As an elite of the Wind God, Gu Yuexi's daily work involves dealing with all kinds of strange monsters.

However, all the monsters she has seen in her life combined cannot compare to the one standing next to her, which makes her heart race with fear.

It's not because he has no heart.

Due to the lack of research samples, people currently know very little about the special existence of "weapon spirits."

Gu Yuexi is not an expert and cannot say for sure whether or not this "weapon spirit" without a heart should be alive and kicking.

Rationally, she knows she shouldn't be so scared, but after opening her "all-seeing eye," she feels like she not only gained an extra layer of vision, but all her senses have become so sensitive that she becomes suspicious of everything.

Before, she had only thought that the 'Sword Spirit' that shared a name with Emperor Wu was mysterious. Although he had a gentle attitude and seemed easy to get along with, there was always a lingering sense of distance.

Occasionally, Gu Yuexi would feel a little scared of him, but she never took it to heart - after all, everyone had the right to keep secrets, and there was always some instinctual wariness towards powerful beings that one didn't understand.

It was nothing to worry about.

But now, in the sealed-off field vehicle, with only a group of unconscious colleagues and this 'Sword Spirit' left, she inexplicably broke out in goosebumps and even felt the urge to jump out of the car...

It was as if the "teammate" beside her was more dangerous than the thick and dripping Heart Demon Miasma outside the window.

Thanks to her past hardships, Gu Yuexi was able to remain calm.

She drove steadily along the road, gently biting her tongue and counting her heartbeats to calm herself down from the intense emotions. On her first day at Wind God, Captain Yan had taught her that fear comes from uncertainty and the unknown, and the only way to overcome it is to face it head-on.

So, Gu Yuexi gathered her courage and asked directly, "May I ask you something about your heart?"

"Well...it doesn't really affect me much. I may feel a bit dull at times, but with my 'master' and several generations worth of nurturing, my 'sword body' is much better now. I can even taste food again," Sheng Lingyuan lightly tapped his knee with his fingers. "As for the other emotions, they are just cut off."

Gu Yuexi was suddenly struck with understanding of where the sense of dissonance from the sword spirit came from.

He greeted people with a smile, but that smile was precise and hollow. His gaze towards anyone or anything was cold and indifferent.

For example, now, when everyone was either panicked or nervous, he would change his tone to go with the flow.

His communication became brief, but if you listened carefully, he was only deleting polite words and tone particles to blend in with the context.

His speed and intonation remained unchanged, still as standard as reading a news broadcast.

Severing the seven emotions... no wonder even Xuan Ji, who was so outgoing and cheerful, was trapped by the Heart Demon Poison, but he was able to easily withdraw unscathed.

Gu Yuexi was tormented by his perceptiveness, and inexplicably had a bit of longing for this state.

At that moment, the person next to her, who didn't seem quite real, suddenly spoke up: "The seven emotions are the foundation of human nature."

Gu Yuexi was taken aback and glanced at Sheng Lingyuan with her peripheral vision. He looked very young, like a recent graduate, but Gu Yuexi suddenly had a feeling that he was an elderly person who had lived almost a lifetime, able to objectively and impartially look back at glory and loss at the end of gain and loss.

Don't these rationalists who reject emotions despise the soft spots of human nature?

She couldn't help but ask, "So, in terms of importance, where do the seven emotions rank?"

Without hesitation, Sheng Lingyuan replied, "Before even considering one's life and livelihood."

Gu Yuexi's head involuntarily turned towards him, wanting to say something but hesitating.

"Do you want to know why I cut off my seven emotions?" Sheng Lingyuan chuckled and slowly explained, "Because I have too much baggage to carry, even one more feather would be too much. I am neither alive nor dead, and not worth emulating. I came here with some unfinished business, and mean no harm to you all. Drive carefully, we will soon arrive at the old site of the Qingping Division."

He seemed to have timed his idle chatter perfectly, as the energy monitoring alarm in the car went off as soon as he finished speaking.

Through the communication device, Zhang Zhao's voice came in intermittently, "We...zzt...there seems to be a formation here...damn it!"

