Her eyes and brows carried a hint of smile, yet not deep—just a trace of frost-like coldness, like plum petals adorned with three parts snow.

When these words were spoken, they seemed both earnest and nonchalant.

Evil?

Xie Buchen wasn’t deaf to the underlying meaning: calculating against him unprovoked was her evil, but this statement was actually her veiled curse that evil would receive its due retribution.

He watched her for a moment, or perhaps it was just a fleeting thought.

Jian Chou appeared composed, but waves had already risen in her heart: initially, outside the maze array, she had directly entered using the four secret seals she possessed, leaving the unkillable Xie Buchen to battle Song Lin.

By all rights, after experiencing such tremendous depletion, even if he hadn’t died at Song Lin’s hands, he shouldn’t be standing so well before her now.

But at this moment, with just a casual glance, she could see that though Xie Buchen’s internal spiritual power was depleted, his spirit and energy showed no major problems.

Which meant he was merely severely injured.

Such injuries, given a day or two, would likely heal completely.

His life-preservation skills were truly numerous.

Jian Chou held the Ghost Axe in her left hand and gripped the Deer-Cutting Blade in her right, feeling the sensation of the two magical artifacts adhering to her palms like flesh and blood grown from her own body.

She looked at Xie Buchen.

Xie Buchen also looked at her.

That moment of time seemed frozen, with endless chaotic thoughts wildly proliferating in both their minds!

It was unclear who first harbored killing intent and stirred the qi mechanism, or who first made a move and triggered the battle.

But a streak of brilliant light like silk erupted from Jian Chou’s palm, rushing toward Xie Buchen like a waterfall.

Xie Buchen seemed to have anticipated this, simultaneously raising his hand to press down, his wide sleeves fluttering in the wind.

His jade-like five fingers were already just fragments of afterimages!

The moment finger techniques were unleashed in succession, an array formation already lying in ambush on the ground reactivated!

Boom!

Blade light slashed toward the entire array formation!

The ground shook, chaotic light swayed, and the surrounding walls seemed on the verge of collapse.

Jian Chou knew she was within the array—on Xie Buchen’s territory. Once she moved, Xie Buchen would know, so she never intended to kill him with a single strike.

Just as one strike finished, her left hand swept the axe horizontally. The exaggeratedly large Ghost Axe traced a crescent moon-like arc, immediately pressing close to Xie Buchen.

Xie Buchen was positioned within the array formation, and arrays emphasized “stability”—moreover, his position was at the array’s core.

If he retreated, the array formation he had painstakingly set up would completely collapse.

Then, with Xie Buchen’s current depleted spiritual power and without the array’s protection, he would immediately become fish on Jian Chou’s chopping board.

So when Jian Chou attacked, he had nowhere to dodge and no retreat!

Cold severity marked the corners of his eyes and brows, with only his narrow eye-tails perhaps showing a trace of gentleness.

The Deer-Cutting Blade was sharp, while the Ghost Axe appeared fierce.

She manipulated the two magical artifacts with ease, advancing step by step with composed yet oppressive force!

It was hard to imagine these were the delicate hands that once added fragrance to sleeves; hard to imagine this was the gentle beauty of yesteryear.

Everything from the past had been buried by his own hands.

Everything from today should also be forever buried in the grave.

Her hand rose, calm, without any trembling.

No different from any previous battle.

The only difference was that this time, he only had the array formation to contend with her!

His finger pointed into the void, pressing down forcefully. Where his fingertip touched, a snow-white star point actually appeared!

After this star point appeared, horizontal and vertical lines rapidly extended in all directions. In the blink of an eye, there were more lines and more star points.

It was actually a black and white chess board!

Jian Chou’s brow immediately furrowed.

Cultivation in the Nineteen Provinces was based on battle discs, and battle discs resembled chess boards from the isolated island in the human realm. Generally, between heaven and earth, various different things shared common principles, and this common principle was called—

Rules.

A chess board?

Better to say it was an array formation!

She had personally witnessed this small chess board demonstrate Xie Buchen’s wild ambitions, demonstrate the thousands of troops galloping between his fingers, demonstrate his supremely skilled military formations!

All things had common principles, and Xie Buchen’s greatest skill was drawing inferences from one instance to grasp this principle!

The moment this chess board appeared, the Ghost Axe in Jian Chou’s hand suddenly became three parts faster.

Xie Buchen stood before the chess board, pressing one hand upon it. Transparent, brilliant light illuminated, immediately making his entire face appear pale.

The already scarce spiritual power was drawn from his nearly dried meridians, injected into his fingertips, then pressing on one of the glowing chess pieces, moving it within the chess formation—

“Whoosh…”

Centered on Xie Buchen, strange shadows surged from all directions.

