The improved female villains regained their memories.

"how do you know?"

“I’ve been monitoring Luo Benmo’s subordinates in real time. Even when they’re in hibernation, the monitoring continues. Alright, stop asking. Let’s hurry up and leave. The world’s will is waiting for us in the next world.”

"I want to see the video footage of Tie Niu before he died."

"you!"

The system was about to question him, but seeing the stubbornness in Yang Pingsheng's eyes, it sighed and finally took a step back.

"Ok."

The scene unfolded in Yang Pingsheng's mind.

In the vast forest, in the middle of a huge crater created by the shockwave of magic, Tie Niu knelt on one knee, covered in blood, the iron rod in his hand broken in two.

He was surrounded by a group of immortals, the one leading them being Gu Tianzhen. Most of her missions over the past few years had focused on eliminating bloodthirsty individuals.

Seeing the burly man in the pit reach his limit, a fierce glint flashed in Gu Tianzhen's eyes. However, because the man still held a powerful immortal technique that she was wary of, she dared not step forward. Instead, she loudly questioned, "Tie Niu, aren't you going to submit to the law?"

The burly man, covered in blood but still with a fierce glint in his eyes, looked up at Gu Tianzhen when he heard her question: "Submit to the law? Submit to which law?"

He used an iron rod to support his body and slowly got up.

“You’re attacking me not because I, Tie Niu, have broken the law, but because you’re afraid. You’re afraid of the bloodthirsty ones, afraid of the blood path, which is why you’re attacking us with all your might.”

"We fear you?" Gu Tianzhen sneered. "What do you think you are? You're nothing but a mutated spiritual root, or even that, just waste residue from other people's spiritual energy. You're a scoundrel who bring disaster to the world and poison the people!"

"Are we scumbags, and you think you're all good people?"

The iron ox roared, its blood-spirit energy carrying its sound throughout the entire valley.

"The war in the mortal realm is orchestrated by you immortal cultivation sects. You claim to be righteous, yet you manipulate war for your own benefit, disregarding the lives of mortals. You keep talking about fighting for the world and for all living beings, but is this world truly the world of mortals, or the world of you immortal cultivators?!"

"You bunch of demons dare to talk about the world?" Feeling her ideals being trampled on once again, Gu Tianzhen's eyes turned red with anger. She roared at Tie Niu, "No matter how hypocritical we are, we will not eat human blood. What do your actions mean to the demonic path? That demon Luo Benmo raised a bunch of monsters like you. You are the biggest cancer in the world!"

"Shut up! You are not worthy to speak of our leader!"

Iron Ox raised his iron rod high, and countless streams of blood and spiritual energy surged forth.

"Our leader is the most talented person in the world! We mortals should have died in the flames of war long ago. It was our leader who endowed us with spiritual roots, taught us cultivation, and gave us the opportunity to fight against you immortals."

"You keep calling us the demonic path, but back in Spirit Spring City, our leader began researching how to suppress the side effects of the Blood Spirit Root. First, he used animal blood as a substitute, and then he used blood replenished from his own body. If you hadn't suddenly attacked us, our leader would have already thoroughly researched the essence of the Blood Spirit Root. In the future, even without it, we could mass-produce cultivators with the Blood Spirit Root—cultivators with the Blood Spirit Root without side effects. At that time, who will be righteous and who will be evil will be anyone's guess!!"

With a deadly move, the staff, carrying a skull made of blood spiritual energy, struck Gu Tianzhen.

"Now the bloodthirsty people are divided into two factions. The faction I led continues the leader's research. We all cultivate with our own blood and qi. When have we ever harmed others? On the contrary, you support the other faction of bloodthirsty people, ruin our reputation, and stop at nothing for your own benefit. The hearts of the people are vast and unyielding. Can your actions be concealed for a time, or for a lifetime?"

"You're talking nonsense!"

Gu Tianzhen was furious. He couldn't stand Tie Niu's nonsense and, disregarding the danger of his opponent's killing move, immediately unleashed his own killing move to fight him.

The immortal techniques collided, and at that moment, Luo Benqing, who had been hiding nearby, stepped forward and beheaded Tie Niu with a single strike.

The killing move dissipated, and Tie Niu's corpse fell to the ground, his eyes wide open in death.

"Damn it, he's been hanging out with us for two days without eating or drinking, and he's still spouting nonsense on his deathbed. He's sick!"

The scene ends with Gu Tianzhen hurling insults at Tie Niu's corpse.

After a long silence, Yang Pingsheng remained silent.

The system broke the silence first: "Is that enough? We should go."

"system."

"Another problem?"

"Have we... helped this world, or harmed it with everything we've done?"

