at Song Wulan’s fingertip. Song Wulan pointed with his finger. The voice of judgment rang out. “Execute ten million people of Penglai!”

With that, twelve characters of “kill” flew from the Book of Fate. Above Penglai, a blood-colored light pillar as wide as the entire island descended from the sky!

All disciples looked up in terror. At that very moment, Jiang Zhaoxue’s seal finally broke. She unhesitatingly threw out the formation. “Open formation!”

Her Heaven and Earth Lots were all broken. At this moment, the only thing she could expend was her own power. She would use all her own power to support that giant pillar falling toward Penglai, watching Penglai’s people huddle together, trembling as they looked at the sky.

“Oh my,” Song Wulan saw the golden threads on her body and seemed to laugh as if expecting this. “You went to save Penglai? But if you save Penglai—”

Song Wulan raised his hand and pointed toward the Crossing Resentment Pool. “Then you cannot protect Pei Zichen.”

The moment his voice fell, everyone saw the resentment energy floating above suddenly gather together and thunder down toward the Crossing Resentment Pool!

Jiang Zhaoxue turned around in shock, only seeing resentment energy like swords, thunderously breaking through the barrier and violently smashing toward Pei Zichen’s ice coffin!

Too late.

She simply had no time to think, no time to choose—she couldn’t choose!

Watching helplessly as that resentment energy split open half the mountain, exposing the Crossing Resentment Pool within, she saw Ye Tianjiao sitting cross-legged before the ice coffin. His wrist had been cut open at some unknown time. Blood flowed out in a trickle. The entire Crossing Resentment Pool’s formation blazed brightly, suppressing all resentment energy beneath him.

He alone blocked before the ice coffin. Across the vast distance, his gaze locked onto Song Wulan, yet he said, “What are you still waiting for?”

His hair slowly turned white. Clearly, right now, the power suppressing the entire formation and all the resentment energy attacking Pei Zichen came entirely from his source power.

He was using his life to protect the formation.

From the very beginning of the Crossing Resentment Pool’s construction, he had connected his life with it. Once the pool’s formation was damaged, he would use his life to repair it.

A thousand years ago, he had comprehended the great dao to repair the Dingkun Needle. Now he used his great dao to repair the Crossing Resentment Pool.

However, a thousand years ago, he would still shriek that phrase “I, Ye Tianjiao, was born heaven’s pride” amidst panic and despair. At this moment, he was already like any master—calmly feeling life drain away, asking again, “What are you still waiting for?”

Who was he asking?

Jiang Zhaoxue was confused. But before she could react, she felt a gust of wind sweep past from behind. Everyone turned around in shock to see Jiang Zhaoyue, who had been at the rear of the battle line, lunging toward Song Wulan as if gone mad!

A talisman cultivator like Jiang Zhaoyue who had no power in close combat—Song Wulan didn’t take him seriously at all. He raised his hand to block. “Execute—”

Before he could finish, Jiang Zhaoyue’s entire body lit up with talismans. Song Wulan couldn’t speak at all, violently knocked to the ground by him!

The moment Song Wulan fell, he felt his entire body stiffen. Blood spilled from Ye Tianjiao’s lips as he shouted loudly, “Young Clan Leader Jiang has already used my soul to lock him. If the soul isn’t enough, feed more. Elder Sister, you’re a Fate Master. Fate Masters are the only ones who can execute the Book of Fate. Kill him!”

If the soul isn’t enough, feed more. Kill him.

Everyone reacted and all lunged forward. Seeing this, Song Wulan desperately struggled, roaring angrily, “Only a god can kill me! No one but a god can kill me!”

“You’re wrong. I’ve lived precisely to kill you.”

Ye Tianjiao’s eyes held hot tears as he called out loudly, “Elder Sister, Fate Masters are the bloodline left by Haocang Shenjun, originally meant to supervise Haocang Shenjun’s existence. These tens of thousands of years, he’s thought of every method to slaughter Fate Masters precisely because he fears you. Fate Masters are the only existence that can kill the Book of Fate. Use your blood—kill him!”