It was an earth dragon swimming beneath the ground, instantly breaking through many surrounding dilapidated walls, immediately triggering a collapse with devastating momentum!

In just a blink, before Jian Chou lay only dark clouds, flying sand and rolling stones.

Yellow dust and heavy stones were swept up by the earth dragon emerging from the ground, immediately forming a terrifyingly massive barrier around Xie Buchen.

When Jian Chou swung her axe into that barrier, she felt countless chaotic sand and stones striking her. The force was so great that it immediately reduced the Ghost Axe’s terrifying speed.

Like a clay ox entering the sea, trapped and unable to advance.

In the blink of an eye, the Ghost Axe’s offensive was actually blocked!

Jian Chou sucked in a cold breath, a dark gleam flashing in her eyes. Emptying her mind, she formed hand seals, about to cause trouble.

Since Xie Buchen controlled earth to form a dragon-shaped barrier, she would control wind to form a dragon and “assist” him!

Let’s see if a sky-rolling, earth-sweeping gale and a tornado dragon could use Xie Buchen’s own barrier to crush him to death!

Armor could also be a prison.

Her slender, pale fingers touched, and wild winds immediately arose.

Jian Chou’s brow already showed an indescribable carefree evil spirit as she prepared to “send” wind to Xie Buchen. But just then, a massive black shadow actually crashed down madly from the distance!

Like a great building about to collapse, or like a pillar of heaven snapping.

That shadow was sharp and narrow, carrying terrifying pressure. There was no lightning wrapping around it, no golden light flashing—only that oppressively deep pure black!

As if not a trace of light could penetrate between heaven and earth, and no one could escape from this shadow!

Clearly when looking up, the shadow seemed at the horizon, but in the blink of an eye when thinking of escape, that shadow had already thunderously crashed down before their eyes!

At this moment, Jian Chou’s “wind dragon” had just been summoned.

At this moment, Xie Buchen’s figure was still “trapped” in the barrier he had created.

At this moment, neither of them had expected to be caught off guard by such an attack.

“Boom!”

All the high walls that hadn’t yet collapsed completely crumbled under this terrifying force!

It was actually a massive black wing, striking down from what seemed like the vault of heaven, viciously smashing everything including Jian Chou and Xie Buchen toward the ground!

All buildings in the maze array completely collapsed, becoming ruins. The ghastly white bones in the caves were all crushed to powder under that terrifying force.

Most of the spirit beasts still living in the caves suffered disaster.

Those quick to perceive danger rapidly fled from the high walls, while those slow to react became lost souls beneath the falling walls. Above the ruins, several clusters of blood flowers bloomed.

Jian Chou felt as if a massive stone slab was slapping down on her head, striking her dizzy with golden light flashing, not knowing where she was or what she was doing.

The wind dragon she had just summoned had long since completely dissipated under such a terrifying strike.

The spiritual energy gathered around Jian Chou scattered in all directions. Fortunately, her Heaven-Void constitution prevented her from falling into qi deviation at this moment.

The wing flapped and departed, stirring up a hurricane that immediately swept the already unsupported Jian Chou into it.

In her daze, she looked up to see Xie Buchen wasn’t much better off than herself, having been forced to leave his original position at the array’s core and been swept into the hurricane.

In the hurricane were Xie Buchen and Jian Chou, as well as scattered rubble, countless decayed bones, and…

Many dying spirit beasts.

All the spirit beasts from this entire collapsed area were swept up by the hurricane, flying toward Mr. Wu E at the center.

“Whoosh!”

A small stone, carried by an air current, grazed past Jian Chou’s ear, leaving a burning bloody mark on her earlobe.

Jian Chou dodged quickly and wasn’t seriously injured.

But suddenly urgent cries rang by her ear: “Wu wu wu!”

Little Marten, hiding in Jian Chou’s embrace, hurriedly stretched out its paw to point.

Jian Chou looked in surprise in the direction Little Marten pointed, immediately seeing a fluffy little squirrel nearby, completely out of control and flying toward that rapidly moving stone.

It had chestnut-colored soft fur, bright wet eyes, and two small paws clutching a pine nut.

At this moment, it was extremely panicked.

Just about to hit that stone, its legs flailed wildly, yet it refused to let go of the pine nut in its paws.

In that instant, Jian Chou didn’t know whether to be curious or amused.

At a time like this…

She was quick-eyed and quick-handed, turning over and reaching forward to scoop up the squirrel in her hand just as it cried out in alarm!

“Bang!”

