It happened in a heartbeat.
The moment Xiao Yifeng saw the woman’s face clearly, he froze. It was as if his body had turned to stone, all strength instantly drained from his limbs.
He ceased all resistance, allowing the soul-binding chains to drag him toward her. Above him, the colossal fire dragon, now mere inches from the woman, let out a mournful keen. Without his spiritual power to sustain it, the dragon collapsed, dissipating into harmless clusters of sparks that vanished into the ether.
"Qingyan... you aren't dead? How did you become like this?" Xiao Yifeng’s voice trembled with sorrow. He looked at her, his expression turning solemn. "If this is what you desire, Qingyan... then I accept."
The blood mist that had obstructed his Divine Sense scattered. Now, as his senses swept over her, the truth was undeniable. The woman he had owed his entire life to was no longer human. She was a ghost.
To the naked eye, her body appeared solid, a perfect recreation of her living self. But to his spiritual perception, she was illusory, a construct of mist and memory.
Yet, that familiar soul fluctuation could not be faked. This was his former lover. This was the woman who had saved him from peril countless times, the Lin Qingyan he had longed for day and night, the ghost that haunted his every dream.
Seeing that he truly offered no resistance, Lin Qingyan flashed him a radiant smile. It was a smile that seemed to illuminate the gloomy void. She opened her arms and embraced Xiao Yifeng, who had been pulled before her, bound tightly in cold iron.
She leaned in, whispering softly in his ear, "Are you really willing to give up everything and journey to the Yellow Springs with me? What about your Cold Mist Immortal?"
"I... I am willing!"
At the mention of Liu Hanyan, Xiao Yifeng hesitated for the briefest of seconds, but his answer remained firm.
His eyes were fixed solely on Lin Qingyan’s face, terrified that if he blinked, she would vanish like smoke.
His feelings for Lin Qingyan were a chaotic tangle. Love was certainly there; she was the lover who had died for him, the architect of his current existence. Without her sacrifice, there would be no Xiao Yifeng today.
But what drove him to accept death at her hands wasn't just love. It was guilt. It was regret. It was the desperate desire to grant her release.
If she hadn't asked him to die with her—if she had instead forced him to choose between her and Liu Hanyan to live—he would have been torn apart by the dilemma.
But this life was one she had saved time and again. If she wanted it back, he would return it to her without hesitation.
"But... I am not willing."
Lin Qingyan’s voice shifted, soft and heartbreaking. "No matter what you’ve done, I forgive you. You are free, Yifeng. I don’t blame you."
As if she had received the answer she needed, Lin Qingyan smiled playfully, though tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks. With a flick of her wrist, she severed the chains binding him and shoved him violently away.
"Farewell, Yifeng. Go! Quickly! I can’t control myself anymore... Beware of destiny..."
A chaotic gray light erupted from Lin Qingyan’s body. A terrifying, unstable aura expanded outward, causing the winds between heaven and earth to howl in protest. She was igniting her soul—she intended to self-destruct.
Thwack!
The instant her words fell, a thick chain shot out from the Stone Gate behind her, piercing straight through her back.
Lin Qingyan’s eyes instantly went vacant, the light of consciousness snuffed out as if she were a puppet whose strings had been yanked.
Yet, the puppeteer could not fully stop the momentum of her self-destruction. The aura of annihilation grew stronger. More chains shot out from the Stone Gate in a furious panic, wrapping around her limbs and torso, desperately trying to contain the explosion.
As layer upon layer of chains bound her, the swelling energy of her self-destruction was forcibly suppressed.
The entity behind the gate, having restrained her, turned its attention to the escapee. The surplus chains lashed out, snaking toward Xiao Yifeng with blinding speed. In moments, the sky was netted with iron links, sealing off all avenues of escape.
Xiao Yifeng knew running was futile.
The opponent’s strength was horrifying—likely a monster at the Tribulation Transcendence stage. He had been forced into this desperate corner without even knowing if his enemy was human or ghost, male or female.
The mastermind’s ambition was vast. Not only had they enslaved Lin Qingyan’s soul, but they also sought to drag Xiao Yifeng into that ominous Stone Gate. He would not allow himself to become another puppet.
Xiao Yifeng dodged and weaved through the closing net, reuniting with Little Ice, who had shrunk down to the size of a refined beast.