Hearing this, everyone desperately held down the struggling Song Wulan and turned to look at Jiang Zhaoxue. “Kill him!”

Pair after pair of eyes looked over. Voice after voice rang out. Jiang Zhaoxue’s heart beat rapidly. She knew it was impossible. Reason knew that divine artifacts must be destroyed by gods. Even if she was a Fate Master, she couldn’t destroy Song Wulan. But she still rushed forward.

She took the dagger Jiang Pingsheng had given her in her youth, cut open her own palm, stained the dagger with blood, rushed before Song Wulan, and viciously stabbed down!

Song Wulan watched the falling dagger, terror appearing in his eyes. However, just as the dagger was about to touch him, a barrier carrying divine power suddenly lit up on his body, violently shaking Jiang Zhaoxue away!

Seeing this suddenly appearing barrier, everyone was stunned. Jiang Zhaoxue only felt pain in her back—it seemed her ribs were broken.

She struggled to stand up to see Song Wulan also, after his shock, slowly begin to smile.

“You cannot kill me…”

He seemed to realize something and laughed heartily. “You’re not a god. You cannot kill me!”

“But you received a fatal attack.”

Jiang Zhaoxue gasped and stood up, confirming her direction. Song Wulan’s expression changed slightly as he watched Jiang Zhaoxue look at him with a smile. “When other people hurt you, there’s no barrier protecting you because you haven’t suffered a fatal injury. Song Wulan is just your body. Only when injured as an artifact spirit will Haocang Shenjun’s barrier appear. But how long can it protect you?”

“Then how long can you live?”

Song Wulan quickly adjusted his expression and laughed. “Right now they’re using souls as the price to seal me. Do you think they can seal me for long?”

“That depends on your and my abilities!”

With that, Jiang Zhaoxue once again rushed forward. She dyed the blade with her blood and viciously stabbed at Song Wulan.

The barrier shook Jiang Zhaoxue away once more. But the light was clearly dimmer.

Song Wulan desperately struggled like a madman. Everyone pressed down on him tightly. One disciple was desperately shaken off by him. Another disciple lunged forward. He struggled in the crowd, letting Jiang Zhaoxue lunge forward again and again to stab the barrier!

Once, twice, three times!

Ye Tianjiao watched all this helplessly. His hair turned silver-white.

The power suppressing the resentment energy grew less and less. The resentment energy beneath the formation frantically crashed against it. He watched Jiang Zhaoxue in the distance rush forward again and again, shaken away again and again. Watching her become covered in blood. Watching his own hands slowly become like an old man’s—wrinkled like orange peel.

He knew his time was near. Struggling to stand up, he staggered back to the ice coffin.

Pei Zichen was still in the ice coffin. His soul and body still couldn’t fuse. The body was like a shattered porcelain vessel, barely maintained by spiritual power.

He gently touched the ice coffin, feeling the coolness it brought.

“A thousand years.”

He spoke hoarsely—already an old man’s voice.

He looked at the young man’s face in the ice coffin, unchanged as ever, trembling. “A thousand years ago, you told me you would become a god. You said we could kill Song Wulan. So I lived. I kept persisting to stay alive. I accompanied Li Xiuji in building the Jiuyou Realm. I waited for Elder Sister and you to appear. I’ve waited a thousand years…”

With that, Ye Tianjiao’s tears fell. “I knew it was you. I knew it was you building the Jiuyou Realm. I knew you were there all that thousand years. But Pei Zichen, every road has an end. You should become a god now.”

The person in the ice coffin didn’t move. Only the resentment energy in the Crossing Resentment Pool crashed against the increasingly thin formation.

