“What do you want to do with the first forbidden technique?”

     He didn’t know how many times he had asked this question. Mo Ran was in a good mood today, so he finally answered slowly, “Go back to the past.”

     “And then?”

     Taxian-Jun raised his eyes and said, “Save him.”

     It was clear who “he” was.

     Chu Wanning stood in front of Mo Ran in his snow-white robe. “If you read the books related to the first forbidden technique carefully, you should know that no one who’s practiced the first forbidden technique has had a good ending. The last master tried to bring his daughter back to him from another space-time, but he fought with the him of the other space-time. You should know how it ended.”

     Mo Ran frowned, changed his sitting position, crossing his long legs, and looked at him with his cheek propped up. “This Venerable One really doesn’t know.”

     “...”

     “What is there to see in this example of failure?”

     Chu Wanning said, “No one has ever succeeded.”

     Mo Ran said, “Then This Venerable One will be the first to succeed.”

     Chu Wanning said again, “Once time and space are disturbed, you don’t know what the consequences will be.”

     Mo Ran almost sneered, “Even if the world is in chaos, what does it have to do with This Venerable One?”

     Chu Wanning was still unwilling. “Even if you really bring Shi Mingjing back from another space-time, what about your other self? Would he allow it? If the incident of the two masters fighting over one person happens again, what will you do?”

     Mo Ran smiled and said, “It’s just another version of me. If he tries to stop me, I’ll kill him.”

     Chu Wanning suddenly stopped talking and felt his hair stand on end.

     Mo Ran had really gone mad.

     “Then what if…” Almost stubbornly, Chu Wanning said slowly, “the same mistake the master made when he tried to take his daughter is repeated and during the fight for Shi Mingjing between the other you and yourself, there is an accident, and the Shi Mingjing of that world is torn to pieces by the space-time crack, you…”

     Before he could finish, there was a loud clang.

     Mo Ran suddenly stood up and kicked over the fruit plate in front of him. The grapes, oranges, lychees, and sweets were like the heads of the people he had killed at this moment, rolling all over the ground.

     Emperor Taxian-Jun strode over, stepping on the ground with his crimson dragon-embroidered shoes, crushing the fruits all over the ground. The grapes were crushed, appearing like blood, and the lychees were crushed like brain matter. In this sea of blood filled with a sweet fruit fragrance, he suddenly grabbed Chu Wanning’s lapels, his eyes like a tiger or wolf.

     “I know you look down on him and want him dead,” Mo Ran said darkly, “but this is too vicious. No matter what, he is still your disciple. He once worshiped you and trusted you. Chu Wanning, how can you curse him like this?”

     “I’m not cursing him. Everything I said is true.”

     Mo Ran snapped, “Who wants to listen to your facts? For the person This Venerable One wants, I’ll tear apart time and space and distort the universe in order to save him! Let the mortal worlds tear each other apart! I’ll stop the other me and kill him. If you stop me again, then…”

     He gasped for a while, his eyes wet with madness. Then what would he do? Crush him? But he had already broken Chu Wanning’s spine. Humiliate him? Chu Wanning was already married to him against his will.

     Then, kill him? Suddenly, his heart felt so painful that he couldn’t say anything, and he didn’t know what to say.

     Mo Ran left abruptly,  leaving Chu Wanning standing alone in the empty hall, surrounded by darkness. He knew that this darkness was a trap set by someone, and whether it was Taxian-Jun or Beidou Immortal, they were both right in the middle.

     But what should he do?

     Once the first forbidden technique was used, it wouldn’t be a big deal if it was only a crack. Just like how scars form scabs, time and space would be able to heal itself. However, if the crack was too big, there would be too many variables; the two worlds would be merged, and in the end, it may eventually become as recorded in the ancient records—

     Collapse.

     “The mortal world is in order. If the order collapses, heaven’s punishment will come, and everything will return to the primordial world.”

     Chu Wanning would rather not remember where he read this sentence, but the impression was very clear. It described the consequences of losing control over the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death.

     This so-called heavenly punishment would come, and everything would return to the primordial world. In other words, the gods would punish the mortal world, crushing the two distorted worlds into dust and returning them to nothing.

