She Condemned Him to Death… Then Discovered He Was Her Savior

WatchAnimeXpress

Follow For More Videos   #Anime #mangarecap #manga #recapmanga #romantic #Girlfriend #ai #video #animation #cheating #betrayed #love #Manhwa #MangaRecap #NovelRecap #RomanceStory #Heartbreak #Relationship #LoveStory #DramaRecap #StoryRecap

Transcript

00:00:00With my own hands, I gouged out both my eyes and gave them to Lyra, just to keep her alive.

00:00:05But after she became a sovereign emperor, she joined forces with nine other sovereign emperors

00:00:09to seal me inside the Samsara seal, slowly refining me to death. But just before I perish,

00:00:14the Samsara seal projects every memory of my life for all to see. Every member of the

00:00:18Righteous Alliance surrounds the Samsara seal. Even though I am sealed inside, until they watch

00:00:23me completely disappear with their own eyes, every single one of them is on edge. After all,

00:00:27I am the only sovereign emperor-level cultivator in the world. Then a man steps forward and

00:00:31declares, the Samsara seal is an eternal divine artifact. Three days is all it needs to refine

00:00:36him completely. This man is Varen of the Righteous Alliance. It was his sneak attack that sealed Kai

00:00:41inside. As Varen speaks, Kai's form slowly fades, then vanishes entirely from the seal. Panic erupts.

00:00:47What is happening? Could it be that even an eternal divine artifact cannot hold Kai? While

00:00:51everyone else panics, Varen simply smiles. There is nothing to worry about. When the Samsara seal

00:00:56refines someone it projects the full story of their life. What we are seeing is simply

00:01:00Kai's past. In fact, this proves that Kai is being refined as we speak. At those words,

00:01:04everyone breathes again. Meanwhile, I have just arrived in this body. I thought that as the

00:01:08sovereign emperor, I could live freely across this world. But after merging every memory fragment,

00:01:13I am struck dumb. I have been sealed inside the Samsara seal by the Righteous Alliance,

00:01:18led by the Chosen One himself. Three days, and my body and soul will be destroyed. This is the

00:01:23worst opening possible. My only move is to alter the merged memories and find a way to break free.

00:01:27Outside the Samsara seal, Varen speaks with unhurried ease. Why not use this chance to see

00:01:32every filthy thing Kai has ever done? The suggestion wins wide approval. But in the crowd,

00:01:36Empress Lyra turns to leave. She plans to return only when the three days are up. Her name is Lyra,

00:01:41Kai's adopted sister. Varen sees this and smiles coolly. Empress Lyra, you above all others should stay.

00:01:46Only by facing the nightmare inside can a cultivator grow stronger. The empress consort flees to

00:01:51Lyra's side. Stay, and watch. I will watch with you. Varen makes a fair point. This nightmare has

00:01:55followed Usfor too long, it is time to face it. Varen's burning gaze locks onto the two women,

00:02:00then sweeps across the other empresses. He never even had the nerve to look at them before. But now

00:02:04Kai is sealed. Once the Samsara seal finishes its work, I will become the new sovereign emperor,

00:02:09and take all nine empresses as my consorts. Inside the seal I feel despair closing in. No matter how

00:02:14powerful I am, I cannot shatter the Samsara seal from within. So my gaze settles on the nine

00:02:19empresses in the hall. Every one of them was once closest to me. Only if I can bring them back

00:02:23to my

00:02:23side and have them shatter the seal from outside can I go free. The seal shows the past, so I

00:02:27plan

00:02:27to tweak that past, then project the altered version on the seal's surface. Having grown up reading dark

00:02:32romance novels, if I cannot move all ten empresses to tears and make them beg for my forgiveness,

00:02:36I will write my name backwards. Still, the changes cannot be too outrageous. Subtle adjustments are

00:02:41enough. My eyes finally land in Lyra. She is Kai's adopted sister, the first person who ever knew him.

00:02:46And because her early childhood memories are likely blurry and incomplete, it will be easier to pull

00:02:50Lyra back to my side. Then, a scene takes shape on the Samsara seal before the entire hall. The image

00:02:55shows a peaceful little fishing village. A family of three sits around a rough wooden table, sharing

00:02:59a meal. The father is a broad and hearty middle-aged man. The mother is a gentle, soft-spoken woman.

00:03:04Her belly is round and heavy, she is clearly pregnant, and the five-year-old boy beside her, that is

00:03:08Kai

00:03:08as a child. Watching the scene, Lyra murmurs, those are my parents. She has had no memory of them

00:03:13since birth. Son, your mother is almost due. Do you want a little brother or a little sister?

00:03:17I want a little sister. The boy next door always brags about how sweet and well-behaved his sister

00:03:21is, so I want one too. I have read so many books in town, I have already picked a name.

00:03:25I will call

00:03:25her Lyra. The entire hall is stunned. No one expected that Empress Lyra's name was chosen by Kai himself.

00:03:30The moment Lyra realizes this, she begins to loathe her own name. After breakfast, I go out with my

00:03:34father. With practice skill, he catches five eels. I carry a few into town and sell them for a few

00:03:38copper coins, then head straight to the bookshop I have been longing to visit. Over the past year,

00:03:42I have learned a great deal, including the existence of the cultivation world. It is said

00:03:46that powerful cultivators can even ride their swords through the sky. In one rare book, I discover the

00:03:50twin pupils and the supreme bone. Legend says those who possess the twin pupils will become invincible.

00:03:55A flicker of pain crosses Lyra's eyes. Just for the sake of future invincibility, could you really

00:03:59bring yourself to steal my twin pupils? The young Kai must have learned about the twin pupils here and

00:04:04planted the seeds of greed. He later took Lyra's twin pupils. As the sun sets, I finish reading and head

00:04:08home in high spirits. But the moment I reach the village, I freeze. Bodies are scattered

00:04:12everywhere. Even the lake has turned red. When I reach our home, despair hits me like a crushing

00:04:16wave. Both my parents lie motionless on the ground. The child in my mother's womb never even drew its

00:04:21first breath. The righteous alliance erupts. This makes no sense. If Lyra was never born,

00:04:25then who is standing before us as Empress Lyra right now? Everyone's mind is spinning. Lyra herself

00:04:29stands frozen, lost in thought. In the vision, I sob until my voice gives out. Just this morning,

00:04:33everything was fine. I had even chosen her name. Now it all feels like another lifetime.

00:04:36Run? My father forces his eyes open, spending every last drop of strength to push out a few words.

00:04:40Beware, the palace of Yama. Then he goes still. I do not run. I kneel before my parents and bow

00:04:45my

00:04:45head to the ground three times. Then, I search the village for any survivors. Watching the brutal

00:04:49scene unfold, the sword empress seethes inwardly. You suffered the same pain of watching your entire

00:04:54village slaughtered. So why did you let her do the same to my people, the sword clan? Once I confirm

00:04:59no one else is left alive, I grab the only food in the house and drew desperately into the mountains.

00:05:03The deep forest is full of deadly beasts. Even grown adults dare not enter. But drawing on every

00:05:07hunting trip I took with my father, I push through the thorns and stay hidden for three days and three

00:05:11nights. By the end, my tears have all dried up and what flows from my eyes is blood. When my

00:05:15food runs

00:05:15out, I head to town, planning to hide and bide my time until I can take revenge. But the entire

00:05:20town

00:05:20has been massacred too. The bodies look exactly like my parents. And it is not just the town. The

00:05:24surrounding villages have all suffered the same fate. I return to my village, build graves for my parents,

00:05:29bow my head one last time and leave without delay. Something is wrong with this place. It seems to be

00:05:33under the effect of some Tao technique. The food is withering and shrinking, becoming inedible. I

00:05:37take my father's bow and arrow sand head toward the distant mountains. When thirsty, I pick wild

00:05:41fruit. When hungry, I hunt to fill my stomach. At first my aim is clumsy, but I find my rhythm

00:05:46soon

00:05:46enough. When I finally cross to the other side of the mountain forest, I come face to face with a

00:05:50massive white tiger. Given the size difference, I am simply no match for it. After a desperate struggle,

00:05:54I collapse completely spent. The tiger lunges jaws wide. As my vision blurs, one fierce thought

00:05:59rises through the haze. I must survive. Driven by that burning will, the pupil of my left eye splits

00:06:04and two-way surge of overwhelming pressure explodes from my body. The twin pupils awaken.

00:06:08The entire righteous alliance erupts again. No one expected that Kai originally had only one twin

00:06:12pupil. The twin pupils alone are already the path to invincibility. Lyra loses her voice and asks

00:06:17herself, you already had the twin pupils, so why did you need to steal mine? Varen steps forward again,

00:06:21to twist the narrative. Pay attention, everyone. He only had one pupil awakened, not both. He must have

00:06:26discovered that Empress Lyra had one twin pupil awakened and set his sights on taking it.

00:06:29Just to complete the pair and become unstoppable. With the twin pupils active, I find Thediger's

00:06:33movement slowing to a crawl. A simple roll lets me dodge its strike. I don't yet understand that

00:06:37this is the power of my awakened twin pupils. Soon its next lunge I slide under its paws and my

00:06:42chopper drives straight into its belly, tearing a long gash across its stomach. The tiger lets out

00:06:46one final roar and goes silent. Afterward I walk to the lake and wash off the blood. In the reflection

00:06:50of the water I see my left eye, the split pupils staring back at me. Only then do I understand.

00:06:55I have awakened the twin pupils from that ancient book. Tears of joy pour down my face.

00:06:59Father, mother, your deaths can finally be avenged. In the days that follow, I fashion a coat from the

00:07:04white tiger's pelt hand dry its meat to eat. Then one night, I hear voices and duck into the shadows

00:07:08to watch a man and a woman hurry past carrying something bundled in cloth, barely make out

00:07:12their words. Leave this worthless girl here. Let her fend for herself. Come on, hurry,

00:07:17what rotten luck. They set down the bundle and vanish into the dark. The night is too black for me

00:07:20to

00:07:21make out their faces, but I see the baby girl inside the bundle perfectly clearly. She bursts into

00:07:25wailing cries. I rush over and scoop her up, and the moment I hold her she stops crying instantly.

00:07:29She blinks up at me and breaks into a bright gummy grin. I cannot understand why her parents

00:07:34would throw her away, but she starts crying again. Then I remember something the adults

00:07:37always said. A fed baby does not cry, but out here in the middle of nowhere, where am I supposed

00:07:41to find milk? So I steal myself, bite down hard on my own finger, and blood wells up immediately.

00:07:45I press my fingertip gently to her lips. She latches on by instinct, and her cries finally stop.

00:07:50When the blood from that finger runs dry, she starts fussing again. I quickly bite open another

00:07:54finger and let her feed once more. For the entire night, this is how I keep her calm, and by

00:07:58morning,

00:07:58I am visibly drained. Watching this unfold, Lyra's emotions run deep. If that baby is her,

00:08:03then she owes Kai her life. I carry the baby down to a small village at the foot of the

00:08:06mountain,

00:08:07and tell the story to the village elder. The elder sends word to the other villagers. Before long,

00:08:11a man and a woman come rushing over. They immediately burst into tears.

00:08:14My baby! I stare at them, puzzled. Wait a moment. Weren't you the ones who threw this child

00:08:18away just last night? At those words, the two of them react like cats with their tails stepped on.

00:08:22She is our own flesh and blood. Exactly. What kind of parents would ever throw away their own child?

00:08:27I am not entirely sure these are the same two people from last night, but after a moment's

00:08:31hesitation, I hand the baby back to them. As the sun sets, I prepare to move on and see what

00:08:35lies

00:08:36further away. But before I go, something makes me circle back to their house. Just as I reach the

00:08:40window, hear the baby crying again. The man's voice follows, thick with irritation.

00:08:44This brat never stops crying. I am trying to sleep. That kid is gone now. Let's just dump

00:08:49her again. The mother's voice cuts in. What if someone brings her back again? Maybe we should

00:08:53sell her. We could hand her over to another village as a child bride. I've heard enough.

00:08:57I kick the door open. You call yourselves parents? My hand tightens around my chopper and bow.

00:09:01The man shrugs without a care. I made her. What I do with her is my business. I clench my

00:09:05fist and say

00:09:06in a cold, quiet voice, You want to sell her? Fine. I will buy her. The man and woman stare

00:09:10in disbelief.

00:09:11You! You are just a kid. You have money? I tell them to wait and sprint back up the mountain,

00:09:15terrified something will happen. I haul the white tiger's carcass all the way back and drop it at

00:09:19their door. This tiger, is that enough? The woman beams and says yes, yes, yes. But the man grows

00:09:24even more greedy. Not enough. Throw in that tiger skin coat you are wearing. He takes the coat and

00:09:28only then hands me the baby. This worthless girl is yours now. Raise her as your child bride. Do whatever

00:09:32you want with her. I carefully take her into my arms. She immediately stops fussing and breaks into

00:09:36the most adorable smile. I slip away with her into the night. I have no home. You have no home

00:09:41either. From now on, we survive together, just the two of us. We will never be separated.

00:09:44Then I remember telling my father I wanted a little sister. I look down at her, my face full

00:09:48of warmth. From now on, you are my little sister. As long as I have a single bite of food,

00:09:52I will

00:09:52never let you go hungry. And as long as I am here, no one will ever hurt you. Your name

00:09:56is Lyra.

00:09:57In that moment, the entire alliance finally understands. That baby is the woman now standing

00:10:01before them as Empress Lyra. Some even begin to feel that Lyra owes Kai a great deal, not by blood,

00:10:05but bound deeper than family. Lyra speaks quietly. Kai saved my life. When this is over,

00:10:10I will enter closed-door seclusion and never set foot in this world again. Far from that village,

00:10:14I find a safe spot, hold Lyra close, and fall asleep. When I wake the next morning,

00:10:18I set out for the next village. The most pressing problem is feeding Lyra. She can barely eat anything

00:10:23solid. She needs milk. By evening, I reach the next village. There are cattle and sheep,

00:10:27but I worry animal milk might not be right for her. I ask everyone in the village but find no

00:10:31nursing mother, so I move on, checking three more villages in a row until I finally find a woman

00:10:36who can help. But she has conditions. She will only nurse Lyra in exchange for something. So from that

00:10:40day on, I hunt in the mountains every single day, trading game for milk. This goes on for a long

00:10:45time. My once chubby frame grows thinner with every passing day of hunting, but every time I see a

00:10:49little more color in Lyra's cheeks, I know it is all worth it. Some villagers take pity on me and

00:10:53suggest I just abandon Lyra and move on. I refuse without a second thought. She is my sister. As long

00:10:57as

00:10:58I have food, she will never go hungry. I will not leave her. Not ever. The woman nursing Lyra is

00:11:02not made

00:11:02of stone either. Watching me grow thinner day by day, she softens her terms a little. And the

00:11:06burden on me is slightly. Then one day, Lyra speaks her first word. Dada. Dada. Her tiny voice catches

00:11:11me off guard, and I gently correct her. I am your brother. But she keeps saying, Dada. Finally.

