Seeing this and realizing Di Qi might not be completely dead, Yin Xuan wore a bitter expression, while Li Zhuohua cursed loudly. The other minor demons exchanged glances and began muttering curses under their breaths.
"Junior Brother Xie, where has that unfilial son hidden himself?" Li Zhuohua clenched his fists tightly. "I’ll drag him out and kill him a thousand times over—make sure he’s utterly annihilated!"
Hearing this, Xie Ziyin was about to search Di Qi’s body once more when, in the next instant, the space within the turtle shell suddenly spun violently.
"Quick, quick, quick—" The little spirits of Jade Rhinoceros Valley were very familiar with this sensation and hurriedly warned the three from Qingling Mountain, "We’re about to be teleported out of the Sacred Tower… Ah, ah, oh, ah… Oh no!"
With a thud, outside the Sacred Tower, the sect masters and elders reacted swiftly.
The cultivators guarding the perimeter only saw a few blurred shadows flash past before Xu Jingshu emerged, holding Wen Shuangbai in one hand and a little fox in the other. An old monk carried the plump Buddha Son Huaiming in one hand and a thin monk in the other, while also catching four monks who had failed to inherit the legacy but remained unharmed. Meanwhile, the Turtle Elder and other elders worked together to catch the turtle shell containing three humans and four demons.
The group landed steadily with the disciples who had been ejected from the Sacred Tower.
As the Turtle Elder opened the shell, the medical cultivators on standby immediately swarmed over.
The elders had already arranged everything in advance, assigning one healer to each disciple.
Most elders had already begun treating their assigned patients.
But for Qingling Mountain, two medical cultivators couldn’t find their patients.
One was Lu Jiayao.
The elder knew Lu Jiayao was inside the man-eating flower’s stomach, but the flower refused to listen to him and wouldn’t spit him out!
The two owners of the man-eating flower were severely injured and receiving treatment.
The elder paced anxiously until Cao Xing noticed and hurried over, ordering the flower to release Lu Jiayao immediately.
Recognizing Cao Xing as the one who paid its owners, and with the meddling Four Hundred Coins urging it relentlessly, the flower reluctantly spat Lu Jiayao out.
The elder rushed to examine him, only to be left speechless.
Cao Xing asked, "How is Third Earth?"
The elder silently closed the medical kit he had just opened. "His spiritual bones are brimming with energy, his meridians are stable—he looks like he’ll outlive both of us."
Cao Xing: "……"
Here’s what happened:
Before encountering Lu Jiayao, the man-eating flower had swallowed several spirit pills, which hadn’t fully digested yet when it gulped down the unconscious Lu Jiayao on the fortieth floor.
By sheer coincidence, Lu Jiayao ended up lying in the pool of undigested pill liquid inside the flower’s warm, safe stomach… and healed all his injuries.
The other missing patient was Shen Hefeng.
Wen Shuangbai was critically drained, teetering on the brink of death, and was being treated personally by Old Medical Cultivator Ye.
Xie Ziyin, Yin Xuan, and Li Zhuohua, though severely injured, were at least conscious. While being treated by other elders, they gathered around the unconscious Wen Shuangbai, watching with concern.
Nearby, Xu Jingshu surveyed the scene. Seeing that Jade Rhinoceros Valley and Divine Evolution Temple had their disciples well-organized and receiving orderly treatment—with no need for Qingling Mountain’s assistance—she picked up the Mystic Heaven Mirror that had fallen from Wen Shuangbai.
The mirror had been vibrating incessantly.
[Congratulations to you and your team for successfully seizing the Sacred Banner. A reward of 500,000 Sacred Stones has been granted.]
[The final battle of the Mystic Heaven Grand Competition, Ascending the Sacred Tower, has concluded. The results of all five rounds will now be tallied to determine the victor.]
