You, you haven't been able to do a single thing!

"I'm sorry, Lotus, for making you cry." Baili Mo's voice was hoarse, as if his vocal cords had suffered severe damage.

"I missed you so much, Brother Mo. I thought you were gone forever." Lu Qinglian wanted to look him in the eye, but her legs were weak and she couldn't get up for a moment.

"Don't come over. You might be frightened by how I look now," Baili Mo said hurriedly upon hearing her attempt to rise.

"No matter what you turn into, you are still you. Just like back then, when my face was scarred and ruined, you never despised me. You are the sole meaning of my existence." Struggling to her feet, Lu Qinglian walked slowly toward Baili Mo. Her gaze did not waver or change in the slightest because of his appearance; it remained as gentle as ever.

Disregarding Baili Mo's half-naked and stiff body, Lu Qinglian gently embraced him, resting her cheek against his chest.

It was very cold, completely different from the warmth of the past, but her heart felt as secure and comforted as it used to be. She had found the meaning of her existence.

Lu Qinglian looked up at him. Years had flashed by. On that night several years ago, she had carved up her own face with her own hands, turning herself into a monster neither human nor ghost. How had he reacted then?

Lu Qinglian smiled, both elegant and alluring, and kissed Baili Mo's lips. They were cold and stiff, yet as green and hesitant as they had been all those years ago. The two of them kissed each other awkwardly, their hearts beating wildly, their hearts aching intensely.

Such feelings had remained unchanged for years.

Their lips parted. A trace of warmth seemed to return to Baili Mo's stiff face. He smiled, finally standing by her side once again.

"Let's go home." Holding Lu Qinglian's hand, Baili Mo slowly walked out from beside the huge black pillar. As for what connection this black pillar might have with him now, it no longer mattered.

The past was the past. To him, now, at this very moment, this faint sense of warmth was far more important than the so-called truth.

"Blade Slash! Void Prison!" Outside the black pillar, Xia Chuan's face was twisted in agony, the grim scars across his cheeks seeming to writhe as his features contorted.

With a sweep of his blade, he slashed fiercely toward the direction where Baili Mo was leading Lu Qinglian out. It sounded like the agonized shrieks of malevolent ghosts, and countless frenzied phantoms materialized in the surrounding air. Baili Mo watched as an extraordinarily massive and sharp long saber descended from the sky.

The long saber continued to plunge downward, leaving Baili Mo and Lu Qinglian nowhere to hide. For every foot the blade fell, countless vengeful ghosts shrieked and perished, reducing the hellish landscape around them by a fraction while the momentum of the blade grew stronger by another degree.

The wailing of ghosts, the whistling of the blade cleaving the air, and the crushing pressure bearing down upon them all battered Baili Mo's consciousness. Deeply furrowing his brow, he looked at Lu Qinglian, whose face was pale and swaying on the verge of collapse, and felt a surge of uncontrollable fury.

"Xia Chuan! You're courting death!" Baili Mo roared.

"Black Qi, rise!" Baili Mo continuously channeled the dark energy within his body, causing an immensely vast sheet of black mist to rise above his and Lu Qinglian's heads.

He had no clear idea what kind of special state he was currently in, but one thing was indisputable: there was not a single shred of spiritual energy left within him. This meant that the vast majority of his previous spells were unusable, including even the Nine Character Incantations.

Other than the utter absence of spiritual energy, his body was filled entirely with endless black mist, permeating every single meridian within him.

Right now, he could only manipulate this obedient black mist, yet he had no idea what purpose it served other than launching direct attacks. It was like possessing overwhelming power without knowing how to unleash its full potential.

His cultivation base and realm had completely dissipated. Whether his current strength was equivalent to the Core Formation or Nascent Soul stage, he had no way of knowing.

The massive sheet of black mist was thrust directly upward by Baili Mo, colliding head-on with the descending long saber. The black currents of the mist and the silver blade-glow of the saber seemed to engage in a direct duel at that moment, causing the spatial fabric to warp repeatedly and instantly slicing the nearly thousand-foot-high canyon in half.

"Baili Mo! I want you to pay in blood! I will exact full retribution for their deaths upon you!" Standing in mid-air, Xia Chuan resisted the massive long saber, continuously pressing it downward.

Dazzling blade-light radiated from his entire body, and his razor-sharp aura was enough to injure anyone who dared approach him.

Baili Mo remained silent, desperately using the black barrier to prop up the endlessly descending giant saber. Yet a Nascent Soul was still a Nascent Soul; a truly unreserved, all-out struggle revealed the formidable might of the Nascent Soul stage, far beyond what mere numbers of Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivators could hope to contend with.

The black barrier began to fracture continuously, and streaks of blade radiance penetrated the barrier, flying downward to explode all around Baili Mo.

Acting like a madman and completely disregarding Lu Qinglian's safety, Xia Chuan's only thought was to execute Baili Mo, avenge his fallen brothers, and wash away his hatred in blood.

"Ah!!!" Baili Mo roared at the top of his lungs, but it was to no avail. The black barrier shattered everywhere like fragile paper, and though the surrounding black mist rushed to mend the tears, it lagged far behind the speed of destruction.

"Baili Mo! You could shatter your Core Formation for her sake, and I can self-destruct my Nascent Soul for the sake of my brothers! Today, I will scatter your very soul and spirit!" Xia Chuan roared, an unnatural flush spreading across his face. His figure appeared slightly illusory, and behind him, the faint outline of an infant began to take shape, bearing a few passing resemblances to Xia Chuan himself.

