Rebirth

The prison cell was dim and windowless, its age unknown.

A brazier holding iron brands glowed with a faint green light, illuminating the torture instruments filling the room, and also shining on Anli.

She was bound to a cross-shaped iron rack, her hands straining to pull free from the chains.

The chains rattled loudly as she pulled, her wrists being ground down until bone was visible, yet she kept her lips pressed tight, pulling inch by inch.

Her face was a crisscross of old and new scars, so much so that not a patch of unblemished skin could be found.

The new scars had been carved by Meng Shiwan just moments ago.

Earlier, Meng Shiwan, clad in a golden wedding dress embroidered with phoenixes, had deigned to visit. She had begun by grinding at Anli's finger bones with a blunt knife.

"Sister, today is my wedding day with the Crown Prince. Are you happy for me?"

"Ah~ I forgot, the Crown Prince is your fiancé. You must be sad~"

"But who can you tell about your sadness? Father and my three brothers are all busy with my wedding. Ah~ I forgot again, even if they weren't busy, they wouldn't listen to a word you say."

"Because they… despise you… to the… extreme!"

Meng Anli had long since grown numb to such words.

Her tendons had been severed long ago by her eldest brother, causing constant pain; the agony in her fingertips was nothing.

Meng Shiwan, not getting the reaction she desired, flew into a rage and began slashing at Anli's face with her knife.

Anli's brow furrowed in pain, but she gritted her teeth and remained silent.

"Such a tough bone. The Crown Prince has acquired a new treasure, a bottle specifically for refining stubborn bones like yours. We'll have the man you love most refine you."

With this thought, Meng Anli increased the force of her movements.

Today, their wedding day, was a perfect opportunity to escape.

A sound like cracking bone echoed, but Meng Anli felt her right wrist loosen.

She turned her head in joy. Excellent!

Let the bone shatter, as long as her hand was free.

She used her right hand to pull her left hand free, then moved to remove the ankle chains.

After grinding away nearly half her heel, she finally managed to remove the ankle chains.

As Meng Anli stood up to flee, she saw the Crown Prince and her third brother watching her with leisurely amusement.

She didn't know how long they had been there.

The Crown Prince's eyes were filled with mocking disdain. "To inflict such cruelty upon yourself, you truly are a lunatic. No wonder Wanwan was so frightened she fainted when she stumbled upon you."

Her third brother, fawning yet indignant, said, "It's because we were too merciful. We'll kill her today."

He delivered a heavy kick to her chest, sending Anli crashing back against the iron rack.

Meng Anli coughed up a mouthful of blood, which splattered onto the floor.

The Crown Prince casually waved his sleeve, and she was flung into the brazier beside them.

The flames caught her clothes instantly.

Anli screamed in agony as she rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the fire.

The two men merely watched with cold indifference and disgust.

Meng Anli wished she could kill them all, but she was a cripple now.

She crawled to them, tears streaming down her face, and pleaded, "I never did anything to hurt Meng Shiwan. It was Meng Shiwan…"

"Silence!"

The Crown Prince raised his hand and flung her onto the torture rack. "Wanwan is intelligent, kind, and charitable, with a unique way of thinking…"

The torture instruments pierced Anli's back, leaving her breathless with pain.

Knowing she was doomed to die today, she began to curse them.

"You bunch of idiots, unable to discern right from wrong, may you die a terrible death! May Meng Shiwan die a terrible death!"

"How dare you curse Wanwan! It is you who will die a terrible death."

Her third brother flung a flying knife, which shredded Anli's tongue.

Pain surged from the root of her tongue, engulfing her entire body. Her vision blurred, her ears roared, and blood foam mixed with the metallic tang of blood rushed into her nose and mouth, causing her to vomit profusely.

Meng Anli's hatred burned fiercely as she stared fixedly at them.

As long as her soul was not extinguished today, she vowed that when she descended into the Ghost Path or the Demon Path, she would make them pay for this blood debt!

The Crown Prince, enraged, raised his hand and summoned the jade bottle, capturing her within it.