[Tallying failed. Tallying failed. Anomaly detected in the Sacred Tower—one disciple remains inside. Forced evacuation impossible. Tallying impossible… Failed. Failed. Failed…]
Then, the Mystic Heaven Mirror’s screen went black.
But the blackout didn’t last long. Soon, the screen lit up again.
In the next moment, the face of a charred, blackened figure appeared on every Mystic Heaven Mirror across the land.
This was the disciple still trapped inside the Sacred Tower.
Shen Hefeng.
"Junior Brother Hefeng hasn’t come out yet," Yin Xuan said weakly beside them.
Li Zhuohua glanced at the mutilated, demonized corpse nearby. "And that unfilial son’s whereabouts are still unknown!"
"The Nether Path," Xie Ziyin murmured, his gaze fixed on Wen Shuangbai’s face. "They must still be inside the Sacred Tower’s Nether Path."
—
Shen Hefeng had been walking alone in the Nether Path for a long time, enduring relentless heavenly lightning strikes.
Before entering the Nether Path, he had divined his own fate.
The omen suggested a slim chance of survival but endless future troubles.
The art of divination was inherently cryptic.
Shen Hefeng couldn’t decipher a clearer meaning, so he didn’t know what the "endless troubles" would entail.
But he knew there was a sliver of hope.
That was enough.
Tsk, back in Carved Light City, his divination had shown nothing but dead ends—this was already better than that!
One should be content with what they have…
Bullshit!!!
In the silent, colorless, and odorless Nether Path, Shen Hefeng, writhing in agony from the lightning strikes, cursed inwardly.
He hadn’t planned to confront the heavenly lightning head-on. He had intended to follow Wen Shuangbai’s terrible advice—dodge and weave, skulk in the shadows, and avoid the strikes.
But these damned bolts had a personal vendetta against him. No matter how he dodged or crawled, they struck his spiritual consciousness with unerring precision.
These damned bolts, this damned Sacred Tower, this damned Heavenly Dao—did they really think Shen Hefeng was easy to bully?!
He’d fight these blind bastards to the death!!!
Shen Hefeng stopped dodging. Inspired by his senior sister Li Zhuohua’s philosophy—"If you have the guts, strike me dead; if not, I’ll destroy you"—he charged straight toward the source of the lightning.
In the soundless void, it didn’t stop him from screaming internally: Come on, strike me! Do it! You think I’m scared of you, you pathetic bolts? You think you’re so mighty?
The hidden lightning paused, as if bewildered: ……
Shen Hefeng: Oh-ho-ho, that last strike was weak! Not as impressive as before. What’s wrong? Running out of steam? Hahaha, you’d better back off now—
The next moment, the Nether Path darkened. Clusters of violet-black lightning gathered and surged toward Shen Hefeng, charring him inside and out, dimming his spiritual consciousness.
Trembling in pain, Shen Hefeng still managed to sneer: Still couldn’t kill me, huh? I, Shen Hefeng, am the mightiest cultivator in the Nether Path! No lightning can destroy me! Who dares challenge me?! Ahahahaha—
The heavenly lightning: ……
Furious, the lightning struck again.
The standoff continued—bolts crashing down, curses flying—until Shen Hefeng failed to notice that his golden spiritual energy had begun to faintly resonate with the Dao’s essence.
Heavenly lightning carried the will of the Heavenly Dao.
In the end, the lightning grew numb from striking, and Shen Hefeng grew numb from cursing.
Having charged straight into the storm, Shen Hefeng finally reached the heart of the heavenly lightning.
He parted the layers of gray mist and finally glimpsed the true form at the core of the Nether Path.
There, unexpectedly, was a purplish-black object covered in lightning patterns...
Shen Hefeng: "Little fruit?"
The heavenly thunder roared in fury: "Shut your mouth, insolent fool! I am the Star-Moon Divine Fruit!"
This milky, childish voice echoed directly within Shen Hefeng’s spiritual consciousness.
So, while the Nether Path itself was silent, spiritual consciousnesses could communicate with each other.