Gu Yuexi immediately entered a state of alertness, gripping the mithril at her waist with one hand.

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a silver light flashing past the car window. It looked like a flowing mercury, and its speed was actually on par with their car that was moving so fast it nearly flew!

She slammed on the brakes, and the "mercury" immediately rubbed against the car window and condensed into a human form, standing five meters in front of her.

Just as Gu Yuexi was about to move, a hand pressed on her shoulder, and Sheng Lingyuan gave a simple command: "Retreat."

She immediately shifted into reverse and quickly retreated.

The mercury fell to the ground and turned into a very handsome young man, but his eyes were covered.

The hand pressing on her shoulder pushed down, and without thinking, Gu Yuexi followed the command and slammed on the brakes. Suddenly, a row of iron spikes resembling fangs appeared on the ground, barely touching her rear wheel.

"Be careful," Sheng Lingyuan warned in a deep voice. "This is the first generation of the Qingping Division's chief, the true survivor of Southern Crowned Monkeys who returned from the Southern Return Tower."

Before he could finish his sentence, Gu Yuexi heard a loud noise and the communication channel became chaotic. "Captain Yan and the others... crackle... the helicopter crashed..."

"What?!" Gu Yuexi's hair stood on end.

"We're okay! Crack... we... parachuted out, damn it, what the hell is this?!" Zhang Zhao's voice came through the communication channel. "There was a lump of mercury... crackle... it turned into the stinky, droopy-eyed Mountain prince! Can you believe it?"

Sheng Lingyuan furrowed his brow slightly: even Wei Yun had been "requisitioned" by the other side.

"We are 15 kilometers northwest of Qingping Town in Qingping City, under attack by unknown paranormal creatures...zzztt..."

This was the first batch of reinforcements to arrive.

"At the intersection of Qingping North Road and Jiang'an Expressway...there is a giant mutated plant..." The static on the radio didn't stop, and a deafening thunderclap cut through the signal, shaking the entire ground.

The Shadow person was a living recorder, copying every "master" he had followed in the past three thousand years.

Gu Yuexi's vision went black, and the dryness in her eyes constantly interfered with her rationality. A huge pressure loomed over her.

But there were still unconscious colleagues in the car, and she had to protect them.

So she made a quick decision and rolled out of the cockpit, firing two shots into the air without aiming, trying to distract the enemy.

The silver bullet flew accurately towards the blindfolded young man's forehead, but he seemed to have anticipated the trajectory of the bullet the moment she pulled the trigger.

He calmly tilted his head to avoid it.

The silver bullet flew past him and hit the ground, only to be swallowed by the black mist that emerged from the earth's veins.

The blindfolded young man laughed, and the thick darkness rolled towards her in the raging miasma of her inner demons.

Gu Yuexi, a mixed-blood descendant thousands of years later, had diluted bloodlines that had been watered down countless times. Even though her all-seeing eye was opened by Sheng Lingyuan himself, and she was still unable to resist the crushing power of this king of darkness.

In an instant, she went blind from her all-seeing eye to her physical eyes, and her ears were filled with countless screams, followed by the sound of wild beasts gnawing on flesh and bones...

Gu Yuexi arched her back, but before she could react, there was a loud noise in her ear and all the illusions disappeared. She regained her vision and was shocked to find herself falling towards a large patch of iron thorns.

With lightning-fast reflexes, she tightened her core and spun in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the thorns and landing on the ground with a shoulder roll.

As she looked up, she saw the sword spirit holding the masked youth by the neck with one hand.

Gu Yuexi rubbed her eyes in disbelief. The thug who had just pinned her to the ground like a dead dog was now being held by the mysterious "sword spirit" with ease.

Behind the sword spirit, a black mist surged and roared, sweeping away everything in its path, leaving nothing unscathed. Trees, moss, and everything else were destroyed in its wake. The once fair face of the masked youth was now marred by the black mist, revealing his crooked teeth without any restraint.

Above them, thunderclouds gathered.

