Mortal: I really didn't want to be reborn as Zi Ling!

Inside the door was a huge circular hall.

The dome was about ten feet high and inlaid with hundreds of fist-sized luminous pearls, emitting a soft, pale blue light that illuminated the entire hall.

In the very center of the hall is a high platform.

On the high platform stood a thick bronze base, covered with intricate restriction patterns. Above it floated an irregular sphere the size of a fist, which rotated continuously and emitted a faint purple light.

Is this the central point of the formation?

Han Li subconsciously began searching for the teleportation array.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the teleportation array was nearby and undamaged.

The person opposite the bronze throne heard the noise and turned around.

This man was dressed in a six-tiered monastic robe, with a thin face, tired eyes, and sunken eye sockets, as if he hadn't slept for days.

"Brother Wen?"

Han Li was taken aback, clearly not expecting to see the other party here.

"I never expected to see Brother Li, Uncle Qu, and—"

Wen Qiang's gaze fell on Zi Ling, and he paused for a moment.

"Miss Wang Ning."

His tone was calm, but the look in his eyes as he looked at Zi Ling was unusually complicated.

"It's really not easy for you to find this place."

Zi Ling ignored the other party.

Her gaze swept across the hall, lingering for a moment on the array patterns before settling on the floating, irregular purple sphere.

The sphere shone brightly, but it was not the kind of spiritual light described in the jade slip.

Zi Ling withdrew her gaze, her tone turning cold: "What can he do here? Naturally, he'll destroy the great array of the Demon Suppression Platform to release the transformed demon Lei Peng imprisoned below."

Han Li's expression changed drastically as he looked at Wen Qiang, his face filled with disbelief.

Wen Qiang just gave a wry smile and did not refute.

Zi Ling didn't look at the other person again.

She didn't have a good impression of the person in front of her.

In her past life, when she watched anime, she neither liked nor disliked the character.

But this life is different—your position determines your perspective.

Regardless of Wen Qiang's grievances, his actions were a form of revenge against the world, and they also implicated her.

He keeps saying he wants to protect his daughter—what would she think if she knew her father had done this?

Moreover, a little girl has already lost her mother and is now losing her father. How can a person survive in such a world?

As for the unexpected death of his Daoist partner during the Demon Suppression Ceremony, opinions vary, and she did not wish to comment.

But she knew that if her parents died outside today, she would never let Wu Chou, the Extreme Yin Ancestor, and the mastermind behind all this get away with it.

Of course, she didn't think of herself as particularly noble.

When she retaliates against these people, innocent people will inevitably be implicated, but she will not arbitrarily broaden the scope of her attacks.

After making a sarcastic remark, Zi Ling fell silent, letting Wen Qiang's talkative nature kick in as he kept explaining to Han Li why he did what he did.

"Those elders of the Star Palace don't treat us rogue cultivators like human beings at all..."

"My Daoist partner participated in the Demon Suppression Ceremony, but died inside because the special envoy acted recklessly, and we didn't even get an explanation..."

"Those people in the stands, seeing the cultivators below being brutally killed by a level-five demonic beast, not only didn't offer any support, but instead cheered and applauded. How unjustly the dead were treated! Who will remember them?"

Wen Qiang's voice grew increasingly agitated, his eyes reddening, like a wounded, trapped beast. He stared at Han Li and said, word by word:

"I don't care how many people die when Lei Peng comes out. I just want Xinggong and those heartless people to know that they too feel pain, bleed, fear, and die when faced with accidents!!!"

Han Li remained silent.

He was somewhat unsure how to evaluate Wen Qiang's actions.

Zi Ling ignored their conversation and walked straight to the teleportation array, squatted down, and began to study the array patterns.

My fingers moved slowly along the patterns of the array, sensing the direction of the spiritual energy flowing beneath.

Then, her brows furrowed.

This teleportation array was different from the ones she had seen before.

The array patterns are arranged in a very special way, with several key nodes deliberately hidden, requiring specific techniques to activate.

