Chapter 79

#Final Chapter – Part One – I died. But I was also reborn.

Xie Zhuo’s body offered no resistance to my soul.

Yet when I merged with his body, it felt entirely different from borrowing anyone else’s.

I still remember—when I entered someone else’s body, the first sensation was my soul seeping into their limbs and meridians, followed by the weighty feeling of the body restraining my soul.

But when I entered Xie Zhuo’s body… that feeling was gone…

It was as if I were a grain of sand drifting into a vast desert.

Inside Xie Zhuo’s body was a vast, mist-filled space where I could stay.

I couldn’t feel his meridians, nor did I know how to control his body in this state.

Let alone kill him…

I drifted through the misty space, growing anxious. Outside, by nightfall, Xie Zhuo would use the Pangu Axe to split open the Out-of-Control.

Time was running out.

I searched frantically through the clouded realm.

I am a soul—if I can linger in this space, then where is Xie Zhuo’s soul? Could he be here too?

If I can’t control his body and truly end him, then maybe I can find his soul, awaken it, and tell him everything I know. That would also achieve my purpose, in a way.

As I searched, the space began to tremble slightly. The mist churned. In the distance, a mass of black energy surged skyward.

Movement meant a target.

I flew toward it at once!

Sure enough, Xie Zhuo’s soul was there!

His soul, like mine, was a round ball. But now, it was half white and half black, chaos entwined, resembling a yin-yang fish, constantly spinning and darting through the air.

I focused on it. For a moment, I seemed to see Xie Zhuo struggling, clutching his head, crashing around in the sky in pain.

“Xie Zhuo!”

I called out his name and rushed over. “The divorce doesn’t matter! Don’t be deceived! I know how to kill the Evil God now! He comes from the Mirror Forest! Let him return to the Mirror Forest, gather all the evil miasma in the world, and give it back to the mountains and rivers! Xie Zhuo…”

He hadn’t awakened from my calling, but I was suddenly entangled in a wave of black energy and flung far away.

I steadied my soul and stopped midair, looking ahead. Blocking my path, in front of Xie Zhuo’s chaotic soul, was a pitch-black soul—an Evil God.

It was…

The Evil God…

He had infected Xie Zhuo’s body with evil miasma. He had battled Xie Zhuo for hundreds of years in dreams. So, of course, he would be here now, in this soul space.

Perhaps this was the very space where they had been locked in battle for centuries.

I looked at the black flame-like soul, my heart brimming with hatred and rage.

The flame morphed into the form of Zhu Lian before my eyes. He stared at me with a sinister smile.

“You even know that much?” He laughed. “Seems like the main gods really did keep a lot from me.” His tone changed abruptly, and in a flash of black lightning, he struck at me. “Then all the more reason you must die!”

His speed was terrifying, and for a moment, fear rose in my heart. The instant I felt fear, the black aura around his soul intensified! I quickly yelled at myself internally.

Don’t be afraid!

Just like in Undying City, when Xie Zhuo stayed by my side and kept telling me—

Don’t be afraid. Don’t cower. Face him!

I, too, am a soul that has endured a millennium. And this thing inside Xie Zhuo—just a fragment of evil miasma the Evil God passed into him—is barely anything.

This isn’t the true Evil God. At most, it’s a branch of him, possessing only a portion of his power.

If Xie Zhuo could fight him for hundreds of years, why couldn’t I?

As long as I held no fear in my heart, I too could face the most terrifying god.

I locked eyes with him. Just before his strike landed, I absorbed the soul force within this space that belonged to Xie Zhuo and confronted the Evil God head-on—unleashing a silver light that shot through his dark soul.

The Evil God’s soul exploded into black mist before me.

He wasn’t invincible.

Xie Zhuo had defeated him once before, though that time, Xie Zhuo perished, and the victory was lost…

But I’m here now, so we don’t repeat that ending.

I looked at the dispersed soul of the Evil God, steadied my mind, and rushed toward Xie Zhuo. I didn’t strike his soul with silver light. If there was still another way, of course I wouldn’t want to truly kill him…

I slammed into his chaotic soul, trying to wake him.

“Snap out of it already! Don’t get stuck in the pain of that divorce! Forget going back five hundred years to sever some karmic tie! Sever the Evil God instead! Sever him, Xie Zhuo!”

His soul, struck by mine, bounced away like a ball, flitting about in the void.

Looking at that round, black-and-white soul, I was speechless for a moment.

