When the breath soil collided with the Liuguang Mirror, another anomaly occurred!

The entire sky was filled with lightning, those golden bolts endless and infinite, forming a massive net across the heavens.

Su Zhuyi had never witnessed such a spectacle. She trembled as she took out a straw man substitute and clutched it in her hands. Holding just one didn’t feel safe enough—she wished she could gather all the straw men together and bury herself under them.

After fidgeting with it for a while, she felt utterly despondent. She threw it away, then immediately picked it back up, thinking herself an absolute fool.

In her heart, she cursed Miaoshe Shiqi thoroughly, then felt aggrieved and on the verge of tears, whimpering softly, “Shiqi, why did you leave me all alone?”

Her heart was tangled like a mess of hemp.

Thump thump, Su Zhuyi’s heart pounded wildly.

Could she only hear her heartbeat? Even though she was held tightly in Qin Jianglan’s embrace, she couldn’t hear a single sound from him.

Nervously, she straightened up to look at him. He lowered his head, those bewitching eyes reflecting her face—in his eyes, there was only her.

Possessed by demons?

No, no, no. He was the inner demon.

For some unknown reason, this thought flashed through Su Zhuyi’s mind. But then another thunderous roar sounded overhead, making her body tremble as her attention was firmly captured by the heavenly thunder.

The entire sky was golden lightning, woven into a vast net. Su Zhuyi felt she had nowhere to hide, no escape.

“BOOM!” Lightning struck the Liuguang Mirror again, causing its surface to tremble slightly. River waves rolled and surged, swallowing all the lightning completely.

But the river water seemed to have been split apart as well, splashing water droplets everywhere like a torrential downpour from the sky.

Su Zhuyi wasn’t touched by a single drop of rain. The man beside her simply raised his hand lightly, using his palm as an umbrella to shield her from the violent wind and rain, giving her a patch of clear sky.

“Qin Jianglan, what exactly is happening with the Liuguang Mirror?”

“I don’t know,” Qin Jianglan replied calmly.

He cared about nothing else; his only concern and care was for the person in his arms.

“Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

Su Zhuyi was filled with doubt, but she saw him smile and lower his head to kiss her. He even took her hand and placed it between his legs, “I’m uncomfortable everywhere.”

Su Zhuyi: “…”

There’s something wrong here! One voice shouted nervously.

But another voice said: Don’t touch me, I’m disgusted. My beloved is dead, and I want to follow him. I absolutely cannot endure another man.

Her head ached as if it might explode.

Seeing Su Zhuyi’s distress, Qin Jianglan didn’t move. He simply held her and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t let the heavenly thunder hurt you.”

The thunder tribulation wasn’t paying attention to them at the moment.

After all, the Liuguang Mirror was the true one undergoing tribulation. But the power of the heavenly tribulation was too great. As divine lightning struck down continuously, Su Zhuyi felt the entire world being torn apart. The place where they stood couldn’t escape either—outside was like heaven and earth collapsing, and she felt that in the next moment, she would be crushed to dust by heaven and earth.

Fortunately, someone was protecting her firmly.

He used his body to build her a wall, sheltering her from wind and rain, blocking that omnipresent pressure and divine thunder.

“How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

He knew no pain, no exhaustion—only protecting her completely, nothing more.

“Su Zhuyi.”

“Mm?”

“I love you.”

“Don’t. The one I like is Shiqi.” She muttered. After saying this, she wanted to slap herself, “No, that’s not…”

“BOOM!”

Another shocking thunder exploded.

Su Zhuyi’s words were interrupted by the thunder.

She was shaken and dizzy, her ears ringing. Just this one rolling thunder made her sea of consciousness shake, and she could barely endure it.

Her vision became blurry, and she vaguely saw the True Spirit Realm appear in the Liuguang Mirror. Her master, senior brothers, fallen disciples of the Gujian Sect, and the Pangu clan all flew out from the mirror together to resist the heavenly tribulation.