Ye Tianjiao couldn’t help but clasp his hands on the ice coffin, roaring lowly, “You must become a god. You have to become a god, Pei Zichen! Look at Elder Sister. Look at everyone. Look at me! I’m old. I’ve already waited a thousand years. I don’t have another thousand years. I want to see us win! You said it. You said—”

Ye Tianjiao could no longer support himself. He slowly collapsed, kneeling along the ice coffin. Through the ice surface, he remembered that year in the Jiuyou Realm when Li Xiuji looked up at the darkness and said, “That person, at the last moment before I died, told me not to accept fate. He said—”

“Heaven decrees I am mayfly…”

Ye Tianjiao murmured, thinking of his teenage self at the end of his road, trapped with Li Xiuji in that sunless place, hearing him speak as if he were a good friend. “I fight for ten thousand years of spring.”

“Pei Zichen…”

A tear slid from Ye Tianjiao’s eye. His forehead pressed against the ice coffin. After exhausting the last bit of spiritual power, he completely closed his eyes.

At the moment he finally closed his eyes, he heard the resentment energy jubilantly howling as it rushed toward Pei Zichen. He murmured lowly, “Become a god.”

Pei Zichen, become a god.

Pei Zichen, become a god.

Become a god, become a god…

Countless voices gathered together, flooding into Pei Zichen’s consciousness. He walked alone in the darkness, looking back in a trance.

This path of his was completely empty. He couldn’t sense any existence. He didn’t know where he came from or where he was going. Only voices continuously questioned him:

“Why do you want to become a god? Who are you doing this for? Who in this world loves you? Every single person in this world uses you, loathes you, resents you. There has never been a single person who truly loved you from the beginning.”

“Your master didn’t care about you—said to kill and killed, said to discard and discarded.”

“Your fellow sect members were jealous of you, detested you. They betrayed you at will. Even when you exposed your identity and went to die for them, they could immediately turn their swords against you!”

“And Jiang Zhaoxue? Jiang Zhaoxue deceived you from the start. She only loves you because you died and because you did too much for her. If you hadn’t sacrificed everything for her, would she still treat you well?”

“No,” the voices around calling for him to become a god slowly weakened. Pei Zichen suddenly felt as if he had exhausted all his strength. He couldn’t walk anymore. He stood silently in place, listening to the other party say, “She never cared about you because you are Pei Zichen. No one cared. Pei Zichen.”

The sound of a bowstring being drawn taut came from behind. He didn’t turn around, only hearing the other party say gently, “You should die.”

The moment the voice fell, resentment energy instantly completely broke through every layer of restriction he had set and lunged at him like mad!

He stood quietly in place, as if returning to the seventeen-year-old cliff again. Mountain winds howled fiercely. This time, his master, fellow sect members—the swords of those thousands upon thousands of disciples flew toward him like flowing light. But this time, he no longer needed that person.

That person wasn’t there.

No one would suddenly appear. No light would block before him. No phoenix-like person would abruptly appear in his fate.

Everything returns to dust, earth to earth.

He quietly watched ten thousand swords arrive brilliantly. At the last moment before they reached him, a copper coin suddenly appeared before him. With a crisp “ding,” it heavily crashed into the sharp sword stabbing toward him!

The copper coin shattered into pieces. Pei Zichen’s eyes instantly widened.

He suddenly remembered that when Jiang Zhaoxue had shot at him with the Yuan Luogong, there had also been such a crisp “ding” sound.

After that, he fled all the way, losing many things along the road, including the copper coin Jiang Zhaoxue had given him.

That copper coin had saved him!

And that copper coin… that copper coin…

“New Year’s money.”

Jiang Zhaoxue’s voice rang out.

That was when they were still in the illusion of the Su Guangji. That was when they hadn’t clarified anything yet. That was when he hadn’t yet died for her—she had already given him this copper coin.

True feelings mixed with pretense, but her urgency when saving him was real.

Her hope that he would live well was real.

Her sole wish in the illusion being only him was real.

