This Time, I'm Really Going to Die.

The terrifying blade aura that had slashed right to Su Ji's face, so close he could even feel his hair being severed, abruptly halted in mid-air.

It simply hovered right above Su Ji's head.

The lingering aura of annihilation was still surging madly, contorting the space around Su Ji under its immense pressure. Yet, the murderous intent capable of destroying everything vanished into thin air in that very instant.

A ripple of emotion appeared in Immortal Venerable Jiuyue's eyes, which had been swallowed by pure inky blackness.

The overwhelming brutality actually stagnated because of the name "Feng."

"Feng..."

A bitter murmur was squeezed out with great difficulty from her dry, cracked lips.

The voice was no longer the inhuman roar from before. Instead, it carried a bone-deep confusion and... longing, which even she herself had not realized.

Su Ji stood frozen on the spot, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.

He could even feel the residual might of the blade aura hovering above his head, scraping against his scalp and causing a stinging pain.

He had bet right!

Su Ji had no time to worry about anything else.

He was dancing on the edge of a blade right now; every step had to be taken with extreme caution.

Looking at the Immortal Venerable whose aura remained terrifying but whose state was clearly unstable, he knew he had to strike while the iron was hot.

"Senior Feng... he has always been thinking of you."

Su Ji's voice carried a perfectly measured trace of sorrow.

"He asked me to find you and take you... home."

Home...

This word was like an invisible sledgehammer, smashing ruthlessly onto Immortal Venerable Jiuyue's soul, which had long been corroded by madness.

Her pitch-black eyes trembled violently.

The bottomless inky hue actually began to slowly recede at a visible rate, revealing the purple color underneath that rightfully belonged to her.

Only, in those purple eyes, there was no longer a single trace of an Immortal Venerable's majesty. All that remained was an unresolvable sorrow and a heartbreaking vulnerability.

"He... he still remembers me?"

Countless chaotic memory fragments washed madly through her mind like a burst dam.

There was the peak of Qingqiu Mountain, with its brilliant peach blossoms covering the hills and plains.

There was the shore of the Eastern Sea, with its salty, damp sea breeze.

There were the Ruins of Kunlun, with their pure white snow that never melted for ten thousand years.

Finally, all the images froze on a blurry face bearing a gentle smile.

That person seemed to... really like calling her "Ah Yue."

And also liked to helplessly call her "little fox" whenever she threw a temper tantrum.

Su Ji only felt his body lighten as the heavy burden that had nearly crushed him vanished entirely.

He collapsed limply onto the ground as if exhausted, greedily breathing in every mouthful of the decay-scented air.

I survived.

Looking at the Immortal Venerable in mid-air whose aura was still powerful but whose eyes were no longer mad, the heavy stone hanging in his heart finally dropped halfway.

...

Meanwhile.

On the other side of the abyssal cliff, deep within the rift passage that had been slashed open.

"Rumble—!"

A terrifying shockwave, impossible to describe with words, surged in without warning from outside the tunnel, ruthlessly scouring everything in its path!

The entire tunnel trembled violently under the impact of this shockwave, with countless loose stones raining down from above.

The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng, walking at the very front, abruptly halted his steps.

He suddenly turned around, and for the first time, a look of unconcealable horror surfaced in his bright eyes.

"This aura..."

He muttered to himself, his handsome face bearing an unprecedented solemnity.

This was absolutely not the commotion of an immortal artifact being born!

The level of this power far exceeded his expectations!

This was...

This was the unreserved eruption of power belonging to an Immortal Venerable!

Zhao Wuji, following behind him, was shaken so badly by this sudden shockwave that his qi and blood churned, leaving him in a wretched state.

He forcefully steadied his stance, and upon seeing the Pavilion Master of Tingfeng's ugly expression, his heart skipped a beat.

"Pavilion Master, this... what is going on?"

The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng did not answer him.

He merely closed his eyes slowly, his massive divine sense instantly spreading out and probing madly toward the direction the shockwave had come from.

A moment later.

He snapped his eyes open!

Damn it!

What is the situation?

Didn't they say this was the place where an Immortal Venerable fell?

Why did that entity actually still possess a body of flesh and blood...

And is that kid crazy?

To go and awaken that existence!

As things stood, the situation had already slipped beyond his control.

He could only bite the bullet and make up an excuse: "Retrieve the immortal artifact first!"

"Most likely, sensing that we are about to take the immortal artifact, the remnant soul of that Immortal Venerable has flown into a rage!"

...

Beneath the stone pillar.

Su Ji had no idea that he had already been cursed several times in the Pavilion Master of Tingfeng's heart.

Right now, he was facing another massive problem.

Immortal Venerable Jiuyue, who had temporarily regained a bit of clarity, had stabilized her emotions quite a bit after hearing Su Ji's words, but those purple eyes were still locked dead onto him.

"You said... Feng sent you."

Her voice carried a hint of scrutiny.

"Do you have his token upon you?"

Like hell he had a token!

"Senior." A perfectly feigned look of difficulty appeared on Su Ji's face. "Senior Feng... he left in a hurry and did not leave behind any token."

"He only asked me to bring the Yinfeng Sword, saying that once you see this sword, you will naturally understand everything."

As Su Ji spoke, he calmly and subtly shifted closer toward the Yinfeng Sword planted diagonally in the ground.

Immortal Venerable Jiuyue's gaze followed and landed on the sword.

Looking at the sword, a trace of absentmindedness surfaced once again in those purple eyes.

"Yinfeng..."

She muttered to herself, as if recalling something.

However, in the next moment, her expression drastically changed!

A scrutiny even colder than before enveloped Su Ji once more!

"No!"

Immortal Venerable Jiuyue's voice suddenly turned icy!

"The Yinfeng Sword is Feng's lifebound dharma sword. As long as the sword is here, the person is here; if the sword leaves, the person dies!"

"If this sword is here, then he..."

Immortal Venerable Jiuyue stared fixedly at Su Ji, murderous intent resurfacing in those purple eyes!

"Where... where exactly is Feng?!"

I'm doomed!

The lie he spun in a moment of desperation was about to fall apart!

At the time, he thought that if he said 'Feng' was already dead,

it would agitate this Immortal Venerable even more.

That was why he said 'home'.

He didn't expect the other party to react so quickly.

Su Ji's back was once again soaked in cold sweat.

In the split second that Su Ji's brain was working in overdrive, trying to figure out how to keep the lie going,

Immortal Venerable Jiuyue's figure vanished without warning.

The next moment, she appeared directly in front of Su Ji!

A pale hand, moving at extreme speed, seized Su Ji by the throat!

"Speak!"

A voice devoid of any warmth exploded by Su Ji's ear!

"Where... where exactly is Feng?!"

Su Ji only felt an irresistible, immense force coming from his neck, and his ability to breathe was instantly stripped away.

Looking at that face so close at hand, a face so perfect it didn't seem mortal, and looking into those eyes that were once again being stained by inky blackness, only one thought remained in his mind.

This time, I'm really going to die.