Even Pei Heguang found it somewhat difficult to receive this blade strike. The surrounding flames twisted violently due to the blade qi. His movements appeared relaxed, but his complexion had already turned slightly pale.

“Master!” Xie Jiu beside him saw this and wanted to step forward, but saw Pei Heguang raise his hand to stop him.

“Using evil qi within the Mass Resentment Illusion Realm,” Pei Heguang calmly placed his hands behind his back, looking at Ning Buwei whose eyes were crimson red, “you really don’t treat your own life as precious.”

Ning Buwei pointed his blade tip downward, his voice full of coldness, “Back then when my master came to Yujing Village and encountered an ambush, you were also behind it.”

Pei Heguang smiled slightly. “Yan Jinzhou was indeed a clever person, or rather she was cleverer than all of you. She discovered my existence, investigated all the way from Xun Prefecture’s Ning City to Yujing Village, and even deduced the events of that year… Setting aside everything else, I still very much admired her as a person.”

Ning Buwei stared at him intently, “You were the one who killed her.”

“How could it be me?” Pei Heguang looked at him calmly, “I can only say that her cleverness became her downfall. Geniuses are always very conceited, just like Xingyuan, so she spent too much time in the Mass Resentment Illusion Realm and suffered severe injuries… But if we really want to discuss it, don’t you know in your heart who actually harmed her? If you hadn’t stubbornly insisted on investigating the Ning family’s affairs, would she have come to Yujing Village for your sake?”

Ning Buwei’s gaze trembled.

Pei Heguang sighed, “Back then, Yan Jinzhou with her peak Fusion cultivation nearly perished here. Do you think you, a Soul Transformation stage cultivator who hasn’t even established your dao heart, can persist for long?”

“What exactly do you want to do?” Ning Buwei asked coldly.

“What exactly do I want to do…” Pei Heguang looked at the overwhelming fires surrounding them, smiling. “A young master like you who has lived in luxury since childhood wouldn’t understand, but perhaps we can ask Venerable Jinghe.”

After saying this, he directly flew toward Fang Wanchen, who was standing nearby looking confused and bewildered.

Fang Wanchen was so frightened that he staggered back two steps, only to have his wrist caught by Pei Heguang.

“This, this warrior!” Fang Wanchen said with a pale face. “Please calm down! If there’s anything, we can go out and discuss it. We can be reasonable!”

Pei Heguang’s eye twitched, “…Warrior?”

“You, you can fly, so of course you’re a warrior!” Fang Wanchen glanced at him and took the opportunity to break free from his grip, running toward Ning Buwei, “Brother Chengfeng, save me!”

“Xiao Wu!” Pei Heguang’s expression darkened.

Ning Buwei lifted his blade and directly leaped over Fang Wanchen, grabbing his collar and throwing him toward Chu Jun. Chu Jun caught him with one hand and shielded him behind himself.

Fang Wanchen wiped the sweat from his forehead with lingering fear.

Ning Xiu lay on Chu Jun’s shoulder looking at him, saying softly, “Fang Fang~ Uncle~ don’t be scared~”

Fang Wanchen smiled at him with curved eyes, “Uncle isn’t scared, uncle is just a bit hot.”

Ning Xiu pointed behind him with his hand, “Ah~ fire~”

Fang Wanchen hurried to stamp out the flames that had caught on his robe’s hem.

On the other side, Ning Buwei blocked Pei Heguang’s path, saying coldly, “Reincarnation makes him completely another person. He has no relationship with you now.”

Pei Heguang tilted his head slightly, “Xie Jiu.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Jiu moved, wielding his sword and directly charging toward Ning Buwei.

Ning Buwei raised his blade to counter, engaging him in combat again, while Pei Heguang landed in front of Chu Jun.

“Venerable Jinghe.” Pei Heguang’s face bore a faint smile, “This is a matter between us brothers. Why must you interfere? We’re all people of the mortal realm. Rather than both sides suffering losses, why don’t we cooperate instead?”

Chu Jun gave him an indifferent look, “What kind of thing are you.”

Pei Heguang’s smile turned cold, “Then don’t blame me for being impolite.”

