Reception hall.

The table was laden with dishes.

Senior sister Yu Guiwan's cooking skills were excellent, and the food she made smelled delicious, but most of the people present had no appetite.

Like Ruan Tang, senior sister, or Baize, they basically just took a couple of bites before putting down their chopsticks.

Only Ruan Lan was eating heartily, helping herself to a second bowl of rice.

Xu Yiyi held her chopsticks, her eyes red and with tear marks at her corners, apparently having cried not long ago.

Even now.

Xu Yiyi still couldn't accept that her father was buried underground.

"Yiyi, remember, you must eat at any time. Eat when you're happy, and eat even more when you're sad."

Ruan Lan said while eating: "Only when you're full do you have the strength to do things, like reminiscing or avenging."

Xu Yiyi seemed to understand partially, only feeling that her auntie made a lot of sense. She buried her head and devoured the food, stopping only when she was stuffed.

"That's right."

Ruan Lan gave a thumbs up: "Yiyi, well done."

Xu Pingan sat in the arms of senior aunt Yu Guiwan, looking at his little aunt with bright eyes filled with wisdom.

As if saying: Is that all?

"Ping'an, have you weaned? Come, finish this bowl of pork rib soup."

"..."

"Listen to your aunt, open your mouth, be good."

"..." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Xu Pingan shut his mouth tightly in protest against the inhuman torment his aunt had inflicted on him in recent days.

He was already one year old!

Most of the time at Haitang Court, he slept alone, but after being taken by his aunt to the Heavenly Court and then here, he had to be cuddled to sleep every day...

Under the guise of giving warmth to her elder nephew's family.

The key was that his aunt had a terrible sleeping posture, and every morning he would wake up with his aunt's head on his.

Who could understand the psychological damage to a one-year-old child becoming the pillow for a demon-like aunt?

"Ping'an, listen to your aunt and be a good child, or your sister will spank your bottom!"

Xu Yiyi scolded sternly with a straight face.

Xu Pingan clenched and unclenched his little fists, just wanting to say one sentence: I'm having such a hard time.

Outside the door.

Taotie was still crying loudly, the sound echoing across the entire back hill, making all who heard it weep.

"His wife and sister didn't cry, Taotie, what are you bawling about?"

Ruan Lan angrily pushed open the door: "Stop crying, aren't you a man?"

"Can't a man cry?"

Taotie retorted defiantly, leaving Ruan Lan momentarily speechless.

But she insisted: "Keep it down, you're disturbing our meal. Besides, my brother-in-law hated people who whine."

Gotta say.

That reason made sense.

Taotie halted his cries, yet tears continued streaming silently – damn, he just couldn't help it.

"Alright, alright."

Ruan Lan couldn't help but pat Taotie on the shoulder, comforting: "If my brother-in-law knows how you are, he surely would be very touched in the afterlife."

"Really?"

"Maybe."

"..."

Ruan Lan sat down next to Taotie, ready to offer more solace, when a cool voice sounded from the Qingfeng Sword Spirit:

"What's the use of crying? The dead can't come back to life, and crying won't resurrect him. Instead of despair, do more with your time."

Taotie's expression turned gloomy.

The Qingfeng Sword was right, the dead can't return to life, and as the First Divine General of the Heavenly Court, he couldn't be lost like this.

Turn sorrow into strength.

Strive.

Persevere.

Taotie clenched his teeth, stood up, transforming in a blink from a despondent grieving youth to a determined young man ready to fulfill the Supreme Emperor's legacy.

"Eh???"

Ruan Lan gaped, astonished.

She had prepared a mountain of words to console Divine General Taotie, only for Qingfeng Sword to snap him awake with a single sentence?

Hiss.

No wonder she's Sword Sister, indeed.

"The purpose of our visit is indeed for something."

Baize took out the three beads obtained from Yousu Qian, recounting the entire affair of the No Righteous Sword and the keys in great detail.

Allowing Ruan Tang, senior sister, and others enough time to digest before asking:

"There are seven keys in total, the other two... I reckon they will be sent here in different ways too. So, should we give it a try to see what happens?"

The Qingfeng Sword Spirit didn't speak.

Senior sister Yu Guiwan also remained silent.

Xu Yiyi and Xu Pingan wanted to speak but had their mouths covered by Ruan Lan's hands, thus said nothing.

All eyes focused on Ruan Tang.

Here, she was the only one who could make the decision, even if her boundary wasn't high, only at Divinity Transformation...

No, a month had passed, and Ruan Tang had advanced from early Divinity Transformation to the peak of the Divine Bridge Realm.

Above the Divine Bridge lies the Venerable Realm!

"Let's try."

Ruan Tang arranged her hair, speaking gently.

"Are you sure?"

Baize didn't hide anything: "The consequences could be very bad, after all... no one knows what the person behind this wants to do."

"Could it be worse than now?" Ruan Tang asked.

"Possibly."

"Could it be better?"

"Possibly."

"Then there's no reason not to try."

"True."

Baize laughed, and then Ruan Tang also laughed, quickly followed by senior sister and Ruan Lan.

Yet Xu Pingan couldn't laugh, feeling that his elders had all gone mad, their mental states evidently unhinged.

The entire Immortal Domain could potentially be obliterated due to the decision they made today.

Shouldn't this matter be handled with utmost caution?

"Sister, we should try persuading them—"

Xu Pingan tugged on Xu Yiyi's sleeve, only to turn and see his elder sister also laughing, causing his words to abruptly stop.

"What's the matter?"

"...Nothing."

"Oh."

Xu Pingan returned to his room, lay on his bed, covering his head with the blanket, shutting out the world outside the window.

Tired.

Let the Immortal Domain be destroyed if it must.

I can't stop any of those women.

Father, your son really did his best.

…

With Ruan Tang's approval, Baize no longer hesitated and threw the three beads into the air.

One orange.

One purple.

One green.

Without Baize having to activate them, the three beads spontaneously rotated in the air.

After waiting for a full thirty minutes, there was no response.

Baize wasn't surprised.

From Foundation Establishment, cultivators can skillfully use storage-type magical treasures. Once imprinted with a divine sense mark, others cannot open it unless a cultivator of higher boundary forcibly erases the imprint.

Upon reaching the Emperor Realm, storage-type magical treasures are largely replaced by domain spaces.

Except when an Emperor Realm cultivator voluntarily releases it, there's no way to open it.

In other words.

The items within a domain space are absolutely safe.

The Qingfeng Sword disappointingly said: "With Xu Qingfeng deceased, no one can extract the Demon Sword No Righteous."

However.

In the next moment.

Something occurred that made everyone's pupils contract.

They saw a sword slowly fly out from 'Xu Qingfeng's Tomb,' the Demon Sword No Righteous actually emerged from the domain space on its own!

"..." Qingfeng Sword.

Fortunately, everyone's attention was on the No Righteous Sword.

The sword's blade was covered with crooked rust.

But Baize knew those rust marks were Cloud Water Rust Characters revered in the Immortal Domain as Immortal Scripture, totaling thirty-six in all.

Even the Supreme Emperor and Divine General Taotie couldn't recall even one, all remembered and transcribed by Ruan Tang.

With this thought.

Baize tilted his head.