Wushan Hall had once been Loyalty Hall. After Taxian-Jun ascended to the throne, he adjusted the layout and divided it into three areas: the front hall, the center hall, and the back hall.

     The two Mei brothers didn’t go in immediately. They stood at the door and waited for Xue Meng to follow. The eldest brother told him, “Something is wrong with this palace. There is a Soul-Bewitching Miasma inside.”

     “What is Soul-Bewitching Miasma?”

     Mei Hanxue explained, “It’s a kind of incense mist miasma similar to Mystical Door Hiding the Emperor, which can be found in the Plum Grove of Taxue Palace and doesn’t dissipate all year round.”

     Xue Meng asked with an ashen face, “What is it used for?”

     “It will make intruders unable to find their way.” Mei Hanxue said, “This miasma has no effect on your own people, but for intruders, it will distort the scene and throw everything into disorder, making it impossible to find the true entrance and exit. You know what the common people say about the ghost breaking walls? It’s probably something like that.”

     Xue Meng: “...”

     Mei Hánxue said coldly, “They are stalling for time. I’m afraid there may be a battle in the back hall.”

     Mei Hanxue asked, “What should we do? Can we get around it?”

     Mei Hánxue glanced at him and said, “You’ve lived in Taxue Palace for over twenty years, and you’re asking me?”

     “...Ahem.” The younger brother felt a little embarrassed and turned to Xue Meng, then said, “There’s no other way. We can only go in and search for the source of the miasma, then disperse it.” After glancing at Xue Meng’s expression, he comforted him, “But don’t worry, I’m the most adept at this. I often take advantage of the Soul-Bewitching Miasma in the Plum Grove of Taxue Palace to hide from the female cultivators who come looking for trouble. Give me an incense stick’s time, and I should be able to break it.”

     At the mention of this, his elder brother’s face darkened, and his voice dropped to ice.

     “You really have the face to say that.”

     Xue Meng was in no mood to listen to their idle chatter. He took two steps forward and, with a creak, pushed open the door to the front hall of Wushan Palace.

     Just like a ghost opening its foul mouth, the carved red lacquer door slowly opened, and the candles inside flickered between bright and dark in the silence. Xue Meng stepped in and could indeed smell the faint fragrance of flowers in the air.

     He turned around, and the Mei brothers had disappeared. It seemed that before the miasma was dissipated, the three of them would be met with different scenes and be unable to see each other at all.

     At this moment, a familiar voice suddenly came from the high seat in the hall.

     “Xue Meng…”

     A chilly wind blew, and a dark gauze curtain fluttered. Xue Meng was shocked and shouted, “Mo Ran?!”

     The voice sighed. “It’s you, right? Have you come?”

     Xue Meng’s throat bobbed, and his back was tense. He stepped towards the dimly lit hall with his sword in hand.

     The tip of the sword lifted the heavy curtains, and then he saw it. Sitting on the high seat, there was a handsome, pale man sitting with his eyes closed. The man sat slumped in a golden chair, wearing a nine-tasseled beaded crown. His eyebrows were dark and cold, and his nose was high but had a delicate curve. His pair of pale lips were pursed, but not much of an expression could be seen.

     It was Taxian-Jun.

     Taxian-Jun’s face was very pale, with a tinge of green in the corpse-white paleness, as if he’d taken poison. There were some plates of fruit in front of him, with dark purple grapes and light red apples. The colorful mountains and rivers were painted on the silver plate, but the person on the throne didn’t even raise his eyelids. He wouldn’t look.

     Illusion? Reality?

     The difference wasn’t so clear. Xue Meng’s mind was buzzing, and when he came back to his senses, he heard himself saying, “Mo Ran, you…”

     It seemed as if Taxian-Jun hadn’t yet woken from his light sleep, his eyes still closed, but he replied, “...What?”

     Perhaps the man in front of him was too weak, or perhaps Xue Meng had already vented his boundless anger in the rainstorm; now, facing the illusion on the high seat, he was actually more exhausted than angry.

     He didn’t know if Mo Ran would answer, nor did he know what the point of doing this was, but he just murmured numbly, asking the questions that were piling up in his chest and almost crushing him:

     “Why are you doing this…? Were you reborn? You… You and Shizun… are you really…?”

     Of course, Taxian-Jun didn’t answer. He just snorted softly and slowly lifted his curtain of eyelashes.

     In the dim light, he glanced at Xue Meng and said, “Thinking about it, you and Shizun haven’t seen each other for two years since we parted at Kunlun Taxue Palace.”

