If everything before had been false, then at this moment, Jian Chou truly felt somewhat dazed. It was as if awakening from a wooden coffin, taking Fudao Shanren as her master, leaving for the Nineteen Continents to embark on the cultivation path—all of it had been an illusory dream in her past life.

Upon waking from the dream, her life remained as it had been in the old days.

No different from any simple, honest woman on the isolated human world island.

Even the youth before her eyes existed in reality.

That day, the former Third Young Master Xie returned from county school, carrying an umbrella through the muddy narrow path. He encountered no strange people and went directly home.

She took the umbrella from his hands and warmed his hands for him.

After he finished telling her about the trivial matters at county school that day, she would smile and tell him the news that he would soon become a father.

What expression would he have worn?

Perhaps he wouldn’t react for a long time, saying nothing, just looking at her that way, thin lips pressed together, trying to appear composed. But he probably couldn’t maintain it for long before curving his lips in a smile, his originally cold and indifferent face taking on some warmth.

Then he would exhaust all his literary talent to name the child.

A proper formal name, a convenient pet name for parents to use, and after coming of age and receiving the cap ceremony, a meaningful courtesy name with deep significance…

It was just a pity that she remained lucid after all.

Or perhaps, Wu Guan Wang’s methods were deployed too late.

So much so that at this moment she merely gazed at this youth who made her feel a natural affection, showing neither excessive excitement nor any panicked bewilderment, only looking at him in this dazed manner.

But the youth standing before her seemed completely unaware of all this. Seeing that she wouldn’t respond to him, he tilted his head slightly, showing some puzzlement, and walked toward her: “Mother, why won’t you acknowledge me?”

Step by step, drawing closer.

The youth’s pace appeared unhurried, but his face showed genuine concern.

Just when he was finally only six feet away from Jian Chou, Wu Guan Wang beside them finally recovered from his shock that Jian Chou could not only manipulate the Book of Life and Death but also search for souls from the Six Paths of Reincarnation. He seized this absolutely unique opportunity!

In his demonic fox pupils, deep blue ethereal light rippled outward.

The youth’s footsteps immediately stopped, his eyes losing focus.

The next moment, the same ethereal deep blue filled his pupils. When he raised his eyes and their gazes met, it crashed into the depths of Jian Chou’s eyes!

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox dharma body’s bewitching illusion techniques were supremely excellent!

Wu Guan Wang was completely confident that under such unprepared or weakly defended circumstances, even great power cultivators would fall to this bewitching dao.

Jian Chou would be no exception!

The murderous aura he had previously restrained, after experiencing the deliberate suppression just now, finally exploded manifold!

Wu Guan Wang leaped up, his Celestial Fox dharma body instantly manifesting!

The ethereal blue shadow appeared sinister and eerie under the moon’s silver radiance!

As he howled toward the sky, the Milky Way above hung down inverted while the silver radiance on the ground condensed like gathering water. The extraordinarily large bright moon outside the hall actually flew into the hall, passing over Jian Chou’s head and landing in Wu Guan Wang’s hands.

With just a gentle pull, he transformed the moon into a halberd!

The Milky Way was its radiance, the radiance was its shadow.

He grasped this long halberd formed from all the stars and moon in the sky and slashed toward Jian Chou!

The distance was less than ten feet!

No one could escape.

In his mind, his current opponent wouldn’t even have a chance to counterattack: because between him and Jian Chou stood that youth’s shadow—no matter what, she couldn’t avoid him!

He had won.

Taishan Wang would be safe.

These two thoughts appeared simultaneously in his mind as his long halberd slashed toward Jian Chou!

However, at this moment, Jian Chou raised her gaze, looking at him past the youth in between. On her face, still bearing a trace of tear stains, appeared a mocking smile!

Pitying and contemptuous!

Before he could even contemplate the deeper meaning this smile represented, a long, melodious flute sound arose in the great hall!

“Rumble!”

Tremendous sounds erupted all around!

Under the impact of this flute sound, the entire great hall shook violently, developing terrifying crack after terrifying crack!

Before Wu Guan Wang’s eyes suddenly appeared brilliant yet solemn colors—several strands of hanging colored silk.

He raised his eyes and saw clearly what was behind Jian Chou.

The golden Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon dharma body appeared again without warning, as if it had never disappeared. Only the Brahma originally above her head was nowhere to be seen, having rotated to directly below, while the Gandharva originally directly below now appeared above her head, wearing flowing colored robes and playing a wooden flute crosswise.

Though not heavily adorned, she possessed a pure beauty that could not be defiled.

Like murals in Buddhist cave temples.

A kind of devout solemnity.

She squinted slightly, lotus flowers flickering in her eyes. Jian Chou’s eyes also became completely clear, and in this instant she extended her palm!

The Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon dharma body instantly reversed, the Four-Faced Buddha Brahma reappearing!

The Buddhist chapter thunderously emerged!

Jian Chou’s lustrous palm took on shallow yet solemn golden light, directly bombarding toward Wu Guan Wang!

Naturally, it also bombarded toward the youth standing between her and Wu Guan Wang!

