Hearing these words, Shen Yuqing’s eyes trembled slightly, but he didn’t respond.

Pei Zichen also woke up from the side. Jiang Zhaoxue glanced at Mu Jinyue, who was completely disregarding her own injuries while clinging to him, and coldly ordered, “Zichen, bind her.”

“Jiang…”

“She just tried to kill me!” Upon hearing Shen Yuqing speak, Jiang Zhaoxue assumed he was going to plead for mercy and shouted coldly with stern eyes.

Shen Yuqing’s movements stiffened slightly. Seeing that he didn’t move, Jiang Zhaoxue’s tone softened a bit as she said, “Pavilion Master Shen, you’ve always been impartial. No matter what, I am still the Lady of Penglai, not some random disciple of Lingjian Immortal Pavilion who can just draw a blade against me. She attacked me, so I punish her—it’s only natural and proper. I trust you won’t show favoritism.”

Shen Yuqing couldn’t find words to say. That address of “Pavilion Master Shen” pierced him so painfully he could hardly speak. He gripped his sword tightly, and after a long while, finally managed to say with difficulty, “She cannot die.”

“I won’t let her die.” Jiang Zhaoxue cast him a cold glance, then turned and said, “Go find a way out.”

As she spoke, Jiang Zhaoxue looked back to see Pei Zichen binding Mu Jinyue. After instructing Pei Zichen to help the surrounding souls return to their bodies, she walked to the side, sat down, and began contacting Qian Sisi and Ye Tianjiao.

Shen Yuqing watched her from the side, seeming to want to ask something yet not daring to speak. After thinking for a long time, he finally closed his eyes, took a breath, and stood up to search for a way out.

Seeing him leave, Jiang Zhaoxue glanced at him briefly before lowering her head to continue her search.

Qian Sisi had long since disappeared to who knows where, and Ye Tianjiao had gone missing after the legendary battle between Tianji Academy and the Blissful Longevity Sect, becoming a complete mystery. The only way she could contact these two was through the transmission jade tokens in her hand.

Transmission jade tokens were the most stable communication artifacts one could carry. However, five years had passed, and Jiang Zhaoxue couldn’t be certain of the situation. She could only hope for the best as she tentatively sent them messages.

“Ye Tianjiao?”

“Qian Sisi?”

After sending the messages, it was as if stones had sunk into the sea, but this was within Jiang Zhaoxue’s expectations.

Jiang Zhaoxue sighed and was just about to put away the transmission jade token when it suddenly lit up. Shocked, Jiang Zhaoxue opened it and immediately heard Ye Tianjiao’s excited voice: “Sis!! You’re back, Sis?! Where are you? I’ve been waiting for you for so long, so long, so long—you know that?!!!”

Then came Qian Sisi’s voice: “Immortal Jiang? Is it you? My deity? My goddess? You’re back?! You’re finally back? Where are you? Tell me quickly!”

They seemed to have been waiting for her all along, waiting for so long that after five years, when all the messages rang out again, they were able to respond immediately.

Jiang Zhaoxue’s heart was like a well into which someone had thrown a stone, rippling and spreading outward, bringing a slight ache to her eyes.

Without saying much more, she said directly, “I don’t know exactly where I am. Everyone share your positions.”

The transmission jade tokens could report positions to each other. After they shared their locations with one another, they discovered that the three light points were extremely close together.

Ye Tianjiao couldn’t help but be somewhat surprised: “Eh? I’m near Cang City preparing to make my move. What are you all doing here?”

“I’m also preparing to make my move.” Qian Sisi’s tone was heavy.

Although the two didn’t specify what exactly “making their move” meant, everyone knew full well who their target was.

Jiang Zhaoxue looked at the location, pondered for a moment, then said, “Let’s all meet in Cang City then. I won’t say more for now.”

After confirming the three people’s positions, everyone had woken up. Pei Zichen arranged people one after another, and Shen Yuqing found the exit before leading everyone out together.

After exiting, they discovered this was a hollowed-out mountain belly. Jiang Zhaoxue looked up and saw they were not far from Xuecang Mountain.

“The Sacred Pool is at Xuecang Mountain.” Pei Shulan looked up at Xuecang Mountain from afar, pain in her eyes. “The Miyuan Illusion Realm was originally connected to the Sacred Pool. As long as you died inside, your power would be absorbed by the Sacred Pool.”