Maybe it was because I really loved him, but even now, I found his soul a little soft and adorable…

Like when he was a kid, with fluffy ears and a big fluffy tail.

My emotions softened. When his soul bounced back, I reached out with my stubby soul-limbs and grabbed hold of his chaotic soul.

It felt like holding hands… or maybe an embrace.

And in that moment of warmth, I suddenly felt something familiar and heavy—like the sensation of connected meridians…

Then, the nightmare voice came again from behind:

“Not even the gods and buddhas could kill me. Do you really think you can?”

From Xie Zhuo’s soul, black energy kept pouring toward me. Soon, it coalesced once again into that form of black flame.

At the same time, I noticed that the black chaos in Xie Zhuo’s soul had lessened.

Was the Evil God… borrowing power from Xie Zhuo?

I studied the soul before me carefully.

Despite the chaos, the white parts clearly outweighed the black miasma.

Xie Zhuo was on the edge of madness, but he hadn’t fallen because he was still holding onto his principles.

If that’s the case…

If the Evil God can borrow power from Xie Zhuo, why can’t I do the same—and force him out completely?

Even if… by fighting him, I’d end up draining Xie Zhuo’s strength…

Is that such a bad thing?

Drain him dry—it saves me the trouble of killing him.

Tonight, would he even have the strength left to wield that axe and split the sky?

With that thought, I clung to Xie Zhuo’s soul and began drawing on every bit of power in his body.

The Evil God didn’t move to stop me.

Still, I used Xie Zhuo’s soul force to clear away every trace of evil miasma in the air.

Now, the only blackness left in this space… was on Xie Zhuo’s soul.

I didn’t dare attack his soul directly, so I could only listen as the Evil God’s voice echoed from within it.

“You think that clearing just this bit of demonic energy will save him? As long as the chaos within his soul remains, I will always be with him. And there’s plenty more demonic energy outside.”

Yes, right now I can only purge the demonic energy within Xie Zhuo’s body—but the true evil god is still out there.

We still have to rely on Xie Zhuo.

I looked at the soul in front of me.

On the round little soul, black and white swirled like a torrent, entangled within. Xie Zhuo… he must be in pain right now too.

He must be struggling too. He doesn’t want this either…

My tendrils gently stroked his soul once again. And it was in this gentle touch—

That, in a daze, I suddenly felt our meridians connect.

The next instant, a heavy sensation flooded my limbs. I blinked.

And my eyes had already become Xie Zhuo’s eyes. I had… fully merged with Xie Zhuo’s body.

So it turns out… to truly merge with Xie Zhuo’s body, it wasn’t enough for him to feel despair, unwillingness, and struggle—those were just the “entry ticket.” To truly connect with his soul, I had to resonate with the deepest gentleness and compassion in his heart.

He…

I looked at “my” hands—rough, calloused hands, covered in thick skin. And yet beneath the hard surface, the palms were forever warm and soft.

Exactly like him.

“How about…” I murmured, “we start by breaking this hand?”

I wasn’t mad.

From the moment I got this body, I knew—I could never actually kill him. I couldn’t really make myself do something that would be considered suicide.

But I couldn’t just take over this body and do nothing.

I reasoned through it calmly.

I don’t know if, in other timelines, other versions of Fu Jiuxia’s soul reached this point like I did.

Maybe many of them were already killed by the evil god at earlier points. My getting this far involved both my own choices and fortunate opportunities.

Like touching Xie Zhuo’s soul, and being fully accepted by his body, gaining control of it.

I also don’t know what the other Fu Jiuxias would do if they reached this step—what paths they would take. I don’t know which paths are right, or which are doomed to fail.

The only thing I do know is what already happened before.

What I know is one proven wrong path.

Namely—

“Me” and Xie Zhuo divorced at the Hall of the Matchmaker, cutting the red thread. Afterward, “I” went to Mengmeng’s estate and slept in the same bed with her.

Then at night, a great noise broke out outside. “I” rushed out and saw a black hole appear at the peak of Kunlun, as if the bright moon and stars were all being devoured by it.

A bunch of immortals hurried over in panic. It was only then that “I” found out Xie Zhuo had gone mad—he had taken up the Pangu Axe.

“I” rushed to the peak of Kunlun and walked alone into Xie Zhuo’s barrier. There, “I” saw Xie Zhuo playing with the Pangu Axe like a toy.

