At the same time, battles had already broken out on all sides of Sisheng Peak. The allied forces charged up the mountain, the vanguard fighting against the chess pieces, the guards tasked with opening the barrier, and the healers racing through the chaos… Thousands of spells intertwined, and specks of light from the flames of war rose on the mountain range, which resembled a gigantic black beast.

     Even so, the torrent of flames caused by Xue Meng’s attack was still astonishing. The light was so powerful that flames pierced the heavens! Chu Wanning looked back in the night wind, his heart filled with grief. He knew that Xue Meng had already begun to burn the power of his spiritual core. If he couldn’t finish the battle quickly, Xue Meng would most likely follow in Nangong Si’s footsteps.

     “Ascending Dragon—be summoned!”

     He held the Ascending Dragon Talisman between his two fingers and dripped his blood on it. He heard the dragon’s cry, and the paper candle dragon cut through the rain and soared into the sky, its cry resounding.

     “Chu Wanning, what have you called This Venerable One for?”

     Chu Wanning lowered his brows and said sharply, “Go to the end of the Path of Martyrdom, quickly.”

     The paper candle dragon’s eyes swept across the war-torn world. Without asking any more questions, it just said, “Come up.” The man and the dragon burst through the storm in an instant. It was as if they were riding the wind and breaking the waves as they flew straight towards the Path of Martyrdom paved by the dead. Chu Wanning looked down from the sky, and the road connecting the two worlds of gods and demons flowed with scarlet brilliance, like blood gushing out of the arteries, rushing towards the unknown realm.

     Because the back mountain was very close to the gate to the demon world and was affected by the demonic aura, the sky in this area was covered with crimson and lavender clouds, and it was unaffected by the heavy rain.

     The candle dragon swooped down, and the moment it hit the ground, it turned into golden light and returned to the talisman. Chu Wanning stood firmly on the Path of Martyrdom, took a breath, and raised his eyes—

     “You’re here?”

     A hollow voice sounded. Shi Mei was standing at the end of the path, with the flames of the demon gate behind him. Because Xue Meng and the Mei brothers temporarily had Taxian-Jun under control, the protective barrier around him had disappeared. Hearing the movement, Shi Mei turned his beautiful face halfway, his eyes turned to the side, and glanced at Chu Wanning.

     “You sure are capable.”

     The wind blew his hair, and Shi Mei’s gaze turned and fell on the gate to the demon world, distorted with light and shadow.

     "The Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death is wide open, yet you don't want to seal it in time but are instead determined to block the way back for my race..."

     Chu Wanning was not fooled. "The three forbidden techniques were created by Gouchen the Exalted. The demonic aura will increase their cultivation by dozens of times. It's not that I don't want the Butterfly-Boned Clan to return home, but once the demon world is opened and the demonic aura pours in, the Gate of Life and Death will be torn open even wider."

     "..." Shi Mei was silent for a moment, then sneered, "I can't fool you after all."

     Chu Wanning didn't intend to waste any more words on him. A golden light burst from his palm. Just as Tianwen was about to strike Shi Mei, a figure suddenly flashed by. It was actually Mu Yanli holding a sword and blocking the attack!

     "I won't let you touch him." Mu Yanli raised her eyes reflecting with sword light and said in a low voice, "He has suffered enough."

     Shi Mei: "...Mu-jiejie.."

     It was unknown what Mu Yanli did, but behind her were hundreds of Zhenlong chess pieces who had come to pave the Path of Martyrdom. Seeing the imperiling situation, Chu Wanning wanted to stop the chess army first. But Mu Yanli was agile and quickly blocked his path.

     Chu Wanning said, “Get out of the way!”

     Mu Yanli sneered, "Why should I get out of the way? The cultivation world never cared about the life or death of the Beauty Feasts, so why should the Beauty Feasts care about your lives when they return home?" As she spoke, she raised the tip of her sword and slashed forward.

     At the same moment, extremely terrifying white-gold flames raged around her—this was a desperate gamble, and in order to gain the strongest combat power, Mu Yanli also shattered her own spiritual core!

     She was born of divine blood, and no matter how thin the bloodline had become, after her self-detonation, she still had the power to move mountains and fill the seas. For a short period of time, her power could even be greater than that of Emperor Taxian-Jun.

