Chapter 289: Return, O Return

The illusion faded, the cloth-clad swordsman vanished, and two colossal swords appeared upon the ten thousand li of rivers and mountains—each the true essence of a sword technique, both capable of slaying a Dharma Form.

Wei Yuan looked up at the lotus pillar; the demon's charred body no longer looked monstrous, only filled with an unspeakable sorrow. She gazed at the statue atop the lotus pillar, merely wanting to see her daughter one last time.

Wei Yuan suddenly understood the emotions of both her and the cloth-clad swordsman: the little girl had suffered unbearable torment, and death might have been a release. Yet at the final moment, she still wished her daughter could live just a little longer—even for a moment. This torment, this agony, was so heavy it stole the breath from one's lungs.

In truth… it is better to return.

Beneath the lotus pillar stood a jade platform, still faintly glowing. Ji Ji Liuli had traced the flow of yin energy all the way to this platform, and with a single fingertip, countless starlike points rose from it, forming an extraordinarily complex pattern.

Ji Ji Liuli stared at it, then her face flashed with anger. "This is the Great Jewel Vase Imperishable Pure Heshan Rebirth Array of the Esoteric Sect! A pretty name, but in truth, it traps souls within the Imperishable Pure Heshan, slowly refining them, denying them rebirth. Hmph! Every Esoteric Sect Grand Master who practiced this never died a good death!"

Zhang Sheng was stunned: "To imprison so many souls, denying them reincarnation—isn't this stealing the authority of Heaven? How did he become an Immortal? Doesn't he fear Heavenly Retribution?"

Ji Ji Liuli's expression changed. "Of course he doesn't fear it! Don't you find the layout here familiar?"

Everyone looked confused.

Ji Ji Liuli said, "I was too angry to remember you don't understand arrays. Simply put, this is a Wu Clan altar to Heaven, and that statue is the sacrificial altar."

Ji Ji Liuli pointed to the strange statue atop the lotus pillar, its hands raised high as if offering something. In Wei Yuan's vision, the little girl had lain upon those very hands—she had been meant for sacrifice.

"The array here has been modified by an extremely skilled arranger. They made the trapped souls on this square see only the little girl, convinced she was the one who broke their cycle of rebirth, so all of them hated her. Using the array to obscure the Heavenly Mandate, the arranger transferred the crime of stealing Heaven's authority onto the girl. Then, by sacrificing her, he returned the sinner to Heaven and Earth, thus evading Heavenly Retribution. All sins and punishments fell upon her—how many reincarnations would it take to atone?"

Ji Ji Liuli's voice was choked and low, ending in a sigh: "No wonder that monster was so hard to defeat… this way… it would have been better to die sooner."

Sun Yu suddenly exploded in rage: "Heaven, how unjust!"

Ji Ji Liuli said, "Under the Dao of Heaven, there is no right or wrong. It doesn't care about justice or injustice."

Sun Yu could only rage helplessly, cursing the cruel heavens. Since his master's gruesome death, his temperament had changed greatly.

Ji Ji Liuli added, "I'm about to reverse the array and free these souls. But since they've been severed from Heaven and Earth's cycle, they've lost their record in the cosmos—no foundation for existence, no way to reincarnate. Oh, can you use the yin energy and resentment here?"

Ji Ji Liuli asked Sun Yu, who immediately shook his head: "I can barely use energy transformed from void to substance, but pure resentment? Useless. I'm a healer, not a demonic cultivator."

"Then let it dissipate. But nearby will suffer natural disasters for years."

Wei Yuan frowned slightly, but remembered the Qingming Realm should be able to suppress the leaking resentment.

Ji Ji Liuli manifested the Nine-Tiered Pagoda and placed it atop the jade platform. The pagoda once again emitted a faint, clear light, covering all the starlight lines on the platform, replacing the jade platform as the array's nexus.

Ji Ji Liuli gripped the Nine-Tiered Pagoda with both hands and slowly turned it. The pagoda now felt as heavy as ten thousand jin; she struggled to turn it.

The entire underground space trembled. Countless chains glowing with You light rose across the square, crisscrossing and sealing it completely. As the pagoda turned, some chains tightened visibly, then snapped one by one.

With each chain breaking, the souls of boys and girls began to manifest. Their sightless faces showed panic and terror as they all looked upward.

