Thank you so much to all ko-fi supporters, Chaki, Chai, Milli, Somebody, Shime, ThisVenerable1…You guys are the kindest and your support means so much to me! Here's an extra chapter this week for you! 

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"Oh," Sheng Lingyuan lightly brushed his hand and the blood on his body fell off like dust.

He looked like a porcelain doll, with skin so white it was blinding. "What a coincidence, I'll go take a look."

Xuan Ji's mind went blank as he followed, but he suddenly realized that he couldn't get within three feet of Sheng Lingyuan anymore.

After bumping into the invisible barrier a few times, Xuan Ji became angry and tried to rush towards Sheng Lingyuan with all his might, only to be bounced back by the barrier.

He took a few steps back and fell under the cassia tree in the Sword Furnace Courtyard.

A branch pierced through his body and Xuan Ji looked up in shock, only to see the newly bloomed cassia flowers wither after Sheng Lingyuan passed by.

What did that bastard Sheng Lingyuan do?

Locked up in the dungeon was Dan Li.

Everyone thought he had been imprisoned for political reasons, but it was clear that the imagination of the human race had always been limited.

Dan Li had been nailed to a blood pool for over a year now.

His mask had been removed, revealing a terrifying face.

His eyes were the only intact feature on his face, with the lower half covered in burn marks from fire.

After a year of torture, his skin and flesh had almost completely dried up, leaving behind a loose layer of skin covering his bones.

He looked like a horrifying corpse, starved and deprived of life.

This was the first time Xuan Ji had seen Dan Li since he was crushed to pieces.

Their friendship had been severed at the time of his death.

Xuan Ji later learned that the two had fought a life-and-death battle, and Dan Li had lost by one move and was imprisoned. Xuan Ji didn't care too much about it, thinking that with his level of intelligence, he wasn't worthy of worrying about the power struggles between these big shots.

He was already annoyed enough watching Sheng Lingyuan, who was becoming more and more erratic every day.

He never imagined that "imprisonment" was not just house arrest... it wasn't even ordinary imprisonment.

As soon as he entered the heavenly prison, Xuan Ji was forced to take a few steps back by the overwhelming stench of blood.

He looked at Sheng Lingyuan, who was a few steps away, in shock and fear.

But it was... Dan Li!

It was their teacher who had protected them, taken care of them, and taught them.

In his tumultuous childhood, that man played the triple role of father, mother, and teacher, even giving the nickname "Lingyuan".

Lingyuan followed his every instruction, and as he grew up, his manner of speaking and style of doing things were just like another Dan Li.

Although their teacher-student relationship began with a lie and ended in a rift, those years of relying on each other couldn't have been fake, right?

When they were young and quarreled, they always used the excuse of "teacher said so" to argue with each other, which couldn't have been fake, right?

"How could this be...why are you like this, Lingyuan?" Xuan Ji's eyes fell on Sheng Lingyuan in shock, but his gaze was weightless.

Sheng Lingyuan walked into the dungeon in front of him, completely unaware of Xuan Ji's presence. He walked lightly, as if the person nailed to the blood pool was just a simple enemy.

He came to enjoy the downfall of his "enemy" with power and victory.

Xuan Ji's heart tightened.

He used to be afraid of hurting Sheng Lingyuan's feelings, but now he realized that he was more afraid of Sheng Lingyuan not feeling anything at all.

This unfamiliar and distant emperor had become so indifferent that his presence was almost imperceptible. The same passionate eyes that had made Xuan Ji's heart race countless times now held a familiar smile, but it was vaguely overlaid with the face of an ancient demon born to fulfill a prophecy, sending shivers down his spine.

Now, the teacher and student duo were separated by an iron window, like looking in a mirror. Apart from their faces, their expressions, tones, eye contact, sitting and walking postures were all identical.

Dan Li was born from the Vermilion Bird statue. As long as the statue remained standing, his spirit would never die.

Therefore, the Emperor ordered the destruction of all temples across the land, except for folk customs such as the God of Wealth and Door Gods.

It was strictly forbidden for the people to worship any statues, especially ancestral ones. Anyone caught doing so would be accused of rebellion and punished accordingly.

This was one of the many tyrannical acts of the Emperor Wu, as later legends would tell.

It was said that those who dared to hide statues would have their entire families executed, and anyone who reported them would receive a reward of ten taels of silver.

The people were terrified, and talk of temples turned their faces pale. For over a year, this mandatory order swept across the country.