     Xue Meng was stunned for a moment. “What?”

     Taxian-Jun smiled and said to him, “Xue Meng, do you miss him?”

     Xue Meng was startled and asked, “What Kunlun Taxue Palace? What two years of not seeing each other? What is this nonsense?!”

     This blurry vision in front of him was actually the last conversation between Mo Ran and Xue Meng before he committed suicide by taking poison in his previous life. These were also the last words Taxian-Jun left behind in this mortal world.

     The miasma illusion had arbitrarily and coincidentally recreated the moment before the two were separated in the previous life.

     But Xue Meng didn’t know it. He was bewildered and indignant, anxious and frightened. He stared at the man sitting in the seat and asked, “What nonsense are you spouting?”

     Taxian-Jun’s eyes were looking at him, but he didn’t seem to see him. It was as if he were looking through the real Xue Meng at another absent shadow.

     He spoke to the shadow: “Give him back to you? How foolish. Think about it. I have such a deep hatred for Shizun. How could I allow him to live in this world?”

     Xue Meng stopped.

     Right… this was an illusion. Even if he didn’t say anything, Taxian-Jun would keep talking. He was talking to someone he couldn’t see.

     What was he talking about?

     There was a buzzing in his ears. Because Xue Meng didn’t understand what Taxian-Jun was saying, he didn’t remember much. But the man on the throne had such wild and cold eyes, so paranoid and contradictory, that it made Xue Meng feel cold all over—this wasn’t his brother. He couldn’t recognize him.

     Taxian-Jun was still vicious. “Are you trying to remind me how he once beat me until I was covered in wounds and made me kneel to admit my guilt in front of everyone? Or are you trying to remind me how he once stood in my way for your sake and for the sake of all of those insignificant nobodies, preventing me from accomplishing what I wanted again and again?”

     This tyrant was like a blind and clawless dragon, exhausted in the mire, retaining his last bit of ferocity.

     He kept muttering to himself, crazy as a madman, crazy as a demon. He appeared vicious, but he was actually very tired.

     He said, “Still, we at least used to be master and disciple. His body is in the Red Lotus Pavilion on the southern peak. He’s lying in the lotus flowers, very well preserved, like he’s asleep.”

     He added, “His corpse is maintained by my spiritual energy; that’s why it hasn’t decayed. If you miss him, don’t waste your breath with me here. Go quickly, while I’m still alive.”

     Xue Meng walked up the long steps, holding Xuehuang tightly in his hand as sweat dripped down his face. “What the hell are you talking about…?”

     In the previous life, who was it who died?

     Whose body was lying in the Red Lotus Pavilion?

     Whose corpse needed Emperor Taxian-Jun’s spiritual power to remain intact…? Who?

     In truth, from Taxian-Jun’s words and the grave he saw in front of Heaven-Piercing Tower, Xue Meng already knew the answer in his heart. But his mind felt as if it were filled with ice, and his upper and lower lips kept knocking against each other as he trembled.

     Who died…? Who died?!!

     His face suddenly twisted, and he rushed up to the hall. He reached out to grab Mo Ran’s collar, but his five fingers passed straight through the illusion.

     Taxian-Jun’s face was within arm’s reach as he spoke hoarsely: “Go. Go and see him. If you get there too late, I’ll die, and once my spiritual energy is cut off, he’ll turn to ash.”

     As soon as he finished speaking, the man closed his eyes in dismay. The poison had taken hold.

     Xue Meng opened his eyes wide, trembling all over—

     How did it all turn out like this? What other absurd things had occurred in this world?

     “You killed him?”

     Xue Meng’s voice was trembling, almost breaking: “Did you kill him?”

     “...”

     “Did you know everything since your rebirth? Did you actually know everything?”

     Naturally, no one answered him, but Xue Meng still asked.

     There were so many answers in this world that wouldn’t make people happy, but only make them suffer. However, despite knowing this, one still had to ask.

     Between the cruel truth and gentle lies, which was love and which was hate?

     “If you knew… why did you lie to us? Ge… how could you have the heart…? How could you bear it…?”

     The other’s face in front of him was almost spasming. No one could look good when the poison struck. Blood flowed from the corner of Taxian-Jun’s mouth. He propped himself up, bracing himself as he staggered to his feet and out of the hall.

     “Where are you going?”

     Xue Meng stretched his hand towards the shadow.