In the end, he split open space and time. “I” tried to snatch the axe from him and ended up traveling back five hundred years with him.

I don’t know which paths the other “me”s took, or whether they were right or wrong, but I know—this path I took was definitely the wrong one.

So, as long as I do anything that differs from that “wrong path” in my memory, then I’m opening up a new possibility.

And that “possibility” is the turning point I need now.

For example—on that night, Xie Zhuo used his right hand to play with the Pangu Axe, and it was also with his right hand that he split time and space.

So here, I’ll take out that arm.

Break it, not sever it.

If I succeed this time, maybe it’ll still heal in the future.

I looked up at the sky—dusk was nearly upon us.

Without delay, I grabbed the right arm with my left hand. I took a deep breath, steeled myself, bit down hard—and with a crack—

Numbness came first, then came the searing pain.

I gritted my teeth and endured it, letting cold sweat pour down my face.

The only thing I could be thankful for right now was—thankfully, it wasn’t Xie Zhuo who felt this pain.

I didn’t bind the broken arm.

I looked at the sky again. In the distance, I saw strands of demonic energy beginning to rise into the air.

The evil god…

He’s directing Kunlun’s demonic energy toward me.

He wants to wrest control of this body from me.

I may not last long in this body. And for me now, just one turning point clearly isn’t enough. The more turning points, the better!

That night, it was only after Xie Zhuo took up the Pangu Axe that the Kunlun immortals reacted. Those people weren’t enough to take him down. But Queen Mother of the West could at least stall him!

I must get Xie Zhuo’s body to the Queen Mother of the West!

I immediately took to the clouds, but glanced at the demonic energy chasing from afar.

Afraid I’d be intercepted en route, I quickly bit my finger, tore off my outer robe, and while flying, wrote a bold line of blood-written characters on Xie Zhuo’s clothes—

“Mirror Forest absorbs demonic energy, returns it to the mountains and rivers, and can purge the Evil God!”

I looked at the robe now inscribed like a couplet, nodded in satisfaction, then put it back on.

In my memory, Xie Zhuo’s robe definitely didn’t have any blood-written plea!

Another turning point!

And just as I flew from the Matchmaker’s Hall toward the Queen Mother’s main hall, the demonic energy behind me had already caught up.

I could feel clearly that something was off with Xie Zhuo’s body.

The demonic energy lingering in his soul was responding to the energy outside.

I glanced toward the still-distant main hall. Gritting my teeth, I made a decision—then I’d cause a ruckus here to draw Kunlun’s attention!

Aiming at the sky, I gathered all the power in the body and struck hard at the oncoming demonic energy behind me.

The commotion this made far exceeded what was needed to handle a few strands of demonic energy.

High in Kunlun’s skies, a thunderous boom echoed.

That sound would definitely draw enough people over!

Thinking I’d just killed two birds with one stone and was about to press on, suddenly, a sharp pain twisted in my chest.

I pulled open the front of the robe. Inside—the old wound where Xie Zhuo had once been pierced through the heart by that spider spirit—had begun to leak demonic energy.

And at the same time, a massive black tentacle suddenly stretched down from the sky. Like a giant serpent, it lashed wildly at Kunlun’s barrier from the outside.

The evil god saw the message I wrote on the clothes. He’s going all in now to stop me!

Still sealed inside Zhulian’s body, for him to cause such a ruckus now—he must have dug deep into his reserves!

I stared at the rising demonic energy, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

This commotion would definitely alert everyone in Kunlun!

“Me,” the Queen Mother of the West—everyone would be drawn in!

None of this had happened in my original memory!

In this timeline, the story between me and Xie Zhuo had truly been rewritten—leading to a whole new chapter!

My heart barely had time to swell with hope when suddenly, from the ground below, a blast of black demonic energy shot upward!

It wrapped tightly around my ankle and yanked me down from the sky.

I was slammed hard into the ground, landing straight in the snow-covered bamboo forest.

In the height of summer, the Snow Bamboo Forest was still devoid of blood, but the ground was caked with mud that splattered all over my face when I fell. The aura of malevolent energy quickly tore Xie Zhuo’s upper garments to shreds.

His already broken right arm throbbed with intense pain.

I gritted my teeth and endured it, all while murmuring apologies and reassurances: “I’m sorry! Just hang in there! Taking a beating now is for a better future later!”

Before I even finished speaking, it was as if the evil energy on the ground resonated with the body I occupied. That foul aura suddenly surged into the heart of Xie Zhuo’s body.