The stone about to be struck flew forward, hitting a large boulder. Dust scattered and was immediately swept up by the hurricane.

The little squirrel was completely stunned, staying dazedly in Jian Chou’s hand, not daring to move.

Jian Chou temporarily had no time to care about this. Scanning around, she was already horrified—

“It’s him…”

The wing that had just “ambushed” them had retracted, transforming into a person’s arm. The black feathers had neatly smoothed back into wide sleeves, covering that hand covered in cracked marks.

Who else could it be but the giant falcon who had called himself “Wu E”?

The sinister young man spread his arms wide, letting the hurricane swirl around him. His blood-red eyes projected full bloodlust, brutality, and even hatred!

“How long has it been since I’ve killed anyone…”

Pressure was released.

Centered on him, the entire maze array suddenly began frantic collapse!

“This is bad.”

Jian Chou immediately remembered when she had fought with Xie Buchen at the entrance, how the Hidden Realm had nearly collapsed. This demon beast’s cultivation must have surpassed Golden Core, reaching Nascent Soul!

Just this pressure release alone caused the entire Hidden Realm to shake!

The Ten Thousand Beasts Maze Array was built at the center of the vast Yunmeng Great Marsh, floating on the boundless water surface, presenting an overall circular shape.

At this moment, the hurricane also formed a circle, sweeping away everything in its path!

The collapse began from where Wu E was positioned, like a massive cave expanding outward in all directions…

The area centered on Wu E presented a kind of void blackness, with only a few special high walls, after being blown by the hurricane and revealing their black interiors, still standing in place.

Besides this, there was nothing else around Wu E.

That feeling was dangerous to the extreme.

Since beginning cultivation, Jian Chou had undertaken more field training than ordinary cultivators, but her cultivation time was still short, and she rarely fought demon beasts.

She absolutely dared not place herself, Little Marten, Guyu, or even this little squirrel in danger.

The collapse’s scope was still expanding, but Jian Chou’s luck was slightly better—she was still on the periphery.

She formed hand seals, desperately recalling the feeling from back in Black Wind Cave during this chaotic moment, letting the violent and uncommunicative wind pass through the apertures around her body.

Just that wisp of wind allowed Jian Chou to easily change her original trajectory of tumbling with the hurricane.

The situation at that moment was extremely wondrous.

Originally, everything followed the hurricane’s direction, but a stream of wind branched off a different path, actually carving out a completely different route within the hurricane, sending Jian Chou toward a sturdy old tree root nearby.

“Slap!”

She grabbed onto one of the rough tree roots, completely stabilizing her form.

Having support and understanding wind’s nature allowed her to suffer less from the hurricane’s effects, naturally preventing her from being swept away again.

Looking back, Jian Chou felt a wave of lingering fear.

This location was extremely close to the storm’s center.

Xie Buchen’s figure had completely fallen into that central area.

He wasn’t one to wait for death. He forcibly summoned the chess board from earlier within the hurricane, hooked his finger, and moved rapidly across the chess board. In an instant, countless lines flew out from the chess board, weaving around Xie Buchen to form a novel and unique array formation.

In terms of talent and achievement in array formations, if Xie Buchen dared claim second place in Kunwu, no one would dare claim first.

Though only at Golden Core stage cultivation, his talent in array formations already made many masters shake their heads in admiration, unable to match him.

Of course, Xie Buchen often had novel or “heretical” ideas, though he never spoke of them publicly.

The chess board before him was one example; this entirely new array formation woven from chess board lines was another.

Heaven and earth naturally formed arrays. If one could borrow heaven and earth’s power to create arrays, why clumsily use spirit stones for array formation?

Such thinking would probably horrify even great cultivators if spoken aloud.

But Xie Buchen dared to think this way.

He even acted on it.

Having played chess for many years, his heart contained military formations and various strategies. Though the poetry and books from the isolated island weren’t valued by the Nineteen Provinces, they contained much that aligned with heavenly principles.

One clear morning, after three nights of meditative calculation, Xie Buchen suddenly achieved enlightenment, thus creating this “Heaven and Earth Chess Board”!

This array formation woven from chess board meridian lines was his first “Heaven-Human Array.”

Once the array appeared, the power of heaven and earth split forth from the void.

The Hidden Realm was a small world within the great world. Drawing heaven and earth’s power here was dozens of times more difficult than in the outside world. His body suddenly experienced terrifying pressure, as if something was frantically pouring into his body from between heaven and earth.

Excruciating pain.

But the divine light in Xie Buchen’s eyes was unexpectedly intense!

“Hum!”

The final line wove together—the “Heaven-Human Array” was complete!

