Chapter 45

"You know this too?!" Bai Yangbai was utterly astonished. That was a heavenly secret he had obtained using ancient primordial divination; how could this girl know it with such absolute clarity, and describe it without the slightest deviation?

Suddenly, a dark figure emerged from the shadows, silently dropping to the lower-left of Dongfang Ye and bowing respectfully.

Unfazed by her indifferent attitude, Bai Yangbai cleared the table, making space to place the "Three Lifetimes Karmic Destiny Disk" squarely in the center, and solemnly began chanting incantations for a long while.

It was all Lin Xiaoxiao's fault; if not for her, Liangyu would never have been reduced to his current state.

Seeing Ling Yurou's movements growing increasingly frantic and her clothes more and more disheveled, Ah Yun's brows furrowed deeply. The Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pill was crafted by the Medicine Saint, and its medicinal potency was immensely powerful. He had originally intended to let her catch the night breeze, hoping the chilling wind would dissipate some of the efficacy, but who could have known that the pill was extraordinarily potent—so much so that even with immortal elixirs protecting her, Rou'er could not resist it.

"How so?" Degule paused for a moment, looking curiously at Elizabeth as he asked.

Chen Kuang smiled, but said nothing more. Instead, he began to survey the surrounding environment: the gloomy sky, the blood-colored grand array, hundreds of green elves imprisoned within iron cages, and a pale-golden, dilapidated palace.

At that moment, Hua Rong leaped lightly onto a tree branch. He looked curiously at the unnamed fruit right in front of him. After staring at it for a long while, he finally could not resist reaching out to pluck the fruit.

When a lost person lacks a map or directional tools, what is the best method? Naturally, it is to press forward blindly in a single direction without turning. As for whether this direction is correct, one can only leave it to the inscrutable and capricious hands of fate.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield over West Lake, the scene remained unchanged. Feng Yan was still trapped within the cage, unable to break out, while Hou Yue, sitting cross-legged in the void, chanted incantations tirelessly.

He was her most valued disciple, whom she had once accepted into her sect due to his exceptional aptitude. Her very first lesson to him was to teach him how to sever all emotions and abandon love. What did it mean to sever emotions and abandon love? To be without passion and heart, free from obsession and delusion; only by truly casting away obsessive thoughts could one attain supreme love, and thereby protect the six realms and all living beings.

Song Xin knew Qiao Yiren's personality well enough to know she was not someone who could let things go easily; something must have happened to change her. Perhaps it was the temptation of that serum, capable of bringing the dead back to life—such a temptation was simply too overwhelming.

"This is the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, and the emperor is Zhao Zhen. Haha, I actually guessed right, though I wonder if that person truly existed." Having returned to Elena's side, Lin Yiping spoke to Elena, murmuring the last sentence softly to herself.

Without looking at Bao Zheng, Zhao Zhen bent down and picked up the sword that Zhan Xuelin had discarded, noticing that the blade emitted a deep azure brilliance, faintly covered in intricate patterns.

Two of the bosses, finding the wait excruciatingly boring, had actually fallen fast asleep during the process.

"I must go, Brother Zhao, take good care of yourself and wait for me," Miao Ruolan said to Zhan Zhao with deep reluctance.

Outside White Horse Temple, ten miles of peach blossoms bloomed. Beneath the trees, figures in cyan flickered like startled swans, stirring up gales like the sea. Peach blossoms, resembling clouds and rosy mists, rolled like ocean waves; time itself seemed to stand still, with flowers falling without a sound and the wind passing without leaving a trace.

Yet now, before the Primordial Dan realm experts of the Extreme Dao Sect could even be lured out, he had already been suppressed by Lin Ye and Palace Master Bing.

Although the Azure Peak Sect was a colossal behemoth dominating the northern realms of the Sea of Bitterness, that realm was boundless and vast. Even a giant like the Azure Peak Sect could not possibly control every single city. Most cities remained independent, nominally under the rule of the Azure Peak Sect, nothing more.

At the same time, Ye Tianhao felt waves of majestic and awe-inspiring aura, as if beneath the Abyss of Fallen Gods lay an infinitely thick and sturdy defense, preventing the surrounding mountains from shattering due to fierce battles, rendering this patch of heaven and earth exceptionally solid and indestructible. This was the aura of a grand array.

To recognize each other at a single glance amidst a boundless sea of humanity today—what kind of affinity was this? Qin Meng felt the coincidence was outrageously miraculous.

The void vibrated as countless divine runes bloomed in the air, resonating with something unseen. The entire world trembled, and a terrifying aura swept across heaven and earth, before the outline of a grand array slowly manifested.

In less than two months, following a series of dazzling and glorious victories achieved by the self-proclaimed "Great Han's Elite Forces" in their northern expedition against Wei, the chain reaction triggered by these thrilling reports reaching the Great Han capital was something frontline figures like Leng Wuwei could never have anticipated.

That afternoon, the city hall posted a notice announcing that it was cooperating with the Tribunal's investigation and would suspend all business operations until the results were released, asking citizens for their understanding.

Ever since infiltrating Niher, through countless painstaking plots, countless sleepless days and nights, and so many narrow escapes within the arena of political machinations, all this arduous labor had finally met with a perfect reward.

In the eyes of the uninitiated, the Plum Blossom Dojo might seem quite formidable, but among the various martial arts dojos, it was merely a third-rate establishment of no real distinction—valueless except for its large headcount, possessing virtually no genuine masters.

One could see Wang Jian, Meng Wu, Yang Duanhe, Qiang Lei, Xin Sheng, and a host of other veteran generals with flowing silver beards, clad in armor and helmets, imposing and awe-inspiring as they emerged from the dust. Behind them marched a solemn, stern infantry formation with spears and halberds bristling like a forest, winding through the alleyway like a black dragon whose tail could not be seen.

To his surprise, Xiao Qi pulled a bottle of Erguotou from her pocket, tossed it into his lap, produced another bottle for herself, unscrewed the cap, and took a fierce gulp.