Volume 1, Chapter 54: Epilogue

When Xu Qingning woke up, all she could see was a stark white ceiling and the smell of disinfectant. She sniffed hard, trying to catch the slightest trace of evidence to prove that what she had just experienced was not a dream.

Suddenly, a soldier pointed toward the sky. His comrades in the same trench raised their heads one after another. When they did, and as their gazes locked onto the dense mass of black dots filling the sky, an endless terror swallowed them whole in an instant.

"Do you like it yourself?" Instead of answering her question, he turned the matter back to ask for her opinion.

"Fair maiden, this is your blade. Just now, seeing the urgency of the situation and lacking any self-defense weapon at hand, I borrowed it without your permission. It was truly a discourteous act, and I hope you will not hold it against me." The man in white pressed his palms together and nodded in apology to Liu Sanqian.

Amidst the sky-blocking stone dust, a flash of rosy light pierced through, followed abruptly by an angry shout from Nalan Yuchen, as if he had encountered something that infuriated him to the extreme.

Zhuge Lingxian spoke casually with an air of utter detachment. At that moment, her image was suddenly magnified hundreds of times in He Qingfan's mind, growing immensely grand and noble.

Duan Ran discarded the jade slip, a look of disdain in his tone as he said, "Forget about them. At seventeen, I can reach the peak of the Returning Dan Realm, and by twenty, I will surpass them by countless folds."

"It's that Buddha statue, it's that Buddha statue..." Upon seeing the Tathagata, Yang Wanwan muttered as if bewitched. Her feet took a step forward of their own accord, bringing her a little closer to the Buddha statue.

This rapid sequence of attacks was completed in the blink of an eye. At this moment, Gu Chen was suspended mid-air, yet to steady his body, when Xingyun brandished her spiritual sword and slashed toward his airborne form from above.

This time, when Gu Chen searched for spirit techniques, he did not browse briefly and walk away as before. This time, he searched with meticulous care, opening the synopsis of every single scroll to read it thoroughly.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone erupted into an uproar, standing rooted to the spot like wooden chickens. That was no ordinary stroke of luck.

Following Nan Moye's gaze, Su Ziyin finally realized that her bathrobe had already been removed and lay upon the floor, leaving her clad in only a single red undergarment.

Yet Li Sisi was different. Although her status was noble, hardly anyone actually knew her.

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past her side. Before Du Yunxi could react, she saw a figure fly out like lightning.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, Elder Chang was sitting in a wicker chair reading a newspaper. Seeing someone enter, he took off his reading glasses.

Fortunately, there were no commoners in Guanzhong; otherwise, this single stratagem alone would have given rise to boundless slaughter and karmic retribution.

Hu Xianxian was left speechless by his words, unable to find a reason to persuade him. He brushed her hair and plucked out a stray tip of a rice straw. Her hair was thick and long, and lying on the hayrick inevitably meant gathering stray bits of grass and leaves. Moreover, chaos had broken out this morning, leaving her no time to groom herself. But she had never cared about such trivialities, and at this moment, she cared even less.

This single cry encapsulated all the yearning she had harbored for over three years. No sooner had the words left her lips than tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes, instantly flooding her entire face.

Ling Ruoran buried her entire body into his embrace, inhaling his familiar scent, which was the only thing that brought her a semblance of peace.

A corner of the dragon throne's armrest was cleanly sliced off, the wooden block falling to the ground and rolling down the high platform's steps.

"Disciples of the Taihua Sect have come to pay a formal visit to the mountain; we ask the master of the village to come out and speak." Standing outside the village, Su Ziang channeled his spiritual energy and shouted loudly. Behind him stood Musingzi and Huoyenzi, along with Abbot Yao of the Iron Horse Temple and two young Daoist acolytes.

During the ten days that followed, he fell gravely ill three more times. Each illness grew progressively worse than the last, yet every time he refused to let Li Huang accompany him back.