The search for a quilt in the illusory realm is fraught with hardship.

Under Chu Xu's leadership, the gods arranged their troops into battle formation.

Xuan Ye chuckled, looked down at Huai Wen, pulled her into his arms, and wrapped his arms around her neck, asking, "What a pity, I haven't brought you back yet. What a pity, they're actually stopping us from going home."

With a determined look in his eyes, Huaiwen advised, "A-Ling, if we've done something wrong, let's correct it."

"I did something wrong?" Xuan Ye sneered. "Do you even know what right and wrong are?"

“In this world, only the winners are saints, and saints are right and wrong.” Xuan Ye said each word clearly, then sneered, “But you are all going to die, so what meaning do right and wrong have for you?”

Chu Xu rebuked him, saying, "Don't try to be so unreasonable and black and white. The great principles of the world cannot be understood by you with just a few words. Moreover, you have committed evil deeds, murdered innocent Taoist priests, seriously injured priests, misled others, and harmed the world. You are the one who deserves to die the most."

Bai Yuqi was furious: "Don't waste your breath on him. What's there to say about such a scourge?"

Mo Heng wanted to persuade Xuan Ye to surrender, but given the current situation, Shi Yulu could dissuade him no matter what he said. Regardless of how Xuan Ye had helped them escape danger before, even if they, like Lu Yuan, distrusted and remained suspicious of the matter...

But all of this is already laid out before them. They cannot follow Lu Yuan's old path. Moreover, the High Priest Chu Xu is right here. They cannot go against the High Priest's will. They are the ones who share the same path.

Huaiwen's eyes deepened; the situation didn't allow her time for further thought. She asked Xuan Ye again, "A-Ling, do you really want to be our enemy?"

“They are the ones who are my enemies,” Xuan Ye replied.

The stinging pain swept over Huaiwen again. She was like a cherry blossom that hadn't yet bloomed, broken off from its branch by the torrential rain, forever losing any hope of blossoming. Huaiwen slowly opened her eyes, her deep, dreamy, and lost gaze instantly transforming into a cold and ruthless one. She grabbed Xuan Ye's arm and rushed out, pulling him away.

The priests reacted quickly, and several of them gave chase. Pei Suqin watched this with great delight.

"Ah Jun, what are you doing!" Bai Yuqi asked, chasing after the two.

Cang Lun said, "Could she be planning to take care of Ling Shan Xuan Ye herself?"

As Chu Xu spoke, he flew even faster: "No, she'll die if she does this!"

However, Huaiwen was unable to fly far with Xuanye. She let go of Xuanye's hand because of the black mist and fell down. Xuanye reached out to grab Huaiwen.

The moment the two clasped hands, Huaiwen's clear eyes vanished, replaced by a green glint in them. With a blank expression, she gripped Xuan Ye's hand with her left, while wielding the Mingjing Sword with her right, intending to strike Xuan Ye with a single blow.

Xuan Ye naturally dodged, and the two began to fight in the air.

Mo Heng, Rong Yun, and Bai Yuqi, like Huai Wen, suddenly transformed, raising their swords to stab at Cang Lun and the others. The two groups fought in the air, while Pei Suqin watched from the sidelines, smiling broadly and clapping her hands in approval.

Seeing the situation was dire, Chu Xu broke free and dealt with Pei Suqin. Pei Suqin could only control Huaiwen and the other three to come over and shield her from Chu Xu. The group then fought several rounds in the air, with Chu Xu, Canglun, and Shi Yulu forcefully casting spells in an attempt to awaken the four who were being controlled.

"boom--"

Another giant cherry blossom fire fox appeared, and Pei Suqin hid.

Pei Suqin cursed, "They were a group of people trying to kill you, and I was helping you, yet you still want to kill me."

Xuan Ye sneered: "You're no better than me."

Pei Suqin angrily retorted, "Then don't blame me for being ruthless."

As he spoke, Pei Suqin manipulated Huaiwen and the other three, turning them to fight Xuan Ye. Chu Xu and the others had no choice but to turn around and fight Xuan Ye as well. What was even more infuriating was that during the fight, Pei Suqin suddenly relinquished control, forcing them to fight while fully conscious.