Even within the cavern, distant thunder rumbled. These souls were no longer accepted by Heaven and Earth; soon, heavenly tribulation would descend and erase them all.

These boys and girls had lived in ignorance, never knowing how to grow. Now, having just broken free, they gained fleeting awareness—only to face heavenly tribulation. The only memory they'd ever leave behind was their annihilation in the lightning. No, they wouldn't even retain memories; things rejected by Heaven and Earth were utterly erased.

Wei Yuan sighed inwardly: if reincarnation truly existed, whoever was reborn into these boys and girls' bodies would have failed in their past lives.

More chains snapped. Dozens of boy and girl souls rose into the air, ascending until, just before touching the ceiling, lightning flashed—and turned them to blue smoke.

In a nearby palace at the edge, over a dozen boys and girls burst through the doors—but collapsed the moment they stepped outside, their bodies rapidly decaying.

The array accelerated. Chains shattered in vast sections; countless souls slowly floated upward. These spirits now possessed awareness, terrified and scattering in all directions, yet still inevitably rising.

Sun Yu sighed, unable to watch further.

Suddenly, the ten thousand li of rivers and mountains stirred—the gate within Jade Mountain slowly opened!

All surrounding souls seemed to sense it. Two souls moved with exceptional speed, instantly rushing into the ten thousand li of rivers and mountains and diving into that gate.

Wei Yuan realized and immediately sealed his spiritual sea. Ji Ji Liuli also reinforced him with a protective layer.

Ripples stirred in the black pool. Two souls rose from the water. They were clearly the same two souls that had rushed into the gate—now translucent, their former dullness, decay, and malevolence vanished, as if reborn.

These two newborn souls were still dazed. They walked out of the ten thousand li of rivers and mountains on their own.

Wei Yuan felt he could stop them or make them do something—if he wished. But he wanted to see what they would do next, so he interfered not.

The newborn souls entered the palaces at the square's edge. Moments later, two youths emerged from those palaces. They walked straight to the base of the central platform, knelt before Wei Yuan, and pressed their foreheads to the ground, motionless.

Sun Yu's spiritual sense swept over them—and he gasped in shock: "They're alive?"

These two youths had vitality, awareness, and complete souls—weak, yes, but undeniably living beings.

The countless souls still hovering and struggling in the air sensed something and surged toward Wei Yuan. The Demon-Sealing Nine-Tiered Pagoda blazed with light, engulfing the entire platform and blocking all souls. One soul accidentally touched the light—immediately screamed and burned to ash.

Ji Ji Liuli's face darkened; she immediately dimmed the light.

That single act had killed a mortal—she now bore a trace of karmic debt. Though the Celestial Court had secret methods to suppress or transfer karmic debt—even for tens of thousands—it still unsettled Ji Ji Liuli to kill mortals without cause.

Now, when souls touched the pagoda's light, they were wounded, not destroyed. But this only spurred more souls to charge the barrier—they seemed to realize that if they couldn't pass through, they'd be sucked into the heavenly lightning above.

Ji Ji Liuli shouted at Wei Yuan: "If you take them in, you bear their karmic debt—tens of thousands! Even a True Immortal dares not! And this reverses causality, steals Heaven's authority. Your curse won't reach the old ghost above you—instead, their future sins will fall upon you!"

This seemed utterly harmful with no benefit whatsoever—and karmic entanglement was the worst state an immortal body could endure.

Now the platform was completely encircled by countless souls. The pagoda's light showed countless faces—struggling, terrified, pleading.

Looking at those faces, Wei Yuan suddenly said: "In this single thought of mine, tens of thousands live—or die."

Ji Ji Liuli snapped: "They're rejected by Heaven and Earth—they were meant to die! This isn't your sin!"

Wei Yuan sighed: "But now that I exist, they have a chance. To withhold that chance is no different from killing them."

!

"Absolutely not! Do you even want to become an Immortal?!" Ji Ji Liuli declared firmly.

Wei Yuan turned to Zhang Sheng, who stood with arms crossed, calm: "The paths of our ancestors aren't necessarily ours. The ancients had taboos—we needn't follow them blindly. If you wish to do it, I'll bear all the karmic debt for you."

Ji Ji Liuli immediately panicked: "What are you thinking? How can you bear it?!"