That’s why they set up the Miyuan Illusion Realm’s formation site near Xuecang Mountain.

Jiang Zhaoxue understood in her heart. Pei Shulan looked into the distance and said with some difficulty, “Actually, I had thought about it—this formation would absorb you all, but would it really spare us? But I had no choice.”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue turned to look at her. After thinking for a moment, she said calmly, “Now you do.”

Pei Shulan froze. Jiang Zhaoxue stepped forward.

She contacted Ye Tianjiao and Qian Sisi all along the way, leading everyone back to Cang City.

Upon arriving at Cang City, she discovered that an illusion was, after all, just an illusion. Compared to the real world, the illusion had been far too beautiful.

Beggars were everywhere in the city, and corpses lay scattered on the ground.

However, these corpses were completely rotten, and no one dared touch them. Before long, people would come and skillfully carry these bodies away.

“These are people who drank the holy water,” Ming explained to Jiang Zhaoxue. “The scene you saw in the illusion was Cang City from two years ago.”

At that time, there were still sacrificial ceremonies, still the Qixi Festival, and everyone could still live and eat normally—unlike now, when the entire city seemed shrouded in death energy, with very few shops remaining on the streets.

Pei Shulan first arranged for everyone to scatter in different directions. Jiang Zhaoxue led Pei Zichen, Shen Yuqing, Mu Jinyue, and their group to the location Ye Tianjiao and Qian Sisi had designated.

This was a private residence. When Jiang Zhaoxue reached the door, she knocked according to Ye Tianjiao’s instructions—three light knocks followed by two heavy ones. The door then opened, and Ye Tianjiao poked his head out. Seeing Jiang Zhaoxue, he immediately showed excitement, but knowing this wasn’t the time for much talk, he pulled Jiang Zhaoxue inside, urgently saying, “Come in quickly!”

As he spoke, Ye Tianjiao pulled Jiang Zhaoxue hurriedly inside. Once inside, Jiang Zhaoxue saw Qian Sisi, Ye Wenzhi, Chen Zhao, and others all seated in the room.

Seeing Jiang Zhaoxue, Chen Zhao’s eyes immediately reddened. He rushed forward and performed an excited salute to Jiang Zhaoxue: “Immortal Jiang!”

For Jiang Zhaoxue, the last time she saw Chen Zhao was eight years ago, but for Chen Zhao, it had already been seventeen years.

Seventeen years ago, he had been the one to receive her at the Ye Residence. Now he still remained by Ye Wenzhi’s side, his appearance not much different from back then, while Ye Wenzhi had clearly aged.

Jiang Zhaoxue helped Chen Zhao up and raised her eyes to look at Ye Wenzhi in the hall. Ye Wenzhi was approaching forty, yet his hair had turned white prematurely. He raised his hand in salute to Jiang Zhaoxue, moisture in his eyes: “Immortal Jiang.”

Thinking of what Ye Wenzhi had done, Jiang Zhaoxue’s heart felt heavy. She nodded as a form of greeting and raised her eyes to look at Qian Sisi.

Qian Sisi still had that carefree appearance. Seeing her look over, she waved: “What are you looking at? Come in quickly. Everyone, let’s discuss the current situation together…”

Before finishing her words, she turned to look at Shen Yuqing following behind Jiang Zhaoxue.

Jiang Zhaoxue paused for a moment, immediately realizing they were wary of Shen Yuqing. She took the initiative to turn around and say to Shen Yuqing, “You go settle Mu Jinyue first and meditate to regulate your breathing. I’ll come find you later.”

Shen Yuqing paused. He raised his eyes to look around and, seeing everyone watching him with vigilance and scrutiny, thought for a moment before finally nodding and leaving with the injured Mu Jinyue.

This room was clearly a place for discussing military matters, with a sand table still placed on the table. Seeing this, Jiang Zhaoxue was somewhat puzzled: “What are you all doing?”

“Ha,” Ye Tianjiao said lightly, “We’re planning to dismantle the Sacred Pool.”

“Dismantle the Sacred Pool?” Jiang Zhaoxue was somewhat confused. “If this thing is so easy to dismantle, why not do it earlier?”

“Of course it’s not easy.” Qian Sisi smiled bitterly. “We’ve tried every method we could think of. We really have no other options now, so we can only fight with our backs against the wall.”

