The appearance of Ye Yuanqing and Ming Li made both Zhong Anqi and Zhou Yi breathe sighs of relief.

Zhou Yi was even grateful that Ming Li hadn’t come alone, but had brought Black Fox Mask and Fu Yuan with her, because he subconsciously believed that Ming Li, who hadn’t broken through her boundaries, was no match for the Pilgrim Ye Yuanqing.

Ming Li’s gaze casually swept over the seven Life and Death Realm cultivators standing on both sides of the street and on the rooftops, then passed over the pale-faced Zhong Anqi and Gu Qi, who were lying in the crater unable to get up, before finally returning to Ye Yuanqing.

She said, “I followed the person impersonating my senior brother here, only to find that the various members of Tai Yi are also present.”

Gu Qi kept coughing up blood, trying to get up from the crater. He no longer looked like Chen Zhou, having returned to his original face. Zhong Anqi seemed to finally react, immediately drawing his sword to attack, when Ming Li and the others all looked at him. He was stopped by Ye Yuanqing, who placed a hand on his shoulder. “Stand down.”

Ye Yiyi trembled as she called out: “Senior Brother…”

Hearing Ye Yiyi’s voice, cold sweat broke out on Zhong Anqi’s forehead, and the hand holding his sword began to shake.

Ming Li asked: “Is your disciple trying to fight me for this person?”

Ye Yuanqing glanced at Gu Qi with a calm expression. “You can take him.”

Ming Li asked: “Why do I need your permission?”

Ye Yuanqing said, “Because this isn’t the North.”

Ming Li heard this and smiled.

She walked step by step toward Gu Qi in the crater without looking back, but said, “Young Master of the Zhou family, didn’t you want to tell me something?”

Zhou Yi finally came to his senses. His gaze followed Ming Li, but he collapsed again from exhaustion and was supported by the commander beside him, who advised in a low voice: “Young Master…”

He shook his head, took a deep breath, and his eyes became determined as he looked up at Ming Li again: “Someone made me promise that after I got out, I must tell Bei Dou where the real Chen Zhou is.”

Ming Li stopped in her tracks, looking down at the now-frozen Gu Qi.

Zhong Anqi could barely control his trembling hand. He knew in his heart that someday these secrets would be revealed, but he had never imagined it would be under such circumstances.

The Ye siblings looked at Zhou Yi in surprise, seemingly not understanding what he was saying. Only Ye Yuanqing remained composed and calm.

He just stood there, at a certain distance from Zhou Yi, his gaze neither sad nor happy, neither angry nor upset as he looked at him.

But this very gaze made Zhou Yi increasingly angry and hateful, completely overwhelming the fear he had once felt because of him.

Zhou Yi’s body trembled uncontrollably, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Ye Yuanqing without blinking as he said: “Chen Zhou once accidentally entered a pit where Star Power couldn’t be used, along with Zhong Anqi and Gu Qi. That’s the main source of goods for the Tai Yi Merchant Association. Led by Ye Yuanqing, they captured large numbers of earth ghosts from the West to work as slaves in the pit, mining jade. Because they couldn’t sense Star Power or use Star Meridian abilities—no different from ordinary people—Chen Zhou was also treated as a slave in the pit, suffering inhuman torture. The people there called Chen Zhou a ‘pig slave,’ beating, cursing, and humiliating him at will, making him kneel whenever they wanted… He’s been in the pit for years, tortured until he became someone without self-identity, verbally acknowledging himself as a ‘pig slave’ rather than Chen Zhou!”

After these words, the street fell into brief silence.

Zhou Zixi stood in the shadows beneath the eaves farthest back, entangled with the light and shadows swayed by the wind, his expression obscure, slightly raising his eyelids to look toward Zhou Yi ahead.

Fu Yuan’s sword rang out. Although the two Bei Dou disciples hadn’t spoken a word, the Star Power around them suddenly surged.

Black Fox Mask and Fu Yuan were both at the peak of the Seven Meridians Complete Boundary. Both had specialized Star Meridian techniques. Taking them individually in one-on-one combat, they were formidable opponents even against Life and Death Realm cultivators.

Compared to their furious reactions, Ming Li remained calm, merely raising her eyes to look at Ye Yuanqing, as if trying to see the truth in his eyes.

