As expected, Liao Tingyan was brought to the main peak of Taixuan. Many others were already waiting there, including the Palace Mistress of the Moon who had lost her beloved daughter. She scrutinized Liao Tingyan with an unfriendly expression: “Is this the person Sima Jiao keeps by his side?”

Shi Qiandu said: “It is her.”

The Palace Mistress of the Moon’s gaze made Liao Tingyan’s back crawl. She heard her say viciously: “Sima Jiao killed my daughter, making me suffer immeasurable pain. I want him to endure this pain too!”

As she spoke, she began to lose control, summoning her Moon Ring Sword and thrusting it toward Liao Tingyan’s face. With a clang, the Palace Mistress’s Moon Ring Sword was deflected. Liao Tingyan remained in place, completely unharmed. Only the silk strings binding her outside the invisible defensive armor were cut—a testament to the full power behind the Palace Mistress’s strike.

Shi Qiandu failed to intervene in time. Seeing her silk strings cut, her face darkened, and her tone grew heavier: “Palace Mistress of the Moon, in the face of important matters, you cannot be impulsive!”

Only then did the Palace Mistress notice how thick Liao Tingyan’s defense was—it would likely take more than a few sword strikes to cut through. Reluctantly, she sheathed her sword and stormed away in anger.

Liao Tingyan looked around. Many people had already gathered here, with elders continuously sending messages and making arrangements. She saw numerous disciples hurriedly arriving like falling stars, observed the solemn formations being set below, and watched several palace masters arguing in hushed tones… everything was in chaos.

Shi Qiandu didn’t see Sect Leader Shi Qianlu, only Shi Zhenxu who was handling affairs in his place. She frowned and asked: “Where has my brother gone?”

Shi Zhenxu respectfully bowed to her before answering: “After you left, there was an anomaly at the Jade Lotus Pool. The Sect Leader took people there and hasn’t returned yet.”

Upon hearing “Jade Lotus Pool,” Shi Qiandu could no longer stay calm. There lay the most critical possession of the Shi family, something they couldn’t afford to lose. She immediately said: “You stay here and finish the preparations as quickly as possible. Keep a close eye on that Liao Tingyan—she’s meant to deal with Sima Jiao. Don’t let anything happen to her. I’ll take some people to see what my brother has encountered.”

The timing was just right. She worried that Shi Qianlu might have encountered Sima Jiao. If it truly was Sima Jiao, she could help Shi Qianlu contend with him, especially now that they had Liao Tingyan in their hands.

“Remember, guard Liao Tingyan carefully.”

When Shi Qiandu arrived, both Sima Jiao and Shi Qianlu had sustained injuries, with Shi Qianlu clearly at a disadvantage, looking much more disheveled than Sima Jiao.

Shi Qianlu knew he was no match for Sima Jiao and was merely trying to buy time. He knew Shi Qiandu had gone to capture someone. Since Sima Jiao was here, capturing the other person would naturally be easier. Once Shi Qiandu returned, it would indicate their success, and then they could properly negotiate with Sima Jiao again.

Sima Jiao was also waiting, and he was even more confident than Shi Qianlu.

He had originally planned to ignite the spirit fire he had previously planted during the ceremony a few days later, turning the central residence of the Shi clan, the Three Saints Mountain, the main peak of Taixuan, and more than a dozen spiritual mountains belonging to various palace masters into an inferno. But his meeting with Sima Shi made him decide to act early.

He had devoured Sima Shi’s newly born spirit fire, leaving behind a small flame he had separated from himself. This small flame was the source that would soon ignite the central area of Gengchen Immortal Mansion’s inner court.

Earlier, he had ignited the spirit pools at the base of those mountains. Once this flame seeped underground, the original power of the spirit fire, the explosive force of those mountain spirit pools, and the power of the blood river where Sima Shi resided would burn everything above and below ground to ashes.

With Sima Shi’s help, the plan’s destructive power had increased significantly.

The reason he was holding Shi Qianlu here was to wait for the spirit fire to seep underground.

