Chapter 129 We'll perish together, but I beg you, I'll live on.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

To be honest, they have suffered heavy casualties during this period, and many elders have even died at the hands of those demonic beasts. Now, many people are disheartened, and many are spreading rumors that all the famous sects are about to be destroyed.

Looking again at the endless, dark circles of demonic beasts and monsters on Qingluan Peak, the feeling of being on the verge of death intensified.

People's hearts are restless, like a pile of loose sand. Pessimists can no longer see a bright future; all that is near is their own death.

Therefore, when Gu Pingzhi said this, many people were shaken and their expressions became solemn.

Some people with wavering resolve hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back, but seeing that no one else spoke up, they chose to remain still for the time being.

"Hengluan has done us a great favor. None of us are ungrateful. Put away your little schemes!" Dongxuan said coldly, speaking to Gu Pingzhi, but also warning and reminding the others with impure intentions.

"This kind of one-for-many charade won't work on us!" Lingzhen said. "A gentleman dies for his principles; even if it means total annihilation, we would never do anything to dishearten our comrades!"

"Yes! That's right!" With the elders of the Heavenly Evolution Sect saying this, the others echoed their sentiments, especially those from their own sect, who were determined to support and protect their comrade. "Kill us if you want! We will never yield!"

"Bring it on!"

"At worst, we'll all die together!"

"I vanquish demons and rid the world of evil, so that even a hundred years from now, I may still have a good reputation!"

"Exactly! It would be wonderful to be remembered for generations to come!"

"Stop your nonsense and get to work! My knife's been itching to be used for ages!"

Gu Pingzhi sneered, his gaze sweeping over someone in the crowd, and he blew a bone whistle.

"Then we'll have to see your strength—" Before Gu Pingzhi could finish speaking, an aged voice interrupted the impending battle.

"I agree to exchange the life of Emperor Hengluan for the lives of my millions of fellow disciples!" An elderly man with white hair and beard, and a slightly plump figure, stepped forward. He said earnestly, "You are all the chosen ones of heaven, the treasures of your parents and relatives. How many difficulties and dangers have you overcome to get to where you are today? You have worked hard day and night, all for the day when you can stand out from the crowd and ascend to become a god."

"Would it be worth dying here for nothing?"

An elderly man's kind and patient words stirred the thoughts of many: Is it worth it?

Many people were persuaded by him and followed him voluntarily, and the battlefield was suddenly divided into three factions: the villains, the heroes, and the surrenderers.

"Zheng Dongyang, what nonsense are you spouting, you traitor!?"

The old man was suddenly attacked by the group.

"You old thief, could it be that you're sharp-tongued?!"

Zheng Dongyang remained unmoved: "That's going too far. I'm just standing on the side of these millions of vibrant young lives, not wanting them to die like this, and feeling sorry for them."

"You say these words are stirring up people's hearts, yet you say they're not shrewd!"

Enraged, the righteous man immediately drew his sword and slashed at him.

"We are a prestigious and righteous sect. From the day we entered the sect, we lived to protect the world!"

"Do you even know the current situation?! If you don't surrender, if you don't kill Empress Hengluan to save our lives, do you really want to watch our sect be destroyed?! Watch your disciples and fellow disciples die like this?!"

"Listen to me, everyone," he said earnestly while dodging attacks, "either kill Empress Hengluan, or spare her life. As long as you're alive, you can always rebuild!"

After saying that, he opened the sky screen, which displayed a bloody and terrifying scene: their fellow disciples who had gone to various places to subdue demons and monsters were being pierced and torn apart by monsters... The severed limbs and remains almost covered the already black and red earth.

Some recognized the fallen and fighting fellow disciples as close friends they had recently parted ways with, people they had long admired, senior and junior brothers and sisters...

People as close as brothers died one by one before their eyes.

Upon hearing this and witnessing such a bloody and cruel scene, those who were previously wavering roared angrily, "Kill Hengluan! Kill Hengluan!"

"She's clearly still alive! Why is she only showing up now?! She watched our fellow disciples die right before our eyes! She didn't even think about saving us! We need to think about ourselves!"