Zhou Yi said, “What I experienced, he must have experienced too.”

“Zhou Yi…” Ye Yiyi looked at him in disbelief. “What are you saying…”

Zhou Yi didn’t look at her, still staring at Ye Yuanqing. “Zhong Anqi and Gu Qi stepped on Chen Zhou to get out. One said nothing, while the other went to Bei Dou to impersonate him. Zhong Anqi, how can you still say you have the face to meet people from Bei Dou?”

As the Ye siblings listened, they couldn’t help but look at Zhong Anqi, whose back was turned to them. It was visibly obvious that his arms holding the sword were trembling.

Why?

Could it be true?

Ye Yiyi’s eyes widened, and she couldn’t help covering her mouth with her hand.

“Leaving aside Chen Zhou, just those earth ghosts being used as slaves in the pit… this is completely different from how the continent deals with earth ghosts. Aren’t they supposed to be killed on sight? Why are you able to use them as slaves? Just because you’re an Eight Meridians Complete Boundary Pilgrim?”

Zhou Yi spoke with increasing anger. “Ye Yuanqing, do you know what kind of place the pit is, what people go through there? Their dignity, bodies, and sense of self trampled upon, stripped naked and humiliated, slaves forced to impregnate female earth ghosts to breed the next generation of slave earth ghosts… You must know how Wang Geng treats the slaves!”

He was too angry; his current anger overshadowed everything, including fear and reason, making him fearless. Nothing mattered anymore. Even if he died now, it wouldn’t matter. Before that happened, he was determined to speak his mind.

Zhou Yi turned his spearhead toward Zhong Anqi, laughing coldly: “You’re the Senior Brother of Tai Yi, a disciple of the Pilgrim, Chen Zhou’s friend, enjoying limitless glory in the West. Do you think you’re still the straightforward person you once were? You said there’s nothing you don’t dare face—then clearly state what you experienced in the pit! Tell us what Chen Zhou went through in there, tell us how you betrayed him, speak up!”

Zhong Anqi felt his entire body turn cold. His master’s cold gaze left him with a breath stuck in his chest that wouldn’t dissipate. His head spun, and the entire world seemed to rotate before his eyes.

Ye Yiyi’s call of “Senior Brother” awakened him. Zhong Anqi’s hand gripping the sword turned white as he suppressed all emotions, saying expressionlessly: “This person impersonating Chen Zhou has nothing to do with me.”

Zhou Yi looked at him and smiled sarcastically. “You coward who betrayed your friend.”

“Cough, cough…” Gu Qi, lying in the crater, began to laugh at this moment. He couldn’t get up and seemed to give up, lying back down to look at the night sky above. “You’re both right. He is a coward who betrayed his friend, but my impersonation of Chen Zhou at Bei Dou truly had nothing to do with him.”

Zhong Anqi couldn’t help but give him a cold look, with some hatred in his eyes. If only they had let Bei Dou believe that Chen Zhou had died in the battle at the Bei Jing Gui Yuan, none of this would have happened!

“The ones who sent me to Bei Dou as an undercover agent were the Cui siblings,” Gu Qi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, seeming as fearless as Zhou Yi. “The South and West are adjacent. The southern families have numerous dealings with the western merchant associations. Cui Yaocen had her brother investigate Tai Yi’s source of goods, and he found the location of the pit. He disguised himself as a member of the First Line Hong Merchant Association and entered the pit, where he saw Zhong Anqi and Chen Zhou. But he only took Zhong Anqi away. Why didn’t he take Chen Zhou?”

“After what happened at Nan Que, you should know why he didn’t take Chen Zhou.”

Because of Qing Ying and jealousy.

Gu Qi finished speaking and coughed twice more, as if speaking these things out loud would make him feel better. “But Cui Yuanxi didn’t know that Chen Zhou’s junior sister Qing Ying had also secretly followed him in. To be honest, I was able to get out thanks to Qing Ying, unlike Tai Yi’s Senior Brother. Cui Yuanxi told him that between Chen Zhou and himself, only one could leave—either leave now or wait until your master discovered it and took you away.”

Only then did Zhong Anqi learn that the true owner of the pit was Ye Yuanqing.

But if he had waited a little longer, waited until Ye Yuanqing came… Zhong Anqi couldn’t wait. In such a hellish place, he couldn’t wait even a moment.