By the end of the fifth year of Emperor Qi Zheng, the last Vermilion Bird temple was burned down, and from then on, even if anyone practiced witchcraft and made idols, they would only be considered as later interpretations without the original version.

Sheng Lingyuan examined him for a moment and confirmed that he was about to run out of oil and die.

He then calmly said, "I have finished repairing the Chiyuan Formation and altar. I only need to seal off the Chiyuan on the night of the first month. There will be no mistakes. From now on, you can rest assured to leave. You don't have to worry about me turning against the Qingping Division or the world being in chaos."

Dan Li struggled to open his eyes, which were almost just bloody holes, and met Sheng Lingyuan's gaze.

With just one glance, he noticed that the young emperor's vitality and spirit, which he had been trying to conceal, had disappeared.

His pupils became hollow and deep, like the eyes of a lost soul.

"What... have you done?" Dan Li stirred slightly in the pool of blood, suddenly feeling something.

"You took your Vermilion Bird bloodline..." Sheng Lingyuan replied calmly, "Skinned, stripped, removed the heart, everything."

Xuan Ji and Dan Li looked at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"What?!"

Sheng Lingyuan said indifferently, "The Vermilion Bird clan used to control Chiyuan with their demon powers. Keeping this remnant bloodline is useless, so I'll use it to reinforce Chiyuan's Vermilion Bird Bone Seal. Isn't that a good finishing touch?"

"Are you crazy... are you crazy?" Dan Li squeezed out a weak voice from his throat, "Only the Vermilion Bird bloodline can suppress the heavenly demon body and allow the heavens to tolerate your existence. Are you going to sever that...?"

"What am I severing?" The Emperor showed a calm and eerie smile, "Sensory pleasures, emotions... or joys and sorrows? Teacher, what do I need those for?"

Dan Li was speechless, his breath like a strand of silk.

"There's nothing else, I just heard that you, teacher, are showing signs of the five decays. As a student, I came to pay my respects and fulfill my filial duty. I don't want you to worry and leave with a heavy heart, so I came to share the good news with you."

After finishing his words, Sheng Lingyuan casually reinforced the seal outside the blood pool, turned around and left.

When he reached the entrance of the prison, he remembered something and turned back, saying, "Oh, by the way, teacher, you once said that the Shadow People might become a problem. That was truly wise advice. We have already found the whereabouts of Aunt Meng Xia, and she should be able to join you soon. With the approaching New Year and various matters to attend to, I won't disturb your peace any longer."

"Stop right there! What do you mean by cutting off 'the senses, desires, and emotions'?" When Xuan Ji came to his senses, his spine went cold.

He reached out to grab Sheng Lingyuan, but the demon who had shed his Vermilion Bird bloodline was not accepted by the world and seemed to be unable to coexist with humanity.

He rejected everything, including the tiny creature that had once been placed in his back.

Sheng Lingyuan mercilessly pushed him away, and Xuan Ji almost fell into the pool of blood.

With a loud bang, the door to the heavenly prison was locked, and Xuan Ji was furious and anxious, about to chase after them.

Suddenly, he heard a faint voice next to him say, "My time has come..."

In this vast heavenly prison, not even an ant could be found, and amidst the thick scent of blood, there was only a corpse-like Dan Li.

Xuan Ji paused and wondered, "Who is he talking to?"

"I know you are here... and I also know that you are still lingering in this world..." Dan Li gasped for breath like a broken bellows, struggling to continue his words.

His voice was muffled, and every word seemed to drain all his strength.

"You are not an ordinary sword spirit... you are a 'reborn sword spirit', the descendant of... the last descendant of the Vermilion Bird..."

Dan Li was speaking to him from a distance.

Xuan Ji was stunned for a moment, clenching and then releasing his fists, silently staring at the man in the blood pool who was no longer recognizable as a human.

Since birth, Xuan Ji had been connected to Sheng Lingyuan's mind and soul. The eyes through which he saw the world were Sheng Lingyuan's eyes.

When Sheng Lingyuan was young, he had a deep admiration for this man, and he shared that affection with the little sword spirit.

Xuan Ji's gaze at the man in the blood pool was complex.

Lingyuan remembered Dan Li's teachings.

The little Sword Spirit was not as capable, only remembering the sweetness in his hands - even during their years of exile, Dan Li always found a way to bring snacks to comfort the little prince. Sometimes it was honey collected from an unknown source, sometimes it was a piece of golden-brown wild beehive.

