How many years Feng Ya had been cultivating, even he himself had forgotten. Achieving the rank of Ghost Immortal required the alignment of heaven, earth, and man — and he never imagined that the human element of that alignment would be Lang Jiuchuan, a girl he had known for a mere two or three years. Yet somehow, the two of them had come to entrust their very lives to one another.

But fate was the most elusive of things, indifferent to the length of time. Some people spent the better half of a lifetime in each other’s company and still lacked a single thread of true trust. Others needed only two or three years — or even half a year — before arriving at the feeling that meeting each other had been the fortune of three lifetimes.

Perhaps it was karma cultivated in a former life.

Feng Ya had no inclination to examine it too carefully. A person with two or three true companions in this life had enough. And as for his ghost’s existence — to have encountered Lang Jiuchuan was a great joy.

Since she had dared to entrust her divine soul to him, how could he possibly be unwilling to guard it for her?

What he had not expected, however, was that words he once spoke in passing would become prophetic. He had warned her not to underestimate human nature, and to be wary of her own master. And what came of it?

When the soul-mark he had left with Lang Jiuchuan stirred, there was an instant where his very soul trembled as though being torn apart. Then, when he witnessed the horror of what had happened to her, he felt as though his entire ghostly being had been shattered.

She had caused her own divine soul to self-detonate. How could she have been so mercilessly brutal to herself?

Feng Ya, heedless of his ghost generals’ attempts to dissuade him, immediately rushed to her side.

Truly forcing his way into that imperial mausoleum — shielded by layer upon layer of forbidden seals and protected by the imperial nation’s qi and dynastic fortune — Feng Ya found his divine soul trembling under the crushing weight of the magnificent dragon’s might and righteous imperial energy. Yet what truly fractured him was the sight of that vibrant young woman, imprisoned upon the sacrificial altar, utterly devoid of life force.

That wretched creature. She showed no ruthlessness toward others, yet toward herself she was savage beyond measure.

Feng Ya forcibly tore open the ghost gate and used his own soul power to gather her nearly dissipated remnant soul, sending it into the underworld. This act summoned Cui Panguan.

“Lord Feng, now that you have achieved Ghost Immortality, you have transcended the cycle of reincarnation. By forcibly interfering in the affairs of the mortal world — and using your own soul power to help her consolidate her soul — you are acting in defiance of Heaven’s Way, altering her fate against the natural order on her behalf. For this, you will have your immortal standing stripped away and suffer Heaven’s punishment. Neither the realm of yin nor that of yang can tolerate you,” Cui Panguan said, his brow deeply furrowed.

Feng Ya replied: “A mere Ghost Immortal is nothing more than a ghost’s spiritual body. If it must go, then let it go. If neither the yin nor the yang realm can contain me, what of it if I fall into the Void? Cultivation can happen anywhere.”

“Why would you go to such lengths?”

“I once counseled her not to pour her whole heart out to people so recklessly, to keep one eye open, lest she be sold out and still be counting the coins without knowing it. Yet how strange are the bonds between people — I’ve had only a few years of acquaintance with her, yet I find it utterly impossible to look away. It may well be that I committed some unforgivable great sin against her in a former life, and have come now to repay that debt.” Feng Ya gave a self-deprecating laugh. As he fixed his gaze upon the figure on the altar, his pair of ghost eyes turned blood-red, filled with a piercing chill and fury. Then his tone shifted sharply: “That the National Preceptor drove her to this point — that she would rather cause her own soul to self-detonate than remain trapped in that cage — if she truly manages to be reborn through nirvana, what will there be left that she cannot accomplish? I am waiting to see it!”

Cui Panguan said nothing further and spoke: “Since you dare to accept Heaven’s punishment, then prepare yourself. I will send her to…”

“The Nine Depths,” Feng Ya cut him off. “Send her into the Nine Depths. My original soul power was cultivated from that place — it will be far more conducive to the consolidation and recovery of her divine soul. Once she has recovered, be merciful and ferry her back to the mortal world to settle her scores. Do not worry — with her level of perception, she will not cause too much trouble in the Nine Depths for long.”

This was asking Cui Panguan to become an accomplice.

Cui Panguan let out a cold snort and said: “Of her three souls and seven spirits, two souls and five spirits shall enter the Nine Depths. The remaining one soul and two spirits you will take with you to the Void to nurse back to health. That way, her divine soul will not be whole, and she will not rush to seek vengeance prematurely — which would only waste all the effort you have gone through.”

