Three days later, Nanrao awoke in a mountain cave. As her mind cleared, memories of her physical body and Nascent Soul being consumed by the Nirvana Fire flooded back, causing her to sigh in relief. Her father had only mentioned that the Red Emperor’s demon heart would keep her from death and destruction, but she had never tested it with her life before. This brush with death finally made her realize the true value of this treasure.
As feeling returned to her limbs, a cool breeze made Nanrao aware of her situation. Lifting the man’s outer robe draped over her, she hissed in realization. Of course, if the Nirvana Fire could incinerate the Flame Demon, mere clothing stood no chance.
Hearing movement inside, someone rushed in from outside. Seeing Nanrao sitting up, they initially approached with joy but quickly retreated upon noticing her state of undress beneath her cascading black hair. They turned away, tossing her a woman’s dress they had found.
“When… did you wake up?” the voice asked.
“Just now,” Nanrao replied, rustling as she dressed. “Ugh, I don’t like green dresses.”
“The demon cultivators from Forest Cliff Demon Cave are out in full force looking for us,” Ao Guanghan replied irritably. “You’re lucky to have anything to wear in this wilderness. You’re in no position to be picky.” His ears reddened as he recalled Nanrao’s rebirth from the Red Emperor’s demon heart. “You old fox.”
“What?” Nanrao asked.
Ao Guanghan stammered, “You… I know you only have a verbal engagement with Ying Ze, but given the circumstances, when we return—”
Nanrao interrupted, “Hm? Did you do something unforgivable to me?”
“I did not!” Ao Guanghan exclaimed.
Nanrao sighed in relief. “Thank goodness. I was worried I’d have to take responsibility.”
Ao Guanghan was speechless.
Adjusting her clothes, Nanrao said casually, “I took you to the bathhouse when you were four or five. If seeing someone naked once meant a lifelong commitment, wouldn’t Meng Xiaolou’s chastity arch stretch from Wu Zhou to Zi Zhou?”
Ao Guanghan suddenly erupted in anger, “It’s been almost thirty years! Can you stop bringing up what happened when I was five or six? Can’t you open your dog eyes and see that I’m—”
He couldn’t finish his thought: “Can’t you see I’m no longer a child?”
Before he could voice this, Nanrao spoke again, “So what now? Do you think my father will let this slide with just a few slaps after we killed the great demon Senlo spent half his life nurturing?”
“With the great demon dead, Senlo must have noticed. Once he returns to Si Zhou, it’ll be too late to run. We should use our bloodline communication to contact my dragon father for a pickup,” Ao Guanghan suggested.
As they spoke, two lower-level demon cultivators flew by on swords. When captured and questioned, they revealed unexpected news.
“The Demon Master has fallen!” the captives exclaimed, carrying several storage bags as if fleeing. “All of Si Zhou is in chaos. The cultivation world hasn’t seen such turmoil in 300 years!”
“Was it the Red Emperor or the Dao Sovereign who did it?” Nanrao and Ao Guanghan asked.
The demon cultivators replied fearfully, “Neither… they say the Demon Master died three days ago.”
Three days ago, the Flame Demon was still guarding Forest Cliff Demon Cave. If its master were in danger, it would have fled… This meant Senlo must have been killed within a day.
Nanrao’s mind went blank for a moment. She felt no joy at Senlo’s death. In this era, battles between Nascent Soul stage cultivators typically lasted ten to fifteen days before a victor emerged. Senlo was at the third stage of celestial tribulation—it was said that cultivators who passed this stage were equivalent to earthly immortals. Even if their physical bodies were destroyed, their primordial spirits could instantly escape into the void. Only the Dao Sovereign or the Red Emperor could potentially kill such a being, and it would take at least ten days and nights of pursuit.
Such an immediate kill of a third-stage tribulation cultivator was unheard of, even during the State-Breaking War.
Nanrao asked gravely, “Who killed him?”
“…The Buddhist Repentance Lord.”
…
The cultivation world had an eternal rule—the strong reign supreme.
Of the twelve major regions in the overseas cultivation world, Chou Zhou had sunk into the deep sea during the Great War, leaving only eleven. Among these, the Dao Sovereign Sui Han Zi, Red Emperor Nan Jue Yun, Buddhist Repentance Lord, Dragon Lord couple, and Senlo occupied the five most spiritually abundant regions: Zi, Yin, Mao, Chen, and Si. Among the other five powerful cultivators, Mao Zhou’s existence had always been like the Buddhist sect—uninvolved in worldly affairs, focused solely on Buddhist cultivation, aiming to alleviate suffering and exorcise demons.
