Only to take the True Person’s life blood to honor all souls wrongfully killed by the True Person!

True Person Hengxu was already severely injured. Forcibly activating the Evil-Slaying Seal had nearly exhausted what little mental strength remained, and being struck again by Jian Chou’s interruption had brought him to the end of his rope.

His vision blurred, ears ringing.

But he heard Jian Chou’s words clearly.

Recalling over eighty years ago, when he first arrived at the human islands seeking Xie Buchen, through his spiritual consciousness he had seen from afar that this female cultivator was merely an ordinary woman waiting at home for her husband to return from the county school. When suddenly struck by that sword, she hadn’t reacted for a long time. Even as she fell to the ground, bewilderment still lingered in her eyes.

When he had Xie Buchen bury her, he had not been without hesitation.

But in that instant, his unwillingness to accept fate overcame the rationality he should have maintained…

If he hadn’t had her buried in the feng shui cave, even if Fudao had sensed his arrival, he couldn’t have defied heaven to gather her soul and bring Jian Chou back from death. She wouldn’t have become Yashan’s eldest senior sister. And Qu Zhengfeng, who had long harbored hatred for Kunwu, naturally wouldn’t have left Yashan, step by step brewing today’s disaster!

But what wrong had he done?

In these vast Nineteen Continents, when had it not been survival of the fittest?!

Supporting himself against the edge of the Zhou Tian Star Formation, True Person Hengxu could never forget his feelings that day when he used this formation to divine the heavenly secrets.

It was truly like being struck by five thunderbolts!

He didn’t understand what evil deeds Kunwu had committed to face such calamity, nor what evil he himself had done to warrant replacement!

Now, the mortal Jian Chou had become the only cause and effect he hadn’t calculated, the only accident he hadn’t foreseen. As if there were an invisible hand of fate toying with him in the darkness!

And he no longer had the strength to resist.

Blood from his Daoist robes dragged across the ground, leaving a shocking trail.

True Person Hengxu’s figure swayed several times. After staggering two steps, he stopped, his chest trembling with laughter: “That you have today, you should still thank me for it!”

Thank him?

If suffering could be considered tempering, then indeed she should be grateful.

Jian Chou replied flatly: “Then I thank the True Person for his endless schemes that harmed others and himself – not only losing all conscience but also digging his own grave.”

She had been a mortal who should have had no cultivation talent.

But with Xie Buchen’s killing of his wife and her burial in that feng shui dragon cave, her soul was gnawed by spirits and monsters. By strange coincidence, she gained the Heavenly Void Constitution. Though cultivation was more difficult and she would have trouble with the inquiry of the heart dao tribulation, the first half of her path had been remarkably smooth.

For many people, success in the first half was already sufficient.

In the path of life, those who failed countless times before succeeding were ultimately few. The world was filled with people who became increasingly unsuccessful after multiple failures. Conversely, those who succeeded from the beginning were more likely to continue succeeding, and even with some setbacks, their faith couldn’t be destroyed.

How one began was truly important.

And her best beginning came from this deepest calamity. Without True Person Hengxu, there would be no Jian Chou of today.

But what of it?

The world’s logic didn’t work that way.

“First, for personal desire, you caused a thousand Yashan cultivators to perish. Then, to resolve Kunwu’s great calamity, you incited Xie Buchen to kill me to prove dao. Later, you repaid kindness with enmity, launching a sneak attack during battle, letting the deity Shao Ji escape, severely injuring my old friend Chaosheng, and killing my former acquaintance Kun Peng!”

Each sentence carried immense weight.

The severe pain in Jian Chou’s shoulder blade had not fully subsided, and as she spoke these words, she couldn’t hide the sorrow in her eyes!

All the surrounding cultivators were stunned.

They all knew what tremendous power True Person Hengxu’s Evil-Slaying Seal had wielded on the battlefield – it was force not tolerated by this realm. They had also seen that shadow of heaven-spanning wings briefly appear in the sky before leaving the Extreme Domain, already harboring ominous premonitions.

But hearing it directly now still made their hearts sink.