"Yang Dong, this useless man, couldn't let his guard down and couldn't stand the loneliness. He held a high position but fell to associating with the Shadow people. No wonder he became increasingly greedy," Sheng Lingyuan narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing at the blindfolded person.

"He's only fit to be given as a New Year's gift to children. You, a powerful heavenly demon, are interested in this kind of trash. You two are really a match made in heaven."

The masked person's crooked teeth lightly opened and closed, and a smile appeared on his struggling face.

She didn't know what was so beautiful about facing death.

In the next moment, he was crushed into a bloody mess by Sheng Lingyuan. Sheng Lingyuan was a skilled at this by now and was prepared to be struck by lightning.

After killing the Shadow person, he expertly dodged and was no longer in the same spot.

However, the thunderclouds continued to rumble without any real lightning striking down.

Gu Yuexi breathed a sigh of relief, but Sheng Lingyuan suddenly looked up with a face even uglier than when he was struck by lightning.

The surrounding demonic miasma suddenly seeped out a fiery mist, and "mercury" seeped into the earth.

The Shadow person spoke with countless voices, "When His Majesty is angry, mountains and tombs will crumble, the Chiyuan will sink, and all living beings will be like ants. I'm so scared."

Gu Yuexi: "..."

She understood every word they said, but when they were together, she couldn't make sense of it!

"Senior... senior," she covered her ears and listened intently, suspecting that her ears were malfunctioning.

"What did the suspect just shout at you?"

Sheng Lingyuan didn't answer.

But the Shadow person burst into laughter: "I deserve to die a thousand deaths, hahaha!"

The shadowy figure transformed into a ball of mercury, spinning wildly around them.

"Your Majesty, come on, tear me apart and crush me... I've been wandering aimlessly in the mortal world for three thousand years, I've had enough of living. I can't find a home, so it's not a bad idea to use me as the last fuel for Chiyuan. Your Majesty... make a bigger commotion. Even the Nine Heavens' divine thunder is trembling under the demonic power of the Heavenly Demon!"

Sheng Lingyuan grabbed his own wrist.

With that one strike, he had regained about 30-40% of his former strength.

The power that had been bound by the laws of the world was recovering, but the heavenly thunder had not yet come - this meant that the seal on Chiyuan was weakening!

What on earth is the useless Fire-keeper doing?

The Fire-keeper was trapped in a nightmare of past and present, and was on the verge of madness.

"Your Majesty!"

A palace maid hurriedly rushed into the Du Ling Palace and knelt down at the entrance of the Sword Furnace Hall with a 'thump' - the Sword Furnace had been sealed for several years, and recently, Your Majesty had suddenly said that he wanted to go into seclusion inside the hall.

Two fierce guards stood at the entrance, not allowing any living creature to enter.

The palace maid was an ordinary person, but as soon as she approached the Sword Furnace, she felt uncomfortable all over and would have nightmares for several days after returning.

"Your Majesty," the palace maid swallowed hard, her breath heavy and mournful. "The Empress Dowager...the Empress Dowager has passed away!"

The Sword Furnace Hall remained silent.

The maid strained to listen for a moment longer, but her knees felt like they were being pricked by needles and she could barely remain kneeling.

Just as she was about to continue wailing, a guard waved his hand to interrupt her and turned towards the Sword Furnace, closing his eyes.

This guard was new and no one knew exactly what he was, but he was definitely not human.

Rumor had it that he had the ability to see a thousand miles and hear the slightest whisper on the wind.

In the past year or two, His Majesty had developed a strange fondness for these creatures that were neither human nor demon, which was quite unorthodox.

Ever since the imperial tutor fell, no one dared to speak out of turn.

The emperor's behavior has become increasingly erratic, and over the years he has acted with complete autonomy, killing people left and right.

Although 'death by admonition' was a glorious tradition, the old ministers who worried about the country and the people outside the Du Ling Palace lined up to hit the pillars, lamenting hard, but the emperor didn't even blink an eye.

The historians couldn't even keep up with recording all the names, and if there were any mistakes or omissions, wouldn't it be a waste of their good heads?