Zhang Sheng said: "No one's ever done it before—but that doesn't mean it's impossible. If the path ahead is truly blocked, then carve your own."

Ji Ji Liuli laughed bitterly. "Carve your own path? How dare you imagine that?! What path wasn't forged over generations of trial and error? You have a glorious immortal path ahead—why tie yourselves to this karmic mess?"

Zhang Sheng spoke slowly: "We cultivate to wield great power—we must expand territory and protect the mortal folk. If we abandon our mortal kin for our own immortal path, then even if we stand atop the thirty-third heaven, we'll be utterly alone. In all the heavens and worlds, only one immortal remains. What meaning is there in such immortality? To endure eternally, merely as a solitary hermit?"

"You! … I can't argue with you, but it's still impossible! Fine—I'll burn all these souls myself!"

Zhang Sheng suddenly smiled. "My great vow as an immortal is actually quite ordinary: when one man attains the Dao, even chickens and dogs ascend."

Ji Ji Liuli froze, then realized—furious: "Explain clearly—who's the chicken, who's the dog?!"

The tension eased slightly. Wei Yuan said: "Senior Sister, I've decided. Retrieve the Demon-Sealing Pagoda."

"I'll say it again—they're rejected by Heaven and Earth. Helping them reincarnate brings only sin, no merit. Only harm, no benefit. Think carefully!"

Wei Yuan said: "In time, I'll lead them to expand territory, to build a flourishing age. Even if they themselves have no merit, the sect will have merit. The human race will have merit."

Ji Ji Liuli shot Wei Yuan a scathing look. "Blowing wind!" Then she retracted the Demon-Sealing Pagoda.

Countless souls flowed like a great river into the ten thousand li of rivers and mountains, rushing through the gate. Moments later, one by one, newborn souls emerged from the pool, walking toward the surrounding palaces, returning to their bodies.

One by one, boys and girls emerged from their wooden niches. They were still stiff and numb, yet instinctively walked to the base of the platform and knelt before Wei Yuan, pressing their foreheads to the ground.

The light within the ten thousand li of rivers and mountains dimmed slightly. Wei Yuan felt his body and spirit grow unexpectedly heavy, as if stained with filth. But seeing tens of thousands of boys and girls reborn, he felt it was worth it.

Zhang Sheng suddenly held a sword—faint yet brimming with annihilating power. "No one may speak of today's events. Swear by this immortal sword!"

Today's events revealed Wei Yuan's ability to restore reincarnation—a theft of Heaven's authority. If leaked, the consequences would be catastrophic. Even if no one else acted, if a jealous villain secretly reported it to Heaven, Wei Yuan would face heavenly tribulation.

All cultivators nodded, then turned their eyes to one person.

Master Chuhe the True Person exploded: "Why are you all looking at me?! Am I some blabbermouth?!"

But with Ji Ji Liuli's Nine-Tiered Pagoda before him and Feng Feng Tingyu's great blade behind, after much chaos, the old Daoist was forced to swear a Primordial Spirit oath—his dignity as a Dharma Form True Person utterly shattered.

Now the array was destroyed, the yin spirits returned to their places. The vast yin and resentment energy had nowhere to go—suddenly churned into a vortex, all rushing toward the back of the lotus pillar.

Everyone hurried over to investigate. Beneath the demon on the lotus pillar lay a pool of blood. Wei Yuan had seen the vision—he knew this was the woman's final tears of blood, unburnable even by true fire, saturated with boundless attachment and hatred.

Now the blood absorbed all the yin energy, forming a pool of You water. From it slowly rose several lotus leaves, and a white lotus bloomed. Pure and flawless, born in the most yin, most absolute, most impure place, it seemed the purest thing in the world.

Master Chuhe the old Daoist's eyes bulged, his mouth opened wide enough to swallow two steamed buns. He pointed at the white lotus, stammering: "This—this is the Impure Soil Bai Lian! It grows like this?! Who could have imagined?! Of course—it's a Heaven-and-Earth treasure! It can break through realms, purify souls, elevate innate talent, extend lifespan!"

Wei Yuan suddenly felt a pang of sorrow: Xu Xu Wangu had schemed for years, orchestrated such a grand scheme—yet never realized the longevity elixir lay right before his eyes.

But recalling the vision, perhaps he no longer needed longevity.

(End of Chapter)