My vision went black, and the next moment, I was forcibly thrown out of Xie Zhuo’s body.

Xie Zhuo collapsed onto the ground.

At this point, his arm was broken, his face scraped and bruised—he was a complete mess.

I tried to re-enter Xie Zhuo’s body, but that malevolent energy now seemed capable of seeing me! It actually started attacking my spirit!

Without access to Xie Zhuo’s soul power, I couldn’t possibly rely on just my own spirit to gather surrounding soul energy strong enough to contend with such overwhelming evil.

I had no choice but to abandon Xie Zhuo’s body and flee in a panic.

If the Evil God can’t kill Xie Zhuo, then I’ll put my faith in him!

Right now, I’ve completely messed everything up!

Heaven and earth were in chaos, chickens flying, dogs jumping—it was nothing like how I remembered it!

Seeing the vicious malevolent aura raging outside, the people of Kunlun panicked. The Kunlun Defense Force immediately rushed to all the formation nodes to reinforce the barriers.

And “I” was right there among them!

“I” hovered above Kunlun’s barrier, channeling its power to continuously attack the evil energy outside.

Inside the Kunlun market, people were fleeing in all directions.

The evil aura chasing me was led—by my own panicked and aimless running—straight toward the front of Kunlun’s market. When I saw the crowd in a frenzy, I immediately turned and ran toward a deserted direction.

But the moment I turned my head, I caught sight of a vaguely familiar face.

A fox demoness.

One who had nearly gotten involved in the relationship between Xie Zhuo and me.

I watched her panic, fleeing amid the stampede.

Suddenly, a thought surged into my mind.

I glanced up at the “me” in the sky, then looked at the fleeing fox demoness.

Then, “employing an old trick,” I took advantage of her fear and desperation and charged straight into her body.

At the same time, I felt my spirit within her body tainted by a slight trace of evil energy.

But that didn’t matter.

I looked up at myself in the sky, who was still fighting off the evil aura.

Then I glanced at the surrounding formation nodes.

I knew Kunlun’s formations better than anyone.

Even without “me” present, the outer offensive could be held off for another three or four hours.

I immediately summoned the wind and flew into the sky.

I stopped right beside “myself.”

“Me” was fully focused on battling the evil aura outside. When I—now in the fox demoness’s body—approached, “I” glanced quickly at her attire and frowned, snapping, “People from Cuihu Terrace should stay at Cuihu Terrace. This isn’t where you belong!”

“I just came to see what kind of skill Young Master Xie Zhuo’s ex-wife has.”

I stared at “my” face with a provocative look. “And from what I see, not only is she not as beautiful as I am, her ability to lead and command troops isn’t much either. No wonder Young Master Xie Zhuo finally came to his senses and divorced you. He and I—our centuries of friendship—can now finally bear fruit. When we hold our wedding, I’ll be sure to send you an invitation, dear sister.”

I watched as “my” expression changed—from focused resistance to the evil aura, to slowly turning to look at the fox demoness’s face, showing shock, disbelief, then silent, seething rage.

I thought:

I’m sorry, self—but aside from old married couples who know exactly how to stomp each other’s landmines…

I can do it too!

“You… Cuihu Terrace…”

Before “I” could finish speaking, I gave it my all and leapt out of the fox demoness’s body.

She immediately dropped from the sky, but midair, she came to her senses and screamed. She cast a spell, managing to land safely.

Meanwhile, “I” remained suspended in the air.

Jaw clenched, lips pale, eyes bloodshot—with rage and humiliation. All of those emotions, I felt them all instantly.

Riding that wave of shame and fury, I charged straight back into my own body!

A flash of white light nearly burned my spirit to ash.

Hello, Fu Jiuxia.

I looked at the pure white spirit before me—myself—with a rush of emotion.

This spirit was flawless and untainted.

In the five hundred years of marriage to Xie Zhuo, though it had been emotionally grueling, this spirit had remained pristine, protected from the world.

But now…

After wandering the mortal realm for hundreds of years, my current spirit was mottled and damaged. Touched by strands of malevolent aura, stained in gray. Covered in worldly dust.

If you compared it to a woman’s skin—

The old me was tender and fair, while the present me was like Xie Zhuo’s hands—weathered and calloused.

Yet, in the instant we met, that pure and flawless spirit—

Shattered into dust.

I died…

But I was also reborn.