“What do you mean?” Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t understand. Ye Wenzhi from the side finally spoke up.

“Five years ago, the Blissful Longevity Sect appeared and developed rapidly. Three years ago, Great Xia could no longer bear the burden of this sect’s influence. My teacher advocated for war, gathering the strength of cultivators from across the land for a battle with the Blissful Longevity Sect. But unexpectedly, they had too many believers, and even many people from Tianji Academy were turned by them. In the end, Tianji Academy was destroyed. When Great Xia was about to fall, I could only send my teacher away and agree to become Song Wulan’s puppet.”

Ye Wenzhi’s voice was very weary, completely different from his youthful days.

He hadn’t cultivated the Dao and had long aged like a mortal.

Yet Ye Tianjiao’s appearance remained frozen at twenty years old. He smiled and continued, “Under my big brother’s protection, I hid with the remaining forces of Tianji Academy. Big Brother used establishing the Blissful Longevity Sect as the state religion, two million lives, and helping them build the Sacred Pool as conditions to obtain temporary peace. After that, we tried to learn about their goals on one hand while looking for solutions on the other.”

“Over these years, we’ve tried every method we could think of,” Ye Wenzhi seemed to be in pain. “I sought help from the True Immortal Realm and secretly tried to assassinate Song Wulan, but in the end…”

“You sought help from the True Immortal Realm?” Jiang Zhaoxue was surprised. “Who did you contact?”

“Ancestor Gujun.” Ye Wenzhi raised his eyes to look at Jiang Zhaoxue. “Do you know him?”

Jiang Zhaoxue paused, hesitating before saying, “I do know him, but… the True Immortal Realm has no record of such an event.”

“Perhaps the ancestor didn’t care.” Ye Wenzhi smiled bitterly. “He said he had consulted the Book of Fate, and this was a tribulation that the mortal realm must endure. The True Immortal Realm cannot interfere.”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue nodded. This was indeed Lingjian Immortal Pavilion’s style of conduct. She couldn’t help but ask again, “Did you seek help from anyone else in the True Immortal Realm?”

“How easy is it to contact the True Immortal Realm?” Qian Sisi sighed. “We could only contact Ancestor Gujun because Tianji Academy was established by Lingjian Immortal Pavilion. Otherwise, who knows how to contact the True Immortal Realm? Let’s talk about something more realistic. Anyway, they went through all this trouble with no solution. As for me, seeing that the Blissful Longevity Sect wasn’t anything good, I gathered with some righteous people among the common folk and kept trying to find ways to assassinate Song Wulan.”

“But many people died, yet we never even saw his face.” Ye Tianjiao mercilessly exposed her shortcomings and continued, “In the end, we still had to rely on my brother, who worked within the Blissful Longevity Sect and spent five years investigating before finally figuring out Song Wulan’s plan.”

“What plan?” Jiang Zhaoxue actually knew in her heart but still confirmed.

Ye Wenzhi took a sip of tea and said softly, “He wants the Divine Slaying Sword.”

As he spoke, he turned to look at Xuecang Mountain: “In the Sacred Pool, what’s being nurtured is that vengeful spirit called Xinluoyi that he raised in the palace back then. He wants to use human lives to raise this vengeful spirit into the strongest one, thereby forcing the Divine Slaying Sword to appear in the world.”

“But for the Divine Slaying Sword to appear, there must be the blood of a Pure Yin Body,” Ye Tianjiao continued. “But a Pure Yin Body can’t be found even in tens of thousands of years, so he could only prepare and wait, using my brother’s hands to quietly distribute the holy water to two million people. Once Pure Yin blood appears and falls into the Sacred Pool, Xinluoyi will awaken.”

“At that time, it will use the power of the holy water to instantly absorb the lives of all those who have consumed the holy water, strengthening itself and becoming the strongest vengeful spirit in this world, while simultaneously summoning the Divine Slaying Sword.” Ye Wenzhi’s voice was heavy. “All along, we thought he wouldn’t find Pure Yin blood and maintained a basic balance with him. But recently, I received intelligence that Pure Yin blood has appeared. And the two million people who consumed the holy water have all begun showing symptoms, suffering unbearably.”

“So we decided—no more waiting!”