Immediately, a wonderful and fresh aura emanated from each strand of line.

Centered on Xie Buchen, everything around seemed affected, becoming calm for that instant.

“The scent of the great world…”

Wu E, standing at the center and immersed in his own world, suddenly opened his eyes and instantly looked toward Xie Buchen’s direction.

A Central Domain cultivator as insignificant as an ant, yet his array formation brought an indescribably familiar aura.

The great world…

Someone could actually use mere Golden Core cultivation to penetrate the Hidden Realm’s barriers and forcibly borrow heaven and earth’s power? Through array formations?

Interesting…

It immediately reminded him of the female cultivator who had released him.

Wu E could see at a glance that Xie Buchen had reached the end of his rope and wouldn’t last long without intervention, but he couldn’t tolerate such an existence appearing under his nose.

He smiled eerily, then suddenly opened his mouth wide!

“Screech—”

No human voice, only sharp sound waves and an overwhelming mass of black feather arrows!

Beings that cultivated in non-human form between heaven and earth mostly developed various suitable seals and attacks based on certain characteristics of their original bodies.

Some seals were even inherited by certain demon beast clans since ancient times.

Wu E’s original form was a ten-foot-tall giant falcon covered in black feathers, each as hard as iron.

When attacking, he only needed to shrug his shoulders or flap his wings for countless black feathers to fly from his body, transforming into arrows that filled the sky.

When struck by those sound waves, the taut string in Xie Buchen’s mind nearly snapped. His concentration wavered, and the “Heaven-Human Array” that was already extremely difficult to control almost instantly collapsed.

When the black feather arrows came, he couldn’t dodge in time.

“Whoosh whoosh!”

Just two or three arrow sounds, followed by the “thud” of black feather arrows entering flesh.

In one exchange, Xie Buchen was struck by several arrows, each piercing through his body!

The arrows were too swift and fierce. Even after piercing through his chest, they didn’t lose momentum, carrying Xie Buchen’s body in the hurricane toward a tall black stone pillar behind him.

“Thunk.”

A crisp sound hiding some dullness from the impact.

The black feather arrows that had penetrated Xie Buchen’s body drove deep into the stone pillar, completely nailing Xie Buchen to this tall pillar, suspended in mid-air.

“Drip, drip…”

Blood flowed down the natural grooves on the black feathers, falling toward the ground below that was beginning to sink.

Xie Buchen finally frowned from pain, but no longer had the strength to struggle free.

His vision was filled with blood-red. The only things he could see clearly were the sinister face of Wu E ahead and…

Not far away, Jian Chou’s cold observation.

Seeing this existence she considered her mortal enemy, after three or four battles, finally nailed to a stone pillar by someone’s arrows, probably not long from death.

Jian Chou felt she should be quite pleased inside.

But in the end, she felt only complete coldness.

There was always something that didn’t feel right…

This had nothing to do with her or Xie Buchen, only with Wu E standing at the storm’s center.

In the Hidden Realm, heaven and earth changed color.

The surrounding great marsh raised countless waves, frantically washing inward. Terrifying wave crests overturned countless high walls and submerged countless caves. Many spirit beasts’ remains floated on the water surface.

But just moments later, they were shattered by the waves.

At this moment, it was as if the entire marsh was roaring, trying to overturn the Ten Thousand Beasts Maze built upon it!

Though the tree Jian Chou relied upon was sturdy, it was merely duckweed in this vastness.

She watched Wu E stirring up wind and clouds in the field. There were many spirit beasts beyond their control in the hurricane—some she had seen before: lions, tigers, even jackals and wolves…

As for the small ones she had seen before—white mice, crickets—not a trace could be seen, presumably completely hidden within the hurricane.

Having dealt with Xie Buchen, there was no threat remaining.

Hawks and falcons liked to catch prey and take them high in the sky, then drop them to kill them before feeding.

At this moment, Xie Buchen was like prey that had been dropped. Wu E actually had no interest in him.

In the hurricane were spirit beasts, one after another.

Over a thousand years ago, they all knew each other, even visiting each other’s homes. Who hadn’t been cheerful and full of life back then?

“Some have aged, some have retreated…”

Murmuring sounds emerged from his mouth.

Wu E squinted slightly, his double pupils filled with sinister malice looking toward a silver fox with soft fur among them, reaching out to grasp it in his palm.

Though the silver fox’s fur was soft, it no longer had luster.

Like its life force was about to be exhausted, it showed a grayish defeat.

It squinted, seeming not very alarmed, only looking at Wu E with a sigh: “Why do you torment yourself?”

“Do you still believe Buyu will come to take everyone to the upper realm?”

