Mu Yunjin saw the cold glint of the dagger flash before her eyes. She instinctively dodged backward, but Cold Crane seized the opportunity in that moment.

Cold Crane used her strength to forcefully push Mu Yunjin away.

Already seriously injured, Mu Yunjin was momentarily unable to support herself after being pushed aside. Seeing that Cold Crane had already opened her palm to reveal the Divine Decree, Mu Yunjin gritted her teeth. Her remaining lucidity provided a moment of clarity, and she lunged forward once more.

“Clink…”

Cold Crane had underestimated Mu Yunjin. When her arm was struck by Mu Yunjin, she accidentally dropped the Divine Decree to the ground.

As the Divine Decree fell, both Mu Yunjin and Cold Crane reached for it simultaneously.

Cold Crane’s hand touched the Divine Decree first. As she was about to pick it up, Mu Yunjin’s hand covered hers, pressing it down and preventing her from moving.

“Cold Crane, I won’t let you have your way,” Mu Yunjin panted, her mind completely blank except for the single thought of reclaiming the Divine Decree.

Cold Crane was furious, wondering where Mu Yunjin found such strength. Despite being so severely injured, she could still struggle with her for the Divine Decree.

…

…

Just then, a ray of sunlight shone upon Cold Crane’s fingertips.

Seeing this beam of light, Cold Crane’s eyes flashed with brilliance. With her last bit of energy, she concentrated her true qi in her palm and struck Mu Yunjin with a heavy blow…

Hit by Cold Crane’s palm strike, Mu Yunjin’s body was knocked aside. Frowning, with blurred vision, she looked toward Cold Crane, watching as Cold Crane gripped the Divine Decree in her palm.

At that moment, a ray of sunlight illuminated the Divine Decree…

Chu Li, Master An, and the others ran toward the commotion of the battle. Upon seeing the scene before them, everyone froze.

Glimpsing Mu Yunjin sitting on the ground covered in blood, Chu Li felt as if his heart had stopped beating. He quickly ran over, supported her, and held her in his arms.

“Huan’er,” Chu Li called to her, his voice trembling slightly.

Mu Yunjin opened her eyes slightly, not even seeing Chu Li clearly before weakly closing them again, murmuring faintly, “Stop… stop Cold Crane…”

Hearing this whisper, Chu Li raised his eyes toward Cold Crane. At that moment, the Divine Decree in Cold Crane’s hand had already connected with the first ray of dawn light.

The Divine Decree, already stained with the Divine Phoenix Blood, now emitted a bewitching and magical red glow.

Seeing the Divine Decree transform, Cold Crane’s lips gradually spread into a smile.

She had succeeded!

The red light emanating from the Divine Decree slowly surged toward the sky, its arc of expansion growing larger and larger. Gradually, the entire Tiansheng Continent was covered by the radiance emanating from the Divine Decree.

This blood-like sky made everyone present, except Cold Crane, feel a sense of trepidation.

In the end, they had arrived one step too late…

“The time has come! Undead soldiers, appear now and help me, Cold Crane, unify the world!”

Cold Crane excitedly shouted to the heavens, arms spread wide, her robes fluttering in the wind, her hair dancing, her eyes filled with excitement and pleasure.

“Rumble…”

“Rumble…”

Accompanied by claps of thunder, the earth began to shake violently. Boulders rolled down from the mountains, and even wild beasts hidden in the peaks emerged one by one.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared, demonic winds rose, beasts cried out, and the earth and mountains trembled!

After the massive changes on the Tiansheng Continent’s land, black silhouettes suddenly appeared one after another in the distant red sky, swiftly flying toward the group.

After the first couple of black shadows landed, everyone noticed that a large mass of black shadows in the sky continued to surge toward their direction.

Most shocking of all, these black shadows were all formed from illusions.

Visible, yet intangible.

The Divine Decree was activated, the undead soldiers appeared, and the world’s balance was about to be overturned in an instant.

…

Cold Crane looked at the illusory undead soldiers standing behind her, plus the waves of black shadows still approaching from the distance. Her face revealed smugness and contempt as she turned around, raised her eyes, and looked at the people standing before her.

“Those who want to live might beg for mercy now, and I might spare your dog’s lives.”

“Of course, any of you can live if you beg, except for Fu Huan…”

A smile appeared at the corner of Cold Crane’s lips. Now that she had these undead soldiers backing her, even though she was still seriously injured, she no longer felt any pain.

“Heh, in this world, what is there to fear about life and death? I would rather die than beg for mercy from an evil woman like you,” Master An said mockingly, glancing at Cold Crane with contempt in his eyes.

“That’s right, dying is no big deal. Who cares about living anyway?” Qiqi rolled her eyes at the sky.

“That’s right, we don’t fear death!” Huang Yan spoke up.

The remaining people nearby all nodded, not one willing to beg Cold Crane for mercy.

Cold Crane’s eyes grew colder as she clenched her fingers. Her gaze slowly turned toward Chu Li, who had remained silent the entire time. She smiled slightly, “Siqing, what about you?”

Chu Li seemed not to have heard Cold Crane’s words. He stood up, carrying Mu Yunjin in his arms, and with a cold face, made as if to leave.

Cold Crane frowned, opened her mouth to speak, but before she could make a sound, she heard a light chuckle from Chu Li.

