Tai Xuan Sect. Main Hall.
Master Yuan wore an ingratiating smile as he spoke with representatives from the Heavenly Dao Sect and the Heavy Star Sect.
"This matter truly caught us by surprise. The untimely demise of Young Sect Leader Yue is deeply regrettable. However, the Divine Lord and Luo Luo have long since left our sect, and we have no way of locating them..."
His excuses were exactly what everyone expected.
True Lord Pangyue’s expression darkened. "Do you think we came here to argue about my son’s death? Hmph! The Divine Lord fled and refused the sacrificial rite—this is a betrayal of all living beings! Your Tai Xuan Sect is shielding them out of selfishness. Do you take us for fools?"
The Sleepy Sect Leader of the Heavy Star Sect nodded drowsily. "With the world on the brink of collapse, we have no choice. If the Tai Xuan Sect cannot fulfill its duty, perhaps it should disband and let more capable hands take over? That way, resources can be utilized efficiently to resolve the crisis swiftly."
Master Yuan nearly laughed in disbelief.
These people preached righteousness, but their true aim was to carve up the Tai Xuan Sect under the guise of necessity.
Suppressing his anger, Master Yuan replied as calmly as possible, "With calamity looming, is this really the time for infighting among the cultivation world?"
True Lord Pangyue sneered. "Under the pressure of two Daoist ancestors, what right do you have to negotiate? Blame your own former prodigy, Luo Luo, for selling out your Daoist Xuan Yi!"
Colorful clouds swirled in the sky.
Daoist Cangyue and Patriarch Guanhai had arrived.
This was the perfect opportunity to seize the Tai Xuan Sect, plunder their resources and divine artifacts, and send their disciples to the frontlines as cannon fodder.
Master Yuan’s chest heaved with indignation. "So, you’re saying you’re bullying us because we’re weaker?"
True Lord Pangyue scoffed. "If that’s how you see it, so be it. I advise you not to throw your lives away pointlessly. Preserve your sect and contribute to the world while you still can."
"Since when is reaching Dao Unity so impressive?"
A bold female voice rang out from the back hall.
Dressed in violet robes, Xu Junlan strode forward, chin raised defiantly. "Yue Wugou was a Dao Unity cultivator too, and yet Luo Luo killed him. I don’t see what you have to be so arrogant about!"
Master Yuan’s scalp prickled as he frantically signaled Xu Junlan with his eyes.
‘Junior, my ancestor, we have two Dao Unity experts at our doorstep! Can’t you at least act humble and get through today?’
Unfortunately, Xu Junlan had never been one to heed subtle hints.
With a flick of her sleeve, she sent the teacups before the two guests crashing to the ground, shattering into pieces.
"See yourselves out!"
Master Yuan sucked in a sharp breath.
Others offered tea to signal the end of a visit—but she? She was outright throwing them out!
"Well, well!" True Lord Pangyue gaped for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Since you’ve shown such disrespect, don’t blame us for—"
Master Yuan hurried forward to mediate. "Esteemed friends, please, the child knows no better. You are venerable figures—surely you won’t stoop to her level. Xu Junlan, apologize at once!"
"Uncle, you’re too spineless!" Xu Junlan grinned. "With my sister here, why fear them?"
Master Yuan felt his head splitting from stress, sweat pouring down his face. "Foolish girl, they’re just waiting for an excuse to attack us!"
Sure enough, the two visitors smirked. "So, your sect insists on defying the entire world?"
The oppressive aura from above intensified.
The situation was on the verge of exploding!
Master Yuan’s face twisted in distress, too preoccupied to scold Xu Junlan further. He forced a smile and bowed deeply. "Friends, let’s discuss this reasonably!"
True Lord Pangyue, still seething over his son’s death, lashed out with a palm strike aimed straight at Xu Junlan.
Xu Junlan’s vision blurred—
Master Yuan teleported in front of her, gritting his teeth as he took the full force of the blow.
"Boom!"
His hair crown was sent flying, his meticulously tied hair spilling loose. His robes were torn to shreds by the shockwave, leaving the usually dignified Master Yuan looking like a ragged beggar.
Xu Junlan froze. "...Uncle Yuan."
"Hmph!" Master Yuan spat through clenched teeth. "If I let a junior get struck in front of me, where would I hide my face?"
Before his words faded, the sky inside and outside the hall darkened abruptly.
Someone had intervened from above.
In an instant, broad daylight gave way to a starry night.
Master Yuan and Xu Junlan both gasped.
"Sis!" Xu Junlan shouted. "Are you here or not?"
