Fan State.
A farmer with a hoe looked up at the gloomy sky, estimating there would be autumn rain today. He weighed the importance of his arthritic legs against the harvest in the field, then set down his hoe and returned to his thatched cottage.
“Father, why aren’t you plowing the field?”
“There’s thunder today, fire tomorrow. With disasters everywhere, even the government’s prayers are useless. Better to sleep at home.”
The child eating at the table looked up and said, “Dad, last night the earth dragon turned over. Our bamboo broke all over the ground. I looked, and they’re all rotten inside.”
“Then pick the good ones to make some rice dumplings.”
The child replied, “Can’t. They’re all rotten.”
His father frowned, “Bamboo grows in sections. There must be some good parts. How could they all be rotten?”
The child pouted, “Yesterday I saw immortals flying, fighting fiercely. A section that was cut off fell into neighbor Gou Wa’s pond. All the fish died. Our bamboo absorbed the pond water, so they all rotted too.”
“Nonsense. There are no immortals in this world.”
…
Zi State.
The emerald bamboo once praised throughout the land for its noble character, now lay on the ground, split by string winds, revealing pitch-black cores.
Everything was so empty and hollow. No one had known that beneath such a pure and lofty exterior lay hidden such a devouring maw.
“Xuanzai! The Sumeru Turtle is leading the remnants of the demon country to our borders—”
The urgent voice was cut off almost instantly by Ying Zeyou’s thought. Even as the ground of Zi State shook continuously beneath the floating mountain, his sword-holding hand didn’t waver in the slightest.
“You’ve underestimated the Fifth Decline of the Celestial Being.” The victor’s face showed no joy as he spoke softly, “Yigu, recognize the gap. You can’t save anyone.”
As he finished speaking, his sword tip slowly lowered. Seeing that Nan Yi had reached the end of his rope, a barely perceptible ripple appeared in his eyes, which had been filled with chaos for years, as they reflected Nan Yi’s dispirited silhouette.
Then Ying Zeyou turned and vanished from the floating mountain.
A void passage opened before Nan Yi, and Ao Guanghan’s voices came through from the other side.
“At the Fifth Decline realm, ordinary people can’t harm you except with Huie Iron. Come back. I’ll help you recover the lost lifespan.”
Nan Yi didn’t move. He said, “I know Huie Iron can kill gods and destroy demons, but even if it burns away his primordial spirit, the Red Emperor’s Demon Heart will still regenerate for him, won’t it?”
“…I never believed there are people who can be endlessly reborn. If killing once doesn’t work, then ten times. If ten times don’t work, then a hundred or a thousand times.”
“How much Huie Iron is there in the world?”
Ao Guanghan fell silent. Then he saw Nan Yi take out a dragon-shaped token and crush it directly.
“What are you doing?!” Ao Guanghan had a vague sense of foreboding.
Nan Yi said, “I’ll try to buy ten days. Take care of A-Yan. I’ve caused countless disasters in my life. I can’t… I can’t let evil people take so many lives in vain.”
With that, he cut off the connection amid Ao Guanghan’s angry shouts.
…
“It’s bad,” Ao Guanghan said with a gloomy face, making everyone’s hearts tighten.
“What’s wrong?”
“The Red Emperor’s cultivation is unparalleled. Since he created the Red Emperor’s Demon Heart, he must have a way to counter it. Nan Yi spent a long time in the Red Emperor’s tomb earlier. I’m afraid he found some way to counter the Demon Heart and is now preparing to use it at any cost.”
Needless to say, the price of sealing the Red Emperor’s Demon Heart would be his life.
“From the Fourth Decline, one can block the void. Now we probably can’t transmit to Zi State. At most, we can only transmit to Yin State and fly over.”
The Treasure Qi Tathagata was also deeply worried. He turned to look at Nan Yan and the others, fearing they might act rashly, only to find them standing there without reaction.
“Zhenyuan?”
Ao Guanghan suddenly sensed something. He waved his sleeve, revealing that those standing there were mere illusion shadows. The real people had already gone who knows where.
“Where are those little brats?”
Meanwhile, a snow-white nine-tailed fox was speeding through the void, carrying two people on its back.
