The wind blew across the ruins on the platform, sounding like a ghostly howl.
The spiritual energy in mid-air, resembling a galaxy, was gradually dispersed by the cold wind, and the faint traces gradually disappeared from the vast天地 (heaven and earth).
It was as if everything in the world had come to a standstill at that moment.
Apart from the bone-chilling wind, the floating dust in the air, and the constantly flowing blood on the ground, time seemed to stand still for everything on the Wind and Cloud Platform.
Their steps froze on the spot, their breath stolen by the wind that carried Xie Shuci's aura as it drifted gently through the air.
They were motionless and breathless, as if they could freeze Xie Shuci's existence at this moment with the stillness of time.
Xie An, who had been falling from mid-air following Xie Shuci's figure, stopped in mid-air.
His fingertips touched a corner of Xie Shuci's clothes, where a trace of warmth from Xie Shuci still lingered.
"Xie Shuci..." He stared at the empty ground, calling out Xie Shuci's name in a daze.
The world was filled with Xie Shuci's presence.
The wind felt on my face as if Xie Shuci's hands were gently caressing me.
He was surrounded by Xie Shuci's scent, but where was Xie Shuci?
Xie Shuci was neither in front of him nor beside him.
What about Xie Shuci?
He looked up, searching aimlessly for Xie Shuci's figure in the crowd.
Xie Shuci is right here, why can't I see him?
As if sensing its master's guidance, the Crimson Sky Sword burst forth from the sky.
It exuded a terrifying aura of ferocity, and the sword trembled violently as if it were about to explode. The sword light flashed continuously in the air, forming an afterimage in front of everyone, chasing after the traces of Xie Shuci left in the human world.
Xie An's body slowly fell to the ground. He looked up at the others around him, his eyes filled with confusion, "Where is Xie Shuci?"
Upon meeting his gaze, everyone involuntarily shivered.
At this moment, Xie An's eyes were bloodshot, and the holy son mark between his brows had changed from its original bright white to a mark like a drop of blood on his brow.
A reddish-black spiritual energy continuously emanated from his body, fluctuating unstablely as if it were about to spiral out of control at any moment.
The Crimson Sky Sword desperately tried to preserve the last traces Xie Shuci left in this world. The sword flew swiftly through the air, emitting a series of tearing sword cries. On the silent Wind and Cloud Platform, it seemed to be performing a final swan song for Xie Shuci's life.
"Xiao Xun is about to suffer a qi deviation!"
"Get out of here immediately! If Xiao Xun suffers a qi deviation, everyone will be doomed!"
But just as they were about to escape, a chilling killing intent enveloped them, their feet seemed to be bound to the spot by an invisible rope, cold sweat poured down their foreheads, and they dared not make the slightest move.
This devastating killing intent grew even stronger as Xie Shuci's aura was dispersed by the cold wind.
Xie An couldn't find Xie Shuci. He slowly lowered his head, and his imposing aura exploded like an explosion, spreading throughout the entire Fengyuntai and enveloping everyone on the platform.
This murderous aura clung to everyone's skin like a maggot, as if a sharp blade were pressed against their necks, threatening to kill them at the slightest mistake.
The Crimson Sky Sword swept across the sky, returning to Xie An with a trail of icy, bone-chilling light.
The unparalleled killing intent in the air made the Crimson Sky Sword tremble with excitement. It could fully sense its master's state of mind at this moment, and it knew that it was about to have a feast.
The surrounding sounds seemed to fall into water, and no matter how you listened, they were muffled and indistinct, as if separated by something, and you couldn't hear them at all.
Xie An lowered his head, the cold wind blowing his dark hair across his forehead, which fluttered messily at his temples. The spiritual energy around him surged, forming a crimson mist that enveloped him, with lightning-like cracks churning within the mist.
He slowly reached out and grasped the Crimson Sky Sword in front of him, which he was extremely excited about, and gradually raised his head.
His eyes flashed with an eerie, scarlet light, but they were completely empty.
Xie Shuci is dead.
He stated the fact calmly, without any change in his voice or expression, as if he were talking about something insignificant.
The crowd stared in terror, desperately wanting to escape this place, to escape Xie An's empty eyes. But faced with this overwhelming killing intent, their bodies were no longer under their control, as if they had lost all strength. They could only watch helplessly as Xie An, like a demon, slowly raised the Crimson Sky Sword in his hand.
"My Xie Shuci is dead—"
His eyes were cold, as if he were saying something perfectly natural: "Your 'Xie Shuci' should die too."
