Yan Luo smiled faintly, pointing at Moya, "Indeed, this man is Moya, the only Defensive Forgemaster in our Yu Yu Feng Dao Alliance—a man utterly devoted to forging the ultimate defense."

"Are you from the Bone Sect?" Ye Xiu hesitated slightly, but seeing the small wind snakes crawling over Moya's shoulder, he was convinced. "You're a Bone Gatherer of the Serpent Control lineage? He was the master of those wind snakes before!"

"Heh, I didn't expect to encounter someone with the cultivation of the Strange Path this time, and also a Death God," Moya shifted his focus from Yan Luo to Ye Xiu, sizing up the casually dressed Death God. "Correct, I belong to the Bone Sect, but I also belong to the Yu Yu Feng Dao Alliance. What choice did I have when my passion lies in weapon crafting? To forge the strongest defense in my mind, I would gladly abandon the identity of a Bone Gatherer, though it is a pity..."

"A pity... you must know the Lord of Bone Gatherers, Jiaye, right?" Ye Xiu was trying to find a Bone Gatherer to understand the matter of Hong Ling. "He has a daughter named Hong Ling, are you familiar with her?"

"I only know Jiaye is the Sect Master of this generation. As for his daughter and such, don't pry too deeply. The 'daughter' spoken of by the people of the Bone Sect is not in the traditional sense that people usually understand," Moya chuckled softly and pointed towards the giant bone vat behind the room. "We people of the Bone Sect survive for centuries. Every generation of Bone Sect members emerges from these bone vats; whoever awakens first from inside the vat determines who becomes the Bone Sect master of that era."

Old Liu listened, chuckling with curiosity, "So you're saying everyone sleeps in these bone vats, and whoever gets out first becomes the boss?"

"You could put it that way, but the sequence of awakening naturally depends on the cultivator's ability," Moya seemed unconcerned about revealing some secrets of the Bone Sect. "So, nobody truly knows what kind of daughter Jiaye has, because even if he did have one, it would have been a possibility across many centuries, something impossible to trace."

"You are a member of the Bone Sect; did you really abandon it just for a hobby to join the Yu Yu Feng Dao Alliance?" Ye Xiu felt that something crucial was still missing. He spread his fingers, gesturing toward the massive palace, "What exactly are you researching in here? If I'm not mistaken, your purpose in bringing us in was to help you forge that so-called ultimate defense, wasn't it?"

"As you know, Meiyi and I were just here to lend a hand," Old Liu raised his staff, startling the unveiling of a huge curtain behind him. The curtain was pitch black, and behind it, a golden wall displayed a shield framed in dark gold. The shield was intricately contoured, an entirely metallic structure, but a serpentine pattern was carved into its center. The serpent's mouth exposed a blue crystal, which continuously radiated energy outward.

"Hoo..." Ye Xiu breathed a long sigh of relief. All this time, he had only assumed that people in the Yu Yu Feng Dao Alliance only crafted lethal weapons; he never expected someone to be secretly researching a defensive shield. He walked to the base of the wall. The shield was enormous, and blue light constantly flowed across the wall, as if protecting the entire structure. "Is this the ultimate defense you speak of?"

"Indeed. This is the Dao Xuan Barrier," Moya uttered these four words, his eyes showing a strange sense of liberation. "Ancient prophecies stated that the Bone Sect would face a great change in this era. I, Moya, after a thousand years, finally forged the toughest defensive system in this world, seeking to preserve the immortal legend of my Bone Sect."

"Why did the Dao Xuan Barrier require the help of Meiyi and Old Liu? Did you intentionally lure us here to complete the final stage of this Dao Xuan Barrier?" Upon hearing the name of the barrier, Ye Xiu instantly grasped why Moya had captured Old Liu, but what could an ordinary forger like Meiyi have to do with it?

Moya patted Old Liu's shoulder and explained, "The main material for the Dao Xuan Barrier is the Wind Serpent Tendon from the Boundless Realm. Only a master of the ancient Strange Path can refine the essence of the Wind Serpent Tendon using sorcery to activate it for my use. This is the final requirement for my Dao Xuan Barrier to take shape. As for Meiyi..."

"Moya is my master; every move and stance I know in forging was taught to me by him, hehe," Meiyi said cheerfully, taking Ye Xiu's hand. She looked apologetic, as ushering Ye Xiu and Old Liu here was a necessary phase for the Dao Xuan Barrier's completion. "Ye Xiu, please don't blame me. I had no ill intentions; I only wanted to help Master fulfill a lifelong wish, and while I was at it, I brought you along hoping you might find a Divine Weapon. I didn't expect that you already possess an Ancient Artifact in your hands."

"That's about the gist of it. To be honest, I was kept in the dark too," Old Liu spread his hands helplessly, appearing not overly angry. "In exchange, Moya taught me the method to control the Wind Snakes. With my control over the Beast Path, traversing the heavens should be no problem from now on."

Listening to Meiyi and Old Liu, Ye Xiu immediately stepped back several paces. To him, Meiyi was such a pure woman. His impression of her was limited to their school days; he never imagined this woman would resort to all sorts of schemes to lead him to this accursed tomb of the First Emperor just to achieve a goal. He pointed at himself, "So, you all achieved your objectives, and only I was the fool tricked into coming here?"

Meiyi also felt a pang of apology and stepped forward to link arms with Ye Xiu. "I never intended to deceive you; I did it for you to find the Divine Weapon."