When they were hiding from the demon clan's pursuers on the plains, he held his sword in front, clearing the way while cutting sweet straw for the little prince who was in the arms of the dead soldiers. It was rough and simple, but... it was really sweet.

Xuan Ji would never forget that figure, which was now about to dissolve in a pool of blood.

Dan Li coughed, "I know, at this point, you won't trust me anymore."

Xuan Ji silently walked to the edge of the blood pool and sat on the seal outside, remaining silent for a while.

Finally, he spoke, "You are known for your impeccable strategies, like a god. How did you not foresee your own fate?"

Dan Li, as if he could hear him, calmly replied, "I knew this day would come. We were all born to face our destiny, to live in troubled times, and to die in troubled times. Lingyuan and I have no grievances against each other. Everything he did, I taught him. It's a matter of winning or losing.

"I don't blame him, and he didn't intend to torture me. If I could die like an ordinary person, with a swift beheading, it would be a relief for both of us. Today, I will turn to ashes, but tomorrow he may be the one to dissolve into ashes. It's all predetermined."

Xuan Ji felt both uncomfortable and angry at his words and coldly retorted, "You are the one who will become ash!"

Dan Li chuckled softly, "Little Sword Spirit, did you just curse at me?"

Xuan Ji's tense facial features relaxed and he closed his mouth.

Like everyone else, Dan Li couldn't hear what he was saying, but he could guess it.

Xuan Ji remembered when he was a child and still parasitized on Lingyuan's back. He couldn't stand the loneliness and wanted to express his opinions, so he used Lingyuan's mouth to speak. Dan Li could always tell who was speaking just by listening to the context. Xuan Ji often had the illusion that besides Lingyuan, Dan Li could also hear him.

"You..." Dan Li sighed, "Your demon clan has always been mentally immature, and Lingyuan always defends you, making you unable to grow up."

Xuan Ji's eyes began to redden, "Teacher, why did it have to come to this?"

"In the battle in the demon city, the Heavenly Demon Sword was unsheathed, stirring up a million vengeful spirits from the Chiyuan and beheading the demon king. The suffering people cheered for the victory from all directions, but... when people look back on it later, wouldn't they feel terrified?

Your Majesty... he is too young and inexperienced, lacking the ability to suppress the four corners of the world. He assumes that everyone is willing to live and die with him, and he cannot bear to be alone.

The flames of the Chiyuan have not been extinguished, and during the war, all tribes were united. But after the war, there will inevitably be changes, and this terror must have an outlet...

The Heavenly Demon Sword must be sacrificed to maintain this era of peace. Little Sword Spirit, the fate of a good hero has always been like this. When we were young, I told you stories with Lingyuan, but you never listened properly, did you?"

Xuan Ji sneered, but turned his head away, unable to bear looking at him.

"All things are born from heaven and earth, and die in heaven and earth. The Kunpeng soars to the sky, and the Jiaoren dives into the sea. The four seasons change, from cold to hot, those who adapt survive, while the destitute have no place to go." Dan Li spoke slowly.

"The ancient 108 divine beasts have disappeared without a trace. Now it's the turn of the three major categories of human races: 'greed,' 'anger,' and 'ignorance.' Tong, this is the choice of the heavens, it is the trend, how can humans resist it?

"Lingyuan... he learned how to manipulate the wind and rain, but he didn't learn how to go with the flow. He removed his own Vermilion Bird bloodline as a replacement for the divine birds' original role to suppress the Chiyuan. Even if he can put out the fire now... he doesn't think about his heavenly demon body. What will happen in the future without that bit of Vermilion Bird bloodline to suppress it?"

Xuan Ji closed his eyes tightly, as if trying to erase the image of Sheng Lingyuan tearing apart his own bloodline.

He asked in a hoarse voice, "What will happen?"

"He can cut off all seven emotions, gradually losing his senses, and eventually becoming a creature without desire or feeling, unable to see or hear anything. Moreover, the Heavenly Demon is immortal and does not age for ten years, but what about a hundred years, five hundred years, or a thousand years?"

With just a few words, Dan Li seemed to weaken even more, his voice becoming almost inaudible.

"He can't control himself, he will become the next Demon King... At that time, within the Nine Provinces, there will be... another period of chaos. How long can his little Vermilion Bird blood seal off the Chiyuan? Tong... Tong ah..."

Xuan Ji's heart was in turmoil at his words.

"You are the Vermilion Bird Spirit, the last descendant of the divine bird... Can you save him one more time, please?"

Dan Li suddenly spoke a language that the sword spirit had never heard before.

