"What are you laughing at?" Ye Wen frowned, thinking this old serpent truly had issues. Not only was he persistently pestering him, but now, facing imminent death, he could still find cause for mirth?

She Yue saw the speculation in Ye Wen's eyes, suppressed his laughter, and said, "This old man initially doubted if you, little brat, could manage this feat. But I never expected you to be so much better than I foresaw! Good, very good!"

The more Ye Wen listened, the more unsettled he felt; the words seemed too bizarre. A strange thought surfaced in his mind: "Could it be this old man intends for me to become his son-in-law, which is why he's giving me such a hard time?"

No sooner had the thought materialized than She Yue declared, "Little brat, don't go dreaming up pleasant things!"

Immediately following, he was seized by a violent coughing fit, spraying blood from his mouth. His eyes completely lost their human quality, revealing the thin, elongated pupils of a snake.

This transformation signaled that She Yue’s injuries were too severe for him to maintain his human form. The fact that he could hold his appearance steady, with only his eyes reverting to their true form, was a testament to his profound cultivation.

"You always wanted to know why I sought you out, didn't you? The reason is quite simple!" She Yue stopped coughing, wiping the blood from his lips. "It’s just that this old man found your martial skill commendable, and unlike those so-called righteous sects, you aren't riddled with petty schemes."

"What do you mean?"

Ye Wen felt things were growing stranger, and just as he was about to press for details, he sensed someone approaching. With a wave of his hand, a gust of palm wind shot out, dispersing the mist—which had grown incredibly fragile due to the formation controller's grave injury—and revealing a graceful figure.

Bai Suzhen was still clad in her white, long skirt, and her exquisite face was now ghastly pale. Ignoring Ye Wen and the Zixiao Sword hovering in mid-air, she rushed straight toward She Yue: "Godfather, why must you subject yourself to this?"

Before she could utter two full sentences, she dissolved into tears, kneeling beside She Yue. Her hands trembled as she reached out to support his body, yet she dared not apply any real pressure—She Yue had absorbed numerous palm strikes from Ye Wen to his arms and chest, and the explosive energy had left them horribly mangled.

And those surges of energy had not dissipated; they were still churning violently within him. Even through a layer of skin, Bai Suzhen could perceive the devastation they wrought.

She Yue extended a hand and weakly patted Bai Suzhen’s brow, but instead of speaking to his adopted daughter, he addressed Ye Wen: "This old man has but one request. I hope Sect Leader Ye will grant it!"

"What is it?"

She Yue took a deep, ragged breath. "Do not allow the Kunlun Sect to extend their influence into the East Sea Immortal Palace. Furthermore, when my adopted daughter enters the Dragon Transformation Pool, I ask that you, Sect Leader Ye, grant her protection!"

Ye Wen paused, completely taken aback. He could not have possibly imagined such a request. He found She Yue's plea utterly baffling. They had just been fighting for their lives, and now he was entrusting his daughter's care to him?

"Godfather, I don't need the Dragon Transformation Pool!" Bai Suzhen shook her head in refusal, reaching out instead to try and lift She Yue. "Godfather, the water in the Dragon Transformation Pool has accumulated sufficiently. We must hurry back; perhaps the injuries you've sustained can be healed in that pool..."

"Nonsense!" She Yue, who had been on the verge of death, suddenly roared in anger, sweeping aside the hands Bai Suzhen had extended. "If I use the Dragon Transformation Pool, how can your life be saved?"

Bai Suzhen only wept, kneeling there, motionless.

Hearing this, Ye Wen finally grasped the full picture. It turned out She Yue had been relentlessly pursuing him because Bai Suzhen suffered from a hidden malady requiring treatment from the Dragon Transformation Pool. Originally, the South Sea Immortal Palace had one, and the East Sea Immortal Palace had another; it was perfect for the father and daughter to each have one.

However, since the South Sea Immortal Palace's pool was destroyed, only one remained, and both desperately needed it. This explained She Yue's intense resentment and his need to confront Ye Wen.

