The wind was strong on the mountaintop after nightfall, causing the branches to sway and flowers to fall continuously.

Qing Ying stood at the back of the sect members. No matter how fierce the wind and rain, she remained completely unmoved.

Ming Li glanced at the tiny cracks on her porcelain-white skin. Fu Yuan didn’t turn around but casually took off his outer garment and passed it back. She took it before the other spectators arrived at Boundary Peak and draped it over Qing Ying’s head to conceal her.

The silent fury of the Bei Dou people spread throughout the mountaintop of Boundary Peak.

They didn’t turn around, but in the moment of their arrival, they saw Qing Ying’s appearance: the person who once smiled and called out to them had been transformed by artifice techniques into a puppet whose breathing was barely perceptible. Her bloodless skin bore unmistakable cracks, like a ceramic vessel that had been shattered and pieced back together.

And they had thought Qing Ying had been dead for years.

Ming Li walked step by step toward Cui Yuanxi.

“Young Master!”

Ghost Mansion, Dean, and others who arrived later wanted to move forward but were blocked by Qu Zhuyue and the others.

People from Tai Yi and Dongyang landed at the edge to watch. Ye Yiyi, oblivious to the killing intent permeating the mountaintop, asked curiously: “Did your Nan Que Young Master fall in love with someone from Bei Dou?”

Only Cui Yuanxi, lying pathetically on the ground, unable to rise yet stubbornly crawling forward, remained undeterred. His face was desperate, but his gaze fixed past the crowd at Qing Ying behind them. His fingers curled with effort as he tried to move forward, but star lines rose from the ground, piercing through his body, creating hole after hole. Blood splattered everywhere, pinning him firmly in place.

Blood welled in Cui Yuanxi’s throat as he mumbled unclearly: “Qing… come… here…”

He couldn’t believe the puppet would refuse his command.

Qing Ying stepping back was already the greatest resistance she could manage. Due to the contractual relationship between puppet and master, she vaguely began walking forward.

Fu Yuan laughed coldly: “Keep dreaming.”

Her fellow disciples blocked her path.

Commanding a puppet required the Spiritual Court Meridian, so Ming Li raised her hand toward Cui Yuanxi and, borrowing the endless Star Force from the natural formation, cast the spirit technique Soul Stripping.

The Eight Star Meridians within Cui Yuanxi’s body resonated in an attempt to save themselves from the attack. He suddenly threw his head back, veins bulging in his neck, and screamed in unbearable agony as his Spiritual Court Meridian was stripped away.

The wretched scream made people’s hair stand on end.

Ghost Mansion watched anxiously and angrily: “Young Master!”

Ming Li looked at the suffering Cui Yuanxi with an indifferent expression: “Your Star Meridians are far less important than my junior sister.”

Cui Yuanxi’s body arched in pain. From a distance came an angry shout: “Bei Dou!”

Star Force erupted on the mountain. Several sword shadows flew toward the Bei Dou members, carrying intense killing intent and towering rage. Qu Zhuyue flew to stand before Dou Lanmin, blocking the sword intent while guiding Qing Ying backward to retreat beneath the cherry tree.

Fu Yuan and Black Fox Mask were driven back by the sword shadows. Though mere shadows, they carried a powerful pressure, making it feel like fighting against real swords even when blocked with blades.

Tianji and Tian Shu stopped engaging with Ghost Mansion and the others, each using Flash Shadow to appear before their disciples, blocking the sword shadows from the Pilgrim.

Dou Lanmin touched the cut on his cheek made by a sword shadow, then hissed in pain. Looking down, he saw his hand covered in blood.

Even though Qu Zhuyue had come quickly enough, he still got injured.

Was this the power of a Pilgrim?

A long sword gleaming with bewitching red light landed between Ming Li and Cui Yuanxi with a whooshing sound. After emitting a threatening, warning sword cry, countless sword shadows from all directions surrounded Ming Li and attacked.

The Bei Dou people’s hearts sank at the sight. They had just learned that Ming Li had returned to life, but not at the Pilgrim level—how could she block Cui Yaocen’s killing move?

