Bai Jing watched as Li Xuanxiao approached her step by step, his features becoming clearer under the sunlight.

A smug smile still lingered on his face.

Bai Jing stared blankly at Li Xuanxiao.

Why?

How could he still be alive?

Was this an illusion?

Bai Jing tried to stand up.

People only learn to cherish what they have after losing it.

Bai Jing finally understood the weight of these words.

At this moment, all she wanted was to tightly embrace the person before her.

Bai Jing hugged him. "I thought..."

Her words abruptly stopped as the Myriad Soul Banner inside her body severed her lifeline at that very instant.

With a wave of his hand, Li Xuanxiao summoned the Myriad Soul Banner, which flew out of Bai Jing's body as if sensing its master's call and returned to Li Xuanxiao's grasp.

Bai Jing looked at him in disbelief.

"Why... why?"

"Fellow Daoist Bai, why not join me inside the soul banner for a chat?"

Li Xuanxiao spread his fingers.

As he moved, the Myriad Soul Banner began slowly rotating in his palm.

The patterns on the banner constantly shifted, sometimes resembling ferocious demons, other times like twisted souls.

"Why? Why?"

Bai Jing kept questioning.

"This story would take too long to tell..."

Li Xuanxiao pretended to ponder.

Bai Jing waited for his answer,

but at that moment, the Myriad Soul Banner flew from Li Xuanxiao's hand, completely killing Bai Jing and absorbing her.

"How naive. I have no patience to waste words on you. Every second spent with you disgusts me!

But I really should thank you for collecting so many souls for me."

The Myriad Soul Banner returned contentedly into Li Xuanxiao's body.

Li Xuanxiao exhaled deeply.

One of the Confucian academies, Xiangshan Academy, had been annihilated.

Only a few disciples managed to escape.

While this incident was enough to draw attention, it wasn't sufficient to cause a major uproar.

However, when the surviving disciples of Xiangshan Academy returned to their school,

they unexpectedly found every part of Xiangshan Academy completely razed.

The place that once held the remains of Mount Shushan disciples was now piled with corpses of Xiangshan Academy students.

The bones of the Mount Shushan disciples had disappeared.

Soon, rumors began spreading.

The remnants of Mount Shushan had returned for revenge!!

They would kill everyone who participated in the massacre of Mount Shushan.

The rumors spread wider and grew more exaggerated.

Some even claimed that Sect Leader Lingxu of Mount Shushan hadn't died back then and had returned for vengeance.

"............"

Among the mountain ridges,

a young white-haired man buried his head in a stream. As the mountain wind carried fallen leaves,

the white hair reflected in the water appeared colder than moonlight, unable to extinguish the fire of karma burning in his chest.

Li Xuanxiao looked at his hand - though empty, it seemed stained with blood.

His mind wandered back to mornings when he would rise early with Senior Brother Lu Ziyin to lead Silver Sword Peak disciples in sword practice.

Li Xuanxiao tilted his head back to finish the last mouthful of bitter liquor, then set off again.

This time, his direction pointed clearly toward Tian Sha Hall.

"........"

Daxia.

Daxia was no longer the Daxia of old.

To ensure its survival, Daxia had no choice but to compromise.

With two Great Ascension cultivators serving as chief protectors, along with the State Preceptor, the kingdom prolonged its reign.

These two Great Ascension cultivators were both practitioners from beyond Zhongzhou who participated in the Mount Shushan massacre.

They had gotten their share of the spoils.

While many original Zhongzhou forces gradually declined, Daxia's national power flourished like the midday sun, growing stronger each day.

This had much to do with Daxia's empress, Zhao Lu, who was originally a Mount Shushan disciple.

Tonight, Empress Zhao Lu left the palace late at night.

Even the imperial guards were unaware of this.

By the pavilion,

Zhao Lu wore black robes and a bamboo hat to conceal her identity.

Hidden guards surrounded the area.

The early summer wind carried a slight chill.

Zhao Lu's figure paused. Thirty years had passed in the blink of an eye, yet it felt as long as a lifetime.

A figure stood inside the pavilion.

Li Xuanxiao slowly turned his head, his gaze meeting Zhao Lu's.

Time had flown - the junior sister of yesteryears had now blossomed into an elegant and graceful woman.

Even her smile carried unique charm.

Though given Zhao Lu's cultivation level, her appearance might not change much in another thirty years.

Yet the tempering of time had endowed her with a distinctive temperament.

This quality didn't stem merely from appearance, but had gradually formed through life's trials.

It was a composure and calmness born of weathering storms.

Thirty years.

Tears uncontrollably welled up in Zhao Lu's eyes.

This empress, long accustomed to bloodshed, tempered by thirty years of court politics, having witnessed Zhongzhou's great upheavals yet managing to stabilize a nation -

suddenly seemed to have returned to decades ago.

Back when Mount Shushan still stood.

When she didn't need to worry about anything, didn't need to fret over matters - because senior brother was there.

Even if the sky fell, it wouldn't matter.

"Senior brother..."

Her voice choked, Zhao Lu threw herself into Li Xuanxiao's embrace.

"Senior brother... senior brother... I thought you were dead... why didn't you come find me, senior brother?"

Thirty years ago, Mount Shushan fell.

All people and matters related to Mount Shushan existed only in memory.

Silver Sword Peak was destroyed, senior brother disappeared without trace.

In such circumstances, ninety percent chance he had died.

Yet Zhao Lu firmly believed her senior brother must still be alive.

Must still be alive.

Zhao Lu tightly grasped Li Xuanxiao's hand.

To Li Xuanxiao, everything felt like a dream.

His memories still lingered thirty years in the past, when Mount Shushan was destroyed.

Looking at this voluptuous and beautiful woman before him, Li Xuanxiao found it hard to connect her with his junior sister.

Li Xuanxiao told Zhao Lu about being saved by Di Nü Feng and having only recently awakened.

"Senior brother, what do you plan to do now?"

"After such great changes, I don't know where to go for now, so I could only come find you," Li Xuanxiao sighed lightly.

Zhao Lu held Li Xuanxiao's hand. "Senior brother, come back to the palace with me. No one will know your identity. With your abilities and mine combined, we can surely strengthen Daxia together. When the time comes, we'll seek our chance for revenge."

Li Xuanxiao nodded. "That seems the only option now."

In his heart, Li Xuanxiao felt somewhat apologetic toward Zhao Lu. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her the truth.

But after so many years apart, people's hearts were hard to gauge.

He had come to find his junior sister with one purpose - to search for relics left by the old emperor.

Now that the Myriad Soul Banner was lost, retrieving it was the top priority.

Only by obtaining the Myriad Soul Banner would he have a chance to turn the tables.

Since the Myriad Soul Banner belonged to the old emperor, Li Xuanxiao thought he might find clues in the place where the old emperor had lived.

But these words couldn't be spoken plainly to his junior sister.

"If we senior brother and sister unite in heart, what great matter could we not accomplish?!"

Li Xuanxiao smiled.

Soon, Li Xuanxiao followed his junior sister Zhao Lu toward the palace.

Along the way, Zhao Lu recounted stories of the past to Li Xuanxiao.

They entered the palace silently. While walking along a small palace path, a hidden guard suddenly came rushing to report.

"Your Majesty, the State Preceptor requests an audience!"

Zhao Lu's delicate brows furrowed. "What does he want?"

She instinctively glanced at Li Xuanxiao and explained, "Senior brother, you may not know. This State Preceptor is the head disciple of Zhongzhou's top astrologer, Goushengzi.

Though called State Preceptor, his true role is to monitor all of Mount Shushan.

For him to come precisely at this time..."