Ji Tongzhou listened intently for a long while before finally piecing together the gist of it. Three days ago, the Spirit Stele had suddenly vanished into thin air here, taking with it the surrounding Spiritual Qi Net that had enveloped the area. Ordinary people, unaware of the stele's origins, simply regarded it as a manifestation of a Divine Miracle, which was why the number of visitors coming to see the Spirit Stele had only increased in recent days.
His feet rooted to the ground, his mind felt as though struck by countless muffled thunderclaps—the Spirit Stele had disappeared. Had she returned?!
Jiang Li Fei had returned!
Ji Jingwu noticed his master suddenly standing motionless and dared to steal a glance upward, only to be shocked to find that this usually unflappable teacher now had a face as pale as snow, his eyes strangely bright and intense.
"Master..." he murmured softly.
Ji Tongzhou's chest heaved violently a few times before he suddenly moved slightly and said calmly, "Let's go."
Without waiting for Ji Jingwu's response, he turned and strode away quickly.
Four hundred years had passed, and the once Guangshenghui town had been absorbed by the Myriad Immortals Assembly. The marketplace remained as bustling as ever, with not only rows of large shops but also numerous small stalls, still peddling bizarre objects under the pretense of exotic foreign goods to deceive the unwary.
Ji Tongzhou once again saw those strange and eerie fierce deity masks on the stalls, and vivid memories uncontrollably surfaced. He distinctly remembered that afternoon when he encountered Jiang Li Fei at a stall after five years apart. She had recognized him at first glance and called out his name cheerfully.
At this very moment, the beautiful young girl in Moonless Court disciple uniform seemed to appear alive once more by the stall, waving and smiling at him.
An illusion... Ji Tongzhou walked past her without a sideways glance.
"Tong Zhou!" This time, it seemed someone was calling out that long-unheard name. Two spirited youths walked toward him—none other than Ye Ye and Lei Xiuyuan from his memories. Ye Ye raised his hand as if to punch him playfully, laughing, "You rascal! You've grown so tall!"
Ji Tongzhou remained utterly unmoved, quietly passing through their figures. His steps were slow, steady, each one firmly planted on the ground, yet it felt as though he were treading on clouds. The sky darkened in an instant, and lanterns danced in the wind along the narrow street, resembling two strings of luminous pearls.
A weight fell on his shoulder as Ye Ye patted him twice, the camaraderie of shared drinks evident as he consoled him, "There's still a long road ahead. With your talent, you'll achieve great things. Keep your heart open and don't let illusions blind you. No matter what, we friends will always have your back."
Enough.
Ji Tongzhou abruptly stopped and tightly shut his eyes.
Ji Jingwu noticed his master's demeanor and behavior had been markedly different since arriving here. Though he didn't understand why, a vague sense of unease crept into his heart, and he timidly called out again, "Master?"
This time, Ji Tongzhou didn't answer. His tightly closed eyes trembled violently. After a long while, he wearily opened them, now bloodshot, and continued walking forward without a word.
After turning three corners, the familiar towering inn came into view—gaudy in color, with soaring eaves and vermilion accents, still teeming with monstrous creatures lounging about. Two ferocious Tiger Demons sat rigidly by the entrance, utterly indifferent to the bustling crowd around them.Ji Tongzhou silently gazed at the multicolored railings layered within the grand hall. He saw a pair of young lovers, ethereal as celestial beings, walking hand in hand with gentle smiles, completely oblivious to his presence. Back then, he had roared countless times in the depths of his heart, emotions tormenting him to the brink of madness, yet nothing could be conveyed.
It was also here that he first kissed a woman. His time was truly limited—how could he make her remember him?
Ji Tongzhou let out a few hollow laughs. Ji Jingwu watched in horror as his chest heaved violently several times before he suddenly raised a hand and struck himself fiercely on the chest. A mass of pitch-black blood sprayed from his mouth onto the ground, quickly dissolving into clusters of tiny black flames. Ji Tongzhou crushed the Black Fire underfoot, his strange, glowing eyes regaining their usual calm. He murmured, "No need to worry."
Just a momentary surge of emotion upon revisiting the past. He too had once been that recklessly brave, pouring out his feelings without hope, even if no response ever came. But all that was over now, long past.
He booked two superior rooms and instructed Ji Jingwu, "Stay in your room. If you grow too restless, you may take a walk outside, but remember—no trouble. Return before nightfall."
Ji Jingwu nodded in agreement and was about to head upstairs when he noticed Ji Tongzhou had no intention of accompanying him. Anxiously, he asked, "Master! Where are you going?"
Ji Tongzhou replied indifferently, "Monsters won’t just wait around to be slain. I must first track their movements. Wait for me at the inn. Do not wander off until I return."
Uncharacteristically bold, Ji Jingwu pressed, "When will you return, Master?"
Ji Tongzhou frowned impatiently and shot him a cold glance. The boy flushed red, lowering his head to fiddle helplessly with his sash as he mumbled, "This disciple… merely worries… Earlier, Master spat blood… You’ve seemed… strange ever since arriving here."
To think this usually unruly and willful child would worry about him—Ji Tongzhou felt an unexpected warmth in his chest. But then the boy added, "If anything were to happen to Master, what would this disciple do? Our Yue Kingdom also…"
Ah, Yue Kingdom… Ji Tongzhou studied his youthful gaze, and for some reason, the eyes of his elder brother the emperor from years past resurfaced in his mind, along with Xuanshan Zi’s gaze. Since childhood, Yue Kingdom had been his responsibility, the very purpose of his cultivation.
With power surpassing millions came a mountain of burdens. Once, climbing ever higher had been his sole ambition. Now, standing here with everything he had ever wanted, a careless remark from a mischievous child had dredged up countless memories.
