Sang Dai noticed something amiss before Su Xuan did.
Just as her feet stepped into the Burning Heaven Realm, an icy hand covered her mouth, completely silencing her.
The person’s strength was immense, infused with spiritual power, locking Sang Dai firmly in their embrace. They dragged her away from Su Xuan while simultaneously injecting a frigid, powerful spiritual force into her meridians, causing her to faint.
The movements were so swift that there was no time to react.
Before losing consciousness, she seemed to hear her own voice—it was the person imitating her voice, responding to Su Xuan.
Now, Sang Dai was awoken by the cold.
Her entire body felt frozen. Her blurry vision gradually cleared, and a rhythmic sound echoed around her.
It seemed like…
Someone was combing their hair?
Sang Dai struggled to turn over, propping herself up on the ground and arduously lifting her head to look.
Not far from her stood a dressing table.
It was made of deep, dark sandalwood, appearing to be ancient, with much of its lacquer worn away.
A person sat before the table, combing their hair in front of the bronze mirror.
One stroke, then another, with extreme patience, yet seemingly numb.
It was undeniably eerie. She was dressed entirely in white, starkly out of place in the filthy and blood-stained Burning Heaven Realm.
She didn’t resemble a vengeful ghost bent solely on slaughter. Just moments ago, when Sang Dai was unconscious, this ghost hadn’t killed her.
Sang Dai didn’t speak up. She cautiously got to her feet and leaned against the wall.
Her legs were weak; the spiritual force that had invaded her body restricted her movements.
She closed her eyes, trying to awaken the dormant Changmang in her consciousness sea while recalling what had just happened.
To approach Su Xuan unnoticed and even pull off such a seamless switch in front of him—this person’s cultivation must be even higher than Su Xuan’s.
Currently, there were only three cultivators at the Grand Ascension Stage. Two had been in seclusion for over a century, leaving only Su Xuan.
He was supposed to have the highest cultivation level.
But now, that didn’t seem to be the case.
Perhaps there was another supreme cultivator in the cultivation world. Or maybe… it was someone at the Tribulation Stage?
Now that would be truly terrifying. Clearly, this supreme cultivator was targeting her.
Sang Dai smiled bitterly.
“Many years ago, there was a female cultivator who awakened with a Heaven-grade spiritual root, mastering speech techniques and the ability to glimpse the heavenly secrets.”
A gentle, ethereal voice echoed.
Sang Dai came back to her senses, realizing it was the ghost woman speaking.
She was indeed different from other vengeful ghosts—she still retained consciousness.
Sang Dai didn’t speak, mainly because she couldn’t. Her body was wracked with cold, utterly devoid of strength, and even opening her mouth was a struggle.
“She formed her Core at twenty-five, reached Nascent Soul Stage at a hundred, Tribulation Stage at a thousand, and before her ascension, glimpsed the heavenly mandate. She broke the silence of closed-mouth meditation and revealed the heavenly secrets.”
Sang Dai frowned.
In the present Four Realms, only the Xumi Sect in the Celestial Realm practiced Speech Arts. These arts typically required the practitioners to take a vow of silence. The entire sect was mute, gaining enlightenment and cultivating by glimpsing heavenly secrets, but the greatest taboo was speaking of these secrets and disrupting the celestial order.
The Guixu spiritual vein had been eroded thousands of years ago. Since then, no new Tribulation Stage cultivators had emerged. The last one in the cultivation world was from the Xumi Sect.
A female cultivator, named Ling Yin.
But Immortal Ling Yin had already ascended long ago.
The ghost woman continued, “To save the Four Realms, she gave up her path to immortality and spoke of the heavenly secrets. Yet after the Four Realms heard them, they accused her of defiling the divine, slandering the heavenly way. They extracted her Heaven-grade spiritual root, burned her blood and flesh with blazing fire, and turned her soul into a vengeful ghost. Miss, tell me, was she in the wrong?”
Sang Dai couldn’t respond, her strength entirely drained.
But these were just the ghost woman’s words—Sang Dai had no idea what the so-called heavenly secrets were and couldn’t make a judgment.
The ghost woman wasn’t angered. She continued calmly combing her hair.
“If you cannot judge, then let me tell you another story.”
Sang Dai closed her eyes and listened to her speak.
“There was another female cultivator, blessed with extraordinary talent. At three, she awakened her Heaven-grade spiritual root. The next day, she began Qi Refinement. At five, she reached Foundation Establishment. At seventeen, she formed her Core. At fifty, she reached Nascent Soul Stage. At a hundred, she entered Soul Transformation Stage. Her heart was devoted to protecting all living beings. Yet in the end, she too had her Heaven-grade spiritual root forcibly extracted and died…”
The ghost turned around and said:
“In Guixu.”
