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Inside the Pill Refining Room of Qingfeng Temple, Li Huowang, covered head to toe in his master's blood, stood frozen in place, clearly not having processed what just happened. "These three pills have that much power? What the hell were Danyangzi and I refining—pills or explosives?"

He lay on the ground for a good while before climbing to his feet, wiped a hand across his face, and bent down to pick through the debris on the floor.

After searching for a long time without finding a single twitching piece of flesh, and even noticing that Danyangzi's Copper Bell had been crushed flat, Li Huowang finally let out a breath of relief. Danyangzi was truly dead, completely finished by his hand.

"But now that he's dead, what do I do next?" Li Huowang stood there, momentarily unsure which way to go.

Li Huowang had thought that after avenging his hatred, he would feel overjoyed. But when this moment actually arrived, he found himself lost in confusion.

All his plans these past days had revolved solely around killing Danyangzi. He had never once considered that he might survive.

Now Danyangzi was dead, Bai Lingmiao was safe, and he had fulfilled every promise he made. What was he supposed to do next?

Just as he was pondering this question, the door to the Pill Refining Room suddenly swung open. Chang Ren and Chang Ming stepped in cautiously, holding their longswords aloft with one hand.

After scanning the room and finding no trace of Danyangzi, they turned their wary gazes toward the blood-soaked Li Huowang. "Hah! What demon are you? Speak! Where is our master?"

"Master? You're stepping on him right now. Also, I'm Xuan Yang, dear senior brothers."

These words made Chang Ren and Chang Ming instinctively look down and lift their feet. Some internal organs lay exposed before them, and both their pupils shrank to pinpricks.

Li Huowang looked around, picked up half of Danyangzi's face from the ground, and said, "See? He's really dead."

"I killed him," Li Huowang added, speaking to them as if to himself.

"By all rights, the way he's slaughtered people his whole life, he should have died long ago. But that's not why I killed him. I killed him for personal reasons."

Just as Li Huowang was about to explain his motives to the two men before him, Chang Ming and Chang Ren exchanged a glance, then without a word, quickly sheathed their swords and turned to dash out the door.

"Hey, at least let me finish before you go!" Li Huowang called out helplessly after them.

After shouting for a long time with no response, Li Huowang let out a bitter laugh, clutched his still-aching stomach, and walked toward the doorway.

"Leper Head is dead! He's dead! Come out, all of you! You can go home!!" Li Huowang shook the crushed Copper Bell with all his might, shouting loudly in every direction.

Today was the first day of the New Year. The jarring bell sound didn't summon any Lord You, but instead drew the child attendants and Medicinal Guides.

When they saw the half of Danyangzi's face in Li Huowang's hand, they erupted in ecstasy, falling to their knees and kowtowing in all directions.

Li Huowang walked slowly along the Karst Tunnel, determined to spread this news to every ear in Qingfeng Temple.

More and more people joined his procession, beginning to shout along with him: "Leper Head is dead! He's dead! We can go home!"

Just then, Li Huowang felt someone reach out to support him. He turned his head and saw Bai Lingmiao, tears of joy streaming down her face.

Li Huowang smiled at her, raised Danyangzi's half-face, and waved it vigorously. "Leper Head is dead! You can all go home! It's the New Year! You can all go home!"

"Mm! Senior Brother Li! You can go home too! We can all go home!"

Li Huowang's expression stiffened for a moment, then he continued to shake the Copper Bell with all his might, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Danyangzi is dead! Come out, all of you! You can go home!!"

But not everyone in Qingfeng Temple was so overjoyed. As Li Huowang approached Danyangzi's living quarters, he heard the clashing of metal from afar.

Li Huowang led the crowd over. In Danyangzi's filthy dwelling, he saw Xuan Yuan facing off against Chang Ming and Chang Ren. Both sides had drawn their weapons, the atmosphere extremely tense.

Li Huowang looked at the so-called celestial scripture wrapped in Black Thread Copper Coins and naturally understood what they were fighting over.