The moment she fell inside, she was pierced by a thousand swords, then engulfed in a sea of fire. The fire's venom invaded her internal organs, and it felt as if hundreds of hands were pulling at her flesh, tearing it apart simultaneously.

Her very soul was ripped to shreds.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Meng Anli cried out as consciousness returned, her body trembling uncontrollably.

She hugged herself, curling into a ball, but felt herself growing colder.

Meng Anli realized something was wrong. Her soul had been torn apart, so how was she still whole?

How could she still feel?

She raised her eyes to look.

Snowflakes fell into the boundless sea, instantly swallowed.

This was... the North Sea?

Meng Anli suddenly stood up, her knees stiff and aching, and she fell back to the ground.

She lowered her head dazedly, seeing the bloodstains on her abdomen.

Her eyes snapped open wide. Not only had she been resurrected, but she had also returned to the past?

Returned to the time when her second brother dug out her inner core and she came to the North Sea to seek Huan Dan Grass!

"The heavens have eyes! The heavens have eyes, hahahaha..."

Meng Anli laughed heartily, snowflakes mingling with her falling tears.

The fierce wind stung her cheeks.

Yet, she was incredibly happy. After so many years in the dark prison, she hadn't felt the vibrancy of the world.

She stood up and jumped and shouted in the snow.

"Presumptuous!"

A voice devoid of emotion, yet it pressed Meng Anli back to the ground.

She instinctively looked up. Five-colored auspicious clouds illuminated the dim sky.

She quickly lowered her head and knelt, knowing that whoever possessed such radiance must be a Deity.

The light grew closer. She curled into a ball, minimizing her presence as much as possible.

She prayed that this Deity would be magnanimous and forgive her unseemly behavior born from extreme joy.

The light, however, stopped before her.

"Who are you?"

The voice was as clear as a spring, so pleasant that Meng Anli couldn't help but look up.

But a wave of dizziness washed over her.

The face that suddenly appeared was simply too beautiful—cold, indifferent, with dark eyes like the North Sea, containing all things yet unfathomable.

Though he exuded an ethereal aura of looking down upon all beings, he held a small lion in his left hand, while his right hand lightly stroked it.

The little lion squinted comfortably.

It added a touch of approachability.

"Presumptuous!" the cold-faced man in black beside him reprimanded Anli with displeasure.

Meng Anli quickly kowtowed, "Meng Anli of Chongwu Mountain, seeking Huan Dan Grass."

"Chongwu Mountain..." the Deity murmured the name, then his tone turned sharp, "Yuan Tuo."

His voice wasn't loud, but Meng Anli's heart pounded like a drum, and cold sweat broke out.

A black shadow shot out from the North Sea, quickly transforming into the appearance of a young man in black.

It was the Sovereign of the North Sea, Yuan Tuo.

Yuan Tuo knelt not far from Meng Anli, "Welcome, Master, home."

The Deity asked indifferently, "What is going on?"

Meng Anli subtly looked up, her eyes meeting Yuan Tuo's.

Yuan Tuo slapped his forehead. "You're Meng Anli? Seeking Huan Dan Grass? I was busy and forgot a few days ago. Here, take it."

Meng Anli was about to take it.

The Deity asked again, "Is Huan Dan Grass given away so freely?"

Yuan Tuo looked at him in confusion.

Meng Anli also looked over.

Yun Jing's thin lips parted, setting the rule, "You must face me for three moves."

"Me?" Yuan Tuo pointed to himself, then to Meng Anli. "She doesn't even have an inner core, and you expect her to last three moves against me?"

His finger paused slightly. "You can't beat her?"

"I'm afraid I'll kill her!"

The Deity asked Anli, "Do you dare to accept three moves from him?"

Meng Anli said without hesitation, "I dare!"

If she could somehow survive, obtain the Huan Dan Grass, and regenerate her inner core, she could cultivate well and get her revenge.

If she died, her soul could still cultivate.

Even if she fell into the Ghost Path or the Demon Path, she would find the Meng family and the Crown Prince for revenge.