The voice of the Qingfeng Sword Spirit was muffled as it walked out, passing by Baize's side.

Baize reached out a hand and slapped the spirit's face.

"Smack!"

The Qingfeng Sword Spirit's eyes were blank, unable to believe the slap landed on its face.

Its body was clearly ethereal, without substance, yet why did the face burn with pain?

"Does this ease your mind? Or do you want to end it all on the Immortal Path?" Baize looked calmly.

The Qingfeng Sword Spirit bit its lip.

It did indeed harbor such thoughts just now.

Baize's words were like blades: "A sword nearly a hundred thousand years old, chased away by two children adding up to not even ten years old, do you feel ashamed?"

The spirit only felt its face burning, wishing it could find a crack to hide in, yes... it could hide back in the sword!

Yet.

Baize blocked the retreat with a single sentence: "Going back to the sword to be a scared turtle is indeed a good move, worthy of the Emperor Artifact Qingfeng Sword that shakes the Universe."

"Hu—"

The Qingfeng Sword Spirit's breath was unsteady, staring firmly at Baize, with strands of Sword Intent already emanating.

"Oh dear, we're all family, no need to argue." Sister Yu Guiwan quickly tried to mediate.

The Qingfeng Sword Spirit woke as if from a dream, dispersing the Sword Intent.

"Daring to cut down the Supreme Emperor, why not dare to cut me? Feel free to attack, I won't defend." Baize nodded.

The Qingfeng Sword Spirit turned its head, no longer wanting to deal with Baize.

Hence.

Baize calmly said: "Once your mind is clear, sit down properly, fools eager to die are already abundant."

The spirit didn't hesitate, sitting down directly.

Yu Guiwan breathed a sigh of relief, sat beside the Qingfeng Sword Spirit, trying to hold the other's hand for comfort.

Yet, the hand grasped empty air.

Yu Guiwan couldn't touch the spirit's body, furrowing her brow, yet Baize's Divine General obviously touched it...

Just about to ask.

Baize spoke: "I plan to invite the elder Taotie and Fairy Qing Yuan to come, guard the Supreme Emperor's remains, waiting for the Mistress to pick the Immortal Fruit."

"Are you crazy?"

The Qingfeng Sword Spirit questioned: "She's only at the Venerable Realm, how could she possibly..."

"Yes, a Venerable Realm, now only three hundred more steps to the Immortal Fruit."

Baize's words.

Made the Qingfeng Sword suddenly realize something was wrong, staring at those two lanterns without candle flames.

"These lanterns, surely have a use."

"That Immortal Fruit..." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"There's a chance to pick it."

At Baize's words, Yu Guiwan stood up abruptly, eyes reddening: "You, what did you say? If the junior sister can pick the Immortal Fruit, then the little junior brother..."

"There's a chance he might awaken." Baize said.

"A chance?" The Qingfeng Sword Spirit intensified the tone.

"There's a chance."

Baize said calmly: "So from now on, none of us can leave the back mountain, preventing any possibility of the news leaking to the outside."

"What about Ruan Tang's safety..."

"That White Jade Stairway has no way back. What we can do now is hope the Mistress can reach the end and pick the Immortal Fruit."

"Do you still have a heart?"

The Qingfeng Sword muttered: "Ruan Tang will surely die."

"If I could exchange my life for the Supreme Emperor's, I would certainly do so. But, it can't be done."

Baize calmly said: "I, or rather we now, can only ensure not to waste the Mistress's sacrifice."

"Since the junior sister can use the Suiya lanterns to reach over five hundred steps, then I should be able to..." Yu Guiwan began.

"Sister, don't be foolish."

"Even in the Heavenly Court, there are millions of Venerable ones, Huang Zhongtian would not choose the Mistress for no reason, she... is not like us."

After Baize spoke, Yu Guiwan hesitantly asked: "In what way is the junior sister different."

"Cultivation for less than a year, reached Venerable Realm. More compatible with the Emperor Qingfeng Scripture than the two offspring of the Supreme Emperor, can remember the thirty-six Cloud Water Rust Characters even the Supreme Emperor couldn't remember, and decipher them."

"Don't you all think the existence of the Mistress... is rather abnormal."

Baize's calm tone made Yu Guiwan's limbs icy cold: "Divine General Bai, what, what do you mean."

"Nothing, sister just needs to know, Huang Zhongtian, as an Other Shore Cultivator, understands the existence of the Immortal Path better than us."

Baize's hands inside the sleeves stroked a chess piece.

One black.

One white.

Much like her eyes flashing dark and bright at this moment.

"I understand now."

Yu Guiwan lightly bit her lip, got up and said: "I will go invite Fairy Qing Yuan and elder Taotie."

"Sister, I've already said, no one can leave the back mountain. Supervise me, contact using the Sound Transmission Jade Slip."

Baize spoke word by word.

Yu Guiwan sat back down, not arguing, also knowing the matter is significant, allowing no room for error.

After informing Fairy Qing Yuan and Taotie, Baize shattered all Sound Transmission Jade Slips that could communicate with the outside world, Yu Guiwan followed suit.

Afterwards.

The two of them, along with a sword, in front of Ruan Lan and Xu Yiyi, Xu Ping'an's dumbfounded expressions, took out Xu Lai's remains.

Through the Ice Crystal Coffin, they could see the already deceased Xu Lai as if merely asleep, seemingly about to awaken in the next moment.

Baize stared at the ice coffin, hands in sleeves no longer stroking chess pieces, instead placing them onto the ice coffin, softly saying:

"I've finally figured out who informed the Heavenly Court about the Tian Gui Tribe's whereabouts in the Red Sail Star System."

"Who?"

Ruan Lan asked.

Yu Guiwan mused.

The Qingfeng Sword Spirit followed Baize's gaze, seeing Xu Lai's intact corpse, exclaimed:

"It's Dongfang Youming!"

At this moment.

The Qingfeng Sword Spirit gasped coolly.

She understood why under the Karmic Tribulation, the corpses of the nine Emperor Realm figures of Nine Kings' Palace were all shattered, leaving Xu Qingfeng's corpse intact.

Understood why the Emperor Artifact Measuring Heaven Ruler didn't find Corpse Emperor Dongfang Youming, and why the Red Sail Star System suddenly drew the attention of the entire Immortal Domain.

Because.

Ruan Tang is about to ascend the Immortal Path.

Whether Dongfang Youming and Huang Zhongtian secretly teamed up or acted in mutual understanding, together they set up this scenario.

For the purpose of ensuring Tian Gui Yuan Yin could not be distracted during the battle with Emperor Bahuang, thus allowing this act to be fully played out.

"Such a clever calculation, but what can you gain."

Baize squinted, picked up a black chess piece to look at under the sunlight, muttering:

"If the Supreme Emperor truly awakens, knowing your actions, there's no telling if he'd join with the Tiangui to kill you..."

"What do you mean?"

Ruan Lan was confused.

Her Boundary was only Golden Core, knowing the Corpse Emperor from stories by the scholar sir, knowing Tian Gui Yuan Yin, but unaware of the relation to the deceased brother-in-law.

Only from the Sword Sister's expression could she see, something significant was about to happen.

...

...

At the same time.

Ruan Tang had reached the six hundred seventy-ninth step, completing two-thirds of the entire Immortal Path.

At this point, even with the protection of the precious Suiya lanterns, she could not resist the rapid loss of lifespan.

Ruan Tang noticed her full head of black hair had become half white without notice.