When Yu Mi heard Bao Nianhui tell her what had happened to Xuantian Sect, she was first stunned into a daze, as though struck by lightning. Then grief and fury surged uncontrollably from her chest.
Xuantian Sect had been passed down for tens of thousands of years. Her master had risked her life to preserve its foundation, and Bao Gu had devoted so much effort and so many cultivation resources to nurturing it. Yet Zi Tianjun had destroyed it all.
She could understand Zi Tianjun hoarding cultivation resources as an attempt to strengthen his power. In today’s cultivation world, who did not value such resources?
She could also understand him cultivating trusted followers and direct-line disciples while marginalizing them. Their strength made him feel threatened, and she could simply have ignored it. Even when Zi Tianjun pressed her relentlessly, she had chosen to withdraw rather than depose him as sect master, continuing to respect him and spare his dignity.
But now he had betrayed everyone and destroyed Xuantian Sect’s entire legacy.
And Bao Gu had only just been gravely injured protecting Zi Yunshu!
In all the years Bao Nianhui had known Yu Mi, she had never seen her so furious. In truth, her Martial Uncle rarely got angry. She was a hothead; usually, by the time she became angry, she had already struck!
But at this moment, Bao Nianhui felt as though she were facing a furious tyrannosaur, one whose erupting flames might sweep her away and whose overwhelming power might tear her apart. She suddenly understood why her Martial Uncle was nicknamed the Fire Tyrannosaur.
Yu Mi drew a deep breath and asked coldly,
“Do you mean that Zi Tianjun had already disappeared when the various factions attacked the Canglong Mountain Range, and that the treasury was already empty by then?”
Bao Nianhui replied,
“Yes! Pavilion Master Qu and the Empress of Yue said that, judging from the bodies Zi Tianjun left at the treasury entrance, no more than the time it took one incense stick to burn had passed between his killing and looting the place and their arrival at the treasury. But that was more than enough time for Sect Master Zi to get far away.”
Yu Mi gave a cold snort.
“Do we know where Zi Tianjun is now?”
Bao Nianhui shook her head.
“Ever since the various forces fought their way into the Canglong Mountain Range, there has been no trace of Zi Tianjun.”
Yu Mi had already put the pieces together. She summoned a teleportation array platform and went straight to the Canglong Mountain Range.
The present-day Canglong Mountain Range no longer bore the slightest resemblance to its former self as the home of a great cultivation sect. Every building on Xuantian Sect’s grounds had been torn down and carried away. Its medicinal gardens and fruit orchards had been dug up, soil and all. The spirit springs that irrigated the gardens had dried up and ceased to flow. The trees that had grown for hundreds or even thousands of years had all been uprooted, while some of the saplings left behind were destroyed in the fighting.
The entire Canglong Mountain Range had become a land ravaged by catastrophe.
Bao Gu had chosen the Canglong Mountain Range as the site of Xuantian Sect. Although the mountains were not large and their spiritual energy was not especially abundant, a minor dragon vein still ran through them. But now there was no trace of dragon aura, nor even the slightest hint of spiritual energy.
The Chop Gang had sent one-third of its annual profits to Xuantian Sect. In years past, every ten-thousand-year spirit medicine and rare spiritual treasure from the Xuantian Mountain Range, apart from what was kept in the medicine gardens, had also flowed into Xuantian Sect.
And now, it had been reduced to this.
A patrolling Chop Gang disciple spotted Yu Mi and hurried over, cupping his fists.
“Greetings, Honored Envoy! What orders do you have for us?”
Yu Mi said coldly,
“Everyone, withdraw from the Canglong Mountain Range!”
No one dared disobey her order. The Chop Gang disciple cupped his fists and answered,
“Yes!”
Then he began relaying the command:
“By order of the Honored Envoy, everyone is to withdraw from the Canglong Mountain Range.”
Yu Mi took one step and headed straight for Xuantian Sect’s main peak, now much shorter than before. She summoned the Nanming Lihuo Sword and brought it down upon Xuantian Peak!
Powerful fiery energy erupted from Yu Mi. Nanming Lihuo engulfed her entire body, transforming her into a gigantic fireball. Its dazzling blaze dyed the sky above the Canglong Mountain Range bright red. Even the people in Youying City, several hundred mountains away, could see it. Many were startled into looking up toward the direction of the brilliant light.
