Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

The snow in Xizhou is always harder than elsewhere.

It scrapes your face like tiny razor blades.

On an unnamed, desolate mountain, the snow was knee-deep.

Bai Yin was shirtless, revealing his strong back.

Sweat dripped down his muscles, freezing into ice crystals before it even hit the ground.

He held a three-pointed, double-edged knife in his hand.

The blade was pitch black, without a trace of luster, and frighteningly heavy.

"The 1326th time."

The old Taoist priest sat behind a large, sheltered rock, holding a wine gourd in his hand, without even lifting his eyelids.

Bai Yin remained silent.

He gritted his teeth and raised the knife in his hand again.

The veins on his arms bulged out, like winding earthworms.

As the Gengjin Xuan Gong circulated within his body, his meridians felt as if they were filled with steel needles, and every movement caused excruciating pain.

But he had to move.

The old Taoist priest once said that he could only be considered to have touched the threshold when he could make his internal energy complete a small cycle in the instant he swung his sword.

Now, he can't even complete half a cycle.

The blade sliced ​​through the air with a muffled whistling sound.

Bai Yin swayed and almost fell into the snow.

too tired.

He practiced from dawn till dusk, without stopping except for a moment to drink water.

His arms had lost all feeling, and he was only holding on by sheer willpower.

"Take a break."

The old Taoist took a sip of wine and exhaled a puff of white breath. "If you continue practicing like this, your meridians will break."

Bai Yin leaned on his knife, panting heavily.

My lungs were making a whooshing sound, like a bellows.

He raised his head and looked towards the eastern sky.

It was pitch black there; you couldn't see anything.

"I'm not tired."

Bai Yin's voice was firm, "Master, let's try again."

The old Taoist priest glanced at him and shook his head.

Today is the Lantern Festival.

The old Taoist priest said, "It's time to eat glutinous rice balls and watch the lanterns."

Bai Yin was stunned for a moment.

Is it the Lantern Festival?

He remembered that when they were in Yunmengze, Xiao Jiu told him that if they had the chance in the future, they should go to the human world to see the lanterns together.

We also want to eat those cloyingly sweet glutinous rice balls.

Now, he is eating snow in Xizhou, while she is suffering in the Ninth Heaven.

What festival is there to celebrate?

"Practicing swordsmanship."

Bai Yin pulled the knife out of the snow, his eyes turning fierce again.

Train until you drop dead, train until you drop dead.

Only by becoming stronger can I bring her back.

……

The Ninth Heaven, the Moon Palace.

It's even colder here than the snow-capped mountains of Xizhou.

That kind of cold seeps into your bones, freezing even your soul.

Su Xiaojiu sat by the window, wrapped in the blood-stained cloak.

Tomorrow is the day for blood collection.

The palace maids came and went, bringing all sorts of rare and precious fruits and nectars.

Their eyes were filled with awe and gratitude as they looked at Su Xiaojiu.

In their eyes, this woman who was about to give her heart's blood was the savior of the demon race, a saint.

Su Xiaojiu found it funny.

There are no saints.

It was just a transaction made out of desperation.

"Young lady, it's time to rest."

A palace maid whispered a reminder, "Tomorrow we have to...we have to do that, so you need to get plenty of rest."

Su Xiaojiu waved her hand.

I want to be alone for a while.

The palace maid withdrew.

The main hall was empty, with only a few eternal lamps burning.

Su Xiaojiu touched her chest.

The beating there was very steady.

She is not afraid of death.

After all, it was just an avatar; once it died, it was gone.

It's just a bit of a shame.

I never got to see that silly tiger again.

I wonder how he is now.

Did you eat properly? Were you bullied?

That idiot, if he knew he was dead, he'd definitely cry his eyes out.

Su Xiaojiu sighed.

She stood up and walked to the center of the hall.

The ground was covered with cold jade, reflecting her shadow.

All alone.

Tianpeng didn't come.

The marshal who always carried a wine jug and talked nonsense was nowhere to be seen today.

Perhaps they couldn't bear to watch.

After all, they're going to have surgery tomorrow.

Su Xiaojiu straightened her sleeves.

This Guanghan Palace is so desolate, there's not even anyone to talk to.

How about we dance?

See it for yourself, and for this long, dark night.

……

In front of the imperial palace of the Heavenly Demon Dynasty.

Indra stood on the high platform, looking down at his cheering people.

To celebrate the upcoming "new life" and to dispel the gloom of the past few days, he ordered fireworks to be set off throughout the city.

"put!"