Chu Li turned around, the corner of his lips curled upward as if he were in an extremely good mood. When he raised his eyes to look at Cold Crane, he even gave her a faint smile.

When Cold Crane caught this smile, her heart trembled, feeling as if her entire being was about to melt.

“Siqing…” Cold Crane called out.

Chu Li’s gaze merely swept over Cold Crane before fixing on the undead soldiers behind her.

Then, everyone heard a lazy voice say:

“Hmph, undead soldiers. This king thought they were some extraordinary beings. Had I known it was just you lot, this king would have taken Huan’er home to tend to the children long ago!”

After Chu Li finished speaking, he carried Mu Yunjin and walked away step by step.

Everyone remaining at the scene looked at each other in confusion, like monks unable to grasp a situation, unable to understand the meaning behind Chu Li’s words.

The most astonished, naturally, was Cold Crane.

Cold Crane turned around to look at a nearby undead soldier’s shadow. “What are you standing there for? Didn’t you see them running away? Go after them!”

As soon as the words were out, Chu Li, who had walked a few steps, halted. Then they heard him speak again:

“Cold Crane, have you forgotten whose territory this is?”

With that, Chu Li smiled faintly and flew away with Mu Yunjin.

…

After Chu Li and Mu Yunjin disappeared, Cold Crane’s thoughts were still immersed in the words Chu Li had left behind.

The Underworld…

The God of Death…

Undead soldiers…

Could it be…

As Cold Crane contemplated this possibility, she suddenly felt as if her heart had received a violent blow.

At this moment, one of the undead soldiers spoke up, “For a full thousand years, we’ve finally been able to see Lord God of Death again. It was worth it for us to follow him to the death back then.”

“Who… who exactly are you?” Cold Crane felt herself going mad, pointing at the black shadows before her in terror.

“They are all Siqing’s subordinates from back then. After that great battle, to show their loyalty, they entrusted their souls to me, and I sealed them within the Divine Decree, waiting to follow their master again in the next life.”

An old and raspy voice emerged. When Master An and the others heard this voice, they stepped aside to make way for the newcomer.

“It’s you, old fish spirit!” Cold Crane saw that the newcomer was Fish Granny from Phoenix Feather Pavilion. She narrowed her eyes, revealing murderous intent.

Fish Granny coughed a few times, caught her breath, and said, “Indeed, it is I.”

“Granny, you’ve been hiding so much!” Qiqi ran over to support Fish Granny.

She had lived with Fish Granny in Phoenix Feather Pavilion since she was young. She only knew that Fish Granny had always been talking about her master, but she never expected that the legendary Divine Decree was created by Fish Granny.

“They voluntarily allowed their souls to be sealed in the Divine Decree, waiting for their master’s return. As time passed, the legend of the Divine Decree spread and became more and more outlandish.”

“Summoning undead soldiers to unify the world?” Fish Granny looked at Cold Crane with derision. “These undead soldiers may be illusions, but they live with more flesh, blood, and humanity than some people. Did you think they would foolishly help you against their own master?”

“Haha, Cold Crane, oh Cold Crane, you truly are a joke!” After speaking, Fish Granny couldn’t help but laugh.

The others nearby finally understood what was going on.

After all this trouble, it turned out that the legend of the Divine Decree had always been misunderstood by later generations.

Summoning undead soldiers was indeed correct.

But these undead soldiers wouldn’t listen to just anyone; they had already recognized their master long ago.

The legends circulating in the martial world were all tests to lure out those who would stop at nothing for power and wanted to take shortcuts using the Divine Decree.

Unfortunately, many had fallen for it.

Even many among them had believed this legend without question.

“Cough, cough, cough…” Fish Granny stood for a while, then coughed several times, her face becoming increasingly haggard.

Looking at the sky, Fish Granny glanced at Qiqi beside her and smiled gently. “Qiqi, child, take them and leave the Tiansheng Continent.”

“Granny, what about you?” Qiqi frowned.

“Today is the day I will pass away. I will remain here on the Tiansheng Continent.”

Fish Granny smiled, her tone light and carefree, not fearing the gradual passing of her life.

Qiqi widened her eyes in disbelief. “Granny, you…”

“Hua Ying, quickly take Qiqi away.” Knowing Qiqi’s temperament, Fish Granny turned her gaze to Hua Ying. Hua Ying was a snake woman with a cool and calm disposition, rational and level-headed.

Hua Ying pressed her lips together, stepped forward, and grabbed Qiqi’s arm. Before leaving, Hua Ying looked at Fish Granny. “Granny, do you have any message for me to give to our master?”

Fish Granny shook her head. “What needs to be said, I have already told the young master.”

Hua Ying nodded and pulled Qiqi. “Qiqi, let’s go.”

“Granny…” Qiqi looked at Fish Granny with reluctance, her eyes reddening.

Behind them, Master An and the others nodded to Fish Granny as a sign of respect, then all turned to leave.

…

Cold Crane saw that everyone had left, leaving only these undead soldiers and the fish spirit here. For the first time, she smelled the scent of death.

Her eyes darted around, and as she prepared to leave, Fish Granny’s walking stick blocked her path.

“Cold Crane, this Divine Decree is now empty, which seems a bit of a waste. Don’t you think?” Fish Granny’s fingertips channeled spiritual power, slowly lifting the Divine Decree that had fallen to the ground.

Cold Crane understood the implication in Fish Granny’s words and stared with terror. “No, don’t you dare!”