Chapter 59

“Mumu.”

Under the moonlight, Bai Shuo said no more, calling softly for Fan Yue.

The silver chain in the young man’s hand swung down, and the barrier before Hua Hong shattered with a resounding crack.

Bai Shuo pulled a small medicine bottle from her spatial pouch and tossed it to Hua Hong.

“Here, the antidote for the Spiritual-Sealing Grass .”

Hua Hong was taken aback.

“You can even counter this? Didn’t you say you couldn’t refine the Spiritual-Sealing Grass?”

“Not being able to refine poison doesn’t mean I can’t make the antidote. You know nothing about my skills.”

Bai Shuo lifted her gaze and gave a soft snort.

“Enough talk. Take the antidote and come with me to save people.”

Hua Hong swallowed the entire bottle in one gulp, feeling instantly refreshed.

“Where are they?”

“Under the stone palace beneath the Palace of the Yi King. I suspect the king is planning to use forbidden techniques to enhance his spiritual energy again. He’s already at the peak of the Supreme Lord rank, yet he’s still engaging in these heinous acts. No wonder you don’t acknowledge him!”

Bai Shuo pulled Hua Hong along.

“I also saw that monster we encountered in the city the other night in the blood pool of the stone palace. The Yi King must have lost his mind. He’s not only trying to exterminate the disciple of the immortal and demon clans, but also consorting with evil forces.”

Hua Hong suddenly halted.

“What did you say? That monster is in the blood pool?”

“Yes.”

Bai Shuo staggered at the abrupt stop, confused.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Hua Hong lowered her gaze.

“Let’s go.”

In the distance, flickering candlelight suggested the Yi King was about to activate his sinister formation.

Bai Shuo’s heart tightened, and she tugged Hua Hong forward.

“This way,” Hua Hong nodded toward the direction of the lights.

“There’s a shortcut that leads directly to the rear of the main hall.”

“Alright, you lead the way.”

No one knew the Palace of the Yi King better than Hua Hong.

Bai Shuo immediately followed her lead.

The palace was like a maze, but Hua Hong quickly guided Bai Shuo to the rear of the main hall.

Seeing that the flickering lights hadn’t reached them yet, Bai Shuo sighed in relief and approached the entrance to the stone palace.

“The entrance to the stone palace is here. Follow me.”

Bai Shuo pushed open the entrance, ready to jump in, when a surge of spiritual energy struck her forehead, paralyzing her on the spot.

Beside her, Fan Yue also froze, his expression turning icy as he looked behind Bai Shuo.

A chill ran down Bai Shuo’s spine as he gritted her teeth.

“Hua Hong?!”

Hua Hong leisurely stepped forward, once again with a wild grass blade in her mouth.

“Don’t yell. It’s me.”

“You’re in league with the Yi King! Everything you said was a lie?!” Bai Shuo growled.

“Don’t associate me with that beast.”

Hua Hong rolled her eyes.

Without hesitation, she grabbed both Bai Shuo and Fan Yue by their collars, leaping into the night sky with them in tow.

As they soared further from the palace, Bai Shuo’s eyes widened in anger, wishing she could bite the blacksmith.

“Oh, I know your eyes are round; no need to stare so wide.”

Hua Hong’s taunting tone mirrored her master’s knack for sarcasm—truly the foremost lackey of the Haoyue Palace.

“If you’re not his accomplice, why won’t you save them?” Bai Shuo fumed.

Hua Hong sneered.

“If they die, the immortal clan will lose a hundred years of succession. That benefits my Haoyue Palace in every way. Why should I save them?”

“You’re breaking your word!”

“Tsk,Tsk…little girl, didn’t your master teach you the dangers of the world? Why trust the words of a demon?”

“You bastard!”

Bai Shuo’s eyes turned red with fury.

“Yes, yes, I’m a bastard. But you’re the one who trusted me.”

Hua Hong laughed wildly, landing near the city wall.

She glanced at the nearby gate, propped the two against a corner like sticks, found a piece of wood for Fan Yue to lean on (he was her boss, after all), then sat on a rock with a lazy stretch.

“This spot is close to the city gate. There’s one more hour until the Wutong Martial Banquet ends. Jinyao will surely notice the disturbance in the city. Once the barrier is lifted, I’ll take you both out. As for the Yi King and his evil spirits, let Jinyao handle them. None of my business.”

“You—!”

Hua Hong was as immovable as a rock in a pit, completely impervious to reasoning.

These great demons, who had lived for centuries, weren’t swayed by Bai Shuo’s cleverness.

Perhaps even her seemingly sorrowful tales of the past were just fragments she used to deceive herself.

Ah Zhao was still waiting for her.

She could die, but Ah Zhao couldn’t!