Invisible pressure collided and surged around them. Fang Wanchen only felt stuffiness in his chest and instinctively reached up to touch his nose, only to feel a handful of blood. But before he could be surprised, an invisible force completely enveloped him, and the suffocating pressure instantly dissipated without a trace.

Within the illusion realm, void space opened again, and the entire Mass Resentment Illusion Realm began to fragment and collapse.

Sang Yun stood at a high place, took out a talisman, lit it, and threw it into the air. She could see great fires spanning the sky in the distance, evil qi overflowing below, ghostly wails and soul cries, and above, void space suddenly opening with two immense pressures bearing down, neither willing to yield.

“Have they gone mad?” she murmured.

Big Yellow poked his head out of the storage pouch, staring with wide dog eyes in shock, “It’s Chengfeng and the Venerable! Damn it, they’ve really gone mad. If this Mass Resentment Illusion Realm collapses, forget about Shuangjing County – how many mortals will die? This is f*cking sinful! Are they not afraid of heavenly lightning striking them dead? Mad, mad! What are you standing there for? Go stop them!”

Sang Yun frowned. “I have no cultivation. How can I stop them?”

“Aren’t you able to comprehend all things in the world? Then look and see what the final outcome will be!” Big Yellow barked anxiously several times.

Sang Yun looked down at it, “How do you know this?”

“Woof, don’t worry about how this master knows. You’re Ning Xingyuan’s friend, Chengfeng is Ning Xingyuan’s brother. Are you going to watch him die with your eyes wide open?” Big Yellow called out.

Sang Yun’s fingers moved slightly, her expression froze, and she looked at Big Yellow with some surprise, “You’re the Suan beast that Xingyuan took away?”

“What Suan beast? I’m just an ordinary innocent little earth dog.” Big Yellow shook his ears, then reacted, “Great-aunt, hurry and think of something!”

This time Sang Yun directly used both hands to calculate, and after a long while shook her head, “I can’t calculate it.”

Big Yellow was so anxious he wanted to jump out of the pouch, “What to do? Ning Xiu is still there. I have to go find them! Not one or two of them is reliable! You tell them to watch a child and they only know how to take the child into fights! This pisses the dog off!”

After saying this, he actually broke through Sang Yun’s restraints and charged toward the sea of fire.

The little black dragon poked his head out and yawned, “Ying?”

Sang Yun pondered for a moment, then followed as well.

At the same time.

Ning Buwei’s blade fell on Xie Jiu’s side neck, but stopped abruptly just before touching the skin.

Xie Jiu was stunned for a moment, then the sword in his hand flew up and deflected the Suzaku narrow blade. The two of them retreated backward in unison.

Flames leaped out from the side, only to be forcibly pushed back by the sinister evil qi.

Chu Jun held Ning Xiu and stood motionless in place. Pei Heguang also appeared calm and composed with his hands behind his back, but in reality, the two had already exchanged hundreds of moves in the void space, yet still hadn’t determined a victor.

Fang Wanchen looked at the two standing motionless in bewilderment, exchanging wide-eyed stares with Ning Xiu. The little fellow obviously knew even less about what was happening, holding a piece of candy in both hands and gnawing on it happily.

Pei Heguang smiled. “The Venerable refuses to use his full strength. What exactly are you concerned about—”

Before he could finish speaking, a fierce blade wind struck directly at his back.

“I don’t need him to deal with you!” Ning Buwei’s vicious voice followed immediately.

Pei Heguang dodged by flashing away, and when he turned back, he saw Xie Jiu half-kneeling before the great fire, with several large holes pierced through his body.

He sneered coldly, “Useless thing.”

Xie Jiu spat out another mouthful of blood and lowered his head in shame.

Ning Buwei’s blade light approached. Pei Heguang and Chu Jun had no choice but to withdraw from the void space, and the originally madly collapsing illusion realm began to stabilize again.

Pei Heguang flicked his sleeve, directly blocking the Suzaku narrow blade’s attack, but failed to block the black mist that followed closely behind.

The black mist that had originally only been wrapping around the blade suddenly expanded violently, like evil wolves that had caught the scent of prey, surging forth in groups with menacing momentum.

Pei Heguang’s expression immediately changed. Ning Buwei was also stunned, but the black mist on the Suzaku narrow blade seemed to have gone mad, wanting to devour Pei Heguang completely.