Even during the State-Breaking War, Buddhist cultivators quietly stood behind other cultivators, focusing on saving lives and healing. It wasn’t until now when the world’s strongest demon cultivator—known for his offensive prowess—was so easily killed by a Buddhist cultivator of slightly lower cultivation, that the cultivation world finally turned its attention to Mao Zhou.
“Zi Zhou is establishing the Hall of Righteous Law to regulate the cultivation world’s order. The Buddhist Repentance Lord’s actions… may have embarrassed Zi Zhou.”
Amidst such criticisms, Zi Zhou’s Hall of Righteous Law was finally completed. The five sovereign cultivators each left a drop of soul blood in the hall, with the Dao Sovereign’s first disciple as its master, implementing the great laws of the cultivation world. Afterward, the five sovereigns returned to prepare for seclusion.
However, with the Buddhist Repentance Lord’s killing of Demon Master Senlo, Si Zhou fell into chaos. Senlo’s junior brother, Marquis Yu Xie, and other demon sects began fighting amongst themselves, plunging the entire Si Zhou into warfare. The newly established Hall of Righteous Law found itself powerless to intervene.
A year later, on the third day of the third month, Nanrao once again set foot on Si Zhou’s soil. Amidst the scorched earth of Si Zhou’s internal demon cultivator wars, she encountered Jiming again.
“The Dao Sovereign has personally invited you to Mao Zhou ten times. Do you still refuse to ascend, Master?” Nanrao asked.
The early spring rain carried a hint of chill, falling on the blood-stained earth as if the land itself were bleeding.
Nanrao had followed her intuition here. Seeing Jiming still facing away, gazing at the corpse-strewn battlefield before them, she decided to join him, not bothering to use spiritual power to deflect the spring rain, letting it fall on her face.
“My father once told me that beyond the heavens lies the realm of immortals and gods. They view the mortal world with indifference, creating worlds with a wave of their hand and destroying them just as easily. He said when he breaks through the void and meets the divine, he’ll ask them to create a small world for my mother to be reborn. He’ll keep his promise, never disturbing her… just protecting the place where she resides.”
Nanrao remembered the look in the Red Emperor’s eyes when he said this—eyes that had been murky and dim for years, holding onto this single obsession.
“Don’t you have such a wish, Master?” Nanrao asked.
Jiming stooped to grasp a handful of crimson soil, his umbrella-holding hand tightening slightly. “At that time… I lost control.”
He knew he had chosen a path of killing, but never imagined this irreversible road would lead to losing control of his nature.
Knowing that killing Senlo would plunge Si Zhou into chaos, adding countless lives to the toll, he found that once he tasted the blood of evil demons, he couldn’t control the urge to exterminate them all.
The line between Buddha and demon often lies in a single thought.
As Nanrao listened to him slowly recount his final battle with Senlo and the frenzy of destroying Senlo’s primordial spirit, her eyes grew increasingly complex.
“Do I still resemble a Buddhist cultivator?” Jiming asked.
“Cultivators don’t care about how many die; they only care about becoming stronger,” Nanrao replied. “On my way here, I passed through Mao Zhou. Many cultivators were heading to Chou Shan Academy… They want to learn your path, to become the second person capable of killing a third-stage tribulation demon cultivator.”
“I’m unwilling to widely spread this path of killing and karma creation to those of impure heart. It easily leads to murderous karma,” Jiming said.
Nanrao’s tone turned indifferent: “But this path to immortality won’t cease its life-and-death struggles just because you stop.”
Jiming asked, “Why?”
Nanrao replied, “Everyone knows the great Dao is without emotion.”
Jiming turned to face her in the misty rain, his quiet black eyes reflecting Nanrao’s image. He said softly, “The great Dao may be without emotion, but… Jiming has emotions.”
As dim light finally broke through the gloomy sky, he turned back, handing her the umbrella before brushing past her and walking into the March rain.
…Just like the divine beings his father spoke of.
After that, Jiming personally went to the Hall of Righteous Law, accepting responsibility for quelling the chaos in Si Zhou. Within nine days, working alongside the Hall’s cultivators, he eliminated the rebellious demon sects. From then on, Si Zhou fell under the rule of the Heavenly Evil Dao, supervised by the Hall of Righteous Law.
Jiming’s submission to the Hall demonstrated his acknowledgment of the law and heralded the temporary end of the era where strength reigned supreme. The Hall of Righteous Law used this to establish its authority.
At the ascension ceremony set by Dao Sheng Tian, cultivators from all over the world gathered on the vast sea east of Zi Zhou, where Chou Zhou once stood.
Most cultivators hovered over the sea, while in the sky above were Zi Zhou’s floating palaces, Yin Zhou’s roc beasts, Chen Zhou’s dragon-headed warships… The main sects from each region had sent representatives to observe the ceremony.