Sima Jiao had taken out the long blade he used to cut the ferocious beast. Shi Qianlu was using a zither; its music could bewitch people and disturb their minds, but it did not affect Sima Jiao, forcing him to use other methods. Feeling the time was right, Sima Jiao was no longer entangled with Shi Qianlu. With one slash, he cut the strings of Shi Qianlu’s jade zither and left deep blade marks on its body.

Shi Qianlu hurriedly retreated. With the strings of his life-bound spiritual zither cut, he couldn’t suppress the blood that gushed from his mouth. Just at that moment, he heard Shi Qiandu’s voice.

“Brother! I’ve come to help you!” Shi Qiandu flew forward.

Seeing her arrival, Shi Qianlu’s face lit up. Just as he was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed dramatically. He stared at the barrier below, his eyes widening in shock.

Fire—golden-red molten lava splashed out with a roaring explosion that could almost shatter the soul. The once ordinary mountain scenery shattered like a mirror, revealing the crimson blood river and black lotus beneath. But before they could see clearly, everything was devoured by the surging lava.

Shi Qianlu and Shi Qiandu’s expressions changed simultaneously. Their black jade lotus pool, their cultivated spirit fire!

“No!” Shi Qianlu immediately tried to intervene, but the fire had ignited from within the blood river. The lava, ignited by the blood of the Sima clan, was unlike ordinary fire. Everywhere it reached, everything turned to flying ash, consuming more than a hundred feet of the earth.

The scene, in the eyes of Shi Qianlu and Shi Qiandu, was no different from the collapse of heaven and earth. They didn’t even bother with the disciples they had brought. Those disciples, being too close to escape, were also engulfed by the lava, instantly becoming wisps of smoke on the river of fire.

“Hahahahaha!” Sima Jiao laughed, hooking his long blade. He looked down at the blood river below, the curling, sky-high waves of scorching heat lifting his long hair and the hem of his clothes. He pointed at the nearly insane Shi Qianlu, not sparing him, and said: “Shi Qianlu, this is just the beginning.”

Shi Qianlu’s hateful gaze finally shot toward him. Gritting his teeth, as if about to vomit all his internal organs, he painfully uttered a few words: “You… what do you mean?”

Sima Jiao slightly raised his chin, looking down at him with a casual, mocking smile on his face. “The spiritual mountains where your Shi clan resides, your ancestral temple and tombs, including your sect leader’s Taixuan Peak, will soon be like this place—a sea of fire. After today, these spiritual mountains, along with your massive Shi clan, will cease to exist.”

His smile was full of malice, making Shi Qianlu’s body grow cold. He trembled as he looked at Sima Jiao, with only one thought left in his mind—”It’s over. Everything is over.”

“Sima Jiao! You’ll regret this!” Shi Qiandu screamed. Her cultivation level was still inferior to Shi Qianlu’s, barely supporting herself in the scorching spirit fire. Her entire body was red, and her ceremonial robes beginning to burn. Her eyes reflected the fire below, full of hatred and distortion.

Sima Jiao was unconcerned, toying with his long blade. He did not fear the spirit fire; such temperatures were ordinary to him. Therefore, he merely looked indifferently at the two struggling before him, slightly raising his eyebrows.

Shi Qiandu’s voice, distorted by rage and resentment, became extremely shrill in the hot wind. “Taixuan Peak—that woman you keep by your side is also on Taixuan Peak. If we die, she will die with us!”

Sima Jiao’s finger stopped on the blade edge, pressing slightly. The sharp blade cut open his finger, and a drop of golden-red blood slowly slid down the blade.

He suddenly cast a murderous glance at her. “What did you say?”

Boom—

Just then, something seemed to explode with an earth-shaking sound that was terrifying even in this isolated space.

Sima Jiao had imagined what would happen during the ceremony. It would undoubtedly be a wonderful scene like the end of the world—numerous spiritual mountains self-destructing under the command of Mount Feng’s spirit fire. Such a catastrophe would ensure that no one in that range could escape.

It was indeed a grand spectacle. The lush green spiritual mountains, overflowing with spiritual energy, changed their appearance in the blink of an eye. They exploded together, with roiling seas of fire and lava engulfing everything in sight.

