Xiao Yan watched the two headless bodies topple to the ground and the two heads roll to his feet, their eyes still wide in death. Suddenly, he recalled the scene of them kneeling on the ground, weeping bitterly as they repented. Perhaps only at this moment did they sincerely believe that a family ought to live in harmony?
Once upon a time, he too had hoped for elder brothers who were kind and younger brothers who were respectful. But why had things ended up like this? Perhaps their repeated schemes and ambushes had driven them apart, or perhaps the final rupture had come when they captured him and destroyed his Dou Crystal. None of that mattered anymore, though. After all, those events were centuries in the past.
He gazed at the two motionless corpses and said softly, "Your greatest mistake was cutting down the weeds without digging out their roots. So I won't follow in your footsteps."
Xiao Yan stepped over the two bodies and continued forward. Soon, another figure appeared, but this time he gave her no chance to speak. With a casual swing of his ruler, he cut her down. "Sorry, I can't be bothered to hear you repeat all that nonsense. Let's hurry on to the next one."
He knew this one too. She seemed to have been the young sect master of some sect in the Jia Ma Empire. He could no longer remember her name, only vaguely recalling that she had a compound surname. Her sect had provoked him back then, so he had slaughtered it in passing. The Burst Step he had used earlier was something he had looted from her sect.
Without dwelling any further on who he had just casually killed, Xiao Yan continued onward with the heavy ruler on his back. Figure after figure appeared ahead of him, some familiar, others unfamiliar, all opponents he had once fought.
There were always things in life that could never be undone. Thus, when people saw those they had killed appear again, they often reacted in unexpected ways-with fear, grief, regret, or guilt. But Xiao Yan was different. His choice was simple: kill his way through.
Whether they were enemies who had tried every means imaginable to put him to death, or strangers who had crossed blades with him over a minor misunderstanding-perhaps some had even been innocent, caught up in the fighting simply because they happened to be there-Xiao Yan spared none of them. Step by step, he killed his way forward.
"Since you've already died once, I suppose you won't mind being killed by me a second time?"
He killed his way from the Jia Ma Empire to the Chu Yun Empire, then from the Chu Yun Empire to the Black-Corner Region. Before he knew it, countless remains had piled up along the road he traveled. He Qian, Earth Demon Old Ghost, Yellow Springs Venerable, the Heavenly Snake Mansion Master, Heavenly Poison Woman, Yao Tian, Gu Qingyang, Nine Phoenix, Yao Ming, Hun Miesheng... including the Soul Body that had tried to take him over through Body Possession, these enemies he had once defeated or killed appeared one after another, only to be killed by him one after another.
He trod over their bones, advancing step by step. After walking for roughly three days and three nights, he finally stopped. At the end of the road, a young woman in a pale red dress stood quietly, gazing at him without expression. Seeing her, Xiao Yan sighed softly. "I thought I'd encounter Hun Dai'er... I didn't expect it to be you."
"It's been a long time, Teacher." The young woman blocked Xiao Yan's path. Like the phantoms before her, she made no attempt to conceal her murderous intent.
"It certainly has." Looking at this disciple who had been dead for many years, Xiao Yan fell silent for a rare moment. "If you hadn't appeared, I probably would have forgotten what you looked like. So what do you want now? Do you want to block my path too? If so, I won't hold back."
"Actually, that question doesn't mean much." Xiao Yan raised the Xuan Heavy Ruler and brought it down viciously on the phantom. "Because whether you do or not, I'll kill you in the end."
"You're still as heartless as ever... Teacher." In an instant, everything around him turned to ash and scattered smoke. As the young woman disappeared, Xiao Yan slowly withdrew the Xuan Heavy Ruler. "I said I wouldn't regret what I've done."
The scene before him changed once again. This time, the one who appeared was finally the Hun Dai'er he had been waiting for. Around him lay the clifftop that had once plunged him into utter despair. Hun Dai'er stood opposite him and, in an icy voice, spoke the words Xiao Yan already knew by heart.
"I never liked you, not from beginning to end. Everything before was nothing but an act. As for saving you, I merely thought a pathetic worm like you still had some use. Looking back now, that decision really did help me quite a bit. Hand over that piece of Tou She Ancient God Jade."
"Sure enough, those are the words..." Xiao Yan chuckled softly. Had he heard them in his youth, he might have been consumed by despair. Yet now, he felt nothing at all...
"Aren't you going to attack?" Seeing Xiao Yan standing motionless, Hun Dai'er suddenly asked, "Don't you want revenge?"
"Whew... I certainly want to 'repay' you properly, but not here. After all... you're only a fake." Xiao Yan smiled and shook his head. "Everything before this was bait, meant only to stir my urge to kill. If I really let hatred use me as you suggested, I'm afraid my body would fall completely under your control."
"If I lose myself in a false illusion, my only end will be to sleep forever, until that Heavenly Flame outside devours me in a backlash." Xiao Yan paused before continuing, "I imagine that's how you devoured your previous hosts, isn't it? Those Heavenly Flame wielders from the Chu Yun Empire were actually all your puppets. On the surface, they had subdued you. In reality, you were controlling them."
"How did you see through it?"
"Come on, I've experienced the Hundred Lifetimes Reincarnation. I saw through a petty trick like yours right from the start..." Xiao Yan sighed softly. "Your neurotoxin can block my consciousness and confuse my perceptions, but it can't extinguish my heart. As long as I stay true to myself, these illusions of yours can't do anything to me."
"If that's so, why didn't you break the illusion right from the start?"
"You wanted me to lose myself in hallucinations, but I also wanted to use you to experience my former life again." Xiao Yan waved a hand. "Besides, if I didn't make you lower your guard, how could I lure you near the Naling?"
At the same time, the Netherworld Poison Flame roaming through Xiao Yan's meridians suddenly trembled. Realizing something was wrong, it hastily tried to leave, but Xiao Yan's soul force was already waiting behind it.
Just as he had said, if the Netherworld Poison Flame wanted to take complete control of Xiao Yan's body, it had to control his qi vortex, and his Naling was located precisely there. Thus, Xiao Yan simply turned its scheme against it, exploiting its greed to lure the Netherworld Poison Flame's essence to that spot before blasting it into the Naling at the final moment.
Before you continue