Bai Shuo abruptly lifted her head.

“Hey, Big Iron Flower, losing one more immortal won’t make a difference to you, right?”

The blade of grass in Hua Hong’s mouth twitched as she squinted at Bai Shuo.

The shadowed boy leaning against the wall also turned to stare at Bai Shuo.

Beneath the stone palace of the Yi King, the immortal and demon youths lay unconscious.

Beichen Chong Zhao sat silently in chains, while Mu Jiu, tied to a pillar, struggled with all his might against the evil-energy-forged chains, only to exhaust his strength in vain.

Finally, he gave up and cast a glance at the two calm figures nearby.

He couldn’t help but shout at Chong Zhao, “Hey, Piaomiao, you don’t actually believe that girl is coming back, do you?”

Chong Zhao’s eyelids twitched, but he didn’t look up.

“The Yi King wouldn’t have captured us if he planned to let us live. The formation in this city makes it impossible for even Jinyao to break the king’s evil formation. What could she possibly do? I bet she’s already run off with that pretty boy disciple, leaving you with a false promise as a keepsake to make dying easier!”

Bai Shuo’s confident promises weren’t something Mu Jiu believed in.

Against overwhelming power, Bai Shuo’s cleverness amounted to nothing.

Still, with nothing better to do, he reveled in provoking the immortals.

“She said she’d return.”

Chong Zhao finally looked up, his voice heavy and resolute.

“Return, my ass! Only you would believe her lies.”

Before Mu Jiu could finish, footsteps echoed through the stone palace.

Mu Jiu froze, then shouted in surprise, “No way! She actually came back?!”

Chong Zhao’s head snapped toward the passageway, his expression a mix of hope and unease.

In the moonlight, a shadow stretched across the ground as Beichen’s voice whispered from the side.

“It’s not Bai Shuo.”

The stone hall fell into abrupt silence.

Not far from the city walls, the night was eerie, shadows cast by lanterns swaying like ghostly flames in the cold wind.

Hua Hong frowned, wondering if she’d misheard.

“What did you say?”

“I said, take him and leave. I’m going back.”

The boy stared at Bai Shuo in stunned silence.

Hua Hong climbed down from the rock she was sitting on and placed her hand on Bai Shuo’s forehead.

“Are you out of your mind? Do you know what’ll happen if you go back?”

“I know exactly how ‘death’ is written.”

Bai Shuo’s voice was calm, her gaze fixed firmly on Hua Hong.

“You either let me go now, or I’ll bite my tongue and die in front of you. Your choice, Big Iron Flower.”

The boy’s hand clenched under the moonlight.

“Master…” he murmured, but the anxious Bai Shuo didn’t hear him.

“Even if you knock me out and drag me out of the city, as soon as I wake up, I’ll find a way to end my life. At best, I’ll live for another hundred years—you’re not planning to guard me for a century, are you?”

Bai Shuo’s expression was void of emotion, and Hua Hong was so infuriated that she almost laughed.

She’d known Bai Shuo for months now, ever since they lived as neighbors in Nanhai City, and she had a solid grasp of this half-immortal’s petty personality.

Greedy, gluttonous, and terrified of death, Bai Shuo embodied all the worst traits of mortals.

Yet now, Bai Shuo was actually threatening her own life to go back and die?

The Pig had once told her, Bai Shuo must not die.

Why, he didn’t explain, and Hua Hong didn’t ask.

That lazy and chatty Pig rarely made serious requests, but when he did, there was always a reason.

She still didn’t understand why the Palace Master, having lost his memory and divine powers, stayed by a half-immortal’s side.

Yet until Fan Yue returned to his true self, she didn’t dare gamble.

Hua Hong’s expression turned grim as she remained silent.

Beside them, the boy, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly spoke while looking at the determined Bai Shuo.

“Master, give up. She’s repaying a debt. Your life doesn’t mean as much to her as the one she wants to save.”

His words shattered the silence like a stone breaking the surface of still water.

Bai Shuo froze, while Hua Hong narrowed her eyes, turning to look at the boy without speaking.

“Save someone? You’re saying she’s leaving hundreds to die for the sake of one person? Who is it?”

Bai Shuo found it hard to believe.

Hua Hong, who treated human life like weeds, actually had someone she wanted to save in this desolate and resentful city?

The boy turned to Hua Hong and spoke again, his voice steady.

“The formation was set by Mu Guang, a divine formation. Anything below a god entering the core will undoubtedly die. You entered the core but survived. How?”

Bai Shuo paused, suddenly realizing she’d overlooked something critical.

Back then, Hua Hong couldn’t even withstand the backlash of the Sword of the Yi King.

How could she have emerged unscathed from a divine formation?

Someone must have saved her.