It was incredibly complex, and one would doubt how a human tongue could produce such sounds. But inexplicably, Xuan Ji understood it immediately, as if it was something innate.

Dan Li repeated it three times, and it was etched perfectly in his mind.

On the third repetition, Dan Li suddenly gasped and made a choking sound, as if he was at death's door.

"Teacher!" Xuan Ji exclaimed.

"This is... the secret language of the Vermilion Bird Clan... Tong... You are a descendant of the Vermilion Bird, with a divine body. You live for him, and only you can... you can protect that bloodline, guard the Chiyuan. I..."

Dan Li's voice trailed off, and his eyes suddenly glimmered, as if a last burst of light before fading away.

"I..."

He was unable to say anything more.

Xuan Ji realized something was wrong when he heard no response from the other person. He walked closer and was stunned by what he saw.

Dan Li's eyes had no more light left, staring lifelessly ahead.

"Teacher..." Xuan Ji reached out his hand, but there was a sudden sound and Dan Li's body began to crack and break apart, dissolving into the pool of blood.

Dan Li had once been a revered god, worshipped by the people and surrounded by endless offerings. But there was no such thing as a free lunch, and the gods were created to satisfy the desires of the masses.

He opened his eyes in the sea of blood, born of greed and anger, and had schemed and plotted until he was shattered into countless pieces.

It was as if his demise was a sign of peace in the world.

Xuan Ji and the disfigured corpse in the pool of blood looked at each other for a long time. He knelt down and kowtowed, then hesitated for a moment before kowtowing again for Lingyuan.

He floated out of the heavenly prison without touching the ground with his feet.

Then he watched as Sheng Lingyuan commanded people to dig out thirty-six pieces of Vermilion Bird Bones, carved seals on them himself, and during the course of thirty-six midnights, nailed them into Chiyuan one by one.

Finally, it was the small porcelain bottle containing his Vermilion Bird bloodline.

The moment the bead formed by the bloodline left Sheng Lingyuan, Xuan Ji pounced on it, took it into his mouth, and was shocked to find that he could touch it and even feel Lingyuan's heartbeat through the bead.

The bead gave him an unusually familiar feeling.

After his sword broke, he was in a daze for a long time and couldn't remember anything. He was just drawn to Sheng Lingyuan and realized that it was the Vermilion Bird bloodline that attracted him.

He flew towards the altar with the bead in his mouth, not having time to think. He quickly recited the Vermilion Bird secret code left by Dan Li.

The bead made of bloodline was alive, and when he recited it for the third time, he seemed to hear his long-lost heartbeat and merged with the bead.

Without anyone's guidance, Xuan Ji naturally established a connection with the bloodline bead.

He became the protective shell of the bloodline bead, serving as its container.

On the eve of the sixth year of the Qi dynasty, during the sealing ceremony of Chiyuan, the old chief of the Bifang clan personally presided over the ceremony.

At the last moment, Xuan Ji returned to the Du Ling Palace and saw that person for the last time.

He had 'covered' Sheng Lingyuan's Vermilion Bird bloodline with his own, and the heavenly demon body seemed to mistake him for its own part.

This time, the barrier three feet away from Sheng Lingyuan finally did not reject him...

It was the only time in Xuan Ji's life that he had crossed the line.

He was about to spend his life with this utmost longing, until the Vermilion Bird bone was destroyed and the seal was broken again.

Although the kiss was not genuine, he felt that it was enough to comfort him for his life in the Fire Prison...

He hoped that one day Sheng Lingyuan would regret it and come back to Chiyuan to take his heart and Vermilion Bird blood, so that he would have a chance to see that person again.

But what did he wait for?

What did he wait for...

The color of the Heart Demon's miasma suddenly changed from light red to crimson.

At the same time, the prepared Yong'an command center received an emergency alert. The energy activity near the dangerous Chiyuan was inexplicably increasing exponentially.

It was like a leaky roof during a storm, and Chief Huang was not doing well at all.

Sheng Lingyuan could clearly feel that the restrictions imposed on him by the entire world were becoming thin. The power of the heavenly demon that had once slain 999 demons was recovering.

Gu Yuexi, who was closest to him, trembled uncontrollably in the presence of the great heavenly demon, and even the depleted earth veins began to tremble.

The flowing mercury turned into countless shadows.

"Kill me..."

"Kill me and let me be the first incense to reignite the Chiyuan, okay?"

"Come on, Your Majesty..."

"Come and kill me..."