This barrier space could not withstand the pressure of these internal and external forces and was completely shattered. At the same time, Sima Jiao felt an indescribable palpitation in his heart, instinctively placing his hand over his chest.

Through the broken barrier fragments, he abruptly turned back to look at the distant main peak of Taixuan. In that glance, Taixuan main peak collapsed before his eyes, the sky-high surging lava dyeing his eyes a shade of red.

The casual smile on his face froze, like a mottled white wall with a layer peeling and falling off.

His expression was so terrible that Shi Qianlu also realized something. He began to laugh madly: “Haha, hahaha, Sima Jiao, no matter how much you calculate, how could you have calculated that you would kill someone you care about with your own hands? Your arrogance has finally met its retribution.”

He was delirious, both crying and laughing.

Sima Jiao didn’t even look at him, flying toward the now unrecognizable main peak of Taixuan.

…

After Shi Qiandu hurriedly left, Shi Zhenxu indeed walked to Liao Tingyan’s side, not daring to show the slightest negligence.

Liao Tingyan: “…” You’re guarding me far too strictly. I really can’t escape.

Although she wasn’t in mortal danger, everything else was restricted, and even moving was difficult. She collapsed there, thinking, surely the Ancestor would be able to find her in half a day?

After this incident, she should investigate telephones for future remote contact. Otherwise, facing such a situation every time was quite frightening.

Many people were busy on Taixuan Peak. Liao Tingyan saw the darkening sky outside and oddly felt some heat.

It seemed to be coming from underground. She couldn’t help but stare at the ground.

She could feel it, and others with higher cultivation levels could naturally sense it too. Everyone stopped talking, and even those uninformed disciples sensed the unusual atmosphere.

Boom—

A vibration came from somewhere. Liao Tingyan saw the terrified faces of the disciples, the ground suddenly flipping upward, and the red-hot lava. Scorching temperatures, wrapped in explosive flames and spiritual energy, shot skyward.

What was happening?

She saw the lava rushing toward her and was scared stiff. Damn, it’s a volcanic eruption!!! But where was there a volcano around here?!!

…

Under the night sky, the rivers of lava were like blood vessels in a human body, connecting into veins of various sizes and thicknesses. From above, there was a heart-stopping beauty to it.

Sima Jiao stood on the ground where flames had not yet extinguished, momentarily bewildered. His spiritual palace ached with a dense, needle-like pain that filled his eyes with bloodshot.

Taixuan main peak was gone. He stood on a flat plain and looking around, he could see nothing but fire and blackened earth.

He walked forward for a while, moving his hand to turn over something from beneath the ashes and scorched earth.

A barely recognizable circular object floated before him.

The ornate necklace with its powerful defensive abilities was completely useless now, reduced to this state. And the person wearing it was perhaps beneath his feet, turned to scorched earth or ashes, impossible even to gather up.

He grabbed the remnants of the necklace floating before him and crushed it to dust with a squeeze.

Then he softly uttered an incantation, reached forward, and countless luminous points emerged from the ground. These were the souls of those who had just died here. If no one confined them, they would soon disperse or reenter the cycle of reincarnation.

Sima Jiao had once told Liao Tingyan that as long as he didn’t want her to die, she wouldn’t die.

So he needed to retrieve her soul. Losing a physical body didn’t matter; as long as the soul remained, resurrection was always possible. She could continue to lazily lounge beside him, doing nothing. She must have been frightened; she might cry after the resurrection, but that was okay. He could promise her that what happened today would never happen again.

With fierce determination, he confined all the souls in this area by himself, causing thunderbolts to rumble faintly in the sky.

Sima Jiao paid no heed to these, discerning each confined soul.

Not all souls were here. Some with unstable and fragile souls would have been scattered and shattered in the previous catastrophe.

Sima Jiao thought that Liao Tingyan’s soul wouldn’t be so fragile. She must still be here, somewhere in this place.

He couldn’t possibly fail to find her.

But indeed, he couldn’t find her.