Her divine consciousness was already fuzzy, yet she still struggled to keep her eyes wide open, not daring to miss anything.

She saw the Liuguang Mirror, the people in the mirror, collide with the lightning filling the sky. She spat out a mouthful of fresh blood with a “wa” sound, the straw man substitute she had been clutching tightly crumbled directly, and the person tightly embracing her trembled, becoming ethereal and insubstantial.

But at this moment, a voice from her bosom said, “So that’s how it is. I wondered why you hadn’t lost your reason, why you hadn’t become possessed—turns out you are the demon! He completely abandoned his own emotions and love, stripping the inner demon from his body. Haha, what excellent methods indeed!”

A single leaf, quietly hidden in Su Zhuyi’s bosom—the last bit of the evil tree’s power—appeared at this crucial moment and pounced toward the already shattered Qin Jianglan.

This inner demon had already been struck to pieces by heavenly thunder while protecting Su Zhuyi.

Su Zhuyi was also severely injured.

And though this single leaf was weak in strength, it hadn’t been struck by heavenly thunder due to their protection. Now that everyone was extremely weak, it was relatively the strongest.

“Since you are originally an inner demon, you can directly become my nourishment. Excellent!”

Su Zhuyi didn’t move, but her sword did. The Sword Ancestor flew out from her sea of consciousness, directly shattering the evil tree’s last bit of power. This old tree from Changning Village, which had survived because of Su Zhuyi’s words, ultimately still met its complete demise at Su Zhuyi’s hands.

BOOM!

Another tremendous sound. As this divine lightning fell, the light on the Liuguang Mirror suddenly extinguished, and the entire world instantly plunged into complete darkness.

Deathly silence.

Had they failed?

“Cough, cough.” She spat fresh blood, her consciousness blurring, thinking: “Shiqi, I’m coming to accompany you.”

Her eyelids drooped and slowly closed, but just as they were about to completely shut, heavenly light burst forth from the darkness.

Someone was chanting incantations by her ear, that voice infinitely familiar, causing her sea of consciousness to gradually calm, all worries in her heart smoothed away by the clear sound.

Sanskrit sounds arose continuously, immortal music drifted, spiritual energy descended from heaven and bubbled up from the earth’s depths, instantly filling the entire world. Bathed in spiritual energy, she felt completely comfortable throughout her body, all exhaustion swept away.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw the already withered Jianmu Tree suddenly emerge from underground, growing wildly, and in moments, standing between heaven and earth.

And under that tree, Qin Jianglan in white robes stood motionless.

Seeming to sense Su Zhuyi’s gaze, Qin Jianglan turned back to look at her once.

His eyes held neither sorrow nor joy, neither emotion nor desire. That gaze wasn’t hateful, but felt somewhat distant. Looking again, Su Zhuyi discovered his entire body seemed to be glowing, making his features blurry, inspiring reverence that almost made her kneel.

How could she possibly kneel to Qin Jianglan?

Having him kneel on a washboard at home would be more appropriate.

But at this moment, Su Zhuyi saw Qin Jianglan touch his toes lightly, stepping onto a leaf of the Jianmu Tree.

She was slightly stunned, her heart aching sharply.

A terrible thought flashed through her mind.

Immediately after, that thought became reality.

Qin Jianglan disappeared from between heaven and earth together with the Jianmu Tree. He never looked at her again.

Once, his eyes were full of her.

Now, his eyes held no trace of her.

Su Zhuyi was completely bewildered, her mind a confused mess. Just as she was spacing out, the Liuguang Mirror suddenly fell into her hands, and her master’s voice came from within: “The Path of Reincarnation has been established, Zhuyi. You no longer need to worry about the Heavenly Dao erasing you.”

Success? She didn’t need to live in fear anymore, didn’t need to worry about being suddenly struck down by heaven, didn’t need to fear her master and senior brothers falling again?

She had succeeded.

But she felt no joy at all.