"Kill her! Kill her!"

"..."

The anger had been directed at Bai Yuheng.

Yan Li stood behind her and said in a light tone, "Look, this is the person you once protected with your life. When it comes to their own interests, tsk tsk, look at their ugly faces, it's disgusting."

Bai Yuheng sneered, "My heart is as firm as a rock, unyielding." Yan Li scoffed, "How noble of you..."

After saying that, he also stepped forward.

The entire Tianyan Sect, led by Yuan Guang, stared at him, dumbfounded and filled with disbelief.

If even Senior Brother Yan Li stepped forward, what were the slogans and lofty ambitions they just shouted? Didn't this become a joke?

"I agree to exchange the life of Empress Hengluan for a glimmer of hope for my sect!"

"Senior Brother Yan Li!?"

"Yan Li!?"

Emperor Yuanguang was the one who could hardly believe it, staring blankly at the scene.

"Gentlemen, the outcome is almost decided, why struggle any longer?" Yan Li smiled and cupped his hands to Gu Pingzhi. "I believe Venerable Baiyu will not go so far as to kill us all."

"I, Yan Li, am willing to submit!"

"!!!"

Almost everyone was shocked by him, filled with resentment, hatred, and a restless desire to rebel...

"Good!" Gu Pingzhi smiled with narrowed eyes and waved his hand, "You are all people who understand the big picture, and I, the Venerable One, will certainly reward and confer titles upon you!"

The wind direction suddenly became strange.

"Traitor!" Emperor Yuanguang struggled to speak for a long time before finally uttering the two words, his gaze turning fierce.

The fierce palm wind swept out, uprooting trees and threatening to crush Yan Li into dust.

"Traitor! Traitor!"

Many disciples of the Tianyan Sect were filled with rage and anger as they watched familiar faces surrender so easily. They were so furious that they wanted to kill these people rather than let them surrender in such a humiliating way and disgrace the reputation of the Tianyan Sect.

Amidst the flashing blades and scattering sword blossoms, a chaotic battle erupted on Qingluan Peak.

"I told you, as long as you hand over Hengluan to me, I will spare you!"

"Absolutely impossible!"

As the disciples of the Tianyan Sect slashed at the demonic beasts, they resolutely declared, "We will absolutely not abandon anyone!"

"Even if I die, I want to die gloriously and spectacularly!"

"We will absolutely not abandon the Emperor!"

Stop trying to sow discord!

Gu Pingzhi coldly retorted, "If you won't listen to reason, then don't blame me for being impolite!"

With a sharp whistle, the demonic beasts, as if they had taken a powerful tonic, flung away the disciples who were wielding swords and withstood the ferocious, wave-like attacks.

To catch the thief, first catch the king.

Bai Yuheng and Gu Pingzhi were dealing with each other.

Both of them were cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage, but one was in the early stage and the other was in the middle stage.

Their skill levels and spiritual energy were locked in a fierce battle, neither giving an inch and neither gaining an advantage.

When the masters fight, the noobs suffer.

Anyone who got close to the two, whether a demon beast or one of their own, was blasted away and couldn't get in even a little bit.

The sky suddenly changed color.

Dark clouds swirled into a vortex, and muffled thunder rumbled from afar within the clouds, while purple lightning flashed across the inky sky.

It felt like a storm was brewing, and the building was about to collapse.

"Smack!"

A thick, long, and swift flash of light cleaved out from the vortex and struck straight into a valley.

Those who were still fighting all looked over at the same time.

A figure flew up from the valley where the lightning had struck, surrounded by a pale purple-white halo, obscuring the figure's face.

Bai Yuheng merely glanced at him, then gathered power in her palm, whipping a dragon-like whip towards Gu Pingzhi, who was watching the spectacle. Gu Pingzhi barely dodged it, sneering, "I didn't expect that Empress Hengluan would resort to such petty tricks as sneak attacks?"

Bai Yuheng brandished her long whip, which moved like a snake or a dragon, and swiftly and viciously struck at him.

"Any move is fine as long as I can defeat you!"