00:11:17After many corrections, Lyra makes progress. She tries to say brother, and though it comes out more

00:11:21like a mumble, it is still progress. Under my patient guidance, the words Lyra can say grow more and

00:11:25more. Whatever Lyra wants, I find a way to get it. With every copper coin saved from selling lean meat,

00:11:30I eventually scrape together enough to take over an abandoned house in the village. At last,

00:11:34we have a home. But the cost is months of poor nutrition, and I am noticeably thinner than any

00:11:38boy my age. Murmurs ripple through the crowd before the Samsara seal. You have to admit,

00:11:42young Kai treated Lyra far too well. In a way, Empress Lyra is practically Kai's child bride.

00:11:47But the moment they catch the look in Lyra's eyes, the words die in their throats. Lyra asks herself in

00:11:51silence, Was I really that to him in the beginning? Then why did you change? As Lyra grows a little

00:11:55older,

00:11:56I start taking her with me to hunt in the mountains, but only to the safer areas,

00:11:59staying cooped up in the village forever is no way to live. She needs to see the world,

00:12:03and now that she is older, she can eat lean meat. But because I hunt here so often,

00:12:06the game in these mountains is nearly gone. So from time to time, we end up going a day with

00:12:09a

00:12:10meal and then a day without. The only fruit in the forest is papaya. So growing up, Lyra eats a

00:12:14great deal of papaya. At this, the members of the Righteous Alliance think of a certain well-known

00:12:18quality of papaya, but none of them dare bring it up to Lyra. Lyra herself instinctively glances down.

00:12:23Well, it does seem to have worked. In the blink of an eye, five or six years pass. Both Lyra

00:12:27and I

00:12:27have grown. I am eleven now. One day, just like any other, I take Lyra out hunting. Suddenly,

00:12:32I catch the scent of danger. In the distance, a pack of wolves has surrounded a boy about my age.

00:12:36I raise my bow and drop three wolves from a distance. With the twin pupils active and drawing

00:12:40on every bit of me hard-won experience, I take down the entire pack. But the boy has already been

00:12:45mauled into unconsciousness, without stopping to collect anything. I hold Lyra with one arm on carry

00:12:50the boy on my back, rushing home. I pack the wounds with medicinal herbs. Then my eyes go sharp.

00:12:54There, beneath the boy's sternum, is a bone covered in glowing runes. Could this be the

00:12:58legendary supreme bone? That. Ancient book said, whoever possesses it shall reign supreme over

00:13:02all of humanity. At this moment, the entire Alliance draws a sharp breath. At the same time,

00:13:07every eye turns to one sovereign Emperor in the hall, Zane, Kai's sworn brother. During a grievous

00:13:12injury, his supreme bone was taken from him. Led by Varon, he came to believe it was Kai who took

00:13:16it.

00:13:16And that is why Zane joined the Righteous Alliance. Now Zane speaks plainly. That is correct.

00:13:20The one who saved me back then was Kai. The crowd finally understands. Everything fits now. But one

00:13:24thing still puzzles everyone. Kai took the supreme bone later, so why not here, when the chance was

00:13:28perfect? Varon acts as if he has it all figured out. Simple. It must have been young Lyra's doing.

00:13:33Kai felt the temptation, but Lyra's pure heart held him back. That is why Kai did not take Zane's

00:13:37supreme bone that day. The crowd finds this convincing. But Lyra says nothing, watching in

00:13:41silence. Her memories from early childhood are blurry. She suffered a great calamity when she was young,

00:13:45and everything before it is hazy. In the vision, little Lyra speaks with pure,

00:13:49innocent curiosity. Kai, what is the supreme bone? I press on Zane's acupressure points while giving

00:13:53Lyra a simple answer. It is an incredibly powerful bone. With it, you become the strongest person in

00:13:58the world. Little Lyra does not overthink it. With total innocence, she says, then take it out and

00:14:02give it to Kai. You should be the strongest. In that moment, the entire alliance is speechless.

00:14:07Everyone stares at Varon with deeply awkward expressions. No matter how you look at it,

00:14:11it was Empress Lyra who was stirring things up. Varon is visibly flustered. Kids say the darndest things.

00:14:15Kids say the darndest things. Young Lyra had no idea what she was suggesting. That is completely

00:14:20understandable. Lyra herself cannot quite settle her emotions. She never expected that she, of all

00:14:24people, had egged Kai on toward taking the supreme bone. To her words, I simply shake my head. Lyra,

00:14:29we cannot do that. No matter how valuable something is, if it belongs to someone else,

00:14:33it stays that way. The twin pupils are already the path to invincibility. Why would I ever need to take

00:14:38another person's bone? The alliance is thunderstruck. To think that Kai carried this kind of conviction

00:14:42and self-restraint even as a child. No wonder he became the sovereign emperor. The twin pupils are

00:14:46already the path to invincibility. Why would I ever need to take another person's bone? What a line I

00:14:51can feel Kai's character and spirit in those words. That kind of belief and self-discipline is not

00:14:55something ordinary people have. Faced with the supreme bone and such a perfect opportunity and

00:15:00still not reaching for it, even though standing here right now could not say they would do the same.

00:15:04Lyra holds onto those words too. Kai is right. What belongs to someone else will always belong to

00:15:08them. I will remember that. But the moment she thinks about Kai later taking her twin pupils,

00:15:12her expression turns cold as stone. After all the effort, I finally stop the bleeding and dress the

00:15:17wounds. Under my care, the boy finally wakes. Did you save me? Yes. Our exchange is short. I roast one

00:15:22of the wolves and hand him a leg. He does not hesitate. He tears into it with huge bites. He

00:15:26needs

00:15:26the strength. Once he has eaten his fill, the boy speaks. My name is Zane. I never leave a debt

00:15:30unpaid.

00:15:31What do you want? I think it over. Are you a cultivator? When the wolves had him surrounded,

00:15:35I could tell he had some real ability. Just like the cultivators describe it in those books.

00:15:38He nods. Then can you teach me to cultivate? I want to protect Lyra. He shakes his head.

00:15:42To become a cultivator, you have to start training from a very young age. You have already missed your

00:15:47chance. I want to try anyway. Even the smallest chance. I will take it. Zane thinks for a moment

00:15:51and pulls a manual from his chest. This is a cultivation technique. How much you get out of

00:15:55it depends entirely on you. The alliance takes one look. It is the most basic cultivation manual in

00:16:00existence. So worthless that no one would bother picking it up off the ground. But young Kai treats

00:16:04it like treasure. I accept it carefully and thank him. We exchange names. Once Zane's wounds have

00:16:09healed enough, he leaves. The alliance breaks into murmurs. Surely, Kai did not reach the peak

00:16:13of the sovereign emperor realm using only this basic manual? Varun nearly shouts. Impossible.

00:16:18He must have stumbled onto some great fortune later on. And then right before everyone's eyes,

00:16:22I open my chi-si in half the time it takes to burn a single stick of incense and step

00:16:26into the

00:16:27chi-condensation realm. The crowd goes pale. Among all of them, the fastest anyone had ever reached

00:16:31chi-condensation was three full days. In the cultivation world, realms go as follows.

00:16:36Chi-condensation, foundation building, golden core, nascent soul spirit transformation,

00:16:41Tao integration, tribulation crossing, grand completion, true immortal, immortal sovereign,

00:16:46quasi-immortal emperor, immortal emperor, sovereign emperor. The vast majority of people never open a

00:16:51chi-si in their entire lives, never setting foot in chi-condensation at all. Yet young Kai does it

00:16:55with ease. Armed with nothing but a worthless manual. Desperate to save face, Varun speaks up again.

00:17:00This is simply Kai's natural talent, but it also means that everything, Kai even being able to walk

00:17:05the path of cultivation, is owed to Zane. If Zane had never given him that manual,

00:17:08Kai might have lived out an ordinary life. Zane speaks up. That Kai found the path of cultivation,

00:17:13yes, that did come from me. But whatever Kai became later, he was once my sworn brother.

00:17:17Taking part in this attack on him, I cannot sigh, feel no guilt. When this is over,

00:17:21I will enter closed-door seclusion and walk away from this world entirely. Just then, someone cries out,

00:17:26Look, young Kai's power keeps rising. In that brief span, I reach the sixth level of chi-condensation

00:17:31before stopping. Not because I hit a wall, but because Lyra might be getting hungry and I need

00:17:35to feed her. The moment she is full, I go right back to cultivating. As time passes, I break through

00:17:39from the sixth level of chi-condensation into the foundation-building realm. The alliance completely

00:17:43erupts. Breaking into foundation-building in a single day, something like that has never been seen

00:17:47across all of creation. Not before, not after. Many are shaken, but Varun keeps attributing everything to

00:17:53the twin pupils and never misses a chance to smear Kai's name. Zayn watches it all, his heart tangled

00:17:57and heavy with pain. He and Kai were truly sworn brothers once. Yet Kai later ripped out his supreme

00:18:02bone without mercy. Brother, could it really be that one bone was enough to make you into someone like

00:18:06this? Zayn never says it aloud. No one else ever knows. Even now, Zayn still calls Kai brother in his

00:18:10heart, but lets out a quiet, heavy sigh. His brother had changed, after all. In the days that follow,

00:18:14alongside my own cultivation, I begin teaching Lyra to cultivate. I have felt firsthand how much

00:18:19cultivation matters. I do not want Lyra caught up in my future path of revenge, but if she can

00:18:23cultivate even a little, at least she will be able to protect herself. The alliance is buzzing with

00:18:27anticipation. Kai stepped into chi-condensation in the blink of an eye, and into foundation-building

00:18:31in a single day. And Empress Lyra also has the twin pupils. Her talent must be extraordinary too,

00:18:36Varun says with full confidence. Just wait and see. Empress Lyra's cultivation speed is bound

00:18:40tobe off the charts. Kai just got lucky with the twin pupils. Empress Lyra's speed might even surpass his.

00:18:45Everyone agrees. I have Lyra follow the cultivation manual. At first I do not guide her directly.

00:18:50After all, no one guided me at the start, and I worry that forcing my method on her might not

00:18:54suit her. It might lead her down the wrong path. Better to let her find her own way. But as

00:18:57Lyra

00:18:58tries to cultivate on her own, forget about sensing the chi-si instantly or entering chi-condensation

00:19:02in a blink. Two full days pass, and Lyra cannot sense even the faintest trace of her chi-si.

00:19:07Kai, this is so hard. Kai, can you please teach me? Lyra turns to me, deflated. Right now,

00:19:12the most uncomfortable person in the alliance is Varun. Every doubtful stare finds him. He clears

00:19:16his throat. Empress Lyra is still very young. Her mind is not yet fully formed. Once she has proper

00:19:21guidance, she will catch up to Kai's speed. Others find this convincing enough. Once young Kai steps

00:19:25in to coach her, the Empress should be able to grasp it all. I look at Lyra reaching out to

00:19:29me

00:19:29for help. I think it over, and still decide not to step in just yet. In my view, a method

00:19:33you discover

00:19:34yourself is always stronger than when someone else hands you. I expect this approach will help Lyra

00:19:38cultivate more smoothly. But I do not expect that two more days pass and Lyra still cannot

00:19:42find her chi-si. So I decidetto teach Lyra my own cultivation method. Try this approach and see

00:19:46if it works for you. If it does not feel right, do not push yourself. Lyra nods obediently. She

00:19:51practices with my method for several more days, and still cannot enter her chi-si. The alliance is

00:19:56baffled. She has proper guidance now, and still nothing. It makes no sense. Every stare drifts back to

00:20:01Varun. He clears his throat again. This must be a matter of her young mind not yet being fully

00:20:05developed. In a few more days, Empress Lyra will surely enter chi condensation. But what

00:20:09happens next leaves everyone stunned. Half a full year passes inside the Samsara seal. Lyra still

00:20:14cannot sense her chi-si. Not a single step forward in all that time. Her talent can only be described

00:20:18as completely ordinary. Some low-level cultivators might not even be worse. Amid the sea of confused

00:20:23stares, Varun offers what he believes is the most likely explanation. There is only one answer now.

00:20:27Empress Lyra has simply not yet awakened her twin pupils. Consider this. Kai awakened his twin

00:20:32pupils only after his village was slaughtered. Awakening seems to require a specific trigger.

00:20:36Lyra is turning this over in her mind. All she remembers is suffering some great calamity

00:20:40in childhood. And when she came to, the twin pupil power was already awakened. As for how that power

00:20:45came to be, she always assumed it simply awoke in its own when the time was right. Varun reaches his

00:20:50conclusion. Hear me out everyone. I believe awakening the twin pupil power likely requires either a trigger

00:20:55of deep hatred or a moment of life-threatening crisis to awaken. This theory is immediately met with

00:21:00wide agreement. Varun speaks with reason and evidence. Truly worthy of being the next sovereign

00:21:05emperor. You flatter me. Now, if my theory holds, then Kai saving Empress Lyra actually blocked her

00:21:10from awakening the twin pupils. If Kai had never appeared, wild beasts would have found infant Lyra.

00:21:15Faced with that life-threatening moment, Empress Lyra might very well have awakened her twin pupils on

00:21:19her own. So no matter how you look at it, Kai stood in the way of Empress Lyra becoming her

00:21:23strongest self. The crowd embraces this idea. They all believe Kai held Lyra back. Without him,

00:21:27she might have climbed even higher. Perhaps even become the sovereign emperor herself.

00:21:31But Lyra watches all of this. Deeply uncertain. She asked herself quietly,

00:21:34Did Kai really stop me from awakening the twin pupils? Something deep inside her stirs. A feeling

00:21:39that the truth might be something else entirely. In the time that follows, Lyra simply cannot sense

00:21:43her chi si. In the end, she gives up entire lie and stops trying altogether. I cannot force her,

00:21:48so I let it go. If Lyra cannot cultivate, then I will simply protect her myself. In this half year,

00:21:53my realm rises from foundation building into golden core. Two more years pass, and I climb from golden

00:21:58core all the way to the peak of nascent soul. But no matter how hard I push after that, my

00:22:02cultivation

00:22:03stays locked at the nascent soul peak. No matter how deeply I study the manual, I cannot break through

00:22:08into spirit transformation. The stunned Alliance finally understands Kai has been cultivating with

00:22:12nothing but a basic ordinary manual. A technique like this can only take someone onto nascent soul at

00:22:17best. Reaching spirit transformation is simply impossible with it. And even reaching nascent soul peak

00:22:21is theoretically the ceiling for this technique. In other words, young Kai's current level is the

00:22:25limit of the manual, not the limit of Kai himself. It is hard to even imagine what realm Kai might

00:22:30have

00:22:30reached in his youth if given a proper cultivation technique. Three years have passed. I am 14.

00:22:34Lyra is 8. Kai, I'm so bored. Can we go to town? I heard there's so much fun stuff there.