Su Zhuyi: “Erase me if you want. My heart is heavy.” She muttered, “Anyway, Shiqi is dead, and I don’t want to live either.”

Unexpectedly, a voice came: “The Qing Gu is still useful. Look, even though her cultivation has increased, she still can’t forget me.”

Miaoshe Shiqi’s last remnant soul had been absorbed into the Liuguang Mirror before the thunder tribulation. After experiencing the battle against heavenly tribulation, his primordial spirit had grown somewhat stronger, becoming the first primordial spirit in the Path of Reincarnation capable of reincarnation. Even Su Qingxun was among them, but she had been affected by the thunder tribulation, her primordial spirit nearly obliterated, and had now entered the Rebirth Pond.

Miaoshe Shiqi had committed grave sins in life and deserved severe punishment, but since the underworld was short-staffed, Luo Ying had him work to redeem his crimes, first by brewing Meng Po soup.

“Qin Jianglan ascended.”

“Damn, how did he ascend? I feel like I’m dreaming. He even killed Su Qingxun before this.” Su Zhuyi still couldn’t wrap her head around it. She felt she couldn’t understand it, no matter how hard she tried.

“He indulged himself, nurtured his inner demon, completely turning the inner demon into a demonic creature that only had eyes for you. In the end, by severing the inner demon, he severed you and achieved enlightenment and ascension,” Qinghe said coldly.

Qin Jianglan’s inner demon was Su Zhuyi.

Born because of her, arising because of her.

He wanted her to live well, wanted her to be carefree, wanted time to flow backward, to return to the beginning, so she wouldn’t experience those sufferings again.

This was his inner demon, his obsession, the tribulation preventing his ascension.

If his heart’s desire wasn’t fulfilled, if his inner demon wasn’t eliminated, he was destined never to ascend.

So he sacrificed himself to the mirror, exchanging it for time reversal, letting everything start over, preventing her from walking the same path as before.

When he had completely abandoned familial love and friendship, completely abandoned the world’s common people and human justice, leaving only Su Zhuyi, his inner demon and true self, could be separated. It was when he killed Su Qingxun that Qin Jianglan’s long-sealed true self broke through the dao and ascended to godhood.

He split himself in half.

One half was the world.

One half was her.

From the moment he emerged from the broken mirror, what stayed by Su Zhuyi’s side was only that gradually reason-losing, gradually emotionless being that eventually had only her in its eyes—the inner demon.

“Oh, so I was a heart tribulation in his ascension cultivation.” Su Zhuyi pointed to her own heart, “Then he saw through worldly attachments, became unencumbered, overcame tribulation, and ascended?”

Luo Ying’s face showed an unbearable expression as she slightly turned away.

Qinghe’s face was dark and grim as he said sternly, “If there’s a chance, I’ll slay him for you.” As his words fell, a shocking thunder struck from the sky.

Now that Qin Jianglan was a deity, speaking ill of immortals would bring divine retribution.

Su Zhuyi: “Bah.”

Thinks he’s something special.

Her eyes reddened, and she said again, “Shiqi, if you’re dead, I don’t want to live either.” After crying twice, she cursed, “This damned Qing Gu is so annoying. Miaoshe Shiqi, is there no way to remove it?”

As she spoke, tears formed in her eyes. She raised her head to look at the sky, not wanting the tears to fall, but the moment she lifted her head, tears burst forth uncontrollably, wetting her entire jade-like face.

But she couldn’t tell clearly—for whom were these tears?

For Shiqi, or him?

“Fortunately, there’s that Qing Gu,” Luo Ying sighed inwardly, not knowing what to say.

“What about that inner demon?” Su Zhuyi suddenly wiped her tears and asked, “What about that inner demon?”

“Didn’t he split himself in half, stripping the inner demon from his body? Where’s the inner demon?”

“It blocked the thunder for you.”

“Born because of you, died for you.”

“Oh.” She sat down dejectedly, propping her cheek with one hand, feeling wrong all over but unable to say another word.