While dodging her attacks, Gu Pingzhi became suspicious of the strange phenomenon in the white circle, fearing that he might have made another oversight and unleashed his ultimate move prematurely, striking Bai Yuheng fiercely.

"Do you still remember this move?" Gu Pingzhi looked at her with a smile. "This is the move that sent you on your way back then. Let me see if you can still withstand this move after all these years!"

"Then let's give it a try!"

Amidst the thunderous roar, a relentless attack, like a black, menacing dragon with eyes like eerie green lanterns, spewing smoke and opening its blood-red maw, charged straight at Bai Yuheng.

Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan, their eyes bloodshot, shouted, "Yu'er!"

"Hengluan!!"

The giant dragon swallowed people whole from its mouth, and hot white smoke spewed from its two hole-like nostrils.

Everyone was stunned.

Suddenly, someone burst into a sorrowful sob. In an instant, a surge of hatred, anger, and grief swelled in their chest, threatening to burst out of their body.

Shedding hot tears and wielding hot blood, his blood boiled with passion, as if possessed by a divine weapon, he was incredibly brave and resolute, fighting against ten opponents single-handedly.

"Bang—"

The undigested black dragon suddenly tumbled and coiled within the dark clouds, roaring repeatedly. A deafening whooshing sound came from within the black dragon's body.

The golden-red light covered the black dragon's black scales, imprinting itself along the patterns on the scales. With a bang, its flesh and bones shattered into pieces and exploded into fragments.

A man floated unharmed in the air, his gaze fixed intently on Gu Pingzhi, who had just coughed up blood. Then, he raised his whip and charged forward.

The whip transformed into a longsword, and Bai Yuheng slashed down fiercely, returning his earlier words to him: "It's been a hundred years, yet your skills haven't improved at all!"

A hint of amazement flashed in Gu Pingzhi's eyes. He wiped the blood from the corner of his lips, and his heterochromatic eyes shone with a different kind of brilliance: "Hengluan, I truly did not underestimate you..."

"Hahaha, as expected of the woman I, Gu Pingzhi, have chosen!" He showed no embarrassment at being exposed by her; instead, the admiration in his eyes deepened. "I originally intended to kill you. I, Gu Pingzhi, cannot handle someone so disobedient and uncontrollable. But..."

"Your style is exactly to my liking. I really want to try riding this wildest and most unruly 'horse' in the Three Realms!"

Bai Yuheng's eyes flashed with sparks as she ruthlessly plunged her sword into his left shoulder.

"That's powerful!" Gu Pingzhi looked at the golden sword on his left shoulder and laughed heartily. "If I had known, I wouldn't have used the clone technique back then. I would have separated your primordial spirit. Although Guihua is fierce, she doesn't have the same power as your complete form."

"Disgusting!" Bai Yuheng glared at him coldly, her chest heaving, as if she were about to be driven mad by this man.

"Boom!"

Another bolt of purple lightning struck down.

A white halo appeared, and a human figure materialized.

But no one cared anymore; at this moment, blood and severed limbs stained the entire Azure Phoenix Peak.

The war has entered a critical stage.

"Yuan Guang!" Bai Yuheng turned and called out to Emperor Yuan Guang, who was engaged in fierce battle with Yan Li, "Come and help me!"

"Fine!" Yuan Guang no longer held back, and fiercely blasted the person in front of him, whom he had raised as his own child, away, sending him crashing into the stone wall and losing consciousness.

"Keep him occupied for me."

As Bai Yuheng spoke, she quickly made hand seals and chanted incantations behind Yuan Guang, biting her fingertip to draw blood and drawing intricate talismans in the air.

"Blood Devouring Curse!?" Gu Pingzhi was momentarily speechless, overwhelmed by the complex emotions in his heart. "You want to die with me again!?"

Yuan Guang saw it too, and he said in a deep voice, "Heng Luan, there's still a chance! Don't do anything foolish!"

Bai Yuheng pursed her lips, her face, illuminated by the glowing talisman, was as pale as jade, the red dot on her lips adding to her allure. She seemed to be exposed to holy light, unmoved by those words, her hands moving swiftly as she chanted incantations.