Shrill wailing sounds seemed to pierce through Ning Buwei’s eardrums. He gripped the Suzaku narrow blade tightly in his hand, his vision blurred for a moment, and when it cleared again, he saw a shocking scene:

The several of them stood in the center of Yujing Village’s great fire, and looking out from here, all directions were filled with countless white bones stretching as far as the eye could see. Wrapped around them were countless withered vines – dry, blackened vines that burst forth from the eye sockets and bone gaps of the corpses, binding them so they couldn’t move at all.

Dense like endless mountain ranges, beneath the countless white bones was boiling, continuous crimson magma, trying to roll those white bones into it. Countless white bones shrieked and struggled, their cries blood-curdling, but to no avail.

And further away was a massive city surrounded by withered, blackened vines, with a withered black vine in the center of the city towering into the clouds.

Fierce winds howled, yet it seemed as if someone was sighing softly in his ears.

Ning Buwei was dazed for a moment, but then a cold, familiar voice broke through layers of ghostly wails and soul cries, crossing over countless white bones and withered, spreading vines, landing clearly on his divine soul. “Ning Chengfeng!”

Ning Buwei suddenly awakened. At the moment of awakening, he vaguely saw a small, white, tender hand wrapped in brilliant golden light, gently scratching at his heart.

Intense pain immediately spread from his limbs and bones.

He looked down to see a pale hand gripping his spiritual root and pulling it outward.

Ning Buwei’s vision darkened in waves, but the Suzaku narrow blade in his hand never slowed its speed, slashing directly at that hand. However, it didn’t hinder the hand’s movements at all, instead shattering the forcibly reforged Suzaku narrow blade back into fragments.

Then a crimson long sword thrust directly at that hand, and a Taiji seal wrapped in golden spiritual power pushed his spiritual root back, encasing his entire being firmly in place. Then someone supported his shoulder.

Towering killing intent directly extinguished the long-burning endless flames. The entire Mass Resentment Illusion Realm shook violently, and the countless white bones underground seemed to sense something, raising their skull heads and stretching out their arms to grab at that crimson long sword, but once they got close, they were mercilessly ground into powder.

-Ferry us across…

-Please… please…

-We’re willing to serve you for all eternity… help us…

-Help us…

Chu Jun stood behind the Chiyuan Sword, looking coldly at the wailing vengeful souls and struggling white bones. His snow-white robes turned deep red, and rich bloody qi pressed down overwhelmingly. Every white bone that approached was reduced to dust without exception.

“You dare!” Pei Heguang roared angrily, forming seals with his hands. The originally extinguished great fire reignited, and the entire Yujing Village rose from the ground, bringing out countless blood-colored vengeful souls from below, colliding with the Chiyuan Sword. In an instant, fierce winds arose.

“What does this venerable not dare.” Chu Jun looked coldly at the endless white bones below, his picturesque features cold to the extreme, his blood-red robes fluttering. “If people can be killed, why not withered bones.”

Pei Heguang laughed in extreme anger. “Good, you despicable and shameless Chu Jun!”

“Stop it!” A surprised female voice came from outside the firelight.

Then a massive strange beast leaped over the firelight, picked up Fang Wanchen who was holding Ning Xiu with one hand and supporting Ning Buwei with the other, not knowing what to do, threw the two adults and one child onto its back, and its earth-shaking beast roar echoed throughout the entire illusion realm.

Ning Buwei felt that the white bones and vengeful souls before his eyes were tangled and mixed with the white bones and vengeful souls of Xun Prefecture’s Ning City. The Suzaku narrow knife in his hand, which had reformed, struggled violently, trying desperately to break free from his restraints. The black mist had almost completely engulfed him.

“Father~”

“Brother Chengfeng!”

The distant wails and the nearby voices of Fang Wanchen and Ning Xiu blurred together. Laughter and crying sounds came from far and near, countless voices gathering from all directions, surging aggressively into his divine soul.

“Ning Chengfeng, do you want to see your parents?”

“Do you want to avenge your parents?”

“You can only cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness. Only the Path of Ruthlessness can make you invincible!”

“Ning Chengfeng, think about how many people you’ve killed?”

“No one can help you. They’ll all be killed by you…”

“A heaven-cursed lone star. All teachers, friends, and relatives are dead. Stay away.”

