When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

"That direction is..."

Pointing to the moon, she gazed at the dark clouds that had shrouded the sky for so long, and gently completed the remaining two words for him.

"The Imperial City".

As soon as he finished speaking, the sword was drawn.

The female cultivator's sword slashed across the void, a fierce wind howled, and she cleaved open a spatial rift with her sword. Chu Xianlan felt the scenery before her eyes distort—in an instant, her feet were already on another piece of land.

The entire imperial city was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Low-hanging clouds and an ominous black-red mist shrouded the sky, blocking out the sunlight. The palace servants and guards had all vanished, perhaps because there was no one to lead them. The former bustling activity was gone; there were no lively figures, only a deathly stillness.

Zhiyue carried her long sword the whole time, and Chu Xianlan followed her along the palace wall through the empty road, stopping in front of the gate of a quiet Zen temple.

The doors were ajar, and from the outside, one could see rows of gilded Buddha statues that almost reached the roof beams.

The candlelight was lush and bright, and all kinds of Buddha statues were neatly arranged. Some sat cross-legged, some stared angrily, and some were solemn and dignified. They were huge and silent, as if they were also gazing at the visitors.

Master Zhiyue sized him up briefly, then crossed his arms and asked, "Little Xianlan, do you believe in gods or Buddhas?"

"I used to believe," Chu Xianlan replied.

In the past, Chu Xianlan had indeed sculpted a statue of a person in her heart, devoutly guarding this thought, wishing that he would never be tainted by the dust and smoke of the world.

But now, he won't do that anymore.

Rather than gazing at distant, illusory bubbles, Chu Xianlan would rather Yi Chen settle steadily in the warm human world, by her side.

As for the other gods and Buddhas, they were even less necessary for him.

Of course, Chu Xianlan did not mean to disrespect the gods.

Faith is an expectation that arises spontaneously in a person's heart. Piety also has prerequisites and costs. Too many people hope that someone can save them from suffering and that they can have a smooth and peaceful life. Therefore, they place their hopes on the protection of gods and are obsessed with putting someone on the altar and praying for their blessings and protection.

"Why don't you believe it now?" Master Zhiyue blinked in surprise.

Chu Xianlan sighed and said in a very mature tone, "In the end, people still have to rely on themselves."

"Oh? That's quite courageous."

Zhiyue's lips suddenly curved upwards, her gaze towards the boy filled with tenderness and appreciation. She raised her sword, the hilt in her palm turning slightly, and supreme sword intent instantly swept across the golden statues of gods and Buddhas in the hall, splitting them in two!

"Crackling and popping."

In an instant, the rows of giant golden statues collapsed with a deafening roar, their gold leaf and clay forms shattering, and fine dust filled the air like silk or rain. Yet, the sound of their landing wasn't a heavy, muffled thud; it was as if some fragile outer layer had been peeled away, revealing the mystery within—

Inside the statues were even more exquisite golden statues.

They were flawless, radiating a warm and shimmering luster, but when Chu Xianlan saw them, it was as if lightning struck her mind, and she felt a chill run down her spine.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..."

All the statues here look exactly like the one in the temple on the border of the Northern Sea—they are all the former Crown Prince Ji Li, who was nailed to the Book of Sinners!

Zhiyue seemed unsurprised. She glanced around, then spoke, her steady voice resonating throughout the room:

"A thousand years ago, the final battle in the Myriad Swords Immortal Realm did not end without survivors. One person left the secret realm. He said that his sea of ​​consciousness was damaged, and he had almost lost all his memories, knowing nothing about what happened in the secret realm... He was originally the former crown prince's personal guard, and also an old acquaintance of mine—"

The aura of the Mahayana realm filled the Zen temple, the wind rose and the tide surged, and a terrifying spiritual pressure spread. The ground beneath their feet cracked, and the fragments of the shattered golden statue floated in mid-air.

It's ridiculous that someone who has lost all their memories would secretly commission a golden statue of a former crown prince they no longer recognize.

"Three phases—"

As soon as he uttered the name, Master Zhiyue took a deep breath, and the entire Zen temple shook violently!

"Get out here and see me!"

Before the echo had faded, a subtle sound came from the corridor deep within the main hall.

"Knock knock knock!"

Countless doors opened outwards simultaneously, echoing from afar and reverberating like thunderclaps that shook the very soul.

"Who are you threatening? You won't come out yourself, but instead you want us to go inside? Fine." Zhiyue snorted and strode forward.

Having come this far, judging from the attitude of her grandmaster and the persistent black mist outside, Chu Xianlan roughly guessed that this Tribulation Transcending stage ancestor who had been sitting in seclusion in the Southern Cang royal family for a thousand years must be hiding some secret, most likely related to the past of the former crown prince.

However, when he saw the Three-Symbol Venerable in person, he was inevitably astonished.