“Zhong Anqi chose to leave with Cui Yuanxi right away, so that night, he had Chen Zhou go to Xianchi in his place. Chen Zhou thought he was just going to work at Xianchi.” Gu Qi laughed until tears came to his eyes as he recounted this part. “Then he saw Zhong Anqi get into the departing carriage, while I held Qing Ying hostage right in front of Chen Zhou. She had come to rescue him. I threatened Cui Yuanxi to take me with him, or I’d kill his precious darling. Ha, ha, he agreed.”

At that moment, the wind sweeping through the street stopped, all sounds of nature ceased, leaving only Gu Qi’s laughter.

Chen Zhou had also had chances to leave, more than once, but they all failed. Because he saw Qing Ying, he believed Wang Geng’s subsequent words, fearing she would be sent back into this man-eating place. As a result, he suffered more injuries, which gave Wang Geng more ways to torture him.

Zhong Anqi’s entire body froze, his mind rapidly flashing through countless images.

Gu Qi raised his hand to point at Zhou Yi. “Don’t be so angry and aggrieved, acting like you’re the only good person in the world, self-righteously standing on high ground, accusing others. Who the hell do you think you are to be a good person? Do you dare say that if you were given the choice to escape the pit by choosing between yourself and Chen Zhou, you would choose Chen Zhou? Not to mention, you had no connection to Chen Zhou—abandoning a stranger to escape hell, what do you think you would do? You know what kind of place that is, what people go through there, so you should understand better than anyone what choices people make in that situation.”

Zhou Yi’s face paled further at his words.

“After you got out, didn’t you also fail to immediately tell Bei Dou? I see you didn’t get out by yourself either. Have you thought about what would happen to whoever helped you escape and stayed behind in the pit?”

Gu Qi lay on the ground with his arms spread wide, laughing and crying: “I thought I’d be free after getting out, but who knew that Cui Yuanxi, that idiot, would insist on taking a sword strike from her, attracting her sister Cui Yaocen. Our Tai Yi Pilgrim arrived too late; by the time he got there, everyone had already been taken back to the South, leaving only his disciple.”

“I don’t know what agreement the Pilgrims of the West and South reached to suppress this matter. I only know that Cui Yaocen wanted me to impersonate Chen Zhou and go to Bei Dou to monitor the war at Bei Jing Gui Yuan for her. Coincidentally, you had died at that time.” Gu Qi struggled to half-sit up, covering his injured shoulder with one hand as he looked up at Ming Li. “Come to think of it… all of this is your fault.”

Gu Qi cried tears of blood, looking with hatred at the perpetually calm Ming Li. “You’re called the strongest and most talented Pilgrim on the continent, yet you knew nothing, discovered nothing! If you had discovered earlier that your senior brother and junior sister were missing, none of this would have happened! Chen Zhou wouldn’t have been tortured in the pit, and your junior sister Qing Ying wouldn’t have been made into a puppet. What right did you have to die first at Bei Jing Gui Yuan? You died, and that was that, but others had to live a fate worse than death! Aren’t you a Pilgrim? I don’t see anything great about you. Strongest and most talented? I think you’re the stupidest, weakest, and least capable one! What’s the point of your return to life now? You might as well have died cleanly at Bei Jing Gui Yuan, then I might have believed you didn’t—”

“Shut up.” Fu Yuan, unable to endure it any longer, swung his sword at him.

Gu Qi dodged to the side, but thick blood still welled up in his throat. Yet he continued to stare at Ming Li, whose expression showed no change. She seemed not to have been angered at all by his words.

During Gu Qi’s speech, Ming Li suddenly recalled the battle with the priest and chief of the Youyou tribe on the vast plains of Bei Jing Gui Yuan. The man dressed in white robes with gold patterns had looked at her with regret, shaking his head, saying she shouldn’t have come.

If she hadn’t gone, allowing the thirty-three tribes to attack the inner city, the first to be massacred would have been Bei Dou, followed by the Seven Star City, thousands of states across the entire northern region, tens of thousands of cities, then advancing south, west, or east until they had trampled the entire Tonggu Continent.

The black-robed priest had told her: “Those not of our kind must be killed; the true masters of this continent are not you.”

