The Northern Frontier, a vast territory crisscrossed by a hundred thousand mountain ranges.
Deep within this region, atop a great peak lush with green trees and spiritual flowers.
A figure clad in golden robes descended from the sky, easily piercing the spiritual curtain enveloping Qing Qiu and moving into the distance.
"Hmm?"
Demonic aura instantly surged through the mountains, pressing down on heaven and earth. Two figures appeared before the golden-robed man almost simultaneously.
But in the next instant, their expressions changed simultaneously, and they deeply bowed.
Throughout this, the golden-robed man didn't even glance at them, walking straight past and disappearing.
"Zhirou, do you still... refuse to forgive me?"
At the foot of a deep ravine behind Qing Qiu's mountains.
The golden-robed man stood with his hands behind his back, his face seemingly veiled by celestial light, his gaze calm as he looked at a graceful white-clad figure sitting quietly before him. A divine light seemed to flicker in his eyes.
"I know, you still blame me for deceiving you. But as long as you tell me... where that Pagoda is, I will immediately grant you your freedom and bring you to the Central Region of the Holy Land. Whatever you want... I can give it to you."
The golden-robed man smiled gently, but the white-clad woman remained completely unmoved.
"Bai Zhirou, it's been a hundred years. Will you continue to persist in your delusion? Do you think I truly care about that Pagoda? Now I stand alone in this realm. Without that Pagoda, I am still the master of heaven and earth. What I care about is that, even now, you show not a single trace of remorse!"
"Fine! Fine! Yes, I deceived you back then. But you were merely that person's slave! Everything I did was for you! But why... did you betray me in the end?! And!! Who exactly... defiled you?!"
The golden-robed man reached out, pinched the woman's chin, and lifted her face.
Golden light cascaded down, illuminating a peerlessly beautiful yet deathly pale face, filled with despair—a countenance that could topple kingdoms.
"Fine! Fine! If you won't speak, it doesn't matter. The taste of the Soul-Devouring Gu isn't pleasant, is it? Let's see how long you can endure it."
The golden-robed man snorted coldly and turned to leave.
"Aren't you... filled with regret?"
Suddenly, the white-clad woman opened her mouth and chuckled softly, a hint of mockery between her brows.
"Hmm? What do I have to regret? Now I am the god and immortal in the hearts of the world, possessing all under heaven. It's you who... truly feels no regret?"
The golden-robed figure paused, laughing coldly.
"Aren't you filled with regret... about the seal you personally placed in my Sea of Consciousness back then, to prevent our Master from discovering our secret? It shatters at the slightest touch, hehehe... shatters at the slightest touch. If you hadn't imprisoned me here, I would never... never have dreamed of it in my wildest dreams."
Bai Zhirou looked up, her clear eyes containing boundless resentment and venom.
"But now, I must thank you. If not for this seal's existence, you would have long since searched my soul and executed me, wouldn't you? Why bother... with this hypocritical persuasion? What... are you afraid I will reveal your conspiracies to the world?"
"Reveal them to the world?! What does it matter if you reveal them to the world? Who in the Holy Land is my match now?"
The golden-robed man shook his head and smiled. "Oh, don't think I don't know. You crippled your own cultivation back then to help your Master reincarnate, didn't you? You've been waiting for his return? What a loyal slave! But... even if you succeeded, so what? The great fortune of heaven and earth is already upon me!"
Having said this, the golden-robed man finally hesitated no longer. His figure flickered and vanished on the spot.
"Master... it is I... who have failed you."
Bai Zhirou closed her eyes, tears streaming down.
Above the ravine, the Nine-Tailed Fox Queen and the Ancestor, Bai Qian, waited respectfully until the golden-robed figure emerged before bowing deeply once more.
"Has she said anything to you?"
"Reporting to the God Lord, no! Bai Zhirou has not spoken a word for a hundred years."
"I give you one more year. Find out the whereabouts of that ancient treasure. Daring to steal this God Lord's possession—sparing her life is already a boon to your clan. Remember!"
The golden-robed man cast a cold glance at them, then stepped forward, heading into the distant sky.
He wasn't afraid of Bai Zhirou spouting nonsense.
Because she knew that if she did, the entire fox clan would be buried with her.
Moreover, as he had just said, he was now invincible in the Holy Land.
Finding the Pagoda was merely for... the heaven-defying opportunity within it.
Because his identity would inevitably be discovered by that ancient clan sooner or later. When that time came, he would lose both his reputation and his life.
Unless...