     "What almighty zongshi? What prestigious and righteous sects…?" Mu Yanli's eyes were cold and resolute. "For thousands of years, you have been drinking human blood and eating human flesh. All of you can do anything to achieve enlightenment and ascend to the heavens!"

     Her sword energy was so sharp that Chu Wanning had to fight with all his strength. Although the woman in front of him didn’t have a drop of Beauty Feast's blood and could even be considered a distant descendant of the gods, she risked her life to help the demons return home.

     Chu Wanning's white robe fluttered, and Mu Yanli's golden sleeves waved for a moment. The two of them were as light as kites in the air, but their every move split the air with murderous intent.

     There was a clang as their weapons collided, and sparks flew as the two stared at each other.

     Mu Yanli spat, "You're the one getting in the way!"

     Chu Wanning said through clenched teeth, "Not everyone in this world is what you say they are."

      He could still remember Madam Rong’s kindness in giving him a meal, even though his body was cold and covered in frost after passing through the long night. He could remember that Lou Xianxian’s wish was not to harm others before she went mad. He remembered that the disciples of Sisheng Peak didn’t ask for any money to follow the way, remembered that Chu Xun cut out his heart to guide the people on their journey home…

     He could still remember the bright smiles of the villagers in Yuliang Village, the righteous mistress of Feihua Island, Nangong Si’s sacrifice of blood to the Dragon Soul Pool, how Li Wuxin carried those lives upon his sword.

     He could still remember Nangong Changying smiling as he faded away into specks of golden light with a gentle expression: “The mortal world is so good; flowers are enough, why stain it with blood?”

     Now, almost all of these figures had either fallen ill or died, displaced or disappeared in this disaster…

     There was even Ye Wangxi.

     That year at Xuanyuan Pavilion, she spared no expense to save a lone Butterfly-Boned girl and gave the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast, who never got to live, a future and freedom.

     "So what?" Mu Yanli said, "Should I forgive the sins of this world just because of a few people?!"

     As she spoke of her deep hatred, her sword grew more powerful.

     "My mother was so kind, but just because she is of the Butterfly-Boned Demon Clan, she was eaten alive by my beastly father... Is her life not a life?"

     “...”

     "Ever since I was young, she was the only one who loved me and treated me like her daughter. Apart from her, from my father to the elders of the sect and all of you cultivators, who has ever treated me like a living person?" Mu Yanli said angrily, "I have the blood of gods flowing through my body, so everyone treats me as a scale of impartiality, asking me to eliminate human desires and practice the Absolute Mind Mental Cultivation Method... Why?"

     The power of her spiritual core had advanced to the extreme. Mu Yanli's entire body was covered by the white-golden glow of her divine descent. The self-detonation of her spiritual core was different from that of ordinary cultivators; even her pupils and hair had begun to turn a pale gold. Every strike she made seemed to have the force of a thousand pounds.

     "If you are a descendant of the gods, you should be heartless. If you are a Beauty Feast, you should be devoured. It has been like this for millions of years..." The swords clashed against each other, and the sharp buzzing sound from the collision of the holy weapons could almost tear one’s eardrums.

     But nothing was sharper than Mu Yanli's eyes. Mu Yanli spoke word by word: “Chu-zongshi, you haven't read the case files of the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast Clan, have you?”

     “...”

     "That is a cannibalistic book... In the past, cultivators used the Beauty Feasts to refine their cultivation and ascend to the heavens. Today, the Beauty Feasts are just using you to pave the way back home!"

     With a loud bang, Mu Yanli used all her strength to raise her sword and slash at Chu Wanning.

     Chu Wanning suddenly pulled back and shouted, “Jiu’ge, be summoned!”

     Light gathered, and the ancient zither appeared. A dazzling golden light pierced through the sky subsequent with the sound of the zither, brightening the entirety of Sisheng Peak! In front of Chu Wanning, a huge curtain barrier of floating haitang petals was opened. He was suspended in the air, his wide sleeves fluttering, and before him was Mu Yanli’s face full of hatred.