00:22:39Lyra can call

00:22:39me by name now. Every day she follows me up the mountain to hunt, then back to the village. At

00:22:43most,

00:22:44we wander to a nearby village. This routine was fine at first, but as time goes on, Lyra is growing

00:22:48restless. She has heard that the big town market is lively and exciting, and she desperately wants

00:22:52to go. I figure my strength is enough now to keep Lyra safe. So I agree. In that case, we

00:22:56go to town

00:22:57today. The moment Lyra hears this, she leaps with excitement. Kai, you are the best! Her voice is full

00:23:01of pure adoration, mixed with the pure joy of finally getting to go out. Lyra dresses herself up

00:23:06carefully, puts on her best outfit. Even as young as she is, I can already see glimpses of the

00:23:09breathtaking beauty she will grow into. I take Lyra and fly toward town. The moment we enter,

00:23:13she's completely overwhelmed. This is so fun. There are so many people. I have never seen this

00:23:17many people before. Kai, look at their clothes, especially those ones on horses. Wow, Kai,

00:23:21what is that? Is that what people call a stage show? Lyra gasps and marvels at everything she

00:23:25sees while I walk beside her with a quiet smile, patiently explaining everything. But there are

00:23:29things I do not know either, and I say so honestly. Lyra, I actually do not know what that is.

00:23:33That is

00:23:34fine. Kai is still the greatest. Everyone has things they do not know. Lyra waves it off without a

00:23:38second thought. Watching this moment unfold, Lyra grips her fingers so tightly they go pale. She has a faint

00:23:43memory. That great calamity of hers seems to be connected to what comes next. I wander through

00:23:47the town with Lyra, carefree. Kai, is that person eating candied hawthorn skewers? I want one. I

00:23:52want to buy one. Lyra already has a few coins and darts straight for the vendor the moment she spots

00:23:56him. Lyra, slow down. I hurry after her. But just then, high above, hidden in the clouds, the white

00:24:01browed sage gazes down over the entire town with cold, cruel eyes. His gaze locks onto Lyra. Didn't

00:24:06expect to find such a spirited little girl in a backwater like this. He sneers and sweeps one hand

00:24:10through the air. Young girls throughout the town are ripped from the ground against their will,

00:24:14all rising toward the clouds. Lyra is among them, screaming. All around, parents shriek and lunge

00:24:18for their daughters, but an invisible force hurls them all aside. The parents hit the ground and go

00:24:22still, their life signs gone. The scene is brutally cruel. I fight with everything I have to reach Lyra,

00:24:27but the same force pins me down. The white browed sage raises an eyebrow. A nascent soul peak cultivator

00:24:32in a nowhere town? He does not take it seriously. With the souls of these girls, this old man's power

00:24:37will reach a whole new level. Even the heavenly tribulation will be nothing to me. The alliance

00:24:41immediately understands. This white-browed sage is a Tao integration realm cultivator. Young Kai stands

00:24:46no chance against him, and openly harvesting the souls of young girls to feed one's divine soul.

00:24:51In the present day, this would draw the wrath of every cultivator in the world. Someone murmurs,

00:24:55Looking at this, the new laws Kai enacted after taking the throne actually did a great deal of good

00:24:59for the world. At least horrors like this are far less common now. Varen decides the moment has come.

00:25:04Everyone, Empress Lyra is facing a life-threatening crisis. She is sure to awaken the twin pupil power now.

00:25:09Varen is right. If both of them have the twin pupils active, they might actually have a chance

00:25:14against the white-browed sage. But what plays out is heartbreaking. I burn my blood essence and push

00:25:18every last drop of strength chasing after Lyra, but the gap in power is simply too great. I cannot

00:25:23reach her. Then I watch as the white-browed sage tears the soul directly out of Lyra's body.

00:25:27Lyra's face goes rigid in an instant, a sign that her life is gone. The alliance explodes.

00:25:32What is happening? How can this be? Not only did Lyra fail to awaken the twin pupils,

00:25:36she died as a child. Then how do we explain the Empress Lyra standing before us right now?

00:25:40When a soul is taken, it means the end, completely, and forever. A dead person cannot awaken anything.

00:25:46The alliance had expected young Lyra to awaken the twin pupils in this very moment

00:25:50and fight alongside Kai. But what the seal shows has left everyone without answers.

00:25:54Varen does his best to make sense of it. What likely happened is that when the white-browed

00:25:57sage extracted Lyra's soul, he sealed it inside a treasure, without fully consuming it.

00:26:02And later, young Kai defeated the sage, freed Lyra's soul, and saved her. Even as he says it,

00:26:07Varen does not believe his own words. For young Kai to kill the white-browed sage at this point would

00:26:11be impossible, and Varen has no idea what the seal will show next. Lyra herself stands frozen in place.

00:26:16She faintly remembers suffering a great calamity, and waking up with a feeling of being reborn.

00:26:20Just then, the white-browed sage in the vision makes his move. He devours every soul at once.

00:26:25In an instant, the sage's primordial spirit visibly swells, and his aura surges dramatically.

00:26:29Every member of the alliance is at least at the quasi-immortal emperor level.

00:26:33They all know exactly what this means. Lyra's soul has been fully consumed.

00:26:36There is no hope of survival. Does Empress Lyra really die here?

00:26:40If so, then who is the Empress Lyra who fought alongside us against Kai?

00:26:43None of this makes any sense. Someone tell me what is going on.

00:26:46Then Varen has a flash of inspiration.

00:26:47Everyone, I think I know what happened. The girl in this vision shares Lyra's name,

00:26:51but she is not the real Empress Lyra. What likely happened is that this girl did here,

00:26:55and sometime later Kai took in another girl as his sister.

00:26:57And that girl became the Empress Lyra we know today.

00:27:00The crowd finds this hard to believe, but it seems to be the only explanation that fits.

00:27:03After all, the Lyra in the vision is dead, and the Lyra watching the seal feels certain.

00:27:07Nothing about this is as simple as it looks.

00:27:08Then, the entire alliance hears it, my voice raw and broken, tearing through the samsara seal.

00:27:13Lyra! That cry of despair catches the white-browed sage's attention.

00:27:16He glances at me without concern.

00:27:18He picks up Lyra's limp, lifeless body and tosses it toward me.

00:27:21You want her? Then take her.

00:27:22I catch Lyra with trembling, desperate care. There is not a trace of color in her face.

00:27:26It feels like a thousand blades tearing through my chest.

00:27:29Lyra, can you hear me? Answer me!

00:27:30No matter how loud I call, Lyra can no longer answer.

00:27:33Her pale lips, her colorless face, I know what it means. Lyra is gone.

00:27:36After devouring so many souls, the white-browed sage turns to leave and find a place to face his heavenly

00:27:41tribulation.

00:27:42But before he can move, I plant myself directly in his path and shout,

00:27:45Give her back! Give Lyra back to me!

00:27:47He looks at my wild, broken state and lets out a short, dismissive laugh.

00:27:50Little brat, your sister is dead. This old man is in a good mood.

00:27:53I will let you walk away. But if you push your luck, do not blame me for what follows.

00:27:57Then I will kill you. Her life for Lyra's.

00:27:59I step closer. The white-browed sage does not take me seriously at all.

00:28:02But one strike from me makes him frown.

00:28:04A nascent soul cultivator hitting with the force of a mid-level spirit transformation cultivator.

00:28:09The sage goes on alert immediately.

00:28:11Little brat, which sect are you from?

00:28:12If fate has brought us together, this old man might spare your life today, even after the disrespect you have

00:28:17shown.

00:28:17His real concern is whether this boy belongs to some powerful clan.

00:28:21If so, this is not an enemy he can afford to make.

00:28:23The thought makes the sage regret ever coming to this town.

00:28:26But something puzzles him.

00:28:27If the boy comes from a powerful family, then why is his sister so completely ordinary?

00:28:31I am not listening to any of it.

00:28:33I drive a palm strike straight at the sage from mid-air.

00:28:35A fighting style I forge through years of hunting.

00:28:37The white-browed sage stares in disbelief.

00:28:39Sword intent?

00:28:40But the boy is holding no sword.

00:28:42He is channeling sword intent through his bare hand.

00:28:44The sage underestimated me.

00:28:46My palm connects, and his robe bursts apart at the chest.

00:28:49Before he can recover from the shock, I press the attack again and close the gap, forcing into close combat.

00:28:54Fighting a Tao integration cultivator far beyond my level, I throw myself at him with pure desperate instinct.

00:28:59To any onlooker, it looks like suicide.

00:29:01But under my relentless savage assault, the sage finds himself scrambling to keep up.

00:29:05Then he lets out a cold snort, and the full aura of Tao integration bursts outward, hurling me through the

00:29:09air.

00:29:10But I do not retreat.

00:29:10I fight him with one hand, and shield Lyra in my arms with the other, refusing to let her take

00:29:14a single hit, even though she is already a body growing cold.

00:29:17Rage burns through me, and the twin pupils begin to split apart in both eyes.

00:29:21In an instant, a wave of invisible pressure radiates outward.

00:29:24The white-browed sage goes completely still with shock.

00:29:27He recognizes it immediately.

00:29:28The twin pupils.

00:29:29And at once, wild excitement floods his face.

00:29:31If he can seize the twin pupil power, why would he ever fear the heavenly tribulation?

00:29:36Not just the tribulation.

00:29:37Grand completion, true immortal, all the way to quasi-immortal emperor, immortal emperor, and sovereign emperor.

00:29:43None of it would be beyond his reach.

00:29:44And seeing that this boy is only at the nascent soul realm, the white-browed sage feels the heavens are

00:29:49on his side.

00:29:50Ha!

00:29:50Little brat!

00:29:51This old man will use your twin pupil power to carve his path all the way to the sovereign emperor

00:29:55realm.

00:29:55He reaches out with one great hand to grab the boy he has locked in place.

00:29:58But the next instant, a cold, quiet light flickers in my eyes.

00:30:01The sage's lock on me shatters.

00:30:03The white-browed sage is left completely rattled.

00:30:05The twin pupil power, truly fearsome.

00:30:07The white-browed sage dares not underestimate it.

00:30:09He is certain that the moment he gets serious, this boy has no chance of winning.

00:30:13With a thunderous roar, the white-browed sage makes his move.

00:30:16A pitch-black soul banner appears in his hand.

00:30:18Everyone in the Righteous Alliance burns with rage.

00:30:20Countless lives have been sacrificed to forge that banner.

00:30:23Worse still, every soul trapped inside was an ordinary person.

00:30:26The Alliance cultivators are ready to explode.

00:30:28They want to cut him down, right here and now.

00:30:30The white-browed sage drives the banner forward.

00:30:32Dark, seething resentment coils around my shoulder.

00:30:35He moves to rip my shoulder apart.

00:30:36But in the next instant, a blaze of golden light erupts from my twin pupils.

00:30:40A golden sword shoots out like a bolt.

00:30:41The Alliance cultivators are stunned.

00:30:43Is this the eye-fired divine weapon of the twin pupil power?

00:30:46That sword feels like at least a high-grade spirit artifact.

00:30:48For most cultivators, that would mean nothing.

00:30:50But they know, for young Kai, a high-grade spirit artifact is a devastating weapon.

00:30:54The soul banner, the white-browed sage spent so long forging, barely qualifies as a mid-grade

00:30:59spirit artifact.

00:30:59And the twin pupil power has barely even warmed up.

00:31:02Yet it conjures a high-grade spirit artifact out of thin air.

00:31:05How terrifying will it become in the future?

00:31:07Then a question rises in everyone's minds.

00:31:09They have never seen Kai use the twin pupil power before.

00:31:11As my golden sword swings forward, the resentful souls in the banner touch its golden light and

00:31:16scatter like mice fleeing a cat.

00:31:17My eyes flash.

00:31:18The golden sword transforms into a massive golden greatsword.

00:31:21Under my relentless assault, the soul banner shatters into pieces.

00:31:24The backlash hits the white-browed sage hard.

00:31:26A mouthful of origin blood sprays from his lips.

00:31:29His heart is filled with absolute terror.

00:31:31He never imagined that a nascent soul boy two full realms below him could destroy his

00:31:35origin treasure.

00:31:35The entire Alliance falls silent.

00:31:37They can all see it.

00:31:38That golden greatsword is a quasi-immortal emperor artifact.

00:31:41The twin pupil power is this terrifying?

00:31:43Then a quasi-immortal emperor cultivator notices something.

00:31:45From Kai's twin pupils, a thin trickle of golden blood is seeping out.

00:31:49Without thinking, this quasi-immortal emperor steps forward, and in the very next instant

00:31:52he claps both hands over his eyes and screams.

00:31:55His body convulses with pain.

00:31:56Everyone tenses.

00:31:57What is happening?

00:31:58Varin rushes to explain.

00:32:00Everyone stay back from the Samsara seal.

00:32:02The closer you get, the more the suffering of those inside the vision transfers to you.

00:32:05Anyone below the Immortal Emperor realm, stay away.

00:32:08If you have reached Immortal Emperor, you may take a closer look.

00:32:10But Varin does not finish his sentence.

00:32:12He tries to demonstrate, stepping a few paces toward the Samsara seal, and his face drains

00:32:16white as a sheet.

00:32:17If not for him sealing his own voice with cultivation and time, he would have screamed

00:32:20just like that quasi-immortal emperor.

00:32:22A dozen immortal emperors hear Varin's words and assume their level shields them.

00:32:26They step forward without concern, and the next instant, a dozen agonized screams tear

00:32:30through the air.

00:32:30Every single person scrambles away from the Samsara seal.

00:32:33Varin's face is pale and more than a little embarrassed.

00:32:36My fellow cultivators, I apologize.

00:32:37I overlooked this.

00:32:38Within the vision shown by the Samsara seal, the physical sensation transfers regardless

00:32:43of cultivation level.

00:32:44Even a sovereign emperor will feel it fully.

00:32:46Please, no one approach.

00:32:48Not a single person dares move forward.

00:32:49But then Lyra steps toward the Samsara seal on her own.

00:32:52With every step she takes, the pain behind her eyes grows sharper.

00:32:54The closer she gets, the more it multiplies.

00:32:56Is this the pain he endured back then?

00:32:58Lyra stands before the Samsara seal, absorbing the pain, utterly still.

00:33:02Those who just felt it themselves cannot help but wonder, this agony, how did young Kai

00:33:05ever endure it?

00:33:06He is only a teenager.

00:33:07In the vision, facing the white-browed sage, I am in agony, but I do not even blink.

00:33:11There is no time for pain.

00:33:12The battle rages on, and little Lyra in my arms, lifeless as she is, has not been touched.

00:33:16With my golden greatsword, I blow apart the soul banner and press forward, slashing at

00:33:20the white-browed sage.

00:33:21He is sent flying straight up into the clouds.

00:33:24Before the white-browed sage can recover, I am already in the clouds after him.

00:33:27I am consumed by madness.

00:33:28I hack at him again and again through the clouds, and before long I have sent him hurling through

00:33:32the sky at least three hundred times.

00:33:34The righteous alliance stands in total silence.

00:33:36No one expected the white-browed sage to be completely dominated.

00:33:39If this continues, everyone feels the one who dies will be the white-browed sage himself.

00:33:43Someone turns to Lyra and asks, once the white-browed sage is defeated, what happens next?

00:33:47Empress Lyra, do you remember?