"No……"
He then slowly shook his head. “No, my Xie Shuci has disappeared, and your ‘Xie Shuci’ will also disappear.”
His letter of thanks is gone, and no one can have a "letter of thanks".
"boom!"
A loud bang echoed from the Fengyun Platform. As Xie Shuci disappeared and the small pouch that had fallen to the ground was opened by a huge object, a divine ship appeared before everyone.
Three teenagers stood on the Shenzhou spacecraft. Their hair color was different from that of ordinary people, and their aura was also different from that of humans.
Xie An seemed to smell something and looked over in confusion.
The king stood on the deck, his eyes brimming with tears, searching for his father's figure in the crowd.
He squeezed through the gap in the ship's side and jumped off the Shenzhou.
"Where is Father? Father..."
The air is filled with his father's presence, every speck of dust in the air carries his father's scent, but he can't find his father's location. Where is his father?
Large tears rolled down his pale little face. He rubbed his tear-filled eyes and climbed onto the ruins on the ground with his little hands and feet, thinking that if he stood a little higher, he could see his father.
But no, he didn't see his father. The aura of his father in the air was getting fainter and fainter, as if it was about to disappear.
"Mother... Mother..."
The king saw his mother standing in the middle of the crowd, clutching the Crimson Sky Sword tightly in her hand. His mother's face was terrifying, and her aura was terrifying, but she was his mother. She would not harm the king. She would take the king to find his father.
"Mother..."
The king tripped over a small stone and fell to the ground with a thud, scraping his elbow. Tears soaked his face with dust, which clung stickily to his skin. He cried even harder, scrambling to his feet. He stretched out his hands and sobbed, "Mother...where's Father? I want Father...the king is in so much pain...the king is in so much pain...I want Father to blow on it..."
"Your Majesty!" Little Silver jumped off the divine ship, blocking the king's path, and looked warily at Xie An, whose aura was extremely strange not far away.
Chu Wenfeng gritted his teeth and quickly rushed behind the king, picking him up in his arms. "Xie An has gone mad with qi deviation. Let's leave here first."
"Brother Wenfeng, where is Father? I want Father..." The little king clutched his clothes tightly and wailed.
Chu Wenfeng gritted his teeth, tears streaming down his face, "He...he..."
The king rubbed his tear-filled eyes with the back of his hand, "I want to find my mother... Mother will take you to find your father... Mother!"
Xie An of the Great Dynasty stretched out his hands, wanting his mother to hug him. He missed his mother so much, and he longed to see his father.
"Your Majesty... Xie Shuci declined his request..."
The king ignored what he was saying, and suddenly transformed into a little puppy in his arms, slipped off his arms, bypassed the crowd, and pounced on Xie An.
"Don't go over there!" Chu Wenfeng shouted, but the king had already run up to Xie An and hugged his leg tightly.
The king transformed back into a four-year-old child, his little hands tightly gripping Xie An's leg. "Mother... Mother... Let's go find Father... Where is Father... Let's go find Father, okay..."
His tears soaked Xie An's clothes.
Xie An's hand holding the Crimson Cloud Sword trembled slightly, and his body trembled uncontrollably amidst the king's mournful cries.
He slowly brought the hand holding the Crimson Sky Sword closer to the king, as if with just a little force he could tear the child beside him to shreds.
But when his hand stopped above the king's head, the figure of the Crimson Sky Sword gradually disappeared in mid-air, and in its place, Xie An covered the king's head with his large palm.
"Alright, I'll take you to find Father." Xie An's aura calmed down, his voice low and hoarse, as if he had never spoken before.
He bent down and embraced the king.
The little boy clung tightly to Xie An's neck, crying his heart out, "Father's presence is gone, I can't find Father... Father... Mother, I want Father..."
Xie An lowered his head and gently patted the king's back with his palm, "You won't lose your father."
"Father..."
He gently comforted the king, then slowly raised his head to look at the group of people from the Floating Pagoda Realm.
His eyes were like frost that had accumulated for tens of thousands of years. He said, "Bixie, open the Samsara Array. Today, I will offer them as a sacrifice to the Book of Samsara."
The people of the Floating Pagoda Realm were taken aback upon hearing this. "We are not people who have been banished by the Heavenly Dao..."
“You are the ones who ward off evil.”
When the Heavenly Dao sees the result of Bixie proving the Dao with his own body, everyone in the Floating Pagoda Realm will be regarded as one with Bixie.