     She didn't hate him; she hated the injustice of the world, hated her mother's tragic death, hated that she couldn't live freely, and hated that she had always been imprisoned from the very beginning.

     “Let them go back.”

     Although her attacks were unbreakable, and her spiritual power had been pushed to the limit, she still could not destroy Chu Wanning's barrier. Instead, blood kept dripping from the corner of her mouth.

     Her voice became hoarse, and the hand holding the sword was shaking.

     The spiritual core was about to break..

     Mu Yanli suddenly raised her eyes to look at Chu Wanning and said softly, “Please…”

     Chu Wanning saw his own reflection in her pupils, which had turned pale gold.

     Whose reflection was that?

     His appearance was chaotic, empty, distorted, and blank.

     Cruel. Kindhearted.

     “Let them go home... Chu-xianjun…”

     The reflection in the golden light suddenly disappeared.

     Because his mind was in such a mess, Chu Wanning only realized after a while that it was because Mu Yanli had used up all her strength, and her spiritual core had been broken. Her original appearance was restored, with only a pair of dark eyes looking at him.

     The armor had been removed, leaving no path ahead of her.

     She could no longer be the cold and arrogant descendant of the gods. Now, her eyes were like those of an ordinary woman.

     She was pleading for her brother, for the descendants of the demons who are at odds with her own race.

     “Let them go…”

     As she spoke, the sword light in her hand suddenly disappeared, unable to withstand the fierce battle from before, and shattered into dust the moment its spiritual current was extinguished.

     “Please.”

     Mu Yanli fell from the sky, her white and gold robe fluttering behind her like a lotus.

     Tianyin Pavilion’s magic scale totem was still embroidered on her waist, the emblem of justice and light shining brightly in the darkness of the night.

     Tianyin is vast and mighty; there must be no selfishness.

     Tianyin’s heir must not be sentimental.

     Tianyin is faint and cannot be disrespectful to the gods.

     Tianyin is compassionate and respects all living beings.

     She had been chanting these words since she was a child. It was like a shackle ensnaring her, whether she closed her eyes or opened them. The first words she learned after she was born were neither Father nor Mother, but these verses: Tianyin is vast and mighty.

     It was recited a thousand times a day, kneeling before the holy icons of the gods, and prayed over and over.

     Do not be selfish… Do not be sentimental… Do not be disrespectful to the gods… Be compassionate and respect all living beings.

     On the first birthday she could remember, her heartless father gave her a box of exquisite clay figurines, painted with colored lacquer and covered with gold dust. When she opened the brocade box, her smiling eyes and brows curved.

     “Wow—it’s so pretty!”

     Her father looked down at her calmly. “Do you like it?”

     “I like it!” Mu Yanli raised her head with joy, as if thousands of fireworks were blooming in her heart. “Thank you, Father!”

     The man she called father only raised his hand, touched her head, and took the brocade box from the girl’s hands.

     Then, in front of her, it was smashed to the ground.

     “Clang!” The sound of porcelain clay hitting the ground.

     The clay figure couldn't speak, but it still looked at her with a smile on its face, its eyebrows curved. However, the traces of its smile were cracked and its features were broken. Mu Yanli was stunned for a moment before she cried in fear and wanted to rush over to snatch her clay doll.

     A white shoe embroidered with a scale totem fell.

     It made a strange cracking sound.

     It was as if the dolls’ heads were shattered…

     The father moved his foot away and in front of the girl was a pile of crumbled powder.

     Clearly, before, they were lined up in an orderly manner, smiling at her sincerely... Why? Why was it like this? Wasn’t it a birthday gift for her? She had done something wrong, something that made her father angry, so these little clay figures died innocently.

     “Tianyin's heir must not be sentimental." The man was extremely indifferent in front of the crying girl. “If you like it, you will lose your composure. If you like it, you will be unfair. You are a descendant of the gods, and you rule over justice in the world... Your father’s real gift to you is to teach you that you should never say the word ‘like’ to anything.”

     Do not be selfish… Do not be sentimental…

     Do not be selfish, do not be sentimental, do not be selfish, do not be sentimental—it was like an evil curse tearing through her mind! The incense burner emitted smoke, and the solemn verses rose like an evil spirit in her head—Tianyin—is vast and mighty—

     For many long nights, she clutched her head in a near frenzy, screaming silently under the quilt and gauze curtains.