00:33:49Varen speaks up, clearly annoyed.

00:33:50The little Lyra inside the Samsara seal is dead.

00:33:53She is absolutely not the Empress Lyra standing here.

00:33:55How could she possibly know what comes next?

00:33:57Lyra's voice comes through, flat and steady.

00:33:59In my early years, I went through a great ordeal.

00:34:02I cannot recall most of the details.

00:34:04All I remember is waking up and seeing my master.

00:34:07I entered her sect, and that is how I became who I am today.

00:34:10Speculation spreads.

00:34:11Did Kai slay the white-browed sage and then use some extraordinary fortune to resurrect

00:34:15Empress Lyra?

00:34:16Varen dismisses the idea outright.

00:34:18Little Lyra clearly had no chance of resurrection.

00:34:20Empress Lyra is breathtakingly gifted.

00:34:22Her master must surely be a reclusive grandmaster.

00:34:24Even as Lyra endures the pain of the Samsara seal, the thought of her master brings a quiet

00:34:29warmth to her heart.

00:34:30My master has long since perished in body and soul, yet her cultivation level even now

00:34:35is beyond my ability to measure.

00:34:36The words send a chill through the crowd.

00:34:38Varen sighs with unmistakable regret.

00:34:40What a shame.

00:34:41If your master were still alive and fought alongside us against Kai, he could never have held on.

00:34:45Lyra gives no response.

00:34:47She sees clearly.

00:34:48Varen only cares whether her master is alive because it would help him bring down Kai.

00:34:51The moment that thought crosses her mind, Lyra's contempt for Varen deepens.

00:34:55In the vision, the white-browed sage is falling back step by step, his body covered in wounds.

00:35:00His fingers won't stop trembling.

00:35:01He has lost count of how many treasures he has summoned.

00:35:03Every single one destroyed by the boy, and all of it comes from that single golden greatsword.

00:35:07The white-browed sage has no time to mourn them.

00:35:09All he wants is to survive.

00:35:11Then suddenly, the boy pulls back his sword and holds it in front of the little girl.

00:35:14The white-browed sage's eyes light up.

00:35:16He knows the boy is protecting her, even though she is already dead.

00:35:19So the white-browed sage begins to unleash a crushing wave of pressure, intending to crush

00:35:23the little girl's body entirely.

00:35:24I guard little Lyra with one hand and fight with the other.

00:35:27I am forced from offense into defense.

00:35:29Every single strike the white-browed sage throws is aimed at little Lyra, leaving me

00:35:32more and more helpless.

00:35:34Some alliance cultivators can no longer hold back and hurl curses at him.

00:35:37You call yourself a sect, Grandmaster, and you stoop to attacking a mortal child?

00:35:41You are a disgrace to every cultivator.

00:35:43Because the white-browed sage keeps targeting little Lyra, I am forced to pour more and more

00:35:47of my strength into shielding her.

00:35:48I cannot attack at all.

00:35:50Even defending is becoming a struggle.

00:35:51Then the white-browed sage seizes his opening.

00:35:53The nine-yin blood palm.

00:35:55A massive blood-red hand crashes down toward me.

00:35:57But his target is not me.

00:35:58It is still little Lyra.

00:35:59I have no time to raise my greatsword.

00:36:01I spin on instinct and take the full impact with my back, shielding her with my own body.

00:36:05The blow sends a gush of blood spraying from my mouth.

00:36:07My life force visibly begins to fade.

00:36:09The white-browed sage hammers the same attack over and over, and each time I cannot block with

00:36:13my sword.

00:36:14I can only take it with my body.

00:36:15Whether I survive is no longer certain.

00:36:16The alliance watches in grief and fury.

00:36:18Let her go.

00:36:19She's already dead.

00:36:20She stopped breathing long ago.

00:36:21Just run.

00:36:22Their words cannot reach inside the Samsara seal.

00:36:24But they still hope Kai will drop little Lyra and flee.

00:36:27If he does, there's still a chance.

00:36:28Why push it this far?

00:36:29Perhaps he still hopes to keep little Lyra's body intact, clinging to some impossible dream

00:36:33of bringing his sister back.

00:36:34Whatever crimes Kai may commit later, in this moment no one can fault his devotion to little

00:36:38Lyra.

00:36:39Standing before the Samsara seal, Lyra watches.

00:36:41And something shifts across her beautiful face.

00:36:44She remembers the words Kai once said to the villagers.

00:36:46She is my sister.

00:36:47As long as I have a single bite of food, I will never let her go hungry.

00:36:50In this moment, Lyra desperately hopes that little Lyra in the vision is her, and yet

00:36:55she hopes it is not.

00:36:56Because if it truly is her, she does not know how she could ever face the brother she betrayed.

00:37:00The brother who, just days from now, will be refined and destroyed.

00:37:04You little brat.

00:37:05It's over for you.

00:37:06Even now you're shielding a useless dead girl.

00:37:08How can anyone be this foolish?

00:37:10You're twin pupils.

00:37:11This old man is taking them.

00:37:12The white-browed sage erupts in laughter.

00:37:14Don't you dare speak of my sister like that.

00:37:16Even in death I'll drag you down with me.

00:37:18I hurl myself at him like a madman.

00:37:20My divine soul begins to leave my body.

00:37:22The white-browed sage starts to sneer.

00:37:24Then his expression collapses.

00:37:25The entire alliance is thunderstruck.

00:37:27Kai has lost his mind.

00:37:28He is going to detonate his own nascent soul.

00:37:30Once it explodes, he can never reform it again.

00:37:33Even the white-browed sage is frozen in shock.

00:37:35He has never seen a nascent soul of the purple mansion so terrifying.

00:37:38An ordinary cultivator's nascent soul is the size of a fist.

00:37:41But Kai's is as vast as an entire palace.

00:37:43And then it detonates.

00:37:44In that instant, the white-browed sage ages ten years.

00:37:47More critically, his soul takes a devastating blow.

00:37:50He could be obliterated at any moment.

00:37:51Throughout the alliance, the atmosphere is one of stunned grief.

00:37:54Kai did all of this for his sister.

00:37:55It is heartbreaking.

00:37:56Varin turns to Lyra and speaks.

00:37:58Empress Lyra.

00:37:59Kai has already detonated his nascent soul of the purple mansion.

00:38:01There is no reason for you to remain in front of the Samsara seal.

00:38:04An emperor should not share in this suffering.

00:38:05Faced with Varin's urging, Lyra does not move.

00:38:08She endures pain beyond imagination.

00:38:10Pain that even she can barely withstand.

00:38:12But Lyra notices, inside the Samsara seal, Kai has not furrowed his brow even once.

00:38:16Since reaching the Sovereign Emperor realm, Lyra had almost forgotten what pain felt like.

00:38:20But now, under this torment, fragments of memory begin to surface.

00:38:24She remembers she used to be terrified of pain as a child.

00:38:26It was never that becoming a Sovereign Emperor made her fearless.

00:38:29She simply had not felt pain in so long.

00:38:31Because when she was small, Kai protected her.

00:38:33He never let her feel even a moment of pain.

00:38:36Those memories begin to merge with the scenes of young Kai and little Lyra in the village.

00:38:40Inside the Samsara seal, the white-browed sage spits out another mouthful of blood essence.

00:38:44He looks utterly broken, his cultivation having fallen to the spirit transformation realm.

00:38:48Yet he still has the power to kill Kai.

00:38:50The white-browed sage keeps screaming,

00:38:52The twin-pupil power belongs to this old man.

00:38:55After conjuring two divine weapons, my eyes are already bleeding golden.

00:38:58I try once more to activate the twin-pupil power, but I cannot.

00:39:01My wounds are too severe.

00:39:02I watch the white-browed sage close in on little Lyra and me, and I make a decision.

00:39:05My Chi-Ci surges like a floodgate has been thrown open, rushing toward my twin pupils.

00:39:10The Alliance cries out,

00:39:11If his Chi-Ci's origin is drained again, he will truly become a broken shell,

00:39:14unable to cultivate for the rest of his life.

00:39:16And Kai's Chi-Ci is the most vast any of them has ever witnessed.

00:39:20An ordinary cultivator's Chi-Ci is the size of a river.

00:39:23Kai's is an endless ocean.

00:39:24To drain a Chi-Ci like that, what a waste.

00:39:27The white-browed sage burns through his blood essence and prepares one final, devastating strike.

00:39:31But before he can unleash it, it is swallowed by my surging Chi-Ci.

00:39:34At the same moment, my right eye, the twin pupil, fires a beam of terrifying light.

00:39:38The very fabric of space shudders.

00:39:40A dark annihilation ray drives straight through the white-browed sage.

00:39:43His body is cut in two.

00:39:44The white-browed sage is dead.

00:39:45Every member of the Alliance is left speechless.

00:39:47Kai, at this age, has already mastered the dark annihilation ray.

00:39:50Everyone agrees Kai is terrifyingly powerful.

00:39:53Yet with his nascent soul gone and golden blood still streaming from his eyes, they all know

00:39:57he is barely clinging to life.

00:39:58If Kai had been willing to abandon little Lyra, he would never have been reduced to this.

00:40:02Standing before the Samsara seal, Lyra stares, and her beautiful eyes tremble.

00:40:05She cannot fathom how Kai bore that much pain.

00:40:08Lost in thought, fragments of her childhood slowly become clear.

00:40:10In the vision, after cutting down the white-browed sage, my body gives out completely.

00:40:14I plummet toward the ground.

00:40:15With the last of my strength, I hold little Lyra above me, my back facing the earth.

00:40:19Then Varen speaks again.

00:40:20It is all becoming clear now.

00:40:21Kai's right twin pupil holds only the dark annihilation ray, not the revival white light.

00:40:25That means his later theft of Empress Lyra's twin pupil was solely to seize her revival

00:40:29white light.

00:40:29The moment Varen says this, every cultivator turns to look at Lyra.

00:40:33Something feels wrong.

00:40:33Some of them have seen Lyra use her twin pupil before, and it was not the revival white light.

00:40:38Lyra herself knows this better than anyone.

00:40:40She has never once used the revival white light.

00:40:41Her twin pupil has always been the dark annihilation ray.

00:40:44Then suddenly, a bold thought takes hold in Lyra's mind.

00:40:47Her heart will not settle.

00:40:48Impossible.

00:40:48If that were true, it would be absolutely impossible.

00:40:51In the vision, I am falling fast from a deadly height.

00:40:53If I hit the ground, I am finished.

00:40:55But then the space rift I tore open with a dark annihilation ray suddenly reaches out

00:40:59a withered, aged hand.

00:41:00That force wraps around me, and I drift gently to the ground.

00:41:03Varen cannot hold back a cold snort.

00:41:05This man is the greatest villain in all of the Changshuan realm.

00:41:07And someone reaches out to save him?

00:41:09The next instant, a frail figure steps out from the space rift I tore open.

00:41:12It is an elderly woman with white hair.

00:41:14And Lyra, standing in the alliance, cries out on the spot,

00:41:17Master!

00:41:18This woman is Lyra's own teacher.

00:41:19The alliance erupts in shock.

00:41:21No one imagined the one who intervened was Empress Lyra's master.

00:41:24Varen's face darkens, knowing he just hurled insults at her.

00:41:27Empress Lyra, I meant no disrespect to your master.

00:41:29Thank you for saving my life.

00:41:31I bow to the elder with great effort.

00:41:32She smiles warmly.

00:41:34Think nothing of it.

00:41:34I felt the space rift you tore from another dimension.

00:41:37Perhaps we were fated to meet.

00:41:38Suddenly something comes to mind.

00:41:40One last hope rises in my heart.

00:41:41Please, save my sister.

00:41:43The elder's reply is calm and measured.

00:41:45A person already dead, a mortal body, is of no use to me.

00:41:48Why would I save her?

00:41:49The entire alliance goes quiet.

00:41:51Everyone assumed this kind-hearted elder would naturally bring little Lyra back to life.

00:41:55Reality slaps them in the face.

00:41:57Lyra stands frozen.

00:41:58Was my master's kindness to me only ever because of my twin pupil?

00:42:01Lyra realizes that nothing in this world is ever freely given.

00:42:04But then, what does that make Kai's unconditional devotion to little Lyra?

00:42:08Suddenly, Lyra finds her convictions beginning to crack.

00:42:11Seeing the elder refuse to save little Lyra, I grow desperate.

00:42:14Elder, I am also someone on the verge of death.

00:42:17If that is your reason, then why did you save me but not my sister?

00:42:20The elder smiles again, gently.

00:42:22You are different.

00:42:23You are of use to me.

00:42:24Because you have the twin pupils, young one, do not misunderstand.

00:42:28I have no intention of taking your twin pupils.

00:42:31On the contrary, I will give you everything I have.

00:42:33Seeing my confusion, the elder continues.

00:42:35I am of the Hecking sect.

00:42:36Though the Hecking sect was destroyed in the ancient age, its supreme legacy survived.

00:42:40For years, I have searched for an heir and had nearly given up hope until I found you

00:42:44here.

00:42:44With your gift, the Hecking sect will rise again.

00:42:47Inside the alliance, Varen seethes with jealousy.

00:42:49He cannot understand why these extraordinary opportunities never happened to him.

00:42:52Watching Kai's expression shift with temptation, Varen sneers with contempt.

00:42:56In my opinion, Kai is no different from anyone else.

00:42:58In the end, he just wants to seize this power and become stronger.

00:43:01That is all.

00:43:02Varen savors his own superiority as he speaks.

00:43:04In his mind, he and Kai are fundamentally the same.

00:43:06Then Kai speaks from inside the Samsara seal.

00:43:09If I receive this legacy, will it let me save my sister?

00:43:11When Varen hears that, he cannot believe it.

00:43:13Kai does not want the power for himself at all.

00:43:15He wants it to save his sister.

00:43:16The elder answers me without hesitation.

00:43:18No.

00:43:19Because your sister is already dead.

00:43:20Not even a sovereign emperor could save her.

00:43:22The moment I hear that, my expression goes flat.

00:43:24Then this power means nothing to me.

00:43:26At that, even the elder struggles to stay composed.

00:43:28Think carefully.

00:43:29Even if this legacy cannot save your sister, it can restore your power.

00:43:32How can you call that useless?

00:43:34I answer, utterly calm.

00:43:35My nascent soul of the purple mansion is gone.

00:43:37My chi sea is drained dry.

00:43:38I am a broken shell.

00:43:39I am not worthy of your legacy.

00:43:41The elder gives a quiet laugh.

00:43:42You have the twin pupils.

00:43:43That alone places you above all others.

00:43:45With the twin pupil power's gift, you will heal in time.

00:43:48Then a thought strikes me.

00:43:49If my sister had the twin pupils, could she then receive the hecking sex legacy?

00:43:52And if she received the legacy, could she be brought back to life?

00:43:55The elder shakes her head.

00:43:56Your sister does not have the twin pupils.

00:43:58She is an ordinary person.

00:44:00The moment I intervened, I saw through both your gifts completely.

00:44:03Let go of your dead sister.