Someone immediately cried out,
“It’s the Fire Tyrannosaur!”
That cry alerted even more cultivators, and many turned their gazes toward the Canglong Mountain Range.
After bringing down that single slash, Yu Mi suddenly shot into the sky, like a gigantic burning fireball soaring straight into the heavens. Then she plunged downward at incredible speed. As she dove, the fireball around her took the shape of a blazing phoenix. Yet its vivid crimson color made it look even more like a Vermilion Bird diving from the sky.
The force generated by her dive literally burned a long trail through the air. Just as she was about to reach the sky above the Canglong Mountain Range, her form suddenly halted. Blinding light burst from her body, and the entire mountain range was transformed into a sea of fire.
Then Yu Mi’s figure slammed violently into the place where the main peak of Canglong Mountain Range had stood.
A terrifying force erupted from within Xuantian Peak. The huge mountain collapsed in an instant. The scorching heat melted the mountain itself, and burning molten rock streamed down its slopes. At a glance, it looked exactly like a volcanic eruption.
Just then, a powerful surge of energy suddenly burst out from Xuantian Peak!
Almost at the same moment, Yu Mi shot out after the escaping figure! The flames blanketing the entire Canglong Mountain Range contracted all at once and rolled toward the figure that had burst out and was fleeing into the distance at high speed, wrapped in treasure radiance.
At the same time, Yu Mi, Nanming Lihuo Sword in hand and standing atop a teleportation platform, launched the fastest and fiercest attack she could.
As Yu Mi’s blow came down, the sword intent and fiery energy unleashed by the Nanming Lihuo Sword slammed into the man’s protective artifact. It gave a buzzing hum, and even the air trembled.
Yu Mi seemed to have gone mad, hacking relentlessly at the figure shrouded in the radiance of a Saint artifact! Her cultivation was at the Grand Perfection stage of Void Tearing, yet her combat strength allowed her to fight experts in the early Tribulation stage. Her ceaseless, frenzied assault made even the cultivators watching from afar shudder.
Many began guessing who the person hidden beneath Xuantian Peak could be, and what had driven Yu Mi to attack him so furiously.
Some even guessed that it was Zi Tianjun.
The man clearly had no desire to become entangled with Yu Mi. He tried several times to shake her off, but she stayed on him relentlessly. Every teleportation platform he summoned was destroyed by one of her slashes. Each time he was just about to escape, she had already intercepted him and struck to kill. If not for the Saint artifact protecting him, he would have died long ago.
Finally, the man roared, his voice issuing from deep within his belly,
“Stop!”
Yu Mi stood with her sword in hand and looked coldly at the cultivator protected by a tower-shaped Saint artifact. Artifact radiance concealed him from head to toe, leaving not the slightest trace of his appearance or aura visible.
The man spoke without moving his lips.
“Stop forcing me. Do you really think you can kill me? From now on, you go your way and I go mine. I swear that I will never appear before you again in this life.”
Yu Mi tightened her grip on the Nanming Lihuo Sword and pointed it at him.
“Look at the earth beneath your feet. Look at the Xuantian Sect you led. As its sect master, now that Xuantian Sect has been annihilated, should you not atone with your life?”
She fixed Zi Tianjun with a fierce, grief-stricken gaze.
“Can you face the fellow disciples who died protecting Xuantian Sect? Can you face my Master, Zhuo Wangchuan? Can you face Bao Gu, who has given you countless cultivation resources over all these years? Can you face the spirits of all the ancestral masters of Xuantian Sect? Can you face the disciples who devoted themselves to making Xuantian Sect stronger? Zi Tianjun, the people of Xuantian Sect tolerated your abuse of power, tolerated your greed and hoarding of wealth, and even tolerated you forcing us to leave. But the people of Xuantian Sect—and I, Yu Mi—will never tolerate you abandoning the sect and betraying Xuantian Sect! No one can protect you today!”
Zi Tianjun finally revealed his face and said in a deep voice,
“If you kill me, what will you tell Shu’er?”
Yu Mi laughed in anger.
“Answer to Little Martial Aunt? If I spare you, who will answer to Xuantian Sect’s ancestral masters? Who will answer to the fellow disciples who died defending the sect’s legacy?”
She pointed her sword at the heavens, her cold, cutting voice ringing in every direction.