For cultivators who maintain their youthful appearance, this look is far too unremarkable.

It was an old monk with a hunched back, his eyes shrouded in a hazy mist. He possessed none of the sharpness of a top expert, radiating extreme decay and a somber, lifeless aura. His frail frame could not support the wide robes he wore, and his long, pale beard hung dull and lifeless on his deeply lined, aged face.

Chu Xianlan could not reconcile the person before her with the title of the pinnacle of combat power in the cultivation world.

The Three-Symbol Venerable was also watching the two people walking towards him.

When his slow gaze swept over Chu Xianlan, his sunken eyes gradually widened, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets with excitement, like a desperate drowning person finding a lifeline.

"You brought him...you brought him here!"

Chu Xianlan, who was still on guard, couldn't help but furrow her brows upon hearing this. The tone of the voice was truly hoarse and mocking, like fingernails scratching tree bark.

Not to mention, the Three-Phase Venerable's gaze towards him had an indescribable strangeness.

The next moment, Master Zhiyue's sword blocked the gaze of Venerable Sanxiang, and he said coldly and bluntly:

"Your lifespan is coming to an end."

Having cultivated to such a level, they could see through the rise and fall of vital energy and the waxing and waning of lifespan at a glance. Before arriving here, Master Zhiyue had prepared for a life-or-death battle, but he never expected that he would be facing a decaying body that was almost exhausted.

The three-phase condition is purely a state of old age, weakness, illness, and disability.

She probably wouldn't even need to swing her sword; a single bolt of lightning would shatter her into dust.

"No, it's alright. Quickly...you," he said urgently, his gaze fixed on Chu Xianlan, not even knowing the boy's name, "quickly use your Heavenly Spiritual Root to lend me a hand, let's join forces to suppress Weilong and save the world! Ah—!"

Before the Venerable Three Phases could finish speaking, he suddenly let out a miserable scream.

Protected by her master, Chu Xianlan suddenly opened her eyes and saw purple veins bulging under the other person's skin. The withered old face changed in an instant, just like the terrifying state of Ji Ran when he went into a demonic state.

A malevolent aura was hidden within him!

Lightning crackled in Zhiyue's palm. Just as she was about to strike, Sanxiang seemed to return to normal, clutching his chest and panting, "You can't kill me! I took this form for the sake of this world! I'm suppressing it with my own power. If you kill me now, Weilong will reappear, and the world will be in chaos! Everyone will die!"

What nonsense are you spouting? Zhiyue had no patience for his riddles and grabbed the old monk's robe.

"What exactly happened in the Immortal Realm of Ten Thousand Swords back then? You clearly remember everything, so why pretend to have amnesia and let the Crown Prince bear the infamy of the world for nothing!? And why is Weilong involved with you?"

The Three-Phase Venerable seemed somewhat disoriented, his eyes vacant as he uttered, "The final battle..."

"That dragon... was originally sealed away by layers of formations, but... the Demon King is a madman... he secretly broke the formations, and even said that it was a dragon transformed for him... and should have been used by him!"

The old monk recounted incoherently, each word as if tearing open flesh and blood, digging out everything buried deep in his memory.

"Everything is ruined... Heaven and earth are in turmoil, the secret realm is overturned... All our plans have failed, and we fought a fierce battle in the face of adversity. The Crown Princess... also perished together with Weilong... The Crown Prince sacrificed himself to the Heavenly Spirit Root, exchanging his life for peace in the world."

The hand of the Master Pointing at the Moon trembled slightly.

"Weilong is dead." Venerable Sanxiang suddenly seemed to wake up. "But... but so what! Those of us who were lucky enough to survive the battle... all have something on us!"

Viciousness.

Born of resentment, Weilong was unwilling to be destroyed, so it cursed all humans, demons, and half-demons in the Myriad Swords Immortal Realm.

"They all said that the cultivation world has been in chaos for too long... and we can't let this thing go out and harm the world anymore. So... they voluntarily stayed and died in the secret realm... to completely eradicate this scourge." The Three Phases Venerable's eyes were vacant, and he spoke of these things as if from another world.

"But I don't want to die! I went through so much to survive! Why should I die with them?!"

The Three-Phase Venerable said in a low voice, "I've escaped."

Unable to face the world, he pretended to have lost his memory and remained unconscious for several months. When he awoke, the former Crown Prince Ji Li was already regarded as a sinner for all time by the cultivation world.

Chu Xianlan felt a chill run down her spine. "Why don't you clear the Crown Prince's name?"

The Three-Phase Venerable said, "The world's opinion of His Highness the Crown Prince is already settled. How can my voice alone sway the masses? Moreover..."

After escaping the secret realm, he did not feel the presence of malevolent energy within his body for a long time, and even thought he was unaffected by the curse.

Until one day, the Venerable Three Phases discovered that a wisp of Weilong's soul had taken up residence in his sea of ​​consciousness.