9
They had truly treated me well. The monk's medicine and Tống Tư Trạch's music forced my cultivation level down.
Không Độ's Buddhist chant and Tống Tư Trạch's ancient zither music helped me hold on to a sliver of consciousness.
Lăng Vân Phượng pressed a pill into my mouth, her voice softening. “It's all right. Don't be afraid.”
I murmured, “I'm not afraid… but your hand is so cold, big sister…”
I swallowed the pill and looked at them weakly. “Don't push yourselves for me… It's no use… My natal gu is rebelling against me. No one can save me…”
Giang Vô Tiếc was rarely this serious. His face was deathly pale as he snapped, “Shut up! I'm the greatest alchemist in the world. How dare you doubt me?!”
The shock wave of the Deity Transformation stage they'd just forced down… erupted again.
The force was too powerful. I couldn't even carry my pack.
My world turned completely white.
In an instant, my body turned into a mist of blood, then gathered back together.
Giang Vô Tiếc and the others were laughing and crying at the same time.
In the blink of an eye, I was standing before them, completely unharmed.
Giang Vô Tiếc was still stunned. “Th-that was… a Rebirth Pill…”
Tống Tư Trạch lay there, barely alive. “Your master's power really is terrifying…”
I felt myself all over. I wasn't hurt anywhere.
Why wasn't I dead?!
Before I could even be happy, Giang Vô Tiếc said weakly, “Nguyên Hi… don't do that again… I'm about to meet my maker…”
Honestly, it was already a miracle that a group of Nascent Soul cultivators had survived the aftershock of the Deity Transformation stage.
I obediently put pills in their mouths, then used gu insects to treat each of their wounds.
Lăng Vân Phượng was already deathly pale, her cloak covered in gu insects. I hurriedly used a cleansing spell on her.
She smiled faintly. “It's all right. The monk doesn't care about worldly possessions.”
I felt even guiltier. Good thing I'd stolen a pile of good stuff from my master.
The top-grade spiritual medicine worked quickly, and their serious wounds almost vanished without a trace.
10
There was a divine heart in Lăng Vân Phượng's storage ring.
As long as the divine heart remained to keep it in check, the world would enjoy a thousand years of peace.
Good and evil coexisted; if evil were wiped out completely, the balance of the world would be lost.
But lately, the divine heart had begun to grow unstable.
The leaders of the great sects exchanged grave looks. “The night of the full moon.”
My heart sank. “I once read in an ancient text… On the night of the full moon, they use the blood of the living to sacrifice to the evil deity. Even without the divine heart, the evil deity can still come back to life.”
The evil deity could only awaken in the darkest place—the very place it had once guarded.
They'd planned it all in advance. Even if we reclaimed the evil deity's body, we still wouldn't have time to bring the divine heart back to Nam Cương.
Dương Thiên Vũ's face flushed red with anger. “Those vile, utterly heartless bastards!”
Tống Tư Trạch said seriously, “Our only option is to hurry to Nam Cương. The full moon is in two days.”
On the night of the full moon, the evil energy in Nam Cương would be at its strongest.
11
We arrived on the night of the full moon.
The Western Desolate Lands were a vast ancient battlefield, once used by the evil deity for blood sacrifices.
Night fell, and the full moon turned blood-red, an eerie shade.
Cultists poured in like a tide, all kneeling at once.
Using their own blood, they drew evil formations across the land and sky.
Frenzied chanting rang out, carrying a despair that chilled me to the bone.
Không Độ's face was grave. His prayer beads spun as golden light burst forth to counter the demonic chants. “They really are trying to use the blood of the living to forcibly awaken the evil deity!”
Lăng Vân Phượng's sword intent surged into the sky. “We absolutely cannot let them succeed!”
The six of us formed a formation, fighting desperately against the sea of people and the evil energy filling the heavens.
It was a desperate battle.
Tống Tư Trạch's golden zither notes charged like a thousand troops, then shattered amid piercing shrieks.
Lăng Vân Phượng's sword cut down countless shadows, until at last it broke inch by inch.
Không Độ's prayer beads burst apart, their beads scattering across the ground.
Dương Thiên Vũ roared, his flesh-and-blood body holding out again and again, before he collapsed like a falling mountain.
Giang Vô Tiếc's pills exploded, sending a shock wave sweeping through the area, then crumbled to pieces.
I unleashed every one of my gu insects.
Gold and black surged across the battlefield like twin tides, saving my companions and devouring the cultists.
But the gu insects died one by one beneath the attacks.