“Today, I, Yu Mi, will cleanse the sect and execute Zi Tianjun. Anyone who objects or wants to protect him, come out and fight! I, Yu Mi, will stake my life against you!”
The world fell silent.
Zi Tianjun suddenly struck, launching his swiftest and fiercest attack at Yu Mi.
The instant he moved, Yu Mi moved as well.
Her figure shot forward and vanished. When she reappeared, she was already behind Zi Tianjun.
Zi Tianjun’s body landed where Yu Mi had stood a moment before, while his head had already fallen behind him. A bowl-wide gash gaped in his neck, and blood spurted into the sky like a fountain, raining down in a scarlet shower.
His head tumbled through the air, his eyes wide with disbelief. He had a Saint artifact protecting him—how had Yu Mi still severed his head with a single stroke?
The Nanming Lihuo burning at the severed stump swept across his entire head, contorting Zi Tianjun’s face. He opened his mouth wide, and a shriek of unbearable agony rang out.
But the scream had not come from his mouth. It came from his primordial spirit, which burst through a thumb-sized hole in his forehead and rolled out. Nanming Lihuo wrapped around Zi Tianjun’s primordial spirit, sent it tumbling through the air several times, and burned it to ashes in an instant.
His burning body and head fell heavily toward the Canglong Mountain Range.
The body crashed to the ground. Already charred black, it shattered into pieces with a boom. Even the storage artifacts he wore could not withstand the heat; they exploded one after another, and a mountain of treasures burst out, burying Zi Tianjun’s remains beneath it.
Yu Mi dismissed her battle armor and put away the Nanming Lihuo Sword. Her gaze was bleak and utterly still. She did not even spare the treasures a glance, merely saying,
“As the sect master, you allowed Xuantian Sect to perish at your hands. How could you possibly go on living? You should be buried with Xuantian Sect.”
Then she flew toward Youying City.
Zi Tianjun was dead—just like that.
The mountain of treasures that had spilled from his shattered storage artifacts piled up where he had fallen, glittering in the sunlight with dazzling brilliance. The Daluo Crimson Gold was especially eye-catching. Melted into ingots measuring 6.6 inches long and 3.3 inches wide, it had been piled into a small hill that dazzled the eye.
Scattered artifacts, pills, and talismans lay everywhere amid the pile of Daluo Crimson Gold.
Xuantian Sect’s talismans were not famous, but its pills were the most renowned in the cultivation world.
If this had not been Chop Gang territory, and if Zi Tianjun had not just died at Yu Mi’s hand, many people would already have been unable to resist charging over.
Bao Nianhui stood at the entrance of the Envoy’s Manor. When she saw Yu Mi return, she called out,
“Martial Uncle!”
The worry on her face was impossible to hide.
Yu Mi said nothing and walked straight toward her bedchamber.
Bao Nianhui was at the Nascent Soul stage, and her divine sense could already reach the Canglong Mountain Range. Naturally, she had witnessed Yu Mi’s one-strike execution of Zi Tianjun.
After a moment’s hesitation, she hurried to Scarlet Feather Camp, mobilized three thousand Scarlet Feather Guards, and had them reach the Canglong Mountain Range as quickly as possible. They tightly cordoned off the area where Zi Tianjun had fallen. She then used a voice-transmitting jade talisman to contact Yu Jianming and Feng Yi.
After hearing what had happened, Feng Yi let out a heavy sigh.
“Nianhui, we won’t be coming over. You can deal with those things yourselves. If you can, do me a favor. Don’t let Master… Sect Master Zi’s remains lie exposed in the wilderness.”
With that, he severed the connection.
Yu Jianming received Bao Nianhui’s message and hurried over. When he saw the mountain of treasures beneath him, he drew a deep breath.
Bao Nianhui asked,
“Senior Brother Yu, what should we do with all this?”
Yu Jianming asked,
“Didn’t Master give any instructions?”
Bao Nianhui shook her head.
“I met her at the manor gate. Her expression clearly said, ‘I don’t want to deal with anything, and I don’t want to say anything.’ I didn’t dare ask her anything else.”
Yu Jianming hovered in the air, looking down at the mountain of treasures. After thinking for a while, he scratched his head.
“Master never said we had to take these treasures. Should we give them to Martial Uncle Feng and the others?”
He shook his head.
“No, that won’t do. With Martial Uncle Feng and the others’ strength, they won’t be able to protect this haul.”