The white-robed chief had extended his hand to her, saying: “What we want is you. You are also one of our people, and the only one.”

The Youyou tribe’s people didn’t necessarily want to kill her, but they would kill those she wanted to protect.

Ming Li remembered the power of the Youyou tribe, vaguely having a blurred impression, a guess about the cause of her death, but her memory seemed to have disappeared with the sealing of her eight meridians, leaving only a fragmented outline that she couldn’t reconcile.

The great fire on the plains, the people of the Youyou tribe looking at her in the fierce flames, those gazes full of regret and sorrow.

*

Fu Yuan held his sword, his gaze ice-cold as he pointed at Gu Qi below. “You who tried to replace Chen Zhou and become him have no right to say these things, and no right to blame others for your mistakes. Just thinking that someone like you has been living in Bei Dou these past few years, impersonating him, makes me sick. You think everyone would make the same despicable choices as you, thinking your experience was tragic, craving freedom is blameless, but you must face the anger of Bei Dou for these years of deception.”

As his words fell, he was already at Gu Qi’s side, his blade across his throat as if about to slash. Gu Qi, who had raised his head, smiled strangely, his eyes reflecting the watery figure behind Fu Yuan. Fu Yuan also saw the watery figure appearing behind Gu Qi.

Virtual entities! The same technique as in Nan Que!

Black Fox Mask and Ming Li both flashed into action simultaneously. Ming Li’s hand wrapped in Star Power precisely gripped the vital point of the watery figure trying to slit Fu Yuan’s throat from behind, while Black Fox Mask’s blade split the watery figure behind Gu Qi in two. Fu Yuan’s sword strike missed as Gu Qi suddenly shattered into countless tiny water droplets floating in the air.

Trying to escape?

Ming Li saw through the virtual entities’ true and false natures at a glance. She raised her hand, using the Circulating Qi incantation to strike down several water droplets, forcing Gu Qi, who had transformed into water droplets, to materialize and fall from the void to the ground. Fu Yuan and Black Fox Mask reacted quickly, immediately giving chase.

As Gu Qi turned to look back at Ming Li, his eyes revealed shock. How had she been able to see through the virtual entities in such a short time?

Ye Yuanqing, who was watching the battle, wasn’t surprised at all because he knew about Ming Li’s previously awakened miraculous ability: Heavy Eyes Meridian—Observing Stars. This spiritual technique was the perfect counter to virtual entities. He was also questioning Ming Li’s current state, different from her previous Eight Meridians Complete Boundary. Could the miraculous ability—Observing Stars—that she had awakened years ago be preserved and used even when not at the Eight Meridians Complete Boundary?

Even without relying on the miraculous ability—Observing Stars, Ming Li’s experience and understanding of various Star Meridian techniques would be enough for her to break the virtual entities before her.

But Ye Yuanqing had to think more carefully, to confirm whether she could use Observing Stars.

Seeing Black Fox Mask and Fu Yuan already approaching, Gu Qi gritted his teeth, supporting himself with one palm on the ground as he growled: “How long are you going to wait?”

Transparent watery figures appeared again in front of Gu Qi, blocking the advance of the two Bei Dou disciples. One silently appeared behind Ming Li. Just as Zhou Yi was about to warn her, he saw Ming Li turn and raise her hand to crush the watery figure. The scattered water droplets transformed into more humanoid watery figures surrounding her.

Black Fox Mask looked up after missing his target and saw a transparent humanoid watery figure carrying the exhausted Gu Qi standing atop a tall building.

Fu Yuan turned back, his sword intent slashing toward the watery figures surrounding Ming Li, but he frowned when he saw the slightly curved black-gold short daggers in the watery figures’ hands.

As the watery figures closed in to attack Ming Li, star lines flashed. Ming Li raised her hand, and one could vaguely see black cursive runes moving on the back of her hand. The star lines flashed through one watery figure after another, shattering them as they approached Ming Li. When pursuing the last watery figure, it quickly arched backward to evade, flipping from the ground to the top of the tall building, but was still touched by the star lines.

It gradually dispersed the watery disguise, revealing a strong physique dressed in black and gold, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, exposing powerful forearms. Holding a black-gold dagger, with wild-looking eyes and brows, it looked down at Ming Li below and laughed softly: “Heavy Eyes, Observing Stars, worthy of its fame.”