If the teleportation array is not activated correctly, it may fail to teleport at best, or it may be swept into a spatial rift and die a gruesome death.

Zi Ling took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and recalled the array diagram she had seen in Elder Miao's jade slip.

After a short while, she opened her eyes and stood up. "Alright, Brother Han, are you finished chatting? If not, I'll be leaving now!"

"Brother Han?"

Wen Qiang suddenly turned his head to look at Han Li, his eyes filled with astonishment.

Han Li met his gaze and remained silent for a moment: "I'm sorry, Brother Wen... Li Feiyu is another alias of mine... Han Li is my real name."

Han Li's voice carried a hint of apology and embarrassment.

Regardless, Wen Qiang had been kind to him. Whether it was giving him a heads-up or helping him change his performance time, although he ultimately couldn't help him, his good intentions were genuine.

However, he had no intention of dying with his opponent.

Han Li stepped onto the teleportation array without hesitation, with his avatar Zhang Tie following closely behind.

Zi Ling stood in the center of the teleportation array and began to form hand seals.

A ray of light flowed from her fingertips, infusing into the array patterns beneath her feet. As if awakened, the array patterns began to slowly rotate, their light growing ever brighter.

Just then, Han Li, inside the formation, glanced at Zi Ling and suddenly spoke, "Brother Wen, since things are beyond saving and you've completed your mission, why don't you leave with us?"

Zi Ling paused slightly in her hand seal gesture.

She turned her head, glanced at Han Li, and then at Wen Qiang.

She didn't expect Han Li to invite the other person to leave.

But she didn't stop it.

Although she disliked Wen Qiang's behavior, if he survived, the world would be one less orphan who had lost his father.

Wen Qiang was stunned.

He clearly didn't expect that after doing something like this, someone would invite him to go together.

What was even more unexpected was that Zi Ling, who disliked him so much, would actually wait for him on a special occasion!

Wen Qiang opened his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbed a few times, and finally managed a wry smile.

"I appreciate your kindness."

"But it was too late."

His voice was soft, as if he were talking to himself.

"I drank poisoned wine before I came. And I also have a tracking restriction left by Elder Gu on my body."

He glanced down at his wrist, where a faint black line, like a venomous snake, had spread to his heart.

"Leaving here means certain death, but staying here ensures Lei Peng's release, and my daughter has a chance to live."

His voice was calm, as if he had long since become indifferent to life and death.

"It doesn't matter if I die—as long as Siyue is still alive."

The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Zi Ling's hand stopped in mid-air.

Looking at Wen Qiang's tired and lonely face, she suddenly thought of her own parents.

Right now, they're risking their lives outside, all for themselves.

With a sigh, she continued to perform hand seals. The light of the teleportation array grew brighter and brighter, and the array patterns began to rotate, emitting a low hum.

Wen Qiang took a few steps back, sat directly on the high platform, and took out a bamboo leaf from his pocket.

It was a bright green bamboo leaf, as thin as a cicada's wing, with edges worn smooth, clearly indicating that it was often held in the mouth.

He placed the bamboo leaf to his lips and gently blew on it.

The mournful sound of bamboo leaves echoed in the hall.

The sound was peculiar, like the wind blowing through a bamboo forest in the mountains, carrying an indescribable sense of nostalgia.

The teleportation array's light shone at its brightest.

Zi Ling felt her feet suddenly sink, as if her body had been pulled into the void by an invisible hand.

Vision is distorted, and objects are blurred.

In the last moment before disappearing, she saw Wen Qiang standing beside the high platform, his figure getting farther and farther away, and the sound of bamboo leaves growing softer and softer.

Like a fallen leaf, drifting towards the abyss.

-

The light faded.

Zi Ling's feet touched solid ground again.

She opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by an unfamiliar mountain forest.

In the distance, towards the Demon-Suppressing Platform, a pale blue beam of light shot into the sky, dyeing half the sky a dark blue.

Feng hope has made her move!

"Father, Mother! You must not forget our promise!"