Given the formation’s immense power, such a rescue would come at a great cost.

The Yi King had remained at the peak of Supreme Lord for centuries without any injuries.

So who could have saved Hua Hong?

Suddenly, Bai Shuo’s eyes widened, and she blurted, “It was Hua Yong!”

Hua Hong’s mocking expression faded.

“Hua Yong… Hua Yong…”

Bai Shuo murmured, as though a realization struck her.

“The monster we encountered that night—is it the Yi King’s heir?!”

Hua Yong’s aura was identical to that of the monster.

Seeing Hua Hong’s silence, Bai Shuo knew she’d guessed right.

So that’s how it was!

The questions that had been bothering her finally made sense.

Despite Hua Yong’s overwhelming power surpassing Hua Hong’s a century ago, he was now reduced to a brainless brute.

ack then, his existence indirectly caused the Yi queen’s death, earning Hua Hong’s deep hatred.

Yet yesterday in the Yi King’s palace, while Hua Hong had attacked Hua Yong ruthlessly, she hadn’t killed him.

And earlier, when she agreed to save the captives but changed her mind after hearing about the monster in the blood pool—it all aligned.

Perhaps the Yi King wasn’t restarting the wicked formation for himself but for his son.

“You’re refusing to save them because of Hua Yong. The wicked formation in the stone hall was set up for him, wasn’t it?”

Bai Shuo looked at Hua Hong, her tone accusatory.

A sigh escaped Hua Hong as she cast an exasperated glance at the boy.

“I really must thank you, Ancestor.”

The boy remained unfazed, showing no reaction to Hua Hong’s irritation.

He only wanted to quietly take Bai Shuo away, but since his master wouldn’t let go of Chong Zhao, he could only expose Hua Hong’s true motives.

“He saved me three times. I owe him a life,” Hua Hong said nonchalantly, spitting out the chewed grass from her mouth as she stretched lazily.

“Three times? Wasn’t it just the Sword of the Yi King and the formation’s backlash? How could it be three?”

“I was mortally wounded by the Spiritual Sealing Formation’s divine power. Though I survived, my spiritual bones were shattered. Hua Yong gave me his.”

Hua Hong spoke lightly, but Bai Shuo’s pupils constricted in shock.

The Yi couldn’t cultivate spiritual energy; their only path to strength lay in honing their spiritual bones.

“There’s no need to look at me like that. If I had been conscious back then, I’d rather have died than taken his pathetic bones. By the time I woke up, I was already outside the Yi City, with nothing—no family, no identity—except for the spiritual bones Hua Yong left in my body. Losing his bones, he wouldn’t have lived long. I thought he was dead until this chance return to Yi City. It must’ve been the Yi King’s that turned him into that ghastly state.”

“If Hua Yong survived, why does the Yi King need to sacrifice the two clans’ children? Even if he rebuilds Hua Yong’s spiritual bones, with so many lives lost, do you think the Immortal and Demon clans will let the Yi go?”

Hua Hong glanced at Bai Shuo.

“Girl, you’re clever, but how are you so naive? Do you think the Yi has any hope left when no one can draw the Yi King’s sword anymore?”

“Isn’t there still the Spiritual Sealing Formation? As long as the divine formation stands, no one can invade Yi City, and the Yi can survive.”

“That’s just a pathetic existence. What’s the point?”

Hua Hong’s indifferent gaze struck Bai Shuo silent.

The Yi King had once said in the main hall that the Yi had been abandoned by the Three Realms, confined to this desolate city for a thousand years.

“Hua Lin is old now, and I’ve renounced my Yi heritage. Hua Yong is the Yi’s only hope. How could the Yi King let his only son live as half-human, half-ghost? Hua Yong’s wounds can’t be healed, even if Hua Lin trades his life for it. Only by using the inner cores of hundreds of Immortal and Demon children, along with the Heartfire, can his spiritual bones be truly restored.”

“It’s not just about rebuilding spiritual bones,” the boy suddenly said, his cool gaze fixed on Hua Hong.

“The Yi King wants to create a god.”

“What?” Bai Shuo’s pupils dilated.

“Mumu, did you just say the Yi King wants to do what?”

“To slaughter the two clans’ children is to declare war on the Three Realms. Even if Hua Yong regains his spiritual bones, a new Yi King can’t protect the entire race. Only a god could. Transforming Hua Yong into a god is the Yi King’s true goal.”

Bai Shuo turned sharply to look at Hua Hong, meeting her calm gaze.

Her heart sank like a stone into icy waters.

She finally understood the true meaning behind the boy’s earlier words: “It’s useless.”

Hua Hong had renounced her identity as a Yi, but she hadn’t abandoned her responsibility as the Yi King’s daughter.

