Where does that wicked woman get her conscience?

"Uh!"

The pain caused the Holy Spirit Goddess's chest to heave violently, and large mouthfuls of blood kept gushing from the corners of her mouth, staining the black soil beneath her red.

Her eyes were filled with only a deathly darkness.

"You lost." Guan Xun said coldly, his tone full of undisguised mockery.

"Heh...heh..." The Holy Spirit Goddess felt her eyelids grow extremely heavy, and she managed to squeeze out broken syllables from her throat, "Sister...sister...I refuse to accept this..."

"Not convinced?" Guan Xun leaned down, looking down at her with disdain. "If you're not convinced, get up. If you can still move, I'll give you another chance."

Upon hearing this, the Holy Spirit Goddess was slightly taken aback, then burst into maniacal laughter. As she laughed, two lines of bloody tears slid down her cheeks, leaving grotesque marks on her face.

“We…we’ve been locked in a life-or-death struggle since birth.” Her voice was weak, filled with resentment and bitterness. “Mother said this was our destiny…”

As she spoke, she suddenly gripped Guan Xun's sleeve, her nails digging deep into the fabric.

"Only one can live! Only one can live!"

"Seven million years ago, I thought I had won, when I threw you into the Black Sea, I thought I had won..."

Guan Xun lowered his eyes.

The dark flames flickered between the two of them, but they couldn't reflect the emotions in her eyes.

Yes, two tigers cannot share one mountain.

Each lord could only have one child, but in the mother's generation, twin sisters were born.

They have terrible personalities, have been at odds since childhood, and always fight whenever they meet.

My mother was right; this was their fate.

and so……

Guan Xun's eyes flickered slightly, and a cold, icy smile slowly appeared on his lips.

Immediately, he exerted force with the hand gripping the arrow shaft and pressed down hard!

"Well--!"

The Holy Spirit Goddess suddenly convulsed in pain, letting out a muffled groan as blood gushed from her mouth, splattering all over Guan Xun's body and face.

As if she were giving her last breath, she gripped his wrist tightly with astonishing force.

She struggled to half-raise her head, a fierce glint in her unfocused pupils: "You just wait, I... I will beat you!"

"You won't have a chance," Guan Xun said softly.

As he spoke, he exerted force on his wrist again, and the arrow sank a little further in.

At the same time, the red light in her eyes suddenly surged, and her other hand reached out like an eagle's claw, grabbing straight at the face of the Holy Spirit Goddess!

"Hula-"

The Holy Spirit Goddess's soul was forcibly pulled out of her body.

The crimson soul struggled violently in the deathly air, emitting a series of shrill screams.

Guan Xun slowly tightened his five fingers, squeezing the divine soul in his hand into a ball: "I will destroy your divine soul."

"Goodbye, Guan Qi."

As soon as she finished speaking, a dark flame ignited in her palm, instantly engulfing the divine soul.

The piercing screams abruptly ceased, and the soul melted away inch by inch in the dark flames, finally turning into a wisp of green smoke and completely dissipating into the air.

The body of the Holy Spirit Goddess on the ground, along with her dissipating divine soul, turned into specks of black and red light, mingling with the deathly aura.

Bai Ze and Chi Rong, standing behind, were stunned. They looked at the empty ground and then at their master standing there, not daring to utter a sound.

And that's how it ended.

Guan Xun raised his hand to wipe away the blood splattered on his cheek, then glanced around.

"Walk."

After saying that, she flapped her wings and soared into the sky.

Seeing this, Chi Rong and Bai Ze quickly followed.

Only when she was far away from the layers of deathly aura did Guan Xun stop. She lowered her eyes and looked down at the prison city below, feeling only a sense of relief and joy.

Immediately afterwards, a dark flame flickered at his fingertips, and he flicked his wrist casually.

Dark flames poured down, and the fire quickly engulfed the entire city, leaving the ruins crackling and popping.

"Let this place disappear here."

"gone."

……

Wait until the figure is far away.

Thick smoke billowed straight into the sky, causing thunder to roar and dark clouds to churn.

The torrential rain poured down just in time, as if to extinguish the raging fire that was burning the city.

But the dark flames did not go out when they encountered water; instead, they burned even more fiercely, with the flames leaping higher and baking the rain curtain into a white mist.

The fire burned for a full night.

The firelight illuminated half the sky, obscuring even the stars, with only the roar of flames and rain echoing throughout the imperial domain.

The next day at dawn, the fire gradually died down.

The thick smoke rising from the direction of the prison city was clearly visible dozens of miles away.

The first to notice the anomaly were passing caravans. They saw the city, which had once been shrouded in deathly aura, now reduced to charred ruins, with no trace of the deathly aura remaining.

The emperor ordered a thorough investigation into the matter, but to no avail, and the matter was eventually dropped.

As the news spread, it became increasingly exaggerated and quickly spread throughout the Imperial Domain.

