In the vast Shu Mountains, Li Yun's extremely large spirit-summoning formation took ten days to set up.

Laying out an array is not like digging a ditch. He dared not make any mistakes along the way, for fear that one mistake would bring disaster to others.

Anyone who could still breathe in this group was ordered around by him. Some led the way, some searched for spirit stones, and some helped calculate the formation. After more than ten days, they were all exhausted, not to mention Han Yuan and the others who took turns to block the sacrifice technique.

All the pills on the group went into Han Yuan and Shuikeng's stomachs.

When Shuikeng just swallowed the demon pill, he felt that he would be blown up by this thing, but now he feels that three thousand years is not enough, thirty thousand will be enough!

The moment Li Yun announced that the "formation was completed", Han Yuan could no longer maintain the body of the magic dragon. He instantly changed into a human form and fell to the ground half-dead. He was exhausted so much that a look of death almost emerged from his face.

However, even so, the lingering demon still stretched out a claw with all his might, desperately grasped Li Yun's foot, and said with a weak breath: "Don't...don't forget...the True Dragon Flag..."

Li Yun had no time to mock him. He immediately took off his shoes and flew up on the sword barefoot.

He flew his sword as fast as the wind, chasing after the sacrificial technique that was whizzing along the spirit-summoning formation. He was extremely nervous. For this thing, Li Yun's originally wealthy storage bag had been emptied, and all kinds of spiritual objects and talismans had been used up. Even so, he still underestimated the power of this sacrificial technique.

The soul-summoning formation was on the verge of being leaked several times. Every time there was a breach, this group of cultivators would shout and scream like boatmen on a river bank, rushing forward to repair and block the breach. They worked so enthusiastically that it really seemed as if they were going to dig a deep trench into the mountains of Shu.

The elder of White Tiger Villa was injured by the ghost and looked very miserable, but he still rushed to the front. He squatted in the sky with his sword, his arms hanging from his knees, his mouth open and his neck stretched out, and witnessed closely the sacrificial technique flowing down the river like a flood. He picked up Nian Dada, who almost bumped into him like a headless fly, and put him aside, muttering, "It actually worked..."

When Li Yun saw this, he immediately gave a signal from a distance and waved his hands desperately, asking all the people who were controlling the objects to get down.

The next moment, there was a loud bang like a landslide and the earth splitting. All the people who were still stupidly standing in the sky were affected and rolled down from their weapons.

The sacrificial ritual seemed to contain countless resentments, rage, hatred and despair, flowing down from the high cliff like an overturned galaxy, forming a lake on the ground. As it gurgled, countless barren mountains were razed to the ground, the original landform was completely changed, and the unfathomable cliffs revealed hideous gullies.

sky……

The earthquake caused by the sacrifice lasted for a full day and a half before the dust settled. Li Yun stood on one leg without shoes, muttering in a daze: "This can hold out for a while... Han Yuan, you are really promising."

Han Yuan was dying without saying a word, and it looked like he had been caressed by his ancestors.

Shuikeng asked anxiously, "What happened to him?"

Li Yun bent down and looked at Han Yuan for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Alas, it seems that I may not be able to get the real dragon bone for you. It's so bad that I'm missing one dragon bone. If I really give you the complete dragon bone, won't you be furious?"

Han Yuan, who was about to die, immediately revived on the spot after hearing this. He struggled as if he had regained his vitality and threw Li Yun's shoe at him with all his might: "How dare you! I will never forgive you!"

The elders of White Tiger Villa freed up their time and contacted several major sects in Shu, including Mingming Valley.

The major sects also took notice and sent various medicines and supplies the next day. The group rested in Shu for more than half a month before continuing south.

Han Yuan consciously dealt with Tang Zhen and Bian Xu, and after he recovered from his injuries, he became even more arrogant. He took the initiative to follow several demon cultivators who dared to rebel, and killed them cleanly and neatly to warn the rest.

By the time they arrived in Southern Xinjiang, the demons who had become disloyal because of the death of the Nine Saints had basically been intimidated by Han Yuan and lay dormant for a while.

"The miasma blocking the road ahead is where the Nightmare Walker is." Han Yuan said, "You famous and upright people are not welcome here, get lost."

Shuikeng was looking around behind him, very curious about this number one devil's den in the world, and asked, "Fourth Senior Brother, do you devil cultivators rob people of their wealth and women?"