00:44:04Once you are strong enough, you can find a girl just like her.

00:44:07As many as you wish.

00:44:08The elder is trying to break his resolve and accept the hecking sex legacy.

00:44:12But after a long silence, I meet the elder's eyes with absolute certainty.

00:44:15Then if I am willing to pay any price, can she receive the legacy and come back to life?

00:44:19Those words land like a thunderclap.

00:44:21The alliance erupts.

00:44:22What did Kai just say?

00:44:23He wants to give his eyes to his sister.

00:44:25So little Lyra can receive the legacy and live again.

00:44:27Those are the twin pupils.

00:44:28Who gives something like that away?

00:44:30Wait.

00:44:30If he actually succeeded, then Empress Lyra's twin pupils right now.

00:44:34Suddenly no one dares finish the thought.

00:44:35The implication is too staggering.

00:44:37And Lyra, standing before the Samsara seal, is in turmoil.

00:44:40Did they truly come from him?

00:44:41I...

00:44:41I was the one who betrayed him.

00:44:43How do I face him?

00:44:43Varen steps forward to calm the crowd.

00:44:45Everyone, do not jump to conclusions.

00:44:47Kai must have failed.

00:44:48After all, little Lyra was dead.

00:44:50That is an undeniable fact.

00:44:51The elder is clearly shaken by my words.

00:44:53After a long pause, she speaks.

00:44:55Young one, I admire your devotion to your sister.

00:44:57But I must tell you, even if you transplant your twin pupils into her, she remains dead.

00:45:01A dead person cannot receive the hecking sex legacy.

00:45:04A flicker of hope lights up my eyes.

00:45:05You are exactly right, elder.

00:45:07A dead person cannot receive the legacy.

00:45:09But elder, you can bring my sister back to life first, can't you?

00:45:12The elder grows flustered.

00:45:13What are you talking about?

00:45:14When did I ever say I could save her?

00:45:16I press on.

00:45:17If you truly could not, you would never have said this much.

00:45:19You can save my sister.

00:45:20Elder, I only need one answer.

00:45:22Do you or do you not have the power to save her?

00:45:25I have quietly noticed.

00:45:26This white-haired elder seems incapable of lying.

00:45:28After a long silence, she finally speaks.

00:45:30Yes, even a sovereign emperor could not save your sister, but I can.

00:45:34Another wave of sharp gasps sweeps through the alliance.

00:45:36No one dares imagine how powerful she truly is.

00:45:39Varen seizes the moment.

00:45:40Empress Lyra's master is truly an unfathomable grandmaster.

00:45:43No wonder even Empress Lyra cannot measure her cultivation.

00:45:46There is something about this woman.

00:45:47Varen has always found her presence strangely elusive, almost unreal.

00:45:51Then suddenly, the elder speaks again.

00:45:53But I will not save her.

00:45:54You are the rightful heir of the Hecking sect.

00:45:56I answer without hesitation.

00:45:57No, elder.

00:45:58You will save her.

00:45:59Because she is about to have my twin pupil.

00:46:01And I raise my hand toward my own eye.

00:46:02The elder recoils in alarm.

00:46:04Young one, do not act rashly.

00:46:06You must understand, even if I revive her and call back her soul, she will be like a living corpse.

00:46:10Then if she receives the Hecking sect's legacy, will she be fully restored?

00:46:14The elder wants to say something, but she truly cannot lie.

00:46:16Slowly, she nods.

00:46:17That is enough.

00:46:18With that settled, one hand goes to my twin pupil and the other rests over little Lyra.

00:46:21The elders please continue, but I am no longer listening.

00:46:24The next instant, I activate the twin pupil technique.

00:46:26The pupil transfer.

00:46:27Before the Samsara seal, Lyra stumbles back several steps, her face drained of color.

00:46:31The pupil transfer.

00:46:32Is this agonizing?

00:46:33This pain far surpasses the detonated nascent soul.

00:46:35The drain she sees.

00:46:36Then someone cannot hold back the question.

00:46:38Was the Empress not once stripped of her twin pupils by force?

00:46:41Then is this the first time she is feeling this pain?

00:46:43Lyra shakes her head.

00:46:44That time, I had already been knocked unconscious by Kai beforehand.

00:46:47I knew nothing.

00:46:48When I woke, the twin pupils were already gone.

00:46:50Then it strikes Lyra.

00:46:51Perhaps there was another reason.

00:46:52If Kai had wanted to cause her pain, he could have done it while she was awake.

00:46:55After a long, grueling time, I endure the agony, fighting the urge to pass out, and I hold on.

00:46:59When it is finally over, my right eye is ordinary now.

00:47:02The same eye little Lyra once had.

00:47:04Elder, please save my sister.

00:47:05Just those few words nearly drain the last of my strength.

00:47:08The elder lets out a heavy long sigh, and at last, with no other choice, she seals the area with

00:47:12a barrier.

00:47:13A surge of soul energy explodes outward.

00:47:15Before long, I watch little Lyra's soul drift down from above.

00:47:18Under the elder's soul-summoning art, color returns to little Lyra's pale face, and breath returns to her body.

00:47:23Thank you, elder.

00:47:24Now please, give my sister the hecking sex legacy at once.

00:47:27The elder stops the soul-summoning art.

00:47:29The place of inheritance is not here.

00:47:30In a moment, I will take her through the space rift, to the inheritance grounds.

00:47:34Once she goes, who knows when you two will meet again.

00:47:36I give a quiet sound of agreement, but I cannot take my eyes off little Lyra and my arms.

00:47:40After a long moment, I turn away.

00:47:42Elder, please, take my sister to the hecking sex inheritance grounds.

00:47:45The elder raises her hand.

00:47:46Little Lyra enters the space rift first.

00:47:48Your sister may be gone for a very long time.

00:47:50How will she find you when she returns?

00:47:51I answer calmly.

00:47:52It does not matter.

00:47:53I doubt I will still be alive by then.

00:47:55The elder's aged eyes tremble.

00:47:57She understands now.

00:47:58The boy just said goodbye to his sister as if it were the last time.

00:48:01After a moment's thought, the elder raises her hand and presses a soul imprint into my body.

00:48:05When your sister completes her training and returns,

00:48:07if you are still alive, this imprint will lead her to you.

00:48:09Thank you, elder.

00:48:10I force the words out.

00:48:11I know this imprint will probably never be used,

00:48:13but it gives me a reason to keep fighting to stay alive.

00:48:16The elder's voice softens with regret.

00:48:17What a shame.

00:48:18My purpose is to find an heir.

00:48:19Everything in the inheritance grounds belongs to the successor.

00:48:22I have no right to use it.

00:48:24Otherwise, I would give you medicine to heal.

00:48:25But after a brief silence, the elder sends several streams of soul energy into me.

00:48:30The energy nourishes my soul just enough.

00:48:32The candle in the wind feeling fades.

00:48:33I can survive now.

00:48:34Meeting my puzzled gaze, the elder smiles.

00:48:37I cannot use the hecking sex resources for you,

00:48:39but I can use my own strength to help you.

00:48:41As you can see, I died long ago.

00:48:43I now exist as a soul.

00:48:44That is precisely why I could perform the soul summoning art and call back your sister's soul.

00:48:48But in this form, I can only nourish your soul.

00:48:50Nothing more.

00:48:51What?

00:48:51Empress Lyra's master is a soul?

00:48:53The revelation detonates through the alliance.

00:48:55Lyra finally understands.

00:48:57Her master exists only as a soul.

00:48:59No wonder her presence always felt so elusive.

00:49:01Hearing the elder's words, I barely react.

00:49:03But Varen is rattled.

00:49:04He refuses to accept that Kai's judgment surpasses his own.

00:49:07It is worse than a death blow to his pride.

00:49:09The hecking sect requires full honesty with every potential heir, which is why I cannot lie.

00:49:13But compared to your sister, young one, you are far more worthy.

00:49:16If I were not the sole patriarch of the hecking sect, I could never have summoned soul.

00:49:20And if you had not kept her body intact, her soul would have had nowhere to return.

00:49:23Perhaps this little girl was always meant to find the hecking sect.

00:49:26Thank you, elder.

00:49:27You are my sister's greatest benefactor.

00:49:29I bow to her again with great effort.

00:49:30But elder, you still have not told me why you saved me.

00:49:33I no longer have the twin pupils.

00:49:34My nascent soul is destroyed.

00:49:36My chi-si is empty.

00:49:37I am completely useless now.

00:49:38Why help me at all?

00:49:39The elder's smile is quiet and certain.

00:49:41Whoever said you were useless, young one, I see boundless potential in you.

00:49:45If you survive, what you become may exceed even my imagination.

00:49:48And with the bond you have with your sister, you will naturally protect her.

00:49:51Which means protecting the hecking sect's heir.

00:49:53How can you call that useless?

00:49:54Young one, I have a feeling.

00:49:55If you survive, your sister will grow without fear.

00:49:57And the shield she relies on will not be the hecking sect's legacy.

00:50:00It will be you.

00:50:01Everyone in the alliance is in awe of the elder's foresight.

00:50:04She is exactly right.

00:50:05The greatest protection Empress Lyra has ever had is not her cultivation.

00:50:08It is Kai, not her legacy.

00:50:10Think about it.

00:50:11Lyra carries the twin pupils.

00:50:12She has a face that could topple kingdoms.

00:50:14In her weaker years, how could she not attract dangerous eyes?

00:50:17But with an undefeatable Kai at her side, no one dares make a move against Lyra.

00:50:21Without Kai's presence, Lyra might have perished in body and soul long ago.

00:50:24She owes Kai so much, and she has no idea how to begin repaying it.

00:50:27Now I finally understand why you saved me.

00:50:29Thank you, elder.

00:50:30I will never forget this kindness.

00:50:32The elder smiles serenely.

00:50:33A few more centuries make no difference to me.

00:50:35I would rather stake that time on a boy with limitless possibility.

00:50:38Everyone in the alliance quietly agrees.

00:50:40Everything she has said and done is right.

00:50:42I will repay your kindness, elder.

00:50:44Whatever you need, I will give it everything I have.

00:50:46The elder smiles again.

00:50:47In that case, I do have one small request.

00:50:49If you ever encounter those who carry the hecking sect's bloodline,

00:50:52please lend them a hand.

00:50:53I nod seriously.

00:50:54I understand.

00:50:55If I ever meet those connected to you, I will protect them completely.

00:50:58At those words, the elder's face finally softens.

00:51:00Good.

00:51:01It is time.

00:51:01I must take your sister now.

00:51:03Young one, you will not disappoint me.

00:51:04Just as the elder is about to leave, something comes to mind.

00:51:07Elder, have you ever heard of the Palace of Yama?

00:51:09The elder thinks hard and shakes her head.

00:51:11Even one who has seen so much knows nothing of the Palace of Yama.

00:51:14Before she leaves, the elder asks me one final question.

00:51:17Young one, you have sacrificed everything for your sister.

00:51:20If the roles were reversed, would she do the same for you?

00:51:22Those words strike Lyra like lightning, a question that cuts to the very soul.

00:51:26She is already beginning to break.

00:51:27I hear the elder's question and offer a quiet smile.

00:51:29She would.

00:51:30She absolutely would.

00:51:31But I hope she never has to.

00:51:32Those words shatter Lyra completely.

00:51:34Tears spill silently from her eyes.

00:51:36I haven't.

00:51:36I never did anything like this for you.

00:51:38When did I ever?

00:51:39Lyra knows it.

00:51:39She never gave Kai everything from her heart.

00:51:41She stabbed him in the back.

00:51:42Kai had shared every secret passage and hidden mechanism of the Tiandi Palace with her without

00:51:46a second thought, and Lyra used it all to betray him.

00:51:48She led a blade straight to the brother, who had never once let her down.

00:51:51I turned against him.

00:51:52I actually did that to him.

00:51:54Young one, may fate bring us together again.

00:51:55I hope your sister will not let you down.

00:51:57As I offer the elder my final bow, the elder takes little Lyra and vanishes from this space.

00:52:01Then, with the last of her power, she sends me away.

00:52:04Hurling through the sky, direction unknown.

00:52:06As the barrier the elder had placed dissolves, several powerful cultivators rush to investigate

00:52:10the area.

00:52:11They find nothing.

00:52:12No one knows what just happened here.

00:52:13While Kai flies off into the unknown, Lyra stands before the Samsara seal with eyes full of tears.

00:52:18Then she erupts.

00:52:19Sovereign Emperor energy unleashed, aimed directly at the Samsara seal.

00:52:22She wants to destroy it, to bring Kai out.

00:52:24But a razor-sharp sword intent cuts through the air and blocks her path.

00:52:28I knew this was coming.

00:52:29So you intend to free Kai.

00:52:30The one who acts is the sword Empress.

00:52:32Varin rushes forward.

00:52:33Empress Lyra, Kai's crimes are too great.

00:52:35He cannot be released.

00:52:36Lyra's expression does not flicker.

00:52:37He is my brother.

00:52:38I will free him.

00:52:39Perhaps Kai has wronged the world, but he has never wronged me.

00:52:41Whatever it takes, I will free him.

00:52:43Once he is out, I will persuade him to give up the throne.

00:52:45We will disappear together, never interfering in the world again.

00:52:48Whoever sits on the throne after that, it is none of our concern.

00:52:51How noble.

00:52:52Your brother wronged the world yet he never wronged you.

00:52:54Then what of the sword Empress's clan, slaughtered by your brother?

00:52:57As the sword Empress's intent grows colder, Varin cuts in again.

00:53:00Think carefully.

00:53:01Your twin pupils were taken by your own brother.

00:53:03He wronged you too.

00:53:03Lyra's answer is absolute.

00:53:05My twin pupils were given to me by Kai in the first place.

00:53:07His taking them back is only right.

00:53:09As she speaks, a terrifying stardisk materializes above Lyra's head.

00:53:12Its interior a vast and churning galaxy.

00:53:14The crowd erupts in shock.

00:53:15Lyra has summoned the Hecking Disc, her very own life-bound treasure.

00:53:18With the Hecking Disc alone, she has annihilated countless Emperor-level cultivators.

00:53:23Empress Lyra, please reconsider.

00:53:24For a man whose crimes are beyond forgiveness, is it truly worth it?

00:53:27He may have been kind when you were children, but he has changed.

00:53:30Yes, Empress.

00:53:31He is no longer the boy he once was.

00:53:32The cultivators call out together, urging Lyra to stand down.

00:53:35But every word they say only makes Lyra more certain.

00:53:38This life was given to me by Kai.

00:53:39Dying to save him today is only right.

00:53:41At that moment, the Sword Empress summons her own life-bound treasure.

00:53:44Varen panics.

00:53:45He never expected Lyra to turn.

00:53:46If two Sovereign Emperors clash here, everything will be destroyed.

00:53:49Lyra, stand down.

00:53:50You cannot win.

00:53:51The one who speaks is none other than the Empress Consort.

00:53:53Lu Qingcheng.

00:53:54The other seven Empresses hold back.

00:53:56But they all know.

00:53:57The Sword Empress and the Empress Consort together are more than enough.