Master Yuan clutched his throbbing head. "Your sister only reached Divine Transformation a few days ago—"
"Ding. Ding. Ding."
Frost bloomed from nowhere, spreading endlessly.
Within a breath, everything in sight glittered with crystalline ice.
A voice as cold as winter’s breath drifted through the air.
"I have a question for our esteemed guests. I hope you’ll enlighten me."
Xu Junzhu stepped forward, her presence parting the night like snow yielding to sunlight.
Dao Unity!
True Lord Pangyue and the Sleepy Sect Leader exchanged glances.
"Since you’ve come to enforce your will through strength, you must acknowledge that the cultivation world bows to the powerful?" Xu Junzhu advanced steadily. "If so, then Luo Luo slaying Yue Wugou—who was weaker—was justified!"
True Lord Pangyue leaped up. "If the strong can kill as they please, wouldn’t the world descend into chaos?"
Xu Junzhu smirked. "If we don’t abide by strength, but by justice, then Yue Wugou’s indiscriminate slaughter made him deserving of death. Luo Luo was merely delivering divine retribution!"
"You—!" True Lord Pangyue nearly choked on his fury.
Ignoring him, Xu Junzhu lifted her gaze to the sky.
"Esteemed ancestors," she said icily, "though I’ve only recently ascended, I am confident that against two, I may fall—but not without dragging one of you down with me. If you doubt me, step forward and test it."
The auras of the two Daoist ancestors above paused.
In this world, the most terrifying schemes were not the hidden ones, but those laid bare with no counter.
If Xu Junzhu sacrificed herself to take one down, wouldn’t the survivor simply reap the spoils?
And who would strike first? The very "ally" left standing.
Feng Guanhai chuckled. "Heh. Daoist Cangyue, if she attacks you, I swear I won’t stab you in the back. Do you believe me?"
Daoist Cangyue: "...Do you believe yourself?"
"Then perhaps we... let this go?"
"Let it go."
Having lived for centuries, they were anything but fools—better to swallow a loss than let a rival profit.
True Lord Pangyue, oblivious to their calculations, scoffed at Xu Junzhu’s bold claim. "What arrogance! To think you could take a Daoist ancestor with you in a one-against-two fight—what nonsense! Ancestor, kill her!"
Daoist Cangyue did not appear.
An awkward silence settled over the hall.
True Lord Pangyue: "??"
"In these troubled times, the cultivation world must unite as one to face this calamity!" Xu Junzhu clasped his hands toward the sky. "What do you two esteemed seniors think?"
Two figures descended, their auras suffused with immortal grace.
Feng Guanhai: "Young friend, you speak the very thoughts in this old man's heart."
Daoist Cangyue: "We cultivators must stand together!"
True Lord Pangyue: "???"
Just as they were about to join hands in solidarity, an unforeseen change quietly unfolded.
"Wait," Xu Junlan raised a finger toward the heavens, "How can you esteemed Daoists preach unity while acting otherwise? What have you all done?!"
The crowd looked up in unison—their faces paled instantly.
The sky was collapsing.
Divine Palace.
Luo Luo followed behind the corpse puppet, gliding past layers of familiar black palaces, black towers, black pavilions, and black training grounds.
Ahead, a massive sinkhole suddenly appeared.
Peering down, she saw an intricate underground complex.
The black stone walls were covered in divine sealing runes—this had to be the inverted pagoda of the underground palace where the elders once guarded the Eight Trigrams Golden Seal.
The corpse puppet, arms outstretched stiffly, hopped down into the abyss.
Luo Luo: "..."
In truth, zombies never existed.
In the Xiang region, corpse escorting was a common practice. Escorts would carry bamboo poles on their shoulders, one man in front and another behind, with the deceased tied between them—arms fastened to the poles to keep the body steady.
As the two escorts walked in sync, the poles would rise and fall rhythmically, making the corpse appear to hop with arms raised.
The tales of hopping zombies in storybooks were just fiction meant to frighten people. But what was Li Zhaoye’s corpse puppet trying to imitate?
Realizing this belatedly, Luo Luo nearly facepalmed.
She and the puppet landed in the underground palace with a soft tap against the stone floor.
Surveying the surroundings, she found only oppressive darkness.
Far in the distance, the faint sound of dripping water echoed.
The corpse puppet bounded forward in large hops while Luo Luo summoned the Autumn Water Sword, gripping it tightly as she flew after it.
Layer after layer of secret doors had already been pried open.