Shen Hefeng chuckled lewdly: "So you can talk, little fruit? Why stay silent earlier? This old man thought you were mute."
Star-Moon Divine Fruit: "I simply didn’t want to acknowledge you!"
Shen Hefeng paid no heed. His spiritual consciousness drifted over, enveloping the purplish-black little fruit, intending to devour it!
After all, the fruit called itself the Star-Moon Divine Fruit.
As the name suggested, it was likely the fruit of the legendary Star-Moon Divine Tree—extraordinary, a true treasure!
But though the fruit looked juicy, it was hard as stone upon touch—and not ordinary stone at that.
The Star-Moon Divine Fruit continued in its childish voice: "How dare you think of consuming me, insolent fool! I am the sole fruit of the Star-Moon Divine Tree, capable of manifesting heavenly thunder, guarding the Nether Path, indestructible and eternal!"
Shen Hefeng sneered mockingly: "Oho, even more arrogant than this old man. But you still couldn’t strike me dead, could you? Useless little fruit."
The Star-Moon Divine Fruit seethed with anger, but since it couldn’t kill this audacious man, it grew even more furious: "If not for the lingering divine essence of my father on you from your time near the Star-Moon Tree’s pit, I would have struck you dead back in Star-Moon Valley!"
So that was the reason.
Now certain the Star-Moon Divine Fruit couldn’t kill him, Shen Hefeng grew even bolder: "Listen here, little fruit. I didn’t come all this way just to be struck by your lightning for nothing. Out with it—what are you going to give me to make up for my losses?"
The Star-Moon Divine Fruit didn’t want to comply, but it had no choice. Its father had arranged everything five hundred years ago—the first living being to find it had to form a pact with it.
"Fine. I shall form a Thunder Pact with you. Once sealed, you may borrow the might of my heavenly thunder."
Shen Hefeng was overjoyed.
Excellent! With this pact, he could strike down anyone he pleased once he left this place!
Afraid the little fruit might change its mind, Shen Hefeng immediately urged it to seal the pact.
Once the pact was complete, Shen Hefeng promptly left the depths of the Nether Path where the Star-Moon Divine Fruit had been hidden.
But he didn’t exit the Nether Path entirely. Instead, he retraced his steps, returning to where his physical body was, then floated upward, hoping to locate his five troublesome friends and lend them a hand.
Yet, he found no one. After searching for a while, he couldn’t detect a single human spiritual presence.
How strange. What was going on?
Puzzled, Shen Hefeng decided to return to his body first. But suddenly, his golden spiritual consciousness paused mid-movement.
Ahead, in the gray, misty expanse, a strange dual-colored spiritual presence drifted swiftly.
Its outer layer was a pure, crystalline white, while its inner core was pitch black—utterly filthy.
So peculiar, so abnormal—it instantly caught Shen Hefeng’s attention.
And the strangest part? The moment it noticed him, it immediately fled!
Now Shen Hefeng was intrigued.
Running from him meant guilt!
He recognized the spiritual signatures of his five friends, and this dual-colored presence was definitely not one of them—likely some filthy entity.
Without hesitation, Shen Hefeng activated the Thunder Pact, borrowing the Star-Moon Divine Fruit’s power to summon heavenly thunder and strike the fleeing presence!
Instantly, two familiar voices echoed in his spiritual consciousness.
A woman’s voice gasped in pain, her first concern for another: "Brother Di, are you alright?"
A man’s voice replied: "I’m fine."
Oh? Shen Hefeng recognized them now—Di Qi and Yu Xiaoxiao!
These two… logically shouldn’t be inside the Sacred Tower’s Nether Path. They had already been eliminated, with no right to enter the tower.
Unaware of what had transpired outside, Shen Hefeng guessed they had either sneaked into the Nether Path to infiltrate the Sacred Tower or had already been discovered and defeated by his friends, forcing them to hide here.