     “You want to—”

     Suddenly, his fingers reached into an area of warmth.

     Xue Meng shuddered, and the floral scent in his nose disappeared, shattered by the black and gold figure walking towards the sunset.

     “Mo Ran?!”

     Mo Ran was gone.

     The miasma disappeared, and Xue Meng’s gaze and expression were disconcerted and broken. Dreams and illusions, past life and present life—which one was real and which one was false? The Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death had opened, causing the previous mortal world and their world to be thrown into chaos. What was really happening? Which Mo Ran was real and which was his true self?

     The broken expression on his face looked so pitiful, and even his eyes were hazy.

     After a long time, his eyes gradually focused.

     Mei Hanxue’s figure was reflected in his brown pupils.

     “Wake up.” Mei Hanxue let go of his hand and tapped his forehead. Xue Meng felt pain.

     “It’s over.”

      “...”

     Xue Meng was frozen for a long time before he finally came back to his senses. He murmured weakly, “I’m sorry…”

     Mei Hanxue pursed his lips and said, “There’s nothing to be sorry about. This kind of bewilderment obstacle is very incredible, and the more worried your mind is, the more frightening it will turn out to be.”

     Xue Meng raised his eyes and looked up at him with his dark eyes, which were still a little moist.

     He actually didn’t really like talking to Mei Hanxue, but the person in front of him at the moment felt like the only real and tangible presence in his reverie. He couldn’t help but ask in a hoarse voice, “What about you? What did you see?”

     Mei Hanxue didn’t answer immediately. After a pause, he smiled and said, “Thousands of girls I’ve brought disaster to over the past ten years. Sigh, what a nice scene. I’m really worried about this.”

     “...”

     Just at this moment, they suddenly heard an earth-shattering explosion coming from the back hall.

     Mei Hánxue drew his sword with an icy look in his eyes and said, “Let’s go.”

     Xue Meng and Mei Hanxue followed him across the rainy courtyard and arrived at the back hall. They first saw a white and gold figure leaping to the roof of the corridor. The figure saw the three intruders and froze in her tracks, lowering her eyes. With the sound of rumbling thunder, her face was illuminated.

     Mei Hánxue’s brows sank as he said coldly, “Mu Yanli?”

      A loud shout came from in front of them: “Mu-jiejie, ignore them. Run away!”

     When Mu Yanli heard the voice, although reluctant, she quickly fled. By the time Xue Meng and the others arrived, the back hall was already in ruins, with broken wood and tiles everywhere, raging fire licking at the broken beams, silk and tapestries burning, and black smoke rolling like a tide.

      In the ruins, two flashing white shadows slashed at each other as strong winds whirled and sparks of fire were ignited! The two figures were fast as lightning, colliding and separating in the air very quickly.

     The sound of metal blades were heard amidst the flashes of gold and blue light. With a boom, bricks and tiles were lifted up, and a thick, strong tree lying in the middle of the crushed rocks and sand rose up like an awakening dragon. On the other side, a blue wave of spiritual power surged from under the golden bricks, rolling and tumbling violently.

     The figures swept by, standing on the left and right, on top of the giant tree and on top of the wave respectively.

     Xue Meng’s face suddenly paled. “Shizun!”

     No matter what the truth entailed, Xue Meng’s natural instinct was to worry about Chu Wanning in times of crisis.

     Mei Hánxue narrowed his eyes against the splashing water and mist, then murmured, “Shi Mingjing…”

     The two forces clashing against each other were precisely the former master and disciple, Chu Wanning and Shi Mingjing.

     But the strange thing was that Shi Mingjing’s entire body was enveloped by a powerful spiritual energy that clearly belonged to Emperor Taxian-Jun. Black incantations crawled over any of his exposed skin, and his meridian channels bulged terribly.

     Xue Meng rushed forward. “What’s going on?! Shizun, Shi—”

     With a boom, Xue Meng was thrown from the battle circle. He struggled to get up, only to see a golden haitang barrier falling in front of him.

     Chu Wanning looked very pale and said grimly, “Don’t come over.”

     Mei Hanxue took a few steps forward and stood next to Xue Meng. He stared at Shi Mei’s unusually powerful current of spiritual energy and frowned. “...Strange. He used his own water-type techniques before, but it all exudes the power of another person.”

     After a brief pause, Chu Wanning and Shi Mingjing began to exchange blows again at lightning speed. At this moment, the spiritual power of both sides had been completely unleashed, and their powerful auras forced the other three people present to gasp for breath.

