The Forbidden Path to Immortality - Chapter 199

Part 2 Episode 19 The Dust Settles Chapter 2 Death

That was the real sun!

Even a fool would know it couldn’t possibly spring forth from their midst. But as the blazing sun’s true fire surged in all directions, illuminating the eight poles, a single thought etched itself deeply into everyone’s mind: unshakeable.

A low, resonant note rose sharply, the strongest note since the battle began!

Under the unbridled blast of the sun’s true fire, Luo Qichang’s sea and sky sword intent seemed like a mockery. Thousands of torrential sword energies instantly evaporated, the surging waves and raging winds seemed to be smoothed away by an invisible giant hand. In an instant, the dark clouds dissipated, revealing a clear blue sky. The soaring sword energy that could shake the heavens and roil the seas was extinguished in the instant the sun rose!

A powerful flare exploded before everyone’s eyes, the terrifying heat distorting half the sky. Luo Qichang’s body was deformed in the distorted light. At that moment, the surrounding cultivators even thought he would vanish into thin air, along with the evaporating sword energy.

At that moment, a massive black shadow darted from the very edge of the expanding light wave.

“Ang!”

A sudden roar erupted, accompanied by a raging wind high in the sky.

The deep roar echoed in the gale, shaking the soul, seemingly even pausing the radiating Sun’s True Fire.

Qingming, ignoring the harsh light, opened his eyes wide. Although all images were distorted by the surging light waves, he could clearly see that it was a massive and majestic beast—more precisely, a tiger with wings sprouting from its ribs! A

winged flying tiger!

Bancheng Jushi unfolded his Dharma body and plunged into the Sun’s True Fire. Since his conversion to Buddhism, he had used this method less and less. The last time he had seen such a thing was probably during the forty-nine tribulations. Clouds

follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger.

The Flying Tiger with Wings was a primordial elder brother, endowed with innate magical powers. When he materialized and soared, he was met with a mighty, swift wind from the Nine Heavens, sweeping across a thousand miles. However, at this moment, this mighty wind could only barely disrupt the flow of the surrounding heavenly and earthly vital energy, allowing him to carve a path amidst the encircling True Fire, which was scorching his soul.

Regardless of losses, the Semi-Accomplished Monk forcibly crossed the short distance of a few miles. With another low roar, he unleashed his innate magical powers, and the sonic waves buzzed, creating a gap. His massive, three-foot-long body, undiminished, crashed forcefully through it.

On the other side of the gap lay the near-death Luo Qichang.

A single head-on collision annihilated the contemporary Sword Emperor’s most powerful sword intent. This was no mere clash of equals, and the weaker party, already suffering from the backlash of the sword intent, had already been ravaged by numerous wounds. The fact that he remained largely intact was a minor miracle.

The hard tiger head scraped against Luo Qichang’s side, sending him flying. The move was too hasty, and before he’d even traveled a hundred feet, Luo Qichang was gushing blood. A thin layer of blood sprayed all over his body, indicating that his body was on the verge of collapse.

It wasn’t that Bancheng Jushi didn’t want to be cautious, but he simply didn’t have the time. At the moment of collision, a second burst of intense light erupted in the void. Amidst the blazing light, Gu Yin’s ghostly figure flashed, just to the side of Bancheng Jushi’s body.

A distance of… half a foot!

Gu Yin brought his five fingers together and thrust forward with a simple, ordinary hand-knife strike. Without a single deflection, the sharp palm blade penetrated the tiger’s flank, piercing through it like thin paper. All protective energy was shattered in one thrust!

“Ang!”

Another wild roar erupted, and beneath the raging gale, the massive flying tiger’s body suddenly curled up into a ball. Using this momentum, its resilient flesh twisted to clamp down on the palm blade that had penetrated over a foot deep into its flesh.

The slightly blocked secondary force of the palm blade, the scorching true fire within it, under the external pressure, erupted with even more terrifying power, resulting in a third explosion of intense light.

In that moment, Feihu’s dharma body suddenly vanished.

The sun’s true fire nearly vaporized everything within a ten-foot radius, missing the moment the great demon’s dharma body transformed.

