I knew it, you were lying to me.

The Main World of the Server.

Countless screens cycled endlessly in the air, watched thoughtfully by the Remnant Spirit of the Heavenly Dao.

"Will all of these... eventually converge at a single point?"

The Heavenly Dao Remnant seemed to have discerned something, murmuring to itself.

"Correct."

Lu Ze, standing behind it, nodded.

"So, what is the ending?"

The Heavenly Dao Remnant suddenly became interested.

"Why don't you go try it yourself?"

Lu Ze was amused; he was actually quite curious about how the Heavenly Dao Remnant would perform if it assumed the role of Li Ang.

"Forget it, this Heavenly Dao is not that interested."

The Heavenly Dao Remnant turned its head away.

The mere thought of that infuriating Character Behavior System restricting its actions caused the naturally unrestrained spirit to lose all interest.

"By the way, speaking of the ending..."

Lu Ze suddenly remembered something interesting. He smiled and patted the Heavenly Dao Remnant on the shoulder.

"Perhaps it can help you recover some of your power."

"Recover power? Relying on a mere illusion?"

The Heavenly Dao Remnant asked in astonishment.

Some time ago, in a fit of rage, it had crippled the cultivation of a Limitless Sword Sect elder from thousands of miles away, causing its already fragmented form to suffer further damage.

To recover, it needed an abnormally vast amount of Spiritual Qi.

In a mere illusion, where would one find so many cultivators? And what would make those cultivators willingly offer up their own Spiritual Qi?

"Soon, you will understand..."

Lu Ze smiled mysteriously.

Among the countless screens in the sky, many cultivators had already entered the plot of the final chapter.

There, a "gift" he had meticulously prepared for the cultivators awaited them...

"The evaluation event over in Xianyuan Continent has begun. I'll go play with those old fellows for a bit..."

...

...

Inside Zhong Yi's Illusion Realm.

The sprawling inn had transformed into a battlefield.

Facing the siege of countless experts without the aid of the [Blood Curse], Zhong Yi found the resistance particularly arduous.

At this difficulty level, even players as strong as Zhou Yue and Li Moran were firmly suppressed, forced to fight while retreating, desperately seeking a means of escape.

At this moment, Zhong Yi's Health and Spiritual Qi were nearly depleted. He looked like a candle in the wind, struggling to flee into a deathly silent corner.

"Blood, the blood of righteous cultivators..."

As if remembering something, Zhong Yi grabbed a jar, intending to collect the blood of the Demon Suppression Bureau soldiers to activate the [Blood Curse].

He poured the blood into his mouth and attempted to use the [Blood Curse] again, but he received only a failure notification.

"Don't waste your energy... That old thing has already played your trump card."

A chillingly cold voice came from behind Zhong Yi.

He turned abruptly, only to look straight into Shi Dan's cold, bloody pupils.

"We used techniques to destroy your hoarded blood long ago... Furthermore, all of my subordinates have taken medicine in advance to ensure their blood cannot be used by you."

Shi Dan grinned savagely as he pulled a vial of magic potion from his chest, downed it in one gulp, and looked at Zhong Yi with mockery.

"Let me remind you of one more thing... Not only will that blood fail to activate your Blood Curse, it is even toxic..."

As soon as his words fell, Zhong Yi felt a sudden wave of dizziness, and a mouthful of black blood spurted out violently.

On his interface, a string of DEBUFFs like [Poisoned], [Weakened], and [Silenced] appeared.

"Come on, aren't you quite capable of killing?"

Shi Dan grinned, his cultivation aura having already broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He blasted a fist toward Zhong Yi. The latter hurriedly blocked but was still sent flying, his health bar dropping by another large chunk.

"Did you know? I really enjoy the expression of fear on a prey's face when they are being tortured... So, you had better keep a straight face; that way, you might die a bit faster."

Shi Dan toyed with a broad saber in his hand. The sharp blade was engraved with dense, packed runes, clearly marking it as no ordinary object.

"Do you really feel no fear? What a boring hunt..."

Seeing Zhong Yi's utter lack of fear, Shi Dan shrugged in disappointment.

By now, Zhong Yi's status had entered the near-death state, and his vision was severely affected.

He could only see a gleaming blade tip flashing with blinding cold light.

"What a dull person... Die."

Shi Dan's whispered words pronounced Zhong Yi's death sentence.

'Time to start over... I must have done something wrong somewhere.'

Zhong Yi closed his eyes resignedly.

There was no anticipated pain, no [Illusion Ended] notification, no black screen of zero health, no death...

"Drip"...

A drop of scalding liquid fell onto Zhong Yi's chest.

Zhong Yi opened his eyes in confusion.

A blood-red flower bloomed upon his chest.

Su Di'er stood before him. The incredibly sharp runic blade had pierced through her chest, carrying a cruel, blood-red sheen.

Blood dripped onto his chest, drop by drop, and then, as if it could not be stopped, it gushed out.

An intense pain churned in Zhong Yi's heart.

It was clearly an illusion, yet it hurt so much he could not speak, could not even breathe.

"Su, Su..."

His lips trembled. The young girl before him summoned all her strength to squeeze out a faint smile.

"I knew... you would lie to me..."

Su Di'er reached out a hand stained with her own blood and gently caressed the corner of Zhong Yi's mouth.

"Li Ang..."

"You said you would accompany me to fly far away, to see the myriad rivers and mountains... right?"

An immense heartache instantly seized Zhong Yi's brain.

At that moment, a cold wind whistled, kicking up countless debris.

Pages of paper, burnt and tattered by fire, danced in the air.

The girl's graceful handwriting was clearly visible—

[August 30th]

[I want to be with Li Ang forever]

As the blade was withdrawn from her chest, the girl fell into Zhong Yi's embrace like a kite with a broken string.

Blood flowed into Zhong Yi's lips; tears surged from the corners of his eyes.

[Absorbed usable Righteous Blood. Do you wish to use the skill "Blood Curse"?]