One day, I was ambushed by a kid named Zhang Xian.

The injuries were severe. The sheer agony of the wounds cleared the fog in my mind for a single, terrifying moment. I looked down at my hands, stained with blood and sin. I looked inside myself at the churning, turbid qi. And I realized with horror that I was no longer the compassionate disciple Chen Liu. I wasn’t even the lost monk Jian Chen.

I had become a demon. A monster.

The clarity was unbearable. I couldn’t stand the sight of myself. So when the black qi surged again, I welcomed it. I begged the Black Venerable for more power, for more numbness. I chose to be a blind beast rather than a lucid sinner.

Later, the Six Major Powers of the Southern Region tracked us down. We fled like stray dogs. Before we abandoned our lair, we took a final, spiteful bite, killing several high-level pursuers. The Black Venerable even imported a puppet master from the Central Continent to turn those corpses into our tools.

Then came the ambush at the Demon Sweeping Assembly.

I heard Zhang Xian’s name again. The boy had become powerful—powerful enough to marry Yun Wanqing.

Xuan Zhou—the White Venerable—must have been insane with jealousy. Haha. How pathetic. He had hidden in the gutters for two hundred years, trading his humanity for power, and what did he have to show for it? Nothing but regret. Just like me.

Finally, the White Venerable called us to action. The target: Cloud Raiment City. Yun Wanqing.

But he was a coward. Even with his wife within reach, he lacked the courage to show his face. When Zhang Xian appeared, I felt the White Venerable’s killing intent erupt like a volcano, only to be strangled back down by his own hesitation.

He watched his wife sit in a room with another man, and he did nothing. What a useless wretch.

The Black Venerable proposed a direct strike: butcher Zhang Xian and Yun He, kidnap Yun Wanqing. Xuan Zhou refused. He mumbled something about protecting her family legacy. Hypocrite. Indecision is a poison that only prolongs the pain.

In the end, we waited for the teleportation. The two Venerables burned their essence to sever the spatial tunnel, forcing Zhang Xian into our kill zone.

I was thrilled. I wanted to see this so-called “Heaven’s Favorite” bleed. I wanted him to taste corruption. I wanted him to feel my pain.

And then I died.

Zhang Xian’s sword was too fast. Too ruthless. The blade, wreathed in black flame and lightning, tore through my dantian like paper.

My cultivation, built on centuries of blood and theft, evaporated in an instant. The entangled black and white origin qi dispersed into the void.

Pain? No.

In that final moment, an unprecedented clarity washed over me. It was like a torrential rain scouring a filthy pond, revealing the clear, forgotten stones at the bottom.

What did I see?

I saw eight-year-old Chen Liu, holding the Purple Light Pearl, eyes wide with wonder.

I saw the young novice monk chanting scriptures in the mountain temple, his heart pure.

I saw the tears of gratitude on the faces of the peasants I healed.

I saw my trembling hands after my first kill. I saw the despair in the eyes of the woman I murdered in the secret realm.

I saw the twisted, screaming faces of the mortals drained of their lifespans. I saw the Black Venerable’s seductive smile. I saw the infinite, crushing despair hiding behind Xuan Zhou’s mask.

What have I done?

Remorse crashed over me like a tidal wave. It burned hotter than any Karmic Fire. I was wrong. I was so terribly wrong. One misstep, and I had walked a road of no return.

Power? Equality? They were lies. They were just fig leaves to cover my own rot.

I wanted to scream, to confess, but my shattered dantian and failing body denied me a voice.

Then, a foreign power invaded my mind. Soul Searching.

Hah. That shameless brat. He had been bluffing me all along. He knew the forbidden arts.

The pain of my soul being ripped open was excruciating, yet… it felt like a release.

Take it. Take it all.

Take this filthy, twisted, sinful life. Let the world see. Let the Buddha see. Let the Heavens see. This is my karma. This is my retribution.

I stopped resisting. I poured my memories, my pain, and my regret into the soul-searching force. It was the only offering I had left.

As darkness swallowed me, I thought I saw a statue of the Buddha, holding a flower and smiling. The sound of my old master chanting scriptures echoed in my ears, fading into a final, silent sigh.

In delusion, the Three Realms exist; upon enlightenment, the Ten Directions are empty.

The heart stained with black and white filth; the cocoon breaks, revealing true emptiness.

Southern Capital, Yunmiao Sect Villa Lin Yinyin’s Quiet Room

Lin Yinyin sat cross-legged on her meditation cushion, spiritual energy swirling around her form. Her brow was furrowed, and her small mouth pouted in displeasure.

“Stinky Big Brother,” she muttered. “Sneaking off to Cloud Raiment City again to see that Yun Wanqing. It’s been days! He’s definitely been bewitched by that vixen.”

As she stewed in her jealousy, the [United Heart Winged Pendant] resting against her chest suddenly flared with heat.

“Hm?”

Lin Yinyin looked down, startled.

Crack!

A crisp sound rang out. The warm white jade fractured before her eyes, spiderweb cracks spreading across its surface.

Then, the broken pendant detonated in a flash of blinding white light.

Thud!

A heavy weight slammed onto the floorboards in the center of the brilliance.

The light died as quickly as it had appeared. Lin Yinyin blinked away the spots in her vision to see a familiar figure sprawled awkwardly on her floor. He was smoking slightly, his robes charred and torn as if he had just rolled out of a furnace.

“Big Brother!” Lin Yinyin shrieked. “What happened to you?!”

Zhang Xian lifted his head. His face was smeared with soot and his hair was a bird’s nest, but his eyes were clear. He offered her a weak, lopsided grin.

“Cough… it’s nothing. Just a little motion sickness from the teleport.”

Lin Yinyin looked him over frantically. His aura was unstable and his face was pale, but there were no deep wounds. His skin was red and tender in places, scalded by high heat, but he was whole.

“You scared me to death!” Her eyes welled up with tears. “What is going on? How did you end up like this?”

“Ran into a little trouble,” Zhang Xian groaned, struggling to sit up.

Lin Yinyin rushed to support him. He settled into a lotus position and immediately downed several pills from a jade bottle. A wave of medicinal warmth flooded his meridians, soothing the ache in his spirit.

“Whew.” Zhang Xian exhaled a long breath of turbid air. The dizziness began to recede. “Yinyin, I need a favor.”

“Tell me!”

“Go find Elder Wang Ya. Tell him to invite His Majesty the Xia Emperor here immediately.” Zhang Xian’s expression hardened into granite. “I have critical intelligence. I need to speak to them right now.”

“Okay! I’m going!”

Lin Yinyin didn’t ask questions. She bolted for the door. With the [Myriad Spirits Rosy Cloud Formation] damaged and under repair, the transmission talismans were useless. She had to run.