Either way, their intentions were far from pure.
While Shen Hefeng remained silent, deep in thought, Di Qi observed the golden spiritual presence that had summoned heavenly thunder.
The Di family had long overseen the Sacred Tower, and Di Qi knew some of its secrets—including the existence of the hidden Nether Path.
That was why he had brought Yu Xiaoxiao with him into the tower—to secure an escape route. Hidden within Yu Xiaoxiao’s spiritual consciousness was a treasure left by the former sect leader of Qingling Mountain, allowing them to flee into the Nether Path.
As long as their spiritual consciousnesses survived, they could possess the two vessels he had prepared in the Di family’s forbidden grounds.
Revenge was a dish best served cold.
Whether it was the rise of the Seven Saints five hundred years ago or the Sacred Tower’s seizure by the Divine Derivation Temple, the Di family would never surrender. They would return!
The Profound Heaven Continent would belong to the Di family alone!
Beyond the Nether Path, Di Qi also knew of a sacred artifact hidden within it.
But demonic consciousnesses had never been able to enter the Nether Path, so the Di family had never discovered what it was.
Could this golden spiritual presence before him be the legendary sacred artifact of the Nether Path?
If he could obtain it, the Di family wouldn’t need ten years to rise again.
The Di family’s fate was far from over!
Suppressing his excitement, Di Qi adopted his usual refined and courteous demeanor, addressing the golden presence with utmost politeness: "Might I ask who you are?"
Shen Hefeng: "Good grandson, I’m your grandpa."
Di Qi’s black spiritual presence convulsed violently: "Shen! He! Feng!"
Shen Hefeng: "Ungrateful brat, daring to address your elder by name? You deserve a heavenly strike!"
Immediately, a bolt of purplish-black lightning crashed down upon the dual-colored presence, eliciting cries of pain from the man and woman within.
Having endured heavenly thunder himself, Shen Hefeng knew exactly how to make it hurt—and he took care not to kill them outright.
After all the suffering he’d endured, how could they die so easily?
He was never one for mercy. They would suffer torment worse than death before their end.
But just then, the Star-Moon Divine Fruit’s voice rang out from afar: "Shen, you reckless fool, stop striking her! Cease the thunder at once!"
Shen Hefeng was baffled: "What’s wrong with striking them? They deserve it! What does a little fruit like you know? Go play in the mud and don’t interfere with this old man’s righteous punishment!"
The Star-Moon Divine Fruit’s childish voice was urgent: "Her spiritual consciousness contains the Qingling Lotus Heart—you must not strike it!"
Qingling Lotus Heart?
The name startled Shen Hefeng, and he instinctively halted the thunder.
Wasn’t the Qingling Lotus the guardian flower of their Qingling Mountain?
The Qingling Lotus was a rare spiritual blossom. In a thousand years, only one had bloomed in Qingzhou, growing deep within Qingling Mountain’s forbidden grounds. None but successive sect leaders were permitted near it.
The Qingling Lotus, like the Star-Moon Divine Tree, is a rare treasure blessed by the heavenly dao, carrying the power to bestow blessings and protection—safeguarding Qingling Mountain and the entire Qingzhou region.
The lotus heart, in particular, holds this sacred function.
When embedded within a person’s spiritual consciousness, it signifies a lifetime of smooth fortune, abundant blessings, and peace.
Shen Hefeng recalled this, his golden energy sphere twisting in fury.
Why? Just why? Who in the world gave Yu Xiaoxiao the Qingling Lotus Heart that belonged to their Qingling Mountain?
No wonder he’d always wondered why, as a disciple of Qingling Mountain, he’d been so unlucky.
Turns out, the lotus heart was gone!
At that very moment, Yu Xiaoxiao sobbed and pleaded, "Senior Brother Hefeng, for the sake of my past as a disciple of Qingling Mountain, could you spare our lives? Di Qi and I only lost control during cultivation and accidentally wandered here. Senior Brother Hefeng, I beg you…"
Shen Hefeng felt nothing but disgust. "Get lost! Who’s your senior brother? Begging, begging—go beg your father instead! You thieving liar, give me back the Qingling Lotus Heart!"