The warmth he had once scorned and discarded now beckoned him, dazzling and seductive.
Lost in thought, Ji Tongzhou ignored Ji Jingwu and slowly walked out of the inn.
Suddenly, a hand rested on his shoulder, and a familiar, cheerful voice sounded by his ear: "Tongzhou, how about a drink at that tavern tonight? We won’t leave until we’re drunk!"
"Alright," Ji Tongzhou answered instinctively. Beside him, Ye Ye and the others smiled warmly—only to dissolve into clusters of Black Fire, vanishing before his eyes. Dizziness washed over him, his chest churning with a suffocating surge of energy that threatened to spill out once more.He forced himself to suppress it, staring blankly at the shimmering Eastern Sea in the distance. The long-absent girl in white was riding the wind and waves toward him. Where was she now in this vast Central Land? It hadn't been five hundred years yet—why had she returned early? Would he even get to see her again?
The Black Fire burned his soul, making him dizzy and hallucinating.
What do you desire? A voice asked from the void.
Ji Tongzhou suddenly threw out the Qilin Bone and sped away. He couldn't remember how long he had flown until he reached the desolate mountain forests. The laughter and joy of past years still lingered around him—Jiang Li Fei always waving at him from nearby, Ye Ye calling out to him, Lei Xiuyuan standing with a faint smile, the Baili Sisters teasing him about his fear of the Centipede Demon.
Enough.
With a sudden roar, the Profound Splendor Fire erupted from his body, instantly engulfing the surrounding ten miles. All illusions vanished into nothingness. The dense forest was ruthlessly scorched by the Black Fire, ashes swirling in the sky as the wind carried the flames, turning the world into a monochrome of black and white.
He had already buried everything that could be buried with his own hands. He was no longer the fragile Ji Tongzhou who could still feel heartache. Towering mountains and boundless lands, unmatched in battle across the world—he had everything. What use did he have for a heart that could still feel pain?
Yet Jiang Li Fei had returned without warning. She was his greatest karma, awakening the Gluttonous Beast in his heart, drowning him in memories of the past he couldn't escape. Was this nostalgia? At the height of having everything, he had begun to yearn for those naive days when he had nothing.
Absurd. Ji Tongzhou laughed mockingly at himself. He withdrew the raging Profound Splendor Fire and glanced around, his heart suddenly stirring—was this, perhaps, that place called Manshan?
He mounted the Qilin Bone, slowly searching for that cliff with the giant boulder from years past. That place had been utterly incinerated by his Black Fire—Zhen Yunzi's corpse and the massive boulder had both turned to ashes. Four hundred years had passed, yet not a single blade of grass had grown back from the charred earth. The entire Manshan was lush and green, except for that scorched, pitch-black cliff, barren and lifeless, standing out starkly.
Ji Tongzhou stepped onto this dead land, his vision suddenly blurring. At the edge of the cliff, a girl bound by the Dragon Imprisoning Lock seemed to appear. The mountain wind whipped her bloodstained white dress endlessly, like a fragile white camellia on the verge of falling.
He watched silently for a long time, until she disappeared again, never truly able to see her face clearly. He hadn't forgotten her features—he even remembered the tiny red mole hidden in her left eyebrow. He just wanted to see her one more time, yet for some reason, her face always eluded him.
Time slipped away soundlessly and swiftly. The shimmering Eastern Sea in the distance gradually lost its bright blue hue, now shrouded in blood-red twilight. Massive clusters of white clouds hid the setting sun in their crevices, dyed crimson by the vivid flames. The dazzling sunset clouds resembled the countless wild fires he had once unleashed over the Eastern Sea, skimming the edges of night and ocean, igniting even the wind.
A faint mist gathered before Ji Tongzhou's eyes. At first, he paid it no mind—since arriving at the Eastern Sea, his emotions had been too turbulent, causing Heart Devils to run rampant, conjuring countless illusions. He didn’t care if there were more. But soon, the mist thickened rapidly. In the blink of an eye, it blotted out even the fiery sky.Ethereal and illusory singing drifted faintly from afar, its mournful and lingering tones enchanting to the point of intoxication. Ji Tongzhou shuddered, suddenly realizing—this was the harbinger of the Ferocious beast Mirage Dragon's approach.
The Mirage Dragon emitted no Demon Qi and was notoriously difficult to locate, only appearing suddenly in the presence of Celestials with profound Spiritual energy. It would exhale mist to induce hallucinations, seizing the opportunity to prey on their essence. Ji Tongzhou had initially thought it would take considerable effort to find it, yet unexpectedly, it had emerged on its own.
Preoccupied with his thoughts, he had failed to guard against it in time, inhaling copious amounts of the mist. Knowing the danger, he immediately held his breath, enveloping himself in Profound Splendor Fire, and mounted his qilin bone steed to retreat temporarily.
Yet within the mist, shadowy figures began to emerge, moving gracefully toward him. He was instantly reminded of his first encounter with the Mirage Dragon—the illusions behind the mist were ever-changing, indescribable. A surge of arrogance rose within him; he refused to believe he could be deceived again by such bizarre and fantastical visions.
Come then! Let him see what would appear!
The faint sound of footsteps drew closer, and a hand parted the mist, revealing the silhouette of a woman in white—slender and graceful, yet indistinct and hazy.
After a moment, she suddenly spoke: "Ji Tongzhou, it really is you."
Jiang Li Fei again? Ji Tongzhou sneered. Such childish illusions held no surprise for him.
But soon, another figure emerged beside her—tall and jade-like in stature. Ji Tongzhou felt as though struck by lightning, staring dumbfounded as the man's features gradually sharpened. Clad in opulent black robes, his face was handsome yet carried an aloof, untouchable coldness. Even more bizarrely, two slender black horns protruded from the sides of his head.
Lei Xiuyuan!
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