"Ah, what's the difference between deceiving and not deceiving? Everyone gets what they need, hehe. Death God, don't be so serious," Old Liu adopted a rather smug look. Since he had gained benefits, he naturally spoke on their behalf. "No matter what, it hasn't harmed you, and the outcome is much better than dealing with that fellow Ming Luo Sheng."

"Fine, fine, fine. So I've been tricked once again," Ye Xiu calmed his emotions. He had obtained the weapon of his dreams, even if he felt utilized in the process. "Alright, now that the truth is out, your Dao Xuan Barrier is finally complete. We should be able to leave now, right?"

"Complete? Heh, I told you there was one final wager yet to begin here," At this point, Moya’s previous calm tone vanished. He looked at Yan Luo opposite him and then pointed at the blue wall behind him. "Old Ghost Yan Luo and I have a wager, and this wager has not yet been enacted. Nothing can end until it is settled."

"A wager?" Ye Xiu and the other two stood between Moya and Yan Luo. They knew about the forging of the Dao Xuan Barrier but were unaware of the more profound relationship between Moya and Yan Luo, both members of the Yu Yu Feng Dao Alliance.

Yan Luo cleared his throat, breaking the heavy atmosphere. "Ahem, it’s like this. When Moya joined my Yu Yu Feng Dao Alliance, he had only one condition: to forge the strongest defensive barrier in the world, a barrier that no weapon could ever pierce."

"And Old Ghost Yan Luo is single-mindedly set on forging the strongest Divine Weapon in the world, and if it is the strongest Divine Weapon, there must be no barrier it cannot penetrate," Moya added to Yan Luo's statement, his voice laced with provocation. "This has been a thousand-year wager. Now that the Dao Xuan Barrier has entered the world, and the legendary strongest weapon, the Yu Yu Feng Dao, has also taken form, it is time to settle this bet."

"The strongest blade against the strongest shield?" Ye Xiu had recovered from his earlier agitation. He glanced at Meiyi and slowly retreated to the side, allowing Yan Luo to face the Dao Xuan Barrier squarely. "I just want to know what the consequences of this gamble will be."

"It sounds a bit self-contradictory, but it's certainly something worth looking forward to," Old Liu casually sat down on the ground. He gently raised his hand, and a small, dark wind snake flew out of the Demon-Breaking Sword. The little creature looked identical to the previous wind snakes, the only difference being its extreme affection for Old Liu.

"Consequences?" Yan Luo raised the Yu Yu Feng Dao in his hand high and plunged it into the ground. "If a thousand-year wager doesn't involve fighting to the death, how can the world remember it?"

"If I lose, I will self-destruct my very bone structure, and the Dao Xuan Barrier will belong to you, Yan Luo," Moya's eyes flared with killing intent, as if wanting to vent a long-held grudge. "From this day forward, there will be no more Yu Yu Feng Dao Alliance in this world, and the myth of your Divine Weapon, Yan Luo, will be supplanted by me, Moya of the Bone Sect."

"If I lose, I will commit suicide right here, and the Yu Yu Feng Dao will be entrusted to you," Yan Luo was highly confident, and the flickering, potent light of the Dao Xuan Barrier did not shake him in the slightest. "However, I doubt you will have the chance, because this Dao Xuan Barrier is about to perish."

"Please!" Moya said, stepping back. He raised his staff high, triggering another surge of blue airflow. Instantly, the Dao Xuan Barrier on the back wall shimmered brightly, and a monstrous long snake flew out from the center of the shield. It spun rapidly around the wall, and at that moment, the entire great hall pulsed with vibrant light.

"Damn, is this thing really that mystical?" Old Liu pulled Ye Xiu over to sit down as well, and he gestured to Meiyi. "See, don't blame Meiyi. This is the kind of rare, world-shaking battle one is fortunate enough to witness after cultivating for countless lifetimes."

"Stop trying to be familiar with me. I thought you little brat had died again, only to find you here acting as someone's slave," Ye Xiu grumbled, though he had already forgiven the other two, his words remained deliberately prickly.

Old Liu understood Ye Xiu's pride, the typical case of 'saving face': "Let's wait for the result first. Otherwise, why don't we place another bet? Who do you think will win?"

"Bet on what?"

"Bet on Meiyi. Whoever wins gets Meiyi as their girlfriend." As Old Liu spoke this, he received an unexpected kick to the head—it turned out Meiyi was already furious.

"Alright, alright, stop messing around, both of you, look at the center!" Ye Xiu's attention was completely fixed on the Dao Xuan Barrier. The grand hall was now entirely bathed in the illumination of two different colored lights: the blue light of the spirit snake shooting from the back wall and the golden radiance from the Yu Yu Feng Dao. Before these two forces even clashed directly, they had established a standoff. The spirit snake darted erratically across the wall, as if the entire wall were the vast sky for its traverse. It curved sometimes, then suddenly lunged, giving the distinct impression that it might break free from the wall and manifest in the world.

Before the gate of the Royal Palace, Yan Luo had perfectly infused his purple flames onto the Yu Yu Feng Dao. At the hilt, the agile, inch-long blade flew up on its own, swaying in the air, resembling a silver serpent dancing in fire, blending stillness and motion, as if awaiting the approach of its prey. At one precise moment, the Yu Yu Feng Dao exuded kingly dominance, and a golden dragon projected from the blade's edge. The golden dragon roared fiercely, jaws agape, and surrounding it, smaller, slender snakes flicked their tongues. The golden dragon mingled with the coiled serpents, the serpents submitting to the long dragon—the spectacle was complex yet orderly, mirroring the structure of this world: a mixture of dragon and snake, yet full of intricate order. The moment the Yu Yu Feng Dao entered the world was the moment all orders were meant to converge.