The final stroke is added at the end of the symbol.

Bai Yuheng relaxed her brow.

This time, no one should say she left without saying goodbye, right?

No one will wait for her to come back anymore.

The Blood Devouring Curse emitted a blood-red and golden light, resembling the gaping maw of a ferocious beast, as if it wanted to devour the entire world.

"clang--"

A bolt of purple lightning, a Bloodthirsty Curse, interrupted Bai Yuheng's spellcasting.

Bai Yuheng's cold gaze fell on the direction from which the purple lightning had struck.

Pei Yuan was just standing there, all alone.

"Another one sent to die?" No matter how many blows Gu Pingzhi had suffered, no matter how much love he had shown, he was defeated by her ruthlessness. Seeing Bai Yuheng staring blankly at that person, his already dwindling rationality collapsed. "Then I will grant your wish!"

With a sudden wave of his hand, countless black arrows appeared from the dark clouds, firing in unison, and neither friend nor foe could escape them.

Before Gu Pingzhi could react, he tried to pull Bai Yuheng into his arms, but she dodged. Unexpectedly, two iron chains appeared between her wrists and were tightly gripped in Gu Pingzhi's hands.

Bai Yuheng's eyes widened: "You!?"

Gu Pingzhi laughed: "You've learned your lesson, Hengluan. I'm not that stupid. That black iron was just a bluff. The real chains were already tightly bound between your wrists the moment you cut the black iron."

Bai Yuheng tried her best to use her spiritual energy to cut it, but unexpectedly, the spiritual energy in her body seemed to be dormant and asleep, without making any movement.

Her face turned deathly pale as he easily pulled her into his arms.

"I no longer want to be the ruler of this world," Gu Pingzhi whispered in her ear, "I want to die with you, and with them—"

He pointed at all the people and monsters engaged in the fierce battle.

"How about we let them all be buried with us?"

Bai Yuheng shouted, "You're a madman! You're absolutely insane!"

"Hahahaha, well said!" Gu Pingzhi bit her shoulder hard, dodging Pei Yuan's attack. "I had already thought it through in the cave. If I can't become the ruler of this world and can't have you, then let's turn into a speck of dust in this world together, and never be separated for all eternity!"

"madman!"

"Hahaha, since I can't have you..." He looked at Pei Yuan with a manic gaze, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction, "then he can't have you either!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the vortex in the dark cloud gradually grew larger, and the suction force increased greatly, uprooting countless birds, beasts, and trees and sucking them in.

It was sucked into that deep, bottomless vortex, turned into dust, and became a speck of dust between heaven and earth.

"Bai Yuheng!"

Pei Yuan sensed that the evil power had finally condensed successfully, and rushed forward to fight Gu Pingzhi for the White Jade Heng.

Cut the black iron chains binding the two together.

As if in slow motion, Bai Yuheng saw Pei Yuan shove her back violently, then carry Gu Pingzhi and rush into the dark vortex.

"Pei Yuan!!" Bai Yuheng cried out in anguish.

She met Pei Yuan's resolute, reluctant... yet triumphant gaze.

Very good……

now you.

It's finally your turn. Remember me for all eternity!

Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, sipping tea or drinking water, opening or closing eyes, tossing and turning in bed...

Pei Yuan smiled with satisfaction.

His gaze toward her was both compassionate and resolute.

Live on.

For your own sake.

Live on, I beg you.

All I want is for you to live a good life!

Without saying a word, he resolutely flew into the vortex.

"Pei Yuan!!!"

"call out--"

"Bang—"

Suddenly, the earth trembled violently. The vortex resembled a meteorite falling to earth or an explosive explosion. With a loud bang, half of Qingluan Peak collapsed.

Dust obscured the sun, plunging the surroundings into a deathly silence.

Those ferocious monsters and demons vanished as the vortex exploded and Gu Pingzhi disappeared.

Everything returned to peace.

A deathly silence.

Crackle, crackle.

"Whoosh—"

The sky, which had been suffocating for so long, finally cracked open, and the clear rainwater suppressed the dust that had been stirred up.

It's raining.