Below the Nascent Soul stage, no one knew that after opening a passage, they would be surrounded by a vast, boundless starry sky. They seemed to be walking in starlight until they stepped onto the star of their destination.
This was void shifting, the most important sign of the Nascent Soul stage.
However, Nan Yan had no time to appreciate this beautiful scenery. An extremely ominous premonition made her heart race.
“Uncle gave up the teleportation talisman from the Dragon Lord. I’m afraid he’s prepared to fight to the death…” Nan Yan said through gritted teeth. “We must hurry.”
Yin Ya: “That’s easy for you to say. Can you two get off my back and run yourselves?”
Mu Zhanting: “No, we have four legs between us, you have four legs and nine tails. You’re still faster.”
Yin Ya irritably said, “Though it’s inappropriate, I still want to say… Nan Yan, why do you feel like a freshly cooked meatball?”
Nan Yan: “Huh?”
Yin Ya was running too fast. Just as they were about to see their destination, he suddenly hit something. His body flew backward, rolling twice, almost throwing the two off.
“What’s this?” Nan Yan looked up to see countless zither strings blocking all possible paths through the void ahead.
“…This is the Void Sealing Technique. Only those at the Fourth Decline of the Celestial State can perform it. I’m afraid we can’t teleport through,” she explained, her heart racing. If Nan Yi had sealed the void, it meant he didn’t want anyone interfering with his plans.
“Panicking won’t help now. Even if we rushed there, what could you do against a Celestial cultivator in their Fourth Decline who’s willing to sacrifice themselves? Offer your heart to the Way of Life Heaven from a thousand miles away?”
Yin Ya shook them off his back and turned to Nan Yan, “My fur’s singed. What’s going on with you?”
In her haste, Nan Yan hadn’t noticed, but now she realized her body had become extremely hot. Upon inspection, she found the heat wasn’t coming from her.
“What’s happening?”
Nan Yan paused, then quickly reacted by drawing a spatial rift in the air.
“Uncle once gave me my mother’s void realm position, but my cultivation was too low to unlock it then. This…” Before she could finish, a jet of flame burst from the void realm she’d opened, and a six-foot-tall phoenix flew out.
“Is that the Phoenix Sovereign?”
The phoenix, born alongside Nan Rang, had somehow hidden in the void realm. Now it emerged, its body aflame, anxiously flapping its wings in circles before diving into the zither string barrier.
Roaring flames instantly spread along the strings, which soon began to weaken.
Seeing this, Nan Yan gathered her strength and shattered a section of strings with a palm strike. But noticing the barrier’s tendency to regenerate, she urged, “It’s self-repairing. Hurry!”
The three rushed through the opening without further discussion. The phoenix, having expended its flames, seemed to falter. It circled once before landing and grasping Nan Yan’s clothes with its beak.
Saddened, Nan Yan turned to embrace the phoenix’s neck. “We’ll come back.”
The phoenix lowered its head, nuzzling her crown, then plucked a tail feather. The feather immediately transformed into two fiery red seeds, which it gestured for Nan Yan to keep.
Though unsure of their purpose, Nan Yan carefully stored the seeds, seeing the Phoenix Sovereign’s solemn manner. She then turned back to her companions:
“The path ahead is long and treacherous, likely not the way to immortality. With the world falling, we might be the first to die. But where there’s life, there’s hope.”
Yin Ya clicked his tongue. “Living in cowardice is the true endless purgatory.”
Nan Yan replied, “If you stick with me, your fellow demons might curse you.”
Yin Ya retorted, “Have you ever seen a fox spirit afraid of curses?”
“Then why hesitate?” Mu Zhanting grinned, embracing them both. “We may not have been born on the same day in the same year, but we can ascend to the pure land together. Having familiar faces to guide us in the afterlife isn’t a bad deal.”
…
In Zi State, the Nine Heavens trembled and the seas surged. A bloody tide rolled from the ominous black cloud-filled bridal chamber to the shore. The surviving commoners and fleeing low-level cultivators wailed and raged, but Zi State’s main sect, supposedly the world’s strongest, offered no defense.
“Why isn’t anyone saving us?!”
“They’ve always wanted all living beings to die! Look at those other states!”
“My child… my child hasn’t even lived a full life yet. He’s just learned to read. Why must he enter reincarnation?!”
