On the Dragon-Slaying Platform, I was executed and became Yang Jian's brother-in-law.

The Netherworld, the Great Hall of Reincarnation.

As Consort Pingxin looked at Xuanming in the picture, who was standing in front of a room full of ice sculptures, still smiling despite being scolded by Su Bai, her eyes unconsciously welled up with tears.

"fool……"

Pingxin's voice choked with emotion as her fingertips gently touched the illusory scene. "Sister, so you were already this deeply involved back then..."

Su Bai, with her blockheaded mind, couldn't understand and thought Xuan Ming had expended his essence to carve it for cultivation. But how could Ping Xin, as an observer and also a woman, not understand?

That's not cultivation at all.

It was clear that Xuanming knew a great calamity was approaching and his life was uncertain, so he wanted to use this clumsy yet resolute way to etch the image of his beloved into the depths of his soul, so that he would never forget her even in reincarnation.

"No wonder...no wonder you were so weak when that battle started."

Pingxin closed her eyes in anguish. She finally understood the cause and effect. Xuanming's actions weren't due to unhealed old wounds, but rather because he had secretly overdrawn too much of his Ancestral Witch essence in order to carve those ice sculptures and for that unspoken deep affection!

"But...it's all too late."

My heart is clenched with pain.

As a saint who later reincarnated, she knew better than anyone the outcome of that war between the witches and demons. Among the twelve ancestral witches, Sister Xuanming was the first and the one who perished most tragically.

Compared to Houtu, who became Lady Pingxin despite losing her physical body, Xuanming was truly annihilated, with even his true spirit shattered into dust.

If Su Bai's stories with other women were separations in life, then his relationship with Xuan Ming was a true separation by death.

"It ended without a trace... I didn't even have a chance to say 'I like you' to him."

Pingxin took a deep breath, forcing back her tears, and continued to activate the power of reincarnation. The scene shifted, the warm daily life in the ice cave shattered instantly, replaced by a cataclysmic event that stained the entire primordial world red—

The Lich War is over!

……

**【Reincarnation Tracing - Battlefield of Buzhou Mountain】**

"Boom—!!!"

Heaven and earth collapsed, and the sun and moon lost their light.

Beneath Mount Buzhou, two unprecedented and unparalleled formations are clashing violently.

On one side, the "Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Array" was set up by the demon race's Di Jun and Tai Yi, leading 365 demon gods, drawing upon the power of billions of stars, like the Milky Way pouring in from above.

On one side, the Twelve Ancestral Witches manifested their true forms, gathering evil energy to set up the "Twelve Capital Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation," summoning the illusory physical body of Pangu to cleave Mount Hua in two.

"kill!!"

The battle cries shattered the thirty-three heavens. Every moment, countless lives were reduced to ashes.

In the center of the great formation.

Su Bai (Zhu Jiuyin) was covered in blood, his eyes bloodshot, desperately guarding the "Time" array's core. He could feel that the pressure of the entire array was countless times greater than during the rehearsal.

What worries him most is the "ice" array core next to him.

There, although Xuanming had revealed her true form, her aura was extremely unstable. The essence she had depleted while carving the ice sculpture had now become a fatal flaw!

"That spot... is a weak point!"

Above the Heavenly Court, Donghuang Taiyi, holding the Chaos Bell, instantly locked his golden crow divine eyes onto Xuanming.

"Now is the time! If we destroy that Ice Ancestral Witch, Pangu's true form will surely be destroyed!"

Donghuang Taiyi grinned maliciously, displaying the terrifying decisiveness of a demon emperor at this crucial moment.

"clang--!!!"

Disregarding his own safety, he forcibly broke away from the core of the formation, burned his life essence, and struck the Chaos Bell, a supreme innate treasure in his hand.

This single bell tolled, embodying all of Donghuang Taiyi's lifelong cultivation and killing intent.

A visible torrent of sound waves, disregarding spatial distance, pierced fiercely towards the tottering Xuanming like a world-destroying spear!

"not good!"

Xuanming's face turned deathly pale. She was currently focused on maintaining the operation of the great formation and had no time to spare for defense, let alone dodge.

"Am I going to die...?"

As the devastating wave of energy approached, a flicker of despair crossed Xuanming's eyes. She wasn't afraid of death; she was only afraid... of never seeing that person again.

however.

Just as Zhong Bo was about to shatter her true form.

"Get back here!!"

A furious roar exploded in her ears.

Su Bai, who had been holding firm at the core of the time array, disregarded the backlash from the array and forcibly reversed his own time laws!

"Buzz—"

The phantom of the River of Time appeared, and Su Bai forcibly extracted his share of the array power, transforming it into a gray time barrier that stood firmly in front of Xuan Ming.

"boom--!!!"

The sound waves from the Chaos Bell slammed violently against the time barrier.

"puff--!!"

Su Bai spat out a mouthful of golden divine blood, as if struck by lightning, and most of the ancestral witch scales on his body shattered.