On that New Year’s night when she received his gift, her giving him her natal magical treasure was also real.

What copper coin could block the fatal strike of Yuan Luogong?

Only Jiang Zhaoxue’s second set of natal magical treasures—the Yin-Yang Fortune Coins—could possibly block Yuan Luogong’s arrow at the critical moment.

And that copper coin was the New Year’s money she had given him.

Female Lord.

The thought suddenly arose. Countless past memories seemed like seawater breaking through a mirror. The surrounding darkness was shattered by those waves of memory, fragmenting in all directions. Then multicolored tides came rolling forth. Those memories were filled entirely with Jiang Zhaoxue.

Jiang Zhaoxue.

Jiang Zhaoxue.

Jiang Zhaoxue.

In an instant, he seemed to return to yesterday. He and Jiang Zhaoxue sat on a cliff, gazing at all of Cangdu in the sunset.

Jiang Zhaoxue turned her head to look at him, gentle yet compassionate. “Pei Zichen, become a god.”

At that moment, magnificent light burst forth. Resentment energy vanished completely.

Grass and trees met spring winds. Cloud light broke through the sun!

Jiang Zhaoxue was once again bounced away by the barrier and heavily smashed to the ground. Song Wulan also, at the moment Ye Tianjiao died, completely broke through the restriction. He violently threw off the last person pressing on him and raised his hand to point at Jiang Zhaoxue!

But his hand had just barely lifted when the Crossing Resentment Pool exploded. Yuan Luogong descended from the sky, heavily smashing into the ground. With a “boom,” a massive sound completely threw Song Wulan back.

Song Wulan spun and landed. In the fierce wind, Jiang Zhaoxue tremblingly raised her head to see a giant bow and arrow standing in place, protecting her not far ahead.

This was the first time she had seen Yuan Luogong’s complete form. Divine power overflowed from Yuan Luogong. The mysterious bow bore golden patterns, flowing with radiant colors. In the dawn that had appeared at some unknown time, it was exceptionally dazzling.

“Yuan Luogong?”

Song Wulan gasped and raised his eyes, sneering. “You came, but he doesn’t show himself. He must be trapped in the Time Mirror and can’t return, right?”

“The Time Mirror is the master’s final trial,” Yuan Luogong spoke calmly. “Book of Fate, if you’re willing to stop now, there’s still a thread of hope.”

“Hope? Is it his turn to give me hope?” Song Wulan laughed. “If he wants to kill me, he must first protect his own life. Heaven’s Way is fickle—”

Before his words fell, Jiang Zhaoxue saw Qingye suddenly lunge from behind him, covering his mouth with her hand. Song Wulan simultaneously stabbed the dagger in his hand behind him. As his spiritual power was about to move, someone gently grasped his ankle.

His spiritual power was instantly sealed. Song Wulan’s eyes widened in shock to see Jiang Zhaoyue lying on the ground covered in blood, raising his head and saying hoarsely, “And me.”

Talismans lit up from Jiang Zhaoyue’s body. Blood covered his handsome pale face. He said calmly, “I’m also a talisman cultivator.”

He could also write Ye Tianjiao’s talismans. He could also use souls to lock Song Wulan.

After Jiang Zhaoyue finished speaking, one blood-stained hand after another climbed up. Those were talisman cultivators who hadn’t been on the front lines. One after another, they crawled over, climbed onto Song Wulan, and used blood to paste the soul-locking talismans onto Song Wulan’s body.

And Qingye desperately covered his mouth. They didn’t have much spiritual power. Even using their lives, they couldn’t suppress Song Wulan for long. They had to suppress his spirit speech.

Song Wulan reacted and instantly became agitated, frantically stabbing at Qingye behind him. But Qingye refused to let go unto death, only fighting with one breath, roaring out, “Female Lord—!!!”

Kill him.

Jiang Zhaoxue crawled forward with all her might.

