Ling Luo used her last bit of strength to push away Qin Yuan’s hand, her face showing disgust.

The words “Heavenly Dao,” she despised the most.

These eyes she would never forget even in death—the high and mighty Heavenly Dao that watched over all living beings, the Heavenly Dao she had once perished with—now pathetically inhabiting the body of a small human.

Ling Luo gave a scornful laugh, her voice faint due to her injuries, filled with mockery: “I knew it was your doing. What, can’t accept defeat? You, the Heavenly Dao, actually fear death, so you came up with this trick to make me reborn into the past during our final battle.”

“You want me to kill you again?”

Qin Yuan looked at her silently for a while, then sighed again. She placed her hand over Ling Luo’s wound, emanating a pearly white healing light.

She said, “I’m too heartbroken.”

Ling Luo angrily retorted, “I’m the one stabbed by a sword, why are you heartbroken! Get away!”

“On the day of our battle, too many people died.” Qin Yuan spoke with pity in her eyes. “You were wrong to oppose me from the beginning. Did you think that killing me would make the world change into what you wanted?”

Ling Luo: “Now I know it won’t change, but I still can’t let you live. You say I was wrong, but why don’t you look at what you’ve done?”

Qin Yuan: “That was the choice of the people.”

Ling Luo: “It was the choice you gave them! Good people die, evil people live—this is the way you set for them!”

Those eyes gazed at her gently, and Qin Yuan said, “Life and death have no distinction between good and evil. I cannot bear to see you obsessively fall into demonic cultivation for this, nor can I bear to see that person die for you. That’s why I chose to restart.”

“Only this was my choice.”

Ling Luo frowned: “Who died?”

Qin Yuan reached out and touched her collarbone. Ling Luo wanted to stop her but had no strength, so she could only glare.

“Don’t worry, when I chose to restart, I gave up the option to kill you. You may die, but it absolutely won’t be by my hand.” Qin Yuan said unhurriedly, “This is the Suffering Flower that preserves soul memories on the path of karma.”

That crimson, double-petaled flower was sent into Ling Luo’s body, leaving a mark on her snow-white collarbone.

One of the petals was already burning away, disappearing.

“Ling Luo, with this new life, don’t you want to make changes?”

Ling Luo said expressionlessly: “No.”

Qin Yuan said: “There are many things you should know but weren’t told. Perhaps after knowing them, you might change your mind.”

Ling Luo felt a burning pain in her collarbone. She frowned, but her vision began to blur, and meaningless fragmented images flashed before her eyes.

A vista of black flames that seemed to burn a hole even in the sky.

The night before Ling Luo’s final battle with the Heavenly Dao, she went to the mountain to set up prohibitory arrays, returning very late.

It was the height of spring, and Mount Tianzhao was in full bloom, with cherry and crabapple blossoms each occupying half the sky.

Yue Liangze had spent the morning tending to the flowers in the mountain courtyard.

The spirit demons wanted to help, but they were clumsy and broke several pots. After being seen by the man, they all bristled, huddling behind stone lanterns pretending they hadn’t done anything.

Yue Liangze didn’t scold them. With a calm expression, he came over to clean up and replant the flower stalks, tirelessly.

He cut a few beautifully blooming crabapple branches and placed them in vases in Ling Luo’s room, both by the window and on the desk.

Ling Luo had left in a hurry this morning, leaving her bed in disarray, which he also tidied up.

The spirit demons peered in through the window, watching silently.

This man could go anywhere in Mount Tianzhao and do whatever he wanted; the mistress never restricted him.

Beside the main courtyard was a smaller one, with grape trellises, a vegetable garden, and a stone platform with flowing water—identical to the courtyard where he had lived in Tianji in those years.

After midday, Yue Liangze went to the stone platform to wash his hands, then gathered ingredients, and began preparing dinner. Because there was much to prepare, he started early.

The spirit demons loved this part the most, passing messages to each other, and chattering as they rushed from all directions.

The bolder ones, those more familiar with Yue Liangze, called out: “Lord Dao, Lord Dao, shall we call the mistress for you this time?”

“Mistress went to the small hilltop to set up prohibitory arrays; she probably won’t be back anytime soon.”

Yue Liangze said: “If she’s busy, don’t disturb her.”

He meticulously prepared dinner by himself and placed it on the table.

The sky had completely darkened, and the mountain was filled with the view of the Milky Way.