Bancheng Jushi, restored to human form, leaped out of the void. A deep wound, ripped open above his left rib, near his heart. A faint blue flame burned through the bloody wound, as if flesh and blood were the best fuel. The

great demon continued to retreat, his face blurred, his expression unreadable. However, judging by his posture, he seemed completely oblivious to the terrifying wound on his left rib.

Gu Qi made no move to pursue. Instead, he smiled again and reached back to tidy up his slightly scattered hands. The shift from extreme movement to extreme stillness was a strange change for those around him. The next moment, a dark blue flame roared, and in that instant, half of Bancheng Jushi’s body was engulfed in flames. Unparalleled dark energy exploded deep within the wound. The great demon, unable to control his movements, whirled and tumbled down from a thousand-foot height with a low grunt.

In an instant, the two Grandmasters suffered heavy damage!

Only then did the others react. Qingming was undoubtedly the one closest to the battle. Seeing this, he didn’t even have time to think before being swept along by the drastic changes in energy and charged forward.

At the beginning of the battle, the seven True One Grandmasters naturally formed a cohesive offensive and defensive system to withstand Gu Yin’s intense threat. Then, Gu Yin’s lightning-fast, retreating series of attacks was like a sledgehammer, shattering this connection even further.

Unconsciously, the energy connection between the seven Grandmasters became inseparable. Like a finely woven net, striking at the center causes the edges to sag inward.

As the saying goes, a single move affects the entire body. Qingming charged forward, prompting several Grandmasters, including the old demon Kunpeng, to leap forward. However, they were further away than Qingming, and under the intense impact, the gap between them was far greater than the slightest.

The Xinzhao magic sword trembled faintly, yet Qingming remained surprisingly calm. Intellectually, he didn’t believe he could withstand Gu Yin’s extraordinary power, but at the moment the sword’s force pressed in, all thoughts of victory or defeat, survival, and demise vanished. Gu Yin had her back to him, showing no intention of turning. Although Qingming knew it made no difference whether facing her from behind, his usual self-control forced him to shout in a deep voice.

“How noisy!” Gu Yin remained silent, not even employing the power of the Sun’s True Fire. She simply reached out and gently stroked the air, sending a clanging sound resonating through the heavens. It was only then that Qingming realized that the female cultivator before him had, before today, been renowned for her sonic killing technique.

Though not as overbearing as the sun’s true fire, the invisible sound waves were as sharp as swords, energizing and transforming the murderous intent

of heaven and earth. After only a few strikes, Qingming’s pressing sword energy was shattered. The killing intent, however, continued, penetrating flesh and bone, shaking his internal organs, instantly reawakening previously suppressed internal injuries. By this point, Qingming was still seven or eight feet away from Gu Yin, and he again vomited blood and retreated in a state of disgrace.

This was truly…

Qingming once again realized the vast gulf between himself and Gu Yin, but this was no reason to retreat. He sought no victory, only to give the severely injured Luo Qichang and Bancheng Monk a chance to recover. So, suppressing his internal injuries, he soared once more on his sword.

At the moment the sword energy hissed, Gu Yin suddenly turned and gazed at him, his dark eyes brimming with the energy of two tiny suns.

Being pierced by this gaze, Qingming felt his entire body’s energy choke, and he almost choked and bled. At this moment, he heard Gu Yin’s cold words: “You should know that I am not unable to kill you.”

As the words fell, a violent gust of wind suddenly erupted from the heavens and earth, and several clanging sounds permeated the air. As the sonic sword energy touched, Qingming felt as if a heavy hammer had struck his head. His head buzzed, and even his consciousness blurred.

In his daze, he was struck by a powerful force, falling several miles away, but his life was still safe. At the same time, he heard the other person’s whisper: “If I had my way, ten Mingxin Sword Sects would have been destroyed! It’s a pity that I promised someone to spare the lives of several of your fellow disciples and maintain the Mingxin Sword Sect’s legacy…”

As she spoke, a circle of flickering flames slowly spread around her. It was the externalization of the sun’s true fire. It was unknown how Gu Yin transformed the absorbed calamity into this refined and pure flaming magic. Driven by the heart of heaven, it was truly domineering. In a head-on confrontation, Luo Qichang would be the perfect example.