Moreover, it seemed Bai Suzhen's condition was critical, depending entirely on the Dragon Transformation Pool to sustain her life. Yet, She Yue had cultivated for thousands of years, waiting precisely for this moment, and was naturally unwilling to yield at the last second. The pool had taken so long to accumulate, and if he waited for it to fill again, who knew how many more days or years would pass? Though She Yue, as a demon, had a longer lifespan, he couldn't guarantee he would last that long.

In summary, the current predicament meant only one of the father and daughter could survive, which was why She Yue had sought out Ye Wen—to vent his accumulated frustration.

And judging by the situation, She Yue seemed resolved to die, intending to use Ye Wen as the means to find release, thereby ensuring his adopted daughter could use the Dragon Transformation Pool. He knew that as long as he lived, Bai Suzhen would never agree to use it first.

This thought struck Ye Wen, making him recall when Bai Suzhen had sought him out while he was wandering the streets. Perhaps she, too, harbored a similar intent regarding She Yue? She hadn't anticipated She Yue moving so quickly to intervene, which was why she hadn't engaged Ye Wen directly.

"This father and daughter... can't either of you think a little more normally?"

Having grasped the crucial point, Ye Wen felt like spitting blood. A perfectly fine scene of filial devotion had been twisted into this mess, and all he could offer was a judgment of 'utterly despicable' without any other response.

Knowing he had been used by the pair, Ye Wen saw no reason to linger on the matter and prepared to leave. But just as he moved, She Yue suddenly struck his own Dantian, and a bead, roughly the size of a ping-pong ball and emitting a faint glow, floated from his mouth.

Witnessing this, Bai Suzhen's eyes widened sharply, her pupils dilating noticeably. Trembling, she managed to whisper, "Godfather... you... you actually condensed your entire cultivation into an Inner Core?"

Seeing this sight, and hearing Bai Suzhen’s words, Ye Wen, who had previously studied some aspects of the cultivation world (from Zhang Sanfeng back in the day), also knitted his brows.

He knew well that not everyone in this world necessarily forged a Golden Core or an Inner Core. Demons didn't always follow the Inner Core path either. However, there was a method to forcibly condense one's entire cultivation strength into an Inner Core. The drawback was that the creator could not use this Core; it served only to preserve the essence of one's power as a tonic or a magic treasure upon impending death.

Human cultivators rarely used this technique. Demon cultivators were more adept at it, yet few employed it, as it offered them absolutely no benefit—unless it was for entrusting their legacy at the moment of death.

She Yue forming the Inner Core meant he had willingly wasted the majority of his cultivation. It seemed She Yue's resolve to die was far stronger than Ye Wen had imagined.

Handing the Inner Core to Bai Suzhen, She Yue murmured, "Once you use the Dragon Transformation Pool and remove the latent defect in your body, you can then use this Inner Core along with the potent supplements in the Immortal Palace to boost your power..." His voice grew fainter until it completely vanished. He had died.

She Yue had been using his remaining cultivation merely to sustain himself. Once that power was dispersed, he could no longer resist the residual force from Ye Wen's strikes, expiring before he could finish his final instruction.

Bai Suzhen knelt there, sobbing uncontrollably. The Inner Core in her hands was the only thing left by her godfather. As She Yue’s breath ceased, within moments, the Core disintegrated entirely into dust and vanished.

Ye Wen sighed, retracting the several Zixiao Swords that had been suspended in the air. He felt profoundly annoyed that things had escalated to this point, but he couldn't judge another's choice. He could only murmur, "Why bother?" and prepare to depart.

As for Bai Suzhen, he decided he wouldn't interfere, as long as she didn't seek trouble with him in the future.

But as he recalled his flying swords, he heard Bai Suzhen speak: "I was congenitally underdeveloped, and this issue only manifested after I began cultivating. Furthermore, in the early stages, I was too eager for quick success and neglected my foundation, which created the hidden flaw..."

Ye Wen remembered how Bai Suzhen had instantly spotted the problem with the kitten, perceiving it even earlier than he could with his Glazed Pupils, likely because she recognized a similar underlying issue in the kitten.