After all, though Fu Chaosheng was demonic evil and Kun Peng accompanied him, neither had committed unforgivable acts against cultivators. Even demons and devils could temporarily set aside hatred during the Yin-Yang Realm battle. True Person Hengxu’s betrayal at the crucial moment was incomprehensible both emotionally and rationally.

This made them completely take sides.

Not knowing whether to step forward to stop Jian Chou or simply stand by and watch, they hesitated among themselves.

But Jian Chou continued standing before the hall, hand on her long sword, a red mark faintly visible at her brow center. She continued calmly: “Blood debts must be repaid with blood. Though the True Person has a glib tongue and makes crafty excuses, the True Person’s actions can be witnessed by dao heart. Yashan and Kunwu have been friendly for thousands of years. I, Jian Chou, am under Yashan’s gate and regard the True Person as an elder, not daring to act rashly. But please, True Person, consider our sects’ past friendship and the difficulty of the righteous cultivators present – take your own life in atonement! Consider it preserving some dignity for Kunwu.”

Everyone felt chills down their spines.

Though they knew little about Jian Chou, from these words alone they could hear that while she seemed polite, she actually left True Person Hengxu no room whatsoever, with no intention of forgiveness.

The implication was clear: if he didn’t take his own life, she wouldn’t even leave Kunwu its final dignity.

But hearing these words, True Person Hengxu burst into laughter as if hearing something absurd, loudly asking: “Atone? What crime does my Hengxu have?!”

Above the cloud sea were the elite cultivators of the entire Nineteen Continents.

Below the cloud sea were Kunwu disciples who would never wake again!

True Person Hengxu’s gaze moved from Jian Chou to the surroundings, falling on those faces with various expressions. Not only did his heart hold no regret, but it was filled with even more wordless madness!

He laughed, mockingly!

“I have cultivated for over a thousand years. Though my talent isn’t supremely high, I have the highest cultivation in the sect! Shen Jihan merely received heaven’s blessing with slightly higher talent, yet his temperament is arrogant, brave but unwise – a complete fool! With him, he got the Xuanyuan Sword…”

“If Kunwu were truly led by such an idiot, it would decline into obscurity within three hundred years!”

“I merely let my master see his incompetence, then took this leadership position. My achievements over these centuries are evident to all!”

“What crime do I have?”

“Eleven cycles ago in the Yin-Yang Realm battle, our Kunwu’s encounter with ambush halfway was real. Though we couldn’t arrive in time, the true culprit who killed a thousand Yashan cultivators was the Extreme Domain! Even if Kunwu’s reinforcement was delayed, the Northern Domain Buddhist internal strife can’t escape responsibility!”

“My hands are unstained by a single drop of Yashan blood!”

“What crime do I have?”

“Even when divining heavenly secrets and receiving Kunwu’s great calamity revelation, I personally went to the Nineteen Continents to take Xie Buchen as disciple, teaching him everything! Though I incited him to kill you, I also left you a thread of life!”

“Moreover, what if I had truly killed you?”

“One person’s life versus hundreds or thousands of lives – you can ask any other cultivator here how they would choose!”

“What crime do I have?!”

The originally resonant voice had become hoarse by the end, and his sharp gaze swept across everyone’s faces like lingchi torture.

All around fell into silence.

For a moment, no one dared meet his gaze, much less answer his stern questioning.

True Person Hengxu laughed triumphantly, raising his sleeve to point suddenly at Fudao Shanren who had remained silent!

Jian Chou frowned as she watched him.

But True Person Hengxu’s voice had taken on a sarcastic tone as he said to her: “Scheming? I, Hengxu, fancy myself able to battle heaven, but no matter how I calculate, how can I match this master of yours? Do you truly think your Fudao is some benevolent person who took you as disciple for virtue and good deeds?!”

At that instant, Fudao Shanren felt the last glimmer of light in his heart extinguish, leaving only cold ash spread over wounds that deepened day by day.

His clear eyes gazed back at True Person Hengxu.

Simply watching his nearly maddened state, saying nothing.