Qingming was flung far away. Li Douliang, Luomoshi, Chu Chen, and the old demon Kunpeng had already rushed to Gu Yin’s side, facing a blazing, tangible flame.

Apparently, due to Qingming’s distraction, Gu Yin hadn’t managed to mobilize his True Fire in time, and even his surrounding Qi hadn’t been activated.

Without any obstruction, the four great masters were able to gather their strength and attack from all sides. In an instant, their Qi converged. If they attacked at this point, it would surely be the most perfect combined attack since the beginning of the war.

But at that moment, Gu Yin, standing at the center of the flames, extended a finger. It pointed not at anyone, but at the sky.

Gu Yin’s gesture held a magical power, and even though they knew it was wrong, the masters couldn’t help but look up.

Above the sky, at the limit of their sight, a burning golden pupil glared down indifferently, but its target wasn’t the masters!

Then, the Sun’s True Fire exploded, truly like a blazing sun rising among the people.

Wherever the powerful light reached, the combined might of the four Grandmasters crumbled. They flew back to where they had come from, extending the distance between them and Gu Yin to ten miles.

Though they were in disarray, they all knew full well that it wasn’t the Sun’s True Fire that was irresistible. Rather, the moment before, within the exploding Sun’s True Fire, a chilling force, distinct from that of True Fire, had radiated a sharp, sword-like chill, its energy piercing the air. Though fleeting, it was vaguely connected to the “Golden Eye Fire Tribulation” in the sky. In that instant, the four felt as if their limbs were ablaze, with Li Douliang feeling the worst.

“That’s…”

Li Douliang didn’t have time to contemplate it, as the void suddenly shifted again!

High in the sky, a deep rumble of thunder echoed once more. Simultaneously, a crimson light suddenly emanated from the sky. Looking up, they saw a layer of dark red clouds emerging from the cracked golden eye of the fiery catastrophe at the top of the sky. The clouds gathered, and the light gradually grew brighter. However, the translucent blood-red color was deeply unsettling. Something

that could make figures like Ramash and Li Douliang feel uneasy couldn’t simply be due to appearances; there must be something else at play.

Everyone was knowledgeable, and after the initial discomfort wore off, the crimson cloud struck them as incredibly familiar. Qingming, in particular, was struck by the crimson light, and his reaction was the fastest. “Could this cloud be the same one Sixth Junior Brother saw during his ascension?”

Even after a century, the vision of Zhong Yin’s ascension was still vivid in Qingming’s mind. He remembered that when the thunder and fire bombarding Zhong Yin neared its end, a similar crimson cloud had threatened to spread, but Zhong Yin sealed it back with a single strike of his sword.

However, there were no more peerless masters like Zhong Yin, and the one closest seemed quite optimistic.

In a flash, crimson clouds spread across most of the sky. Layer upon layer of blood-red, its weight thickening and seeming even more threatening to fall. The clouds rolled like waves, and even from a distance, a fishy smell filled everyone’s noses. As the red

cloud accumulated, the initial golden pupil of the fire catastrophe was gradually submerged within it, and even the dazzling golden light at the center gradually faded.

As the light faded, the clouds spontaneously shifted. Suddenly, thousands of lightning flashes appeared, swirling through the clouds, flickering and fading. At first glance, they resembled countless writhing snakes, a strange sight.

Before the cultivators could determine whether the red cloud and lightning were real or not, the golden pupil’s light suddenly intensified within the cloud’s depths. In the interval between flickering and fading, the light became highly concentrated.

Over ten miles away, Luo Qichang, staggering and struggling to steady himself, suddenly froze. It wasn’t just his body that froze, but the entire flow of vital energy within him!

Those present were among the world’s most elite, possessing the keenest and most direct perception of the workings of the Celestial Heart and the birth and death of gong. They perceived that the moment Luo Qichang froze, the golden-eyed fire catastrophe’s torrent of gong and evil erupted from the heavens with an unprecedented explosion!