     There was no way out.

     There was no answer to be found…

     What was a father? What was a mother?

     She once wanted to hug Madam Lin, her birth mother, but Madam Lin was a lunatic. She stabbed her with scissors, leaving holes all over her hands, and even stabbed the scissors into her throat…

     Do not be selfish.

     Do not be selfish!

     In the dark night of excruciating pain, she kneeled alone in front of the statue, chanting that one should not disrespect the gods, but in her heart she cursed and resented that she couldn’t smash the statue into dust!

     Just like that, she went from a girl to a young lady, and from a young lady to a young woman.

     Thousands of people knelt behind her, chanting the words that she had memorized by heart and engraved into her bones: “Tianyin is vast and mighty; there must be no selfishness…”

     Sometimes, she was almost mad, her shoulders and back trembling, as she nearly rose up to swing her sword and cut everyone in Tianyin Pavilion into mincemeat before dying.

     But at this time, a gentle, soft voice suddenly sounded in her ears, very sweet and young: “The reeds are tall, the reeds are long, and they look at each other from afar across the mountains and rivers. This side of the reeds is my homeland, and the other side of the reeds is the ocean.”

     She opened her eyes and saw sunlight pouring in from behind the statue, casting mottled shadows on the ground.

     She was already Tianyin Pavilion Master at that time. She stared at the ground covered in mottled shadows in a daze, as if she could see the reeds of Wangchuan River and the fluttering petals of the wind in the sound of the song.

     A woman stood in the middle of the reeds, smiling at her with arched eyebrows and holding out her hand.

     “This side of the reeds is my homeland… the other side of the reeds is the ocean…”

     “A-Ma…” she murmured.

     She had once addressed Madam Lin as “Mother,” with the utmost respect, but there was only one person she called “A-Ma.”

     That was her stepmother, the maid who had raised her since she was a child. Perhaps others wouldn’t understand why she didn’t hate this woman for taking over her home. But those people would never understand—

     In her black and white grid-like life, there had only been a short few years while Madam Hua Gui was around that she had laughter, tenderness, warm embraces, and sweet familial love.

     No one would believe it even if she told them.

     The reed ballad Hua Gui once sang to lull her to sleep was the only song she had ever heard in her life, besides the mighty heavenly music. Only this song could subdue the inner demons of her life, and also became her lifelong inner demon.

     “Mu-jiejie!!!”

     She seemed to hear her brother Hua Binan screaming. She had never heard him lose his composure like this before.

     But she couldn’t temper it anymore. She used the last bit of her spiritual energy to reduce the momentum of her landing. But this was not for the sake of survival.

     Gritting her teeth, she moved along the Path of Martyrdom, step by step, like a maggot, until she reached the very edge.

     Then—

     Before anyone could react, she used what little strength she had left to suddenly throw herself to the edge of the demonic bridge!

     “Mu Yanli will volunteer to be a martyr. I hope you can fulfill your long-cherished wish and return home.”

     Seeing this, Shi Mei was on the verge of madness. He rushed over, but it was too late. Mu Yanli looked back at him for the last time.

     This woman had always been cold and aloof, with even her skin giving off a frosty chill. But at this moment, she looked toward her half-brother of a different race and smiled sweetly, with an unusual newfound charm.

     Her eyes curved, and she fell backwards.

     “JIE—!!!!!!”

     Mu Yanli smiled and looked up at the sky. This firm and unemotional woman faced the vast sky she had kowtowed to thousands of times and said, “To hell with your ‘do not be selfish’.”

     Red light instantly rose from the bride again, and the scarlet flames of the Path of Martyrdom quickly enveloped her entire body. Before she was engulfed by the flames, she glanced in the direction of the demon world gate with all her might.

     She seemed to hear a gentle voice coming from behind the huge gate. It was her mother waving a light silk fan at her beside the summer couch and singing languidly.

     “The reeds are tall, the reeds are long, and they look at each other from afar across the mountains and rivers.”

     This side of the reeds is my homeland.