Yet wisps of spiritual energy were constantly diffusing outward from this infant, much like a leaking balloon, and its form grew increasingly translucent. Conversely, Xia Chuan acted as if he had consumed some supreme restorative elixir; the pressure emanating from him soared continuously, reaching nearly the mid-Nascent Soul stage in mere moments and continuing to climb.

Amidst Xia Chuan's furious roar and surging power, the black barrier was instantly torn to shreds by the long saber. Standing atop the hilt, Xia Chuan continuously drove the weapon downward. Baili Mo spat out a mouthful of blood—not the usual crimson, but stained with traces of black.

This was the first time Baili Mo had been injured since acquiring this black energy. No matter how powerful one was, there remained a limit. With Xia Chuan burning away his Nascent Soul, his cultivation realm and actual combat strength had now completely surpassed Baili Mo's.

"Are you afraid?" Baili Mo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and whispered to Lu Qinglian.

"With you here, I'm not afraid of anything." There was no trace of worry on Lu Qinglian's face; instead, she wore a blissful and peaceful smile.

Right from the beginning, she had already made up her mind. Whether she lived or died no longer mattered. Either they would go home together, or they would cross the bridge together, even if that bridge turned out to be the Bridge of Helplessness.

"Wait for me just a moment. This will be over soon." Baili Mo freed one hand to gently pinch Lu Qinglian's delicate fingers, and both of them smiled.

Baili Mo soared directly upward, his body shrouded in swirling black mist. If once wasn't enough, he would try ten times; if ten weren't enough, a hundred. He had to block that blade. He had promised her a sanctuary of their own, and he would carve it out with his own hands!

"Die!"

Baili Mo's entire body was enveloped in black mist, making him look as though he had donned a suit of dark armor that stood out starkly against the snowy white sky. Colliding head-on with the massive long saber, he caught the blade's tip with his bare hands.

The black qi covering Baili Mo was constantly consumed by the blade's murderous aura. The mist replenished itself rapidly, yet it still lagged a few steps behind. In an instant, the blade-qi shaved away the greater part of Baili Mo's face, exposing white, gleaming bone underneath.

Yet he never relented. The teeth he clenched were continuously pulverized, and his eyes burned like ghostly fire in the dead of night—a flame that steadfastly refused to be extinguished.

Until his right hand was viciously sheared off by the blade-light, a geyser of black-red blood erupting in its wake. The black mist was too late to heal his wound, nor could it retrieve his severed right arm. Baili Mo let out an agonized roar, but he was already losing the upper hand.

As time ticked away, Xia Chuan's aura and cultivation continued to climb, nearing their absolute peak. Baili Mo found his resistance growing increasingly arduous until he was completely overpowered.

"Why! Why can't I win!" Baili Mo roared inwardly at himself, yet no one could provide him with an answer.

For a Core Formation cultivator—regardless of who they were—to reach this point, whether through fortune, coincidence, or even falling into another's intricate schemes, was enough to make everyone turn their heads in awe. Yet he was still unsatisfied. Standing before Xia Chuan, who had likewise sacrificed everything, he was still too weak.

"Who do you think you are! You're nothing but a loser! Look at you! You're still going to die! And I will still deliver Xia Qinglian to Northern Province!"

"You've accomplished nothing at all! You've merely caused a few ripples along this path!"

"You and I are the same—pitiable wretches who couldn't protect a single thing! But I am luckier than you! At least I still get to watch you wail as you die before my eyes!"

The long saber descended with even greater velocity, pinning Baili Mo in place and leaving him utterly immobile. Aside from the wisps of black qi drifting wildly around him, nothing remained of his body save for stark, visible bone.

I cannot die. I have already died once! How can I die again? How can I abandon her once more?

Boom!!! The long saber crashed down, the earth roaring and trembling violently. Cascading rubble fell to bury Baili Mo, while at the very last moment, a swirl of black qi swept up Lu Qinglian's body and hurled her far into the distance.

Standing atop the pile of fallen boulders, Xia Chuan laughed wildly and unrestrainedly. Laughter turned to tears, and he dropped to his knees facing the direction where his fallen sworn brothers had perished, burying his face in his hands and weeping bitterly.

......

"You know, Brother Mo, in my heart, you are my hero. My eternal hero, and that will never change."

It sounded like Lu Qinglian whispering in Baili Mo's ear, so gentle. Baili Mo jolted awake and sat up, panting heavily. He looked down at his own hands—a blur of mangled flesh—and then glanced at the surrounding scenery—pure, abyssal darkness.

This was his third time coming here, to the boundary between life and death.

"Sigh, how can you be this weak? I clearly lent you my power, yet you're still so utterly vulnerable," said the Taoist-robed Baili Mo standing before him, his tone tinged with exasperation as if disappointed that iron could not be turned into steel.

"I lost again," Baili Mo said hoarsely.

"Yes, you lost again, and Lu Qinglian is still going to be sent to Northern Province," the Taoist-robed Baili Mo nodded in deep agreement.

"What should I do?" Baili Mo asked, consumed by agonizing torment.

"This doesn't sound like your usual style. Before this, you were in such a frantic rush to cut ties with me," the Taoist-robed Baili Mo chuckled.

With a dull thud, Baili Mo's mass of mangled flesh lunged at the figure before him, droplets of blood falling to stain the Taoist robes of the man standing there.

"What? Frustrated and desperate? Going to attack me?" The Taoist-robed Baili Mo smiled.

"Hey, you can save her, right?" On Baili Mo's head, where those two empty bloody sockets resided, there was seemingly nothing at all, yet the Taoist-robed Baili Mo could distinctly feel that he was being stared right into.

"Yes," the Taoist-robed Baili Mo replied expressionlessly.