The focus of the three finally shifted from the jade ring to their surroundings. They now stood on the bank, facing a wide, rushing river. The water was black—what else but the Styx or the Sea of Blood? The only difference from before was the impossibly high opening in the ceiling above the sea of blood.

“How can this be?” Old Liu looked around wildly, searching for some explanation, but everything confirmed his suspicion: this was the River Styx. The dilapidated small boat by the shore confirmed it all. This was the end of the Styx, the very place where they had first encountered the ferryman. “Did we loop back around?”

“Perhaps we never left the Styx!” Birdman pointed to his hand. “The power of Soul Energy is too immense, so strong that even the Heavenly Eyes of our Sun-Blind tribe cannot pierce it.”

“Does that mean the palaces and battles we encountered were illusions?” Ye Xiu’s wound, still burning from the Serpent Man’s attack, suggested otherwise; illusions couldn't explain this pain.

At that moment, Old Liu’s waist pouch began to gleam, and the peculiar scroll finally ignited with the light of revelation.

“Let’s see what this one has to say,” Old Liu fumbled for the scroll and quickly spread it out before them. He rapidly scanned the strange script glowing within, his expression turning grave.

“What does it say?” Ye Xiu grabbed Old Liu’s arm, urgent. “Does it say where we are?”

“Hoo…” Old Liu took a deep, shaky breath before speaking. “Every description of Mèishū indicates that she succeeded in resurrecting Xià Jié. However, she couldn't restore him to his previous state, no matter what method she tried. She fell into despair and gave up…”

“So what? Xià Jié is alive after all. Where is he?” Ye Xiu cared most about a man who had survived countless dynasties; that person’s whereabouts might unravel many mysteries.

“Mèishū gave up because of the existence of another person!” Birdman suddenly appeared behind Old Liu, his gaze locked on the scroll. “Mèishū saw someone—someone whose love for Xià Jié surpassed her own. That’s why she surrendered…”

“Who?”

Old Liu glanced heavily at Ye Xiu and said, “The legendary White Lotus Mòxǐ arrived here. She awakened Xià Jié using her own methods, but the price was the soul of her own divine status as the Heavenly White Lotus. The White Lotus fell, and consequently, the Black Lotus was also extinguished…”

“What nonsense is this!” Ye Xiu couldn't make sense of their words. “To put it plainly: Xià Jié is resurrected, Mèishū gave up, Mòxǐ succeeded. Doesn’t that mean none of the three of them died?”

“That’s what the scroll says…”

“Look underwater!” Suddenly, Birdman tensed, spreading his wings wide. He pointed to the bubbles rising from the river by the bank. “Something is surfacing from the depths. It looks like a coffin!”

Ye Xiu and Old Liu, lacking Birdman’s Heavenly Eyes, couldn't discern what it was, but as time passed, a long, silvery-white object slowly emerged amidst the black water. Due to its inherently pure white color, the black water enveloping it transformed into a deep crimson, finally making the pool worthy of being called the Sea of Blood of the Styx.

The object broke the surface and drifted slowly toward the shore. It was pure silver, and its lid was intricately carved with the likeness of two beautiful women. These two faces were turned toward each other, but their bodies intertwined like serpents beneath, utterly lacking legs. And those two faces were none other than Hóng Líng—meaning this was clearly the Black and White Twin Lotus: Mèishū and Mòxǐ.

“The Twin Lotus Blood Coffin!” Old Liu’s voice was firm, because the scroll he held burst into flames immediately after the final characters appeared.

“Mòxǐ and Mèishū’s coffin?” Ye Xiu swallowed hard. As the God of Death, he shouldn't be overly shaken by life and death, but he couldn't understand why these two, who each possessed methods of eternal life, would have a coffin.

Birdman flapped his wings hard, generating a powerful gust of wind that swept across the blood coffin but failed to lift the lid. “It truly is no ordinary coffin.”

“Could it be that the old woman in Night Crow Alley meant that when she woke up, she saw Mòxǐ?” Old Liu seemed to recall something. “She achieved longevity, but the cost was her legs turning into bone. Did Mòxǐ unravel the Bone Sect’s technique for everlasting life?”

At this moment, Ye Xiu could afford to ignore the topic of longevity; his entire attention was fixed on the Twin Lotus Blood Coffin. The wind force generated by Birdman’s wings was not something ordinary objects could withstand; this coffin, though not large, held its ground with immense stability.

“The jade ring in your hand…” Suddenly, both Birdman and Old Liu were blasted several yards away by a powerful current of air. Birdman, being able to fly, was fine, but poor Old Liu was driven back so hard that one foot plunged into the black water, freezing him instantly.

This powerful current originated from Ye Xiu—specifically, from the ring in his hand. Now facing the Twin Lotus Blood Coffin, the jade ring pulsed with a faint, ethereal light, as if sensing the object. It compelled Ye Xiu to raise his right hand.

“Rumble…” The lid of the blood coffin slowly shifted within the spectral glow. It dropped into the black water like a person shivering from cold. Instantly, two lotuses—one white, one black—intertwined and shot into the air. Before anyone could react, they ascended rapidly toward the opening in the ceiling. Surprisingly, the black lotus left without hesitation, but the white lotus spun several times in place before departing.

“Damn it, the magic artifacts just fled!” Old Liu rushed back from the riverbank. He peered into the blood coffin, which contained nothing but a slender sword case. “What the hell? This Twin Lotus Blood Coffin only holds a broken sword case!”

“Whoosh, whoosh…” Suddenly, torrents of water shot from the River Styx toward the ceiling opening. Immediately afterward, the mountain walls surrounding the Styx began to shake violently. Huge stones fell, and the moment they touched the river water, they vanished completely—not shattered, but erased. This world was collapsing.

“Hurry, go! The linchpin of the formation is broken; the world within is about to collapse!” Birdman saw the truth of the situation. He ignored everything else, grabbed the stunned Ye Xiu, and prepared to fly toward the ceiling opening. When he reached out to pull Old Liu, he found the man attempting to charge into the blood coffin to retrieve something. “Damn it, if you don't hurry, you’ll collapse with this Ninefold Poisonous Fiend Formation.”

Old Liu certainly understood the danger, but since he had come this far, he was determined to acquire something. He dodged and weaved, barely avoiding the black water and falling debris. When he strapped the sword case to his back and looked up, Birdman and Ye Xiu had already vanished.

“Damn these two scoundrels,” Old Liu cursed, but he was prepared. He took out a talisman, muttered an incantation, and instantly transformed into the great eagle from the main hall. This eagle let out a piercing cry toward the sky and shot straight up, determined to escape this Poisonous Fiend Formation.