Ye Tianjiao said happily, “Whether we stretch out our necks or shrink them, it’s still one slash! When the Sacred Pool was being built, we tampered with it so we can trap Xinluoyi in the Sacred Pool for one quarter-hour. During that quarter-hour, she cannot absorb external power, meaning that although those two million people drank the holy water, if we can kill Xinluoyi within that quarter-hour while she’s trapped, then they can all survive!”

“Then…” Jiang Zhaoxue was curious. “Since you’ve already made this decision, why not kill Xinluoyi earlier?”

Hearing this, everyone exchanged awkward glances. Qian Sisi thought for a moment and coughed lightly: “Um, Immortal Jiang… would you perhaps… consider our capabilities?”

Jiang Zhaoxue froze. Qian Sisi scratched her head: “If we really had confidence in killing Xinluoyi, we wouldn’t have ended up hiding back then… right?”

These words stunned Jiang Zhaoxue. She finally realized that these people making this decision wasn’t a proactive strike but rather burning their boats, fighting with their lives on the line.

“You all,” Jiang Zhaoxue’s tongue felt somewhat dry, and she couldn’t help but say, “Since you know you can’t win, why bother? Those two million people were chosen by Chief Minister Ye, so you could have lived…”

“We are those two million people.”

Ye Wenzhi spoke. Jiang Zhaoxue stared at him blankly, then watched as Ye Wenzhi raised his eyes and pulled open his own garments.

Beneath the garments was skin that had already begun to rot, yet he was extraordinarily calm: “I was the first person to consume the holy water.”

“And we didn’t drink the holy water because we were afraid that as cultivators, if Xinluoyi really consumed us, she would become too strong.” Qian Sisi stood to the side, speaking slowly. “But I’ve also decided that as cultivators, we should take protecting the people as our duty. If those two million people must die—”

“They’ll have to die after us.” Ye Tianjiao continued.

His tone was as light as when he was young, yet looking into his eyes, Jiang Zhaoxue knew clearly in that moment.

He had grown up.

She looked at everyone around her who had already made their decisions, her heart churning with indescribable emotions.

Ye Tianjiao looked at her expression, his eyes carrying a bit of pleading: “Sis, I know you want to obtain the Divine Slaying Sword, but I still want to ask—can you, for our sake…”

“Alright.”

Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t hesitate. Pei Zichen from the side turned to look.

Ye Tianjiao froze. Jiang Zhaoxue said seriously, “Tell me your plan clearly. Make the preparations well. I’ll go there together with you all,” she said, then smiled, “and slaughter that Xinluoyi!”

“Sis…” Ye Tianjiao couldn’t believe it. A moment later, he suddenly rushed forward excitedly, “My dear sister…”

Before he could finish, he was blocked by Pei Zichen’s horizontal sword.

Pei Zichen raised an eyelid. Ye Tianjiao suddenly remembered something, froze in his movements, then laughed awkwardly: “Ha… got too excited, too excited.”

As he spoke, Ye Tianjiao stepped back and quickly said, “Then without further ado, come, come, come, Sis, let us explain everything to you clearly…”

After spending most of a shichen, Jiang Zhaoxue roughly understood their plan.

The reason the holy water could absorb everyone’s life in an instant was because the holy water all contained a strand of Xinluoyi’s resentful energy.

“As long as we seal Xinluoyi, everyone will be safe, and we’ll have one quarter-hour to kill her. Since Xinluoyi is formed from resentful energy, what she fears most is heavenly thunder. So we’ll summon the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Formation and kill her together! As for Song Wulan—”

“I’ll help you find his location.” Jiang Zhaoxue spoke thoughtfully. “I have a golden core formed from his clone inside me. As long as he’s nearby, I can sense him.”

“As long as you find Song Wulan’s position,” Qian Sisi said, flicking her sword, “he’s just a Fate Master—I guarantee I can take his life.”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue sneered but didn’t dampen Qian Sisi’s enthusiasm.

After everyone discussed and confirmed the plan, Ye Tianjiao was extremely excited and immediately said, “Then I’ll go prepare first. Sis, rest well.”

“Mm.”

Jiang Zhaoxue nodded and bid farewell to everyone before turning to leave. As she walked out the door, she suddenly remembered something and instructed, “Oh, one more thing.”

Everyone turned to look, and Jiang Zhaoxue gave serious instructions: “Mu Jinyue is the Pure Yin blood. Protect her well.”