As she crawled, she absorbed the surrounding spiritual power. Blood trailed everywhere. She stared intently at the person opposite, her heart and eyes filled entirely with Pei Zichen’s name.

This was a divine artifact—Yuan Luogong’s most complete form.

She, a mere cultivator, couldn’t open the complete form of a divine artifact.

But she had to open it.

She had to kill Song Wulan before Jiang Zhaoyue died.

She had to kill Song Wulan before Song Wulan killed her.

She had to kill Song Wulan before he rushed into the Crossing Resentment Pool to kill Song Wulan, who was still being tested in the Time Mirror.

Pei Zichen.

Pei Zichen.

Tears couldn’t help but well in her eyes. Trembling, she extended her hand and grasped Yuan Luogong. Yuan Luo looked at Jiang Zhaoxue lying on the ground, somewhat reluctant. “Mistress… you… you cannot open me.”

“Jiang Zhaoxue!”

Song Wulan’s dharma voice resonated throughout the mountain forests. Jiang Zhaoxue breathed softly. Spiritual power flowed into her body from all directions. Song Wulan cried out excitedly, “That’s a divine artifact! Don’t waste spiritual power—you can’t open it! I’m telling you, your death is heavenly fate. You cannot change it! You cannot kill me today. A person destined to die cannot kill me!”

“Song Wulan,” hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue gripped Yuan Luogong and supported herself to stand up.

Blood fell from her forehead. Through the blur of blood, she gasped and raised her eyes to look at the person opposite who seemed immortal and indestructible—like fate itself, impossible to defeat. “My father taught me from childhood that people cannot seek help from gods or immortals—they can only rely on themselves. But today, for the first time, I want to ask someone for help.”

Want to ask someone.

Want to ask a god.

Jiang Zhaoxue looked at Qingye’s eyes full of expectation opposite her and extended her trembling hand covered in blood.

Her entire body bore wounds from Song Wulan’s barrier. Her meridians were nearly all severed, barely maintained by spiritual power. She gripped the bow body with one hand and placed the other on the string.

Yuan Luogong had no arrow. Only when the bow was fully drawn could it borrow an arrow from heaven and earth.

She imagined the arrow’s position. It vaguely felt like returning to long ago when Pei Zichen taught her to draw the bow.

“Heavy bows differ from light bows. Tilt your palm, thumb higher than the tiger’s mouth to nock the arrow. Yaoyao.”

“Summon—” Jiang Zhaoxue’s spiritual power exploded. With all her might, she pulled the bowstring of that giant bow and arrow.

In an instant, heaven and earth shook. Wind rose and clouds surged. She felt tremendous force on the bowstring resisting her, completely unmoved by her. Yet she still gritted her teeth, letting the bowstring cut into her flesh and blood, speaking through clenched teeth, “Jiuyou Xuanming Emperor—Pei Zichen!!!”

Fierce wind rolled up. Birds flew in alarm. The three realms trembled. At this moment, in the Crossing Resentment Pool, Pei Zichen opened his eyes and stepped into a space overflowing with golden light.

This space was entirely filled with mirrors. Each mirror displayed different people and different events, as if in another world, spying on different people’s fates.

“My lord.”

An aged voice rang out. Pei Zichen raised his eyes to see a golden long path appearing ahead. He quickly walked forward to see at the center of the long path, a giant round mirror standing on a table surface.

“Time Mirror?”

Pei Zichen immediately reacted to the other party’s identity and walked to the mirror table.

The other party responded calmly, “Yes, my lord.”

“Why did you summon me here?” Hearing this, Pei Zichen immediately asked. “I still have matters…”

“I didn’t summon you. You summoned me.”

Time Mirror interrupted Pei Zichen. Pei Zichen was stunned. “When did I summon you?”

“You want to become a god. Isn’t it to change your own fate?”

Pei Zichen reacted and frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You are this world’s child of fortune. Your fate should have been to obtain the divine artifacts and become lord of the three realms, ascending to godhood.”

