Its pristine purity was gone; it seemed like just an ordinary forest in the mortal world.
The distant Immortal City was also different.
The evil miasma that had continuously lingered above the city was gone.
After pondering for a moment, I thought Xie Zhuo might have gone toward the Immortal City. Perhaps he went there to retrieve something, or had something else to do, just like during those five hundred years, leaving me without a word, then returning with silence and mystery.
But now I knew he left because he needed to slay evil spirits.
He must be fighting inside the Immortal City.
I traveled on the wind, moving extremely fast. With the ability to use my arts, the journey from here to the Immortal City took only an instant. I didn’t even need to pass through its gates; I flew directly to the top of the city wall, passing over the inner wall.
This inner wall…
It was much more dilapidated than when I had seen it before, as if… it had endured the test of time longer.
I flew into the Immortal City, hovering high above. I wanted to search for places where evil spirits gathered, guessing that if Xie Zhuo were here, he would certainly be in such places. But as my gaze swept across, I saw no fighting anywhere in the city.
The ruins remained, but the city…
The city was even stranger.
I saw many people running out from the ruins of the city. They were all running toward the direction of the outer city wall.
Seemingly without fear or suspicion, they ran, staggered, but never stopped. They frantically rushed toward the outer city wall. Even when brushing shoulders with others, even when crashing into each other, they didn’t look at one another, but raced desperately toward the outer wall.
I descended a bit more, finally hearing their voices in the wind.
“The evil spirits have disappeared!”
“The snow and wind barrier outside the Immortal City is broken!”
“We can leave now!”
“The Immortal City lives again!”
Amid the shouts, some wept bitterly, some screamed until their voices broke, some trembled as they pressed forward.
Just as they shouted, this city that I had seen as lifeless suddenly came alive, with everyone rushing toward the outside world.
But… the evil spirits…
How could they vanish into thin air?
Another sharp pain shot through my temples, and blurry images floated in my mind again. I saw Xie Zhuo, his body emanating black mist, his hands tightly gripping the ice blade that had pierced his chest.
His expression was resolute, without the slightest hesitation.
“With my body I contain you, and with my body I bury you.”
As his words fell, the black energy reversed its flow, all the black evil miasma in the air was drawn into Xie Zhuo’s body, and after a thunderous sound…
The image before my eyes vanished again.
This time, I felt a chill throughout my body; my hands, feet, and spine were uncontrollably cold.
I realized what those blurry images in my mind might be, but I didn’t want to believe it.
My mind is unstable, I could no longer maintain my spiritual power, and had to land in panic. I saw cultivators continuously running past me, each face bearing the longing to leave.
For many, it seemed a catastrophe had finally ended.
I stood up shakily, watching them, then walked against their direction, into the Immortal City.
Perhaps it was just a dream, perhaps I was just having a nightmare. Xie Zhuo might still be around. With his great abilities—able to wield the Pangu Fu in his demon form, able to split time and space back and forth, able to use barriers to block all the immortals of Kunlun—how powerful he was… how could he…
How could he choose to perish together with the enemy?
My steps faltered, and I fell to my knees.
A cultivator ran past me, stepping on the back of my hand that was supporting me on the ground.
My hand, numb for a long time, finally sent pain signals, reminding me that the surrounding world was real.
Suddenly, a shadow stopped before me. The silhouette was familiar, and my eyes slowly widened, then I raised my head abruptly.
“Xie… Zhuo?”
The person wore black clothes and a wooden mask.
The eyes behind the mask seemed to be examining me.