“If you want to live, if you want your people to live, you can only become slaves of the Book of Reincarnation. If you are unwilling to make sacrifices, I will kill you. I will kill millions of people in the Floating Pagoda Realm until someone is willing to make a sacrifice. I have decades, hundreds of years, or even thousands of years. As long as the Reincarnation Array is there, I can resurrect Xie Shuci at any time.”
“Even if it means killing every living thing in the world, I will find a way to create sacrifices. I have endless time, but you only have now.”
His words were like a final prophecy from Death to humanity, and no one present doubted their truthfulness.
Xiao Xun never cared about the laws of heaven, the opinions of the world about him, or the existence or death of any life in the world.
His letter of thanks has disappeared, and there is no need for other people's letters of thanks to exist.
Bixie looked at him with a complicated expression. Perhaps he had miscalculated. Xie An hated the Way of Heaven so much, hated the so-called destiny so much, hated being manipulated by others so much. How could he become a slave to the Book of Reincarnation?
Yes, he had countless hours to resurrect Xie Shuci. If there were no offerings, he could find ways to create them. Why would he sacrifice himself?
He wants to resurrect Xie Shuci, and then, as Xie Shuci once mentioned, forget Xie Shuci.
He forgot Xie Shuci, and Xie Shuci, in his reincarnation, also forgot him, so their future could coexist.
But isn't it funny?
The one who said he was dead was Xie An, but the one who insisted on pursuing an afterlife was Xie Shuci; now, the one who says he is dead is Xie Shuci, but the one who insists on giving Xie Shuci an afterlife where he can forget himself is Xie An.
The one who said they would forget each other and live separately was Xie Shuci, while the one who refused to forget was Xie An; now, the one who wants to forget each other and live separately is Xie An, while the one who wants to copy his memories into a bell so that he will remember them in the next life is Xie Shuci.
From beginning to end, their thinking was completely reversed.
Bixie chuckled softly, clasped his hands together, and channeled his spiritual power, causing a white array to appear on the ground.
A powerful surge of spiritual energy whipped up a gust of wind that blinded everyone.
The cultivators of the Floating Pagoda Realm looked at Xie An, and Xie An looked at them quietly. His dark pupils showed little emotion, but he also had little patience.
"Your Majesty, count from one to ten," Xie An said.
The king looked up, bewildered. He didn't know what his mother wanted to do, but she would take him to his father. "Okay..."
"one……"
“If I don’t see any offerings before he finishes counting, I will kill you all and then enter the Floating Pagoda Realm,” Xie An said calmly.
The faces of everyone in the Floating Pagoda Realm turned ashen instantly.
"two……"
"Xiao Xun, if we sacrifice ourselves to the Reincarnation Array, will you use the Book of Reincarnation to allow our disciples to enter the cycle of reincarnation after they die?"
Xie An nodded. "Of course."
Upon hearing this, the Grand Elder said, "Since that's the case, sacrificing six people to refine the Book of Reincarnation can save the Floating Pagoda Realm and all the innocent people in the world who have been banished by the Heavenly Dao. We should follow one after another! As an elder of the Fate Pavilion, I should have the right to choose who will be the sacrifice."
"three……"
"Pah! What nonsense are you spouting at a time like this?" Liu Dazhuang cursed. "Since you're so good at spouting grand principles, why don't you have a bunch of old fogies from your Siming Pavilion come and offer themselves as sacrifices? I'll be one, and you just need to find five more people."
"Four……"
"Isn't everything that happened because of your Fate Pavilion? If you hadn't forced the Heavenly Dao Saint Son to cultivate the Path of Slaughter, how could this have happened? You, the Fate Pavilion, should be the ones to make the sacrifice!"
"five……"
The First Elder's face turned ashen with rage. "Don't you know why the Fate Pavilion did this? Haven't you done enough using Xiao Xun? Do you even remember who it was back then?"
"Your disciple killed Xiao Chenfeng? If Xiao Chenfeng hadn't died, how could he have cultivated the Path of Slaughter?"
"In my opinion, the people of the Xiaoyao Sect should be sacrificed! They stole the fortune of the Banxia Clan to survive until now, and they deserve to be punished."
Jiu'er stood at the back of the crowd, watching their argument with a pale face.
He found it strange and unfamiliar; these people seemed different from the ones he knew in the Floating Realm.
From a young age, they taught him to follow the will of Heaven, that the will of Heaven is the master of everything, that everything they possessed came from the Way of Heaven, and that they should thank the Way of Heaven, be grateful to the Way of Heaven, and vow to defend the Way of Heaven to the death.