Some say that Prison City was a terrifying place inhabited by evil spirits, and that it must have offended some powerful being, which caused a heavenly fire to burn the city down.

Everyone thought it made sense.

Over time, this became a topic of conversation among the people of the Imperial Domain.

……

-

In a certain inn in Zhongzhou.

A few days after leaving the Imperial Domain, Bai Ze complained that his throat was dry, he was exhausted, and he wanted to rest.

In reality, she didn't want to go back to that desolate place in the Nine Heavens.

Guan Xun naturally saw through his thoughts, but said nothing and rested in Zhongzhou.

Since Jin Chen was still asleep, she didn't want to see the true faces of those True Lords.

As soon as I sat down, I overheard the conversation at the next table.

"Is what you're saying true?" someone asked in surprise. "Is the Holy Spirit Goddess really ugly?"

"That's right. This news is said to have come from Elder Shangju Pavilion. How could it be false?"

While pouring himself some tea, Bai Ze tugged at his ear and leaned closer to the next table.

His presence was so obvious that someone nearby glanced at him and asked, "Brother, you're not from Zhongzhou, are you? Are you curious about this too?"

"Let's gossip a bit." Bai Ze was taken aback.

"That's great! I happen to be free anyway, so I'll tell you about it," the man laughed. "It's said that three years ago, on the day of offering sacrifices, the Holy Spirit Goddess slaughtered the entire transport team of the three main halls!"

Guan Xun paused in his tea-serving motion, a hint of surprise appearing between his brows.

This matter was kept so tightly under wraps, yet now everyone knows about it?

"Could you explain in detail what happened?" she asked.

The man waved his hand: "We don't know the specific reason either, but I guess it's because the Holy Spirit Goddess felt that they saw her ugly face, so she wanted to kill them to silence them."

"How many people are in the transport teams for the three main halls? Don't you think this is utterly inhumane?" someone chimed in.

"I heard that even the daughter whom Lord Zhuge just recognized will not escape this calamity."

"Their funeral alone lasted seven days; you can imagine the pain they felt from losing their daughter."

Upon hearing this, Bai Ze subconsciously glanced at Guan Xun and saw that she was just sipping her tea expressionlessly.

"How is Shangju Pavilion doing now?" Guan Xun asked, raising an eyebrow.

Anyway, she didn't plan to go back to the True Inheritance Hall, so it was fine if those people thought she was dead.

Otherwise, a lot of trouble will arise.

"There's no Shangju Pavilion anymore," the man sighed. "It's all thanks to Palace Master Zhuge's keen senses. He noticed something was wrong as soon as the transport team didn't return to the palace and immediately sent people to investigate. While he was discussing things with the other two palaces, guess what happened?"

"What's wrong?" Bai Ze's curiosity was also piqued.

"Several elders have appeared. They are not accomplices to evil. They couldn't stand the cruelty of the Holy Spirit Goddess and left the Upper Residence Pavilion directly. That's why they explained what happened that day to the three main halls."

"and then?"

"Then the three officials gathered and went to demand an explanation. When they were refused entry, they forced their way in. The gates opened one after another, and the scene inside was absolutely terrifying!"

"The entire pavilion is stained with black blood. Countless people have witnessed this. If the Palace Master and the elders explain the situation to the people again, there will be plenty of people to go and punish the Upper Residence Pavilion."

"Who can tolerate such blatant disregard for human life?"

Some people asked in surprise: "Isn't anyone in Shangju Pavilion going to take charge? Where is the goddess?"

The man rubbed his hands together and said, "I also find it strange. I heard that when they went there, there was only one of their guards who was still seriously injured. The other accomplices and elders were nowhere to be seen. I guess they must have died from their injuries after that battle."

"The goddess has disappeared without a trace."

Guan Xun swirled his teacup and asked softly, "I seem to have heard that the Goddess has a divine beast, right? What about the Eight-Headed Serpent?"

Upon hearing this, the man perked up: "Oh my, young lady, you even know that!"

"I was just about to say that the divine beast was captured by the combined forces of the three great halls and suddenly died a few nights ago."

"That idiot actually died?" Chi Rong was somewhat surprised.

Guan Xun then nodded to the man in realization.

Lingqi probably died on the night Guan Qi fell. With its master's soul destroyed, how could it possibly survive?

She sighed softly, a slight smile playing on her lips; she had never felt so relaxed before.

She gently placed the teacup on the table and stood up first: "Let's go."

Seeing this, Bai Ze's expression darkened.

Chi Rong also refused.

The Nine Heavens are truly austere. The Cangkun do their fixed tasks every day, while the Zhenjun only know how to cultivate or cause trouble.

They felt like they were going to suffocate.

After a moment's thought, Bai Ze's eyes suddenly lit up: "Since the master is still in seclusion, why don't we go to Scarlet Cloud Floating Island?"

"Crimson Clouds Floating Island?"

“Yes, it’s not far from the Snow Region, just to its west.” Bai Ze nodded. “That’s where I stayed before I met you, Master.”

……