Instead of answering immediately, the system asked, "What do you mean?"

"I……"

The turmoil in his soul gradually subsided.

Calm, calm, calm to the point of indifferent observation.

"Never mind, it's nothing."

Yang Pingsheng shook his head, letting the void surge up and engulf him, and said, "Let's start the next life."

His heart remained unmoved, for he was in Taixu.

The Great Ruins are filled with nothingness; here, the human heart remains unmoved.

Chapter Thirty-One: The Day the Heavenly Thunder Returns

Luo Benmo had a very long dream.

In her dream, she lived in a paradise, where smoke rose from chimneys and the sounds of chickens and dogs filled the air. Her mother wove cloth at home, while her father went out hunting, occasionally bringing back some delicious game.

She was the leader of the village's children, and many kids played with her. She gave them nicknames, such as Monkey, Little Ox, Little Wolf, and so on.

She also had a good friend, the daughter of a blacksmith on the east side of the village. They were very close, and she always called her a vixen. The two of them once ran away and, on the edge of a cliff, swore to be best friends for life.

She dreamed of many things: her mother's cooking, the songs she hummed, her younger brother Luo Benqing's affectionate teasing, and her father's praise and compliments. Life in her dream was so blissful; she didn't want to wake up.

However, after dreaming about it for a long time, she began to feel sad.

In my dreams, there is always a blurry figure, seemingly watching me. He is everywhere—in the woods, by the river, in the mountains.

He always stood there, looking at her with sorrowful eyes—a look she could never forget.

he is--

At this point, the dream ends.

In the damp earth and air, one can see the fiery red light emanating from the metal and stone. There is no day, no night, no time, no… people.

She was all alone.

She raised a mud pig, but later she ate it—because she was too hungry. She rarely went to the spring to bathe anymore; she was filthy all over, her silvery-white hair had turned yellowish-brown, and she stayed by the wooden carving every moment.

Those wooden carvings all depict her—in various poses. Some are holding something, others are bending over carrying something on their backs. The spaces are empty, but without exception, they all tell Luo Benmo that there should have been someone there.

I can't remember.

She can no longer remember that person.

"elder sister--"

In the torrent of time, she seemed to hear someone calling her.

"I'm here."

She reached out her hand, and the phantom disappeared into the dark mud.

Countless times she dreamed of that person. If she could, if God allowed her to do it all over again, it would definitely not end like this.

She thought she had seen through good and evil, but ultimately she was lost in the darkness. In those countless dreams, the past and illusion intertwined, locking her soul in place.

Her intuition told her she should leave, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

She is waiting for someone.

But where is that person? She asked her intuition, and her intuition told her that the person had already left, gone to a very, very far place, farther than the earth, farther than the horizon, even light-years away.

The desire to wait for that person to return gradually emptied.

It's been a long time since I last had a dream.

Because there was no distinction between day and night, Luo Benmo only slept when she was extremely tired. Each time she slept, she would sleep for a long time, and remain awake for an even longer period. Time left no trace on her body, only aging her soul.

"Let me sleep one more time," she told herself, hoping she might dream of that person again.

She chose a nice wood carving, found a corner, and sat down, hugging it.

She hummed the lullaby, which echoed in the empty cave.

Sleep, sleep, everything will be alright.

She closed her eyes.

dong dong——

What sound is there?

She opened her eyes, bewildered and at a loss.

Thump thump!!

The sound of pounding on the wall was coming from the stone gate.

It wasn't the stone door leading to the exit, but a stone door deeper inside. She had promised that person that she wouldn't go inside.

Thump thump!!

Intuition suddenly stirred within her, urging her to get up. She staggered to her feet and ran over.

Thump thump thump thump!

Someone is smashing that stone gate.

In the empty cave, someone came up from deeper underground and pounded on the stone door leading to the top.

She trembled, and for some reason, her intuition told her she should be excited. She fumbled for the mechanism beside her, activated it, and opened the stone door.

The stone door slowly opened, and a mysterious person dressed in a black robe stumbled out.

"...I'm going to die."

He lay on the ground, his androgynous voice revealing exhaustion: "I'm really fed up. Where can the GPS pinpoint? Good heavens, I almost got lost."

Looking up, she saw Luo Benmo standing to one side and smiled again.

"Wow, my luck isn't that great, but I've found the right person!"

"Who are you?" Luo Benmo asked, shrinking his neck.

"Who I am is not important; what matters is who you are."

The mysterious man stood up, dusted himself off, and held up one finger to Luo Benmo:

"Let's play a guessing game first. Guess how much time has passed outside?"

Luo Benmo didn't speak, he just stared at him.