Inside the secret realm.
Qian Renxue's gaze swept across the courtyard that was gradually decaying.
At last, her eyes stopped on the dim Holy Light Mallow in the flower bed.
—It had once been her favorite flower.
Just then—
A soft breeze passed through.
A single petal drifted down, swaying lightly until it floated before her eyes.
Qian Renxue instinctively reached out her pale hand.
The petal landed gently in her palm.
Seeing the mist in her eyes and her dazed expression, Li Zhexian asked:
"Xue'er, what's wrong?"
Qian Renxue remained silent for a long moment, then gently shook her head.
"I don't know why…"
"I suddenly feel a little sad."
Li Zhexian tightened his grip on the ring in his hand and pulled the silently weeping girl into his arms.
When… should this ring be given to Qian Renxue?
"Zhexian, you… comprehended the sword?"
After a brief moment of warmth—
Qian Renxue lifted her face from his chest, golden eyes glowing like dawn.
"Yes."
Li Zhexian smiled as he answered.
Qian Renxue's lips curved upward.
"And you've obtained the god's blood as well. Zhuqing will be able to wake up now."
She did not ask what Li Zhexian had experienced in this house.
If he wished to tell her—
He naturally would.
Li Zhexian exhaled softly, steadying the emotions surging in his chest.
Then he took Qian Renxue's hand and led her to sit at the relatively clean stone table.
"Xue'er, I happened to obtain a certain fine wine…"
Qian Renxue asked:
"Drink here? Aren't we leaving the secret realm?"
"No need to hurry. We still have half a day."
As he spoke, Li Zhexian summoned the Clear Spring Wine Gourd and let his Spirit Power land quietly on the carved silhouette of the gentle woman.
As the woman on the gourd seemed to sweep her sleeve—
a faintly white, glazed fragrance of wine trickled into the cup.
He pushed the cup toward Qian Renxue.
"You're not drinking?"
"No."
Li Zhexian shook his head.
Aside from Qian Renxue, this wine was not suitable for anyone else.
Fortunately, the Wine Martial Soul had gained the ability to pour any wine freely.
"Alright."
For anything Li Zhexian said, Qian Renxue never doubted him.
She raised her swanlike neck and drank the entire cup in one go.
Li Zhexian asked tensely:
"How is it?"
Qian Renxue's fingertips brushed her lips.
The wine flowed down her throat like warmth—gentle, not burning.
But what followed was an overwhelming, familiar aura.
Warm and compassionate…
Carrying a tenderness she thought had long blurred—
a tenderness she no longer dared hope for.
A sigh—timid, sorrowful—
filled with endless guilt,
brushed softly across her heart.
Qian Renxue closed her eyes, long lashes trembling.
Her slim fingers tightened around the cup, knuckles turning pale.
A single tear slid silently from the corner of her eye,
falling into the cup, rippling across the surface.
She said nothing.
She simply drank the remaining wine.
After a long time—
Qian Renxue slowly opened her eyes and looked at Li Zhexian, her voice trembling:
"Zhexian…"
"This wine… where did it come from?"
Li Zhexian lifted his hand and gently wiped the tear from her cheek, asking softly:
"Would you tell me about your mother?"
Qian Renxue's delicate body stiffened, and she turned away.
"Zhexian… I'm sorry."
"I don't want to talk about that woman."
It was the first time she had ever refused him.
"When I was nine, I became 'Xue Qinghe.'"
Her tone was steady, as if telling someone else's story—
no joy, no sorrow.
"For more than ten years, I was trapped behind vermillion walls.
Memorials piled into shackles."
"All my thoughts, every effort… tied to that cold throne."
"Every step I took, every word I spoke, even every expression—was for a single purpose…"
Qian Renxue turned her head back, tears streaming as she looked at Li Zhexian.
"I walked quickly, steadily—never once straying from the path laid before me."
"Because I knew… there was no one waiting ahead.
And no one calling me home when I lost my way."