Wu E’s rough five fingers grasped the silver fox’s small head, asking like an affectionate old friend.

The silver fox sighed: “Master never breaks his word.”

In that instant, Wu E’s originally calm face twisted!

His five fingers suddenly applied force, without warning lifting the silver fox and viciously hurling it toward the stone pillar!

“Smack!”

How terrifying was a giant falcon’s throwing force?

The silver fox’s body was soft with modest cultivation, but it still rolled several times on the high platform below the pillar before slowly stopping.

The ground had already collapsed and sunk, with water from Yunmeng Great Marsh flooding up.

Wu E didn’t care at all. Wild winds stirred his robes, the wide sleeves like two wings about to fly in the wind.

“You’re old, your memory is poor.”

A light comment, but it chilled one’s heart.

The chestnut-colored little squirrel in Jian Chou’s hand suddenly trembled.

She looked down to see the little squirrel’s bright black eyes watching the nearly mad Wu E in the field, with slight moisture in its eyes.

The silver fox sighed mournfully and said no more.

Wu E no longer asked, only reaching into the hurricane again. This time it was a lumbering old turtle covered in wrinkles.

“You were already quite old originally.”

“But my memory isn’t poor.” The old turtle also sighed. He struggled to turn his head, looking back at his companions in the hurricane, then slowly turned back. “I still remember when Master named you ‘Wu E’ (No Evil), it was to admonish you, to let your heart have no evil thoughts—”

“Evil thoughts?”

In that instant, Wu E suddenly laughed coldly.

“So you think I’m ‘evil’ now! When has Wu E ever been evil? The one who broke faith is Buyu!”

“Master never breaks his word.”

The old turtle had only this one sentence.

Wu E laughed heartily: “Interesting, you all use this one sentence to block me. Let me ask—who promised to take us to the upper realm, and who broke faith after ascending? A thousand years have passed. You timid creatures cowered in caves, fearing spiritual energy depletion and lifespan exhaustion. What’s the result now?”

He contemptuously threw the old turtle aside, stepped on it, and viciously ground it into the mud!

“The dead are dead, the old are old!”

What he most couldn’t stand were these former “friends” who had called him “friend.”

After all this time, not one person had stood up.

Wu E raised his hand, surveying the area. On his sinister face bloomed a smile hiding malice: “Good, good, good. It seems you all want to stand on Buyu’s side…”

“Good, good!”

He repeated “good” twice more, then laughed loudly, but with bone-chilling coldness.

Seeing this laughter from afar, Jian Chou only felt cold in her back.

With these few short exchanges, combined with what Little Bookworm had said earlier, she could roughly deduce what had happened: Master Buyu Shangren, who had promised to ascend and take everyone to the upper realm, had vanished without a trace after ascending. But before this, he had never broken his word about anything.

What kind of person was this?

He killed heavily yet raised such a Ten Thousand Beasts Maze, personally carving scenes of their first meetings as memorials.

He was nearly enemies with the world yet possessed the most sincere and genuine trust of so many spirit beasts…

Had he really broken his word?

Even Jian Chou didn’t quite believe it.

In her mind flashed the stone statues in the Valley of Wandering—statue after statue, roughly of Master Buyu Shangren himself, with most having their cultivation realm and heart demon realm carved beside them.

But in the last statue, a skeleton was sealed…

Something vaguely flashed through Jian Chou’s mind, leaving only a small tail before disappearing.

Jian Chou frowned.

But the little squirrel in her hand suddenly became agitated, struggling frantically in her hand and attracting her attention.

The little squirrel still held its pine nut but squeaked anxiously, wanting to break free. Its small head raised high, showing some panic as it looked at the high sky.

Jian Chou followed its gaze and was immediately startled.

Wu E was a giant falcon’s incarnation, probably originally one of Master Buyu Shangren’s capable lieutenants. But years of waiting had ground that former loyalty and close friendship into drop-by-drop resentment, thus triggering the inherent ferocity in his nature.

When Master Buyu Shangren was present, this could still be suppressed, but once he left, it became unrestrained.

Perhaps describing it as “angry at their lack of fighting spirit” wasn’t quite appropriate.

But Wu E indeed couldn’t stand any of those spirit beasts who disagreed with him, including this Hidden Realm where he had stayed for over a thousand years, grinding away over a thousand years of time!

Destruction…

The ferocity hidden in his bones gradually seeped outward.

Wu E’s eyes were red as if about to drip blood.

He suddenly raised his head, and a tall giant falcon phantom immediately condensed behind him!

Looking up, he gave a long howl—

A blood-red beam of light frantically poured from his mouth like a suddenly struck light pillar, shooting straight toward somewhere in the void!