"Fortunately, we had the Dragon Transformation Pool. Godfather said that as long as I entered it, I would not only transform into my dragon form but also heal all those latent flaws. So, my father and I didn't take this problem too seriously; we lived our days as normal, though due to my physical condition, I often fell into deep sleep."

Ye Wen recalled seeing Bai Suzhen in her true form, curled up asleep in a bamboo basket the first time they met, never realizing there was such a reason behind it.

"Since learning that the Dragon Transformation Pool in the South Sea Immortal Palace had been destroyed, I noticed Godfather looking troubled day after day. But in front of me, he always put on an indifferent expression and even joked about teaching you a lesson... That was when I knew, Godfather was preparing for me to use the East Sea Immortal Palace's pool!"

Hearing this, Ye Wen finally asked out of genuine curiosity, "Your godfather's power is so formidable; even if you went first, it wouldn't necessarily mean his death, would it?"

Bai Suzhen shook her head. "Godfather took a wrong path in his early cultivation, and he has always carried this hidden illness. His seclusion these past few centuries was because the malady gradually became impossible to suppress, leaving him unable to deploy even half of his powerful cultivation. We had hoped that with the pool nearing full capacity, all these problems could be resolved at once, but alas..."

Ye Wen fell silent. It turned out both father and daughter were afflicted with genuine 'ailments,' leading them to such drastic choices—sacrificing oneself so the other could use the Dragon Transformation Pool without guilt, thus preserving life.

With that understood, Ye Wen felt he had nothing more to say. He shook his head, preparing to leave again.

But just then, Bai Suzhen rose, her head bowed low, and walked toward Ye Wen. As she approached, tears continuously streamed down her cheeks, dripping onto the ground.

Bai Suzhen stopped before Ye Wen and reached out as if to embrace him. Under such circumstances, any other man would surely open his arms to comfort the pitiful woman who had just lost her closest kin. But Ye Wen was struck by a warning sense, and his surrounding vital energy erupted violently.

A brilliant golden light flashed from Ye Wen—the Golden Dawn Energy was unleashed abruptly. It not only blasted away the last vestiges of the surrounding mist but, accompanied by an imperceptible flash of purple light, the powerful gale sent Bai Suzhen flying backward.

More crucially, Bai Suzhen was flung into the air, spitting blood. Her eyes, now losing focus, gazed vacantly at the starry night sky before she fell to the ground with a faint smile upon her face.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, a single burst of golden light from start to finish. Ye Wen looked at the lifeless body of Bai Suzhen and could only heave another long sigh.

"Why bother!"

Yet, he felt not a shred of guilt for the heavy blow he had dealt, as Bai Suzhen had truly intended to take his life in that final moment. He had no reason to hold back.

Looking at the Inner Core Ye Wen had trapped with his energy, he could clearly sense the terrifying power it contained. It was on the verge of detonation; if Ye Wen’s binding force eased even slightly, an explosion capable of leveling thousands of miles around would occur.

Sweat drenched his brow, Ye Wen carefully suspended the Inner Core, using the eight layers of energy from the Huntian Baojian to wrap it, layer upon layer, preventing its final catastrophic release.

That was Bai Suzhen's final act. After approaching Ye Wen, she had used the energy within her—almost identical to She Yue's—to incite the Inner Core, planning to detonate it. Simultaneously, she struck forward with her palm, intending to slap the Core onto Ye Wen. However, she hadn't anticipated Ye Wen's lightning-fast reaction. Unlike most who would flee, he met the attack head-on, grasping the Core and halting the explosion. It was only due to the profound subtleties of the Huntian Baojian's energy, combined with his Ziqi Tianluo channeling methods, that he managed to control the Inner Core.

Ye Wen understood Bai Suzhen's choice. After all, She Yue had died by his hand; seeking vengeance for a father was, fundamentally, justified—but Ye Wen could not accept being its target.

