"We did it... we did it..." Snow Empress murmured to herself, her eyes filled with relief.
Qingyunzi, Daoist Kunlun, and the leader of the Wudang Sect came to Snow Empress's side and helped her up. "Holy Maiden, are you alright?"
The Snow Empress shook her head and smiled. "I'm fine. I just used up too much energy. I'll be fine after a rest. The Great Emperor Fengdu is dead. The Underworld's conspiracy has finally been completely destroyed. The people of the world can finally live in peace."
"Yes," Daoist Kunlun said with emotion, "All of this is thanks to the Holy Maiden, and to all the fellow disciples who sacrificed themselves for the righteous path. Their sacrifices were not in vain."
Everyone was silent for a moment, their eyes filled with grief and respect.
"Let's go back," the Snow Empress said. "Let's go back and tell the world that the Underworld has been destroyed, the Great Emperor Fengdu has been executed, and from now on, the world will be at peace, and no evil spirits will be able to harm the common people."
"Yes!" everyone responded in unison, helping the Snow Empress as they walked out of Penglai Immortal Island.
The smoke of battle on Penglai Immortal Island gradually dissipated, and golden sunlight shone through the clouds onto the sea, making it sparkle, as if even the heavens were rejoicing in the victory of this battle between good and evil. The sea breeze carried a salty taste, mixed with the lingering spiritual energy in the air, stirring the heart.
Standing atop the highest point of Penglai Immortal Island, Snow Empress gazed at the boundless sea in the distance, her heart filled with mixed emotions. The golden token in her hand had lost its dazzling brilliance, becoming ancient and steadfast, like a retired general, lying quietly in her palm. The Power of the Heavenly Dao flowed slowly within her body; although it was almost exhausted, the feeling of resonating with heaven and earth was deeply etched into the depths of her soul.
"Holy Maiden, the disciples have been counted." Qingyunzi walked behind Snow Empress, his voice choked with emotion. "In this battle, our Righteous Path Alliance lost 327 disciples and suffered over 500 wounded. The Shaolin Abbot... has passed away completely. His Buddhist heart exhausted its last bit of strength in the battle, and has... has turned to dust, returning to the world."
Snow Empress closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself. Three hundred and twenty-seven vibrant lives had been lost forever. Some of them were her fellow disciples who had followed her for many years, some were young disciples who had just entered the sect, and some had not even had a chance to leave much of a mark on this world before sacrificing their precious lives to protect all living beings.
"Their names must be recorded." The Snow Empress opened her eyes, glistening with tears, but her tone was unusually firm. "Erect a monument to heroes, inscribe their names on it, so that future generations will forever remember that today's peaceful and prosperous world was bought with the blood and lives of these heroes."
"Yes, Holy Maiden," Qingyunzi replied respectfully. After a moment's hesitation, he continued, " Daoist Kunlun and the leader of the Wudang Sect have already led their disciples back to their respective sects. Before they left, they asked me to convey to the Holy Maiden that if needed in the future, the Righteous Path Alliance will be at your beck and call."
The Snow Empress nodded, her gaze lingering on the distance. "The fact that the righteous path can unite to fight against the Underworld is a blessing for all living beings. Qingyunzi, when you return, you must also comfort the disciples of the Ziwei Sect. We suffered considerable losses this time and need time to recover."
"Holy Maiden, rest assured, this disciple understands." After saying this, Qingyunzi glanced at Snow Empress, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something more.
Snow Empress noticed his unusual behavior and turned to look at him. "If you have anything else to say, just say it."
Qingyunzi took a deep breath and mustered his courage to say, "Holy Maiden, there is something I don't understand. Although the Great Emperor Fengdu is dead and the Underworld has been destroyed, I still feel that things are not so simple. How could the Underworld rise to prominence in just a few decades, secretly accumulating such powerful strength, and even controlling the dragon-shaped Demonic Beast of the East Sea Dragon Palace? Is there really no other force supporting it behind the scenes?"
Snow Empress frowned slightly; she had also considered this question. After fusing the three supreme treasures and obtaining the Power of the Heavenly Dao, her perception had greatly improved. During her battle with the Great Emperor Fengdu, she vaguely sensed that in addition to the Yin and evil energy within the Great Emperor Fengdu's body, there was also a trace of extremely obscure aura. That aura did not belong to the Underworld, nor to the mortal realm, but rather came from a higher plane.
"Your concerns are not unfounded," the Snow Empress said slowly after a moment's thought. "However, this matter is of great importance and we cannot act rashly. Our priority now is to recuperate and restore our strength. As for the rest, the truth will naturally come to light when the time is right."
"The Holy Maiden is right." Qingyunzi nodded and said no more.
Just then, a disciple of the Ziwei Sect rushed over, his face filled with panic. "Holy Maiden, Elder Qingyun, something terrible has happened! A large number of sea creature corpses have been found on the beach at the foot of the mountain. Their deaths are extremely gruesome, not like those who died in battle, but more like... more like those whose life force was drained by some kind of evil magic!"
Snow Empress and Qingyunzi exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and unease in each other's eyes. The Great Emperor Fengdu was dead, and the Underworld had been destroyed; how could such a bizarre thing still happen?
"Let's go take a look!" Snow Empress made a quick decision, and in a flash, she flew down the mountain.
The seas surrounding Penglai Immortal Island, once crystal clear and shimmering with blue waves, are now littered with the corpses of numerous sea creatures. There are shrimp soldiers and crab generals, fish spirits and clam spirits, and even some dragons with considerable cultivation. Their corpses are shriveled and withered, as if all moisture and life force have been drained away, leaving only a layer of skin covering bones, a truly horrifying sight.
Snow Emperor's Fall the beach and squatted down to carefully examine the corpse of a shrimp soldier. There were no external wounds on the corpse, and the Spiritual Power within its body had completely disappeared, even its soul was gone. This kind of death did not seem to be caused by external force, but rather it was more like its life force was forcibly extracted by some kind of force.
"This... how is this possible?" Qingyunzi also squatted down to examine it, his face turning extremely ugly. "Life force has been extracted, soul has disappeared, this is... this is the most evil Soul Refining Technique! But wasn't the Soul Refining Technique banned by the righteous path in ancient times? How could it appear here?"
Snow Empress stood up, her gaze sweeping over the countless corpses floating on the sea, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart. These sea creatures numbered at least a thousand, and were distributed over a vast area, something that couldn't have been accomplished in a short time. In other words, someone had been secretly doing this while they were fighting the Underworld, or even before.
"Immediately notify Kunlun Mountain and Wudang Sect, and have them strengthen their defenses," the Snow Empress said in a deep voice. "At the same time, send disciples to patrol the world and see if similar incidents have occurred elsewhere."
"Yes!" Qingyunzi didn't dare to delay and immediately turned around to make arrangements.