The immortality-obsessed upper echelons ignored these cries, while the resurgent demon kingdom arrived, brimming with vengeance.
First to emerge were demon fish, like deep-sea fireflies. After lingering beneath the surface, they were washed ashore by the tides. Nourished by the Ten Thousand Exorcism Banners, they swiftly grew scale-covered limbs. Some still held pale human flesh in their mouths, their frenzied eyes searching for the few remaining living beings in this state.
Unguarded, unguarded, unguarded.
This intelligence spread quickly. Soon, twelve massive water platforms rose from the sea. Winged demons soared skyward from these platforms, letting out vengeful cries. Meanwhile, enormous figures appeared on the water-formed stages. Unlike the mindless demon beasts, most had humanoid forms. The few indistinguishable from humans possessed shockingly dense demonic energy.
Finally, an indescribably vast “sea island” surfaced near the shore. Its emergence alone triggered continuous tsunamis, scattering countless demons.
“Has the Way of Life Heaven fallen so far?”
This voice echoed throughout heaven and earth, filled with endless mockery. It caused the sea to recede, revealing glimpses of the entire demon kingdom, sealed beneath the ocean for a millennium.
“It seems I need not rush to act. My clan’s descendants, invade Zi State and slaughter the humans on land.”
The demons obeyed. As the vanguard of demon fish prepared to attack a coastal village, a streak of green light pierced through the ghostly mist, annihilating a large number of them.
A pale figure emerged from the mist, dragging long sealing chains in one hand. Yet he showed no fear facing the demon army led by Sumeru Turtle.
“A Zi State cultivator stands here.”
Mo Xingzhen had escaped his escorts back to Zi State days ago. The devastation he’d witnessed had numbed him, but with demons invading, he still stood forth to defend.
Before him stood countless demons and monsters, yet he stood alone, fearless in the face of death.
The remnants of the Demon State found this scene laughable. Sumiyan, the giant turtle spirit, roared with laughter, “I was curious how a mere Yuan Ying cultivator dared to speak so boldly. It turns out you’re the disciple of old Suihan’s lineage. I’ve been out of touch for too long. After Suihan’s death, it seems the Way of Heaven has become a path for ghosts. What a grand joke!”
Countless demons joined in the laughter, their voices shaking the roofs off nearby houses. Mo Xingzheng caught sight of trembling women and children inside, and a mix of determination and sorrow welled up in his eyes.
“As long as a single cultivator from Zizhou remains, we will never allow demons to violate our borders!” he declared.
Sumiyan let out a cold laugh, tacitly permitting the attack. Instantly, the demon birds circling overhead swooped down. But just before they could tear Xingzheng apart, the world suddenly froze. Every demon’s movement halted as if time itself had stopped.
After what seemed like the blink of an eye, Sumiyan let out an angry roar, and blood rain began to pour from the sky.
Xingzheng’s eyes widened as he saw a figure emerging from the blood rain. Hope surged in his heart. “Master—”
“Sumiyan,” Ying Zeyou spoke as if in a good mood, a hint of a smile in his voice as he addressed the ancestral spirit of the demon race. “You carry the ruins of the Demon State on your back. What a pity. Building the Fengdu City upon it would be quite fitting.”
His words implied that he saw the demon’s ancestral spirit as nothing more than an object.
“How dare you!” Sumiyan exploded with rage. Mountains roared and seas surged as he charged towards Ying Zeyou with the force of ten thousand mountains—a display of power beyond mere beasts, nearly the might of heaven and earth itself.
Mountains toppled, rivers reversed course, and roaring tides threatened to submerge the entire State beneath the sea.
Yet, just as this immense force was about to reach Zizhou’s coast, Ying Zeyou—a cultivator in the Fifth Tribulation of the Celestial State—raised his hand and made a gentle gesture. Once again, everything fell silent.
Waves stilled, mountains returned to their places, and rivers grew quiet.
“You—!” Sumiyan gasped.
“People often say the younger generation can’t compare to their elders,” Ying Zeyou mused. “After dwelling in the sea for so many years, don’t you know how things have changed? When the Six Venerables were around, you might have had a chance to reign supreme. But now that I’ve entered the Fifth Tribulation, all you can do is flee in defeat.”
