This is the true immortal of the Taoist sect.

Chen Jing looked at Wan'er, whose expression remained unchanged amidst the flames. She just looked at him, her eyes seemingly filled with unspeakable tenderness and longing.

Chen Jing couldn't bear it, and was utterly perplexed. With a regretful tone, he asked with heartache:

"Miss Wan'er... what... what is the reason for this?"

Wan'er listened to Chen Jing's question and remained silent for a moment, finally smiling sadly and saying softly:

"My lord, Wan'er... has kept her promise, but... you've forgotten me..."

Chen Jing was startled and stood frozen in place.

He couldn't help but recall the words Wan'er had said when he first met her in the Stone Forest.

"Why are you wearing a wedding dress? Did you die on your wedding day?"

"I don't know either... This is how I woke up..."

"I only remember... I think I made a promise with someone. That person said that when he returned victorious, he would marry me..."

The color drained from Chen Jing's face, his lips trembled, and tears welled up in his eyes.

He said incredulously:

"You mean...I...I am..."

Wan'er smiled, her eyes filled with tenderness.

Her ghostly form was gradually burned away under the suppression of the nation's destiny and imperial aura, yet she never made any attempt to struggle.

Wan'er reached out and gently touched her brow, looking at Chen Jing with a sorrowful expression.

"My lord...can you...call me...Wan'er...one more time?"

Chen Jing's lips parted slightly, about to speak.

Suddenly, Wan'er, engulfed in flames, pounced forward, leaving Chen Jing frozen in place, motionless.

Wan'er's ghostly form finally burned out, leaving only a last ray of light that gently landed on Chen Jing's forehead.

In an instant, Chen Jing's expression changed drastically, and a variety of complex emotions flashed in his eyes.

He just stood there, lost in thought.

Tears kept streaming from her eyes.

Images flashed through my mind.

They were a bright and cheerful young man and a gentle and beautiful young lady from a respectable family.

The two were childhood sweethearts and pledged their lives to each other.

However, it was a time of great turmoil for the country, and the young man was forcibly conscripted into the army and sent to the frontier.

Before parting, the two secretly pledged their lives to each other. The girl gave the boy a red bean as a token of their promise.

The scene shifts to a young man charging across the battlefield.

He practiced martial arts from a young age and was exceptionally skilled.

Even on the battlefield where human life is as cheap as grass, they can still stand out and often turn danger into safety.

However, the army was at a disadvantage and was trapped in a dead end.

The commander ordered an advance instead of a retreat, intending to launch a strong attack on the city in an attempt to reverse the defeat.

The young man, already a colonel, was highly regarded by the marshal. To repay the kindness shown to him, he personally led the charge into the camp, vowing to break through the city at all costs.

After a day and a night of fierce fighting, the boy finally reached the top of the city wall.

However, enemy troops were already waiting inside the city. In order to open the city gate, the young man and his three hundred soldiers fought desperately and opened the gate from inside the city amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

The army marched straight in and was able to break through the city and achieve a great victory.

However, the boy died in battle beneath the city gate, his body riddled with more than a dozen arrows.

Even in death, he stood proudly atop the mountain of corpses, his spear supporting his chest, unyielding in death.

Later, when his comrades collected the boy's remains, they found that his left hand was clenched into a fist and they couldn't open it no matter what they did.

The boy died in battle, and the promise he made was never fulfilled.

Every day, the young girl Wan'er would wait anxiously at the place where they parted, which was the crossroads outside the stone forest.

Finally, news of the boy's death in battle reached back from the frontier.

The girl, who had waited anxiously for three years, remained unusually calm; she neither cried nor made a fuss.

She simply put on the wedding dress she had embroidered herself, arrived at the intersection of Shilin Road, drank a cup of wedding wine, and died from poisoning.

From then on, the girl was trapped in that stone forest, her obsession turning her into a wandering spirit, continuing to wait.

After becoming a wandering ghost, Wan'er forgot everything, but she never forgot that promise.

She didn't know how much time had passed until she met Chen Jing, until... Chen Jing personally called out the name "Wan'er".

All the long-forgotten memories have returned.

So he was the one she had been waiting for...