“Not good!” Li Douliang cried out, his body abruptly stopping as he moved.

If it weren’t for his ultimate control of his true energy, even a mere two or three inches would have unleashed the overwhelming fire within his limbs, and his fate would have been the same as Luo Qichang’s. In the distance, Luo Qichang’s five senses and seven orifices erupted in flames!

That was no ordinary fire, but a heart fire that ignited within the cultivator’s most refined vitality, igniting within his inner core. As the heartfire ignited, the cultivator’s acupoints responded with a roaring explosion. Flames shot straight to the Niwan Palace, then pierced through the crown of the head to connect with the Nine Heavens Tribulation Fiends. Amidst the interplay of heaven and man, an indescribable force emanated from the golden pupils of the night sky. Through this connection, it temporarily descended upon Luo Qichang’s Niwan Palace.

Fireworks soared within the Niwan Palace as the two forces collided silently. Yet, everyone in the sky felt a tremor in their hearts.

In that instant, all life was annihilated!

Time seemed to freeze. An invisible hand seemed to grip the hearts of Li Douliang and the others, perhaps with just a little more force, it could rupture the fragile organ!

A prolonged “chi” shattered the stagnant air, and a faint green light burst through Luo Qichang’s severely deformed head, shooting towards the southwest. This was the remnant of Luo Qichang’s consciousness that had remained from the fire tribulation, escaping at the crucial moment.

This spiritual consciousness, having escaped from the desolate land, is still a product of the cultivator’s primordial spirit and conscious spirit, a fusion of innate and acquired energies. Though its nature is obscure, it contains all the knowledge and insights a cultivator has accumulated throughout his life, as well as numerous profound insights into cultivation. If it can successfully reincarnate, and continue its cultivation under the guidance of fellow practitioners, it will be able to stand firm in the world again after five hundred years, a blessing in disguise.

Of course… this only occurs if reincarnation is truly successful!

The light of the spiritual consciousness vanished a hundred miles away in an instant, while a dark red cloud, as thick as a child’s arm, silently descended. The

events unfolded so swiftly, far beyond everyone’s ability to react. Before Qingming and the others could react, they saw this dark red aura descend from the sky, like a demonic arm. With a single reach, the soaring light of the spiritual consciousness dimmed, caught in a gap in the cloud, and swept back upward.

“Command!”

In this critical moment, Qingming was the first to act. He discarded all his profound sword energy, breathing in his mouth and nose, combining clear and turbid sounds to form a runic command. Simultaneously, with a wave of his sleeves, a token-like object flew out, rising into the wind. After soaring several dozen feet, it radiated a hazy purple light.

This purple light, as if possessed of its own spirit, also shot through the air, barely catching up with the revolving clouds. The purple light penetrated the red clouds, illuminating an area of more than a foot. The tiny ray of spiritual light was seen to be bound by thousands of red threads, gradually becoming stained by the color, becoming turbid.

Qingming suppressed the churning blood in his chest and issued another command. The purple light then grew even brighter, penetrating the cascading red clouds, dispersing them and enveloping the glimmer of spiritual consciousness within, dragging it backward.

This token-like object was actually Qingming’s natal spirit tablet, prepared for future calamities. It was the ultimate safeguard for spiritual consciousness, a precautionary measure. To secure Luo Qichang’s chance of survival, he gritted his teeth and exerted his will, determined to contain the Sword Emperor’s spiritual consciousness within.

At that moment, a cold, ancient laugh reached everyone’s ears.

Before the laughter faded, a dark crimson lightning burst forth from the clouds, instantly ripping through the void and leaving a dim glow imprinted upon the cultivators’ vision.

A crisp explosion echoed, and the spirit tablet shattered with a resounding bang. The purple light suddenly faded, and Qingming groaned miserably. The impact of the force sent another mouthful of pickled blood gushing out. He could only watch helplessly as the red cloud swirled, swallowing up Luo Qichang’s remaining spiritual consciousness.