The shifting star lines of the ground formation gave Ming Li buffering time. As Qu Zhuyue and others were about to come to help, she unhesitatingly threw out Shi Fei in her hand. When the wick ignited, flowers scattered in thousands upon thousands.

Bei Dou’s supreme divine weapon was precisely the counter to Cui Yaocen’s sword technique.

Through the sword light and flying flowers, Nan Que’s Pilgrim appeared before Cui Yuanxi, filled with anger. Each word she spoke seemed bitten through: “Ming. Li.”

Ming Li slightly lifted her eyelids to look at her, saying neither lightly nor heavily: “Your timing is truly unfortunate. If you had been a bit slower, I would have destroyed all his Star Meridians.”

Cui Yaocen glanced at her younger brother writhing on the ground in pain from having his Star Meridian forcibly stripped, her expression darkening. She gripped her sword hilt, making no attempt to hide the viciousness and killing intent between her brows: “You’re not dead.”

Ye Yuanqing, who had landed in the Tai Yi camp, grimly looked toward Ming Li. The same face, the same demeanor—everything was the same, yet everything was different.

What could be confirmed now was: she wasn’t dead.

Or rather, she had returned alive.

Ming Li smiled slightly: “Your Nan Que deans attacked my Bei Dou, killed my masters, your brother imprisoned my junior sister, and you… used my junior sister to treat Jiang Ying’s Star Meridian. With all this, I could be brought back to life even if I were dead.”

The words were amusing, but no one present could laugh.

Ye Yuanqing inconspicuously moved Ye Yiyi behind him, one hand on his sword hilt, ready to draw and kill at any moment.

Ming Li glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “What are you nervous about? Were the thirty-nine people who attacked Bei Dou also from Tai Yi?”

This remark drew the attention of both Bei Dou and the Dongyang people toward Ye Yuanqing of Tai Yi.

The Bei Dou group behind her felt anxious for her. In her current state of single meridian full boundary, provoking Cui Yaocen wasn’t enough—she had to challenge Ye Yuanqing as well.

Yin Luo said solemnly: “Brothers, will we be able to leave Nan Que alive?”

Black Fox Mask: “If someone has to die, it’ll be you, not me.”

Fu Yuan: “Me neither.”

Yin Luo turned to ask Dou Lanmin: “Junior Brother—”

Dou Lanmin pointed at Ming Li and said, “Senior Brother! Have some faith in Senior Sister!”

Yin Luo snorted, muttering: “Well, I certainly can’t let her die a second time, even if I have to die myself.”

He then looked at fake Chen Zhou who had been dragged over and was lying beside him: “If you don’t talk, you won’t survive either. You’ll be the first to die.”

Fake Chen Zhou laughed coldly.

Yin Luo exclaimed and squatted down to stare at him: “You’re still laughing?”

Ye Yuanqing paused at Ming Li’s words, and Ming Li turned to look at him: “Am I right?”

Ye Yiyi peeked out from behind her father and scolded: “What nonsense are you spouting! You’re no longer a Pilgrim—how dare you speak to my father like that!”

Ming Li wasn’t angry, merely smiling. Suddenly, star lines and spell marks appeared beneath Ye Yiyi’s feet. Ye Yuanqing immediately drew his sword and struck down, shouting: “Pi Xiu, take her away!”

“Father!” Ye Yiyi was stunned as she was forcibly taken away by Pi Mansion and others from Tai Yi.

Cui Yaocen and Ye Yuanqing moved simultaneously—one attacking Ming Li, the other blocking the Qi Circulation word technique Ming Li had pointed out.

After blocking Ming Li’s Qi Circulation word technique, Ye Yuanqing observed the swirling star lines on the ground and formed an idea.

Borrowing Star Force from the natural formation to compensate for her current deficiency, expanding the formation across all of Nan Que—she was as clever as ever, always providing surprises in Star Meridian techniques.