Ming Li looked up without saying a word.

A warrior of the Youyou tribe.

The people from the thirty-three tribes of the North—had they already come this far?

“We are very pleased that you didn’t die,” said the Youyou tribe warrior. “Next time we meet, it will be in the middle of the continent.”

A sword blade imbued with killing intent slashed toward him. The sword wind carried a fierce Star Power that turned roof tiles to powder in a single strike. The Youyou tribe warrior raised an eyebrow slightly, glancing at Fu Yuan pursuing from the side, and retreated in a flash along with the watery figure carrying Gu Qi.

Black Fox Mask wanted to give chase, but looked back worriedly at Ming Li on the ground as he stepped forward.

Ming Li turned to look at Ye Yuanqing in front of her. “Don’t worry about me, go.”

Only then did Black Fox Mask flash away in pursuit.

*

The people of Tai Yi had been merely observing the battle the entire time. After Ming Li chose to stay behind instead of pursuing Gu Qi, Ye Yuanqing said softly, “This is not a wise decision.”

Ming Li’s calm face showed no trace of emotional fluctuation. “Where is this pit that the Young Master of the Zhou family spoke of?”

Ye Yuanqing replied composedly: “That’s his one-sided account, complete nonsense.”

Zhou Yi listened with widened eyes, clearly shocked by Ye Yuanqing’s shamelessness.

Ye Yuanqing looked at Zhou Yi: “Otherwise, ask him where this pit is.”

“You…” Zhou Yi clutched his blood-stained collar, his pale face reddening with anger. “I was captured by you before I could escape the pit’s range. When I was taken in, I was knocked unconscious by your Star Power. When I woke up, I was already inside!”

Ye Yiyi, her face deathly pale, looked at him: “Zhou Yi… speak more clearly. Why would my father do this?”

Zhou Yi still wouldn’t look at her, but instead looked at Zhong Anqi: “Because when I was going down the mountain, I overheard Zhong Anqi and Gu Qi discussing the impersonation of Chen Zhou.”

If he hadn’t helped look after Ye Yiyi’s spirit field, if he hadn’t needed to go down the mountain to buy new Bixue grass for her… everything would have been different. But he could no longer choose again, and it no longer mattered.

Zhou Yi said: “Or perhaps… You were already planning to deal with the Zhou Merchant Association, and I just happened to give you a reason.”

Ming Li said in a leisurely tone: “He does indeed like to find reasons for his actions.”

“In this world, everything has cause and effect. Following cause and effect in one’s actions, I don’t consider that wrong,” Ye Yuanqing said calmly. “The West is not the North’s concern. Each region has its own rules. Even if a merchant association uses slaves for work, it doesn’t violate any regulations. In the West, slavery is permitted, with no restrictions on whether they are men, women, or earth ghosts.”

“Even if it’s as he says, your senior brother wasn’t forcibly taken as a slave. Chen Zhou accidentally trespassed into an important source of goods for the merchant association. Who knows if he was there to scout sources for the Northern merchants? Even if this were true, it’s only your senior brother’s fault for being careless and bringing it upon himself.”

The more Zhou Yi listened, the more he felt his blood rushing to his head, only now realizing that this high and mighty supreme elder was such a shameless person.

Ming Li’s gaze swept over the Ye siblings as she smiled: “Your words are so beautiful. If I were to throw both your son and daughter into the North as slaves, letting them experience the suffering my senior brother endured, I wonder if you would still be able to speak such beautiful words.”

Ye Fengming frowned upon hearing this and stepped in front of the dazed Ye Yiyi.

Ye Yuanqing raised his head, his expression contemptuous: “Do you think you can do that in your current state?”

“I always keep my word.” As Ming Li spoke, she raised her hand and pointed toward Ye Fengming’s position. The Circulating Qi blade cut through Ye Fengming’s hair strands that had been blown up by the night wind. The killing move, turning toward his throat, was blocked by Ye Yuanqing’s raised hand. He smiled with some deeper meaning in his eyes: “You struck first. The Zhou family spoke of fictitious matters with no evidence, yet you believed them and launched a killing move against my son.”

“Weren’t those beautiful words of yours just waiting for me to make the first move?” Ming Li had already seen through Ye Yuanqing’s hypocritical thoughts. “You want to kill me, but can’t do so without reason. You’re not Cui Yaocen; to go to war with the North, you need a justification.”