"Junior Brother Xuan Yang! Come quickly! Let's kill these two accomplices of Danyangzi together! We'll share the Immortal Ascension Scripture!" Xuan Yuan, his face no longer genial, urged Li Huowang.

Chang Ming, on the other side, stepped forward with his right foot, drawing a line, and aimed his longsword directly at Li Huowang at the door. "If you don't want to die, get lost! Master taught you the Pill Dao. Do you really think you can handle the two of us, who cultivate the Sword Dao, in a situation like this?"

Li Huowang let out a light sigh, looking somewhat helplessly at the scene before him. "That's not the Immortal Ascension Scripture at all. It's just Ancient Scripture. Everything I said before was made up to trick Leper Head."

"Don't take Leper Head's nonsense too seriously. That guy was full of lies—said Lord Lao himself gave it to him. With his personality, he probably killed someone and stole it. Three senior brothers, let's just go."

Chang Ming and Chang Ren pinched two Black Talismans between their left fingers, wiped them across their longswords, and the entire room was suddenly filled with a chilling wind.

"Junior Brother Xuan Yang, since you don't want to get involved, then stop wasting words. Leave."

"Junior Brother Xuan Yang, since you don't want to get involved, then stop wasting words. Leave."

Chang Ming and Chang Ren raised their longswords in unison, speaking as one.

Feeling Bai Lingmiao timidly tugging at his Daoist Robe with her fingers, Li Huowang cupped his hands toward both sides and led everyone toward the Cave Entrance of Qingfeng Temple. "Then, three senior brothers, carry on. We'll meet again someday."

The moment Li Huowang considerately closed the door behind him, the sounds of battle erupted inside.

In the dark tunnel, a group of people heading home walked with excitement and fervor, each hand holding an oil lamp trembling.

This tunnel was unfamiliar and rugged, requiring ropes to climb at times. Li Huowang had never been here in his memory.

But he knew clearly that this was the exit of Qingfeng Temple, because he could see the hands of those around him shaking more and more violently.

After walking for about the time it takes two incense sticks to burn, light began to appear at the far end of the Karst Tunnel. The moment they saw that light, everyone's steps grew chaotic, their walk turning into a run.

As they ran, the distant light grew larger and larger, eventually engulfing everyone's vision.

The instant they burst out of the Cave Entrance, almost everyone squinted their eyes. Having lived inside the cave for so long, the outside world was far too bright for them.

As their eyes gradually adjusted to the light, the scenery outside Qingfeng Temple unfolded before them all.

In the distance, the sky had just shown a pale fish-belly white. The distant mountains, the distant Woods—everything was so pure it lifted the spirits, like a faint ink-wash painting.

And at that moment, the first ray of dawn on New Year's Day pierced through the thin mist, falling upon everyone's faces.

Li Huowang squinted at the sunrise in the sky and murmured to himself, "Did I spend the whole night in the Pill Refining Room with Leper Head? The sun's already out. The weather's really nice today."

Suddenly, someone beside him moved. It was a child attendant, tears streaming down his face. He swung his legs and charged headlong toward a small path disappearing into the Woods.

His flight triggered the Herd Effect. More and more people began running in that direction, wanting to get as far away as possible from this place of heartbreak.

Before long, only seven or eight people from the Material Room remained at the cave entrance. Their gazes all turned to Li Huowang.

"Senior Brother Li, let's go too." Bai Lingmiao, tear streaks still on her face, was now smiling brightly.

"Wait a moment." Li Huowang said, pulling some slips of paper from his pocket and pressing them into Bai Lingmiao's arms. "These are the last words and addresses left by the dead Medicinal Guides. Once you get out, find an Escort Agency along the way to deliver them."

Bai Lingmiao held the slips of paper in both hands, frozen in place, momentarily at a loss.

Li Huowang smiled once more at the remaining people, turned around with the oil lamp in hand, and walked alone into the pitch-black Qingfeng Temple.