At the moment the spiritual light died, a shrill sound suddenly erupted from the sky, like the fierce laughter of countless ghosts. Countless piercing sounds merged into one, causing a roar in the human ear. A thousand miles of space suddenly turned upside down, and a chilling wind

blew, as if descending into a ghostly prison. At that moment, the catastrophe fire had spread to every corner of Luo Qichang’s remains. All vital energy served not as a barrier but as fuel for combustion, so the flames raged fiercely. At their peak, they erupted from the shattered body—the fire had lost its form and transformed into pure light. Luo Qichang’s remains were a tiny black shadow amidst the intense light, silently dissipated by a gust of wind.

Sword Emperor Luo Qichang, dies!

Even though the masters were accustomed to life and death, and had witnessed the tragic annihilation of friends and fellow disciples during the catastrophe more than once, the sight of a Sword Emperor reduced to ashes still struck them with an irresistible shock.

At that moment, Gu Yin’s razor-sharp gaze slashed across their faces. “I heard you were going to borrow me to help you escape your tribulation?”

Gu Yin’s voice was ethereal and elegant, without a trace of worldly smacks, but to the Grandmasters, it sounded like a vicious, ironic rant.

Only then did they realize that, despite having been preoccupied with controlling his gongsha, Gu Yin was fully aware of their plans. His revelation after Luo Qichang’s death was like two slaps, one in the face, both positive and negative.

“Times change, the will of Heaven shifts. This is merely the most basic truth. It’s ridiculous that you still don’t understand, still fantasizing, believing it’s a calamity that has remained unchanged for tens of thousands of years. Perhaps this is the calamity! It’s the entire universe that must endure this calamity. Either a new beginning begins, or it lingers in stagnant water. As for you… at best, you’re mere insects floating in the heavens and earth. Under the cosmic fire of the calamity, your annihilation is the only reality!”

As his words deepened, Gu Yin smiled brightly, his gaze returning to Qingming. “I learned this truth from Zhong Yin.”

As that familiar name entered his ears, Qingming’s mind buzzed, and for a moment, he lost track of where he was.

“Don’t fall for her mind-altering tactics!”

Li Douliang’s roar was so vague, it seemed to come from afar. Qingming shuddered at the sound, and his hand unconsciously tightened around the hilt of his sword.

At this moment, the clear, resonant voice of the ancient sound had spread, audible to everyone within a ten-mile radius: “For Zhong Yin’s sake, I will spare your life. If you still have any shame, return to the mountain and close the gates. Wait for him for a hundred or ten months. After the great changes, perhaps one day, among the Five Great Sects, your Mingxin Sword Sect will still be among them!”

The clanging of the Xinzhaofa sword echoed, but this time, the sword chant was no match for the surging impact of the surging waves. Qingming felt his mind wavering, his heart unsteady and without support.

He had actually believed the ancient sound’s unfounded, one-sided account. The moment he heard it, he believed it.

It seemed absurd, but Qingming knew clearly in his heart that it wasn’t his credulity, but rather a subtle intuition that had only now become clear.

In fact, he had sensed something from the moment the Nine Heavens Thunder and Fire descended on the East China Sea. He was particularly uneasy when Li Xun, Mr. Shuijing, and Shui Dielan appeared one after another to interpret the strange situation.

The continuous changes in events since then were certainly dizzying, but they also sowed seeds of doubt from all angles. However, these thoughts, intentionally or unintentionally suppressed, never manifested.

Until now, when that name tumbled from Gu Yin’s lips, it was like lifting a veil from within his heart. It turned out the answer had always been there, but Gai Ruo had previously feigned ignorance.

Looking back a thousand years, Qingming vaguely saw the cultivator on Zuowang Peak, pursing his lips, pressing his sword, speaking up for his junior sister.

“I have a sword in hand, who can stop me?”

“Not even heaven, not even earth, not even human hearts!”

Thinking back to that conversation between master and disciple, Qingming felt a sinking feeling in his heart, his breath choking. “Junior brother, are you still resentful of what our master did back then?”

For a moment, the atmosphere in the sky became eerie. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Qingming. Each one had their own thoughts, but to Qingming, they all seemed the same.

If this was also a calamity, Qingming didn’t believe he could survive it.

“Ang!”