“Because you’re so hypocritical, always wanting to appear aboveboard and honorable, wanting to leave others speechless, you constantly scheme to cover up your contemptible nature.”

Ye Yuanqing slowly lowered his hand from in front of Ye Fengming, his gaze at Ming Li carrying a hint of coldness.

“At Nan Que, you used the natural formation to trap Cui Yaocen in the Mirage Sea before she could discover it. In Wufang Country, Yuan Lu challenged you to a single meridian duel as a test, not using his full strength or killing moves. So you think that with your Six Meridians Complete Boundary strength, you can leave the West alive?”

Ye Yuanqing’s words carried a hint of mockery: “Or do you think I would also refrain from using killing moves like Yuan Lu?”

Ming Li glanced at the Tai Yi Seven Mansions waiting around them. “Ye Yuanqing, you know about my battle with Yuan Lu. When a Pilgrim fights me, in a situation where they can’t kill me, they will instead help me advance to the next level. So you want to deliver a killing blow that will instantly kill me, but unfortunately, you lack confidence. You’re worried whether this killing move will cause my instant death or help me break through.”

“You’re having the Tai Yi Seven Mansions fight me, waiting for me to exhaust my Star Power, observing whether I can use miraculous abilities, then waiting for me to become fatigued or expose a fatal weakness before delivering a killing blow.”

Ye Yuanqing listened expressionlessly. “Is that what you think?”

“Because that’s exactly what you’re doing,” Ming Li raised her hand to point at him. “Otherwise, do you dare to come forward and fight me one-on-one?”

Ye Yuanqing stared at her for a long while, but then stepped back, and the Tai Yi Seven Mansions stepped forward.

Zhou Yi couldn’t help but grit his teeth and curse: “Despicable.”

Ye Yuanqing was unwilling to gamble, but Ming Li wanted to take the risk.

With her current Six Meridians Complete Boundary, and her Heart Meridian and Yang Meridian already at the fifth or sixth boundary, fighting a Pilgrim was her fastest way to break through.

The vast Star Power surging on the street came from different people, but their target was the same. Ming Li’s gaze passed over the Tai Yi Seven Mansions to Ye Yuanqing behind them, her eyes flickering as she returned his earlier mockery: “It seems you’re still living five years ago. No matter how many times I die, you still fear me.”

Ye Yuanqing’s gaze turned cold with killing intent as he said softly: “Attack.”

*

The moonlight was magnificent, but it remained dark under the forest canopy.

The forest keeper yawned in front of his small cabin, chatting idly with his companion, failing to notice the black shadow swiftly passing over the ground on the small path beside them.

This slender shadow moved quickly, light as a flying bird. In a few leaps, it reached the depths of the forest, landing on a high branch to look toward the distant mountain lit with lights.

Zhou Xiang didn’t get too close. Using her Heavy Eyes Meridian to extend her vision range, she looked past the clusters of treetops to see the yawning guards at the cave entrance.

This trip hadn’t been in vain after all.

She concentrated her Star Power, organizing and categorizing the paths she had seen along the way into memory with a light touch to her eye.

Heavy Eyes High-Level Technique: Reminiscence Map.

Zhou Xiang had searched carefully through the mountains for days and finally found the location of the pit, even faster than her estimated time. Now, having preserved the memory of the route, she turned to leave. She couldn’t enter alone and could only pass the pit’s location to her allies.

*

In the pit.

Wang Geng was furious about the earth ghost’s death, and adding Zhou Yi’s matter made him extremely unhappy. He drank wildly at Xianchi Tower to vent his frustrations. Xu Liangzhi, after returning from handling external matters, re-examined Zhou Yi’s case. Upon learning that it was Wen Su who had quarreled with Zhou Yi, causing the guard to shoot an arrow, he ordered Wen Su to be brought to Xianchi Tower.

When the supervisor came to take her away, Wen Su remained silent, quietly following them.

Gu San watched with a furrowed brow, thinking of what Wen Su would face next, his heart filled with hatred for Zhou Yi.

Just as he was about to stand up to intercept Wen Su and take the blame, Chen Zhou pressed his shoulder down and said, “I’ll go.”