Half the sky’s clouds seemed burned and blood-stained, bright red.

But when the light pillar reached a certain place in the sky, it seemed to strike a mirror surface.

“Hum”—a resonating sound.

Blood-red ripples spread across the horizon. For a moment, the entire sky seemed to become a bright, clear lake!

Simultaneously, the ground also reflected the sky, rippling with eerie waves.

Where the waves passed, whether high walls or trees, everything was reduced to ash!

In that instant, Jian Chou’s eyes widened in shock as a bizarre thought appeared in her mind’s depths the moment the ripples spread.

A magnificent, elegant glazed heavenly palace gradually emerged from the void after those ripples, becoming visible from transparent to semi-transparent, hazily standing on the other side of the mirror.

Looking up from below, the sky was like a lake, smooth as a mirror.

The heavenly palace was beneath the lake water, behind the mirror.

The ripples only spread partially. Following the heavenly palace’s appearance came a massive red koi fish.

Its red scales were neat and bright, extremely fine, with a clear, transparent luster like a painting carved at the heavenly palace’s base.

Only when the light pillar arrived did it suddenly flick its tail!

Splash!

The entire world seemed to ring with clear water sounds!

Snow-white waves swept across the sky. The massive red koi’s tail flick was extremely powerful, almost instantly pressing down and withdrawing that light pillar.

“Hahaha… Lijun, long time no see, how have you been!”

Wu E below, having failed with one strike, didn’t get angry. His gaze, hiding madness within calmness, passed over the koi to fall on the heavenly palace behind it…

“What a beautiful heavenly palace, what a beautiful mirror lake… All these years, we’ve lived in this mirror lake’s reflection…”

There never was any Yunmeng Great Marsh.

There never was any Ten Thousand Beasts Maze.

Everything was just a great cultivator’s minor spell, just a promise they wouldn’t keep.

After illusion, reality…

How broken would it be?

Wu E’s voice carried mockery.

The red koi turned to face Wu E. Its voice was clear and bright, transmitting from high in the sky with a strange, ethereal quality.

But weariness was undeniable.

“All the beasts in the Hidden Realm have no grievances with you. Why make things difficult for everyone and yourself?”

This voice…

Jian Chou recognized it instantly—at the Hidden Realm’s painted wall gate, the voice that had interrupted her final duel with Xie Buchen.

Lijun?

Wu E sneered coldly: “Break this mirror lake, and everything in the Hidden Realm will cease to exist. Such a simple solution—what’s difficult about it!”

After destruction, Hidden Realm creatures would have nowhere to dwell; after destruction, all buildings would cease to exist; after destruction, everything related to Master Buyu Shangren could be finished…

Nothing more than one word: “destroy”!

Wu E suddenly laughed loudly, his manner extremely arrogant.

He swept his hands back, and the phantom standing behind him immediately spread its wings and took flight!

The massive shadow immediately re-covered half the sky.

The hurricane became even more violent.

Jian Chou felt the wind blowing across her face was painfully sharp, as if it would leave permanent marks branded on her skin.

And the pressure from those wings made even flight difficult!

This was pressure from high altitude, making all creatures that learned to fly afterward bow their heads and tremble.

Wu E’s human form and phantom instantly merged. For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether what flew toward the sky was his original body or his human incarnation.

“Boom!”

Another light pillar shot toward the heights as Wu E flew toward the sky.

This time, the ripples in the sky became even denser, even raising waves.

Under the terrifying impact, the entire sky seemed unstable, swaying back and forth. At the critical moment, a massive, complex golden seal suddenly lit up at the heavenly palace’s base, stabilizing the swaying sky and calming the rolling waves.

The moment this seal appeared, it gave one a sense of vast breadth.

Ancient and obscure.

Just looking directly at it made one feel a trembling unease from witnessing heavenly secrets.

Jian Chou’s heart raced with just one glance!

She recognized this seal—not as any she had obtained from Qingfeng Nunnery Hidden Realm, but as the pattern carved at the center of the maze map outside the Ten Thousand Beasts Maze’s first gate.

But that pattern was constantly changing, and Jian Chou hadn’t thought it was anything remarkable at the time.

Only now, looking up and taking this seal into her sight, did she realize: the maze array outside the first gate might have foreshadowed everything!

She had four secret seals, keys to opening the maze’s four gates. So what was this central seal for?

Suppression?

Protection?

…

Jian Chou couldn’t figure it out for the moment, only raising her head to stare unblinkingly at the high sky.

