When Song Qian Ji heard “choose again” in the darkness, a dangerous intuition flashed through his mind.

He had originally thought that a rare treasure had appeared, opening the passage to the underground palace and causing the earth to shake. The spirits were somehow afraid yet craving this treasure, and No-Form had also come for it.

He was confident he could kill his opponent before No-Form seized the treasure.

But now it seemed that things were much more complicated than he had anticipated.

Song Qian Ji said coldly: “My luck was poor before, making wrong choices at every turn. I no longer wish to choose again.”

Before his words faded, the spirits dug through the ice and stone, clearing a path, accompanied by piercing screams.

Song Qian Ji was about to take action when he saw the person opposite him remain composed and unmoved, so he forcibly stopped his movement.

“Treacherous and vicious human cultivators, this time it’s your turn to die!” The spirits’ eyes glowed red as they shrieked.

Their long fingernails nearly poked the female No-Form’s eyeballs, but in the next instant, their gazes became unfocused as they twisted and broke their necks.

Song Qian Ji was shocked as he watched one spirit after another rush into the ice cave, tearing off each other’s flesh, and biting through each other’s throats before collapsing to the ground.

More spirits poured in continuously, initially attempting to attack the two people in the cave, but then seeming to lose control. They frantically attacked their kind or mutilated themselves to death.

Blood flowed like a river, seeping downward. The cave was poorly ventilated, and the heavy smell of blood made it difficult to breathe.

Even though Song Qian Ji had seen all kinds of ruthless fighting methods, witnessing this bizarre, frenzied scene still made his hair stand on end.

The female No-Form stared at this scene without blinking, and was smiling: “They cannot control themselves; they can only use their flesh and blood to nourish what lies below.”

The earth trembled as if some enormous creature deep below was turning over. As the blood soaked through, the entire cave underwent a strange transformation: the ice surface emitted a faint blue glow, but it wasn’t the light of talismans or formations.

Song Qian Ji stared intently as if trying to penetrate the ice layer: “A restriction? Is there a seal underground?!”

What was it that made the spirits afraid to enter the cave during the day, yet attack cultivators relentlessly every night?

Countless scattered clues surfaced in his mind, flashing by in an instant.

“Correct,” the female No-Form smiled. “Blood River Ancestor’s underground palace has many treasures, even the ‘Endless Fire.’ But what interest do dead objects hold? What’s sealed here is a living creature.

“Two hundred years ago, Blood River Ancestor’s mount was about to awaken. That fierce beast is called ‘Chaos,’ it feasts on spirits, and when extremely hungry, it’s not picky—it could devour the entire underground palace. Fortunately, Xian Jian Chen arrived in time, and with one seal imprisoned it underground. However, unfortunately—”

She said “unfortunately” again, her expression very sincere: “With time, the seal gradually weakens. Every twenty years, the one who placed the seal should come to repair and reinforce it, but Xian Jian Chen is too lazy, and lazy people always have lazy solutions.”

Song Qian Ji said: “He tampered with the seal. A method that attracts spirits to mutilate themselves, absorbing their blood and life force to strengthen the seal. But… how did he accomplish this?”

Not human at all, Song Qian Ji thought.

The female No-Form was happy to enlighten him: “It’s sound, a kind of sound we can’t hear, but only they can. This is the cruelty of ancient nature—predators emit special sounds or scents to attract specific prey. Xian Jian Chen engraved Chaos’s sound into the seal, and whenever the seal’s power weakens, this sound automatically emits.”

“This seal designed by Xian Jian Chen has been maintained for two hundred years. How could the spirit clan be content to serve as nourishing sacrifices? To escape their fate, they’ve tried using the blood and flesh of various living creatures and beasts as substitutes, with only human cultivators left untested. This time, you happened to encounter them.”

Song Qian Ji frowned: “At night, when the spirits’ power and willpower are strongest, they want to break into the cave and kill human cultivators here to replace their sacrifice, so they attack persistently again and again. During the day, they are at their weakest and fear going mad with self-mutilation if they enter the cave, so they don’t dare come in. Yet they don’t know that Xian Jian Chen designed this seal to specifically require their blood and life force to complete the reinforcement, making all their efforts in vain.”

He felt somewhat conflicted.

In his previous life, after he led his team into the underground palace, the spirits rushed into the cave, the seal was reinforced, the earthquake ended, and everything returned to calm.

Only in this life did he learn the truth of the mystery.

The female No-Form said: “Your guess is correct. Now guess what I’ve come here to do?”

Song Qian Ji said coldly: “Break the seal.”

The female No-Form said: “At this moment, the number of spirits is still far from enough, and the seal is at its weakest in the past twenty years. If I wish, I could release Chaos to devour most of the living creatures in the underground palace. Judging by your expression, Xian Jian Chen didn’t tell you these things.”

Song Qian Ji shook the realm wheat field, waking up a group of worker souls: “Such an important matter, why wasn’t I told earlier?”

The worker’s souls all protested their innocence.

“If we had known, we would have spoken up for bonus points long ago,” Ancient Ancestor of Shaking Heaven said sarcastically. “Look at the youngest True Person of Peaceful Origin in the wheat field. He died two hundred years ago and has been trapped in the ancestral hall as a mountain-stabilizing spirit. Who still cares about how many glorious achievements your master had!”

True Person of Peaceful Origin gloated: “As long as you choose a good master, there’s no shortage of messes to clean up after they’re gone!”

“Enough,” Song Qian Ji said, feeling a headache from the noise.