With that, the mirror rapidly displayed countless scenes. Before Wu Yue Forest, those scenes were similar to his memories. However, from Wu Yue Forest onward, the path seemed similar yet ultimately different.

The greatest difference was—

The scenes in the mirror had no Jiang Zhaoxue.

Without Jiang Zhaoxue, after falling from the cliff, he walked toward a completely different life. Single-mindedly focused on revenge, he directly fell into the demonic path. All along collecting divine artifacts, he returned to Jiuyou Realm with Mu Jinyue’s help, then counter-attacked the True Immortal realm, destroyed Lingjian Immortal Pavilion, executed Penglai…

Everything was as stated in the “book” Jiang Zhaoxue mentioned. He became the strongest person in the three realms. And Jiang Zhaoxue…

Died by his hand.

“This is the fate you should have had. The one destined to die was Jiang Zhaoxue. She should have had her spiritual roots extracted early on, then had her fortune weakened during the process of opposing you. Because she harmed innocents, her fortune was completely lost. Even though she carried your child and gained your fortune and blessings, she still couldn’t reverse her fate of death.”

“What did you say?!”

Pei Zichen cried out in surprise. Time Mirror stopped at a scene of Jiang Zhaoxue entering the demon palace, then enlarged it to fill the entire mirror surface, letting Pei Zichen clearly see everything.

“Yes, in your original fate, you did indeed have a brief affair with her. She had once saved you. You kept a portion of goodwill toward her in your heart. Seeing her obsessed with Shen Yuqing and repeatedly opposing you, you originally wanted to spare Penglai to make her give up. At the same time, to give Mu Jinyue a reasonable reason to re-enter Lingjian Immortal Pavilion as a spy from Jiuyou Realm, you proposed to Shen Yuqing to use Jiang Zhaoxue as your cultivation furnace in exchange for Mu Jinyue’s return to Lingjian Immortal Pavilion.”

“He agreed?!”

Pei Zichen asked coldly.

Time Mirror narrated calmly, “At that time, Lingjian Immortal Pavilion’s defeat was certain. The Book of Fate confirmed Mu Jinyue was the only hope. Although Shen Yuqing deliberated repeatedly, he still agreed to this matter. But he secretly made an agreement with Jiang Zhaoxue for her to come spy on you. He promised Jiang Zhaoxue that as long as she killed you, they would leave Lingjian Immortal Pavilion together. Jiang Zhaoxue believed Shen Yuqing’s promise and deliberately seduced you. So you fell for her as in this world. But she ultimately betrayed you. You nearly died under Shen Yuqing’s sword. Fortunately, Mu Jinyue rescued you in time, saving your life.”

“What about her?” Pei Zichen immediately said. “She returned carrying my child…”

“Shen Yuqing couldn’t tolerate it, but you were a demigod. He didn’t have the ability to kill that child. So Shen Yuqing requested Gujun’s help to delay the child’s birth by one year while erasing all of Jiang Zhaoxue’s memories, publicly claiming it was your child. When you emerged from seclusion and heard of this, you decided on revenge. With Mu Jinyue’s cooperation, you finally attacked Lingjian Immortal Pavilion. At the critical moment, Shen Yuqing anticipated you wouldn’t strike at Jiang Zhaoxue and fled with the True Immortal realm’s only hope, Mu Jinyue.”

The scene came to the moment when he finally ascended Lingjian Immortal Pavilion. Jiang Zhaoxue had no spiritual roots, yet she still fought to the very end with all her might.

In the end, he came before her.

He looked at the person before him. He had loved her. He hated her. But what right did she have to receive his love?

“You ultimately killed her with your own hands, severing your only attachment.”

Time Mirror spoke. The scene showed him snapping her neck with a “crack.” He seemed to have no relation to the person before him—just like the most respectful disciple, kneeling in prostration, speaking that phrase: “Respectfully seeing Master’s Wife off to the heavens.”