"Robbery," Han Yuan glanced at her and sneered with contempt, "But robbing a woman only robs people, not long-tailed starlings, so you don't have to worry."

Puddle angrily blew fire at the back of his head.

"Don't forget to bring me the True Dragon Flag." Han Yuan waved his hand to dispel her little spark, and then strode towards the Nightmare Walker's lair.

He shook his sleeves, and a huge mountain gate appeared out of thin air. On it was a word "Nightmare" written in flamboyant strokes, like a monster with a bloody mouth. The dark and cold demonic energy flew up and down, merging with the poisonous miasma in the forest, looking indescribably sinister.

A bloody Bagua diagram flew out from Han Yuan's tattered Panlong robe sleeve and hit right next to the word "Nightmare", immediately leaving a bloody mark.

This bloodstain was like oil dropped into boiling water. For a moment, countless pairs of prying eyes rose and fell in the Nightmare Valley, cautiously looking at the returning devil.

Han Yuan wore tattered clothes like a beggar, but his steps were like an emperor returning to the Dragon Court. He entered the home of demons without paying any attention to the people around him.

Unfortunately, he was destroyed after only a few steps - the puddle was about to burn him to a pulp. Seeing his back, he suddenly felt empty inside and couldn't help but shouting, "Fourth Senior Brother, we'll come and play with you later!"

Han Yuan: “…”

"What the hell," he thought through gritted teeth. "What a shame."

A huge dragon shadow flashed behind Han Yuan, and it plunged into the miasma of southern Xinjiang like a blue dragon entering the sea, never looking back.

He will stay here for the rest of his life.

The group parted ways. You Liang, who had taken care of Tian Yan's affairs, had nowhere to go. Li Yun followed the promise Yan Zhengming made to Wu Changtian and decided to bring him back to Fuyao Mountain.

After reporting, Nian Dadaze went to the East China Sea alone to look for Nian Mingming's reincarnation.

But how easy is it to find an ordinary little baby boy in such a huge crowd? Besides, Han Yuan only told him a general direction, and it was unclear whether it was accurate or not.

Nian Dada wandered around the East China Sea for a few days, but he was not satisfied and wanted to find a place to live for a while and slowly explore.

He disguised himself as a mortal and asked people for cheap places to complain. He was led by a fisherman to a very remote place on the East Coast, where he saw a wolfberry tree that was so big that it seemed to be a spirit. Its branches were spread out in all directions as if it had ambitions to reach the sky. Rows of blood-red fruits hung on the tree, and under the tree was a dilapidated little yard.

There was a pigpen built with a few large stones at the gate of the courtyard, and next to the door was a couplet: on the left side it read "three cents for a night", and on the right side it read "you can stay here if you want".

Nian was stunned by such courage and knocked on the door shyly for a long time. He didn't dare knock so loudly that it would sound like a mouse scratching the door.

After scratching his head for a long time with no one paying attention, Nian Dada was ready to leave when he heard a "creak" and a burly man walked out. He was clearly an ordinary man, but he had an aura of majesty without even getting angry.

The sturdy man stared at Nian Dada and shouted, "Didn't you eat enough? Do you know how to knock on the door? Do you want to stay here or not?"

Nian Dada was stunned by the indescribable grandeur of this mortal, and said casually: "Stop... Stop, Senior, I'll stay."

"Senior?" The sturdy man raised his eyebrows and said in a loud voice, "Oh, after all this fuss, you are still a cultivator. I have never seen a cultivator as cowardly and useless as you. Pay the money and get in!"

Nian Dada didn't dare to raise any objection and rolled in smoothly.

It was not until Nian Dada had lived in the East China Sea for more than two months that the evil spirit in the mountains and rivers gradually settled and dissipated.

The 18000-step No Regrets Platform took the two great men of the time nearly three months to trek.

The two men had countless wounds of varying sizes on their bodies. Even Cheng Qian couldn't help but stagger and almost kneel down the moment he saw the top.

It was too difficult. The sword light of the Frost Blade was dimmed. Cheng Qian just wanted to roll down from here. He had no idea how Tong Ru got up there that year.

The stage was empty and silent, and Yan Zhengming, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped.

Cheng Qian said in a tired hoarse voice: "What's wrong?"

Yan Zhengming: “Come and see.”

There was a footprint on the Buhui Stage, stained with blood. Now the bloodstain has turned into a stale rust color, but it has been faithfully preserved by the Buhui Stage without fading for hundreds of years.