But he didn't back down!

He was like a nail, firmly fixed in front of Xuanming, using his own flesh and blood to withstand Donghuang Taiyi's fatal blow.

"Nine Yin!!" Xuanming exclaimed in shock, tears instantly welling up in his eyes.

"Ninth Brother! Have you gone mad?!"

At the main array's focal point, Di Jiang witnessed this scene and was so enraged that his beard and hair stood on end. His furious roar exploded in Su Bai's mind:

"That's the Great Formation of the Divine Fiends! A single move affects the whole thing! Your unauthorized use of power to save people will destabilize the entire formation! Even the phantom of Pangu will dissipate!"

"Get back to base! Hold your position!"

Dijiang was truly desperate. This was a battle for the survival of his race, and there was no room for sentimentality. In his view, even if one or two Ancestral Witches died, it would be worth it as long as he could drag the demon race down with him.

but.

Su Bai did not listen.

He wiped the blood from his face, his gray eyes revealing a chilling stubbornness.

"I'm not leaving!"

Su Bai gritted his teeth and not only did not withdraw his power, but instead burned even more fiercely, protecting Xuan Ming even more tightly.

"Brother! Are you out of your mind?!"

Su Bai's voice was hoarse and frantic, "The core of the Twelve Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation is the Twelve Ancestral Witches! None can be missing! If even one of them is missing, we cannot summon the complete true form of the Father God, even if we are both alive!"

"If Xuanming dies now, the great formation will collapse! We'll all die!"

"Only by protecting her can we have any hope of winning!"

These words were reasonable and well-founded, but they also carried a selfish motive.

Di Jiang was speechless. He knew Su Bai was right, but he also knew that by doing this, Su Bai was essentially bearing the burden of two people.

"You...you will die!" Dijiang's voice trembled.

"He won't die!"

Su Bai sneered and turned to look at Xuan Ming, who was already in tears behind him.

At this moment, Xuanming looked at the back of the person who had sheltered her from the wind and rain, covered in blood, and her heart was broken so much that she could not breathe.

"Brother... don't worry about me..." Xuanming cried out, "Please go back... I beg you..."

"Shut up!"

Without turning his head, Su Bai gripped Xuan Ming's wrist tightly with one hand, continuously transferring his time essence to her to help stabilize the array's core.

"I've said it before, the people I bring out must be brought back intact!"

"As long as I, Zhu Jiuyin, have a breath left, no one will lay a finger on you! Not even Donghuang Taiyi!"

At this moment, time and ice and snow merge once again.

This time, however, it was in a purgatory of blood and fire.

……

The battle grew increasingly fierce.

Although Su Bai managed to save Xuan Ming, this excessive exertion came at a terrible price. His life force was rapidly depleting, his once lustrous scales began to turn gray, and even his primordial spirit began to crack.

However, the demon race's offensive was as endless as the tide.

"Damn it! If this keeps up, we're really going to lose!"

As Dijiang watched the gradually fading phantom of Pangu, a glint of madness flashed in his eyes.

"No! We must increase the power of the great formation! Even if it's just for a moment!"

Dijiang's voice, filled with a sense of resolute determination and sorrow, resounded throughout the consciousness of every ancestral witch:

"Brothers... there's no other way."

"Blood sacrifice to the array's core!"

"A single Ancestral Witch must burn her entire essence and true spirit as fuel to forcefully push the great formation to its limit! With this single strike, the fate of the world will be decided!"

Upon hearing this, all the ancestral witches fell silent.

Sacrificing oneself to the core of the formation means utter annihilation, leaving no chance even for reincarnation.

"I'll do it!" Zhu Rong was about to speak.

"No, the Law of Fire is too violent and unsuitable as a catalyst," Dijiang refused.

Just as the ancestral witches hesitated.

Xuanming raised his head.

Through the overwhelming malevolent aura, she looked at Su Bai, who stood in front of her, his body swaying precariously but refusing to take a single step back.

At this moment, Su Bai was bleeding from all seven orifices, and his consciousness was already somewhat blurred. He was only being sustained by a strong will.

"fool……"

Xuanming looked at him, a poignant smile playing on his lips.

That was the smile she learned in the Ruins of Return, and it was also the last smile she would ever wear in her life.

"You're willing to risk your life to save me."

"But how can I bear to watch you die here trying to protect me, this burden?"

"I am the Ancestral Witch of Rain, and also... your Xuanming."

Xuanming glanced at her shattered Xuanbing True Body. She knew that in her current state, even if she lived, she would be a cripple and would be unable to support the operation of the great formation.

Rather than let everyone die, rather than watch him die...

Instead, I'll use my life to give you a way to live, to give you... peace.

In Xuanming's eyes, the original fear and attachment disappeared, replaced by an unprecedented firmness and determination.

She gazed intently at Su Bai's retreating figure, as if wanting to freeze this moment forever.

"Nine Yin..."

She called out softly in her heart.

"This time, it's my turn to protect you."