I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

"Cough cough... Pfft!"

Inside the quiet room, Zhao Feng, who was sitting cross-legged on a white jade futon, suddenly opened his eyes. His face instantly turned purplish-red, and then he sprayed a mouthful of black blood mixed with small pieces of internal organs onto the cold stone bricks in front of him.

The black blood that fell to the ground had no heat at all; instead, it emitted a nauseating, withered, and deathly aura.

Zhao Feng was panting heavily. His once towering and robust body was now hunched over like a broken bowstring that had been fully drawn.

He's too old.

Since the Battle of the East China Sea, facing the mutated "Leviathan" that almost drove humanity to despair, he forcibly ignited all of his martial arts blood and cultivation essence in order to set up a forbidden formation for Chu Tian and the others.

They won that battle, beheading the first giant beast of the mythical era.

But Zhao Feng's foundation was also completely shattered.

His meridians were severed, and his dantian was riddled with cracks. In just a few months, he went from a vigorous young general with the energy of a dragon to a bald, aged man with age spots all over his face, and even his skin began to sag.

"Still not working...?"

Zhao Feng looked at his hands, which trembled like withered tree bark, and shook his head with a wry smile.

Since the great war, he had returned to Kunlun to cultivate in seclusion. As a soldier, he would fight to the very end as long as he had a breath left. During this time, he had been trying to break through the barrier of his cultivation realm through extreme hardship, hoping to use the life force bestowed by heaven and earth upon him when he broke through to reshape his broken body.

But the way of Heaven is cruel. The shattered dantian is like a leaky sieve. No matter how frantically he absorbs the surrounding spiritual energy, it will eventually turn into a more violent turbulent current, rampaging through his limbs and bones, accelerating the passing of his life.

His failed attempt to force his way through the barrier not only failed to condense his source energy, but also caused his already depleted life force to dim even further.

He knew he was about to die.

It could be next month, or it could be in the next few days. The aura of "the five signs of decay" that permeated his very bones could not be hidden from him at all.

"Zhao Feng... are you inside?"

Outside the cave, the sound of footsteps treading through the snow could be heard. Several young disciples dressed in the inner robes of the Kunlun Sect stood respectfully in the wind and snow. Leading them was Chu Tian, ​​who had just returned from a mission to exorcise spirits on the front lines.

Chu Tian's eyes were slightly red, and his usually aloof face now showed an unconcealable grief as he held a purple-gold jade box that exuded a strong medicinal fragrance.

"This is the 'Nine-Turn Longevity Pill' obtained from the sect's treasury. This medicine can forcibly lock in life force, you...you should take it!" Chu Tian tried his best to suppress the trembling in his voice, but the sorrow still penetrated through the stone door.

The room remained silent for a long time.

"Take it back."

Zhao Feng's hoarse and weary voice pierced through the heavy stone door, "Chu Tian, ​​you are the senior brother of Kunlun, you should know the current situation. Yin realms are frequently erupting everywhere, and ghosts are lingering. How many young soldiers fighting those ghosts on the front lines with such precious longevity pills can be saved? How many promising talents can be cultivated?"

"But you ended up like this because of us..." Chu Tian wanted to step forward urgently, but was blocked outside the door by an invisible barrier.

"To die on the battlefield is both destiny and glory!"

Zhao Feng's voice suddenly rose a few decibels, though weak, it still carried an undeniable certainty: "Using this medicine on a cripple like me, whose dantian is damaged and who can't even hold a sword steadily, besides letting me linger in this dark room for a few more months, what meaning does it have for this war of civilization?!"

"Go back! Return the medicine!"

Outside the door, Chu Tian gritted his teeth, tears welling in his eyes, but he managed to hold them back. He knew Zhao Feng too well; he was a piece of steel harder than a rock in a latrine, and once he made a decision, not even nine oxen could pull him back.

In the end, Chu Tian could only bow deeply to the stone gate, turn around and leave with his disciples in sorrow, leaving behind only a lonely and resolute figure in the wind and snow.

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Zhao Feng's once straight back hunched over again. He coughed violently, each cough accompanied by a loss of life.

"Zheng—"

Just then, the dark red longsword that had been quietly placed next to the futon suddenly emitted a deep sword sound.

Blood-red light rippled across the sword's blade like water. As spiritual energy gathered, a phantom image of a woman in a red dress, with an exquisitely beautiful face yet exuding an eerie and sorrowful aura, slowly materialized before Zhao Feng.

She is dressed in red.

This once infamous Red Makeup Sword, after recognizing its master, became Zhao Feng's only natal sword spirit on his lonely path of cultivation.

At this moment, Hongzhuang still maintained her aloofness and pride, but her ruby-like eyes were filled with glistening tears. She knelt before Zhao Feng, reaching out her semi-transparent hands to touch his aged face, but because she was a spirit, she could only pass through his body in vain.

You're lying.

Hongzhuang's voice was cold and sorrowful, carrying a hint of suppressed pain, "You're not doing this for any grander purpose; you just don't want to live anymore. Your heart is dead."

Looking at the sword spirit that had fought alongside him through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Zhao Feng's eyes flashed with a rare tenderness.

"Even the most beautiful women must eventually die."

Zhao Feng stretched out his withered hand and placed it lightly on Hongzhuang's head. "I'm not afraid of death. It's just... the world is in chaos these days, and there are unkillable ghosts everywhere. My old bones don't even have the strength to take a hit for them anymore. This feeling of powerlessness is worse than death."