     The price of losing control over the first forbidden technique would be the complete destruction of both worlds. No matter what, he couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t let Mo Ran continue like this.

     That night, Mo Ran was busy dealing with the Kunlun unrest files, so he didn’t look for Chu Wanning again. Chu Wanning carried a lantern and went to the library.

     This was also a bit of benevolence in Mo Ran. He knew that Chu Wanning would never be able to do anything again, so except when he was angry, he didn’t set up any obstacles at Sisheng Peak. He didn’t mind Chu Wanning going to the library, the back mountain, or even the holy weapon’s arsenal.

     The concept was the same as raising a cat.

     It was enough to smooth its fangs and cut off its claws. It would be too boring to break its legs, leaving the cat motionless and tame.

     Chu Wanning sorted out all the details he had obtained in the library. Combined with the current situation, he finally concluded two things. First, the person behind the scenes was very proficient with using medicine, but their spiritual power was definitely not strong. This wasn't strange because if the person’s spiritual power was strong, there would be no need to use another person to do these things. Second, Shi Mei’s death must have been planned by the person behind the scenes in order to awaken the hatred in Mo Ran’s heart.

     This was also supported by Chu Wanning’s ancient books.

     “The Eight Sufferings Long Hatred curse can erase all gentleness in a person’s heart, but it can also retain the tender memories of a certain person.” The complex magical text was deciphered word by word. “Therefore, the caster often compels the Long Hatred Flower’s host to retain their normal memories of himself, making the Long Hatred Flower’s host recognize the caster, rely on the caster, and be willing to die for him.”

     Shi Mei had already died long ago. He had seen it with his own eyes, so it couldn’t be fake. Therefore, Shi Mei must not be the caster of the spell, but Mo Ran obviously remembered all of the good memories related to Shi Mei, and the person behind the scenes took advantage of the last remaining pure and tender feelings to tempt him to seek the three forbidden techniques.

     From the Zhenlong Chess Formation to control the world, to the Rebirth technique to resurrect the dead, to the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death to distort everything; Mo Ran had indeed tried them all one by one, whether successful or not.

     What kind of person would be so desperate to master all three forbidden techniques? What kind of person would want to tear apart time and space and risk both worlds returning to nothing in order to satisfy their own selfish desires?

     Chu Wanning couldn’t imagine the answer to that question, but it wasn’t the most important thing at the moment. What mattered most was how he could stop this from happening before Mo Ran mastered the Gate of Life and Death.

     After thinking for a while, he finally saw clearly that there was only one path in front of him—he had to kill Emperor Taxian-Jun, then go back to the past and contain the Eight Sufferings Long Hatred curse in Mo Ran’s heart before it was deeply rooted. He must try to find a way to remove it.

     It was unlikely that a person who had been affected by the Eight Sufferings Long Hatred curse would be affected a second time. This way, even after Taxian-Jun’s death, if the mastermind behind the scenes still managed to open the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death, there would be no way to obtain the most powerful warrior, Mo Weiyu.

     Kill Emperor Taxian-Jun…

     At night in the library, moths threw themselves into the flame of Chu Wanning’s lantern and were engulfed by the fire in an instant. There were no remnants left, only a burnt smell.

     Chu Wanning looked at the candle flame alone, looked at the ignorant moths.

     The flame was very bright, but his heart was cold.

     Kill Emperor Taxian-Jun… Kill Emperor Taxian-Jun…

     Kill Mo Ran.

     Kill the pitiful man who is being controlled, used, and has had few good days.

     As his Shizun in the past, I failed to protect him, but now I have to plan to kill him personally.

     Chu Wanning slowly closed his eyes, then slightly tilted his head back and rested it against the bookshelf. The lantern flickered, and he was about to be a moth to the flame.

     He must kill Mo Weiyu.

     It was raining.

     The light drizzled, lingering in his bones.

     —

     Chu Wanning, his favored male lover, woke from his light sleep.

     Mo Ran’s desire and stamina had always been astounding. Chu Wanning didn’t know whether this person would be so endlessly entangled with Song Qiutong, whether he vented simple animalistic desire or a desire for himself.

