The Ruthless Sword Sect and the Myriad Demon Sect are, respectively, the leader of the righteous path and the guardian of the evil path.

Over the past thousand years, numerous minor conflicts have arisen between the two sects, either due to their positions or their interests. However, since the Immortal King and Demon Lord were still alive at that time, they were mindful of saving face and did not cause any major incidents.

But now, both the Immortal King and the Demon Lord have disappeared—reported as missing to the outside world, but those who are interested know that the Demon King who accompanied them is dead, and the two of them have probably perished as well.

When disputes arise among the people below, they naturally don't have as many concerns as before; they kill without hesitation and make a fuss without restraint.

This commotion escalated into a major incident.

The foremost member of the new generation of the Ruthless Sword Sect died in an operation organized by cultivators to exterminate demonic cultivators. Afterwards, his master, an elder of the Ruthless Sword Sect, went to demand an explanation and perished together with an elder of the Myriad Demon Sect.

This matter alarmed the Ruthless Sword Immortal.

This aloof swordsman locked himself in the archives that recorded his deeds over the years for three days. Afterward, he left the Ruthless Sword Sect to demand an explanation from the Myriad Demon Sect. He filled half of his blood tank with the lives and blood of demon cultivators before returning to the Ruthless Sword Sect to formally declare war on the Myriad Demon Sect.

Yang Lingyao explained the cause and course of events, and then asked, "When do you plan to take action against the Ruthless Sword Immortal?"

Mugwort looks to Qingyun, Qingyun looks to Zhao Wenwen, and Zhao Wenwen looks to Mugwort.

Ai Cao thought for a moment and asked Zhao Wenwen, "Are there any people who are weaker than him right now?"

Zhao Wenwen took out a talisman she had just modified and burned it with her spiritual power. The talisman was burned to ashes by her spiritual power, and the ashes formed a map in mid-air.

On the map, there are several areas where light shines through and there is no gray.

There are four points of light.

Zhao Wenwen looked at the map and said, "There's one that's close to mortals. I don't remember there being many cultivators with high cultivation levels in the mortal realm. Why don't we go there and take a look first?"

In her mind, Ai Cao asked the system, "Is there a location?"

Seeing that it was finally useful, the system quickly said, "Yes! It has everything!" It sent Ai Cao its real-time location and then whispered to her, "This can only show the male supporting character's current location; it can't show who's around him."

Ai Cao responded softly. She briefly compared the real-time location map from the system in her mind with the map made of ashes in front of her, then pointed to a point of light and asked, "Is this the place?"

Zhao Wenwen's eyes widened in surprise, then she smiled and said, "Yes."

Since she was reborn, she shouldn't be surprised by any special abilities of the mugwort anymore.

Qingyun picked up the mugwort and said, "Let's go now."

Zhao Wenwen smiled and stopped her, saying, "Please wait a moment." She took out a stack of talismans from her bosom and handed them to Qingyun, "Each talisman can only last for half an hour. Take these with you. If you lose track of them, burn another one to check their location."

Qingyun accepted it with a smile.

She carried the mugwort out the door, rose upwards, and flew straight in that direction.

Ai Cao's mouth was covered in the wind, so she raised her hand to cover her face and asked, "Are you in such a hurry?"

“Yes,” Qingyun said. She glanced down at the mugwort that was covering her face with her hands and kindly cast a layer of spiritual energy around it.

"Why?" Ai Cao asked curiously, "You didn't seem to be in such a hurry when we were on the Demon Continent a couple of years ago."

Qingyun rolled her eyes at her.

Qingyun said, "Because my time is almost up."

The mugwort asked, "What is your death date?"

"The lifespan of this body of mine is limited," Qingyun said. "Ordinary foxes can live for ten years, while the demon foxes of Qingqiu can live for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. Although I was once a demon fox of Qingqiu, in this life, I was only given a ten-year lifespan."

Artemisia listened to her in silence.

Qingyun smiled. She channeled more spiritual energy around herself and said, "This war is my only chance in this life to achieve the Ten-Tails' perfection—if I let someone go, I will be trapped in the Nine-Tails' cycle forever."

"I don't want this." Qingyun flew faster and faster, but her words remained clear. "I don't want that."

They stood above the palace of mortals.

The imperial palace was surrounded by a misty purple aura—to distinguish mortal emperors from ordinary people, the Heavenly Dao bestowed this purple aura upon the palace grounds. Only cultivators nearing ascension, leaving this realm, could fly over this purple aura.

Qingyun currently only has five tails and is still quite a distance from ascension.

She could only land outside the palace.

Ai Cao glanced at the heavily guarded outer perimeter of the palace and sighed. She took out the small porcelain bottle containing Yang Lingyao's blood, dabbed some blood on her eyelids, and applied it.

Ai Cao opened her eyes. She looked around but didn't see the familiar female ghosts. She frowned and looked into the distance—

The mugwort plant stagnated.

Countless women, their faces distorted or blurred, surrounded the swirling purple mist. They struggled futilely against the outer shell formed by the purple mist. Some of them disappeared, only to be replaced by those who came later.

Ai Cao asked, "Is there any way to tear through this layer of purple mist?"

Qingyun shook his head.

Artemisia asked the system again.

The system proudly declared, "As long as it's stained with a woman's menstrual blood, it will break!"

Artemisia was silent for a moment, then asked incredulously, "That's it?"

The system said confidently, "Of course! Otherwise, why would it say that women who are menstruating cannot enter the palace!"

It thought for a moment and added, "Although the [Menstrual] skill causes men to bleed, it can have the same effect under the influence of the skill!"

Ai Cao told Qingyun what she had seen and how to get rid of the purple aura. Qingyun then beckoned to a group of guards patrolling outside the palace, and the guards, as if bewitched, quickly came over.

“I’ve bewitched them,” Qingyun said. “What do you want them to do?”

Ai Cao opened her skill panel and used the [Menstrual] skill on the leader. She then used the skills on the other guards whose armor looked more ornate, leaving only one use remaining.

Menstruation quickly contorted their frenzied faces.

Looking at their pained faces, Ai Cao spoke calmly: "Take them into the palace."

Qingyun waved his hand. They then turned around and walked towards the small gate of the palace.

Their abnormal state, caused by the bewitching, was quickly discovered. They were stopped at the small gate. But even the side gate of the palace was shrouded in a faint, misty purple aura.

The purple aura came into contact with the blood they were bleeding from their menstrual period.

It boils like water, then melts like snowflakes meeting the sun.

The countless female ghosts who had been kept outside the purple aura were finally able to roam freely in every corner of the palace.

Artemisia said calmly, "I'm going to use the [Good Pregnancy] skill now."

As she spoke calmly, several female ghosts who were relatively close to her turned their heads. Then, more female ghosts, whose movements had stopped, slowly turned their heads.

They were all listening to the mugwort speak.

Ai Cao continued, "As long as you find a living man, I can use his body to help you rebuild your body." She thought for a moment, then added, "Go find whoever you have a grudge against."

She flashed her pearly white teeth: "Go ahead."