Lan Nian quickly realized that Wang Xinrui had already passed away. Her chest was bruised and swollen, and her internal organs were spilling out onto the floor; it would be strange if she hadn't died. Immediately afterward, Lan Nian noticed that the Lan Nian in the bedroom was exhibiting unusual spiritual activity.

Lan Nian was overjoyed. It seemed her previous calculations were correct. As long as Wang Xinrui died, that person's soul would be extracted from this world: she would be free! After being a slave for so long, she had finally made it!

There's an old saying, "to gloat over someone's misfortune." Lan Nian was incredibly excited, her heart pounding. Unfortunately, things in this world rarely go as planned.

Besides, she's being far too optimistic. Has she forgotten that she's the real enemy who killed the original owner of Lan Nian's entire family?

When the strange movement of the soul came from Chu Nian's room, Lan Nian's joy lasted for less than two seconds before she felt her own soul being shaken.

Actually, she didn't need her soul to be separated, because this body was formed by her using divine power, unlike Chu Nian who transmigrated. But it seemed as if they were deliberately peeling off her skin, taking only the spirit inside.

When she came to her senses, she found herself on the sacred mountain.

The sacred mountain was no longer the same as when the brushstrokes were still there; it had returned to the state it was when Chu Nian, that woman, descended to the mortal realm for reincarnation: the well was gone, replaced by the ever-blooming red plum tree; the desk was still there, but the things on it had changed—light tea and pale cups, ancient lamps emitting wisps of smoke, vast and boundless…

Not far away, Chu Nian lay on a chaise lounge, her eyes closed, her face serene, seemingly asleep. But Lan Nian instinctively knew she wasn't asleep; she just wanted to see her reaction.

So Lan Nian stood there obediently, like a little slave waiting for his master to order him around at any time.

Honestly, although she appeared meek and submissive, she was seething inside: Why had she been stripped of her physical body and brought to this place? Where was the freedom she had envisioned? Where was the freedom she wanted to roam freely?

Lan Nian was so frustrated she was about to cry, but on the surface she had to put on a respectful and obedient face and wait for the woman reclining leisurely on the chaise lounge to speak.

She was separated from the tip of the pen, which had been bound by this woman for tens of millions of years, and thus had an extraordinary understanding of this woman's habits and ways of doing things. She knew that this woman definitely had something for her to do, and was just waiting for her attitude.

As expected, Chu Nian didn't even open her eyes, and said calmly, "Go to the underworld and reseal the magic seal on the pen knife." With that, she raised her hand, and a crystal-clear jade cup flew out from her palm, stopping in the void in front of Lan Nian.

Lan Nian exclaimed in surprise, "Me??" She was a part of the soul separated from the brush tip, and they were actually sending her to seal the brush tip's magic power?

Chu Nian: "Of course you should go. Now that you've gained full intelligence and have an independent self-awareness, you probably don't want to be taken back by the pen knife and become a part of it. It's so much better to be yourself! So, there shouldn't be anyone in this world more afraid of the pen knife's full power than you!"

Chu Nian is right; Lan Nian has extremely conflicted feelings about the pen knife.

On the one hand, she felt that the pen strokes, as her own subject, had always been suppressed and controlled by Chu Nian, which made her feel constrained. Therefore, she hoped that one day the pen strokes could break free from Chu Nian's control.

On the other hand, the thought of her returning to Bifeng's body, becoming a part of Bifeng again, no longer an independent self, was frustrating even to think about, let alone actually returning to Bifeng's body. Therefore, she was also very afraid that Bifeng would regain its freedom and magical power, and merge her back into it.

Lan Nian hesitated for a moment, but ultimately accepted the jade cup. She chose to remain true to herself and turned to head towards the underworld.

Chu Nian knew it would be like this. Who would be willing to sacrifice themselves to benefit others? Besides, it's not like the pen knife wouldn't exist without Lan Nian's part.

If Lan Nian doesn't return to her original form, the pen knife will still exist; but if the pen knife forces Lan Nian to return to her original form, Lan Nian will cease to exist. This is inherently unfair to Lan Nian, and Chu Nian doesn't think she did anything wrong by making this choice.

Lan Nian and Bi Dao are like Lou Qianzong and Chu Nian. Chu Nian never thought about bringing Lou Qianzong back; she actually hoped he could live on like this forever. Now, Lou Qianzong is like her real child to her—after all, he's flesh and blood of her own flesh.

After Lan Nian left, Chu Nian got up and went to the place where the well had been before. Looking at the ground that had been restored to its original state, she saw that the supernatural power here was much stronger than when she left. This meant that because of her reincarnation, her magical power and lifespan were much stronger than before.

In the realm of gods, deities are nourished by divine energy, and these deities themselves are integrated with the environment of the divine realm, generating divine energy in turn. The divine realm and the deities are mutually cyclical, ensuring the perpetual generation of divine energy.

Although the well had disappeared, it reappeared with a wave of Chu Nian's hand. Now, she had not only regained her immense supernatural powers from before her reincarnation, but her magical power was also stronger than before because she had absorbed the power of the Heavenly Dao from Wang Xinrui.

The reason she left the world where Wang Xinrui was just now was not because she was brought back by the power of the pen knife sealed deep in the underworld as before, nor was it her own doing, but rather by another kind of energy.

She sensed it clearly; it came from the underworld of the book, from the magical power of Lin Jingting, the Northern Emperor.

This kid is amazing; he can actually control whether she stays or leaves.

But Lin Jingting's prowess didn't mean she was weak. After rebuilding the well, she took out the boundary stone she had previously refined. This boundary stone could only open the gates to the underworld within the world of the book, but now she modified it further, turning it into a direct route to the underworld within the book's world.

Lin Jingting was probably afraid that her soul would be damaged if she stayed in the world of the book, so he went to great lengths to first establish the Underworld, and slowly take control of the cause and effect cycle of the entire world in the book, and finally seized the opportunity to send her away from there.

But Chu Nian was never the kind of person to shirk responsibility; letting others bear the consequences of her actions was not her style. Since Bi Dao had constructed this vast world within the book to take revenge on her, then the karmic cycle of this world should rightfully be borne by her.

Activating the boundary stone and traversing the newly dug well, Chu Nian was once again in the underworld of the book.

The destination she set was the entrance to the seventh gate, where the stone statue that Bai Ze had transformed into was located.

This time she appeared in her true form. Presumably, seeing that she was not the same as before, the Bai Ze immediately reacted, exclaiming "My God!" and instantly reverted to its original form as a Bai Ze beast. Then it prostrated itself on the ground and cried out, "Greetings, Master!"

The guy's voice was trembling, and his body was shaking uncontrollably; he was probably terrified!