     It wasn’t important.

     Mo Ran was now lying beside him, sleeping soundly, not much different from the many long nights before. During this time, he became more and more absurd and demanded more and more. It was common for him not to pull out after he’d finished. When he woke up the next day, he would do it again before going to court.

     He had to kill him.

     But the difference in strength was too great, and Chu Wanning didn’t think he had a chance of winning, even if he was just beside his pillow.

     Wait a little longer, he told himself.

     After all, there were two things to be done—one was to kill, and the other was to open the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death before the person behind the scenes to prevent the past Mo Ran from being swallowed up by the Long Hatred Flower.

     Since the first could not be completed immediately, he would do the second—use the first forbidden technique, the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death.

     He didn’t know why, but he always had a vague impression of this forbidden technique in his mind. Combining this with the ancient scroll Mo Ran obtained—and after countless failures—he was finally able to restore the original form of the spell.

     But because he had no spiritual core, it was extremely difficult for Chu Wanning to cast spells. Fortunately, he had a natural connection to Jiu’ge, so he could summon it even without a spiritual core. Therefore, although it was difficult to figure out, and there was no need to mention the setbacks he experienced, in the end, Chu Wanning was finally able to use Jiu’ge’s power to open a very small crack in time and space.

     It was a real crack that could lead to the past.

     As he got closer, he heard a whistle coming from the crack—

     The Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death whistled upon opening the gate and whistled upon closing the gate. It was exactly as explained in the books.

     He heard a distant and empty voice asking him, “Lord, where will you go?”

     At first, his heart beat like a drum, but when the boat really reached the end of the bridge, he suddenly felt calm.

     “Lord, where will you go?”

     When the voice repeated its inquiry again, Chu Wanning glanced at Wushan Palace, where the singing and dancing had already begun. Today, he had angered Mo Ran, and now Mo Ran had already summoned Song Qiutong to accompany him, so he shouldn’t be looking for him.

     He took a deep breath, and his phoenix eyes were bright. “I want to go back to the year when Mo Ran had just been poisoned by the Eight Sufferings Long Hatred Flower.”

     He tried to make his words clearer.

     “That is, the year when the Eight Sufferings Long Hatred Flower was still at its first stage, when everything can be undone… Do you understand?”

     No one answered in the crack, but just as Chu Wanning was about to be disappointed, a ray of light suddenly lit up, and the space-time gate slowly opened.

     He stepped into it, and the world spun. When everything returned to normal, he opened his eyes and saw a few peach blossoms falling in front of him.

     He… He really went back to many years ago!

     It was late spring at this time of year. The moon was white and the wind was clear at the summit of Sisheng Peak.

     Chu Wanning stood for a moment, trying to calm himself down. Then, he pushed aside the many flowers and walked out of the crack.

     He found himself at the back mountain of the sect. The fragrance of Madam Wang’s flowers and plants was striking, and there were dots of lights in the distance. It was the light of thousands of disciple’s rooms, which seemed to converge into a quiet milky way in the night.

     Returning to the old place was like a dream.

     Chu Wanning stood in place. Although there wasn’t much of an expression on his face, he had mixed feelings in his heart. He walked slowly down the path, watching the young disciples laughing and playing. He saw Xuanji Elder and Lucun Elder competing in a sword dance. After turning a corner, he even saw Madam Wang’s fat cat named Veggie Bun; it was squatting on the wall, stretching out its furry head to sniff the blooming roses on the wall.

     He was wrong. It wasn’t just a dream. All these years, even in his best dreams, he couldn’t return to such a Sisheng Peak.

     Chu Wanning looked at the scene in front of him step by step and walked forward alone.

     He knew that he didn’t have the habit of leaving the Red Lotus Pavilion at night, so he wasn’t too worried about running into himself in this space-time.

     As he walked, he suddenly saw two young teenagers walking towards him, one as bright as a lotus and the other as dazzling as a peacock’s tail. He had been walking very slowly, but his footsteps couldn’t help but stop.

     It was Xue Meng and Shi Mei when they were young.