Seeing the seal, Wu E wasn’t afraid—instead, he became even more excited. The blood-red layer in his eyes surged up like waves, making him appear particularly fierce.

He attacked the seal with even more force, wave after wave of attacks frantically assaulting it.

He actually wanted to shatter this seal!

With each of his attacks, the lake surface in the sky would surge accordingly, and the ground would shake along with it—once, twice, three times…

A few times might be coincidence, but many times over, how could Jian Chou not understand?

The mirror lake in the sky was actually one entity with the ground beneath their feet!

As long as Wu E destroyed the mirror lake, would he still worry about not being able to destroy the entire Hidden Realm?

And that seal he repeatedly tried to break was probably the mirror lake’s final protective talisman!

Thinking this, Jian Chou sucked in a cold breath.

High in the sky, the koi at the heavenly palace’s base had flicked its tail, swimming down from the painting like lightning, rushing to fight Wu E.

It was a koi swimming in the sky, but its color was more true and bright than the blood-red filling the sky.

It waved its tail, moved its fins, using seemingly soft scales to block Wu E’s attacks again and again.

High in the sky, chaotic interweaving light formed a mass.

The entire ground below seemed to be submerged by Yunmeng Great Marsh in the blink of an eye.

The earth shook like broken pottery, divided by great waters into countless fragments. The sky also showed crack after crack like glazed glass.

When the koi and Wu E fought fiercely and stray spiritual light occasionally fell, it would explode across the ground, leaving almost no intact spots.

Countless spirit beasts, after losing the hurricane’s control, either fell into water or were thrown into the air, completely unable to find their gravitational center.

Initially, Wu E fought in human form, but later, seemingly unable to match the koi, he transformed into his giant falcon body.

It flew high, diving down from above toward the koi, its claws grasping the koi’s soft belly.

“Crack!”

Several beautiful fish scales immediately fell from the koi’s body, blood streaming.

The koi had to protect the seal at the heavenly palace’s base, while Wu E was determined to destroy it.

Destruction was so simple?

Wu E attacked from all directions, but the koi could only defend from one position. Though its cultivation seemed higher, it was always confined to one place, stretched thin.

By nature, koi weren’t born for battle—Wu E was different.

Once the ferocity hidden in his bones was triggered, it could destroy heaven and earth.

He attacked madly and persistently, gradually enraging the koi…

The entire earth was already shattered beyond recognition.

Everything Jian Chou could see no longer had a single intact standing wall—only ground floating farther and farther away…

“Slap!”

The fish tail struck with all its might, tremendous force surging. It instantly sent the giant falcon Wu E flying, smashing him back toward the ground.

“Bang!”

The ground immediately showed a large crater.

The giant falcon, unwilling to yield, shook its feathers and gave a sharp cry. The countless black feather arrows Jian Chou had seen before shot out once more!

“Ding ding ding ding!”

But what returned wasn’t the sound of soft flesh being pierced, but dense collision sounds!

On the ground, whether spirit beasts that had fallen into water or Jian Chou standing on dry land, or even Xie Buchen who was about to lose consciousness before her eyes…

One after another, they all raised their heads.

Thus they saw clearly that koi that had suddenly turned silver!

“Gulp.”

Its gills seemed to pulse once, as if some aura between heaven and earth was frantically absorbed, then expanded within the koi’s body.

The originally red scales suddenly condensed into pale silver in an instant!

Below the koi, a thirty-one-foot battle disc suddenly spun open—it was actually the koi’s battle disc!

“Snap!”

One dao seed.

“Snap!”

Two dao seeds.

…

One after another, dao seeds were linked by kun lines, forming dao seals. That trajectory was like star charts coiled at the horizon, giving Jian Chou an incomparably familiar feeling!

In that instant, nothing could compare to the shock in her heart!

How familiar was this dao seal?

The dao seal she had seen on Qingfeng Nunnery’s cliff when she went from the isolated island to the Nineteen Provinces; the dao seal she had first used after joining Yashan in closed-door cultivation, causing tremendous commotion; the dao seal she had deduced once, twice, until it was thoroughly familiar!

—The Heaven-Flipping Seal!

This dao seal came from Qingfeng Nunnery Hidden Realm, having countless connections with the Hidden Realm. Jian Chou had speculated about the relationship between the two but never imagined she would see a cultivated koi spirit use her most familiar Heaven-Flipping Seal in such a fierce battle at this moment!

Saying familiar seemed familiar; saying strange, it was also somewhat strange.

It was definitely the Heaven-Flipping Seal, but there were vaguely some differences.

Jian Chou remembered that the Heaven-Flipping Seal she had obtained seemed overly simple, even slightly incomplete according to Fudao Shanren.

