Liora slowly rose into the sky and stood there. She stopped directly in front of Lith.
So close that Lith's rapid heartbeat could be felt even from a distance. But despite that, Lith was still gritting her teeth as she glared at her.
In a calm and composed voice, Liora said, "Sister... there is still time."
"Change your path."
"The path you have walked to reach this point, the moment you take one more step forward on it, there is only death."
Hearing this, Lith grabbed her head with both hands. Her fingers dug into her hair. Then she screamed with all her strength, "I hate you!"
"And I want you to hate me too!"
There was no anger in Liora's eyes. She said in a calm voice, "Sister... open your eyes now."
"There is still time."
"Everything can still be alright."
"You only need to step across to this side of the line."
Hearing this, Lith clenched her teeth. Harsh lines appeared across her face. Then a faint smile appeared on her lips.
"Alright..."
"I'll come to that side..."
"But will you trust me...?"
"Will you forget the things of the past...?"
Hearing this, Liora's eyes became distant for a few moments. Her mind returned to the past. She remembered how Lith had kept her under confinement. How she had been forced to live like a prisoner. How she had been used like an object and how she had endured countless sufferings alone. Liora's eyes expressed all of those memories.
A few moments later, she took a deep breath and then said, "Sister... forget what happened."
"Hate, revenge, and even the ultimate truth, death, are not the solution to every problem."
Hearing this, panic spread across Jury's face. She immediately shouted, "Don't pay attention to her words!"
"She is trying to mislead you!"
But before her words could finish. Smack! A sharp sound echoed through the sky. Lily appeared before her at lightning speed. And a terrifying slap had already landed directly on Jury's face. The impact was so powerful that one of Jury's lips split open. A thin stream of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. Her body spun through the air as it staggered backward, as if the strike had not only hit her face, but had reached directly into her brain.
Lily brought a faint smile to her face and said, "You are still a fool. I thought the echo of that slap might open the locks of your mind a little, or make the horses in your brain start running, but death will remain a better option for you."
Jury wiped the blood from her mouth with her hand and said, "Jury may die, but she cannot bow... After my death, I will pass my legacy to a cultivator who will one day become a sharp piece of glass for you."
Lily laughed as she replied, "Do not take me for a fool either. I know that if a Yakshini dies, she can keep her soul alive for some time and pass her legacy on to someone. Yakshinis die, but their legacy does not..."
Hearing this, Jury's face became calm while her mind grew even more distorted.
Lily then gave Jury one final and declarative answer, "Lith Yakshini and Jury Yakshini will die today, and whoever inherits their legacy will only bring trouble upon themselves. From now on, only one Yakshini's rule shall remain... Lily."
Immediately, Lily pulled back her staff and tried to bring it down on Jury's head. Jury raised her staff in defense, but it shattered into pieces. Jury was pushed far away.
Then Lily vanished from Jury's sight.
Fearfully, Jury swept her gaze in all directions.
And at that very moment, Lily appeared behind her and struck her staff against Jury's head.
Then she hit her head hundreds of times in rapid succession. In the end, Jury too lost her life while screaming. Her body lay collapsed upon the ground. Her head was covered in blood.
Then Lily turned her gaze toward Lith.
But the expressions of Master Jins and Liora appeared completely different from Lily's.
Then... Lily pointed the tip of her staff toward Lith and said, "Now what do you have to say?"
Lith involuntarily took a step back.
As if, for the first time, fear and shame had awakened within her at the same time.
The hardness in her eyes gradually began to break. Then she looked toward Master Jins and Liora with lowered eyes.
There was no longer the same hatred or anger on her face as before. There was only a heavy silence.
As if even she herself did not know what she should say now.