Yu Xiaoxiao wept pitifully. "The Qingling Lotus Heart has been with me since birth, fused with my soul… But—but I’ll find a way to make it up to you! Di Qi and I will search for something even better than the lotus heart, I swear!"
Upon hearing that the lotus heart could never be retrieved, Shen Hefeng didn’t hesitate—he struck!
Yu Xiaoxiao and Di Qi let out agonized screams.
The Star-Moon Divine Fruit shouted, "If you kill the guardian of the Qingling Lotus Heart, you’ll be cursed with endless misfortune! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!"
Shen Hefeng laughed wildly.
He’d been plagued by bad luck since the day he was born—what did he care about more misfortune?
Today, he would strike down these two despicable creatures right here, and he’d see just how much worse his luck could get.
Shen Hefeng slashed horizontally, vertically, upward, downward—every possible excruciating strike rained upon Di Qi and Yu Xiaoxiao.
Time in the Nether Path was distorted, so Shen Hefeng didn’t realize that outside the Sacred Tower, a full night had already passed.
---
The next morning, Wen Shuangbai slowly opened her eyes, still dazed, when she heard Xie Ziyin’s voice.
"You’re awake." Xie Ziyin had kept watch by her bedside all night. As she stirred, he checked her pulse and sighed in relief. "How do you feel? Would you like something to eat?"
Wen Shuangbai had no appetite. She stared straight at him, scanning him from head to toe.
He looked weak, but he was alive—that was all that mattered.
Glancing around, she realized she was in the Endless House, with only him by her side. She grabbed his sleeve urgently. "What about Senior Brother Zhuohua, Third Earth, Shen Hefeng? The little fox, the little turtle, Huaiming Buddha Son—where are the others? Are they… alive?"
Xie Ziyin smiled helplessly, steadying her still-frail body. "Don’t worry, they’re all alive."
"That’s good." Wen Shuangbai exhaled in relief, then brightened. "Did we win?"
Xie Ziyin hummed. "We did, but… there was a small complication."
Wen Shuangbai blinked. "Huh?"
She distinctly remembered pulling down the Sacred Banner before passing out. If she and Xie Ziyin had left the tower, and everyone else was alive—what could have gone wrong?
…………
Outside the Sacred Tower, Li Zhuohua stood with her hands on her hips, Yin Xuan enjoying a warm breakfast, and Lu Jiayao crouching as they examined Di Qi’s corpse.
"Good morning, my dear brothers and sisters," Wen Shuangbai’s voice called from behind.
The three turned in unison, eyes lighting up.
Not far away, Xie Ziyin supported Wen Shuangbai as they walked forward, their green and white robes intertwined.
Li Zhuohua rushed to meet them. "Junior Sister, you’re awake!"
Wen Shuangbai smiled, stepping forward to embrace her. Xie Ziyin followed the two sisters as they approached Yin Xuan and Lu Jiayao.
Yin Xuan offered his breakfast to Wen Shuangbai. "Want some, Junior Sister?"
"I’m not hungry, Senior Brother. You eat." She shook her head—she truly had no appetite.
Lu Jiayao, however, quickly snatched a pastry and stuffed it into his mouth. "Shuangbai, it’s so good you’re awake! Now, we’re just waiting for Brother Shen!"
Wen Shuangbai had already learned the full story from Xie Ziyin. Frowning, she asked, "He still hasn’t come out?"
Yin Xuan, Li Zhuohua, and Lu Jiayao shook their heads in unison.
Wen Shuangbai turned her gaze to Di Qi’s corpse on the ground.
First, it was a grotesquely swollen body—half-dragon, half-human.
Second, it was charred black from relentless strikes, making it hideously disfigured.