Watching Jiang Zhaoxue fall, Pei Zichen’s body trembled uncontrollably. He gritted his teeth, knowing now was not the time to entangle with Time Mirror. He only said, “So what? This is the fate I should have had. So what?”

“But when she reached the seventh realm, she suddenly awakened and changed your fate, intercepting your life. Have you ever thought about why she could change fate?”

These words shocked Pei Zichen. He suddenly realized something.

Time Mirror’s tone carried compassion, saying softly, “Master, there are never coincidences in this world. For one person’s fate to change necessarily requires another force’s intervention. I am the mirror of time and space, governing time and space. Only divine power can activate me. Now before you are two paths. One path—you do nothing now and will return to the fate you should have had, becoming lord of the three realms. And the other—”

“Is me returning to the past.”

Pei Zichen suddenly understood. “Her advancement to seventh realm Fate Master wasn’t coincidental…”

“It was you.”

Time Mirror confirmed. “Not only that—if a person is destined to die, from when she deviates from fate, she will no longer be protected by the heavenly way and will be continuously hunted by the Book of Fate. She will face death tribulations again and again. If you want to save her, it’s not once but thousands upon thousands of times.”

“Thousands upon thousands of times…” Pei Zichen raised his eyes. “Then what’s the price?”

“Your life.”

Time Mirror said calmly. “One life for one life. This is the price of changing heavenly fate.”

Hearing this, Pei Zichen didn’t speak. Time Mirror quietly watched the person before it, saying softly, “Master, time can forget everything. As long as you live long enough, you’ll discover there’s no one you cannot forget, no path you cannot walk. As long as you do nothing at this moment and return to your original fate—”

“I would still save her.”

Pei Zichen spoke hoarsely. Time Mirror was stunned.

Pei Zichen raised his eyes to look at himself and Jiang Zhaoxue in another timeline in the Time Mirror. Watching Jiang Zhaoxue block before him, he couldn’t help but smile. “Do you think he killed her because of hate?”

“Master…”

Time Mirror didn’t understand for a moment. Pei Zichen said hoarsely, “No. With a demigod’s body, how could he not sense his own bloodline? Since he knew she carried his flesh and blood in her womb, how could he not know her heart? With Female Lord’s constitution, if she was unwilling, how could she possibly conceive his child?”

Time Mirror was dumbfounded, somewhat confused. “This… then what is this about…”

“Time Mirror,” Pei Zichen raised his hand and placed it on the mirror surface. He looked at Jiang Zhaoxue in the pool of blood in the mirror, saying hoarsely, “Actually, no one can spy on fate. What can be spied upon is not fate. Whether you, the Book of Fate, me, or Female Lord—all of us only see what fate wants us to see at that point. The only thing we can predict about the future is rules.”

With that, his hand slowly reached into the mirror. “Female Lord once said—heavenly fate is fundamentally human hearts. Acting according to one’s heart is my fate. And regardless of which world, which timeline, as long as it’s me, I would save her. And I also believe, as long as it’s her, she can save me. Thousands upon thousands of times, no regrets even unto death.”

The moment his voice fell, a tremendous force attacked. He was swept into the space-time gap. He saw the timelines surrounding Jiang Zhaoxue spread before him like a long river. With one sweeping glance, he searched for all the nodes of fate concerning her and him.

He wanted everything to replay exactly as he and she had walked through.

He would return to twelve hundred years ago to tell Li Xiuji’s couple about a divine fortune-teller, having them seek her to save their child’s name.

He would make it rain on the road where Jiang Zhaoxue and young Pei Zichen went to kill Zhuang Yan, making them take shelter in the temple where Li Xiuji’s parents were, letting her give Li Xiuji his name.

He would save her each time fate tried to erase her.

He would come to Li Xiuji’s side before his death to tell him, “Heaven decrees I am mayfly, I fight for ten thousand years of spring.”

