Yi Tianxing shook his head, retracting his feathers, and made a gesture inviting them forward. "Legend has it that the Bone Sect possesses the Heavenly Bone Scripture, which contains a tale: any outsider who enters the Boundless Realm signifies the upheaval of an era—either splendor or destruction."

Ye Xiu saw that Yi Tianxing no longer barred the way and proceeded toward the green figure. A net-like structure of green light had already formed between the clouds. "Since we have made up our minds, let's go then."

Old Liu chuckled lightly and waved toward Ye Xiu. "Off you go, outsider."

"Hmph!" Yi Tianxing instantly spread his wings and flapped them violently. A fierce gale erupted, sweeping the two of them toward the green net. At that moment, a brilliant radiance pierced through the clouds, and all the dense blackness instantly dissipated.

"How can this be? I can't get through!" Ye Xiu's upper body was already completely submerged in the green light. He struggled fiercely, feeling as if something had firmly bound his abdomen. "Old Liu, you try!"

"If you can't do it, how can I!" Old Liu was currently straining forward; his waist was noticeably wider than Ye Xiu's, making it even harder to squeeze through. "Look at that thing ahead—that figure!"

"Whoosh…" A gust of wind blew into the green radiance. The previous green figure moved toward them like a ball of shifting cotton candy. It originally possessed no discernible features, but as it drew nearer, contours suggesting a defined form emerged before them.

Ye Xiu gasped, the being's appearance now starkly clear. He examined the image closely; the outline of its robes was more pronounced, and something resembling a dragon's head seemed ready to burst forth from its chest. "This must be that Zhu Yunwen. Why has he turned into this?"

"Who knows! Look inside his body." Old Liu pointed in surprise at the green figure. Within its transparent abdomen, the Red Cliff Heavenly Book flashed into view once more. "Once we touch that Red Cliff Heavenly Book, everything will be clear."

"Tianmiao Sword!" Ye Xiu naturally understood this. He forcefully raised his arm, and the Tianmiao Sword flashed with red light, stabbing directly into the figure's abdomen. At that instant, the Heavenly Book instantly adhered to the sword's body, approaching Ye Xiu like a creeping reptile. "It's coming for me…"

At the domain of the Red Cliff Heavenly Book, the scene was desolate and lonely, yet possessed a distinct, beautiful twilight ambiance.

The Myriad Demon Holy Empress stood coldly behind a young monarch, her gaze sharp, yet her spirit filled with despair. "Emperor Jianwen, Zhu Yunwen, having possessed the Nether King's Heart Blood, why are you still so incompetent?"

Zhu Yunwen, half his face still delicate and handsome, looked at the Holy Empress with deep affection. "I only wish to be with you. As for conquering the entire world, I have no interest whatsoever."

"Do you know why I bestowed the power of Death upon you?" The Holy Empress held no regard for Zhu Yunwen's adoration; her concern was that she shouldn't have wasted a drop of the Nether King's Heart Blood.

Zhu Yunwen ignited the purple flames in his hand, gazing mournfully at the pale yellow sky. "But you don't know, the reason I accepted the power of Death is that I fell in love with you the moment I first saw you, so that I could see you every day…"

"Hmph, as long as you unify all realms, I will remain by your side. Isn't that good enough?" The Myriad Demon Holy Empress waved her long sleeve, shaking her head with sorrow. "To abandon the ambition the Nether King should possess for the sake of mere romantic attachment—I truly misjudged you."

"My grandfather could not do it, so neither can I. War only brings suffering to the common people. What my grandfather refused to do, I will not do either." Zhu Yunwen sounded disheartened upon hearing this. He leaned back against a colossal stone wall, which was covered in moss and bore no inscriptions.

"Useless fellow!" The Myriad Demon Holy Empress, her white robes flowing, spread her arms wide and sighed toward the heavens. "Why? Why must it be like this?"

Ye Xiu was still struggling within the green net. He looked at the vision unfolding and sighed, "I never expected Zhu Yunwen to fall in love with the Myriad Demon Holy Empress."

"Utterly sentimental rubbish," Old Liu grit his teeth, wishing he could lunge forward and strike Zhu Yunwen. "The power of Death is what countless people dream of, and this fellow wants to be a good emperor after a period of conflict, just like Zhu Yuanzhang?"

"A good emperor? If the empire is gone, how can he be an emperor?" Ye Xiu recognized the scene playing out; this was the ancient site of Sun-Drying Armor Mountain.

In the Holy Empress's rage, the surrounding rocks began to heave and shift, and the massive stone embedded in the ground rose slightly. "Since you have no will to inherit the power of the Nether King, I shall reclaim it."

Zhu Yunwen felt a pull toward the Myriad Demon Holy Empress, but the power of Death was not what he craved. "Can't you give me one chance? Just one!"

"Chance? History grants no chances to anyone." The Holy Empress glared, and dust began to rise from the rocks. "Even the Supreme Death King of the Underworld had no chance, let alone you!"

"The Holy Empress is going to kill Zhu Yunwen!" This was the first time Ye Xiu had witnessed the Holy Empress's might. He wondered how she intended to kill a Death God.

Old Liu watched with avid interest, pointing at Zhu Yunwen and cursing, "This kid is truly narrow-minded. Once he became emperor, he could have any woman, yet he's obsessed with this ancient hag, the Myriad Demon Holy Empress."