Just by looking at this thrilling footprint, one can imagine what the scene was like when Tong Ru broke in alone. One of his legs was on the Buhui Stage, while the other leg was still on the stone steps, and his body was covered in wounds.

He must have been at the end of his strength, and he weakly placed his hands on his knees, leaving such a heavy footprint.

When he used up his last bit of strength to look up at the glittering Dream-Come- True Stone, would it be like looking at an unattainable dream?

There was no one to take turns holding the sword with him or to protect each other. He was alone, carrying the unreasonable desires that he had nowhere to tell. Under the dual torture of his inner demons and conscience, he turned his back on the world and walked through blood.

Thinking about it this way, although the younger generation knew that he had gone astray because of his selfish desires and brought many disasters upon himself, they suddenly could not say anything harsh to blame him.

The original mark of the Wishes Come True Stone in the middle of the No Regrets Platform was still there. The two of them paused for a moment and hurriedly removed the Ice Heart Fire.

The stone seemed to have a spirit. With a gentle push, it returned to its original position and settled down perfectly.

The floating light flowing in the middle of it suddenly stagnated, and the evil energy that had been lingering around it seemed to turn into a handful of fine ash, and suddenly, it disappeared.

There is no spot on the Buhui stage, and there is not a single talisman, but it gives people a feeling of extreme silence, as if all the ambitions and desires in people's hearts will involuntarily calm down here and return to the essential purity of being human.

Trekking up 18000 steps here feels like the destination of 18000 disasters.

Cheng Qian heard a myriad of cries and shouts, laughter and roars, and they all receded from him together, as if a dream he had been immersed in for many years had come to an end. His mind suddenly became clearer than ever before, as if he heard the vague laws of nature again.

His legs were numb and he stumbled, so he simply followed his instinct and lay on his back, listening to the demons wreaking havoc all around him gradually calm down and docile, feeling that he had no strength left.

Yan Zhengming was not much stronger than him. He supported most of his weight on the Frost Blade, stood there in a daze for a while, and suddenly asked: "When Master Tong Ru made a wish to the Wishes Come True Stone, he was willing to sacrifice a million resentful souls... What about now? How is it?"

Cheng Qian closed his eyes and said in an almost inaudible voice, "It doesn't matter what, the stone didn't make his wish come true, did it?"

The bloodline of the Fuyao sect was still broken, and Master Mu Chun died.

The old people still resolutely left one after another, and the world was dragged into a protracted chaos...

It has not stopped until now.

The disaster was like a fire that swept across the plain, crushing it mercilessly and irresistibly, burning everything in ashes.

Only the tender grass buds, after the dead silence, still silently sprout in the spring breeze.

"A dead tree comes back to life with spring" is like a beginning, or perhaps an ending.

Yan Zhengming stood still for a moment and said, "When we get back, take me to Forget-Sorrow Valley when you have time. I kind of want to meet my master and my great-grandmaster."

Cheng Qian said bluntly: "Are you going to show them your great achievements in turning the tide and reviving the sect over the past hundred years?"

Yan Zhengming: “…”

It feels really uncomfortable to be seen through by my junior fellow apprentice.

He raised his leg and kicked Cheng Qian in anger: "Just lead the way when I asked you to, why are you talking so much nonsense!"

Unfortunately, this well-planned trip was doomed to fail.

Two months later, Yan Zhengming, holding a piece of "blind leaf" in his mouth, struggled to hide his anger, and sneaked into Wangyou Valley with Cheng Qian at dusk. The two of them passed through the ghost den and found Tong Ru's burial place with ease.

Unexpectedly, the corpse that was originally there disappeared.

The two searched the spot for several rounds but found nothing. Cheng Qian almost suspected that he had remembered the wrong place, until he finally dug out a rusty copper coin from under a big tree.

Only then did he remember what Tong had said to him, that if he came next time, he might not be able to see him.

Perhaps the man had served his sentence, atoned for his sins, and finally passed away with the mountains, rivers, and plants.

The two of them left Wangyou Valley along the same route before dawn. Yan Zhengming then spit out the Blind Leaf and asked, "Have the spirits of Master and Grandmaster disappeared?"

Cheng Qian thought for a moment and replied, "It's better to say that he ascended to heaven."

Thinking of this, I suddenly felt relieved.

End of the text