A sudden roar shattered the eerie atmosphere. Qingming shuddered, as if waking from a dream. To his ears, the once feral roar sounded more like the morning bell and evening drum, piercing his heart.

“Bancheng Jushi?”

Only one person in this place could roar so deeply, piercing the depths of another’s heart. After all, Qingming had practiced for thousands of years, and his mind and character were nearly perfect. The shock of the roar cleared his mind.

At this moment, a strong wind arose. The wind blew

thousands of miles long, and the tiger roared across the heavens and the earth.

The peerless demon’s majestic arrogance was the product of tens of thousands of years of pressure from the calamities of heaven and earth. When the mighty spirit tempered by time burst forth, even the sky above would have to give way.

The ten-foot-long tiger shadow, riding the wind and controlling the clouds, had not yet arrived, but the fierce savagery hidden for thousands of years was already as sharp as a knife, slashing through the air.

Above the sky, a thousand-mile blood cloud suddenly split in the middle!

Thousands of lightning flashes twisted and exploded, among them a ghostly, blue-gray figure, flickering like smoke.

The turbid blood cloud tumbled and tried to close, but was frozen by the fierce murderous aura, opening a chasm ten miles wide, allowing the giant tiger shadow to streak through it.

Gu Yin remained unmoved, even smiling as he looked up.

A winged flying tiger plunged directly into the spot where the red cloud had been swirling and swirling. With a powerful twitch, a gaping hole opened in the air. Those below could vaguely see its claws reach in, seemingly grasping something. Then, the massive body, brimming with power, stiffened, and the tiger’s shadow vanished, revealing the familiar Bancheng Monk.

The Bancheng Monk slowly descended, until he was level with the others. The crimson cloud in the sky gradually closed, and the lightning within grew more violent, yet it still held its own.

Qingming tried to speak, but the blood rushed to his throat, and he couldn’t help but cough twice, choking his words. Instead, Li Douliang in the distance asked, “Sect Master Luo…”

“He has been infected by the devil and there is no hope for him.”

Bancheng Jushi closed his eyes slightly, his tone calm, but compared with the fierce murderous intent he had shown before, everyone knew how he felt now.

There was another moment of silence in the void. When a voice was heard again, it was Ramash, who had been silent for a long time, who spoke: “So it seems that this red cloud must be a cloud of foul light from the outer realm, and that what is moving within the cloud is the Red Yin Divine Thunder.”

“Legend has it that the foul light and clouds gather the blood of the ten hells, giving birth to millions of demons, and the Red Yin Lihua Divine Thunder corrodes the Primordial Evil God, destroys all true breath, and damages all primordial spirits. Among the personal calamities, he is second to none in terms of insidiousness. Unless one has committed a heinous crime against the world, it is hard to provoke him.”

His eyes were like needles, piercing Gu Yin’s face, and then he grinned again. The devil patterns on his face trembled slightly with this movement, which was very strange: “I have practiced for thousands of years, and I think I have committed countless sins, but I am still a little short of the right time to attract this calamity. I am already like this, how can I talk to others? Only the ancient master who wanted to change his fate and drive the scattered cultivators and demons to do many great things over the past hundred years has this qualification.”

Gu Yin smiled and bowed, accepting Ramash’s words as a compliment.

Ramash said so much, but his purpose was not to give praise. He also smiled and continued: “The foul light and clouds from the outside world nourish the demons, and they love to devour souls and the like. That’s why they took the initiative to attack and kill Sect Master Luo’s consciousness. However, what these millions of demons love to devour the most should be Sect Master Gu’s soul…”

At this point, he fell silent again. In another direction, old man Chu Chen also said: “We have to endure the Golden Eye Fire Tribulation, but the foul light clouds and the Red Yin Lihua Divine Thunder are mainly aimed at the Ancient Sect Master. We only need to use our primordial spirit to guard the acupoints and control the circulation of true breath. In addition to these tasks, the Ancient Sect Master must also divide a lot of energy to resist the harassment of millions of demons and the bombardment of the Red Yin Lihua Divine Thunder!”

