Fourteen people who had once been vibrant and alive now lay within this small pearl on the table.

They would never speak again, never laugh again, never wait for that little deer drinking at the riverside, and never again appear in any corner of Yashan with expressions of joy or weariness…

Cultivators of the Shijiu Zhou have no reincarnation—their souls had already been scattered to ashes.

Those overwhelming black shadows, and those esoteric Buddhist monks with black qi coiling around their bodies…

Jian Chou thought of the night sailing ship she had once explored in Mingri Xinghai, encountering that centipede-like ancient fierce creature, Dazun Shaoji, and the greatly enhanced Liang Tingyu she had once fought against…

All her speculations were confirmed at this moment.

Yet never before had she thought so deeply: how wonderful it would be if none of these speculations had been confirmed, if none of this had happened at all?

In four hours, they would return to Yashan;

In four hours, Yu Zhifei would be able to meet with her;

In four hours, Fudao Shanren would shout with both surprise and anger;

In four hours…

All gone.

Slowly closing her eyes, Jian Chou remained silent for a long time.

Crimson blood still stained her hand, quietly dripping onto the table surface and staining her lips, yet it painted an unprecedented coldness and cruelty.

A suppressed and chaotic killing intent surrounded her, constantly stirring and changing due to the complex thoughts churning in her mind at this moment.

Fu Chaosheng could easily perceive this.

Yet he neither spoke nor disturbed her, only silently set down the Cosmic Eyes.

After a long while, the chaotic aura around Jian Chou gradually subsided completely. When she reopened her eyes, they seemed no different from before, except that no trace of warmth could be seen in them anymore.

She merely lowered her gaze indifferently and said a word of thanks: “Thank you for your trouble.”

What trouble was there?

The Cosmic Eyes had been lent to him by her originally, and now he had merely enhanced them for her, helping her see what she wanted to see. He had even watched her suffer backlash and get injured in the process.

Fu Chaosheng wasn’t good at comforting others, but he didn’t think Jian Chou needed comfort either.

After looking at her for a moment, he still reached out his hand again.

This time, it wasn’t a pearl, but a strand of pale blue, thin electric light that Jian Chou immediately recognized—it was the thunder message that the Kunwu Elder had sent toward Yu Zhifei before dying.

“Found in his spiritual aperture during the burial preparations.”

Spiritual aperture?

Jian Chou understood almost instantly, yet the sorrow in her heart only grew heavier. This thunder message should have ultimately landed on Yu Zhifei, and then before the catastrophe arrived, he had hidden it within his spiritual aperture.

Only thus could it deceive heaven and earth, waiting for the moment Fu Chaosheng discovered it.

“No wonder after the incident, they immediately activated barriers, cutting off all communication with the outside world—wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, no messages could pass through…”

It was all to prevent this thunder message from leaving the snow region.

The threads of clues from the past thus came together one by one.

Jian Chou raised her hand, and with her blood-stained fingertips, she gently touched the electric light, which automatically coiled around her finger with crackling sounds.

Almost instantly, its contents entered her mind:

Ancient gods return to Yuan Shi!

Connecting new esoteric teachings above, binding with the Extreme Realm below, overturning reincarnation! We pray that the True Person will report to Heaven, informing the Upper Void Immortal Realm. If there is the slightest delay, our people will be in danger, and there will be no power to reverse fate!

—Disciplinary Hall, Xuanyang Zi.

This was the message that the Kunwu Elder had desperately tried to send out, hoping Yu Zhifei would bring it back to the Central Region.

Yuan Shi referred to the star they currently inhabited; the True Person undoubtedly meant True Person Hengxu; the Upper Void Immortal Realm was the realm where cultivators would ascend after achieving great enlightenment. However—

“Return, ancient gods…”

Jian Chou had some knowledge of “ancient gods.”

But when combined with the word “return,” it gave her an indescribable sense of unease. After finishing this brief thunder message, she kept pondering what kind of existence this should be.

Her thoughts were chaotic and unclear for the moment.

So she only asked a straightforward question: “Besides the new esoteric teachings, is the mastermind behind this the ‘Dazun Shaoji’ you once fought against on the night sailing ship?”

“It is He.”

Fu Chaosheng’s answer was also simple.

He had been in the snow region for quite some time, and with the Cosmic Eyes in his possession, others couldn’t escape the scrutiny of these eyes when unprepared. He couldn’t have discovered nothing.

However, the details within…

After a moment of silence, he said: “After battling me at Mingri Xinghai, He disappeared without a trace. It wasn’t until I reached the snow region that I discovered His whereabouts. Only I didn’t arrive early enough—the new esoteric faction in the snow region seemed to have made a contract with Him, similar to the night sailing ship, borrowing His power. Their strength greatly increased, and they began massacring the old esoteric faction.”

“So when Yashan and Kunwu were scouting the periphery, there was originally no danger, but because their strength greatly increased and the old esoteric faction fled in defeat, the battle zone expanded outward, implicating innocent parties?”