"Ah! That foolish girl Zhirou. As the God Lord's maid, she should have held the highest honor of our Nine-Tailed Fox Clan. Yet she... she... actually stole the treasure and descended to the Lower Realm, committing such a sin!"
Bai Qian sighed, her aged eyes filled with bitterness.
"It is only due to the God Lord's magnanimity and remembrance of past feelings that she is merely imprisoned here, without implicating our clan. Otherwise..."
"Ancestor, do you truly believe... Zhirou is someone so unreasonable?"
The Nine-Tailed Fox Queen's delicate brows furrowed tightly as she asked softly.
"Hmm? Nonsense! How can we speculate on the God Lord's intentions?! One year. No matter what method you use, you must find out the whereabouts of that ancient treasure for the God Lord!"
A flicker of fear passed through Bai Qian's eyes, but she ultimately spoke with hatred.
No matter!!
Why Bai Zhirou stole the treasure and descended to the Lower Realm, ultimately their fox clan must not be destroyed because of her alone.
Sacrificing one to save the entire clan.
This choice didn't seem difficult to make.
Especially for... an old demon like Bai Qian, who had lived nearly a thousand years.
"Yes..."
In the end, the Nine-Tailed Fox Queen said nothing more, merely looking up at the sky in a daze.
I'm afraid that truly finding that ancient treasure would signal the extermination of the Nine-Tailed clan, wouldn't it?
"Mother... was that... the God Lord just now?"
At that moment, a petite figure suddenly darted out from the darkness nearby, her pink eyes filled with surprise.
The God Lord... why had he visited their Nine-Tailed Fox Clan?
Moreover, looking at her mother's expression now, she seemed somewhat troubled?
She had only seen that golden figure from afar, not daring to approach.
But for some reason, she felt uneasy.
She didn't know what her eldest sister had done back then, but judging from the direction the God Lord had just left from, he clearly came from below the ravine.
Could it be...
"Zhixi, how many times have I told you! You are not allowed to come here! Must I confine you to your quarters before you are satisfied?"
The Nine-Tailed Fox Queen's face paled, her voice filled with anger.
"Mother, what exactly did eldest sister do back then..."
"Don't ask what you shouldn't! Get back to your room and rest now!"
"Oh."
Bai Zhixi pouted and turned to leave, but a cunning glint suddenly flashed in her eyes.
The Void Dao Principle was mysterious and unpredictable.
Where she wanted to go, hmph, who could stop her?
Half a month later.
At the border of the Western Frontier, in a majestic ancient city.
It was called majestic, but only compared to the other cities in this region.
In the center of the ancient city stood a great hall built of blue stone. Though not luxurious, it exuded an aura of boundless antiquity. The cracks remaining on the hall's walls, in particular, added a sense of desolation and iron-bloodedness to the ancient structure.
Ling Xiao and Ye Qingchan sat at a street-side tea stall, their expressions calm as they watched the endless stream of people on the street, casually chatting with the stall owner beside them.
A faint smile always lingered at the corner of Ye Qingchan's lips.
In just half a month, her pretty face seemed to have lost some of its youthful innocence, gaining a more mature charm.
Most importantly, her cultivation... seemed to have reached the threshold of the Divine General Realm.
"Uncle, is this Xuyun City the royal city of the Great Xia Dynasty?" Ling Xiao held a teacup, taking a small sip.
Over the past half month, the two had traveled west, finally arriving at this small dynasty in the Western Frontier.
The journey was long, but... not monotonous.
Cultivating, sleeping, 'disciplining'... Ye Qingchan!
Ling Xiao's own realm had now stepped into the seventh grade of the Divine General Realm, a terrifying pace.
Beside him, an old man with a wrinkled face smiled and nodded. "That's right, this is the royal city of the Xia Dynasty. But not the Great Xia—the title of Great Xia has been stolen by traitors now?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
For some reason, Ling Xiao felt that this royal city might harbor a Son of Fate.
The dynasty's title stolen?
The royal clan driven back to their ancestral land?
This plotline felt somewhat familiar!
"Ah, it's a long story. Back then, our Xia Dynasty was one of the Eight Great Imperial Dynasties of the Western Frontier, located in the spiritual lands at the very center of the Western Frontier. But who would have thought... fifteen years ago, when the Ninth Prince was born, a heavenly calamity struck. Prince Sheng raised troops in rebellion, driving the Emperor's lineage to this border region of the Western Frontier... Despicable, lamentable, shameful!"
"Indeed! Uncle, is this the ancestral land of the Great Xia? The place where the Great Xia Imperial Dynasty was founded?" Ling Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly, a trace of playfulness at the corner of his mouth.