It was all the master cultivators that the Shadow person had relied on throughout history, rushing towards Sheng Lingyuan one after another.

Each one of them was much stronger than the last generation's Qingping Division's Old Lady Yu, and in the eyes of contemporary people, it was like a battle between ancient gods and demons.

Sheng Lingyuan was afraid of igniting the Chiyuan, so he hardly fought back, only using the simplest paper talisman spells to shuttle through the spaces where the physical rules had already collapsed.

The Shadow person roared sharply, "Does Your Majesty look down on me?"

Gu Yuexi's eardrums were shattered by this voice, and blood flowed out of her ear canal.

The mercury people suddenly gathered together again, forming a huge tornado that plunged straight into the ground.

The earth cracked open like an eggshell hitting a pebble, causing skyscrapers to tremble and mountains to crumble. At the same time, the aftermath department team had just finished setting up the first batch of Each Sound radio equipment and fired off a salute towards the Jiangzhou plain, jolting awake those who had only lightly dozed off from their nightmares.

Some people had just woken up from one nightmare only to enter another.

"Earthquake!"

"Run!"

Jiangzhou was not a volcanic earthquake zone, and its people had never experienced such a severe geological disaster before. They were thrown into a panic, confused and disoriented.

"Stop!"

In a critical moment, Zhang Zhao, who had rushed over, pressed the pause button for a second.

In the blink of an eye, Sheng Lingyuan disappeared on the spot, transforming into mist and pulling out a fiery red feather from his pocket - he didn't even realize it was there until it suddenly became hot.

Perfect timing.

The feather, stimulated by the power of the great demon, burst into a blazing flame. Sheng Lingyuan didn't care about burning his hands as he quickly divided the feather into thirty-six segments, replacing the thirty-six Vermilion Bird bones.

Suddenly, a huge seal appeared on the ground, just like the Chiyuan Formation. Using the remaining Vermilion Bird fire power on the wing feather of the Fire-keeper, along with the lifted ground, the Shadow person was nailed in place.

Zhang Zhao was stunned, his mouth gaping like a duck egg, forgetting how to speak for a moment.

"Don't just stand there," a shadow fell to the ground and Sheng Lingyuan, whose hands were burned, emerged from the black mist. "Let's go!"

Yan Qiushan scooped up Gu Yuexi and the group quickly climbed onto the field vehicle.

Some of the field agents who were originally unconscious on the vehicle were awakened by the echoes just now. They were disoriented and almost flattened by the field vehicle that was rushing forward, causing a chorus of groans and screams.

Zhang Zhao finally remembered his first line: "Sir, your hand..."

But he saw that Sheng Lingyuan's hand, which had been burned to charcoal, had grown back on its own.

The young man, who had never seen anything like this before, was speechless once again.

Yan Qiushan stepped on the accelerator and asked quickly, "What kind of formation is this? How long can it hold him? How much time do we have?"

"This is the Chiyuan Array..." Sheng Lingyuan's face was pale, almost transparent.

But he seemed unconcerned, pausing slightly as he spoke, as if trying to choose the appropriate metaphors and wording in an unfamiliar dialect of Chinese.

"A simplified version - the Chiyuan Array is a seal made of steel, while this can be understood as being stuck with adhesive tape."

Captain Yan had seen and experienced much, but hearing this caused him to almost drive onto the curb.

Gu Yuexi was always very analytical, but her thoughts were now in disarray like a murky liquid: why was Sheng Lingyuan so familiar with the Chiyuan Array? Why did the Shadow person just call him "Your Majesty"?

Just then, Yan Qiushan's phone rang again.

He abruptly turned the steering wheel and didn't even bother to answer the call.

"Zhang Zhao, check my phone for me."

Zhang Zhao reached into Yan Qiushan's coat pocket and pulled out his phone.

"It's that mysterious person again. He said..."

Like a flash of lightning, a black shadow darted past Zhang Zhao.

Slow to react, he tilted his head back and saw a snake-like black mist spewing out of Sheng Lingyuan's hand and wrapping precisely around something outside the car window, pulling it back in!

Reflexively, Gu Yuexi and the field agents in the car all reached for their mithril guns, all aimed at the thing Sheng Lingyuan had just pulled in through the window - it was the wooden doll that had escaped from Pingzhou suburbs.

This little thing had some nerve, having escaped once with the help of the Golden Crow Feather Wood, it dared to come back.

Before anyone could react, the black mist that had trapped the wooden doll had already entered its seven orifices.