Jian Chou closed her eyes slightly, circulating her spiritual power to regulate her breathing while replaying the situation in her mind.

Fu Chaosheng nodded: “Both sects should have been safe originally. But that Kunwu Elder witnessed a battle between the new and old esoteric factions in the periphery, suffering an undeserved disaster. Moreover, he seemed able to recognize Shaoji’s identity, so they pursued him relentlessly, forcing him to flee further south. He was caught and killed midway.”

As for Yashan, it initially appeared to be an undeserved disaster.

But thinking deeper, how terrifying was Shaoji’s power? While massacring the old esoteric monks, it wouldn’t take long to discover the identities of the Yashan group.

Their doom was only a matter of time.

Because their opponents were no longer the original snow region dwellers, not the original new esoteric faction, and not even beings of the same level as themselves.

The word “gods” already represented an insurmountable chasm of difference.

Jian Chou could probably guess this too.

She reopened her eyes, her gaze falling on the thunder message at her fingertips, recalling everything recorded about “gods” and all the details related to “Shaoji”:

The ugly appearance resembling a centipede, the ancient fierce killer emanating evil qi, the overwhelming black mist formed by transformation, the black qi that could attach to corpses like living things…

She folded her finger and quietly put away the thunder message, asking only: “So the ‘god’ mentioned by Xuanyang Zi in the thunder message is this ‘Dazun Shaoji’? I remember when we were at Mingri Xinghai, you mentioned that you understood Him quite well.”

“Quite well” wasn’t really accurate.

He could roughly sense what kind of existence the other party was, but had no idea why He appeared or what He was doing at Mingri Xinghai and in the snow region.

So at this moment, he shook his head instead.

“I only know that ‘gods’ are existences born almost simultaneously with the universe, the overlords of that ancient era before heaven and earth had light. They were born with tremendous power, but gradually weakened as the universe evolved. According to records in ancient texts, one day they suddenly disappeared and never appeared in heaven and earth again.”

This was basically consistent with what Jian Chou knew previously.

However, in her understanding, the reasons for the gods’ weakening included humans and Dazun Pangu. A war spanning almost an entire era had erupted between the two sides, and Dazun Pangu had perished in this battle, leading to the “Eternal Long Night” at the end of the ancient era.

After the long night, the gods vanished without a trace, and the “Immortal Age” truly arrived, dominated by cultivators.

From the ancient era dominated by gods, to the primordial era where gods and humans coexisted, to the archaic era when hundreds of races rose together, until the current “present era” they inhabited…

The evolution of each era always had different stories.

But in this “present era” where “immortals” had completely taken dominance, the Kunwu Elder mentioned in his thunder message that “gods return”!

This was something even more terrifying than the esoteric sects, the Extreme Realm, or even Shaoji’s existence itself…

Jian Chou’s brows gradually furrowed. When it came to matters of this level, Fudao Shanren and the others should have some understanding. However, this thunder message was now trapped in the snow region with no way to send it out temporarily.

“If what the thunder message says is true, I’m afraid the real ‘great catastrophe’ is approaching. It seems we shouldn’t linger too long in the snow region.”

“Does my old friend plan to leave as soon as possible?”

Fu Chaosheng asked.

Jian Chou nodded: “Originally I thought there was some activity between the new esoteric teachings and the Extreme Realm, but now this interloper is not a simple existence at all. I’m afraid He’s much more troublesome than anyone imagined. We should leave the snow region in a couple of days if possible. What about you? After spending this time in the snow region, have you achieved your goal and resolved your doubts?”

Resolved doubts?

Fu Chaosheng couldn’t say clearly whether they were resolved or not.

He thought of those eyes he had seen by the sacred lake that night, and of the countless wondrous existences under the construction of worldly rules. For the first time, a nearly empty bewilderment appeared in those eyes that held hints of demonic evil.

“Old doubts remain unresolved, new questions arise.”

He seemed to deliberate for a moment before using these eight words to summarize his current state, then looked at Jian Chou with a strange gaze.

“That Dazun Shaoji, I always feel that He and I are the same kind of existence, coming from the same place…”

“…”

Same kind of existence, coming from the same place!

At this moment, Jian Chou was finally stunned. When she looked up to meet his gaze, she could see the light changing like wind and clouds in the sky within his eyes, giving one a sense of impermanence.

What he said was clearly easy to understand.

But falling on her ears, it created heavy contradictions with her previous knowledge, unable to piece together at all. Her furrowed brows didn’t relax but grew tighter and tighter.

Jian Chou hesitated before asking: “Are you certain?”

“Not certain…”

But actually, that feeling couldn’t be more obvious.

When they encountered each other at Mingri Xinghai, it was still somewhat vague; but upon reaching the snow region, probably due to the changes in the other party, that feeling became intense.

Yet Fu Chaosheng knew better than anyone—

He was a mayfly, a mayfly that lived and died within a day under the rules of the six paths of reincarnation in this world. Before him, in the entire mayfly clan’s memory, no mayfly had ever achieved enlightenment.