Wan'er could no longer endure being trapped in the Stone Forest, even though she knew very well that if she left the Stone Forest, she would surely be reduced to ashes, having failed to become a vengeful ghost.

But she still went out without hesitation, just to see the person in her heart one more time.

Chen Jing slowly came to his senses, touched his cheeks, which were already covered in tears.

He trembled as he opened his left hand, and in the palm of his hand, a dark red mark came into view, like a red bean...

Chen Jing slowly shook his head, his eyes filled with endless sorrow.

Her lips trembled as she murmured:

"I... am me..."

"Wan'er... Wan'er..."

Wan'er has completely disappeared.

Under the suppression of the nation's destiny and imperial aura, they vanished into nothingness, with no afterlife and no reincarnation.

Chen Jing reached out, but could only grasp at nothingness.

What he had just witnessed was like watching a play, yet he was certain that it was himself.

Or perhaps that was one's past life.

It turns out that the person Wan'er had been waiting for in that stone forest for decades was actually him...

At this moment, Wang Yangming had already given the innocent girl a Qingling Fusheng Pill and used his own true energy to completely remove the yin energy that Wan'er had left in the girl's body.

After dealing with the girl, Wang Yangming walked up to Chen Jing, his expression complex, and said:

"Brother Chen... was that young lady from earlier... someone you knew?"

Chen Jing raised his hand to wipe away the tears on his face, looked at the dark red mark on his palm that he had brought with him since birth, and nodded gently.

"Hmm...it's someone I used to know..."

Wang Yangming sighed helplessly, not knowing what to say.

Being possessed by a ghost is a capital offense that guarantees death.

Now that the ghost has taken its own life, there's no way to pursue this matter any further.

Wang Yangming was unaware of the grudge between Chen Jing and the wandering spirit, but seeing Chen Jing's heartbroken appearance, he couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.

Humans and ghosts are destined to be apart, and they can never be together.

The three imperial guards witnessed this scene and were completely bewildered.

A wandering spirit who dared to trespass into Kyoto was exposed and vanished into thin air.

They just couldn't understand why this wandering spirit would seek death for no reason.

At this moment, an officer from the Imperial Guard arrived with his men.

Wang Yangming quickly stepped forward to explain that he had heard the ghost had been killed. The other party didn't say anything and led his men back.

The innocent girl woke up quickly after taking the Qingling Rejuvenation Pill. She was in a daze and had little memory of being possessed.

Wang Yangming had no choice but to say goodbye to Chen Jing and personally escort the girl back to her residence.

After that night, Chen Jing became even more taciturn than usual.

Even when facing Wang Yangming, he was usually reluctant to speak.

For a period of time, Chen Jing even disappeared completely.

More than a month later, when Chen Jing found Wang Yangming again, Wang Yangming learned that Chen Jing had gone to pay homage to the wandering spirit.

In addition, Chen Jing also came to say goodbye to Wang Yangming.

War broke out again in the north. Dali broke the agreement and gathered more than a dozen surrounding small countries to invade the territory of Dazhao.

Chen Jing had long since grown weary of the battlefield and of killing.

However, when the emperor was selecting generals, Chen Wanshan, the head of the Flying Cloud Sect and also Chen Jing's master, recommended Chen Jing directly in order to gain credit.

The emperor was overjoyed and personally issued an edict, appointing Chen Jing as a fifth-rank loyal and brave general, and ordering him to lead many fellow disciples of the Flying Cloud Sect to the battlefield.

Upon learning the news, Chen Jing had a big argument with Chen Wanshan and stated that he wanted to retire from the martial arts world and had no desire to become an official in the imperial court.

Upon hearing this, Chen Wanshan was filled with grief and anger. He never expected that his most valued disciple would betray him. In a fit of rage, he immediately wanted to sever ties with Chen Jing and break off their master-disciple relationship.

Chen Jing was shocked. He was an orphan that his master had taken in. His master was more like a father to him. How could such a relationship be severed?

Left with no other choice, Chen Jing agreed to lead the army into battle, but made it clear that this would be the last time.

Chen Wanshan then calmed down and stopped being angry.

And so, Chen Jing, who had just returned from the battlefield last October, embarked on his journey again in less than half a year.