He Qing Qing opened a passage above the snow plain, wanting to let everyone from the Immortal Alliance and Thousand Channels witness her power.

She indeed accomplished this. In Thousand Channels Prefecture, Hongfu Prefecture, and the surrounding miasmic swamps, the pitch-black night sky was transformed into a silvery white expanse. Everyone couldn’t help but look up at the snow plain in the sky.

After hearing the three conditions, the people of Thousand Channels and their allies were filled with righteous indignation, cursing at the sky.

The cultivators of the Immortal Alliance cheered enthusiastically, with shouts of “Long live the Alliance Leader” rising to the clouds.

“After fighting until now, even with the Ascension Pills, nobody wants to continue fighting. The Alliance Leader’s move deeply resonates with everyone!”

“First set an exorbitant price, then negotiate with them. Thousand Channels will have to compensate us with spirit stones anyway.”

“The Alliance Leader dares to block Song Wang and the Sword Saint alone. She must be confident in defeating them, letting the people of Thousand Channels witness this scene.”

“The fallen ground becomes the sky, connecting two spaces. Only the great powers of ancient times could display such divine abilities. Even the Sword Saint at his strongest couldn’t achieve this feat. The Alliance Leader is truly ordained by heaven.”

At this moment, the cultivators who admired strength and despised weakness forgot which sects they came from, feeling only an incomparable sense of identity with the Immortal Alliance.

He Qing Qing stood at the summit of the snow mountain.

The world was silent, with only Song Qian Ji and Xian Jian Chen visible to her.

But she knew everyone was watching her. She wasn’t at the edge of the continent but at the center of the world.

The howling wind around her seemed to transform into cheers, surrounding and lifting her, sending her straight to the heavens.

It was at this moment that Song Qian Ji expressed his strong disagreement.

His face showed no anger, but his Shadowless Sword couldn’t stop humming.

“Does Song Wang have any other conditions?” He Qing Qing asked.

Song Qian Ji said: “This matter cannot be negotiated at all, nor is there any need to negotiate. Once the Sky-Supporting Tree dies, this world will collapse and perish. Your ambitious plans will ultimately be like flowers in a mirror or the moon reflected in water. Miss He, that person gave you power that doesn’t belong to you to make you a pawn in his hand. Don’t you understand yet?”

He Qing Qing said: “I naturally know that the Sky-Supporting Tree is heading towards decline, but there are at least five hundred years left. Once I unify the cultivation world, I will create a new world and let my people flourish. If you agree today, in the future of the new world, we will still stand together, and I will preserve Thousand Channels.”

Xian Jian Chen gave a light laugh: “You want to be a creation deity? That aligns perfectly with that person’s plan—a perfect agent of his will.”

The people of Thousand Channels and the Immortal Alliance cultivators all felt a chill in their hearts upon hearing this, and the passionate cheers quickly subsided. The three people conversing on the snow plain were the strongest in the current world. Ordinary cultivators knew they couldn’t match these three’s perception of the changes in heaven and earth, so they held their breath, listening to what these three had to say.

People vaguely sensed that a huge, terrifying conspiracy was surfacing, about to affect everyone’s fate.

“What is Song Wang saying? The Sky-Supporting Tree supports the heavens and exists eternally. How could it die?!”

“But Alliance Leader He admitted it. Does this world only have five hundred years left?”

“If she establishes the new world, naturally those who follow her will prosper, and those who oppose her will perish. No one will be able to stop her then.”

He Qing Qing looked at Song Qian Ji: “You still don’t believe I can do it. You think you’re always right, and I’m wrong. You’ve overcome countless difficulties on your journey, covered yourself in scars, all to retrieve the strongest sword in the world…” He Qing Qing paused, her deep gaze turning toward Xian Jian Chen, “But is that sword really at the edge of the continent?”

The mocking smile on Xian Jian Chen’s face stiffened slightly.

Song Qian Ji remained silent. How could he not have doubted this question himself?

Xian Jian Chen had too many secrets and past events that he was unwilling to tell him.

He had brought along this annoying tagalong, overcome eighty-one trials, and finally reached the Western Heaven, but was the “true scripture” for saving all beings there?

Xian Jian Chen quickly regained his smile, looking even more irritated than before: “Little girl, didn’t your master teach you that sowing discord before the battle isn’t honorable!”

Since there was nothing to negotiate between the two sides, a battle was now inevitable.

“My master died early. And I don’t need to use such tricks,” He Qing Qing smiled. “Sword Saint, I respect you as a remarkable person. Go fetch the world’s number-one sword. If one sword can change the outcome, then I am not fit to be the ruler of the world.”

Xian Jian Chen shook his head: “I’ve never seen anyone more arrogant than I was in my youth. Unfortunately, my sword was never meant to kill you.”

He suddenly raised his hand and threw something. Song Qian Ji caught it without blinking.

A voice transmission rang out: “This sword is named ‘Spilled Water.’ Like ‘Breaking Illusion,’ it has no sword manuals or techniques to follow. You must comprehend it yourself when wielding it. This Alliance Leader has old entanglements with you, and in this situation, I don’t know when you can break free. This is probably arranged by that person to delay time. I’ll go ahead. Finish this quickly and meet me at the base of the Sky-Supporting Tree.”