He would teach Li Xiuji to build a Jiuyou Realm that did no evil and bore no karmic consequences. In those thousand years, only Li Xiuji could see him. His long wait, waiting.

Finally waiting for Jiang Zhaoxue to be born.

Penglai hung lanterns and decorations. He quietly came to her infant cradle and laid down a Protection Curse for her.

So she grew up safely, becoming a rarely smooth-sailing Fate Master.

He watched her grow from an infant, toddling along. Watched her fall in love with Shen Yuqing.

He helped her withstand most of the Nascent Soul tribulation. When her fate beast’s embryo died, he sent a strand of his love spirit into her body to become her fate beast.

On the day of the Cangming Sea great battle, he stood beside Li Xiuji, watching her desperately lunge toward Shen Yuqing. He gently sent a spell technique, letting the seawater push this pair of lovers to the shore.

Li Xiuji said he was sick in the head.

He only thought—Yaoyao is too young. With such huge waves, how could she swim back?

Then he waited again—another two hundred years. He finally waited for A’Nan to awaken, breaking the restriction someone had placed on Jiang Zhaoxue and letting her break through to the seventh realm.

A’Nan carried his knowledge of fate from another world seen in the Time Mirror, guiding Jiang Zhaoxue to avoid everything. So he watched Jiang Zhaoxue walk toward his seventeen-year-old self, descending from the heavens, blocking before him.

He continued shuttling through timelines, guiding her forward at critical moments one after another. He would also sit in the distance playing a clear flute for her when she was sad.

He clearly felt his power growing weaker and weaker. He also saw fewer and fewer timelines he could choose ahead. Until the final moment, he heard a roar by his ear—

“Summon, Jiuyou Xuanming Emperor—Pei Zichen!!!”

Without hesitation, he reached toward that voice and violently tore open space!

At that very moment, Jiang Zhaoxue felt spiritual power shake behind her. Fierce wind suddenly rose. She turned around in shock to see space being torn open by a pair of hands!

Seeing this, Song Wulan’s spiritual power exploded. Meridians throughout his body burst inch by inch, accompanied by his loud shout, “Gamble life with Heaven, God-Slaying Array open!”

“Master!!”

A’Nan screamed. Jiang Zhaoxue felt the howl of swords coming from behind. Just as she turned to see the densely packed sword array rushing forth, she felt a familiar scent of pine and bamboo attack first. Then someone grabbed her waist and pulled her into an embrace. Spinning and flipping, passing by the sword array, the other party gripped both her hands—one hand holding the bow, one hand pulling the string. The moment they settled, the bowstring was drawn full, aimed at the blood-covered Song Wulan.

“Don’t look back. Together with me.”

A familiar voice rang in her ear. Jiang Zhaoxue’s heart beat rapidly, but she didn’t dare ask. He was right behind her. His face pressed against her side.

Time seemed to freeze. Everyone was frozen in one moment. In heaven and earth, only the two of them existed.

“By the summons of Heaven’s Way.”

Pei Zichen spoke calmly. Power belonging to a god immediately filled heaven and earth. The laws of heaven and earth seemed to change for him. All living beings trembled in awe.

Only Jiang Zhaoxue, protected in his embrace, felt nothing, yet because of her Fate Master identity sensed something. Trembling, she spoke, “Divine decree from Shenjun.”

“Three realms borrow swords,” Pei Zichen’s tone had not a trace of change. Only a humming sound was heard. Finally, countless flying swords leaped from black spaces opening in the sky, gathering magnificently.

“Heaven and Earth become lots.”

Tears fell from Jiang Zhaoxue’s eyes, watching all the flying swords merge, transforming into a supreme fortune lot arrow appearing on Yuan Luogong.

“By the will of all living beings in heaven and earth—” Jiang Zhaoxue and Pei Zichen spoke simultaneously. The bowstring in their hands was released sharply. “Execute, the Book of Fate!”