So…

Was the Heaven-Flipping Seal used by the koi complete?

A strange radiance immediately burst from Jian Chou’s eyes.

She stared unblinkingly at the sky, at every movement of that massive koi, engraving that fleeting dao seal deeply in her heart!

Everything around her instantly became unimportant.

The fierce battle was at its most intense.

The koi blocked Wu E’s countless black feather arrows, barely moving as those countless arrows flew in all directions.

The spirit beasts below all dodged frantically.

For a moment, only the continuous sound of rumbling filled the air.

That was the sound of countless feather arrows crashing to the ground and exploding.

Far away, a feather arrow shot down from high above, flying straight toward Jian Chou!

She was completely unaware, the burning light in her eyes not diminishing at all.

The koi flicked its tail, and a massive Heaven-Flipping Seal instantly condensed, like a withering force drawing countless spiritual energy frantically from countless buildings, condensing into a huge fish tail.

Unlike the Heaven-Flipping Seal Jian Chou condensed from dense mist, this fish tail was entirely silver, identical to the silver light around the koi’s body!

Was this the true Heaven-Flipping Seal?

That brilliant silver radiance was gorgeous yet not too dazzling, comfortable yet containing terrifying aura.

Jian Chou was mesmerized, as if a great door had thunderously opened in her mind.

One kun line, then another…

One dao seed, then another…

In the blink of an eye, countless calculating lights flashed through her eyes, growing stronger and stronger…

This was the realm of sudden enlightenment.

Standing in place, Jian Chou didn’t know where she was or what she faced. She couldn’t even hear Little Marten’s terrified cries…

On the high stone pillar, blood had already pooled on the ground.

Xie Buchen was still nailed to the pillar, that sharp black feather noticed by him almost the moment it appeared.

But…

Jian Chou standing not far away hadn’t noticed at all.

In her eyes was no conflict, no confusion—only that pure desire…

Perhaps there was everything in those eyes.

Everything except hatred.

As if all her revenge-seeking since entering the Hidden Realm couldn’t affect her focus on certain things.

In this instant, Xie Buchen suddenly felt somewhat dazed.

Something flashed rapidly through his mind…

Revenge against him was merely one stage of her life, a step she had to take. But once she entered cultivation, how long would her life be?

Her eyes clearly held more, more beautiful, more wonderful things.

Just as he had abandoned worldly emotions to pursue the so-called “Dao.”

Jian Chou would eventually settle her hatred with him and pursue what she sought.

Her eyes held everything except him.

This mortal enemy.

He could watch quietly, waiting for that black feather arrow to precisely pierce through her skull. Without any defense, even a Golden Core stage cultivator would certainly die.

From then on, he wouldn’t face pursuit or have future troubles.

As long as one person died, all grudges would be completely ended…

But she still held those four secret seals.

Only by traversing the maze would he have a chance to obtain the secrets of the “Nine Meanders River Map” and survive the maze…

Save her?

Or stand by and watch?

He could do without the River Map’s secrets—there might be other ways to escape the maze…

His mind was filled with chaotic thoughts.

From excessive blood loss, Xie Buchen’s body was already trembling.

Each tremor brought piercing pain through his organs. Even moving a fingertip felt like a thousand blades cutting.

Closer and closer.

Closer and closer.

That pure black feather arrow was about to end everything.

“Whoosh!”

A sharp sound cutting through the void!

Just as the feather arrow was about to pierce Jian Chou’s skull, an ancient bronze bell suddenly shot out from Xie Buchen’s trembling fingertips, blocking it at the crucial moment!

“Ring!”

The crisp sound lasted only a moment.

Then came a “bang.”

Fan-shaped bronze shields instantly condensed, forming a complete circle like a blooming flower with gorgeous radiance, perfectly deflecting that feather arrow!

The Budong Bell could block one strike from a peak Golden Core cultivator.

His curved fingertips still maintained the posture of flicking out the Budong Bell, but he felt no warmth—cold, even vaguely spasming.

He knew clearly this was from excessive blood loss, being nailed to this pillar too long.

Everything before his eyes was blurred, no longer any clear images.

Xie Buchen’s mind was hazy. He blinked, suddenly feeling tired, and gently rested his head against the stone pillar.

Five black feather arrows had pierced his body. The moment his head moved, countless pains from the pulling motion transmitted from his limbs and bones.

His blurred consciousness suddenly cleared a bit.

Xie Buchen blinked, his dry, cracked, purplish lips slightly parted, but finally curved strangely—

A self-mocking bitter smile.

“The famous Budong Bell…”

Actually used by him to block an insignificant feather arrow…