Sang Dai’s eyes suddenly flew open.
The ghost woman…
She had an exceptionally graceful and untainted face, her features serene and gentle.
She looked nothing like a vengeful ghost. Rising to her feet, her long hair trailed on the ground as she walked slowly toward Sang Dai.
But her movements were unnaturally slow—what should have taken only a few steps took her a long time.
Sang Dai noticed something strange about her figure.
She seemed… shorter than she should have been, as if she had shrunken somehow.
The ghost woman continued:
“She too was besieged and killed. The Four Realms declared her guilty, blamed her for the fall of Guixu, accused her of causing widespread destruction and the suffering of countless lives.”
“Her spiritual root was ripped out, and she fought alone in Guixu for thirty days before finally falling to the siege.”
The ghost woman now stood before Sang Dai.
She bent down and touched Sang Dai’s face.
“Miss, you decide—was she in the wrong?”
Spiritual power flowed from her fingertips, bringing Sang Dai a hint of warmth.
She found the strength to speak.
In a hoarse voice, Sang Dai asked, “Was Guixu truly destroyed by her?”
The ghost woman smiled faintly and replied, “I don’t know, but the Four Realms say she destroyed it.”
“Did she kill innocent people?”
“She did not.”
“Did she disrupt the celestial order?”
“She did not.”
“Did the things she did go against her own heart?”
“Never.”
“Then, in the end, did she regret it?”
“She did not.”
Sang Dai murmured, “Yet she still met such an end.”
The ghost woman gently wiped the tears from the corners of Sang Dai’s eyes, her breath cool and fragrant as she whispered, “Miss, you decide—was she in the wrong?”
Sang Dai was silent for a long time.
The ghost woman waited quietly.
A long time passed—it could have been a moment, or perhaps an hour.
Finally, the stillness of the empty cave was broken.
“She was not in the wrong.”
“Why?”
“She did not take lives, she did not disrupt the celestial order, she did not regret, and she did not go against her own heart. She was not in the wrong.”
“What if Guixu really was destroyed by her?”
“Even then, she was not in the wrong.”
Sang Dai raised her eyes, meeting the ghost woman’s gaze. She said, “She never did anything evil. If Guixu truly was destroyed by her, it must have been for the sake of the Four Realms. Her sword’s intent was always clear, and her blade would never have been aimed at the weak or the innocent.”
The ghost woman chuckled softly. “But, Miss, how do you know she was a sword cultivator?”
Sang Dai replied, “No, I was talking about myself.”
The ghost woman’s smile slowly faded.
“Senior, I am not in the wrong.”
Except for the ending, everything the ghost woman had said mirrored Sang Dai’s life.
Only the ending was different, because in the story, her fate was to die in the great battle two months ago, not in Guixu.
“As a junior, I dare to determine my own right and wrong. Therefore, I will be so bold as to judge the right and wrong of that female cultivator as well.”
The ghost woman silently watched her.
Sang Dai asked, “The female cultivator who glimpsed the heavenly secrets—were those secrets related to the survival of the Four Realms?”
“They were.”
“If she hadn’t spoken, would the Four Realms have perished?”
“Yes.”
“And after she spoke, would the Four Realms still face destruction?”
“Perhaps they would, perhaps they wouldn’t.”
“Did the female cultivator commit any evil deeds, defile the divine, or slander the heavenly way?”
“The world says she did.”
“Did she ever regret it? If she had been more selfish and chosen to ascend directly, perhaps none of this would have happened.”
The ghost woman fell silent for a long time.
Just as Sang Dai had done moments ago, she didn’t speak, and Sang Dai quietly waited for her response.
After a long while, she answered, “No regrets.”
Sang Dai lowered her head and laughed, her laughter muffled and quiet.
“I have reached my judgment—she was not in the wrong.”
Sang Dai raised her eyes and met the ghost woman’s gaze.
She repeated, “She was not in the wrong.”
The ghost woman asked, “Why?”
“For the same reasons I judged myself. I use the same reasoning to judge her—she was not in the wrong.”
“Senior Ling Yin, you were not in the wrong.”
At that moment, Sang Dai recognized the ghost woman’s identity.
She was Ling Yin, the last Tribulation Stage cultivator in the cultivation world six thousand years ago, a Xumi Sect master of Speech Arts.
Ling Yin had not ascended; just as she had said, she had turned into a vengeful ghost.