Yue Liangze made some sweet treats for the spirit demons. The little black balls happily carried away the pot and left, no longer disturbing him.

The dining table was under a flowering tree, which bordered a pond.

Yue Liangze pondered what to plant in the pond, but in the end, he went back to get a bamboo pole for night fishing.

It was just a way to pass the time while waiting for someone to return.

Yue Liangze sat quietly in the bamboo chair by the pond when his Flying Cloud Talisman suddenly sounded, startling him.

He took it out and saw that the transmission request was from his Third Senior Brother, Bai Cang.

At first, Yue Liangze didn’t answer, but when Bai Cang sent another request, he finally picked up.

As soon as he connected, he heard Bai Cang complaining: “You’re having so much fun over there that you’ve forgotten home, even ignoring my transmissions.”

“Senior Brother,” he said, lowering his gaze to the clear water surface.

“Have you eaten?” Bai Cang asked casually.

Yue Liangze said: “Yes, I have.”

“I haven’t yet,” Bai Cang sighed. “Second Senior Brother is boiling plain water eggs again. He insists on making something fancy out of plain water eggs, and there’s no stopping him.”

A trace of a smile flitted across Yue Liangze’s eyes.

“Hurry back to cook for us after she kicks you out of the mountain,” Bai Cang said. “You don’t need to return to the sect; anywhere outside is fine.”

Yue Liangze: “She won’t drive me away.”

Bai Cang was silent for a moment, then said: “Brother, be honest. At least don’t tell your Senior Brother such nonsense.”

Yue Liangze blinked and said: “It’s true.”

There came clanging sounds from the other end, and Second Senior Brother Chang Ying shouted: “Bai Cang, come eat my eggs!”

“No way!” Bai Cang shouted back unpolitely. “I’m already trying to persuade Ah Ze to come back and cook. Don’t think you can kill me with your plain water eggs.”

Chang Ying came up to the Flying Cloud Talisman and yelled: “Yue Liangze, get your ass back here and eat eggs!”

Yue Liangze pressed his lips together and lowered his voice: “Senior Brothers, you eat first.”

“Eat what? Go find Big Senior Brother and see if he eats,” Bai Cang pushed Chang Ying away and continued talking to Yue Liangze. “Tomorrow, the twelve great immortal sects will gather at Mount Tianzhao. The second Senior Brother and I will be there too. Once the First Immortal’s order is issued, even if you want to stop it, it’ll be difficult.”

Yue Liangze stared at the fishing line and said: “Senior Brother, don’t worry about me.”

Bai Cang continued: “Fine, even if I don’t use the First Immortal’s order, the Four Directional Forbidden Beasts have already been summoned. They are the strongest guardians of the mortal realm. You might barely leave a complete corpse fighting one, but it’s truly impossible against all four.”

Yue Liangze’s expression remained unchanged, and he only said: “I’ll try.”

Chang Ying rolled his eyes nearby and said: “Try my ass! You won’t even have a complete corpse! Even Master can’t save you!”

Yue Liangze said seriously: “I definitely can’t trouble Master.”

Chang Ying: “…”

He exploded: “Is that the important point here?!”

“Hey, don’t force me to eat that!” Bai Cang pushed Chang Ying away again and said earnestly, “Brother, this is your last chance. If you try to stop the immortal sects tomorrow, we cannot protect you.”

The immortal sects still believed that the True Lord of Danshui had been captured by the demonic woman and was trapped in Mount Tianzhao, unable to leave. Outside, there were even people coming with the banner of rescuing the True Lord of Danshui.

Yue Liangze only said: “Don’t worry about me.”

Bai Cang sighed deeply. Ever since that time when he left the mountain sect, he knew persuasion was futile.

The Flying Cloud Talisman fell silent again.

Yue Liangze fished for a long time but caught nothing.

He chuckled softly, giving up the vigil. He rose and went to the table, unrolled a scroll, ground ink, picked up a brush, and thought about how to construct the next courtyard.

Beside him, a bamboo basket was piled with scroll paintings, not of beautiful scenery or people, but of buildings or some novel little creations.

Only when painting did Yue Liangze quietly contemplate.

Contemplate his path.

Throughout his journey, he experienced many ups and downs, worldly suffering, and tasted all of love, hate, anger, and delusion.

He had done right things and wrong things. How others viewed good, evil, right, or wrong had ceased to matter to him long ago.

Others could only talk. Either complimenting and praising, or despising and criticizing.

