Zhi Xuan focused his will, drawing his consciousness out from the inner depths toward his physical body, which still sat cross-legged beneath the ancient tree. As his eyelids opened, a pure sapphire light radiated from his pupils, sweeping away the crimson mist that shrouded the Forest of Eternal Death. He touched his forehead; the skin was now clear, leaving only the pattern of the slaughter pillars, no longer emitting the red beacon that invited death.

  "A fleeting freedom," Zhi Xuan murmured as he stood. "But enough to make them lose the trail of the Devil."

  With a wave of his hand, he stored the Nine Heavens Bead back into the recesses of his soul. With steps that were light yet carried an undeniable authority, Zhi Xuan began to walk through the density of the forest. The dead trees around him seemed to bow, parting for the figure who had swallowed thousands of lives yet now walked with the silence of a hermit.

  After traveling through the thick Yin aura, Zhi Xuan arrived at the outermost border of the Forest of Eternal Death. He gazed at the vast Southern Region before him. A copper-orange twilight sky greeted him—a sight he had not seen during his five years of meditation.

  He stared at the gate once split by his sword strike; it appeared as though no one had dared to repair or even touch it since. "Not even a single trace of life has visited this gate since I entered the Forest of Eternal Death."

  Zhi Xuan stepped over the threshold of the gate, which had become a wreckage of wood and metal. His footsteps made a crackling sound as he stepped on the remains that had turned to brownish ash. Ruo Xianxue was right; this place had become forbidden land. The terror he had planted five years ago had taken such deep root that not a single soul—mortal or practitioner—dared to approach within a radius of dozens of li.

  He closed his eyes for a moment, letting his Divine Sense sweep the horizon. Without the Mark of the Annihilator throbbing on his forehead, he felt like a fish returning to the vast ocean without a hook lurking nearby. However, he could not be careless. The Southern Region was vast, but for the experts who craved his head, even the smallest trail could become a clue.

  Zhi Xuan changed his direction, avoiding the main paths leading to city centers or great sects. He no longer wished to be the center of the storm, but rather a silent wind blowing behind desolate mountains. With a single thrust of his feet, he took to the sky, flying low over the ridges to avoid detection from the watchtowers that might still be on alert.

  After soaring for a few li, he heard a thud below that carried a faint Divine Wheel realm aura. He sharpened his Divine Sense, seeking the source of the sound, and found two cultivators searching for a Flame of Sunrose Flower, attempting to step into the First Ember realm.

  "Two small creatures surviving amidst the blood mist," Zhi Xuan muttered, eyeing the silhouettes of the two weak, youthful figures. "They search for that flower here? It is as if they have wandered too far for mortals who have only just stepped into the Divine Wheel."

  In a steep cliff crevice dripping with the Yin aura of past slaughters, a young man and a girl—perhaps only in their teens—were drenched in sweat. Their simple clothes were torn by venomous thorns.

  Before them, a single flower with burning orange petals, the Flame of Sunrose, bloomed between the black rocks. That flower was the key for Divine Wheel practitioners to trigger their inner fire and cross over to the First Ember realm.

  "Brother Yun, take the flower quickly! I will hold back this stone scorpion!" the girl shouted, swinging a cracked bronze sword. Before her, a low-level beast hissed, its eyes red from the demonic influence Zhi Xuan had left behind five years ago.

  Zhi Xuan hovered silently in the air. The sight triggered a strange pulse within his heart, evoking shadows of Mingling and Tang from his past—village youths who desperately risked their lives for a glimmer of hope in cultivation.

  "How pathetic," Ruo Xianxue hissed from within the Sea of Consciousness, her voice carrying its perpetual tone of mockery. "They fight over trash plants on the very ground you trampled. Will you show your mortal compassion again, Zhi Xuan?"

  Zhi Xuan did not answer. He landed silently atop a tree not far away. His presence was undetectable, as if he were part of the shadows themselves. He saw the stone scorpion raise its tail, ready to plunge the venom that would end the girl's life in an instant.

  Zhi Xuan dissolved into the shadows and reappeared directly in front of the scorpion. With a graceful sweep of his arm and an open palm, he closed his hand with a pressure that immediately caused the stone scorpion to crack without hesitation. The beast exploded in a thud, leaving behind a speck of spiritual dust that Zhi Xuan found revolting.

  The girl gasped, falling to the ground from the wind pressure generated by Zhi Xuan's movement. She stared blankly at the puff of dust before her; the beast that had previously seemed like the angel of death to them was now gone with a single wave of a stranger's hand.

  "B-Brother Yun..." the girl's voice trembled. She did not dare look at Zhi Xuan’s face, which was obscured by his long, dark purple hair.

  The youth called Yun immediately ran over and threw himself into a kowtow before Zhi Xuan, his forehead touching the ground. His body shook violently. He could feel the aura emanating from the man—even though this man had suppressed his essence, to a Divine Wheel practitioner, Zhi Xuan was like a vast, calm ocean capable of swallowing the entire world in a single ripple.

  "Thank you for Senior's mercy! We... we did not mean to impudently disturb the peace of this place!" Yun spoke hoarsely.

  Zhi Xuan remained standing like a statue, his gaze fixed on the Flame of Sunrose still swaying in the mountain wind. Its orange color looked dull in Zhi Xuan's eyes.

  "For the sake of this single trash flower, you surrender your lives in this cursed land?" Zhi Xuan’s voice sounded hollow, like a cold wind passing through a cave.

  Yun raised his face slightly, his eyes bloodshot. "Senior... our faction has been destroyed. The Southern Region is now filled with fear of the Devil Gu Fengyan. Our masters fled, and only by reaching First Ember can we have any hope of protecting our younger siblings."

  Hearing the name Gu Fengyan spoken by the youth, the corner of Zhi Xuan's lip twitched faintly. What an irony; he was the reason they suffered, yet he was the one who saved them from death.

  "That Devil will not care about ants like you," Zhi Xuan said coldly. He waved his hand toward the flower.

  With delicate essence control, he plucked the Flame of Sunrose and its roots without damaging the petals, then tossed it into Yun’s arms. "Only one flower, yet there are two of you fighting for it. Show me the way to a mortal city, and I will offer to guide you toward a second Flame of Sunrose Flower."

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  Zhi Xuan turned away, ignoring the two young figures, staring into the dense woods far from the Forest of Eternal Death. "I shall present my offer first."

  Zhi Xuan began to walk, his feet hitting the rocky ground with a deep rhythm. He merely walked, yet each step seemed to fold the distance, forcing the two young practitioners to jog just to keep up with his steady back.

  "S-Senior... my name is Yun Che, and this is my sister, Yun Xi," the youth gasped, trying to break the oppressive silence. "We are from the Rain Cloud Sect, which has now disbanded. We will show you the way to Qinghe City, the nearest mortal city that still has a pulse of life."

  Zhi Xuan did not respond. His waist-length dark purple hair occasionally rustled in the wind, briefly revealing the slaughter pillar pattern on his temple, which caused Yun Xi to immediately turn her face away, her body shivering. To them, the man before them was no mere wanderer—he was a figure who saved them yet radiated a darkness thicker than the night in this forest.

  "Yun Che, Yun Xi," Zhi Xuan repeated, tasting the names as if tasting the spiritual blood he had shed day after day. "You truly reflect the meaning of family."

  Zhi Xuan continued walking without looking back, letting his robes sweep across the barren ground. His pace was not rushed, yet every time his foot landed, the suppressed vibration of spiritual essence made the surrounding pebbles crackle softly. Yun Che and Yun Xi followed from behind at a respectful distance, like two rabbits walking behind the shadow of an ancient tiger.

  "S-Senior," Yun Xi emboldened herself to whisper, her voice as soft as a hiss of wind, "why do you want to help us find a second flower? We... we have no spiritual stones or treasures to repay your kindness."

  Zhi Xuan stopped briefly but did not turn. "I do not ask for your spiritual stones, Little Girl. I only wish to see if you are worthy of living under the Heavenly Laws of this Yao Gu."

  Yun Che swallowed hard, clutching the first flower tightly in his arms. "We will do anything, Senior. If Yun Xi does not reach the First Ember realm, she will be captured by the bandit cultivators who have run rampant since the southern border guards were annihilated."

  Zhi Xuan only exhaled a soft breath, a thin smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Bandits, is it? Do you know where these bandits are?"

  "Those bandits... they gather in the Whirlwind Valley, Senior," Yun Che answered in a low tone, his head bowed. "Since the great factions withdrew out of fear of the red mist, those bastards feel like the new masters. They seize every remaining cultivation resource in this land."

  Zhi Xuan snorted, the sound like a sword scraping against stone. "An interesting world. When the tiger sleeps, the wild dogs start barking, fancying themselves kings."

  "Senior," Yun Xi whispered, her tiny fingers trembling as she held the hilt of her cracked bronze sword. "Are you... are you also searching for that flower for someone?"

  "For someone?" Zhi Xuan repeated the words, his eyes staring straight at the darkening horizon. "I seek the flower for no one. That flower is but a weed in my eyes. But for you, it is the line between dignity and disgrace, is it not?"

  Yun Xi went silent, her face pale, but she nodded slowly. "True, Senior. Without strength, we will only be commodities in Qinghe City."

  "You will not," Zhi Xuan countered calmly. "If you say you will be commodities, then you shall be. Learn to be the ones who trade."

  Zhi Xuan kept walking, his shadow lengthening under the rising moonlight. His steady pace brought them near a slope covered in vegetation blackened by years of exposure to dark aura.

  "Senior," Yun Che whispered cautiously, "behind this hill is a hunters' camp. Usually, the Flame of Sunrose blooms there, right beneath the spring exposed to the first moonlight. However, that is the nest of the bandits who rule just like in Whirlwind Valley."

  Zhi Xuan stopped at the peak of the hill, looking down at the valley shrouded in gray mist. From a distance, campfires flickered, and coarse laughter pierced the silence of the night.

  "Yun Che, Yun Xi," Zhi Xuan called out without turning. "What will you do if I just stand here and let you take that flower alone?"

  Yun Che was stunned, his face turning deathly pale. "Senior... we... we won't be able to fight them. There are at least two mid-stage First Ember practitioners there."

  "Then you will die, and your sister will become a commodity just as you feared," Zhi Xuan said flatly. "Cultivation is not about how many flowers you swallow, but about how much will you have to tear through the fate that oppresses you."

  "But Senior!" Yun Xi cut in with a trembling voice, "We have no strength! We are just ants!"

  Zhi Xuan slowly turned around. For the first time, the two teenagers saw his cold sapphire eyes under the moonlight. "An ant that knows how to bite can kill an elephant. Take this."

  Zhi Xuan flicked his fingers, and two dim gray clumps of energy shot into the foreheads of Yun Che and Yun Xi. Both jolted, feeling a sharp, cold flow pierce their Divine Wheels.

  "That is a speck of my Sword Intent," Zhi Xuan said, looking back toward the valley. "It will protect your hearts from one fatal blow and grant the power of a single strike that can cleave steel. Use it only when you have no other way out."

  Yun Che clenched his fists, his eyes—once full of fear—now glinting with a desperate hope. "Senior... why are you doing this? Why help us this far?"

  Zhi Xuan paused. His memory drifted to the dark red cloth tied to his arm, the starflower cloth from a village that now felt very far away.

  "Perhaps because I want to see," Zhi Xuan whispered, his voice barely audible, "if in this rotten world, there are still seeds worthy of growing atop the corpses."

  "Go," Zhi Xuan commanded, his voice heavy with authority once more. "Take the flower. I will be here, watching how you fight for your dignity. If you fail, I will not pick up your corpses."

  Yun Che looked at Yun Xi, and both nodded firmly. With cracked bronze swords in hand, the two teenagers began to descend the slope toward the hunters' camp, leaving Zhi Xuan standing tall like a stone monument atop the hill.

  Zhi Xuan stood with his arms crossed, his dark purple hair fluttering like a banner of death. His ice-cold eyes never left the two small shadows crawling toward the campfire light. Below, the peace suddenly shattered. The clanging of metal and coarse shouts broke the silence of the night.

  "Who's there?! How dare little rats disturb our territory!" A large man in dull leather armor stood up, holding a spiked mace that radiated a reflected early-stage First Ember aura.

  Yun Che stepped forward, his hands trembling, but he held his bronze sword high. "We only want the Flame of Sunrose! Give us the flower and we will leave!"

  "Hahaha! Hear that? This brat is asking for our treasure!" the man’s laughter boomed, followed by the laughter of a dozen other bandits. "That flower belongs to our leader! And your sister... she will be a sweet prize for tonight!"

  Zhi Xuan watched from the hilltop as the man lunged forward, swinging his mace with crude killing intent. Yun Xi screamed, but Yun Che did not retreat. The youth closed his eyes for a moment, and that was when the speck of gray energy Zhi Xuan had planted throbbed wildly within his forehead.

  "NOW!" Yun Che roared.

  SRAAAKKK!

  It wasn't a normal sword strike, but a thin line of gray energy that sliced straight through the air. The spiked mace was cut like rotten wood, and in an instant, the bandit's arm was severed from his shoulder. Blood sprayed, extinguishing part of the campfire.

  "W-What?! What power is this?!" The other bandits recoiled, their faces shifting from lust to pure terror.

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes. "One attack used. The rest depends on how they dance above the abyss of death."

  "YOU WILL DIE, BRAT!" An old man in black robes—the mid-stage First Ember bandit leader—shot out from a large tent. He waved his hands, releasing strands of glowing iron chains. "Soul-Binding Technique!"

  The chains wrapped around Yun Che’s legs, dragging him to the ground. Yun Xi cried out hysterically, trying to stab her sword at the leader, but with one kick, the girl was sent flying, crashing into the rocks.

  "Yun Xi!" Yun Che roared, his face covered in dust.

  "Just lucky to have some strange energy, and you think you can be a hero?" the bandit leader hissed, approaching Yun Che with a poisoned dagger. "I'll gouge out your eyes before taking that flower back."

  Zhi Xuan remained unmoved on the hilltop. His hand, hidden beneath his robe, clenched slowly.

  "Are you not going down?" Ruo Xianxue asked, her voice slightly more serious. "That boy will lose his head in three heartbeats."

  "If he cannot trigger that Sword Intent with his own rage, then he truly is not worthy of living," Zhi Xuan answered coldly, though the veins in his neck began to bulge.

  Just as the dagger was about to pierce Yun Che's neck, an explosion of energy erupted from within the youth’s body. It was no longer a dim gray, but a thin blood-red mixed with sharp sapphire light. Yun Che bellowed, triggering the remaining Sword Intent Zhi Xuan had given him, overflowing beyond the limits of his body.

  "DON'T TOUCH MY SISTER!"

  BUM—!

  A circular wave of sword energy swept in all directions. The iron chains shattered into fragments, and the bandit leader was sent flying with his chest split open. Silence instantly enveloped the camp.