At last, both boxes were empty.
The blood-soaked formation erupted.
A gigantic shadow took shape in the midst of the blood mist.
The evil deity's oppressive aura descended, making everyone's soul tremble again and again.
The evil deity was about to come back to life.
12
At the very moment of despair, a figure appeared before me: Ôn Hạnh Nhĩ.
He still looked refined and gentle, but his gaze was full of pain, obsession, guilt, and despair.
His voice was soft, yet carried an uncanny power. “Hạnh Nhi… come back. Follow your master and help the evil deity. Together, we'll remake the Heavenly Dao…”
I said coldly, “Master? Or the Hô Tâm Demon Lord serving the evil deity? You tricked me into joining you, planted a heart gu in me, and wanted to use my heart's blood to refine it. That ‘puppet world’ you spoke of… it was just your laughable obsession, wasn't it?”
Ôn Hạnh Nhĩ's expression changed. “You… you remember now?”
I gave a cold laugh. “That's right. Unfortunately, my divine soul was perfected in the secret realm, and I was reborn in a new body. Your heart gu has been completely cleansed away.”
Ôn Hạnh Nhĩ looked at me, madness flickering in his eyes, then pain.
Behind him, the evil deity's shadow had almost fully taken shape, letting out a roar that pierced the sky.
A beam of black light, carrying enough force to destroy heaven and earth, shot toward me.
Everything seemed to stop.
Everyone wanted to scream, but they couldn't reach me in time.
I was exhausted and couldn't dodge.
Just as the black light was about to pierce me… Ôn Hạnh Nhĩ lunged forward and pulled me tightly into his arms.
I screamed, “Master!!!”
The black light pierced straight through his body. Ôn Hạnh Nhĩ spat blood. The madness in his eyes crumbled to ash, leaving only stubborn devotion and longing. “I'm… sorry… In this life… I couldn't keep you… But one lifetime… was enough…”
Before he could finish, his body disintegrated, and his divine soul was utterly destroyed.
He had used his life to shield me from a killing blow.
I stood there, stunned, my heart a jumble of emotions. But before I could even grieve, the evil deity grew even more savage.
My companions struggled to their feet, but they were all at the end of their strength.
I looked at their miserable state. At the place where Ôn Hạnh Nhĩ had vanished. At the evil deity, on the verge of fully awakening.
Fear and despair were swept away by calm. I remembered what had happened in the secret realm: my parents had traded their lifespans to give me the chance to live until today.
I couldn't let their sacrifice be in vain.
13
I stepped forward, holding the divine heart everyone had been searching for. My body began to glow, and the pure power of the seal burst forth. “By the divine origin, and with the Heavenly Dao as my witness, I seal the evil deity!”
My oath shook heaven and earth. My body transformed into a formation that enveloped the evil deity's shadow.
The evil deity roared and struggled desperately. Golden light and black mist crashed together, sweeping across heaven and earth. At last, golden light covered everything, forcing the evil deity, inch by inch, into the sealing tower.
The sealing tower appeared, then slowly sank into the earth and vanished completely.
The blood moon faded.
The sky cleared.
The evil deity vanished completely.
I knelt on the ground. In my palm, a faint thread of golden light curled around my finger, carrying a familiar warmth.
It was Ôn Hạnh Nhĩ's last fragment of soul.
He had used what little of his essence and lingering will remained… to leave it behind.
14
Word of the great battle spread throughout the land.
The title “Holy Maiden of Nam Cương, Who Sealed the Evil Deity with Her Own Body” spread like wildfire.
The great sects joined forces to return Ôn Hạnh Nhĩ's remnant soul to Nam Cương.
At the ancient battlefield, people built a shrine to Nguyên Hi and carved a stone tablet commemorating her deeds.
For a hundred years, incense offerings never ceased.
Cultivators and common folk came to pay their respects and give thanks for her saving their lives.
After crossing a thousand years and absorbing the power of people's prayers, the remnant soul one day became a streak of light.
I opened my eyes within that streak of light.
Vast divine power surged through me.
With one step, I crossed the Nine Heavens.
A divine nature formed within me.
Looking back at the land I had once protected and the familiar, grateful eyes of the people, I gave a gentle nod.
Then I turned and walked toward a higher divine realm.
From then on, the Holy Maiden's shrine in Nam Cương became a place where people prayed to overcome their inner demons.
Sometimes, a steaming, fragrant plate of candied hawthorn skewers would appear on the altar…
No one knew where they came from.
—THE END—