But they couldn’t empathize, nor could they experience the same things to make choices.

They didn’t even have the power to make choices.

You must learn to make your own choices.

And then bear the consequences.

Yue Liangze bit his brush and rolled up the drawing paper. Another figure walked toward him against the starry sky, stopping by the stone platform to wash her hands, with the sound of flowing water.

“What are you drawing?” Ling Luo glanced at him, asking lazily. “Houses again?”

Yue Liangze nodded, rolling it up and using his brush to draw a sealing charm around it.

Ling Luo walked to the table with practiced ease and sat down, snorting: “Mount Tianzhao is so vast; I don’t believe you want to build houses on every piece of land.”

“I can build many, but they don’t have to fill every space,” Yue Liangze said.

Ling Luo raised her eyes to look at him, her gaze clear: “Are you short of houses?”

“I was before, but not now,” Yue Liangze went to wash his hands, finally adding, “But I want them.”

Ling Luo looked at the table full of dishes, picking her favorite to eat first. She replied casually: “If you want them, build them yourself. I won’t help you at all. Besides, tomorrow the twelve great immortal sects will come to exterminate us. I heard they’re bringing the Four Directional Forbidden Beasts—quite a grand gesture—along with all sorts of strange magical treasures and prohibitory arrays.”

“By then, this whole area will be a complete mess. If you want houses, you’d better go down the mountain and buy some in Taiping City.”

Yue Liangze wiped his hands with a handkerchief, lowering his gaze to reply: “I want to build them myself.”

Ling Luo: “Then go buy a plot in the city and build it yourself.”

“I want to build here,” he said, his expression unchanged as he sat down at the table. “Let them fight tomorrow if they must. If they destroy my buildings, I’ll rebuild them.”

Ling Luo tapped her bowl with her chopsticks: “Why don’t you go back to the Holy Sword Sect to build? I can’t attack the Holy Sword Sect, and neither can others.”

Yue Liangze: “I can’t go back. The scenery here is nice.”

Ling Luo snorted with disbelief, “There was spiritual energy fluctuation from a Flying Cloud Talisman just now. Your Senior Brothers finally contacted you. Are they coming to rescue you?”

Yue Liangze didn’t answer.

Ling Luo rested her chin on one hand and looked at him, using her other hand to make a spiritual gesture that warmed the cool wine in her cup before handing it to him.

“Tomorrow I’ll battle the Heavenly Dao. Those immortal sect people come at the perfect time. Once they enter Mount Tianzhao, I can use my array to borrow their spiritual energy. It would be even better if your Master came too.”

“Master won’t come,” Yue Liangze accepted the wine she handed him, made another gesture to cool it, and then drank.

Ling Luo squinted her eyes and smiled: “Then your master-disciple relationship must not be good. If my Master were still alive, he would have come long ago, and so would my Senior Brother.”

“Although they’re either dead or injured, at least there’s a comparison. Did you do something to anger your Master? Could it be that the Compassionate First Immortal learned what you did to me in Nanjiang City, and is now furious and won’t save you?”

She blinked, with hints of ambiguity and teasing.

Yue Liangze nodded and made an affirmative sound.

Ling Luo: “…”

She snorted, not asking further.

Instead, Yue Liangze asked her: “Ling Luo, must you fight?”

“Why not?” Ling Luo retorted, “Do you think I’ll lose?”

Yue Liangze put food on her plate. “No.”

Ling Luo raised her eyebrows, unconsciously feeling satisfied and happy.

Yue Liangze didn’t think she would lose, but he saw that Ling Luo had no more attachment to the mortal world. Her battle with the Heavenly Dao would be mutually destructive.

Even he couldn’t keep this person.

He felt somewhat disappointed.

After dinner, Yue Liangze cleaned up the kitchen, then went to another half-built courtyard to hammer and knock about, working until late at night before returning to wash up and change.

Ling Luo had already gone to bed.

Usually, either Ling Luo was busy with curses and arrays until very late, or Yue Liangze was busy modifying Mount Tianzhao’s environment until late. He always waited for Ling Luo to fall asleep before returning.

Then he would quietly slip into bed beside her, able to pull her into his arms with just a stretch of his hand, sleeping peacefully.

Ling Luo tacitly allowed this.

But to save face, she always woke earliest and left first, refusing to acknowledge that she would wake up in this man’s arms the next day.

But today, Yue Liangze woke when the sky was still dimly lit before dawn.