He had thought he was temporarily Xian Jian Chen’s ally, with No-Form as the enemy.

But the reality was cruel—the enemy’s understanding of Xian Jian Chen was ten thousand times more detailed than his, a fake disciple and supposed ally.

That night when Xian Jian Chen stayed at Song Academy, he could have shared much useful information, yet he chose to discuss trivial matters instead.

Song Qian Ji cursed Xian Jian Chen ten thousand times in his heart, but his face showed no trace of anger. Instead, he appeared confident, fearless, and composed:

“Xian Jian Chen didn’t tell me these things, but he gave me this sword.” He turned the thin sword in his hand. “This sword is fast. The moment you raise your hand, I can pierce your heart. You don’t have time to break the seal. If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to try.”

“Of course, I believe you! Xian Jian Chen loves valuable swords. Besides his life-bound sword, he once collected twelve famous swords from across the world. The twelve swords were made of different materials, each with its strengths. During his travels across the world, he destroyed three, leaving nine. The one in your hand, ‘Shadowless,’ is the fastest killing sword…”

Her tone shifted: “But you also know that no matter how fast a killing sword is, it can’t outpace someone intent on suicide. The power of my self-destruction is enough to shatter the seal.”

“Madwoman,” Song Qian Ji’s fingers gripped the sword handle so tightly they turned slightly pale.

He was talking to No-Form to buy time, allowing Child of Midnight Manjusri to lead people far away.

In his previous life, many people suffered heavy casualties; only those who entered the underground palace escaped with their lives.

He instinctively believed that passage led to safety, just needing some time. Could these assumptions have led him into the enemy’s trap in this life?

Since his rebirth, had he always been trapped in the preconceived experiences of his previous life when dealing with people and situations?

Song Qian Ji felt a chill run up his spine.

For his opponent’s madness, and even more for his momentary wavering.

“Last time I made you choose between killing one person and saving ten thousand. This time, even if you had more amplification talismans, they would be useless. You can’t save everyone, let alone enable them to save themselves.”

Her voice was crisp and pleasant, her demeanor coquettish, with a kind of innocent cruelty. “If I live, tens of thousands live. If I die, tens of thousands die. How do you choose?”

A more extreme environment, higher stakes, greater pressure.

The Shadowless Sword surged with killing intent, humming incessantly.

Since Song Qian Ji’s rebirth, there have been very few moments when he was truly enraged.

Most of his attention was focused on vegetable gardens, flower beds, and other things that seemed trivial to other cultivators.

The more insignificant the things a person cares about, the easier they desire to satisfy, and the less likely they are to become angry.

Only when encountering something he cared about but couldn’t protect did he begin to feel anger.

“If you choose to kill me, most people in the underground palace will perish in the beast’s belly. They will all die because of you—will you still be able to sleep at night? If you choose not to kill me, we can swear an oath to never raise weapons against each other again. I am not your enemy; we can cooperate.”

Song Qian Ji found it extremely absurd: “Cooperate? You and I?”

The female No-Form said: “As you’ve seen, Xian Jian Chen’s methods are cruel, no better than mine. Abandoning him and choosing my side would do you no harm. You’re so intelligent; you must know how to choose.”

Song Qian Ji was slightly stunned, suddenly understanding why this clone had taken the form of a female cultivator.

Her voice was gentle, with a bewitching quality, yet also as loving as a mother’s:

“We should stand together, not against each other. The sky here is about to collapse; no one can save it. But we can bring it back to life, and start everything anew. I choose you to be the only cultivator of the new world. Song Qian Ji, you will become the only god of the new world.”

“The god of the new world?” Song Qian Ji lowered his head, turning the sword handle as if in thought.

“I know you’re stalling for time, waiting for this seal to be reinforced. I’ll count to three. If you still don’t decide, I’ll destroy the seal immediately. One, two—”

“Fine. I’m willing to swear an oath.” Song Qian Ji’s voice was calm, almost emotionless.

The female No-Form smiled, the smile of a victor who had gotten what she wanted.

In the next moment, that smile suddenly twisted into an agonizing scream:

“Ahhh—”

The Shadowless Sword pierced through her chest. A sword through the heart, blood gushing forth.

Almost simultaneously, the female No-Form gritted her teeth, true to her word, and violently self-destructed.

“You’re the madman!” Song Qian Ji heard her furious, agonized scream.

Blinding white light and a tremendous impact force temporarily deafened and blinded him.

The ice surface shattered, and he fell rapidly downward.

“Roar!” The heavy breathing of the ancient fierce beast reached him, like an angry howl.

He finally spoke the latter half of his unfinished oath: “I swear, no matter how far across the world, no matter how many incarnations, I will slay you under my sword!”

Only after his enemy died did he speak his true feelings: “I said before that I came to kill you because of Xian Jian Chen. I take that back. I kill you because I want to kill you.”

Then he attached an amplification talisman to himself and took out a small box.

The box wasn’t large, resembling a young maiden’s cosmetic case.

…

“Did you see the sky trembling?” On this night of bright moonlight, countless people in the underground palace looked up at the moon.

Meng He Ze helplessly said: “Are you drunk? There have only ever been earthquakes, not sky-quakes.”

Ji Chen pointed it out to him: “Look carefully, it is the sky tremble. This is the underground palace—isn’t the ground above us our sky?”

As soon as the word “sky” was spoken, a violent wind swept across the ground, the night curtain was torn apart, and an immensely massive shadow descended upon the human world.

“Roar!”

The giant shadow resembled a dog with four wings growing from its back and six legs beneath its belly.