00:53:59And they refuse to gang up on a single person.

00:54:02They join forces to stabilize the space instead.

00:54:04Otherwise this place will be destroyed.

00:54:06Then a thought creeps into Varen's mind.

00:54:07Maybe I should just end Empress Lyra here.

00:54:09But the instant that thought forms, Varen feels something.

00:54:12The gaze of an ancient predator locked onto him.

00:54:14Varen's blood runs cold.

00:54:15Is this a power Kai is projecting from inside the Samsara seal?

00:54:18Or perhaps Kai placed a hidden seal on Lyra?

00:54:20A protection that activates automatically the moment her life is threatened.

00:54:24The more Varen thinks about it, the more certain he becomes.

00:54:26And he is deeply grateful he did not act against Lyra just now.

00:54:29The consequences would have been unthinkable.

00:54:31But Varen has no intention of letting the three of them fight on.

00:54:33So he summons a treasure.

00:54:35The Heaven Sealing Pagoda.

00:54:36Lyra is locked in combat against the Sword Empress and Lu Qingcheng.

00:54:39She never imagined Varen a sovereign emperor would stoop this low.

00:54:42Before she can react, she is trapped inside the Heaven Sealing Pagoda.

00:54:45Was that not lost 10,000 years ago?

00:54:46With the Heaven Sealing Pagoda, even an Empress can be held.

00:54:49Varen, what are you doing?

00:54:50The Sword Empress and Lu Qingcheng both turn to Varen.

00:54:53Neither of them is comfortable with his sneak attack.

00:54:55Varen immediately puts on a righteous heir.

00:54:57Both Empresses I had no choice.

00:54:59Rest assured, the Heaven Sealing Pagoda will not harm Empress Lyra.

00:55:02When this is over, I will personally apologize to her.

00:55:04The cultivators actually believe him.

00:55:06Right, Varen is thinking of the greater good.

00:55:08He only wants to deal with Kai who threatens everything.

00:55:10They praise Varen's compassion for the world.

00:55:12The Sword Empress watches Varen, her eyes full of contempt.

00:55:15She has some idea of what Varen is really after.

00:55:18Because just moments ago, she too felt that terrifying force lock onto her.

00:55:22Inside the Heaven Sealing Pagoda, Lyra slams the hecking disc against the walls over and

00:55:26over trying to break free.

00:55:27Varen tells everyone to stay calm.

00:55:29The Heaven Sealing Pagoda is a defensive treasure.

00:55:32Not even Empress Lyra can shatter it immediately.

00:55:34If the Sword Empress attempted it, that would be another matter.

00:55:36But for now, we are safe.

00:55:38The Sword Empress stands with her sword at her back.

00:55:40A sword is the blade of the heart.

00:55:41It can be used to kill and it can be used to protect.

00:55:44My soul sword has never existed only to destroy.

00:55:46The moment those words leave her lips, she pauses.

00:55:49A dull ache spreading through her head.

00:55:51She has heard those words before.

00:55:52Somewhere.

00:55:53Then Varen cries out in alarm.

00:55:54Has she lost her mind?

00:55:55Inside the Heaven Sealing Pagoda, Lyra is burning her own blood essence to assault the walls.

00:56:00The hecking disc blazes brighter than ever.

00:56:02Varen is shaken but forces himself to stay composed.

00:56:05Everyone, do not panic.

00:56:06Even so, Empress Lyra cannot break free anytime soon.

00:56:09And even if she does, Kai has not been fully refined yet.

00:56:13But his power will have been weakened below the Sovereign Emperor level.

00:56:15At that point, nothing can stop us.

00:56:17Varen's words ease the tension.

00:56:19In everyone's eyes, the situation is firmly in their favor.

00:56:21All they have to do is wait for Kai to be fully refined.

00:56:24Inside the Samsara Seal, I watch everything unfolding outside.

00:56:27Watching Lyra fight desperately to save me.

00:56:29Something heavy settles in my chest.

00:56:30Everything from my childhood feels too real to be something I made up.

00:56:34Like it truly happened to me.

00:56:35But I cannot dwell on it now.

00:56:36Lyra alone cannot free me.

00:56:38I need more Sovereign Emperors to turn.

00:56:40My eyes settle on the Sword Empress.

00:56:41Her Soul Sword is said to carry the most devastating offensive power in existence.

00:56:45You are the one.

00:56:46Sword Empress.

00:56:46I gather every fragment of memory I have about her, shape it carefully and project it through

00:56:50the Samsara Seal.

00:56:51Then I begin to alter it.

00:56:52And yet, I cannot shake the feeling that what I am crafting is not invented at all.

00:56:56It feels like something that truly happened.

00:56:57Then someone cries out, look, the Samsara Seal has a new vision.

00:57:01The seal's images had briefly gone dark.

00:57:03Everyone assumed the clash between the three empresses had disrupted it.

00:57:06Now that the fighting has stopped, the Samsara Seal's visions return.

00:57:08Inside, the site where I fought the white-browed sage is now swarming with dozens of powerful

00:57:12cultivators.

00:57:13But they find nothing.

00:57:14Little Lyra is already gone, taken by the Elder, and I have been sent far away.

00:57:17After what feels like an eternity, I finally fall from the sky.

00:57:20But the moment before impact, a gentle soul energy catches me and sets me down safely.

00:57:24I know this is the Elder's last act for me.

00:57:25I force myself upright and look around.

00:57:27I have only one thought.

00:57:28Cold.

00:57:29The world around me is frozen, and the cold is savage.

00:57:31If my nascent soul and chi sea were intact, I would not feel it.

00:57:34But now I am nothing more than a broken shell.

00:57:36Still, I hold no resentment toward the Elder.

00:57:38When I fought the white-browed sage in the sky, I had already moved far from the village.

00:57:41If the Elder had not sent me away at random, and I had fallen into the hands of powerful

00:57:45cultivators, things would have been far worse.

00:57:47From here on, I am on my own.

00:57:48I push forward through the snow, step by step.

00:57:50I need to figure out where I am.

00:57:52This is a small, nearly deserted town.

00:57:54Even in thin clothing, I am barely holding on.

00:57:56The few people who pass by either ignore me or step around me.

00:57:59My body has already hit its limit.

00:58:00Add to that the blinding snowstorm clouding my senses, and my body finally gives out.

00:58:05I collapse into the snow.

00:58:06Back in the Alliance, voices begin to murmur.

00:58:08Kai is in terrible shape.

00:58:10He looks like a broken wreck now.

00:58:11Even if someone passes by, they will just walk around him.

00:58:13I lie in the snow for a full day and night.

00:58:15No one comes.

00:58:16But the snow finally stops.

00:58:17And then, a plainly dressed girl in a snow cap is walking by, blowing warm breath onto her cold hands.

00:58:22She passes right by this spot and notices the boy collapsed in the snow.

00:58:26She hesitates, then crouches down and shakes him.

00:58:28Hey, wake up, wake up!

00:58:29Farron watches and scoffs.

00:58:30If this girl saves Kai, she will be remembered as a traitor to the world.

00:58:33The girl shakes him a few more times.

00:58:35He is frozen stiff, and she seems to realize he is a cultivator.

00:58:38The girl wavers, then stands and starts to leave.

00:58:40Her mind tells her to mind her own business, but she cannot fully commit.

00:58:43Two steps forward, then she looks back.

00:58:45Two more steps, then she looks back again.

00:58:46She is kind at heart.

00:58:47Then she hears the boy murmur, Lyra, father, mother, inside the heaven ceiling, pagoda.

00:58:52Lyra, hearing that the brother barely clinging to life is still thinking of her even now,

00:58:56drives the hecking disc harder.

00:58:57She has to get out.

00:58:58She has to save him.

00:58:59Hearing that murmur, the girl finally stops.

00:59:01Someone who thinks of his family like that, he cannot be a bad person.

00:59:04In the end, the girl hoists the boy onto her back and carries him home with great effort.

00:59:08A long time later, she finally gets him there.

00:59:10The Alliance cultivators are surprised.

00:59:12They had sensed a faint hint of spiritual energy on her.

00:59:14She seemed like a cultivator, but her home is bare and run down.

00:59:17Just when everyone expects her to use fire to thaw him out, the girl instead brings in

00:59:21a handful of snow from the yard and rubs it along the boy's arm over and over.

00:59:25The Alliance is baffled.

00:59:26He is frozen solid.

00:59:27Why use snow instead of fire?

00:59:29Why rub him with snow at all?

00:59:30Then the sword empress's cool voice cuts through.

00:59:32When someone is fully frozen, heat is dangerous.

00:59:35Fire or hot water will rupture the blood vessels.

00:59:37You restore circulation by rubbing with snow.

00:59:39The crowd finally understands.

00:59:41Of course.

00:59:42Everyone immediately turns to praise the sword empress, but she only says quietly,

00:59:45I grew up in a place of bitter cold.

00:59:47I know a little about this.

00:59:48The moment she finishes, a strange feeling takes hold of her.

00:59:51Something about this girl feels oddly familiar.

00:59:53After the girl has rubbed his arms for a long while, circulation is slowly returning, but

00:59:57it is still treating the symptom, not the cause.

00:59:59At this rate, his heart will stop.

01:00:01The girl hesitates, then her cheeks flush red.

01:00:03She gently opens his shirt, preparing to rub his chest directly.

01:00:06That would be the most effective.

01:00:07This is my first time doing something like this for a man.

01:00:09You absolutely cannot die, she mutters to herself, but the moment she opens his shirt,

01:00:13she freezes.

01:00:14His chest is covered in brutal wounds, some old, some still weeping blood.

01:00:18Most shocking of all is the area of his core.

01:00:20It looks as if it has been carved hollow by force.

01:00:22Nothing remains but a void, and his breath is barely a candle flame in the wind.

01:00:25She has never seen anyone this broken and still alive.

01:00:28Without thinking, she reaches out and brushes the deepest wound.

01:00:31The moment her fingertip makes contact, the boy convulses in a violent cough.

01:00:34Black blood surges from his mouth and stains the white hem of her clothing.

01:00:37The girl flinches, but does not retreat.

01:00:39She uses every last bit of her strength to drag the boy onto the bed,

01:00:42then runs back to the yard to search for herbs.

01:00:44Her grandfather once told her,

01:00:46Snow lotus herb from the frozen north can keep a dying person alive.

01:00:49Outside the Samsara seal, everyone watches intently.

01:00:52Varin sneers.

01:00:53Some people just refuse to die.

01:00:54Lucky enough to find someone foolish enough to help.

01:00:56But the sword emperor steps forward sharply, her gaze locked onto the girl's face.

01:01:00The girl wears a snow cap, her features young and soft.

01:01:02But those eyes, that expression, the unconscious way she bites her lip,

01:01:06all of it is beginning to overlap with a faint shadow buried in her memory.

01:01:09Her breath quickens.

01:01:10Fragments of something long forgotten flash through her mind.

01:01:13In a world of ice and snow, a young man carries her on his back,

01:01:16trudging through the storm.

01:01:17She slumps against his shoulder, her voice barely a whisper.

01:01:19Kai, I'm cold.

01:01:20He pulls her closer, his voice steady and firm.

01:01:23Trust me, we're going to make it out.

01:01:24And just then, the Samsara seal shifts again.

01:01:26The vision accelerates.

01:01:28Every day, the girl climbs the mountain to gather herbs.

01:01:30She cleans his wounds with steady hands and spoons him the snow lotus herb broth

01:01:33she brews each morning.

01:01:34Kai drifts in and out of consciousness.

01:01:36Every time he wakes, his first words are always the same.

01:01:38Lyra, where is she?

01:01:39The girl soothes him gently.

01:01:41You're going to be okay.

01:01:42When you're better, I'll help you find her.

01:01:43He stares at her, his gaze distant and dazed.

01:01:46Then he grabs her hand.

01:01:47It was always you.

01:01:48Her face flushes red.

01:01:49She pulls her hand back quickly.

01:01:50My name is Snow.

01:01:51He goes quiet for a moment, then says softly, thank you.

01:01:54Days pass, one after another.

01:01:56The cuts on his body slowly begin to heal.

01:01:58But his Chi-C remains hollow.

01:02:00His breath faint.

01:02:01He tries to run his cultivation technique, but he cannot gather even a thread of spiritual

01:02:05energy.

01:02:05Every attempt ends with him coughing up blood.

01:02:08Snow can't bear to watch.

01:02:09She presses her hand over his.

01:02:10Stop.

01:02:11Your Chi-C is destroyed.

01:02:12Kai's eyes dim for a moment, but he doesn't despair.

01:02:14He turns to gaze out at the vast snowfield beyond the window, then suddenly asks,

01:02:18Is there a sword here?

01:02:19Snow blinks.

01:02:20Only a woodcutting blade.

01:02:21That works.

01:02:21Snow finds a rusted old chopper.

01:02:23Kai takes it, and though his body is frail, the grip is unshakable as stone.

01:02:26He walks into the courtyard and raises the blade slowly against the wind and snow.

01:02:30No spiritual energy.

01:02:31No sword intent.

01:02:32Only the most basic, honest strike.

01:02:34But the moment the blade falls outside the Samsara seal, the sword empress staggers.

01:02:38She knows that strike.

01:02:39It is the opening move of the sword clan's foundational technique.

01:02:41The first frost strike.

01:02:42Only someone who has spent more than ten years meditating on wind and snow and extreme

01:02:46cold can produce such pure, bone-deep chill.

01:02:48In the vision, Kai swings the blade every single day.

01:02:50From dawn to dusk, snow piles on his shoulders.

01:02:52He seems tireless.

01:02:53Even when he coughs blood.

01:02:54Even when he falls.

01:02:55He gets up and keeps going.

01:02:57Snow watches from the side.

01:02:58Worry turns to silence.

01:02:59Silence turns to red-rimmed eyes.

01:03:01Without a word, she quietly cooks an extra portion, scraping every last bit of meat into

01:03:05his bowl.

01:03:06Then one night, he suddenly burns with fever.

01:03:07His whole body blazes with heat.

01:03:09He mutters in delirium,

01:03:10Lyra, run, mom, dad, the palace of Yama.

01:03:13I have to find the truth.

01:03:14Snow wipes him down with cold snow water to bring the fever down.

01:03:17She keeps watch through the entire night.

01:03:18When dawn breaks, the fever finally breaks, but he sinks into a deeper unconsciousness.

01:03:22Snow clenches her jaw, hoists him onto her back, and trudges step by unsteady step toward

01:03:26the deep snow fields.

01:03:27She remembers what her grandfather once told her.

01:03:29At the peak of the snow mountain, there lies the thousand-year ice soul, capable of restoring

01:03:33broken meridians.

01:03:34But the peak is guarded by snow demons.

01:03:36Any ordinary person who approaches will die.

01:03:38But she is not ordinary.

01:03:40She carries the bloodline of the sword clan, scattered and lost, though she doesn't know

01:03:43it yet.

01:03:44Outside the Samseel seal, the sword empress's nails dig into her palm.

01:03:47It's all coming back.

01:03:48She was born in the southern region.

