Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

The sword light didn't last long. Mu Ling'er wasn't a ruthless person after all. After the area within a thousand miles centered on the Crimson Fire Sect's holy land was destroyed, Mu Ling'er immediately retrieved Liu Yun.

Even though Liu Yun protested to her several times, saying that if she wanted to intimidate the demons, she should at least cut down the entire surrounding area, she could not change Mu Ling'er's mind.

Mu Ling'er also has her own thoughts on killing.

Using killing to stop killing is indeed a way to solve problems, but it is by no means a wise move; it can only be described as a last resort.

Slaying until the demon cultists are terrified, slaying until everyone is afraid, may temporarily solve the problem, but it cannot change the root of the problem.

Along the way, she has killed enough people. Just the razing of the area within a thousand miles around the sacred site of the Crimson Fire Sect alone has resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people, not to mention the countless living beings that once lived there.

This should be enough to deter the entire Yin Yin Domain, and at least for the next few decades, ordinary people in the Yin Yin Domain can breathe a sigh of relief.

……

This was the first time in Mu Ling'er's life that such a large-scale massacre had occurred.

During the years she was in charge of Qishan Road, there were very few wars, let alone a massacre of this scale.

If Liu Yun had been able to accurately strike the demonic cultists, Mu Ling'er would never have wanted to raze this land to the ground.

Mu Ling'er genuinely believed that it would be difficult for her to calm down for a long time to come.

Putting everything else aside, she's been thinking about Xiao He, Wang Pingshan, and her former subordinates from time to time lately.

After all, if these people were still alive, they would definitely give her a good scolding if they saw what she was doing now.

Even if others don't dare, Xiaohe and Wang Pingshan definitely do. Those two have said a lot about her back then.

Mu Ling'er vaguely remembered that a long, long time ago, when she was still young, she proudly told Xiao He that she would create an unprecedented peaceful and prosperous world.

She once drank with Wang Pingshan under the starry sky, and, slightly intoxicated, talked about her dreams with the then-young Wang Pingshan.

In her semi-drunken state, she even said things like she wanted Wang Pingshan to be her chief strategist, to constantly urge her on, and to help her persevere.

As a young girl, Mu Ling'er sincerely believed that she would persevere until she realized her dream.

As Mu Ling'er grew older, she firmly believed that she could witness the peaceful and prosperous world she wanted to create together with the people she cared about.

pity……

Three thousand miles from the sacred land of the Crimson Fire Demon Kingdom, in front of a magnificent ancient city within the territory of Chenlong Territory, Mu Ling'er rubbed her hands together and exhaled a breath of hot air.

She stood in the snow and ice, staring blankly at the magnificent city in front of her.

"Grandmaster, should we only kill the bandit leader, or destroy the entire ancient city?"

The slightly cold voice pulled Mu Ling'er back to reality from her daze. Her somewhat unfocused gaze sharpened again as she swept over Bai Ling and Li Yin in front of her.

Sunlight shone on the smooth ice surface, reflecting off it in all directions. Huge blocks of ice blocked the light, casting dark shadows.

Amidst the interplay of light and shadow, Mu Ling'er suddenly realized that she might really be getting old, so old that she always liked to reminisce about the past and couldn't extricate herself from those memories.

Over the years, she always liked to say that Mu An had changed, but it wasn't just Mu An who had changed.

Where has she left her original aspirations?

……

"Grandmaster, from the information I've gathered, although Chenlong Territory is also a place rife with heinous crimes, it is slightly better than other places."

Although there aren't many good people here, from my personal perspective, I don't think it's impossible not to give them a chance to reform...

Perhaps sensing Bai Ling's dissatisfaction with her, or perhaps because Chenlong Territory was indeed better than other places, Li Yin changed her previous "kill kill kill" attitude and instead offered Mu Ling'er a different suggestion.

After regaining her senses, Mu Ling'er listened carefully to Li Yin's words and then turned her gaze back to the distant Xiongcheng.

She was thinking about what decision Wang Pingshan would have made in this situation, and what words he would have used to advise her.

After a long while, Mu Ling'er's lips curled up, and a hint of nostalgia appeared in her eyes.

There is only one answer.

Wang Pingshan would curse her to her face, calling her a tyrant and saying that a ruler should govern the country with benevolence and righteousness. He would repeat it twice if once wasn't enough, and three times if twice wasn't enough.

Only after she finally couldn't hold back her curses did she lead her troops, still cursing, to wipe out the place she wanted to destroy.

Time and time again, each time it's the same scene.

Whenever she was struggling with something, Wang Pingshan would help her resolve it, even if it meant bearing countless criticisms.

In Wang Pingshan's words, a subject must relieve the king's worries and solve his problems.

All Mu Ling'er needs to do is be a wise ruler; let her ministers bear all the infamy and criticism.

Mu Ling'er once asked Wang Pingshan why he had to scold her if he didn't think she was wrong, which resulted in her being beaten up for nothing.

Wang Pingshan always smiled without answering, until one moonlit night, after Mu Ling'er poured a pot of spirit wine into his mouth, Mu Ling'er finally heard the answer she wanted.

"Boss, do you still remember your own dream?"

"I will remember that one day I will create an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity."

"In that case, Hirayama, I must scold you."

Why?

"Because the path you want to take, Boss, is far too far, so far that it will be difficult for me to accompany you to the end in Pingshan... People in the world only need to consider right and wrong, and only need to solve problems in the simplest way, but not you, Boss. You must always remember that decisions should not be made lightly, because one order from you could determine the fate of thousands of people..."

"What if, like this time, we have no choice but to kill?"

"I'll kill it for you."

"What if you weren't here with me?"

"Actually, I've always felt that Ling'er, you are a very kind person. Because of your kindness, you are always hesitant and conflicted. If even you feel that you have to solve the problem through killing, then don't hesitate, just do it."

The conversation flashed through Mu Ling'er's mind, and she couldn't quite describe her current feelings.

She touched her chest; her heart, which was not yet cold, was still beating.

"Bang bang bang!"

The undulating sound echoed in her heart, and as she gazed at the ancient city in the distance, the hesitation in Mu Ling'er's eyes disappeared.

Yes, now that we've made up our minds, what's there to hesitate about?

……

As the sword was drawn from its sheath, a crimson light shot into the sky, heading towards the majestic demon city in the distance.

At the same time, a giant white bone claw burning with a purple glow descended from the sky and collided with the crimson sword light.

"stop!"