Ling Yin continued to smile. “Miss, I am very pleased with your judgment.”
At this point, Sang Dai felt unexpectedly relieved. Ling Yin didn’t seem to harbor ill will toward her—otherwise, she would have killed her from the start.
Ling Yin’s fingertips lightly touched Sang Dai’s forehead. Her hand was icy cold, making Sang Dai, who already felt chilled, feel even more awake.
“You are the first person to say I was not in the wrong. I will not allow you to meet the same fate.”
A wave of secret pain surged in Sang Dai’s consciousness. She blinked, feeling colder and colder.
She stammered, “My fate… to be besieged and killed in Guixu?”
“That’s why I’ve come to help you.”
Spiritual energy flowed from Ling Yin’s fingertips, invading Sang Dai’s forehead and forcefully yet gently penetrating into her sea of consciousness.
It quietly unlocked a seal that had existed for over a hundred years.
Sang Dai had no strength to resist.
“Miss, you will gradually remember everything, but for now, there is one thing you must recall.”
“You have to endure it; otherwise, you will die.”
Endure it?
Endure what?
Ling Yin’s face gradually blurred, the light narrowing until it was swallowed by darkness.
In that hazy state, Sang Dai couldn’t tell what she was doing, nor did she even know who she was. It felt as though she was thinking of nothing, yet thinking of everything at the same time.
Until the darkness was torn apart, and the light of dawn swept away all confusion.
Illusory spiritual energy surrounded her, pulling forth memories buried deep within her sea of consciousness.
—
When Sang Dai was thirteen years old, she was grievously injured by a demonic cultivator during a training mission.
She remained unconscious for over three months. Even though the Sword Sect poured countless rare spiritual herbs and pills into her treatment, she showed no signs of recovery. Many people believed she would never wake up.
But it was often said that those born with Heaven-grade spiritual roots were favored by the heavenly way, and it seemed there was some truth to that.
Because Sang Dai woke up.
She propped herself up, moving her stiff limbs as she carefully tested her steps and ventured outside.
Outside the bamboo house, the wind howled and rain poured, thunder and lightning roaring one after another. Perhaps it was the sound of the storm—or perhaps the thunder—that masked her footsteps, for those outside did not notice she had awakened.
Young Sang Dai thought her father and mother were keeping vigil by her bedside, worried for her. Her heart warmed, and she smiled as she reached out to open the door.
The moment her hands touched the door handle, a woman’s voice rang out:
“How is the Guixu spiritual vein?”
It was Madam Shi.
Then, a man’s voice answered:
“This time, the Sword Sect sacrificed 113 cultivators with Mysterious-grade spiritual roots and 217 with Earth-grade roots, but the Guixu Immortal Realm still hasn’t produced a new spiritual vein. The old vein… still can’t be saved.”
It was Sang Wenzhou.
Sang Dai’s mind felt as if it had been struck by a bolt of lightning. Her hand on the door froze mid-motion.
“Do we need to kill more cultivators?”
“Not for now. We can’t let this matter escalate too much. If the Immortal Alliance finds out, it will be difficult to handle. The Beast Realm also seems to be trying the same method to save Guixu—they’ve chosen someone to sacrifice.”
Sang Wenzhou chuckled briefly before continuing, “But this time, there might be hope. The one they’re sacrificing is no ordinary person.”
“Who is the Beast Realm sacrificing?”
“The seventh son of the Beast King, Su Xuan, a Heaven-grade spiritual root awakener.”
“…What?!”
“So many Mysterious- and Earth-grade spiritual roots haven’t produced a new spiritual vein for Guixu Immortal Realm. If we sacrifice a Heaven-grade root… maybe it will work, don’t you think?”
Inside the bamboo house, Sang Dai gasped silently, her mind completely blank.
How could she not understand the meaning behind their words?
The Guixu spiritual vein was destroyed, and if things continued this way, the cultivation paths of the Four Realms would eventually reach their end. The only solution was to repair the ruined Guixu spiritual vein or stimulate the creation of a new one in the Guixu Immortal Realm.
As the sect farthest from the Guixu Immortal Realm, the Sword Sect already had few spiritual veins to begin with. The destruction of the Guixu spiritual vein had dealt the greatest blow to the Sword Sect.
The words of Sect Master Sang and Madam Shi told Sang Dai everything—how the Sword Sect had been pushing the Guixu Immortal Realm to create new spiritual veins.
Their method was sacrificing spiritual roots, using the roots gifted to the world by the Guixu Immortal Realm to awaken and stimulate it in return.
They were killing people.