Far away, Kunpeng laughed loudly: “The sun’s true fire is indeed the best means to resist the demon’s Yin Thunder, but the energy consumed by the divine breath to drive it is far beyond the Ancient Sect Master’s expectations. You said you can’t see tomorrow’s sun, but I think that if you can hold on for another half an hour, God will be blind!”

The two evil masters and an ultimate demon said heart-wrenching words, and they had actually grasped several extremely critical points. However, Gu Yin remained unmoved, scanning their faces one by one. Finally, she spoke softly, “Do you think that Chi Yinli’s Divine Thunder needs too long to build up its power, which is why you’re making such a fuss and stalling?”

After these words, Ramash and Chu Chen managed to control their expressions, but Kunpeng smiled again. “Master Gu, you will understand!”

Gu Yin shook her head slightly, seeming to be resigned, but more of a cold mockery. Her gaze finally settled on Bancheng Jushi. Feihu Likong’s previous move, while unparalleled in its power, had done nothing to heal his own injuries. Gu Yin stared at him intently, her lips curled upwards. “Well, next!”

High in the sky, the Hell of Fire opened up, and under Gu Yin’s control, the True Fire of the Sun soared and transformed, slashing across.

To others, the words emanating from Gu Yin’s red lips resembled Yama’s command. To Qingming, it seemed more like his most admired Sixth Junior Brother possessed him, unleashing a thousand years of pent-up rage. With

a long sigh, Qingming tightened the Xinzhao Magic Sword in his hand and charged forward. He didn’t know what to do, but he had to.

The whistling gale was pushed aside by the sword’s energy, its sharp edge directed at Gu Yin. Qingming hoped his strike would only halt it, giving Bancheng Monk a moment to gather his strength and respond.

At that moment, wind and thunder erupted from behind, and a strange whistling sound approached, rumbling closer. The massive figure of the old demon Kunpeng appeared behind Qingming, poised to leap over him.

Sensing the shifting energy of Kunpeng, knowing it was implicitly merging with his own, Qingming breathed a sigh of relief. He focused his mind and fine-tuned his breathing, striving for optimal results.

A massive shadow completely enveloped Qingming, the distance between them no more than ten feet.

At that moment, the aura shifted dramatically.

A thousand-year-old spiritual sense issued a sharp warning, but Qingming, completely focused on Gu Yin before him, was already slow to react. Furthermore, the distance was too close!

There were no dramatic visual or auditory effects, not even the whistling sound of overflowing vital energy. Every ounce of the opponent’s strength was truly applied. A muscle in his back seemed to soften, then collapse, before a torrent of force tore through his flesh and surged in. The

opponent, completely oblivious to the damage from the backlash of the sword energy, tapped his toe mid-air, landing squarely on Qingming’s back. In an instant, Qingming’s internal organs ruptured, and a second burst of profound demonic energy followed, twisting his entire body into a knot.

At that moment, the opponent’s deep voice penetrated his ears: “Zhong Yin wants to protect him, so I must kill him!”

Qingming’s five senses and seven orifices were splattered with blood. The sword in his hand let out an angry roar, flew out, and transformed into a ray of sharp light, tearing through the void and piercing his opponent’s face.

The old demon Kunpeng was soaring upwards. Seeing this, he flicked his finger, and a loud thunderous buzzing sound exploded in the air. The sword’s light dimmed and turned downward. The old demon, taking advantage of the situation, rose up, his speed increasing by another three points. As Li Douliang and the others stared in astonishment, he, without even turning back, roared a thunderous laugh as he fled a thousand miles away. His voice still echoed back, “I’ve long disliked the Mingxin Sword Sect

. Killing that young Qingming is truly satisfying! My humble servant Gu Yin, tonight’s farewell will be forever…” Kunpeng’s laughter died away with the last word. Clearly, the forced reversal of his Qi and the head-on attack from Qingming had still injured him… But, so what?

“Next, am I?”

Qingming’s mind was in a state of confusion. He vaguely heard the sigh of Bancheng Jushi and the angry roar of Li Douliang, but these sounds soon faded.