But what they are doing now is helping two people who should be banished by the Heavenly Dao to reclaim half of the power from the Heavenly Dao, and to resurrect those who were killed and turned to ashes by the Heavenly Dao because of their heinous crimes. If this continues, will anyone still respect the Heavenly Dao, and will evil people still be bound by the laws of Heaven and Earth?
If the Book of Reincarnation were to appear in the world, what would ordinary people and cultivators face?
When the laws of heaven and earth can no longer restrain those evil people, will they still have any scruples in their hearts?
No... The Book of Reincarnation must never appear in the mortal world...
They did wrong, and they should be expelled by the laws of heaven and earth. How can they forcibly take half of the power from the Heavenly Dao just because everyone in the Floating Pagoda Realm will be destroyed, and then help the wicked?
"six."
The king wasn't counting very fast. He was a little scared but also a little expectant. Would his father appear when he finished counting? What if his father didn't appear when he finished counting?
While they were arguing righteously about who should be sacrificed, no one noticed that Dove quietly picked up the mud-covered staff that had fallen into the ruins.
"seven."
"Think carefully, Xiao Xun isn't joking. If we can't find six people, he really will kill us! He'll kill everyone in the Floating Pagoda Realm! Since we can't be reincarnated after death anyway, why don't you..."
"What do you mean 'you all'? Aren't you part of the Floating Pagoda Realm? You know that once you die, you have nothing left, so why don't you sacrifice yourself?"
"Those who should be sacrificed are the truly heinous criminals! They should use their own lives to save all those innocently banished from the world!"
"eight."
"There's no time left!"
Seeing that they had not reached a conclusion, Xie An's face grew increasingly gloomy. With a thought, the Crimson Sky Sword, which had just disappeared, reappeared out of thin air, slicing past everyone with a sharp sword aura.
Upon coming into contact with the sword energy of the Crimson Sky Sword, everyone got goosebumps.
"Make a decision quickly!"
"We were already severely injured; it would be easy for Xiao Xun to kill us!"
"Nine……"
"Pfft—"
Suddenly, the sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh rang out around everyone.
A strange, pungent smell of blood instantly spread around them, and everyone turned to look in astonishment.
Bixie stood on the outskirts of the crowd, his heart pierced by a staff, blood dripping down the ancient patterns of the staff like broken beads. At the other end of the staff was Jiu'er, her face pale and tears streaming down her face.
"Dove!"
"You're insane! If you kill him, we'll all die too!"
"The Evil-Repelling Staff cannot die! If it dies, the Reincarnation Array will also disappear! The survival of the Floating Pagoda Realm depends entirely on the Book of Reincarnation!"
Jiu'er gripped his staff tightly, gritted his teeth, and pushed forward a few inches. His voice trembled as he said, "The Book of Reincarnation must never appear in the world... We can die, but we must never let the Book of Reincarnation wreak havoc on humanity..."
"You beast! What are you doing?!"
The elder was furious and slammed his palm down on Jiu'er's back. His palm was filled with terrifying spiritual power, and Jiu'er would surely die if she took this blow.
"grandfather……"
"It is a pale face," Jiu'er murmured.
But at this critical moment, a golden spiritual force protected Jiu'er and sent the Grand Elder flying several feet away.
Bixie chuckled softly, then gripped the staff and plunged it a few inches deeper into his heart.
“Jiu’er, you are right.” Bixie chuckled. “Once the Book of Reincarnation appears in the world, the human realm will surely be thrown into chaos. You are not afraid of life or death, nor do you covet immortality; you are a true cultivator. However, there is no need to worry about this. The first person resurrected by the Book of Reincarnation can control it. Whoever he wants to enter reincarnation is qualified to enter reincarnation.”
If you want to live, you must respect him, love him, and worship him as a god!
"Xie An, I thought the future had changed, but now it seems that it hasn't."
Xie An stood still, quietly watching this scene.
He seemed completely unsurprised by the near-death Bixie.
Bixie looked at him and laughed loudly, "Did you already have a guess, which is why you took the Soul-Locking Chain into your possession when you were in Jiyue City?"
Xie An didn't speak, but turned his head to look at the Reincarnation Array not far away.
Once the spirit soul of the evil-repelling deity disappears, the Samsara Array will also cease to exist.
No one knows whether Xie An can create the Book of Reincarnation, nor does anyone know whether it will take another seven thousand years for Xie An to create the Book of Reincarnation.
If the reincarnation formation disappears, Xie Shuci's only chance to come back to life will also disappear.
"Quick! Protect his heart! Bixie absolutely cannot die!"