Ye Yuanqing stood with his sword and said: “This is a grudge between you and Nan Que, unrelated to Tai Yi, and unrelated to me.”

Ming Li glanced at Cui Yaocen, who was blocked by Shi Fei’s flying flowers. Her palm was slightly numb after blocking the sword shadows earlier—clearly, her current strength was still insufficient.

Moreover, Cui Yaocen seemed more powerful than before.

She had been dead for five years, and people had been progressing and growing stronger—not too surprising.

Ming Li said to Ye Yuanqing, “Then don’t just stand by watching.”

Ye Yuanqing looked at Cui Yaocen without speaking, then turned and left.

Song Tianjiu, the young sect master of Dongyang, quietly stepped back and said to the others: “Why don’t we leave too? This doesn’t concern us.”

Dongyang members: “…”

Cui Yaocen’s sword pressure descended. Shi Fei’s flowers spun rapidly, neutralizing every sword shadow she released. She stared at Ming Li behind them: “I don’t know why you’re not dead, but you’re not at Eight Meridian full boundary now. Mere single meridian full boundary—you dare come to my Nan Que and act so wildly?”

“I’ve killed your Nan Que deans and disciples, shattered your sect’s Infinite Mirror, and crippled your brother’s Star Meridian,” Ming Li picked up the Divine Wood Bow. “All with mere single meridian full boundary.”

Cui Yaocen swept her sword horizontally, sending sword shadows to kill the Bei Dou members behind Ming Li, while instructing Ghost Mansion: “Don’t let a single Bei Dou person escape.”

Before Ghost Mansion could respond, an explosion sounded from afar. Within the visible range of the Heavy Eyes Meridian, Ghost Mansion’s gate had been blown apart.

Ming Li said politely to Cui Yaocen: “We’re not the only ones causing havoc in Nan Que.”

As she spoke, she blocked Cui Yaocen’s sword shadows.

Southern Earth Demons and Ice Desert Earth Demons were wreaking havoc in Nan Que, slaughtering disciples indiscriminately.

“Take Junior Sister away first,” Ming Li said with her back to the Bei Dou group. “Also take that person called Jiang Ying.”

Leaving would be safer than facing the enraged Cui Yaocen.

Qu Zhuyue, usually decisive, hesitated for a moment. Ming Li knew what she was thinking without looking back and smiled: “Don’t worry, Aunt Qu. I’ll come see you all alive.”

“While waiting for me, you might want to ask that impostor where my senior brother is.”

Only then did Qu Zhuyue say: “Be careful.”

Cui Yaocen laughed angrily at Ming Li’s dismissal of her by letting the Bei Dou people leave: “Where do you think this is?!”

She stopped attacking Ming Li and turned to attack Qu Zhuyue and the others.

Black rune characters appeared on Cui Yaocen’s hand as she pointed her sword at the Bei Dou people: “Fall.”

A Pilgrim’s Qi Circulation word technique could be shortened to a single word, not even requiring speech.

Dou Lanmin, who had Flash Shadowed away from the mountaintop, felt a sudden heavy pressure bearing down on him, making him feel as if his bones would break. Even with his Star Force operating at its limit, he was still falling. Black Fox Mask turned back to pull him up.

The Qi Circulation Meridian controlled the world’s “qi”—its operation and manifestation required only a command.

Ming Li increased her Star Force again, making the star lines on the ground even brighter. She also pointed a Qi Circulation word technique at Cui Yaocen: “Fall.”

With the same word “fall,” the ground beneath Cui Yaocen suddenly collapsed. She Flash Shadowed with a moment’s confusion, then her face darkened when she realized that under Ming Li’s Qi Circulation word technique suppression, her Flash Shadow speed was slower than usual.

This meant she was indeed affected.

The mighty Pilgrim’s Flash Shadow speed was affected by a single meridian full boundary cultivator’s Qi Circulation word technique!

Cui Yaocen’s proud heart couldn’t accept this.

Kill her.

Kill her while she’s still at single meridian full boundary!

Cui Yaocen said: “You should have foreseen what would happen to Bei Dou after your death.”