He rose and patted Bao Nianhui on the shoulder.
“Have your people gather these treasures. Let them serve as bricks and mortar for the Realm-Breaking Gate.”
He did not spare the treasures another glance before turning on his heel and leaving. Under normal circumstances, the sight of treasure would have sent him rushing over, but he could not bring himself to touch this particular haul.
After a moment’s thought, Bao Nianhui ordered her people to collect the treasures. She also told them to carefully recover Zi Tianjun’s ashes. They placed them in a palm-sized urn, dug a grave beside it, and buried the ashes. Then, using a nearby piece of rock, they carved a tombstone for him.
The only inscription read: “Tomb of Zi Tianjun.”
A sect master of his generation had ended up with his spirit and soul annihilated, leaving behind nothing but a handful of ashes.
As for the cultivation resources and treasures for which Zi Tianjun had destroyed the entire Xuantian Sect and paid with his life, anything suitable for building the Realm-Breaking Gate was sent directly to the Desolate Ancient Mountain Range. The rest was sent to the largest auction house in Youying City, an establishment run by the Chop Gang. The proceeds from the auction were used to build the Realm-Breaking Gate.
A month after Zi Yunshu had cultivated into a true dragon, the Demon Saint returned to the Immortal Stone Palace in Youying City and resumed overseeing construction of the Realm-Breaking Gate.
She did not say a word about Zi Tianjun. She did, however, have one piece of news about Zi Yunshu: Zi Yunshu had taken up residence in Dragon Pool in the Desolate Ancient Mountain Range.
As for where Dragon Pool was, the Demon Saint did not reveal a single word.
After the Demon Saint returned, Yu Mi met with her once and then set out to travel.
With Bao Gu gone, Yu Mi’s heart felt hollow. Living in the room they shared felt colder than ever.
When Bao Gu had been there, no matter how far away Yu Mi was or what she was doing, merely thinking of Bao Gu waiting for her at the Envoy’s Manor had been enough to settle her heart. She knew that as soon as she returned, she would see Bao Gu.
Yet in the blink of an eye, she was alone again.
When the heart has nowhere to rest, a person becomes like a lonely, wandering ghost, drifting without an anchor.
Yu Mi suddenly realized that Bao Gu was her root. Wherever Bao Gu was, that was where her root lay. Once Bao Gu was no longer by her side, Yu Mi had become rootless duckweed.
Then she wondered what she herself meant to Bao Gu.
For the longest time, she had believed that she was Bao Gu’s obsession—that because she had rejected Bao Gu too harshly years ago and wounded her too deeply, Bao Gu had become fixated on her, unable to accept anyone else.
But after all these years of living together from dawn to dusk, Yu Mi had gradually understood that she was not Bao Gu’s obsession. Bao Gu’s desires were simply uncomplicated, and she was stubbornly determined to hold on to them.
All Bao Gu wanted was simple: Yu Mi, a place where they could settle and make a life, and quiet, ordinary days.
Yu Mi suddenly felt that such a life would be truly wonderful.
She kept remembering Bao Gu sitting in the courtyard, drinking tea. She kept remembering how Bao Gu would lift her head from copying texts and give a gentle smile to Yu Mi, who was staring at her. She kept remembering how Bao Gu carefully organized Yu Mi’s cultivation manuals and arranged “pocket money” for her in case she did not have enough to buy wine.
Yu Mi knew that Bao Gu was actually very lazy—too lazy to leave the house, too lazy to manage affairs, and too lazy to bother with the people outside. But whenever something concerned Yu Mi, Bao Gu always arranged every detail with exceptional care.
Yu Mi had felt Bao Gu’s warmth and thoughtfulness toward her at every moment. That ever-present acceptance had wrapped around her until it became as familiar and natural as breathing.
Then, all at once, everything was gone again.
Yu Mi knew that even Bao Gu herself probably had never imagined that the Heavenly Execution would leave her so grievously wounded. If she had known, Bao Gu certainly would not have left without giving Yu Mi a single explanation, simply walking out as though she were going to run an ordinary errand or visit someone, only never to return.
Yu Mi left Youying City and rose into the air, heading toward wherever she had meant to go. Only then did she suddenly realize that, in truth, she still wanted to find Bao Gu.
Even if she could not see Bao Gu, it would be enough simply to learn where she was and catch a few glimpses of her from far away.