     Willow vines flew beneath Beidou Immortal’s feet, and he held his golden sword, Huaisha, in his hand. The sword light flashed, illuminating his eyes, which were sharper than the sword. He was as light as a swallow, and suddenly slashed towards Shi Mei with his sword!

     “Chu Wanning!!”

     Shi Mei’s angry shout was almost warped.

     “In two lifetimes, I have never killed you—and you even still treat me like this?!”

     After he finished speaking, there was a loud bang, and he raised his hand to form a seal. A deep blue barrier suddenly opened in front of Shi Mei, blocking Chu Wanning’s attack.

     However, upon closer inspection, one could see that the barrier wasn’t created out of thin air but formed by a sheathless saber—Bu’gui! Taxian-Jun’s violent spiritual energy flowed within Shi Mei, so much so that Bu’gui recognized the wrong master and served him at his beck and call.

     Chu Wanning’s eyes were dark, and he said, “No, you have already killed me in two lifetimes.”

     The golden sword was drawn back with a brilliant ray of light, and faint cracks appeared on the barrier put up by Shi Mei. But Chu Wanning moved and flipped back in the air, kicking fiercely the location of the crack with his long leg before using the force to leap backwards and throw Huaisha from his hand at him! He could only hear the sound of thunder, as black rumbling clouds rolled across the sky. In the midst of the thunder and lightning of the nine levels, Huaisha suddenly broke through Shi Mei’s barrier!

     Shi Mei raised Bu’gui to block, but he was no Mo Weiyu after all.

     He couldn’t bear Huaisha’s power, and the saber flew out of his hand and stabbed into the ground with a clang. Then the golden sword holy weapon pierced Shi Mei’s chest!

     “Ugh…” Shi Mei barely managed to avoid the fatal blow to his heart, but not to the other parts of his body. There was a sha sound as blood splattered and Huaisha stabbed the back of Shi Mei’s shoulder, returning to Chu Wanning’s palm, dripping with blood.

      Shi Mei suddenly dropped to the ground, falling among the broken bricks and rubble, but still tried his best to cover his wounds and get up.

     His eyes flashed with severe fury and ferocity. “Why do you stop me?! What’s the use of you stopping me anyway?! Will the person who died to stop me be able to come back to life? Do you think you’ll live a life at ease if you stop me? Are you able to stop me and return these two mortal worlds to what they once were?!”

     Chu Wanning swept down from a great height and landed on the ground lightly on his toes, standing in the debris and ruins.

     His entire body was drenched from head to toe, wounded and bloody, with an apathetic expression. He appeared more unlike Chu Wanning than ever before.

     What he said was true.

     The Eight Sufferings Everlasting Hatred Flower had devoured his beloved, so he had died in two lives at Shi Mingjing’s hands. Two lifetimes.

     “It’s already too late for you to do anything! You know what you should have originally done to stop all of this?!” Shi Mei went mad and bared his fangs as he bellowed at Chu Wanning. The rain poured down around them but couldn’t extinguish the fire of hatred. “You originally should have opened the Gate of Life and Death in your previous life to return to the past and kill Mo Ran with a thousand cuts, tear his corpse into a thousand pieces, burn all the pieces to ash, and crush the torched ashes! You should have killed him!”

     “...” Chu Wanning’s eyes were cold.

     “What could come of staring from the beginning? What could come of redemption? What a joke! It is precisely because you wanted to save him and didn’t want to kill him—only then could I obtain his spiritual core and truly make him formidable again! Only then could I reforge Emperor Taxian-Jun and get to the point we’ve reached today!” As Shi Mei spoke, he burst into laughter.

     His eyes were like those of a snake, like the stinger of a scorpion or the stingers of bees, full of venom.

     Shi Mei gritted his teeth and said, “It’s because of you… because you couldn’t do it. Didn’t you want to stop me? If you had killed him entirely a bit earlier, then it would all be over. What else would there be for me to do?!”

     “It’s you who has implicated these two mortal worlds!”

     “Don’t you consider yourself Yuheng of the Night Sky, Beidou Immortal? What did you do? You didn’t do anything! It was by using the space-time rift you left behind that I was able to master the first forbidden technique and reopen the Gate of Life and Death. You also have a share of credit for ruining both worlds… Hahaha, hahahahahaha—”

     The laughter was as sticky as a spider’s web and as eerie as a vulture.