A sword scream exploded in Ming Li’s ears. With every word Cui Yaocen spoke, it felt like knives piercing her eardrums. She frowned slightly.

Thunderous Roar Meridian high-level spirit technique: Flying Sound.

Unlike Qi Circulation word techniques, this attack used sound. Whenever she opened her mouth to speak, the sounds became materialized attacks. The tremendous noise affected Ming Li’s hearing and suppressed her Thunderous Roar Meridian.

Cui Yaocen suddenly accelerated, flashing behind her, and whispered maliciously: “While alive, you made many enemies who waited for your death to trouble Bei Dou, countless. But what does this have to do with my Nan Que? The fault is yours—you were too arrogant and imperious, too dismissive of others, thinking you could protect Bei Dou forever? Your lifetime was merely those twenty-some years.”

Ming Li turned around. As Cui Yaocen spoke, the Flying Sound attacks grew stronger. If not for Shi Fei still protecting her, she would already be deaf.

A streak of blood trickled from her right ear. Cui Yaocen raised her hand to strike with another sword shadow, saying: “You’ve already weakened to the point of having to imitate Book Sage’s Qi Circulation word techniques. With this little strength, you still think you can save Qu Zhuyue and the others?”

Ming Li vaguely saw Qu Zhuyue and the others who hadn’t managed to escape behind Cui Yaocen. However, the tragic scene flashed by in an instant.

Seeing that she hadn’t fallen into her Divine Radiance illusion, Cui Yaocen’s gaze paused, with long-unfelt emotions surging in her heart.

Why?

Why, even though her Heart Meridian wasn’t at full boundary now, was she still unaffected by her Divine Radiance illusion?

Ming Li blinked, her gaze clear, looking at the displeased Cui Yaocen and asked: “Do you know how to solve an Eight Meridian formation?”

Cui Yaocen felt insulted: “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Asking a Pilgrim if they knew how to solve an Eight Meridian formation? Insulting! If a Pilgrim didn’t know, who in this world would?

Ming Li faintly heard her response and asked again: “Then do you know how to solve the Mirage Sea formed by a natural formation as its anchoring formation?”

Only then did Cui Yaocen realize something was wrong. When she spotted the black spell rune characters moving under Ming Li’s sleeve, her expression changed instantly. She grabbed the unconscious, pain-stricken Cui Yuanxi and prepared to leave the mountaintop.

Although Ming Li could no longer hear sounds, she said softly, “Too late.”

Cui Yaocen, who had already reached the edge of the mountaintop, was swallowed by the formation beneath her feet and disappeared, leaving only Cui Yuanxi behind.

In terms of strength, Ming Li indeed couldn’t defeat Cui Yaocen at the Eight Meridian full boundary.

But she had borrowed Nan Que’s natural formation, gaining limitless Star Force within this formation. The Nan Que people had underestimated the power of the Four Scenery Formation. Perhaps someone had thought of modifying natural formations for their use before, but hadn’t succeeded.

Coincidentally, Ming Li was the first to succeed.

Cui Yaocen hated her, not just for stealing her spotlight.

It was also because Ming Li’s appearance created a comparison of strength between the Pilgrims.

The mountaintop, with its active and turbulent Star Force, finally calmed down. Ming Li raised her hand to touch her ear, then suddenly turned to look at the ruins behind.

Ice Desert Earth Demons appeared with Flash Shadow.

The lonely swordsman in the oiled paper wrapping stood at the back, his expression unreadable. Zhou Xiang hid behind Cheng Jingbai. The young man applauded her: “Brilliant.”

Lin Xiao, his white clothes immaculate, smiled slightly: “Dou Lanmin left some divine weapons with me. I wonder if you have time to pass them to him?”

Ming Li couldn’t hear, her gaze sweeping across these people one by one, finally resting on the cherry tree beside the ruins.

Zhou Zixi walked from beneath the tree to stand before the Ice Desert Earth Demons, raising his eyes to gaze at his senior sister from afar.