01:03:50Her clan sent her into exile in the frozen north to forge her sword heart, and it was

01:03:54during that exile that she saved Kai.

01:03:56Later, when she finally returned home to her clan in the south, she found them under siege.

01:04:00Hunted by enemies, she fled back into the northern snow fields, and it was a young man

01:04:04who lifted her onto his back and carried her through the blizzard.

01:04:07He hid her in a mountain cave and drew the pursuers away himself, and it was that terrible

01:04:11night that stole the sword empress's memories.

01:04:13She always thought it was a dream, a hallucination at the edge of death, but it was real.

01:04:17It was you all along.

01:04:18In the vision, Snow reaches the peak.

01:04:19The thousand-year ice soul hovers at the center of the ice cave, glowing with a faint, ghostly

01:04:23blue light.

01:04:24A three-eyed snow demon lunges from the shadows.

01:04:26Razor claws aimed straight at Snow's throat.

01:04:28She has no martial training, but instinct throws her sideways.

01:04:31Her hand dips into her robe and pulls out a jade pendant.

01:04:34She has worn it since childhood, never knowing what it was for.

01:04:36The moment the pendant touches the demon, it erupts in blinding sword light.

01:04:40The demon shrieks in a split clean in two.

01:04:42Snow freezes.

01:04:43She looks down at the pendant.

01:04:44Two words have appeared on its surface.

01:04:45Sword heart.

01:04:46There's no time to think.

01:04:47She takes the ice soul and rushes back down the mountain.

01:04:50She presses it against his chi-si.

01:04:51Blue light seeps in.

01:04:52The deathly pallor on his face slowly warms with the faintest color.

01:04:56When he opens his eyes, the first thing he sees is Snow's lips, blue with cold, and the

01:05:00frostbite crack splitting her hands open.

01:05:02Guilt rises in his chest.

01:05:03His voice comes out raw and hoarse.

01:05:05Why would you risk your life like that for me?

01:05:06Snow gives a small smile.

01:05:08You promised me you'd go find Lyra.

01:05:09You can't die.

01:05:10He is quiet for a long time.

01:05:11Then slowly, he reaches out and wipes the dried blood from her face.

01:05:14When I recover, I'll teach you the sword.

01:05:16Snow's eyes light up.

01:05:17Really?

01:05:17Time flies.

01:05:18Three years pass.

01:05:19He still cannot gather spiritual energy, but his blade work grows sharper and fiercer

01:05:22by the day.

01:05:23He can carve sword intent into the snow itself.

01:05:25Snow learns alongside him, progressing at a staggering pace.

01:05:28She doesn't know that what she's learning is the frozen sky sword intent, the very technique

01:05:31she will one day create as founder of the sword clan.

01:05:34One day, a group of black-robed cultivators storms into the town.

01:05:37They move with purpose, compass in hand, and stop directly in front of Snow's door.

01:05:40The one in front sneers.

01:05:42So the last remnant of the sword clan was hiding here all along.

01:05:45Snow goes pale with fear.

01:05:46Kai steps in front of her, gripping the old blade.

01:05:48The black-robed cultivator scoffs.

01:05:50You, a broken wretch with no cultivation, and you dare stand in our way?

01:05:54Kai says nothing.

01:05:55He simply swings.

01:05:56The blade flashes across the lead cultivator's neck.

01:05:58The head hits the snow.

01:05:59The others freeze, then charges one.

01:06:01Kai's blade becomes a storm.

01:06:02Every step lands precisely in the hollows of the snow, using the terrain to propel himself.

01:06:06A mortal body cutting down seven foundation-building cultivators in a single sweep.

01:06:10He turns back to Snow.

01:06:12Go.

01:06:12They won't stop coming.

01:06:13Snow shakes her head.

01:06:14Wherever you go, I go.

01:06:15Her eyes are steady and resolute.

01:06:16You saved me before.

01:06:17Now it's my turn to save you.

01:06:19She grabs his hand and runs toward the heart of the snow field.

01:06:21Deep in the mountains, there is an ancient transport formation.

01:06:24Her grandfather told her on his deathbed.

01:06:25If you are ever in great danger, activate it.

01:06:27But where it leads, no one knows.

01:06:29Live or die, Heaven decides.

01:06:30The two of them step into the formation.

01:06:32Light swallows them whole.

01:06:33Outside the Samsara seal, the sword empress is already in tears.

01:06:36It's all coming back to her.

01:06:37Every last piece, the girl named Snow, that girl was her, in her youth.

01:06:41And Kai, the young man who carried her through the blizzard, who taught her the sword, who cut down those

01:06:45who hunted her.

01:06:46He was Kai.

01:06:46She turns back to the Samsara seal, shaking.

01:06:49Her voice breaks.

01:06:50It was always you.

01:06:51Varin senses trouble.

01:06:52He shouts, sharp and cutting.

01:06:53Sword empress, do not be deceived by illusions.

01:06:55Those are false memories planted by the Samsara seal.

01:06:58The sword empress snaps around.

01:07:00Her eyes blaze like cold fire.

01:07:01False?

01:07:02Then explain the scar on my chest.

01:07:04Explain why I can use the frozen sky sword intent.

01:07:06Explain why every time I see him, my heart breaks.

01:07:09She reaches up and tears open her robe.

01:07:11Above her left breast, an old scar stands exposed, unmistakable.

01:07:14Left by those who hunted her down, a wound that should have been fatal.

01:07:17But someone sealed her vital meridian with sword energy and saved her life.

01:07:20She never knew who.

01:07:21Now she does.

01:07:22Varin opens his mouth again.

01:07:24But the sword empress has already drawn her blade.

01:07:25The tip points straight at the heaven-sealing pagoda.

01:07:28Release her.

01:07:29Varin's face goes ashen.

01:07:30Sword empress.

01:07:30Are you turning against us, too?

01:07:32The sword empress speaks, each word deliberate and cold.

01:07:35If all of this is real, if every moment is true, then I owe him far more than just my

01:07:39life.

01:07:40The empress consort Celeste moves to block her.

01:07:42She steps in front of the sword empress.

01:07:44Easy.

01:07:44Calm down.

01:07:45The sword empress laughs, a broken, bitter sound.

01:07:48If he truly is that man, then what I've been doing, attacking him, makes me no different from a traitor.

01:07:53Celeste frowns and turns back to the Samsara seal.

01:07:55The vision continues.

01:07:56The ancient formation drops Kai and Snow into a barren, forgotten realm.

01:07:59Spiritual energy is nearly non-existent here.

01:08:02Demon beasts roam freely.

01:08:03Kai still cannot cultivate, but he relies on the residual perception of his twin pupils and a blade work hardened

01:08:08through years of relentless training.

01:08:10Together, they carve a bloody path through the realm.

01:08:12In one battle, Snow throws herself in front of Kai, and a demon beast's venomous claws tear straight through her

01:08:17shoulder.

01:08:18The venom ravages her body.

01:08:19She teeters on the edge of death.

01:08:20Kai carries her across a thousand miles and tracks down a purgative holy herb, guarded by a golden core demon

01:08:25beast.

01:08:25He fights it for three days with nothing but a mortal body, and finally takes its head, but he is

01:08:29left shattered and barely alive.

01:08:31He feeds the herb to Snow, then collapses into a pool of his own blood, fading fast.

01:08:35Snow wakes.

01:08:36She throws herself to his side, shaking him, sobbing.

01:08:38Don't die on me.

01:08:39You said you'd make me the greatest sword immortal alive.

01:08:41Kai forces his eyes open.

01:08:42He raises a trembling hand and wipes her tears.

01:08:45I'm sorry.

01:08:45I broke my promise.

01:08:46Snow desperately pours her spiritual energy into him, but her cultivation is too shallow.

01:08:50The energy vanishes like stones into a bottomless lake.

01:08:53She clutches him in despair.

01:08:54I don't want you to die.

01:08:55I don't.

01:08:56Then Kai convulses, and coughs up a mouthful of black blood.

01:08:59Threaded through it are flecks of gold.

01:09:00That is the soul force the elder left within his spirit long ago.

01:09:04Now, triggered by the nearness of death, it awakens, merging with the herb's power, and in his chi sea, something

01:09:09stirs.

01:09:09A faint thread of energy coils into being.

01:09:12Kai lives.

01:09:12He still cannot cultivate in the traditional sense, but that single thread lets him reach, just barely, into his soul

01:09:17force.

01:09:17Using it, he etches formations throughout the realm, calling down heavenly lightning and earth fire to temper his own flesh.

01:09:23Year after year, three years, then three more.

01:09:26His body becomes something beyond mortal.

01:09:27No cultivation, yet strong enough to shatter mountains with bare fists.

01:09:31Snow's cultivation climbs steadily.

01:09:33Her sword intent begins to take shape.

01:09:34Side by side, they push deeper into the realm, slaying demon beasts, uncovering ruins, growing closer with every passing day.

01:09:41Then one day, they discover an ancient sword tomb.

01:09:43Inside rests a sword caked in rust, and beside it, a carved inscription.

01:09:47A heart sword needs no edge.

01:09:48The greatest path is the simplest.

01:09:50Snow reaches out and touches it.

01:09:52The blade ignites with light.

01:09:53A torrent of sword energy floods into her body.

01:09:55She drops, unconscious.

01:09:57Kai keeps vigil for seven days and seven nights.

01:09:59On the seventh day, Snow opens her eyes.

01:10:01Her gaze is cold and sharp with sword intent.

01:10:03Her cultivation has surged beyond reason.

01:10:05She looks at Kai, her expression unreadable.

01:10:07The sword has chosen me.

01:10:08It says I am the last bloodline of the sword clan.

01:10:10Kai gives a quiet, steady nod.

01:10:12Then you should go back.

01:10:13Snow grabs his hand.

01:10:14Come with me.

01:10:14He shakes his head.

01:10:15I have unfinished business.

01:10:16What business?

01:10:17Vengeance.

01:10:18Finding Lyra.

01:10:19Destroying the palace of Yama.

01:10:20Snow sets her jaw.

01:10:21I can help.

01:10:22No.

01:10:22Your path belongs to the sword clan.

01:10:23Don't let me hold you back.

01:10:25Snow wraps her arms around him from behind, her voice breaking.

01:10:27I don't want to let you go.

01:10:28His body tenses for just a moment.

01:10:30He gently holds her hands, then releases them, and he walks away.

01:10:33He leaves Snow alone in the tomb.

01:10:35She holds the ancient sword.

01:10:36Tears fall like rain.

01:10:38Outside the Samsara seal, the sword empress is weeping without sound.

01:10:41She finally understands why every corner of the Sovereign Emperor's palace feels so familiar.

01:10:45Why she always instinctively avoids certain traps.

01:10:48Why in the dead of night, she always dreams of a silhouette walking away from her and into

01:10:51the storm.

01:10:52She raises her hand.

01:10:52The star-piercing sword blazes with moon-felling sword intent.

01:10:56A column of sword energy tears into the sky and crashes into the heaven-sealing pagoda.

01:11:00Break.

01:11:00Varun roars.

01:11:01He moves to stop her, but the other seven empresses don't move.

01:11:04Not one.

01:11:05They watch the vision in the Samsara seal, each with a different expression, but all with

01:11:09doubt in their eyes.

01:11:09The empress consort Celeste lets out a quiet sigh and steps back.

01:11:13I'm done with this fight.

01:11:14The rest follow, one by one.

01:11:15They are all remembering.

01:11:17The moments they shared with Kai, those small acts of warmth they had once dismissed as

01:11:20manipulation, now surfacing, piece by piece, as something unmistakably real.

01:11:25The sword empress brings her blade down.

01:11:26The heaven-sealing pagoda shudders violently.

01:11:29Cracks split the tower.

01:11:30Lyra bursts out from within, the hecking disc blazing with light.

01:11:32She stands shoulder to shoulder with the sword empress.

01:11:34You're all going to rebel?

01:11:36Varun snarls.

01:11:37His face twisted with rage.

01:11:38Lyra's voice is ice-cold.

01:11:39You're the one who rebelled.

01:11:40You're the real traitor.

01:11:41A remnant of the palace of Yama.

01:11:43Varun's pupils shrink.

01:11:44Lies.

01:11:45The sword empress levels her blade at him.

01:11:47The hunters who came for me years ago, you sent them.

01:11:49You feared an alliance between the sword clan and Kai, because it threatened your grip on

01:11:53the righteous alliance.

01:11:54Before he can respond, Lyra and the sword empress drive their combined strike into the

01:11:58Samsara seal.

01:11:59It barely trembles.

01:12:00Varun breaks into laughter.

01:12:01And, what does it matter?

01:12:02Two of the nine empresses are already gone.

01:12:04The remaining seven are still recovering from their wounds.

01:12:06Kai is dying inside the seal.

01:12:08What exactly do you think you can do?

01:12:09Behind him, dozens of righteous alliance cultivators step forward, blades drawn, killing intent

01:12:14radiating off them in waves.

01:12:15And then, the Samsara seal convulses.

01:12:17The vision inside shatters.

01:12:19A figure steps out, slowly, from within the seal.

01:12:21White robes soaked in blood.

01:12:22Dark hair loose and wild.

01:12:24But his eyes, bright as stars.

01:12:25Left eye.

01:12:26Twin pupils.

01:12:27Right eye ordinary.

01:12:27Yet carrying the weight of ten thousand ages.

01:12:30He looks at Lyra.

01:12:30A quiet smile.

01:12:31Lyra.

01:12:32I'm back.

01:12:32Then to the sword empress.

01:12:34Snow.

01:12:34Sorry to keep you waiting.

01:12:35Then he turns to Varun.

01:12:36His eyes go cold.

01:12:37Current lord of the palace of Yama.

01:12:39Your act is over.

01:12:40Varun stumbles back.

01:12:41How are you possibly free?

01:12:42Kai raises his hand.

01:12:43A faint image of the Samsara seal shimmers in his palm.

01:12:46The seal refines memories.

01:12:47But I have long since refined my memories into my true self.

01:12:51The one inside the seal was my past.

01:12:53The one standing here is the present.

01:12:55He takes one step forward.

01:12:56His power surges.

01:12:57From mortal, through chi condensation, foundation building, golden core, nascent soul, spirit

01:13:02transformation, Tao integration, tribulation crossing, grand completion, true immortal,

01:13:07immortal sovereign, quasi-immortal emperor, immortal emperor, and finally, the peak of

01:13:12sovereign emperor.

01:13:13His divine pressure blankets heaven and earth.

01:13:15Every living being drops to their knees.

01:13:17Varun turns white and spins to run.

01:13:19Kai points into the void.

01:13:20Varun screams.

01:13:21His body collapses.

01:13:22His soul is seized.

01:13:23Kai crushes it, and from within he pulls a strand of black, cursed energy.

01:13:27The Yama seal.

01:13:28Mark of the palace's lord.

01:13:29You wiped out my village.

01:13:30You slaughtered my town.

01:13:31You hunted Lyra.

01:13:32You drove a wedge between me and my brothers.

01:13:34Every last act.

01:13:35The palace of Yama.