After all, someone who dared to cause her own soul to self-detonate was capable of anything. If she recovered and returned to the mortal world without restraint and immediately went after the National Preceptor for revenge, he could kill her effortlessly.

Being ferried back to the mortal world was not something everyone could manage like her — born with the innate constitution of the Dao, with extraordinary perception. Without sufficient ability to protect herself, biding her time was the only winning path.

A person’s true nirvana also depended on the alignment of heaven, earth, and man. Her path still stretched far ahead.

Feng Ya was of the same mind. He knew her nature well — if she were fully restored, there was every chance she would go straight after that wretched National Preceptor. At her current stage of Foundation Establishment, she could still fall to an ambush. When she eventually returned to life, if she inhabited only an ordinary mortal body, what hope would she have of seeking revenge?

A true pearl always shines. She was so brilliant — she would, little by little, find her way back to herself.

Cui Panguan glanced at the sacrificial altar, then let his gaze settle on something below it. Suppressing his divine sense, he led the remnant soul into the Nine Depths.

Some matters of cause and effect — he could not intervene!

Feng Ya was the same. He wished to take Lang Jiuchuan’s body away, but the oppressive force of the imperial mausoleum was rejecting and restraining him. If he did not leave, he would only gain nothing and lose everything.

“This shackle — in the future, you will come and sever it yourself!” he murmured softly, and then, cradling that shattered remnant soul, he disappeared.

The moment he left the imperial mausoleum, before he could even enter the Void, Heaven’s punishment descended.

Feng Ya intended to forcibly escort Lang Jiuchuan’s remnant soul away, yet she — even in pieces — was stubbornly obstinate, clinging tightly to his soul and refusing to let go.

Crack.

Purple heavenly lightning fell.

So be it.

Feng Ya channeled nearly all of his soul power to resist the Heaven’s punishment that sought to obliterate him entirely from the mortal world. As the final bolt descended, a faint pearl-like radiance emerged from Lang Jiuchuan’s remnant soul and settled upon the top of his head. The light grew brighter and brighter, silently contending against the lightning’s punishment.

Struggling against Heaven. Contesting Heaven.

She was fighting for every last scrap of a path to survival — enough for both of them together.

Feng Ya burst into laughter. As the last bolt of lightning never fully fell, he and she together plunged into the Void, severing themselves from both the yin and yang realms.

In the Void, he brought the remnant soul to the Seven-Lotus Soul-Nurturing Lamp and used his own soul power to nourish her, watching as she gradually coalesced into a faint shadow, then slowly became more and more substantial — waiting, day by day.

Until one day, a visitor arrived at Tongtian Pavilion, and only then did he truly breathe a sigh of relief.

She had returned. The mortal world was about to become lively again.

Yet that liveliness came wave after wave. And she — fought against the heavens again and again.

Her cultivation path was strewn with thorns and riddled with hardship, as though she were enduring the eighty-one tribulations. Fortunately, she ultimately arrived at the Great Way.

Crack.

The earth-shaking purple lightning fell, then gradually dispersed, also breaking Feng Ya’s reverie. His eyes gleamed with sharp clarity as he gazed at the person enveloped in purple energy before him.

She walked toward him, step by step, and stood before him.

Feng Ya looked her up and down, then said: “Twelve years, one cycle of rebirth — round and round, you returned to this skeleton, made your home in it again, underwent your great cultivation, passed through the Heavenly Tribulation, achieved immortal bones and a divine standing, and were truly reborn from the inside out. It will not be long before you ascend. Congratulations.”

Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes shimmered with flowing golden light as she looked at him and said: “You participated in saving the world and cultivated great merit. You have freed yourself from the Void — with time, you too will scale the heights of the immortal path.”

When she finished speaking, she channeled a strand of pure original soul power toward him. Before Feng Ya could refuse, it had already taken root.

“What are you doing?”

“When fortune smiles upon us, do not forget each other,” Lang Jiuchuan said with a smile, walking forward. A single line drifted back on the wind: “You are worthy of it.”

Her nirvana had borne his strength within it. Now, it was time for her to repay him.

No words of thanks. No sentimentality. One simple line — yet it outweighed ten thousand words.

Feng Ya laughed, despite himself. This person’s nature — truly unchanged as ever.

“Where are you going?” He watched as she walked forward.

“Times have changed. It is time to return to the mortal world and have a look.”

To see how the mundane world she had saved was faring — and then, to bid her farewells.