"Children raised in love—even when they lose their way, the world becomes a new adventure. There are always lights guiding them home."
"But me…"
Li Zhexian's throat tightened.
The Clear Spring Wine Gourd in his hand felt scalding against his heart.
Compassionate Boat Dew—
though a wine that calmed the spirit,
could not heal the decade-old wounds buried in Qian Renxue's heart.
The ring…
It's not time to give it to her yet.
Li Zhexian pulled Qian Renxue into his embrace, soothing her softly.
...
Outside the secret realm—
The clear sword mark in the dark-purple sky gradually faded, yet the house remained silent.
The crowd watching grew restless.
"That sword from Li Zhexian was terrifying—why is nothing happening now?!"
"What's he still doing in the secret realm? Crush the key and get out already!"
"The seven-day limit… only half a day remains! Li Zhexian must come out soon!"
Chen Xin, Feng Bailong, and the others stared intensely at the unfathomable Bibi Dong, their bodies tense, as though facing an enemy.
Ning Fengzhi said gravely:
"When Zhexian appears…"
"We don't know what this woman plans to do."
Bibi Dong lounged lazily against her throne,
completely ignoring the killing intent of the several Title Douluo locking onto her.
Her purple eyes remained fixed on the light screen, the smile at her lips growing deeper.
"That boy still isn't coming out?"
Yue Guan and Gui Mei frowned impatiently:
"The waning moon is about to disappear…"
Just as their words fell—
Outside the plaza—
Shouts erupted from the crowd.
"The Scythe-Wielding Demon Shadow is heading toward Li Zhexian's house!"
...
Inside the secret realm.
The waning moon faded.
The scraping sound of a scythe dragging across the ground echoed through the ruined city, drawing nearer and nearer.
The house in which Bibi Dong's good-will resided could hold only one person—
thus it drew in the scythe-wielding demon shadow.
The towering demon shadow—over ten meters tall—stood outside the courtyard.
From the black-mist robe, a pale, bluish, slender hand reached toward Li Zhexian.
Li Zhexian's aura was pure as lotus bloom—
standing untouched by the filth pervading the secret realm.
Facing the demon's hand, wrapped in overwhelming decay—
he brought his fingers together like a sword.
Letting them brush across the blade of the Qinglian Sword.
Zheng—!
A crisp sword cry rang out, echoing through all directions.
Twelve lotus blossoms bloomed one after another along the sword's hilt, radiating clear, shimmering light.
"Qinglian Sword Song—Eighth Style: Purifying Glaze!"
A sword qi of ultimate clarity, glazed and crystalline, flowed silently from the Qinglian Sword's edge.
It seemed slow—
yet crossed space in an instant.
Where it passed—
the rot and decay melted like snow under the sun.
Even the murky air turned bright and pure.
The pale demon hand was bathed in the glazed sword light.
From the fingertips, it crumbled inch by inch—
the entire arm evaporating like morning dew, purified into nothingness.
Where the sword qi passed, only a faint glow remained—
and an aura so pure it refreshed the soul.
"AAAAAAAH—!"
A shrill, piercing wail sent shockwaves through the entire desolate city.
Two more scythe-wielding demon shadows lunged toward him.
After severing half of one demon's arm with a single strike,
Li Zhexian remained calm, grasped Qian Renxue's hand—
and at the very instant the three demon shadows attacked together,
he crushed the key.
As the dark-purple power wrapped around him—
Li Zhexian suddenly saw it:
Across the endless rows of houses in the ruined city,
several terrifying figures appeared—
their auras as deep and immovable as ancient mountains.
"A group of cowards."
"You only dare show yourselves the moment I leave."
"Revival of the dead? If you dare return to the human world,
I'll see your forms and spirits wiped out completely."
Li Zhexian's cold voice echoed.
And in the instant before he vanished—
he swung the Qinglian Sword once more.
A beam of glazed sword light, like divine punishment, slashed toward those dreadful figures.