"Damn it, you two came seeking trouble with me, trying to use me to solve your dilemma, and you still aren't finished?"

Furthermore, Bai Suzhen's final move was ruthlessly thorough. If Ye Wen had been even slightly careless, he would have been reduced to ash, with no possibility of soul-reformation. Normally, even if Ye Wen died, his powerful spirit might allow rebirth, but Bai Suzhen's attack had eliminated even that possibility.

If that Inner Core had detonated, it would have annihilated everything. Ye Wen, burning with anger, simultaneously stabilized the Core and drove a finger into Bai Suzhen’s chest, unleashing the Zixiao Dragon Qi Sword energy within her body.

Thus, although Bai Suzhen's exterior showed no wounds, her interior had been churned into mush. She then fell to the ground like a tattered rag.

Holding the Inner Core, Ye Wen walked over and looked at the silent Bai Suzhen. Finally, he could only sigh, "If you can reincarnate, I hope you are born into a wealthy family next time, and live happily as an ordinary girl..."

As this thought crossed his mind, a spark of spiritual insight flared, and his hands rose in a gesture of prayer, though the gesture was incomplete—his palms did not quite meet, leaving the controlled Inner Core suspended between them.

If anyone had witnessed this, they would have seen an ancient beauty lying like a discarded cloth in the desolate wilderness, blood staining the ground around her, while a young man with long hair stood with eyes closed, palms held in supplication, enveloped by a golden radiance that gave the illusion of a high monk.

Ye Wen was not fully aware of what he was doing at the moment, only that a stream of inspiration kept flashing through his mind. Then, a cryptic sequence of language spilled from his lips.

As these words emerged, they transformed into vast, golden characters. As the characters multiplied, they began subtly shifting their appearance.

At this juncture, Ye Wen gradually regained a measure of consciousness and dimly understood his actions. Yet, he had no intention of stopping; the strange notion in his heart propelled him to complete the process.

The Inner Core between his palms flickered erratically, but with every flash of light, the Core seemed to shrink slightly, while the surrounding golden Sanskrit characters grew larger. Finally, with a brilliant surge of light, the entire area exploded in radiance.

When the light subsided, the landscape had utterly transformed. Ye Wen and Bai Suzhen floated suspended in emptiness, surrounded by a void filled with Buddhist iconography. Ye Wen was unfamiliar with these patterns, yet he instantly comprehended their meaning.

"The Path of Samsara for all sentient beings; observe the present life, determine the next, the Six Paths of Reincarnation!"

Ye Wen finally uttered a sentence he understood. As he finished speaking, the Bai Suzhen before him suddenly dissolved into a beam of bright light, halting before a massive, circular disk-like pattern.

Ye Wen now realized he had unintentionally grasped a supreme ultimate technique: a spell capable of determining the reincarnation of a soul. His simple, unbidden wish—"May you be born into a good family in your next life!"—had triggered a latent Buddhist mystery within him, directly initiating this Six Paths of Reincarnation spell.

While Ye Wen observed the circular pattern, he saw Bai Suzhen's white light flicker intensely. The endlessly revolving disk momentarily stopped, and in the next instant, the white light plunged into the circle.

Looking closely, he couldn't identify which path the pattern represented, nor what fate Bai Suzhen would face in that rebirth. However, judging by the benevolent appearance of the motif, Ye Wen surmised it was likely a favorable choice. As soon as the thought occurred, the surrounding patterns faded, and after a dizzying moment, he found himself standing back in the desolate wilderness.

The difference was that Bai Suzhen's corpse was gone, and the Inner Core in his palm had vanished entirely. Ye Wen instantly understood: the spell had relied upon She Yue's Inner Core for activation, consuming it completely in that brief moment, leaving nothing behind. This demonstrated that the Six Paths of Reincarnation was far from a technique Ye Wen could casually command.

"Damn it. I thought I'd become mightier than Yama himself. Looks like I still have a lot of work to do!"

. : I don't know what's going on these days, I keep writing until midnight... I want to sleep early too~ Also, asking for some baseline support... RO