Xie Ziyin leaned down beside her. "Elder Xu Jingshu handled it yesterday. Once Di Qi’s spiritual consciousness is extinguished, this corpse will turn to ashes."
Wen Shuangbai nodded in understanding.
As a medical cultivator, Xie Ziyin knew her condition best—she was still very weak. "Do you want to rest a while longer?"
She did feel exhausted, her legs unsteady.
But she shook her head. "I’d rather wait."
Then she leaned into his chest. "I’ll just lean on you."
Xie Ziyin smiled. "Alright."
The sun climbed steadily higher.
At the mountain’s base, a crowd of commoners and rogue cultivators had gathered, refusing to leave even after a full day and night.
As dawn broke, more and more people arrived, drawn by the revelations on the Mystic Heaven Mirror, until the foot of the Sacred Tower swarmed with cultivators and townsfolk alike.
Soon, nearly all the disciples of Jade Rhinoceros Valley and Divine Temple Sect arrived—except for the most severely injured: Huaiming Buddha Son, the little fox, and the little turtle.
Everyone waited.
A cup of tea, an incense stick, half an hour, then a full hour later—
Suddenly, a crackling roar erupted as Di Qi’s corpse burst into flames, ignited by the Nether Path’s lightning-fire. The blaze grew fiercer, incinerating all traces of demonic energy and worldly corruption.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd and the Sacred Tower, the towering flames reduced Di Qi’s body—along with Yu Xiaoxiao and Di Qi’s spiritual consciousness within the Nether Path—to nothing but ashes.
On the Mystic Heaven Mirror, the previously motionless face of the Taoist priest twitched mischievously.
In the next instant, the figures on the mirror faded, replaced by lines of final tallies:
[All disciples cleared. The final battle of the Mystic Heaven Grand Competition, "Ascend the Sacred Tower," has concluded. Recalculating totals from all five rounds to determine final rankings.]
[Calculation complete. The results of this Mystic Heaven Grand Competition are as follows:]
[Third Place: Divine Temple Sect — Total Sacred Stones: 515,638.]
[Second Place: Jade Rhinoceros Valley — Total Sacred Stones: 733,526.]
[First Place: Qingling Mountain — Total Sacred Stones: 1,176,718.]
[Congratulations to Qingling Mountain for winning first place in this Mystic Heaven Grand Competition and obtaining the Mystic Heaven Command.]
At this very moment, across every corner of the Mystic Heaven Continent, countless cultivators witnessed these lines of text.
Calculated by the Mystic Heaven Sphere Array, the words appeared cold and detached, yet they quietly brought tears to many eyes.
At the foot of the mountain where the Sacred Tower stood, the gathered crowd couldn’t contain their joy. They leaped and shouted, "We won! We won!!!"
Yet from the mountaintop, an unpleasant stream of curses cut through the air: "Agh—it hurts, it hurts! Damn it, can’t you throw me out more gently, you &%$#@—!"
The voice belonged to Shen Hefeng, who had just returned to his body, only to be unceremoniously tossed out by the Sacred Tower.
Amid the mingling of cheers and curses, Wen Shuangbai held Xie Ziyin’s hand, walking alongside Yin Xuan, Li Zhuohua, and Lu Jiayao, as well as their comrades from Jade Rhinoceros Valley and Divine Abode Temple, smiling as they moved to greet Shen Hefeng in midair.
The Mystic Heaven Mirror at her waist trembled—Wen Shuangbai knew it was the Sacred Tower’s settlement notification, the sound of a fortune in spirit stones about to pour in.
But at this moment, she didn’t glance at it.
Her gaze lingered on her beloved, on every teammate and ally, before finally lifting upward.
The sky was clear today.
As Wen Shuangbai looked up, she saw the flawless white Sacred Tower bathed in sunlight.
A gentle breeze brushed her face, the blue sky and white clouds unchanged.
How perfect.