That youth wore a confused expression, as if still unaware of what was happening, when this oncoming palm penetrated through his body.

Jian Chou’s calm gaze showed no change whatsoever.

She advanced, her surging palm power penetrating through illusions effortlessly, causing no loss to this palm’s might. It still struck out with unstoppable, irresistible momentum!

A beautiful palm.

When it extended, it was Guanyin’s jade palm, but when it passed through the illusory soul shadow of the youth ahead and descended upon him, it became an evil demon’s claw!

Wu Guan Wang could hardly believe what he was seeing.

He looked at her with an expression of extreme shock.

The Milky Way had vanished from the sky, the bright moon was gone, and the silver radiance that had illuminated the ground was also absent. The shattered great hall was completely dark.

The Yixian Tian was in her hand, so the red line between her brows was no longer visible.

But in this heavy darkness, a thread thin as a hair emerged from her left pupil, passed through the space between her brows, and quietly entered her right pupil, blending into the profound darkness of her iris and disappearing without a trace.

Jian Chou’s body also easily passed through that youth’s phantom, her powerful palm directly destroying Wu Guan Wang’s long-prepared silver moon halberd, then striking Wu Guan Wang’s forehead!

“Bang!”

From that seemingly delicate palm burst forth tremendous power like raging waves, scorching and domineering, instantly annihilating one soul and two spirits of Wu Guan Wang!

“Ahhhhh—”

The pain of having one’s soul and spirits destroyed was truly unbearable for ordinary beings.

Even a great power like Wu Guan Wang couldn’t help but become hideously contorted!

He bore the golden seal of the “Reincarnation Code” on his body, originally possessing indestructible soul and spirit that could repair any damage suffered. However, this didn’t include the extreme situation of having soul and spirit instantly destroyed by another!

In extreme pain and rage, Wu Guan Wang only wanted to withdraw and preserve himself.

But how could he retreat?

After Jian Chou’s palm strike was exhausted, her five fingers immediately curved into claws. Without leaving any gap for escape, she swept downward and grasped Wu Guan Wang’s throat!

“Bang!”

The tremendous impact force caused Wu Guan Wang to crash into a circular pillar behind him in the great hall. Immediately there was a “rumbling” sound as the entire great hall rapidly collapsed with “crack crack” sounds!

What Wu Guan Wang had crashed into wasn’t any pillar at all!

It was merely the white bone wall that formed the mortuary!

The sudden change and combat occurred extremely quickly; the calculations and counter-calculations took merely the snap of a finger. That handsome youth was still somewhat bewildered, looking down at his “body” only to discover there was a huge hole in it, completely empty.

At this time, Jian Chou was behind him.

So he turned around, reached out his hand toward her, seemingly wanting to ask: “Mother…”

However, the next moment, all illusions in the hall collapsed along with Wu Guan Wang’s crumbling power, disappearing completely.

A scorching power spread from the hole throughout his entire body, devouring him.

From body to limbs, finally including that outstretched palm…

All transformed into a wisp of green smoke.

Hearing the sound, Jian Chou turned to look. The Underworld blood river flowed turbulently, hundreds of elite ghost cultivators on the riverbank stared at her in stunned amazement, and Taishan Wang’s fierce fist was descending from above.

She stood before the mortuary built of white bones.

There was no Yama King’s hall where she had just examined souls, nor the nameless thirteen or fourteen-year-old youth, only the Book of Life and Death that controlled reincarnation, fallen to the ground with dimmed radiance.

“Boom!”

She immediately struck with her sword, blocking Taishan Wang’s thunderous blow and easily sent him flying.

The palm grasping Wu Guan Wang was completely cold.

That was the golden seal of the “Reincarnation Code” protecting the opponent’s neck, continuously emanating soul qi outward, trying to restore Wu Guan Wang’s severely damaged soul body. However, with the constant obstruction of power from Jian Chou’s palm, the effect was minimal.

After having one soul and two spirits destroyed, Wu Guan Wang could barely see his surroundings clearly, only able to see Jian Chou closest to him.

In his blurred eyes finally appeared some bitterness.

He hadn’t expected to be defeated, just as he hadn’t expected Jian Chou’s palm power to actually pass through that youth. When he spoke again, there was a kind of mocking admiration: “Truly worthy of Imperial Purple, Yama King fate—able to strike even closest blood relatives, so cold-blooded…”

“Past dust like smoke, bygone events all illusion. Your techniques were deployed too late. If today’s battle had occurred before my self-examination, at this moment it wouldn’t be me grasping your life, but you grasping mine. In the end, it’s all illusions of the Celestial Fox dharma body, ghostly tricks—how could they disturb my mind?”

Jian Chou looked at him, her profound eyes showing no ripples.

“To kill is cold-blooded; not to kill betrays the heroic souls of my Yashan’s thousand cultivators! Precisely because I have a cavity of boiling hot blood in my heart do I possess what you call the cold blood to kill decisively.”

Yashan…

This was indeed a Yashan cultivator.

In Wu Guan Wang’s chest, half a beating heart still remained. In his dazed consciousness, he slowly recalled the wild joy when he had quarreled with Taishan Wang years ago yet accidentally discovered this heart…