The cultivators of the Floating Pagoda Realm tried to use their spiritual power to stop the loss of Bixie's life, but to no avail.
Because Bixie didn't want to die, no one could kill him. But at this moment, for him, his goal had finally been achieved, and he could die without regrets.
The energy within Bixie's body rapidly dissipated, causing the Reincarnation Array on the ground to become faintly visible.
Xie An slowly put the king down from his arms, glanced down at his tear-streaked face, and said, "Go back to Chu Wenfeng, I will bring Father back."
The king looked at him blankly, "Mother..."
"Walk."
The king dared not disobey his mother. He pouted and tears fell down his face. He didn't dare to linger any longer and turned to run towards Chu Wenfeng and the others.
The sky was filled with wind and thunderclouds, as if a huge storm was brewing.
Xie An lowered his head, remaining silent as if nothing was necessary, and slowly walked into the Reincarnation Array.
Becoming a slave to the Book of Reincarnation and resurrecting Xie Shuci doesn't seem as unacceptable as one might imagine.
He didn't even struggle internally.
Perhaps Bixie was right. Back when he asked Xie Shuci to buy the Soul-Locking Chain, he had a vague premonition that the Soul-Locking Chain would eventually come in handy.
"So, what do you want?" Bixie asked.
Xie An lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and said, "I want that string of bells."
The string of bells that were shattered by lightning.
Pi Xie chuckled, "Alright."
The Reincarnation Array emitted a dazzling light, and several melodious bird calls echoed from the sky, mixed with the sound of rolling thunder.
Everyone stared in disbelief at Xie An standing in the Samsara Formation, unable to recover for a long time.
He did not want to be a slave to the world.
He was a slave to the Way of Heaven, relentlessly rebelling against the world and against the Way of Heaven, repeatedly putting himself in dire straits, playing the world and the Way of Heaven for fools. In the end, however, he chose to become a slave to the Book of Reincarnation.
They had assumed that Xiao Xun, a man who followed unorthodox and unconventional paths, was indifferent to the world and to himself, and that all things in the world, including himself, were like ants. Therefore, he disregarded his own life and the lives of others. However, for a man who had only been with him for half a year, he broke his own fixed ideas and beliefs and willingly allowed himself to be bound by the rules.
Six startled birds formed from spiritual energy swooped down from the sky, rushing towards Xie An within the formation. A blinding spiritual energy enveloped them. Unlike before, Xie An was not swallowed by the formation as the startled birds appeared. Instead, the startled birds stopped beside him and tore his soul to pieces, bit by bit.
People could almost feel the unbearable pain just by looking at him, but Xie An remained calm throughout, as if he wasn't the one whose soul was torn apart.
A black chain coiled around him, driving steel nails into Xie An's bones piece by piece from his feet. The chain then embedded itself into his flesh, pinning his shattered soul to his body. Only in this way could he barely maintain a human form.
The Soul-Locking Chains were deeply embedded in his body, with a section of the blood-stained chain protruding from his skin every few inches. Blood instantly stained his robes, like bright red wildflowers blooming on his body, a truly shocking sight.
Another color has appeared on his body.
The next time they meet, Xie Shuci will never find his clothes too plain.
The pain of steel nails and chains embedded in his flesh was a thousand times more intense than any pain he had ever felt before. Even a gust of wind blowing over him felt like being crushed several times over with a bed of nails.
For many people, living like this is worse than death.
But Xie An didn't think so.
As the six startled birds tore at each other, they were absorbed into Xie An's battered body by the formation.
In that instant, a powerful golden beam of light burst forth from Xie An's body, shooting straight into the sky, like a giant axe splitting the sky, which was filled with churning thunderclouds, in two!
Half the sky was filled with rumbling thunder, while the other half was cloudless.
"It's done!"
"The Reincarnation Manual is complete!"
"We're saved!"
As Bixie gazed at the sky, which had been split in two by the enormous beam of light, he couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips, and a tear rolled down his cheek.
Their future has emerged.
"Seven thousand years...seven thousand years..."
"Bixie, you've finally gotten the answer you wanted."
“In these seven thousand years, you have cast countless divinations, and this is… the only one that can coexist with him.”
With the appearance of the Book of Reincarnation, that divine soul was instantly annihilated between heaven and earth.
Xie An lowered his eyes, and a blank dossier slowly unfolded before him.
He raised his arm, and a sound of chains scraping against his body came from his body. Blood gradually dripped onto the dossier.
He dipped a drop of blood on his fingertip and wrote Xie Shuci's name on the file.
How many years will it take before Xie Shuci returns to his side this time?
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