Suddenly, the puppet halted, slowly lowering its stiff arms before lifting a foot to step through a massive, tombstone-like gate carved with a raised Eight Trigrams symbol in black.
Luo Luo narrowed her eyes and followed closely behind.
Stepping inside, her gaze immediately locked onto a figure seated atop a square altar.
An all-too-familiar… wooden puppet.
Luo Luo couldn’t help but sigh softly.
That old man always neglected his duties, leaving wooden puppets in his place.
Now that he existed only as a soul without a body, he’d grown even more accustomed to using them.
"Are you Hongmeng Jun," she asked, "or Li Ermiao?"
The wooden puppet tilted its head slowly.
Watching its carved wooden face twist into a lifelike smile sent a chill down Luo Luo’s spine.
It stood, looking down at her with hollow wooden eyes.
"What difference does it make?" it said. "From the moment you first met me, I have always been myself."
Luo Luo shook her head. "No, it’s not the same."
After a pause, she continued, "The things you couldn’t be bothered to do—Li Ermiao did them all." She hesitated. "Those things… they were precious to me and Li Zhaoye."
The wooden puppet scoffed.
"I’ve come to kill you," Luo Luo declared, raising her sword to point directly at it. "For Li Zhaoye. For Li Ermiao."
Flames erupted along the blade.
This time, the fire burned fiercer than ever before.
"Clang—"
The moment the sword pierced the wooden puppet, a blinding white light flooded Luo Luo’s vision.
"Great Nightmare Art?"
She smirked coldly. "I was waiting for this!"
Blood. Twilight.
The grotesque sound of a demon chewing echoed right beside her ear.
Luo Luo looked up to see her parents fleeing toward the courtyard gate.
Her father shoved her mother forward. "Run! Once it finishes eating Luo Luo, it’ll come for us next!"
They abandoned her, escaping the hellish scene.
Luo Luo glanced down—one of her legs was clamped in the demon’s jaws, being crunched apart like brittle bean curd.
A sinister whisper coiled around her mind: Hate them… hate them… you’ve been abandoned… no one wants you… they traded your life for theirs…
Luo Luo froze—then burst into laughter, louder and more deranged.
"Is this what you call a nightmare?" she shouted. "My parents’ last wish was for me to survive! If my death could’ve saved them, I’d have died laughing!"
As her laughter rang out, the blood-soaked world rippled like disturbed water—the nightmare shattered instantly.
Her vision blurred again. Now, she stood on a sunset-lit beach.
Agony wracked her body. Looking down, she saw her flesh and meridians in tatters, barely clinging to life.
Qing Xu stood before her.
"Ah, what a shame," he sighed. "I originally picked Li Zhaoye, but that brat sensed danger and retreated faster than a turtle! So, I had to kill you instead—Daoist Xuan Yi needs a body to possess!"
Luo Luo’s vision swam with crimson haze.
"Oh…" She nodded weakly.
Qing Xu raised a brow mockingly. "To save himself, Li Zhaoye abandoned you! Doesn’t that make your blood boil?"
Luo Luo’s voice was a whisper. "That’s… wonderful… He’s stronger than me… he’ll avenge me soon… Why would I be angry? I’d die laughing!"
Qing Xu’s smirk stiffened.
"Oh—" Luo Luo feigned realization. "Another nightmare? Really? That’s all you’ve got?"
The bloodied beach exploded into fragments.
Amid the crimson sandstorm, Luo Luo grinned coldly—then spun, gripping a broken sword as she lunged like lightning!
"Clang—thunk!"
Her strike pierced both the wooden puppet and the illusory Qing Xu simultaneously.
A soul-rending shriek tore through her mind, leaving her ears ringing.
She’d wounded him!
Laughing wildly, she taunted, "Now it’s my turn to show you a nightmare!"
Spending so much time with Li Zhaoye had made people forget—she, too, was a prodigy. After all, she’d mastered the First Form of the Taiyi Sword Art after seeing it just once.
If Li Zhaoye could learn the Nightmare Art, teaching it to her was effortless.
She formed a seal—then blasted it toward his soul-blood.
Another disorienting shift. Luo Luo now stood in a familiar hall.
The Sealed God Temple.
Three sets of footsteps echoed through the enclosed space. She looked up, her expression complicated.
—She had merged with Hongmeng Jun’s consciousness.
Like a split mind, she could hear his frantic voice in her head:
‘Stop! You’ll die! Both of us will die!’
‘Do you even know what you’re facing?!’
‘It’s that thing! The entity sealed deepest within the Sealed God Temple!’
‘Turn back now! NOW!’