He formed a seal with his right hand. The Immortal Slayer sword blazed with an ominous black light. Grabbing Little Ice from his shoulder, he threw the beast onto the blade and hurled the sword into the distance with all his might.
"Go!"
The Immortal Slayer, carrying Little Ice, tore a hole through the blood mist and sped away. Little Ice slammed against the invisible barrier Xiao Yifeng had placed on the blade, trying to return, but the sword carried him relentlessly out of the encirclement.
The chains ignored the fleeing sword. Their target was Xiao Yifeng.
Xiao Yifeng turned back. He looked at Lin Qingyan, hovering in the air, her once-vivid eyes now dull and wooden.
A deep sorrow welled up in his gaze. Suddenly, streaks of blood-colored flame ignited across his skin. Countless beads of blood seeped from his pores, fueling the fire. His aura surged wildly as he burned his very life essence.
He charged straight at Lin Qingyan.
He ignored the chains whipping toward him, allowing them to bind his arms and legs. Dragging the heavy iron links behind him like a prisoner of war, he flew like a moth into the flame, crashing into Lin Qingyan and wrapping her in a tight embrace.
"I don't know who is manipulating your soul after death," he gritted out, his voice fierce. "But I will not let you continue to be controlled, living a life worse than death! Qingyan, back then, I couldn't die with you. This time... I won't let you walk that dark road alone!"
Although Xiao Yifeng was drenched in blood, his smile was brilliant, gentle, and full of love as he gazed at the beauty in his arms.
As if hearing his vow, two clear streams of tears slid silently from Lin Qingyan’s vacant eyes. It was unclear if she wept for herself, or for the tragedy of their reunion.
Xiao Yifeng’s Divine Soul, his spiritual power, and every drop of blood in his body burned in unison. The intense energy resonance reignited Lin Qingyan’s suppressed self-destruction.
Countless chains swarmed them, wrapping the pair into a gigantic iron cocoon, dragging them inexorably toward the Stone Gate. But the chains could no longer separate them.
Blood-red tears flowed from Xiao Yifeng’s crimson eyes, tracing paths down his cheeks. His body was beginning to disintegrate, crumbling into ash and light, yet his smile remained tender.
If he could free her from this half-dead, half-alive purgatory, then the destruction of his soul was a small price to pay. Better to fade into nothingness together than to exist as slaves.
He felt the body in his arms growing hotter, a star on the verge of going supernova. Time was up.
He looked up toward the direction of the Inquiry Heaven Sect, a pang of guilt piercing his heart.
Hanyan, I’m sorry. Forgive me for breaking our promise to retire in seclusion. I already abandoned her once; I cannot abandon her a second time!
As the thought formed, Xiao Yifeng’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Thump.
Wait.
This feeling... why was it so familiar?
This scene... the overwhelming guilt, the heat, the chains... he had done this before!
Right.
I am inside the Reincarnation Immortal Abode. All of this... is an illusion!
This was a perfect recreation of his death in his previous life.
The moment the realization hit him, the fabric of the world began to fracture.
He took one last, deep look at the Lin Qingyan in his arms and sighed. He loosened his embrace. Effortlessly, he slipped out of the constricting chains. The iron cocoon, which had seemed unbreakable moments ago, offered no resistance at all.
Xiao Yifeng backed away. The logic of the illusion had shattered; once seen through, it held no power over him.
"Are you going to abandon me and leave again? Yifeng!"
The vacant Lin Qingyan suddenly spoke, her voice laced with accusation.
Xiao Yifeng’s expression remained gentle, but his eyes were clear. "If you were the real Qingyan, I naturally wouldn't abandon you again."
"Really? Is that a promise?" The fake Lin Qingyan laughed, her voice distorting.
BOOM!
A deafening, earth-shaking roar silenced the world.
The giant cocoon near the Stone Gate detonated. It was the self-destruction of a Mahayana Perfection cultivator, a force capable of erasing mountains. The Stone Gate cracked under the strain, spiderwebs of fractures spreading across its surface.
Even high in the sky, the shockwave was apocalyptic. Far in the distance, the Inquiry Heaven Sect and Gazing Heaven City trembled violently. Fierce gales swept away the clouds for ten thousand miles, leaving the sky naked and broken.
The entire world began to collapse into shards of darkness.
As consciousness faded, Xiao Yifeng heard only one thing—an infuriated, frustrated roar echoing from within the crumbling Stone Gate—before he sank into the endless dark.