As Ying Zeyou’s fingers moved slowly, Sumiyan watched in horror as his massive body, as large as a State, began to turn against his will.
“The student has indeed surpassed the master,” Sumiyan realized, his long-held grudges overturned in an instant.
This was no longer the era of old war-horses. While they had been basking in past glories, young powerhouses had already risen to rule the world.
The demon race couldn’t accept it, nor could their ancestral spirit, but it was an undeniable reality.
“I’ll give you one chance,” Ying Zeyou offered. “Submit to my grand design and become a guardian beast of the realm, or become a ghost in the underworld.”
Sumiyan, who had never been able to turn over since birth lest he destroy everything he carried on his back—the remaining bloodlines of the demon race—spoke with a suddenly aged voice: “I am the ancestral spirit of the demon race. I would rather die than submit to another race. However, to preserve what’s left of our realm, I am willing to pay a price! Speak plainly, cunning human.”
Ying Zeyou lowered his hand, a hint of madness gleaming in his chaos-filled eyes.
“The elders of my sect are getting old, and the younger generation is unwilling to follow the same path. It’s quite troublesome,” he said. “Look at this vast sea. Pick a State you like as a greeting gift. As for the rest… sink them all.”
“Master?!” Mo Xingzheng staggered to his feet as if seeing Ying Zeyou for the first time. “Have human lives always been this cheap to you?”
As Sumiyan began to turn towards the Yin State in Ying Zeyou’s direction, the master looked down at his disciple and said coolly, “Xingzheng, do you still harbor unrealistic fantasies about me? Perhaps you’ll be even more disappointed soon.”
“Was the master I knew before a lie?” Xingzheng asked.
“Before?” Ying Zeyou paused to reflect. “You only saw a single leaf and thought it was the whole world. It just shows how limited your perspective is… If you’re willing to let go of that leaf, you’ll discover that I am far more terrifying than you imagined.”
Xingzheng laughed bitterly. “Then why don’t you just kill me? How much more do you want to show me?”
“Don’t worry… everything will end soon. Before that, I’d like to finish our last game of chess.”
As Ying Zeyou spoke, he watched Sumiyan’s retreating form. Two hearts beat quietly in his chest.
Everything was going well, everything was proceeding according to his plan. The only confusion was that he didn’t know where his own heart had gone.
“You don’t deserve to be a teacher.”
When Nan Yi’s voice sounded, Ying Zeyou felt a rare pain in his heart. Then the Demon Heart of the Red Emperor quickly dimmed, covered by a layer of frost.
No magic or spiritual power could melt this frost—it was the karmic consequence the Red Emperor had tied to this demon’s heart. Sacrificing a cultivator in the Fourth Tribulation of the Celestial State would seal the Demon Heart.
Mo Xingzheng turned sharply to see Nan Yi standing silently behind them.
A blue spirit fish swam up from the zither strings to Nan Yi’s bleeding fingers, circling a few times before lightly touching his brow.
“Jiao’er, are you afraid?” he asked.
The blue fish nuzzled him affectionately. Nan Yi’s face showed a pale smile as his form gradually turned to light and sand.
“I’ve entrusted everything to the Dragon Lord. My remaining life was short anyway. This time, our souls will scatter to the winds… In our next life, perhaps you’ll be a blade of grass, and I’ll be a stubborn stone.”
“I’ll remember you for ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years… If I achieve human form again, I hope I won’t be blind, and I hope you won’t leave me.”
He used his last moments to make a promise to his loved one, while Ying Zeyou, temporarily sealed, clutched his chest and watched his old friend disintegrate, whispering.
“Yigu, why did you have to do this? Ten days… a mere ten days. You knew no one in this world could kill me.”
As he finished speaking, Sumiyan suddenly roared in the distance. In an instant, the vast sea turned into a still lake.
As if reaching some predestined end, Ying Zeyou looked up and said, “Lord of Buddhist Repentance, the Dao follows nature, nature follows heaven. Going against heaven is not the act of a wise man.”
Where the moon first rose, Jiming, bathed in moonlight, gently stopped Sumiyan’s hand, even tenderly patting the giant turtle’s nose before answering softly:
“The Dao follows nature, but the Buddha’s law is boundless.”