True Person Hengxu’s voice grew more agitated, as if wanting to vent all his life’s hatred. Glaring at Fudao Shanren with infinite unwillingness: “If your Fudao hadn’t calculated everything, how could he have silently gone to that mountain village after I left and taken her as disciple? Not only that, but with a casual remark, he made her Yashan’s unprecedented ‘eldest senior sister’! You simply knew my Kunwu’s crime didn’t warrant this, but with nowhere to place your heart’s hatred, you created everything that followed. Dare you say your every action wasn’t targeted at my Kunwu, at me, Hengxu?! Now that Kunwu has met the same fate as your Yashan, you, Fudao, must be satisfied! Those who scheme endlessly – is it only me…”

Scheming endlessly…

Fudao Shanren had never imagined these four words could apply to himself.

If he schemed endlessly, Yashan wouldn’t have suffered calamity eleven cycles ago;

If he schemed endlessly, Kunwu wouldn’t have lived so peacefully these centuries;

If he schemed endlessly, how could Hengxu have lived safely until today?!

Truly, a person sees others as he sees himself.

What kind of person one is, one sees others the same way…

In this situation, the peaceful harmony of the past had been torn apart by bloody reality, revealing the most hideous and cruel truth.

Fudao Shanren could no longer deceive himself.

He and Hengxu had both achieved fame in youth, meeting at small gatherings. They became acquainted through conflict and were once called “Twin Jades” by their contemporaries, shining brilliantly together.

From then on, they traveled with swords across rivers and seas, standing together on mountains and peaks.

They were the closest of friends, companions who could sit for three days drinking wine and discussing dao…

But Hengxu and he were ultimately different.

His talent wasn’t high, so he always had to work harder than others. He was accustomed to calculating people’s minds, appearing thoughtful and comprehensive in handling matters. This was completely different from his own unrestrained and carefree nature at the time.

Originally like-minded, later it changed…

When did it begin?

Fudao couldn’t quite remember.

He only recalled that the most obvious change seemed to be after the first Yin-Yang Realm battle, when Hengxu took the position of Kunwu’s leader and, meeting Yashan cultivators in the Hall of All Heavens, calmly refused their request to see Shen Jihan.

When the Yin-Yang Realm battle resumed, he had to make various plans, having Jian Chou raid Kunwu then enter the Extreme Domain through the Overwhelming Sky Mirror rather than going with everyone. During this period, Hengxu also genuinely wanted to take revenge on the Extreme Domain and restore reincarnation. Even during the battle at Bafang City, the two had raised swords side by side after centuries apart, their coordination still perfect…

He had thought Hengxu retained some of his original heart.

But when he betrayed Fu Chaosheng in that obsessed strike, all illusions crumbled.

Now standing before Kunwu’s Hall of All Heavens, though surrounded by familiar faces, looking around, he felt them all strange.

Even more strange was Hengxu’s twisted face.

He laughed, his turbid eyes already filled with tears. Closing his eyes, he said desolately: “Fudao has never harmed anyone in his life…”

Fudao has never harmed anyone in his life.

These simple eight words fell like a sword, like a great bell, striking Hengxu’s heart and causing all the madness on his face to cool in that moment.

Everything from the past emerged.

True Person Hengxu finally stepped back, then stepped back again…

At first he chuckled, then laughed loudly, and by the end his manner was crazed, yet tears also slid from his eyes…

Both mad and sorrowful!

No one could fathom what emotions this formerly virtuous, respected, and universally revered mighty cultivator felt at this moment.

Regret, or no regret?

Everyone could only see him laughing toward the sky, hearing his continuous laughter…

But having laughed enough, he seemed to awaken.

The madness faded from his face, replaced by extraordinary calm and composure, as if none of the previous questioning and counter-questioning had occurred. He was still Kunwu’s leader, the righteous path’s guide.

True Person Hengxu’s gaze fell upon Xie Buchen.

He looked for a very long time…

Xie Buchen stood in place, neither advancing nor retreating. Since Qu Zhengfeng had exposed True Person Hengxu’s various schemes in taking him as disciple, his expression hadn’t changed at all.

Neither sad nor joyful, neither emotional nor vexed.

Simply letting others guess while never revealing the slightest truth.

True Person Hengxu gazed at him, and he calmly gazed back.

At this moment, surging undercurrents flowed, but only this master-disciple pair looking at each other knew…

The student surpassing the teacher, he will replace me!

In the past, he had refused to accept this.

Reaching today’s situation, he finally understood the words were true!