A millennium of confinement—the Yi’s ability to walk freely in the Three Realms, without disdain, rejection, or slaughter—was also something she desired.

She wouldn’t help the Yi King, but she wouldn’t stop him either.

“No, this is wrong. Even if Hua Yong becomes a god, he’ll be a wicked god…”

Bai Shuo protested urgently.

“Wicked god, righteous god—girl, your Immortal clan is so self-righteous. A thousand years ago, when the Yi were slaughtered, were they wicked? They were just born different.”

Hua Hong’s mocking tone left Bai Shuo speechless.

After a long silence, she bowed her head and spoke.

“Big Iron Flower, you have your convictions, and I have someone I must protect. I only ask you to let me return. Even if I can’t stop the Yi King, I can’t abandon Ah Zhao.”

How dare she?

She had promised him—she swore she’d never abandon him!

Was that Chong Zhao more important than her life and the vow she made to him?

The boy’s furious gaze fell on Bai Shuo.

Her heart trembled, and she didn’t dare meet her little disciple’s eyes.

An eerie, soundless silence hung over the area beneath the city walls.

Suddenly, a hand landed on Bai Shuo’s shoulder.

Lowering her head, Bai Shuo spoke in a muffled voice.
“Mumu, your master can’t take you along anymore. From now on, follow the Big Iron Flower—she won’t harm you. Your master has always been poor, but remember, during festivals or special occasions, burn some incense and paper offerings for me and your martial uncle. I’ll keep you in my thoughts in the underworld…”

What nonsense was she spouting?!

Fan Yue, who had been frowning deeply, suddenly froze and looked past Bai Shuo.

As Bai Shuo kept speaking, her head lowered further.

A gust of cold wind carried a putrid stench to her nose.

Helplessly, she turned her head and said, “I’ve told you to wash up properly. From now on, when I’m not around…”

The moment she saw the thing behind her, Bai Shuo’s eyes widened, and her pupils shrank in shock.

The night sky was bright and clear, and ten or so streaks of spiritual light shot through the heavens like meteors, descending outside the Yi city.

Leading them was Jinyao, followed by the other six mountain and palace leaders of the immortal clans, excluding Daze Mountain.

Zhen Yu and Chang Huo, a senior elder of the fox clan, had also arrived upon receiving the news.

Under the vast expanse of stars, the skies above this desolate, isolated city remained cloaked in darkness.

“Immortal Jinyao, what has happened within the Yi city?” Chang Huo demanded angrily.

Mu Jiu was the young lord of the fox clan and, aside from the clan leader, the only nine-tailed fox.

His life was inextricably tied to the future of the fox clan.

“An evil spirit has entered the city and harmed Yunxiao’s disciples.”

“An evil spirit? Where is the Yi king? The city contains the Spiritual Sealing Formation left by Mu Guang—how could an evil spirit enter without the king knowing? Why hasn’t he reported it?!”

“I cannot sense the Yi king’s spiritual energy.”

Jinyao’s voice was somber, and the crowd’s expressions shifted drastically.

What? Even Jinyao couldn’t sense the Yi king? What exactly was happening in the city?

“Immortal Lord, please open the Spritual Sealing Formation at once!”

The head of Kunlun Mountain quickly urged.

The key to the formation was in Jinyao’s possession.

If not for the Yi king granting him the authority to unlock it, they would never have allowed their disciples to enter Yi city where spiritual energy was suppressed.

With a motion of his palm, Jinyao summoned a golden dragon scale glowing with divine radiance and tossed it toward the city gates.

“Go!”

A surge of spiritual energy flowed from his palm into the dragon scale.

“Open!”

With a soft command, divine light radiated from the dragon scale, which flew straight to the city gates.

A small golden dragon formation appeared on the gate as the scale settled into its center, transforming into a spectral golden dragon.

The dragon soared and roared within the formation, and the city gates slowly began to open.

The city was opening!

The crowd sighed in relief—until the formation on the gates began to reverse.

In the center of the formation, an ominous vortex appeared.

A sword shot out of the vortex and pinned the golden dragon in place.

“No!”

Jinyao’s expression changed drastically, and he rushed toward the gates, but it was too late.

The golden dragon let out a pained wail before exploding in a burst of light.

The immense divine energy rippling across the sky pushed Jinyao several steps back.

Feng Xian leapt into the air and appeared beside Jinyao, helping him suppress the divine energy together.

Beneath the night sky, a massive golden formation enveloped the entire city, and the dignified roar of a dragon echoed across the wilderness.

“This… this is the Spiritual Sealing Formation left by Lord Mu Guang?” murmured the head of Yunxiao Mountain as he stared at the golden dragon formation.

“No.”

Jinyao’s face was pale.

“This is the Slaying-God Formation.”