Gradually, no one dared to hit the pillars anymore.

The entire court was silent, and no one dared to say a word about the martial emperor. They could only let the demonic energy in the Du Ling Palace run rampant.

The palace maids and eunuchs held their breath in fear.

After a moment, the guard turned around and said, "The emperor said to follow the old system and have the Ministry of Rites handle it."

The palace maid was left speechless.

That was it?

The guard spoke in a flat tone, "The Emperor said that after the Empress Dowager passed away, he is deeply saddened and does not wish to see anyone. He will be in seclusion for a few days, so please do not disturb him."

The palace attendant had never heard of such a mourning style and dared not ask any further questions. She wiped away the tears she had cried for the Empress Dowager and hurriedly left.

As she turned a corner, she couldn't resist looking back at the Sword Furnace Hall. In a daze, they saw blood-red light soaring into the sky from within the hall.

The palace attendant was shocked and rubbed her eyes hard, but she couldn't see anything anymore.

Inside the Sword Furnace Hall, Sheng Lingyuan was burning something on the blue stone bricks. He sat patiently by the fire, waiting for the draft bamboo slips with the "Gold Forging Technique" to burn completely.

Then, expressionless, he threw all sorts of odds and ends from the small box by his feet into the fire - wooden carvings, dolls, silk paintings that he couldn't be bothered to open and look at... Finally, there was a piece of Nanming stone with an inherited curse that wouldn't burn.

Sheng Lingyuan thought for a moment, then injected a cluster of black energy from his fingertips into the Nanming stone.

The flame-colored stone, once inhabited by the Vermilion Bird, immediately dimmed and was filled with a sinister curse.

He casually tossed it aside after dealing with it.

After finishing with these things, he calmly removed his elaborate clothes one by one and walked into the center of the hall. There, in a huge blood-drawn formation, he sat cross-legged in the middle.

Outside the palace, Xuan Ji was struggling with the formation. He tried to break through it time and time again, but to no avail.

He knelt on the ground in frustration, wishing he had studied harder.

"Get out of there! You crazy bastard! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Suddenly, Xuan Ji's angry outburst was cut short as he witnessed a horrifying scene inside the palace.

He let out a heart-wrenching scream, "Lingyuan!"

Black energy burst out of the formation, transforming into countless tiny knives that rained down on Sheng Lingyuan like a storm.

But he only trembled slightly, his face losing its color, yet his expression remained calm.

He opened his eyes slightly, but they seemed unfocused. The small knives drilled in and out of his body, cutting through his flesh repeatedly, only to heal at lightning speed.

Then, a beam of blood shot up into the sky as he reached into his chest and pulled out his heart.

Sheng Lingyuan glanced at the heart, which was beating lightly, as if it were just a trimmed nail or strand of hair.

He casually pinched a wisp of black energy and stuffed it into his own chest wound.

With a wave of his hand, the ground churned with blood and formed a blood-red net that wrapped around the heart, constantly entangling and tightening until it shrank to the size of an inch.

Sheng Lingyuan caught it in his palm like a blood-red pearl and placed it in a small porcelain bottle.

Suddenly, the Sheng Lingyuan in the formation split into two identical men who faced each other.

One had a cold and calm expression, like a finely crafted statue, while the other looked tired and had an infinite sadness in his eyes.

The more human-like Sheng Lingyuan glanced deeply in the direction of Xuan Ji, as if he could "see" him, before transforming into a feather-like green smoke and disappearing into the porcelain bottle.

In the sword furnace, there was only an indifferent living corpse left.

The 'living corpse' raised its hand and pressed it against its chest, and the fatal wound quickly healed as if nothing had happened. He then casually wrapped himself in his clothes and remembered something, causing his stiff mouth to lift up two notches into a terrifying smile.

With great patience, he adjusted the horrifying smile in the bronze mirror until it looked as warm and gentle as it did in the past, from every angle... as if it were painted on.

At this moment, someone outside the palace whispered, "Your Majesty, the person in the Heavenly Prison has suddenly shown the five signs of decay."