01:13:36His voice is absolute zero.

01:13:38Today, in the name of the sovereign emperor, I sentence you.

01:13:40Your soul shall be scattered to dust, never to be reborn.

01:13:43The black, cursed energy shrieks and dissolves.

01:13:45The sky and earth are clear.

01:13:47Kai turns to face the nine empresses.

01:13:49He looks at each of them in turn.

01:13:50Lyra is in tears.

01:13:51The sword empress holds back her own.

01:13:53Celeste bows her head in silence.

01:13:54The rest wear shame like a second skin.

01:13:56Kai exhales softly.

01:13:57Everything that happened.

01:13:58It happened for a reason.

01:13:59I don't blame any of you.

01:14:01Lyra throws herself into his arms.

01:14:02Kai, I'm sorry.

01:14:04He strokes her hair.

01:14:04You will always be my Lyra.

01:14:06The sword emperor steps forward and takes his hand.

01:14:08This time, I won't let you face it alone.

01:14:10He nods and turns to face everyone.

01:14:12His voice rings through all of heaven and earth.

01:14:14From this day forward, I reclaim my throne as sovereign emperor.

01:14:18I will bring order to the three realms and purge every last remnant of the palace of Yama.

01:14:22Peace will be restored across the land.

01:14:23If anyone objects, step forward.

01:14:25No one does.

01:14:26Every living being bows.

01:14:28Kai takes Lyra's hand and the sword empress' hand and walks toward the sovereign emperor's palace.

01:14:32The great gates open wide.

01:14:33Celestial music fills the air.

01:14:35He glances back at the samsara seal.

01:14:37The vision inside has frozen on that final moment.

01:14:39The young man in snow saying goodbye.

01:14:40He speaks softly.

01:14:41The suffering of the past has become the steps beneath our feet.

01:14:44The road ahead.

01:14:45We walk it together.

01:14:45The samsara seal does not fade.

01:14:47Kai presses his hand against it and looks at each of them.

01:14:50Every doubt that still lingers in your hearts.

01:14:52Today, let the samsara seal be your mirror.

01:14:54See the truth.

01:14:55Light blooms within the seal and the visions shift.

01:14:58No longer the falsified past but the hidden side of it.

01:15:00One thousand years ago deep within the sacred grounds of the Hecking sect, Lyra is in closed cultivation, pushing toward

01:15:05the sovereign emperor realm.

01:15:07The Hecking disc above her head begins to convulse.

01:15:09The remnant soul of the soul demon lord sealed within seizes the moment and strikes back.

01:15:13Dark energy floods into her twin pupils.

01:15:15If her twin pupils are fully corrupted, she will become the demon lord's puppet.

01:15:19At that critical moment Kai tears through the void and arrives.

01:15:21He felt Lyra in danger and came without hesitation, his own heavenly tribulation looming.

01:15:26Using the earth vein as a conduit, he performs the pupil transfer technique.

01:15:29Not to steal her twin pupils, but to temporarily graft the demon soul and the pupil's core into his own

01:15:34right eye, using his emperor's soul as a prison to suppress it.

01:15:37The pain is beyond description.

01:15:38Blood pours from his right eye, but his hands move gently as feathers.

01:15:41He is terrified of harming so much as a thread of Lyra's soul.

01:15:44When the transfer is complete, Lyra falls unconscious.

01:15:47Her twin pupils enter dormancy.

01:15:48Kai entrusts her to the guardian elders of the Hecking sect and staggers away.

01:15:52His right eye, now tainted with demonic energy.

01:15:54From that day on, he fights with his right eye closed.

01:15:57The world takes it for arrogance.

01:15:58Meanwhile, Varen has long been embedded within the Hecking sect.

01:16:01Before Lyra can wake, he uses the illusion mirror to rewrite her memories.

01:16:04The mirror shows Kai grinning as he gouges out her eye, his voice warped into something monstrous as he laughs.

01:16:09This pupil belongs to me.

01:16:10When Lyra wakes, her right eye socket is hollow and screaming with pain.

01:16:13The false image has not faded.

01:16:15She reaches up and touches the empty socket.

01:16:17Hatred consumes her.

01:16:18Now, the truth surfaces.

01:16:20Lyra reaches up with trembling fingers and touches her right eye.

01:16:22Golden light pulses in the twin pupils.

01:16:24She finally understands.

01:16:26The pupil never left.

01:16:27It was simply corrupted, and Kai used his own eyes to bear a thousand years of demonic torment in her

01:16:31place.

01:16:32Kai's right eye slowly opens.

01:16:33No golden light remains.

01:16:35Only a quiet, ordinary dark iris.

01:16:37The demonic core has been refined away.

01:16:39The eye has been cleaned for a long time.

01:16:40The Samsara seal shifts to the ancient battlefield of the god burial abyss.

01:16:44Zane and Kai are exploring together when they are ambushed by the bone emperor, guardian of the abyss.

01:16:49Zane throws himself in front of Kai and takes the full force of the strike with his supreme bone.

01:16:53The supreme bone shatters instantly.

01:16:55360 fragments.

01:16:57Shards pierce his vital meridians.

01:16:58He teeters on the edge of death.

01:17:00Kai burns half his blood essence and lays down the time reversal formation, rewinding Zane's injuries to the moment just

01:17:05before the bone shattered.

01:17:06But the supreme bone is already gone.

01:17:08If every shard is not removed, he will be dead within three days.

01:17:11Kai opens Zane's chest with the celestial hand technique.

01:17:13Not to carve, but to work like a seamstress threading a needle, peeling away each of the 360 fragments one

01:17:18by one.

01:17:18With every piece removed, he fills the gap with his own chaos marrow, ensuring Zane's power remains intact.

01:17:24He seals all the fragments inside the dragon-nurturing pass, a time-locked realm where they will take 10,000

01:17:29years to fuse back together.

01:17:30But Varin bribes a servant in Kai's palace, steals the dragon-nurturing pass, and fabricates the scene with a mirror

01:17:35stone.

01:17:35When Zane wakes, he finds his chest laid open, his supreme bone gone, and Kai's jade pendant left beside him.

01:17:41The pendant plays an illusion, Kai holding the supreme bone, smirking as he walks away.

01:17:45Zane looks to the sky and laughs, broken, hollow.

01:17:47Brother, why did you take it?

01:17:48Now the truth is laid bare.

01:17:50Kai calls the dragon-nurturing pass out of the void.

01:17:52The 360 fragments have fused, whole again, blazing gold.

01:17:55The supreme bone returns to where it belongs.

01:17:57Zane's power surges back in an instant.

01:17:59He drops to his knees, unable to speak through his tears.

01:18:02Brother, I was so wrong.

01:18:03The vision cuts to the heavenly sword peak.

01:18:05The massacre of the sword clan.

01:18:07Kai did not slaughter them.

01:18:08It was the burial clan, in league with the palace of Yama, plotting to unseal the corpse emperor buried beneath

01:18:13the peak.

01:18:13To do it, they needed a sacrifice from the sword clan's direct bloodline.

01:18:16That night, black rain fell.

01:18:18A hundred thousand burial clan warriors descended from the sky.

01:18:21The sword clan patriarch fought to his last breath, and with his dying strength, sent a secret message calling for

01:18:26Kai.

01:18:26At that moment Kai was in the northern border, suppressing a snow demon uprising.

01:18:30He tore through the void the instant he received the message, but arrived half a step too late.

01:18:34The only survivor of the entire clan was the young Snow, hidden inside the sword tomb.

01:18:38Kai took her and fought their way out.

01:18:40Three quasi-immortal emperors of the burial clan closed in for the kill.

01:18:43To protect Snow, Kai pushed his left-eye twin pupils past their limit and unleashed the dark annihilation ray.

01:18:48He killed one, critically wounded two.

01:18:50But in doing so, he was struck by the corpse god curse and was forced to retreat and heal.

01:18:54Varin captured the battle with a shadow recording stone, but cut out the first half, the footage of the burial

01:18:58clan's massacre.

01:18:59He kept only the footage of Kai swinging his blade, sword energy sweeping across clan members,

01:19:03and fabricated testimonies from three sword clan survivors naming Kai as the killer.

01:19:07The sword empress reaches the end of the truth the Samsara seal has shown her.

01:19:11She draws her blade and slashes the air open.

01:19:13In the tear, the patriarch's dying will surfaces.

01:19:15His voice raw whisper.

01:19:17You've finally seen the truth.

01:19:18Snow drops her blade.

01:19:19She walks to Kai.

01:19:20Her fingers brush the old scar beneath his left eye.

01:19:23Was this scar left to protect me?

01:19:24Kai takes her hand and his, his voice soft.

01:19:26It's all in the past.

01:19:27The light within the Samsara seal dims.

01:19:29Only Varin's voice and secret conversation bleeds through.

01:19:32Empress Consort, are you aware?

01:19:33Your Celeste clan is the White Lotus, the seal suppressing the Underworld Bloodsea.

01:19:37Kai is cultivating a demonic technique, colluding with the Master of the Bloodsea.

01:19:41In three years, the Bloodsea will break free.

01:19:43Your entire clan will be consumed as sacrifice.

01:19:45Celeste's voice cracks with fury.

01:19:47Lies.

01:19:47Kai would never.

01:19:48Varin gives a cold laugh, then uses a trace of Kai's Blood Essence to forge an illusion.

01:19:52Showing Kai at the Underworld boundary, locked in negotiation with the shadow of the Bloodsea's

01:19:56master.

01:19:56There is only one solution, Varin says.

01:19:58Use Kai's Emperor's blood to feed the White Lotus and reseal the Bloodsea.

01:20:02If you can't bring yourself to act, then pretend to betray him.

01:20:04Lure him into the Samsara seal.

01:20:06The seal will extract pure Emperor's blood during the refinement.

01:20:09I'll redirect it into the White Lotus and keep your clan safe.

01:20:12Once it's done, I swear on my life.

01:20:13I will not take his.

01:20:14I'll only strip his cultivation.

01:20:16Two of you can retire.

01:20:17In peace.

01:20:18Celeste struggled for months.

01:20:19In the end, she chose her clan over her heart.

01:20:21She demanded a Heaven's Oath from Varin, that Kai's life would be spared.

01:20:25Now the truth is out.

01:20:26Celeste has gone pale as ash.

01:20:27Then what was the Bloodsea?

01:20:29Kai sighs quietly.

01:20:30With a wave of his hand, the Samsara seal reveals the true Underworld boundary.

01:20:34Kai was not negotiating with the Bloodsea's master.

01:20:36He was using his own body as a prison, sealing the master of the Bloodsea within himself,

01:20:40enduring the agony of being devoured from the inside, day after day.

01:20:43The surges of dark energy when his power seemed unstable.

01:20:46Those were the signs of suppression, not corruption.

01:20:48I never fell to darkness.

01:20:49Kai removes his outer robe.

01:20:50Over his heart, a White Lotus seal glows with radiant light.

01:20:53Your clan's White Lotus has been nourished by my blood for a hundred years.

01:20:56The Bloodsea's threat was neutralized three years ago.

01:20:58Celeste crumbles to the ground, sobbing without sound.

01:21:01I thought I was saving my people.

01:21:02All this time, I was hurting you.

01:21:04Kai gently helps her to her feet.

01:21:05Your intentions.

01:21:06I never blamed them.

01:21:07The Samsara seal flashes rapidly through scene after scene.

01:21:10Every other Empress was deceived the same way.

01:21:12The Blossom Empress carried a soul parasite inside her.

01:21:15Varin claimed it was planted by Kai, and that only Kai's death would break it.

01:21:18In truth, Kai had already quietly cured her, hidden beneath Varin's illusions.

01:21:22The Mystic Ice Empress lost control during cultivation and needed the 10,000-year ice

01:21:26core to survive.

01:21:27Varin told her it sat in Kai's treasury, and that Kai refused to hand it over.

01:21:30In truth, Kai had long since refined the ice core into a pill and given it to her.

01:21:33But the illusion made her blind to it.

01:21:35Instead, she saw Kai mocking her for daring to dream.

01:21:37The Flame Empress's clan's sacred flame was dying.

01:21:40It needed Kai's solar true flame to be relit.

01:21:42Varin forged an illusion of Kai refusing, and claimed the only way to claim the solar true flame

01:21:46was through Kai's death.

01:21:47In truth, Kai had already set aside a thread of the solar true flame's core at his retreat,

01:21:51also hidden by the illusion.

01:21:53The star and moon Empress was reading the heavens when she received a prophecy.

01:21:56The Emperor Star would fall, and a new Emperor would rise.

01:21:59Varin tampered with the star charts, pointing the falling star at Kai and the rising one at

01:22:03himself.

01:22:03But the true star map told a different story.

01:22:05The Emperor Star does not fall.

01:22:07It shines across all of eternity.

01:22:09The Azure Cloud Empress was obsessed with the sword.

01:22:11Varin offered her a technique he called an Emperor-grade sword art, claiming only a true Emperor's

01:22:15heart could master it, and fabricated scenes of Kai suppressing her, stealing her sword

01:22:19manual.

01:22:19In truth, the technique was a demonic Emperor-grade art.

01:22:22Anyone who cultivated it would fall to darkness.

01:22:24The five Empresses finish watching their own truths.

01:22:26They all drop to their knees, tears streaming.

01:22:28We were blind to what was right in front of us.

01:22:30We beg for your judgment.

01:22:31But Kai only says slowly and gently, what Varin did.

01:22:33He used fear, greed, and love as weapons.

01:22:36The fault does not lie with you.

01:22:37I am the one who failed.

01:22:38Failed to see it sooner.

01:22:39Failed to protect you.

01:22:40Kai walks to the center of the Samsara seal.

01:22:42His left eye's twin pupils blaze with gold.

01:22:44Let the Samsara seal bear witness and illuminate every truth.

01:22:47In an instant, gold light sweeps across all of heaven and earth.

01:22:50Every falsified memory, every buried truth, rains down on the world as golden light.

01:22:54Every soul who ever doubted Kai sees the truth in this moment.

01:22:58Regret, shame, and reverence surge together like a flood, and Kai's power rises again,

01:23:02shattering the ceiling of sovereign Emperor and stepping into the Samsara sovereign realm.

01:23:06He looks down upon all living things.

01:23:08His voice carries the weight of heaven's law.

01:23:10Effective immediately, the laws of the three realms are rewritten.

01:23:13The heaven watch mirror is established.

01:23:15It sees all.

01:23:16Those who seek justice may speak.

01:23:18Those who do evil have nowhere to hide.

01:23:20Peace for ten thousand generations.

01:23:22The nine empresses take their rightful places.

01:23:24Every clan bows.

01:23:25The Samsara seal transforms into a towering stele and rises before the celestial palace.

01:23:30The truth is carved into it.

01:23:31An eternal seal against deception and conspiracy.

01:23:34Kai takes Lyra's hand in the sword empress's hand and walks toward the palace gates.

01:23:38He looks back one last time, his gaze sweeping across every soul before him.

01:23:41The pain of the past has become our foundation.

01:23:43The road ahead, we walk it together.

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended