The Path Pioneered by the Deceased for the Living

【The path to survival is arduous, and you, alongside the people of the Qiuhuo Army, fight demons day and night without rest.】

【Your body is worn down by the constant battles, pushed beyond its limits time and time again. It has become a shattered shell, a ruin that ordinary people could never comprehend.】

【Persistence effect active…】

You struggle to survive, exhausting all your strength to maintain the operation of your Qi and Blood Heaven, unleashing even greater power to help clear a safer path for the people.

【Your body has deteriorated even further.】

【Fortunately, you catch a glimpse of the dawn's light.】

【After trekking through mountains and rivers, overcoming countless obstacles, you and the people of the Qiuhuo Army finally see the end of the Ten Thousand Mountains.】

【The people laugh heartily, tears streaming down their faces. Watching this scene, you feel a mix of joy and silently plan to hold back on your own.】

【You are a dying man, with no hope of life left.】

【Rather than clinging to a worthless existence, it would be better to do one final thing for the people: to block the most terrifying demons for them.】

【However, the people who have been protected by you for so long, this time, refuse your offer.】

【They slip a drug into your soup, causing you to fall into a deep sleep. When you awaken, Wu Yingxue has already gone to face the enemy in your stead.】

【You rush to the battlefield as quickly as possible.】

【There you see her, soaked in blood, her spear broken, her legs crippled—a sight so heart-wrenching it speaks volumes about her determination to die for you.】

【The paper flower, stained with blood, silently exudes desolation.】

【Once, you thought the paper flower had been discarded by the girl, but now it seems she has always kept it close to her.】

Time, it seems, is a cycle.

The first time Xu Xi met Wu Yingxue, she was being hunted, severely injured.

And now, after many twists and turns, Xu Xi has "found" her again, on the brink of death.

Under the gaze of her trembling, tearful eyes.

Xu Xi does not rebuke the princess for her self-assertion, nor does he scold her. He simply, as before, gently takes her blood-soaked, muddy hand.

He infuses her depleted body with vital energy.

Helping her stand once more.

“I’m sorry, Yingxue.”

“I came too late.”

Xu Xi's voice is soft and calm, like a feather drifting in the air, gentle and reassuring, carrying an indescribable sense of peace.

Yet, it is this voice that becomes the final straw for the young woman.

Her blank, lifeless eyes, as they look at Xu Xi, overflow with tears, uncontrollable grief spilling out.

“…Mister, don’t.”

“…I beg you, don’t do that.”

Wu Yingxue can sense what is coming.

Her body shakes, and with the last of her strength, she tries to keep Xu Xi by her side.

Her bloodied fingers tightly grasp his robe, but Xu Xi simply looks at her warmly and shakes his head gently.

“Yingxue, you’ve done enough.”

“Now, let me handle it, okay?”

Gently pressing on her wrist, he detaches her weak hands.

Then, he places the paper flower, now stained with blood and slightly damp, into her palm.

She has indeed grown, far more than what Xu Xi remembers.

He feels a sense of pride and nostalgia.

Once a carefree young princess, ten years later, she has become someone people can trust.

Xu Xi loves this kind of growth and looks forward to seeing her develop even more.

Therefore, he must forge a real path forward for Wu Yingxue, for everyone in the Qiuhuo Army.

…

Crack, crack.

Xu Xi steps toward the Dragon Robe Demon, his body emitting cracking sounds as the demon first shows indifference, then grows uneasy.

The sensation is strange.

The pseudo-heaven forged by his Qi and Blood Condensation slowly ascends to become a real heaven.

Solid, tangible.

Merging with flesh, constructed within the Qi Passageways (also known as Jingluo or Meridians).

Yet, that imposing, overwhelmingly powerful figure reeks of despair, flickering like the last embers of life in the vast darkness.

“Defying the principles of heaven and earth, scattering the core of Martial Dao?”

“Madman! You’re truly insane!”

“A perfectly good Martial Dao Human Immortal, and you choose to do such a foolish thing!”

The Dragon Robe Demon is furious, and as Xu Xi's aura grows ever stronger, he feels the heavens and earth shift. Terrified, he takes several steps back involuntarily.

Xu Xi knows exactly what he is doing.

It is the return of the dead to heaven.

A dying man burning everything he has.

Using his own body as fuel, igniting the final flame.

Within the rising flames, Xu Xi, already a Junior Martial Dao Human Immortal, finally achieves true Martial Dao Human Immortal status.

Power surges within him, his Qi and Blood dyeing the skies red.

“Come, let’s settle our debts.”

Xu Xi's aura grows even more formidable.

The demon roars in anger, transforming into a Qingling Dragon, its eyes like suns and moons, its claws capable of carrying thousands of mountains.

Its roar shakes the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Xu Xi remains calm, his fighting style the same as ever—simple, unadorned. Five fingers clenched, he throws a punch forward.

This punch is for Niu.

Boom——!!

Bursts of Qi and Blood like an overwhelming ocean, drowning all existence.

A simple, unhurried punch, carrying with it an unstoppable force, illuminates the four corners of the world as it hurtles toward the dragon.

Human and dragon clash, myths reenacted.

The intensity of the battle is incomprehensible to Wu Yingxue.

All she knows is that there is a lot of blood, so much blood falling from the sky.

Some is the demon’s blood.

Some belongs to her husband (Mister).

“Stupid, big stupid,” the crying echoes in the quiet night.

The best idiot in the entire world, and also the biggest fool.

In the past, the girl especially loved how Mister Xu would shield her from the winds and the rain. It made her feel safe.

But this time, she doesn’t want it.

No matter what, she doesn’t want it.

Yet, the world’s course is never determined by human will. Wu Yingxue can do nothing but look on in anguish, helplessly watching the final blaze.

…

After an unknown period, the battle in the sky begins to calm.

With a final, horrifying dragon cry,

the roaring punch pierces through the dragon’s body, its momentum unrelenting, carving out a wide, flat, and obstacle-free road through the surrounding mountains.

It is a manifestation of martial might.

A path forged by the dying for the living.

The silent night sky, after the dragon’s fall, sees another figure plummet from above.

Disfigured, on the verge of death, horrifying beyond words?

The man’s body is in such a miserable state that even the most vivid descriptions fall short, leaving a deep impact on anyone who sees it.

“Mister!”

“Mister!”

Without hesitation,

Wu Yingxue, with her half-crippled legs, hobbles forward, sometimes falling, sometimes crawling, racing toward the point of the figure’s descent.

She sees it clearly, the shocking wounds of the familiar figure.

Flaps of torn flesh reveal bones and a few organs.

A weak breath slowly fades into complete nothingness.