The collective will of the entire clan, gathered in him, had achieved what he was today.

He was extremely clear about his origins, and Jian Chou understood them perfectly as well.

So when that perception arose, he found it incredible himself. Vaguely, he felt that besides the six paths of reincarnation, another enormous mystery had been placed before him.

“As for the Way of Reincarnation, I’ve made some small gains.”

Fu Chaosheng lowered his eyes slightly and smiled faintly, not dwelling too long on the previous topic. Since even he couldn’t think clearly about the problem, there was no need to trouble his only old friend with these worries.

“Lord Qin Guang of the Extreme Realm is neither a soul-ghost cultivator nor a spirit demon, but an incarnation of the rules of the six paths of reincarnation. Because he incarnated and developed consciousness, there was the Yin-Yang Realm War eleven cycles ago.”

“If we kill him, destroying his incarnated life and annihilating his will, we can make him return to being a ‘rule’ again.”

“Unfortunately, the rule of the mayfly clan’s brief existence was already established before his incarnation.”

Jian Chou also knew about Lord Qin Guang’s origins.

She just hadn’t expected that even so, it couldn’t change the fate of the mayfly clan. For a moment, she fell silent for a long time, not knowing what to say.

Fortunately, Fu Chaosheng himself wasn’t greatly affected, and even…

Since beginning his journey to the Extreme Realm, he had started contemplating a question he had never considered before: what exactly was his existence?

Born upon hearing of Jian Chou’s Way, thus named “Chaosheng” (Morning Born), recognizing only her as a friend in this vast world;

Transformed from the collective will of the mayfly clan, thus able to achieve enlightenment without dying, spending his entire life pursuing the reconstruction of reincarnation to change the mayfly clan’s fate of brief existence.

But besides this, what else did he have?

His entire existence was only due to the mayfly clan’s “great aspiration.”

If one day the rules of reincarnation were finally rewritten and the mayfly clan no longer lived and died within a day, would such a “great aspiration” still exist?

Then—

Would he still exist?

So for that moment, he actually felt that not finding a solution yet might not be a bad thing.

But it was only for that moment.

From the moment of his incarnation, he had already known this was his inescapable “destiny.”

Moonlight from outside the window filtered through the layer of snow-white paper, casting some light inside.

Fu Chaosheng looked up this way, and when the light entered his eyes, it reminded him of the small stone pond on Deng Tiandao, with similar light and similar tranquility.

Though one was dawn’s end and the other was night’s beginning.

“All beings are fundamentally equal, yet reincarnation is unjust.”

He smiled faintly, and when he spoke these words, the demonic evil qi spread throughout his eyes without any concealment, fully presenting itself to Jian Chou.

“If one day reincarnation could be rebuilt…”

“That day will come.”

His voice gradually faded, and Jian Chou automatically continued his unfinished sentence.

“The new esoteric teachings in the snow region are restless, borrowing the power of the god Shaoji, not to mention the Extreme Realm’s Eight Directions Yama Halls, ten great ghost clans, and various schemes. I fear a great war sweeping across the Shijiu Zhou is already before us. Facing life and death, all cultivators won’t sit idle. If we can destroy Lord Qin Guang then, we might also find a way to rewrite the rules of reincarnation.”

Although she felt that “reincarnation” didn’t really mean much.

Probably influenced by the story of the old mansion owner in the Extreme Realm’s Wrongful Death City who reincarnated nine times, whenever others mentioned reincarnation, she always wondered: what was most important for a person—the unchanging soul or the memories from life to life?

The Reincarnation Pool would wash away a person’s past, so would the person reborn still be the original person?

Jian Chou didn’t know this answer.

She didn’t know what others thought, but the entire cultivation world seemed to care greatly about this. However, when it came to herself, she didn’t want to explore her past lives, nor was she curious about so-called future lives.

They seemed to have nothing to do with her present self.

Fu Chaosheng didn’t know her current thoughts.

The part he wanted to change didn’t overlap with the part Jian Chou found puzzling. He hadn’t finished speaking earlier, but the remaining words were simply:

He wanted to change not only the mountains, rivers, sun, and moon, but even the rules of the universe and primordial chaos.

But there was no need to say this aloud.

Fu Chaosheng looked at her, listening to her words, and slowly nodded: “If that’s possible, it would naturally be best.”

“Unfortunately, if such a day really comes, it will probably be when all living beings across the Shijiu Zhou suffer. At that time, I wonder if you…” Jian Chou seemed to want to ask something, but after hesitating for a moment, she suddenly didn’t ask.

But Fu Chaosheng seemed to know what she was thinking.

This old friend before him—he was born because of her, named by her, and had known her for as long as he had been looking at this world. She also knew he was a great demon of heaven and earth, yet had never revealed his existence to others.

If asked whom he could trust in this vast world, there would be no one else but her.

So at this moment, he looked at her, the corners of his lips curving up in a faint, subtle smile from the heart: “If such a day really comes, if my old friend thinks I should be there, then I will be there.”