The “Spilled Water Sword” looked like an ordinary green short dagger, light and unassuming. When Song Qian Ji held it in his hand, it felt like holding air with almost no presence. He couldn’t help but transmit back: “You couldn’t give me something more powerful at a time like this? Well, without me to bring you across the Ice Chasm, be careful on your own.”

Xian Jian Chen soared away on a cloud: “Spilled water cannot be recovered. You’re the one who needs to be careful.”

“Wait,” Song Qian Ji called out, watching the other’s figure pause, but not knowing what he wanted to say.

Xian Jian Chen turned back with a smile, his black cloak floating in the snow and wind like a drifting cloud: “Boy, did you suddenly realize you can’t bear to part with your master?”

Song Qian Ji shouted: “We’re in a hurry! Can’t you move faster?!”

He Qing Qing said coldly: “He’s severely injured and has been using you to reach the edge of the continent. Once he gets the sword, will he still care whether you live or die? He doesn’t deserve your loyalty, or do you think you’re a savior who can rescue everyone?”

She became angry at how Xian Jian Chen simply left, “abandoning his companion.” She suddenly waved her sleeve, heavily sweeping across the zither strings.

Mournful zither sounds reverberated, string shadows flew out, and snow from all directions gathered like rolling floods, directly rushing toward the Shadowless Sword.

“I wouldn’t have trusted others before either,” Song Qian Ji said calmly. “And I’m not a savior. I just want to go home and farm my land. Why do you all insist on stopping me?”

He looked up at the violently approaching snow and wind, forming hand seals: “Domain! Open!”

“Boom!”

A dazzling golden light exploded!

The people of Thousand Channels and the Immortal Alliance instinctively closed their eyes. When they opened them again, they saw golden wheat waves surging out like tides, rapidly expanding from Song Qian Ji’s center to cover half the snow plain.

The sky overhead changed from a terrifyingly cold snowy white to a wheat field swaying in the wind, leaving the people of Thousand Channels shocked yet feeling a sense of familiarity:

“As expected of Song Wang’s divine ability, it’s remarkable. In Song Wang’s heart, our Thousand Channels and farmland matter most.”

“That Alliance Leader can change the sky, but our Song Wang can too! Look at his wheat, each grain full and every root flourishing. What a fine field!”

“If I could grow such a good field, I would have no regrets in my lifetime!”

He Qing Qing plucked the strings repeatedly, and eighteen red jade beads shone brilliantly.

At times the wheat waves surged high, covering the snow and wind; at other times, the snow and wind raged, blowing off the wheat ears.

Song Qian Ji controlled his domain in battle, glancing at the crack in the sky, feeling a bit embarrassed amidst the chaos:

It was all because the opponent created this passage, and now the whole world would know that his domain wasn’t cool at all, just a wheat field.

A wheat field was fine though—at least he didn’t have to shout “behave” in front of everyone.

He Qing Qing was temporarily suppressed: “Opening your domain, how much spiritual energy will you consume? If you want to kill me, why not use your sword?”

Song Qian Ji had seven swords, making him the person with the most divine weapons in the world. He Qing Qing had been waiting for him to draw his sword, waiting to counter it.

“I opened my domain not to kill you,” Song Qian Ji formed seals, “Retract!”

The wheat field suddenly disappeared with the wind, and the snow plain reappeared.

Yet from deep within the earth came rustling sounds, growing clearer and clearer, converging together like thousands of snakes awakening from hibernation.

Countless gray-black roots broke through the thousand-year-old frozen soil and ice layers, struggling to climb from the ground to the surface of the snow plain like some sort of living being fighting with difficulty.

They crisscrossed and intertwined, covering the white snow with a layer of gray-black death energy.

“These are the roots of the Sky-Supporting Tree. How could they be like this…” He Qing Qing was stunned.

“My domain is born from the Immortal Spring, steeped in its essence. The Sky-Supporting Tree is on the brink of withering and desperately craves vitality, which is why it’s attracted to it.”

This deepest secret since his rebirth, at this moment, he revealed it, telling everyone.

The closer to the edge of the continent, the denser the roots of the Sky-Supporting Tree. Such an effect would never occur elsewhere.

Just seeing this scene, whether cultivator or mortal, everyone felt waves of trepidation.

“You’ve exhausted resources without restraint, and the Sky-Supporting Tree can no longer bear the burden. Who can give you another five hundred years?” Song Qian Ji shouted. “Miss He, I ask you one more time, is this really what you want?!”

The Immortal Alliance was already in an uproar.

“Could what Song Qian Ji said be true? Is the catastrophe of heaven and earth imminent?”

“Alliance Leader He used the sap of the Sky-Supporting Tree to make Ascension Pills, accelerating the world’s destruction!”

Then He Qing Qing replied: “You underestimate me too much. You’ve used up all your trump cards, but I still have an ace up my sleeve. This passage I opened is not just for show!”

She raised her hand, and a crystal-clear, pulsating blood-colored seed appeared out of thin air.

With each pulse, abundant vitality surged from within it.

It was as if she held a living heart in her palm, making everyone feel a chill throughout their bodies, even through the spatial passage.

He Qing Qing said: “The only seed of the Sky-Supporting Tree is in my hand. After the world’s destruction, it can be reborn. Since the catastrophe has come early, I will immediately nurture a new world. Whoever is willing to sacrifice their cultivation and swear to obey the rules of the new world can follow me to the new realm.”

Her voice seemed to possess a certain magic, once again calming the chaos among the Immortal Alliance heroes.

The cultivators were too shocked to react.