The more clear-headed you are, the more ruthless you become.

Blood continued to flow from Huaiwen's mouth. She could sense that during the fight, Xuan Ye was merely on guard against her and hadn't actually attacked her. Yet, she was the one who bled the most out of everyone present.

Huaiwen, exhausted, fell down. In his haste, Xuan Ye rushed down, which gave Chu Xu an opening. With a swift stroke, Chu Xu slashed Xuan Ye's waist, leaving a deep wound.

The group landed back on the ground.

Shi Yulu rushed over to help Huaiwen up: "Are you alright?"

Huaiwen, coughing up blood, shook his head: "It's... nothing."

"How can you be alright? You've been beaten up like this!" Rong Yun scolded anxiously. "You're hopeless."

Bai Yuqi glanced at Huaiwen, then stared at Xuan Ye, his killing intent growing stronger. Chu Xu calmed down; he could no longer be controlled by Pei Suqin, nor could he allow Xuan Ye to harm others. This matter couldn't be allowed to escalate too much, or the world would be in turmoil.

Xuan Ye glanced at the wound on his waist. He tried to heal it with magic, but Chu Xu's sword wound meant that the healing wouldn't be complete; he could only endure the bleeding. Xuan Ye then turned to look at Huai Wen, seeing her coughing up large amounts of blood, and felt even colder.

The spiritual beings of the illusory realm surged, the trees swayed, and unease descended upon this land. Huaiwen wiped the blood from her mouth; the endlessly churning black energy within her was slowly draining her dry. She observed, pondered, and for the first time, felt utterly powerless.

Various cries echoed through the forest, and Chu Xu knew he couldn't wait any longer. He communicated with Shi Yuluo and Cang Lun telepathically and gave the order. While Pei Suqin was mocking them, they launched their attack.

Pei Suqin was nearly trapped inside Shi Yuluo's glass umbrella. She screamed, burning with rage, and attempted to inject more dark energy into the four of them. Cang Lun and Shi Yuluo cut off the dark energy, and Pei Suqin changed her attack direction, but Chu Xu neutralized it.

Pei Suqin was furious. She manipulated Huaiwen and the other three, intending to target Canglun and Shi Yuluo once again.

Chu Xu shouted, "You four, wake up!"

Amidst the dizzying spin, Huaiwen regained control of herself. She resisted fiercely and finally broke free from Pei Suqin's grasp, tumbling to the ground. Enraged, Pei Suqin took the sister red spider lily from Huaiwen's body and infused it with her own dark energy.

She held it up in the air and smiled at Huaiwen: "Your master treats you the same way, giving you a red spider lily."

Huaiwen's face darkened: "Give it back to me."

"Here you go, of course I'll give it back to you." Pei Suqin smiled. "But do you know why you were the most seriously injured, and couldn't even hit me?"

Pei Suqin didn't give Huaiwen a chance to think or answer, but instead laughed wildly: "It's because your master wants you dead. This plant on your body can sense me, so how could I not sense you? You're too stupid, you trust your master too much."

"If you are going to die, remember this: the person who killed you was your master."

"Whoosh—" The red spider lily rushed towards Huaiwen. Xuan Ye tried to burn it with foxfire, but it was enveloped by black energy and could not be burned completely. It still ended up on Huaiwen.

Pei Suqin clapped and laughed: "I never thought that the dignified Demon King would become a slave for love."

"If you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish." Pei Suqin roared to the sky, "Don't be impatient, I'll make sure you all die a satisfying death."

The wind rustled through the forest, and a powerful force was rapidly enveloping them. Chu Xu frowned: "This is bad! The vengeful spirit of that Taoist priest has awakened! His ghost is here!"

The siege was getting more and more intense. Shi Yuluo and Cang Lun sensed the subtle changes around them. They made their moves cautiously, but when they swung their swords, nothing happened.