He carefully got up, dressed, and washed. When he reached the door, he paused, then returned and bent down to place a light kiss on her lips.

The mountain’s spirit demons watched wistfully as Yue Liangze descended the mountain.

He walked past every blade of grass, every tree, every flower on the mountain. The spring flowers were in full bloom, but in just one short night, they had begun to wither and die.

Meeting the morning sun was a black long sword.

Wusheng was overjoyed; the master had finally summoned it again. But when grasped by its master, it felt sad.

Yue Liangze stood at the foot of Mount Tianzhao.

The twelve great immortal sects arrived near noon, a magnificent procession of over ten thousand people.

Some rode swords in the sky, others held swords on the ground. Their path to Mount Tianzhao was blocked by a man holding a sword.

“True Lord of Danshui, why do you block us here? The Four Directional Forbidden Beasts have emerged, showing that even the Heavenly Dao is helping us kill her. Why do you oppose the immortal sects and the Heavenly Dao?”

Yue Liangze’s gaze was clear, as pure and bright as ever.

He remained silent but drew a sky-reaching barrier, protecting Mount Tianzhao behind him.

The various immortal sects condemned, accused, and cursed him, and he heard it all.

Yet he had no regrets.

“Does the Holy Sword Sect have nothing to say?!” The immortal sects looked toward Bai Cang and Chang Ying.

“Everyone, proceed as you will,” Bai Cang said calmly. “But our Holy Sword Sect never turns blades against our own.”

“Fine words about not turning blades against your own, but Danshui is now a traitorous demon!”

“We’ve long heard that Yue Liangze has unspeakable secrets with that demonic woman, their relationship is ambiguous and unclear. Now it seems true indeed!”

“Ptui! What captured? I see this little bastard is here willingly!”

“A beast who has disgraced the immortal sects!”

Chang Ying looked up: “Go on, keep insulting. But don’t put too much energy into it, lest you can’t last even one sword strike before meeting King Yama himself.”

“Aren’t you here to fight demonic cultivators? Why do you protect him at every turn!”

Chang Ying sneered: “We’re here to kill demons, not that fool down there.”

“Enough talk. Since you insist on blocking us, we won’t be polite!” the immortal sect people shouted. “This is the inevitable trend. She must die today, and you cannot stop it!”

Over ten thousand cultivators attacked Mount Tianzhao. Sword lights, curse techniques, and arrays all fell but were cut down by Yue Liangze’s sword.

This battle stirred the surrounding spiritual energy into chaos; heaven and earth trembled.

They were all blocked by Yue Liangze’s sword force.

This man was indeed the strongest sword cultivator in the current world of cultivation.

And he wasn’t just the strongest in sword arts. As a disciple of the Holy Sword Sect, his curse techniques were also exceptional.

He employed over a thousand major curse techniques from the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and the Six Jia of the Stars, his spiritual power unfathomable.

In the end, the immortal sects deployed the Four Directional Forbidden Beasts to forcibly attack the mountain.

The strongest guardians of the mortal realm, their bodies spanning the distance between heaven and earth, swallowed clouds and mist, wind and rain, spiritual breath and lightning, all coming toward him.

Yue Liangze was forced back. He frowned as the Duanyi bindings on Wusheng continuously unraveled.

Twelve scrolls, twenty-four scrolls, thirty-six scrolls, ninety-seven scrolls—

Duanyi fully dispersed, Wusheng unsheathed.

All the ferocious killing intent in heaven and earth concentrated here. Everyone else’s swords stopped their spiritual breath, trembling, not daring to advance half a step as if they were mere scrap iron.

Ling Luo had forgotten that in her previous life, she had also told Yue Liangze to change his sword.

Yue Liangze hadn’t changed it.

He didn’t need Wusheng to protect himself.

Because the sword in his hand had always wanted to protect others, not himself.

Mount Tianzhao gradually collapsed and was destroyed.

With each breath of the Four Directional Forbidden Beasts, fierce winds devoured mountain flowers and tree branches. Raging flames burned everything impure and unclean in the world.

The flames engulfed the man guarding Mount Tianzhao.

Duanyi wrapped around his hand, binding Wusheng to his palm.

Yue Liangze still stood before the mountain, but his physical body was dead. All that remained in this world was his sword intent.

Wusheng let out an angry sword cry, and the burning flames instantly turned black.

In his last moments, Yue Liangze was thinking of the last ordinary words Ling Luo had said to him yesterday.