“How did Ying Ze Wei subdue all the families in the lower regions in less than three months, making them willingly surrender their great Daos and follow only Dao Sheng Tian’s commands?” someone asked.
“I don’t know either. Why did the family head send me to Dao Sheng Tian to become his disciple? Who does Ying Ze Wei think he is, just an armchair strategist…”
As the complainer, who was of the same generation as Ying Ze Wei, spoke these words, his face suddenly turned pale. He looked towards Ying Ze Wei, who stood before the five sovereigns of Dao Sheng Tian, with terror in his eyes.
“What’s wrong with you?” someone nearby nudged him.
The man, covered in cold sweat, used spiritual energy to write in the air: “When I spoke his name, he heard it.”
They were ten miles away, and his voice wasn’t loud. Unless someone was intentionally listening, it shouldn’t have been noticed. As others were about to mock him, they were surprised to find that some people were also looking at Ying Ze Wei in shock.
“You’d better be careful. He recently entered the Nascent Soul realm, and his chosen path is that of Heaven and Earth’s righteous law. If you directly call his name, no matter where you are in the world, he will hear it.”
Everyone broke out in a cold sweat… Many factions planned to cause trouble after the Dao Sovereign’s ascension abandoned their schemes.
On the back of Yin Zhou’s roc beast, the Red Emperor was bidding farewell to his son and daughter.
“…Keep the Underworld Mirror with you. Before leaving, I’ve asked the Dao Sovereign to reinforce your demon heart with a fifth-stage tribulation Dao array. No one in the world can break it. Although I’ve infused Yun Fei with spirit, forcibly raising her to the Nascent Soul stage, that’s her limit. The rest is up to you. I’ve made the tendons of the ten-thousand-year blood Jiao from the North Sea into zither strings for Yi’er. He’s gentle and easily taken advantage of, so you must protect him.”
Despite their usual bickering, Nanrao felt sad as the moment of parting approached.
“When will you return?” she asked.
“Once I become an immortal or god, I can naturally return. The Dao Sovereign says there are heavens beyond heavens, and cultivation knows no time. I hope to attain the Dao and return before your lifespans end.”
As the Red Emperor finished speaking, the Dao Sovereign descended upon the realm-breaking celestial platform. The Dragon Lord couple and the Buddhist Repentance Lord also arrived.
“Jiming isn’t here for ascension. The Dao Sovereign said the realm-breaking celestial platform needs the combined power of five people to activate. He’s just here to assist,” the Red Emperor explained.
Following her father’s gaze, Nanrao’s eyes filled with confusion. “Why does the Buddhist Repentance Lord look so unsettled?”
The Red Emperor replied, “That’s probably because of that Ying Ze Wei boy. He’s truly merciless. Calling Jiming his elder, yet with one sentence about following the Hall of Righteous Law’s orders, he has Jiming subduing demons and ghosts today, conquering demons and monsters tomorrow.”
“Has Ying Ze Wei gone mad? Running through six regions in a day to implement the great laws of righteousness, isn’t he afraid of working himself to death?” Nanrao asked.
Nan Yi also frowned, saying, “The few times I’ve seen him these past months, he always looked exhausted. He just entered the Nascent Soul stage; such consumption might destabilize his Dao foundation.”
As Nanrao followed everyone’s gaze, she had a strange feeling… She thought she saw a smile on Ying Ze Wei’s usually calm face.
“Let the ascension ceremony begin! Today, humanity breaks through the realm to become immortals!” the Dao Sovereign’s voice shook heaven and earth. The realm-breaking celestial platform was engulfed in five brilliant lights, while the vast sea rolled back, isolating everything outside the platform.
The realm-breaking force shook heaven and earth. Soon, everyone saw a rift open in the sky.
People exclaimed excitedly, “They’re ascending… They’re ascending! One day, we too will ascend to the higher realms! From then on, we’ll have eternal life!”
Amidst the overwhelming cheers, only Nanrao’s heart suddenly pounded like a drum. Even her Red Emperor’s demon heart let out a faint, incomprehensible cry of sorrow.
Moments later, as the ascending brilliance faded and the rift in the sky began to close, a streak of blood suddenly flowed from the crack. At the same time, an unprecedented, murderous aura seeped out.
“What is that? Why does this aura feel so ominous?”
Wisps of red mist scattered from the rift, quickly condensing into a rain of blood. Soon after, something seemed to be frantically crashing against the rift. Then, a white-haired, blood-stained figure wrapped in blood-colored flames fell from the sky.
The people of Dao Sheng Tian seemed prepared. Several great Dao Heaven Masters moved together, shouting sternly:
“The sovereigns have ascended, but an evil demon from beyond has entered our world. Everyone, quickly slay it while its essence hasn’t recovered!”