     And the other side of the reeds is the ocean…

     “Pavilion Master Mu!!”

     “Lady Mu!!”

     Suddenly, all the "chess pieces" on the Path of Martyrdom went out of control. One by one, they ran over and knelt in front of the woman who used her divine blood and body to pave the way for the demons. However, that woman had already turned into the thirtieth step on the Path of Martyrdom. Her body was encased and immersed in the demonic flames.

     Chu Wanning fell back to the ground, his fingertips ice-cold. There were swaying figures in front of him.

     He previously thought that these people were pawns brought by Mu Yanli, but now he realized that was not the case.

     Most of these people were wearing the robes of Tianyin Pavilion’s personal disciples. They were all very beautiful in appearance, and their tears were all golden…

     They were Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts!

     Under Mu Yanli’s leadership, Tianyin Pavilion had actually gathered so many surviving members of the Butterfly-Boned Clan in the name of recruiting personal disciples. At this moment, all of these people were wailing and staggering to their knees.

     She had just led them out of the group of cultivators, preparing to pave the Path of Martyrdom, after which they could go home…

     “Murderer!” Suddenly someone turned around and shouted at Chu Wanning, their face twisted with hatred, “You murderer!”

     “Why do you have to be our enemy at every turn? Why do you force Pavilion Master Mu to take this path?!”

     Every face possessed stunning beauty, each of their gazes filled with deep hatred.

     Many of the Beauty Feasts rushed towards him, as if losing all sense of reason and regardless of the severity of the situation, like moths to a flame.

     Chu Wanning stood there, his eyes dim. It was too easy to block these Beauty Feasts with low spiritual power. He didn't even need to raise his hands. The barrier formed by the power of his fingertips was enough to prevent those people from passing through.

     Murderer…

     Sinner.

     Zongshi.

     Salvation.

     Chu Wanning couldn't help but close his eyes. What was he doing? What else could he do?

     Mo Ran was dead, time and space were torn, heavenly punishment was nearing, Mu Yanli sacrificed her divine body to the demons, and Xue Meng suppressed Taxian-Jun with his spiritual core.

     He suddenly felt like there was a wall of sharp knives in front of him, each of which was shining coldly, and he had to pass through it.

     Just as not all people of the world were evil, not all the Butterfly-Boned race were guilty.

     But he was going to block the way home for all of them.

     Even if there were only twenty-nine steps and twenty-nine corpses left.

     He also couldn't let them go and leave the demon gate open. Because once the demon gate opened, the punishment from the heavens would likely descend quickly, and the two worlds would be destroyed. The people of the nine provinces wouldn't even have a chance to breathe or resist. How cruel must he be to sit back and watch this happen?

     He couldn’t.

     He could no longer afford the slightest further hesitation or measured softheartedness.

     Mo Ran carried the guilt of two lifetimes, and Xue Meng was still stalling for him with his life, not to mention all of those who died unjustly in the past on this bloody road before him.

     “Murderer!”

     “You’re killing us! You’re killing us!”

     “You are so heartless and cold-blooded! You will get your comeuppance!”

     His soul was set aflame, but his heart was as hard as iron.

     Chu Wanning suddenly opened his eyes—he had to become the murderer.

     He had no choice.

     “Shi Mingjing.”

     “...” Shi Mei looked at him across the crowd from afar. There were traces of tears on that stunning face, and his eyes seemed to be filled with madness, yet also emptiness.

     The wind started to pick up, and his sleeves fluttered in the wind. He seemed to have resigned himself to Chu Wanning coming to kill him. Chu Wanning’s palm began to glow with a golden light, and Huaisha appeared again—with a bang, he used his sword energy to repel the Beauty Feasts crowded in front of him and trying to stop him.

     With a swipe of his foot, his gaze became as sharp as a blade on a snowy night, and his sword stabbed straight towards Shi Mei!!!

     At this moment, the Path of Martyrdom beneath their feet suddenly began to shake violently, followed by several beams of red light rising from the ground, many of which suddenly blocked Chu Wanning’s path.

     Someone shouted, “Look! Look ahead!”

     “It’s the demon gate! What’s going on?”

     “The bridge is growing! The bridge is about to be built up to the demon gate!!”