When the fatal accident occurred, he wasn’t surprised at all. A new clarity of mind, unprecedented in its intensity, cleared the fog in his heart. Only a few doubts, like the shadows of mosquitoes, lingered. “Gu Yin already possesses earth-shattering power, capable of defeating everyone head-on. Why resort to all this scheming? Although Gu Yin hinted, why would Kun Peng trust her? Is Gu Yin truly invincible now?”

His body had lost its momentum, drifting towards Gu Yin by inertia, already beginning to fall.

But at this threshold between life and death, Qingming’s serene Dao heart only gained a stronger grasp of his inner and outer self. He was clearly aware that within his shattered heart, a spark of inner fire had ignited, drawn by the external calamity, burning fiercely. Furthermore, the power that Kun Peng had previously penetrated sealed his Niwan Palace tightly, preventing his spirit from escaping.

Ahead, Gu Yin stopped moving, her hands hidden in her sleeves, staring at his body with cold eyes, patiently awaiting his death.

“It really wasn’t her who did it!”

Qingming actually found it somewhat amusing. However, before he could finish the thought, a flash of lightning suddenly flashed through his mind. He was startled, his gradually blurry pupils bulged, and he stared at Gu Yin’s arm hidden in his long sleeves.

Not long ago, the irresistible knife hand replayed in Qingming’s mind. The dazzling light at that time was like a lightning that illuminated everything in his mind. Qingming suddenly understood. At this moment, his body began to fall rapidly, getting farther and farther away from the battlefield in the sky.

The fire in his heart ignited with a roar, rushing out of his heart. At the same time, Gu Yin withdrew his gaze, unwilling to waste energy on a dying person. Qingming shuddered violently, squeezing out the last bit of strength in his body, and screamed towards the rapidly spinning sky: “She couldn’t bear the calamity, and her right hand has turned to ashes…”

This was Gu Yin’s most powerful moment, but also when Gu Yin was at her weakest.

Following Qingming’s last note, red clouds rolled and thunder roared in the sky. At first glance, it looked like hundreds of dark red thin lines, which then expanded and swelled halfway, turning into a dense mass of thunder and fire, which covered an area of dozens of miles in a blink of an eye.

Flames shot up into the sky, yet the temperature strangely plummeted. Ghostly figures swarmed within, swooping down, mingling with the thunder and fire, scattering and scattering. Upon contact with the radiance of the Sun’s True Fire, they hissed, their intense corrosiveness startling.

The thunder and fire’s blasts held within them a captivating power, blending with the chirping ghostly sounds to shake the spirit and capture the soul. Each explosion shook the aura of the Sun’s True Fire, a ferocious force.

Qingming witnessed the millions of thunder and fire descending, engulfing even Li Douliang and the others… But soon, he saw Li Douliang and the others scattering within the thousand-foot thunder and fire, stirring up a fierce wind high in the sky. Under the rain of thunder and fire, they shouted and fought fiercely, not flinching.

With a silent laugh, Qingming’s body was empty, drained of any remaining strength. Only a raging poisonous fire surged back and forth. The strongest force had already passed through the twelve floors and was heading straight for the Niwan Palace. His life had finally come to an end.

Tumbling, he turned downward, away from the battlefield high in the sky.

A long-lost silence enveloped him. However, as he approached the utter stillness, a sudden rumble erupted from outside, a sharp whistle ripping through the air. As the world spun, Qingming seemed to see a blinding streak of blood-red light piercing the clouds and mist, soaring upward. In the blink of an eye, another, almost identical streak of light passed by him, soaring into the sky.

Simultaneously, a throbbing sound surged through his head, as the calamity of heaven and earth shattered his heavenly spirit and rushed in. For a moment, he felt strangely light and airy. Qingming opened his eyes wide. The deep sky resembled the night view from Zhiguan Peak, only missing the faint laughter of his fellow disciples.

His empty eyes connected with the sky. As the moon reached its zenith, pale moonlight reflected in his eyes, and within them, a familiar figure, shone with the moonlight, tall as a curtain, bursting forth with a sword. Seeing this, he suddenly smiled, and within this smile, the calamity of his heart fire gathered, a high heat penetrating every corner of his body .

With a gentle explosion, his body turned to ash, his spirit extinguished.