Hongzhuang abruptly raised her head, her usual aloofness now replaced by intense resentment and despair. A chaotic, murderous aura erupted from her: "I am just a sword! All I know is that you are my swordsman! As long as you take that pill, you can live! I'll beg them, if they don't give it to me..."

"Red Makeup!"

Zhao Feng interrupted her with a sharp shout, his tone stern: "If you dare to harbor murderous intent, I will sever our life-bound contract right now!"

Hongzhuang trembled, her murderous aura vanished instantly, she bit her lip tightly, and tears silently streamed down her face, turning into ethereal light.

"If you die, this sword, Hongzhuang, will naturally shatter and follow you." Her tone was resolute, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Nonsense." Zhao Feng sighed, his tone softening. "You are a fine sword, you shouldn't be buried with this old man. After I'm gone, go and guard the borders of China. Help me... watch over this peaceful and prosperous world."

The two, one human and one spirit, stood silently facing each other in the cold, quiet room. Only the wind and snow outside grew stronger and stronger.

However, Zhao Feng was unaware of this.

At this very moment, in the quiet chamber above the Snowfall Cliff, in a dimension inaccessible to ordinary people, a pair of cold and rational eyes are silently observing everything.

Gu Qing, dressed in a green robe, stood with his hands behind his back in the void.

On his retina, the system's data stream was performing an extremely precise countdown to Zhao Feng's life below.

[Target: Zhao Feng.]

[Status: Five Signs of Decay of Heaven and Man, Martial Arts Foundation Completely Collapsed, Cultivation Source Depletion Rate 99.8%]

[Soul purity: Extremely high (Possesses great merit, obsession is: protection).]

Estimated life expectancy: 7 days.

Zhao Feng only knew that he was about to die, but he didn't know that the system had already calculated his exact death date.

"Seven days ago..."

Gu Qing looked at the glaring countdown, then glanced at Zhao Feng, who refused the life-extending pill so as not to burden his juniors. A strange light flashed in his usually calm eyes.

"Since you can no longer fight on the battlefields of the mortal realm."

"Do you dare take on the battlefield of the underworld?"

Gu Qing slowly raised her foot and took a step towards the snow-covered cliff below.

……

Quiet room.

Hongzhuang was kneeling in front of Zhao Feng, immersed in grief, when suddenly, her whole body stiffened, and she sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on!

"Who?!"

Hongzhuang let out a cold, sharp shout, and the dark red sword instantly fell into her hand. The terrifying sword energy exploded in the small, quiet room, locking the doorway tightly.

As the most perceptive sword spirit, she felt an unprecedented and terrifying pressure that was enough to annihilate her soul!

Zhao Feng was also alarmed. He struggled to stand up, but found that the space around him had become extremely strange.

The snowflakes that had blown in through the crack in the door were now eerily suspended in mid-air. The air stopped circulating, and even his heartbeat seemed to stretch out infinitely at that moment.

Time was frozen.

"Buzz—"

The tightly closed stone door was not pushed open, but a slender figure in blue walked through the heavy Dragon-Slaying Stone as if passing through water, without any hindrance, and entered the silent ice chamber.

Hongzhuang's eyes narrowed, and the long sword in her hand transformed into a streak of blood-red lightning, stabbing towards the newcomer without hesitation!

However, the man only glanced at her indifferently.

With just a glance, Hongzhuang's sharp sword energy, capable of tearing apart a Foundation Establishment cultivator, vanished instantly as if it had struck an invisible wall of sighs. Hongzhuang herself was struck as if by lightning, her entire body pinned to mid-air by an irresistible force of law, unable to move even a finger.

"Please step down, ladies!"

Zhao Feng recognized the person's face, his cloudy eyes widened suddenly, he struggled to push away the prayer mat, and with his frail body, he knelt heavily on one knee on the cold stone bricks.

"Zhao Feng, a junior student of Kunlun, pays his respects to the principal."

Gu Qing lowered her eyes and quietly looked at the soldier who was once full of vigor but was now old and frail.

"You forced your way through, trying to defy fate?" Gu Qing's voice was calm and indifferent, without blame or pity.

"This disciple is foolish and unable to break through the shackles of Heaven's will." Zhao Feng gave a bitter smile. "Is the headmaster here to see this disciple off on his final journey?"

"Your lifespan is reduced to seven days."

Upon hearing Gu Qing's words, Zhao Feng's body trembled slightly, while Hongzhuang, suspended in mid-air, closed her eyes in despair.

"However, I did not come here today to see you off."

Gu Qing looked down at Zhao Feng, the Tai Chi diagram deep in his eyes slowly swirling, carrying a seductive and authoritative quality that went straight to the soul. "I'm here to ask you if you're willing to change your way of living."

Zhao Feng suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with astonishment: "Principal Gu... what do you mean?"

"You have settled your karma in the mortal realm. But now, yin and yang are in disarray, and ghosts roam the night. This mortal realm lacks a judge who can subdue evil spirits."

Gu Qing extended a crystal-clear finger and gently tapped it in the air.

In an instant, a set of purplish-black official robes exuding endless solemnity and embroidered with ancient ghost and god totems, along with a dark gold seal bearing the words "City God," appeared out of thin air in front of Zhao Feng.

The extreme yin energy and oppressive aura caused the temperature of the entire Snowfall Cliff to plummet once again.

"Zhao Feng."

Gu Qing's voice, like a resounding bell, struck Zhao Feng's withering soul.

"Shedding their mortal form, relinquishing their lifespan, they transform into spirits and deities."

"Would you like to take the position of the first City God?"