“Such heavy evil qi… haha, turns out to be a demon…”

“Xun Prefecture is now barren of life, all because of the Ning family…”

“Why was it you, Ning Buwei, who survived?”

“Look, whether it’s Ning Xingyuan or Chu Jun, they’ve never truly trusted you. They’re both hiding things from you… You’ve been played for a fool from beginning to end!”

“He’s been using you from start to finish…”

“Before helping you expand your sea and reshape your bones, I was indeed always looking for a suitable person to bear the fate tribulation…If I give you a strand of life force, the fate tribulation will inevitably fall on you…”

“Without establishing your dao heart, what right do you have to leave?”

“Chengfeng, you can’t cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness…”

“Ha, you can’t find your own path… coward!”

“Look, we’re the same kind of people, Chengfeng, Chengfeng…”

It seemed as if countless skeletal ghost hands reached out from the Suzaku black mist, aggressively tearing at his divine soul, each one wanting to whisper in his ear, laughing and cursing incessantly.

“How much evil have you committed? Dao heart – establish it, what will you establish? You can’t cultivate the Path of Ruthtlessness, what can you cultivate hahahaha! You can’t cultivate anything, you’re a complete and utter waste!”

“Why are you carrying so many divine souls? Huh? Do you still want to save them? How hypocritical, Ning Buwei?”

“What did your master tell you? Why won’t you just listen!?”

“Chengfeng… Chengfeng… forget it, just forget it.”

He opened his eyes in a daze and saw Li Xiaohan and Ning Gu before him.

“It’s alright, Chengfeng isn’t afraid.” Li Xiaohan reached out to embrace him, “Mother knows, mother knows it all. You’ve had it hard. We won’t cultivate anymore, we won’t cultivate anything anymore.”

Ning Gu reached out to stroke his head, “Father and mother have come to take you away. This time we won’t abandon you again.”

Ning Buwei gripped the Suzaku narrow blade tightly, his pupils somewhat scattered, his voice hoarse. “Father… Mother…”

Li Xiaohan and Ning Gu stood there, with the smiling Ning Xingyuan and Yan Jinzhou behind them. Further back were Wen Zaiye and Ah Ling, and the familiar people from Ning City.

His grip on the Suzaku narrow blade slowly loosened, his eyes stinging. “Brother.”

Ning Xingyuan smiled and waved at him, while Yan Jinzhou crossed her arms and looked at him lazily.

“Don’t be so tired anymore. You’re not suited for cultivation.”

Countless familiar voices layered and wove together, forming a single sentence that crashed down on his head from above, deafening and enlightening, seeming to wake him up instantly.

Ning Buwei blinked his eyes with difficulty, trying to remember what exactly he was doing, what the current situation was, but everything around him was chaotic. The figures of Li Xiaohan and Ning Gu intertwined with those of Elder Pei and Madam Pei Li. Sometimes he was Pei Si, sometimes he was Ning Chengfeng. He seemed to be looking for Pei Wu, yet also seemed to be looking for Ning Xingyuan.

“Father… Mother…” He moved his lips with difficulty, but couldn’t make a sound.

The same, exactly the same as Pei Si, they were… he and Ning Buwei were the same…

Who was he?

He was… Ning Chengfeng, no, he was Pei Si, his name was Pei Heguang… no, that’s not right, who was he?

“Ning Chengfeng!” A voice filled with anger swept through like a fierce wind. Fierce, rich killing intent and bloody scent overwhelmed all the black mist and skeletons, crushing all those mad, complex, strange, fragmented illusions into powder. Ning Gu, Li Xiaohan, Elder Pei, Madam Pei Li, Ning Xingyuan, Pei Wu, and all the others standing before him were all crushed to dust.

A pair of cold, indifferent yet extremely beautiful phoenix eyes captured all his attention, and a clear, intensely oppressive voice fell into his ears:

“If you don’t wake up, I’ll find Ning Xiu a stepfather and refine him back into a Linglong bone!”

The fingers that had been loosely gripping the Suzaku narrow blade suddenly tightened. The black mist that was about to dissipate immediately became thick again, and the muddled divine soul completely strangled the divine soul that was trying to replace him within the evil qi.

A sharp shriek pierced the air.

Ning Buwei’s eyes snapped open.