"Ah… ah…" Suddenly, a fierce gale swept over Zhu Yunwen's body. The whirlwind above his head began to draw out a stream of green energy. "Why can't you understand how I feel about you!"

The Myriad Demon Holy Empress raised her slender sleeve, controlling the gale. At that moment, her delicate hand transformed into a sharp, pointed claw, and her beautiful visage was gone. "If the Nether King's Heart Blood is forcibly ripped from your body, you will become an immortal soul, forever enduring the torment of reincarnation! Even so, you defy my will?"

Zhu Yunwen was clearly being tortured by the gale, his face contorting. A dense green vapor began to emanate from his seven orifices. He raised his hand high and pressed it against the stone wall, his fingers moving restlessly, his blood gradually seeping into the rock. "Even in death, I will let you know my love for you!"

"What!" The Holy Empress's eyes flashed with malice. She lifted one hand and drew the stream of green light into her palm. At that moment, she completely lost her human form, becoming hideous, terrifying, and utterly arrogant. "Foolishness. Only the weak possess such fearless emotions."

This was the first time Ye Xiu had seen the Holy Empress's savage countenance. Her skin had completely receded, leaving her like a bleached skeleton, which reminded him again of Hong Ling. "Is the Myriad Demon Holy Empress inherently one of the Bone Pickers? Is she also a descendant of Fuxi?"

"Look at the stone wall, that is the Red Cliff Heavenly Book!" Old Liu pointed at the wall in the vision. Zhu Yunwen's fingers moved laboriously across its surface, writing a blood letter—a letter written in the black blood of a Death God—yet every line revealed only his love for the Myriad Demon Holy Empress.

"So the so-called Red Cliff Heavenly Book is actually a love letter written by Zhu Yunwen, the Death God, to the Myriad Demon Holy Empress?" Ye Xiu could not believe what he was witnessing. Future generations struggled bitterly to decipher the secret of the Red Cliff Heavenly Book, never realizing that the inscription on this stone held little value; it was merely a love letter from history, a letter crossing two realms. How ironic.

A fluctuating green figure materialized around the stone wall of Sun-Drying Armor Mountain, circling the Myriad Demon Holy Empress. From that moment on, there was no longer a Zhu Yunwen in this world, no longer a Zhu Yunwen transformed into a Death God in this realm—only a soul yearning to remain by the Myriad Demon Holy Empress's side.

"Whoosh…" The Myriad Demon Holy Empress waved away her former graceful appearance, casting a disdainful glance at the blood-written letter on the wall. With a light sweep of her sleeve, countless flying stones struck the rock surface, polishing the intact characters into their current worn state. That humble soul also vanished into the wilderness with the ensuing wind and sand. "This is the passage between the Mortal Realm and the Boundless Realm. Zhu Yunwen! Can you endure the eternal torment of reincarnation?"

"Waaah…" The text on the Red Cliff Heavenly Book began to become disordered, and the green soul let out a final wail. The flow reversal of time and space was something he could not bear himself. In an instant, everything dissolved into nothingness—no green net, no dense clouds, only a graceful young man clad in a dragon robe.

Ye Xiu hung suspended in mid-air, staring motionlessly at the man before him—childlike yet refined. "Old Liu, what just happened?"

"How should I know? I can't move either!" Old Liu's face was red from strain, struggling repeatedly but finding his limbs unresponsive. "This guy must be that Zhu Yunwen; this is his true form."

Zhu Yunwen slowly but smoothly turned his body. The characters of the Red Cliff Heavenly Book shimmered behind him, those elegant verses, that strange affection floating through this space-time. "Myriad Demon Holy Empress, Myriad Demon Holy Empress, do you know, even now, I don't wish to be some Death God. If possible, I only wish to be an ordinary man by your side."

"What good does saying that do now!" Ye Xiu had unconsciously entered a different state, feeling as if he were on the same plane as Zhu Yunwen. "A Death God must live as a Death God should. Since the Myriad Demon Holy Empress chose you, you should act according to her choice and do what you are meant to do."

"Are you a Death God?" Zhu Yunwen's eyes were kind as he looked at Ye Xiu, feeling no fear. "Although it's strange, I can sense the same thing within our bodies. The Myriad Demon Holy Empress sealed me here, was it perhaps to await the arrival of a Death God?"

"Hey, Ye Xiu, why can you move?" Old Liu was still suspended in the air, unable to move his body no matter how hard he tried. "What did he say? The Myriad Demon Holy Empress knew you were coming."

Ye Xiu's consciousness was slightly detached; he only knew a force was pulling him, and that force stemmed from the Nether King's Heart Blood. "We share the same power within us, a resonance of extremely high compatibility. However, I won't be as useless as you."

"You don't understand my feelings at all," Zhu Yunwen said mournfully, stepping backward. This was not where he wished to be; he wanted to be an ordinary man who died during Zhu Di's rebellion. "No, I am different from you. I will never be excited for illusory power, never!"

"Hmph, the power of the Nether King's Heart Blood will be mine." Ye Xiu raised an arm and approached Zhu Yunwen, grinning as a powerful force surged from his palm. He gradually closed the distance, drawing a streak of green halo from Zhu Yunwen's body. "The Myriad Demon Holy Empress left half the power of the Nether King's Heart Blood with you; she was waiting for me to come, to help you fulfill your final wish."

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