True Person Hengxu recalled the Nine Doubts Cauldron that had protected him at the crucial moment, laughing softly. His gaze swept past Jian Chou and returned to Fudao Shanren: “Fudao, having been friends, today’s events can be considered my, Hengxu’s, self-entrapment, failing all under heaven! All sins were committed by me alone. Yashan’s revenge is settled. But inciting Xie Buchen to kill his wife and prove dao was truly my personal selfishness – it shouldn’t implicate Kunwu or my disciple! At that time he was merely a mortal – what could he have known? But please, for the sake of our years of friendship, grant me one thing. Today’s blood vengeance – Kunwu can be completely absolved with no further pursuit. I, Hengxu, will also draw my sword and atone to the world!”

Fudao Shanren opened his eyes to look at him, only feeling this person remained detestable even at death’s door. Though past friendship existed, he couldn’t bring himself to ask “what matter?”

But True Person Hengxu seemed not to mind at all.

He simply re-condensed that rusted sword that had nearly determined his life’s fate, saying calmly: “From today forth, while in this realm, your disciple Jian Chou may not seek revenge on Xie Buchen or harm my Kunwu disciples. From now on, Yashan and Kunwu shall not violate each other in the slightest!”

“Absurd!”

Though Fudao Shanren was Yashan’s law enforcement elder who could decide most of Yashan’s affairs, and knew that if today’s dispute could truly be forgotten, it could at least preserve Qu Zhengfeng’s life, what qualification did he have to agree to Hengxu’s unreasonable request on Jian Chou’s behalf?

He was about to sneer.

But before he could speak, Jian Chou’s cool voice unexpectedly rang out: “If I agree, will the True Person truly keep his promise?”

“I will never change my mind.”

A hint of smile appeared in True Person Hengxu’s eyes as he looked back at Jian Chou.

How perceptive was Jian Chou’s mind?

She saw clearly what True Person Hengxu plotted and thought.

But without waiting for others to express opinions, she stood before the Hall of All Heavens and before all the world’s cultivators present—

Pointing toward heaven, she swore resolutely!

“I, Jian Chou, disciple of Yashan, swear here!”

“From today forth, while in this realm, I absolutely will not seek revenge on Kunwu’s Xie Buchen or harm Kunwu disciples!”

“If I violate this oath, let heaven and earth destroy me!”

“Rumble!”

Thunder descended. In this place extremely close to the firmament, crimson-gold lightning flashed, deeply carving Jian Chou’s upright and resolute figure into everyone’s eyes, becoming an indelible image in their memories…

It also dyed her pair of coldly calm eyes crimson-gold!

The oath made, Jian Chou lowered her hand while simultaneously gripping her long sword. Her solemnly cold face showed no trace of mercy as she said: “Please, True Person, atone for your sins!”

“Hahaha, good, good!”

Worthy of being from Yashan, worthy of becoming one of the Nineteen Continents’ strongest in less than a century!

Even Hengxu hadn’t expected her to be so decisive!

Such coldness, such ruthlessness – it made him regard her with new eyes!

What a pity…

The one he had taken as disciple was Xie Buchen, whose wisdom exceeded his own, rather than this female cultivator with a pure heart before him!

He only regretted that in this life, he could battle people but not heaven!

Hengxu laughed loudly.

In this moment, standing at Kunwu’s highest point, he gazed around once more, as if wanting to deeply engrave all of Kunwu’s mountains and waters into his eternal memory, never to forget.

Then he suddenly drew his sword!

“True Person!”

“Leader—”

“Master!!!”

The surrounding cries of alarm were heart-rending, but Kunwu’s people were too late to stop him.

The dark red rusted sword swept across his neck. The blade condensed with sword qi, piercing through his dao body as bright red blood spilled on those high stone steps!

Moments later his consciousness shattered and his body fell.

The rusted sword clanged to the ground, crumbling into a pile of rust!

A generation’s giant, drawing his sword in suicide, body and dao both destroyed!

That blood color spread, dyeing the clouds at the sky’s edge red.

Just like that year at the small gathering, when he had casually flicked his sleeve, casting the blood of Jianzhu Sect members into the evening clouds at the sky’s edge, all becoming part of Kunwu’s magnificent scroll…