With a command given.

A burst of fire shot into the sky.

It was a giant firework, formed by condensing demonic power, shooting straight into the sky.

It pierced through layers of clouds and exploded in the sky.

The dazzling light instantly illuminated half of the night sky.

It was dazzling and breathtakingly beautiful.

……

On the snow-capped mountains of Xizhou.

Bai Yin had just swung his sword and was preparing to stop.

Suddenly, the sky brightened.

He raised his head.

I saw that firework explode in the far distance.

Although separated by millions of miles, the light was still dazzling.

That rose from the direction of the Heavenly Demon Dynasty.

That was where she was.

Bai Yin tightened his grip on the knife.

He looked at the fireworks, and his eyes welled up with tears.

Is she watching?

She must be watching those beautiful fireworks.

"Little Nine..."

Bai Yin muttered to himself.

He took a deep breath and suppressed the surge of bitterness.

Then, he moved.

He swung the three-pointed double-edged sword in his hand with a sudden burst of speed.

This time, he didn't use brute force.

As he looked at the firework, Su Xiaojiu's smiling face appeared in his mind.

The blade sliced ​​through the night sky, leaving a silvery arc in its wake.

Just like her gently raising her water sleeves by the Yunmeng Marsh.

At this moment, the metal energy within his body flowed incredibly smoothly.

A small circulation is completed in an instant.

boom!

The blade's energy exploded, blasting a large crater in the snow in front of them.

The old Taoist priest suddenly opened his eyes, a glint of shrewdness flashing within them.

It became.

……

Inside the Moon Palace.

Su Xiaojiu was stretching her body.

The light from the exploding firework streamed in through the window.

She was enveloped in a colorful halo.

She saw the fireworks.

So beautiful.

Just like the firefly that Bai Yin caught for her in Yunmengze that day.

Su Xiaojiu smiled.

She did not stop moving.

Her long sleeves fluttered lightly, drawing a graceful arc in the air.

that moment.

The glint of swords in the Western Continent and the flowing sleeves of the Moon Palace echoed each other across the heavens and earth.

A fierce and domineering force, carrying the resolute determination to cleave through life and death.

A gentle and graceful expression, concealing a calm acceptance of death.

They cannot see each other.

But their hearts beat at the same frequency at this moment.

Bai Yin sheathed his sword and stood there, letting the snowflakes fall on his shoulders.

Su Xiaojiu's long sleeves hung down as she quietly watched the afterglow outside the window.

The fireworks have faded.

The night sky returned to darkness.

But some things took root and sprouted in the darkness.

That was an obsession more dazzling than fireworks and sharper than sword light.

Bai Yin turned around and looked at the old Taoist priest.

"Master."

"I've mastered it."

The old Taoist nodded and took a swig of wine.

"Then let's continue."

"It's still a long way from the day we break the ice."

Bai Yin did not refute.

He raised the knife again.

This time, there was no anxiety in his eyes, only a deathly calm.

All it takes is a swing of the knife.

As long as you keep swinging the knife.

One day, the glint of the blade will illuminate her face.

Inside the Moon Palace.

Su Xiaojiu sat back down by the window.

She took the straw figure out of her bosom.

The straw figure was quite old, and it was still stained with Bai Yin's blood.

She gently stroked the scarecrow's head.

"Silly tiger."

May you have a peaceful and healthy Lantern Festival.

She closed her eyes, waiting for dawn to break.

Waiting for the knife that is about to pierce my heart.

As long as he's alright.

The blood, let it flow.

Late at night.

The snow in Xizhou is falling heavier and heavier.

The wind in the Ninth Heaven grew colder and colder.

Two people separated by thousands of miles, on the same Lantern Festival night, each guarding their own lonely courage.

One of them, desperate to survive, wielded a knife with all his might.

One waits silently, preparing for death.

But the bonds of affection in this world often burn brightest in such desperate situations where life and death separate us.

The fire was so intense that even the gods and Buddhas in the sky had to take notice.

"Green Jade Table - Sent from Afar on the Lantern Festival"

Snow weighs down the cold mountain road in Xizhou, the blade is cold, and the journey goes deeper.

Who will share the sight of fireworks stretching for miles?

In the moon palace, a heartbroken person has departed, dancing alone in the desolate autumn twilight.

Longing fills my heart with bitterness, the setting sun stains my path home with blood.

Even if it costs me my remaining years, I will not let you down.

With a swift stroke of the sword, water is cut; with sleeves billowing clouds and mist, two souls are lost in a tragic tale.