When Huaiwen saw the red spider lily mark reappear on her arm, her thoughts became chaotic again. When did it begin that she seemed to lose control of events? She thought about it and figured it was after entering the illusory realm. She became confused, lost her judgment, lost the ability to control herself, and lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

The datura flowers seemed to be rooted in Huaiwen's body, like sister plants, meaning they coexisted. Huaiwen was now merely the physical body Pei Suqin desired.

Did her master really want her dead?

Fu Lin also said that Xuan Ye was her calamity.

So you deliberately let her discover that Xuan Ye had killed his former companions. You want her to come to her senses, right?

The ghost of the dead Taoist priest was gathering, the wind and clouds were rising, and a sudden chill descended. Pei Suqin laughed loudly. Chu Xu shouted, "Set up the formation!"

All the divine officials, the five elements, the earth's foundation, and the destiny of the heavens and earth. Pei Suqin interfered again, disrupting the formation.

Chu Xu shouted, "Mo Heng, Rong Yun, hold on, don't let them control you!"

Xuan Ye stood up, looked back at Huai Wen who was squatting on the ground, and said, "You are... just like them."

Huaiwen looked up at Xuan Ye with a gloomy expression, while Xuan Ye stared at his back. Perhaps because he was looking closely, Huaiwen suddenly noticed that Xuan Ye's originally bright red clothes had turned dark red and were emitting a bloody smell.

She examined the clothes more closely; the pattern and design were the same white clothes she had given Xuan Ye, except that the white clothes were stained red, the red of fresh blood.

What happened in between?

Before Huaiwen could even ask, he saw Xuan Ye use his Fire Fox to shatter the ghost's form. But Xuan Ye, covered in blood, looked as if he had lost half his life; the color of the flames on his Cherry Blossom Fire Fox had changed.

The ghost was being dispersed, while the black energy within Huaiwen's body was merging with the red spider lily. In that instant, she realized something.

"call--"

Huaiwen was summoning black energy clusters when suddenly, the black energy clusters that were buried deep within Mo Heng, Rong Yun, and Bai Yuqi gradually emerged and were drawn to Huaiwen.

Pei Suqin immediately realized what was happening and activated the black energy to control Huaiwen. The Manjusaka sisters were in a superior position, with the elder sister able to forcibly control the younger sister.

Huaiwen's body began to tense up, and the patterns on her face started to bloom, with blackheads threatening to engulf her. Xuan Ye wanted to go over to help, but was mistaken for someone who wanted to attack Huaiwen, and was stopped by Chu Xu and Bai Yuqi.

The three immediately started a new round, with Canglun and Rongyun joining in as well.

Seeing this scene, Huaiwen shouted and used the power of the black energy within her to force the red spider lily out of her body. As soon as the red spider lily emerged from Huaiwen's body, it was immediately collected into Shi Yulu's glass umbrella.

Once again, Huaiwen coughed up blood.

Mo Heng and Shi Yulu stepped forward to help Huaiwen up, but she refused. Huaiwen looked at Pei Suqin, whose ghostly aura had also faded, and said, "Take her in, you two go quickly."

"Then what are you going to do?" Mo Heng asked.

"I'm fine."

The moment she finished speaking, Huaiwen vanished from their sight and instantly teleported to Xuan Ye's side. She stood in front of Xuan Ye, saying, "My lords, please wait a moment. Even if A Ling was in the wrong first, if it weren't for him, we wouldn't have been able to escape the seal of the formation."

“Are you still going to defend him? Do you know that the very reason we escaped was to kill him!” Bai Yuqi shouted. “If you’re with him, you’re making an enemy of all of us.”

Chu Xu advised, "You were able to enter that formation because of him. Otherwise, why would I have sent two newly ascended junior officials to handle such a formation?"

Rong Yun couldn't bear it: "A-Jun, don't make a mistake."

Huaiwen smiled bitterly: "I know. But I still implore the High Priest and Senior Brother to show leniency. Xuan Ye has made a mistake and must be arrested, but not killed. Death is not the best solution for us."

"I'll ask you one last time, are you going to make an enemy of your senior brother?" Bai Yuqi pressed, his face stern.