     In the end, it almost became a scream: “The gate is opening!!!”

     Shi Mei was shocked and looked back, only to see a white-gold light scattering from the place where Mu Yanli died, extending from the last step and heading toward the gate to the demon world at an extremely incredible pace!

     Chu Wanning's expression suddenly changed, and after the initial shock, Shi Mei's face was suddenly filled with euphoria.

     The Path of Martyrdom was about to connect—the bridge between the world of humans and demons was finally about to connect!!

     A tired and old voice came from beyond the demon gate, echoing between the heavens and earth. The voice seemed to be praising, lazily saying, “The Path of Martyrdom has even had the sacrifice of the gods. You descendants are offering the lives of gods to our path and have shown your hearts for it.”

     The sound was so loud that it could be heard clearly within a hundred miles of Sisheng Peak. All the people fighting on the mountain looked up towards the back mountain.

     Jiang Xi’s face turned pale. Of course, not only him, but everyone knew that the gate to the demon world was about to open…

     Sure enough, the old voice then said:

     “Heavenly punishment will come soon. His Majesty the Demon Lord has seen that you descendants have made great contributions by killing a descendant of the gods, so he has shown mercy and pardoned you, sparing you the last twenty-nine steps of the bridge. Immediately, the demon gate will be opened, allowing you to return home!”

     “What?!”

     The mountain path at the peak of the mountain was suddenly in chaos.

     Villa Master Ma of Taobao Villa even sat on the ground and burst into tears. “Oh heavens! What should we do?!"

     There were even people with faces ashen pale, their legs trembling as they fought. “Heavenly punishment is coming soon? What heavenly punishment…? What heavenly punishment?”

     The three, Xue Meng and the two Mei brothers fighting fiercely with Taxian-Jun, were also startled. Xue Meng's mind was shaken, and Taxian-Jun took the opportunity to break free of the shackles and rise into the air. Xue Meng was suddenly repelled by the force and felt a choking in his chest, suddenly vomiting a mouthful of blood!

     When Taxian-Jun heard the noise, he turned his scarlet eyes and glanced at Xue Meng for a moment. His expression was very confused, as if the memories in his mind began to churn again and the souls in his body began to torment and fight each other. “...Xue Meng...?”

     Mei Hánxue immediately brandished his Shuofeng longsword, shielding his brother and Xue Meng behind him, then said in a deep voice, “Be careful.”

     But Taxian-Jun had no intention of continuing his attack. Instead, he suddenly frowned, his forehead lined with anger, and his expression became more and more painful.

     “No… What’s going on…? What’s going on?!”

     Bewildered and furious, he yelled and lost control, quickly rushing toward the dense forest on the back mountain.

     Mei Hánxue was relieved. He turned back to the other two and asked Xue Meng, “How are you?”

     “Don't worry about me. Go to Shizun’s side! Tell him all the preparations we made before!”

     Mei Hanxue put his hand on his wrist and shook his head. “Your spiritual core is on the verge of breaking; you need to heal first.”

     Xue Meng said angrily, “Go quickly!!”

     “How about I go over first and you both stay?” Mei Hanxue knew the situation was urgent and couldn’t wait any longer, so she pointed at Xue Meng and said to his elder brother, “Ge, help him recover. I'll go find Chu-zongshi.”

     Before the Path of Martyrdom, with the completion of the last step, the bridge between the demon world and the human world finally merged and connected. Those Beauty Feasts all had dreamlike looks on their faces, and almost everyone was trembling. No one dared to take a step forward—even Shi Mei did not move.

     After an unclear period of time—perhaps just a fleeting moment, perhaps again so long as to be suffocating—

     The demon world gate suddenly rumbled and shook. In an instant, clouds and mist rose every which way, and the wind blew in all directions. The lungs of the heavens and earth seemed to be breathing heavily, making a stifling sound.

     The extravagantly embossed demon doors parted to the left and right, and a crimson glow burst out from the gap!

     Chu Wanning only felt a terrifying aura of evil and war he had never felt before pouring out of the gap. That was the breath of the demon clan that could enhance the power of the three forbidden techniques…

     The demon world had opened!!!