     He staggered back and forth, blood flowing from the corners of his mouth. The magical patterns on his body faded away bit by bit, but he didn’t care. He strenuously used the most vicious words to insult and curse the person in front of him.

     Whether it was the past emotion or love…

     It all disappeared in the torrential rain.

     He supposedly looked down on Chu Wanning or perhaps thought too highly of himself. He used to be full of arrogance, thinking that Chu Wanning could become his own plaything, and as long as the chain was tightened, it would be fine to keep him for fun. It wasn’t necessary to take his life. But now—

     “If it started all over again…” Shi Mei’s peach blossom eyes flashed with furious regret and cold light as he covered his bloodied shoulder. “...I would definitely kill you.”

     The last bit of the magical incantations disappeared.

      The strong flow of spiritual power in Shi Mei’s body was suddenly lost.

     The person lying on the ground had turned back into the most ordinary Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast.

     Shi Mei gasped for breath as he looked at Chu Wanning through the rain.

     He had just used his last killing move—Borrowing Divinity. He used this technique once before in front of Mo Ran after his rebirth that night in Wanshang Inn.

     Although it was called a technique, it was actually more like swallowing an elixir. This elixir was refined using Emperor Taxian-Jun’s blood and could allow him to gain Mo Ran’s power for a period within about an incense stick’s time.

     Although that power wouldn’t be Mo Ran’s full strength and would always fall a bit short, it was enough for many necessary situations.

     This time, he failed to defeat Chu Wanning during this short period of time, which meant he had finally exhausted all of his capability.

     He knew it very well.

     Xue Meng was at a loss as he watched from the side, his mind numb. He said hoarsely, “Shizun? …Shi Mei?”

     Although the sound of his voice was weak, the place where Shi Mei fell wasn’t far from Xue Meng, so he heard it and turned his head. As their eyes met, Xue Meng’s mind grew more and more blank.

     Shi Mei looked at him for a while, and a gleam of light suddenly flashed in his eyes before a trace of a sad smile slowly unfolded on his handsome face.

     “Young Master…”

     Xue Meng suddenly trembled.

     In this hazy moment, Shi Mei’s eyes were the same as before, his face the same as before. He was so wretched and so weak. He didn’t say anything, only extending his hand to Xue Meng.

     Xue Meng was standing at the edge of the barrier. As long as he couldn’t help but take a step forward—no, even half a step would be enough, then…

     However, right at this moment, Bu’gui, which was stuck at the side, suddenly exuded a brilliant light! Everyone was stunned and looked at Bu’gui. They watched this fearsome blade of a hundred battles abruptly overflow with intense light without any warning. The light turned scarlet for a moment, then bluish-green in another moment, going back and forth between them more than ten times before it suddenly erupted with a strong current!

     Mei Hanxue said, “Careful!” and pulled Xue Meng back when he was about to step out from the barrier.

     Soon after, they saw Bu’gui split the earth and rise into the storm. Then, like a bright shooting star, it shot directly towards the forbidden area of the back mountain!!

     This scene was also witnessed by all the cultivators who had initiated the mountain siege and were fighting against the chess pieces that filled the mountain. Everyone was astonished. “What is that?”

     “What happened?”

     Shi Mei squinted his eyes as he lay on the ground, looking at the red light that suddenly spread from the back mountain. The red light bore into his pupils, and he pinched his fingertips and closed his eyes to perceive what it was. After a moment, Shi Mei suddenly understood what had happened. He opened his eyes abruptly, with an expression of wild joy on his face.

     “Taxian-Jun!!”

     Chu Wanning suddenly turned back, his face pale.

     Shi Mei laughed loudly, with a fierce look in his eyes. “He’s not dead… Hahaha… He actually didn’t die!” He didn’t know where he gained the strength, but he got up from the ground and, before anyone could react, pressed several acupoints on himself to stop the bleeding. Then, with his bloody robe spread out, he instantly flew over the eaves, leaped a few steps, and plunged into the garden.

     “Shizun…”

     Chu Wanning couldn’t stay. He turned his head to look at Xue Meng and said to Mei Hanxue, “Please look after him.” He flew up from the ground and followed Shi Mei’s figure.

     Shi Mei’s movements were light, and he was not inferior to his master in terms of qinggong, with one in front and the other behind. Shi Mei couldn’t shake Chu Wanning off and Chu Wanning couldn’t catch him for the time being. The two of them rushed to the back mountain in a blink of an eye, but everything before their eyes was enough to cause one to suddenly stop in their tracks in immense terror.