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

Frost Realm, Snow Ridge Town.

That unassuming little thatched hut, which was usually inconspicuous, had now become the center of a thunderous storm.

The Purple Heaven Divine Thunder is the supreme punishment used by Heaven to maintain order. Each bolt of lightning carries the resolute determination to annihilate all anomalies.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three terrifying lightning bolts, like purple dragons, roared and crashed into the barrier above the thatched hut.

Su Bai's broad back was already charred black, a bloody mess, with his white bones faintly visible under the scorching of the lightning and fire. But his hands, which were protecting Ashuang's temples, remained as steady as a rock, even with the skin torn and bleeding, firmly maintaining that absolute domain of "time stillness".

"Brother! Let me do it!"

When Consort Pingxin saw Su Bai's miserable state, her heart ached as if it were being torn apart.

She is a true saint! If she can't even protect her own brother and sister, what's the point of cultivating this saintly position?!

"Six Paths of Reincarnation, ride!"

With a sharp shout, even knowing that this was going against the will of Heaven and that it would bring back a backlash from the Great Dao, Empress Pingxin did not hesitate and directly summoned the physical projection of her innate treasure—the Six Paths Reincarnation Disc.

hum-

A giant, illusory wheel burst through the roof, hovering in mid-air and blocking the barrage of lightning.

"Bang! Bang!"

The fourth, fifth, and sixth lightning tribulations followed one after another, striking the Wheel of Reincarnation fiercely.

With each impact, Consort Pingxin's body would tremble violently.

This is not merely a clash of power, but a collision of rules. She is the Lord of the Earthly Dao, yet she is forcibly interfering with the operation of the Heavenly Dao in the Lesser Thousand Worlds, which is a provocation against the bottom line of the Great Dao.

"puff--!!"

When the sixth lightning tribulation dissipated, Lady Pingxin finally could not withstand the terrifying backlash from the level of rules and suddenly spat out a mouthful of golden holy blood.

The holy blood fell, staining the snow on the ground a poignant golden-red.

"Calm down!" Su Bai shouted anxiously.

"I'm fine... I can still hold on..." Pingxin's face was as pale as paper, but she still gritted her teeth and tried to activate the Wheel of Reincarnation again.

However, Heaven seems to have been thoroughly enraged.

It no longer gives this "foreign saint" any chance to breathe.

Above the sky, the churning dark clouds suddenly froze. All the thunder and all the oppressive force collapsed and condensed towards the center in that instant.

In the end, it transformed into a bolt of lightning only as thick as a finger, yet so black it was almost purple and so dark it inspired despair—the Annihilation Divine Lightning!

The seventh lightning tribulation!

It's a sure-kill blow!

This lightning tribulation seemed to possess its own intelligence. It bypassed the Empress Pingxin in the air and even ignored the surrounding spatial barriers. Like a venomous snake, it directly targeted Ashuang, who was lying on the bed at the critical juncture of life and death!

It wants to erase this source of defying fate!

"Oh no! It's heading straight for my sister!" Pingxin exclaimed in alarm, but it was too late to rush back to help.

In that instant, time seemed to slow down.

Su Bai watched helplessly as the black lightning bolt pierced through the roof, carrying an aura of soul destruction, heading straight for Ashuang's brow.

If she were hit, let alone rebuild her soul, Ashuang's fragile remnant soul would instantly turn to ashes, leaving not even a trace!

"You dare!!!"

Su Bai let out a roar like a wild beast on its deathbed.

He couldn't care less about the backlash from the laws of time, nor about his already severely injured body.

In that critical moment, he made an instinctive move.

He lunged forward without hesitation, his entire body becoming the strongest shield in the world, completely covering Ashuang and protecting her frail body beneath him.

"boom--!!!"

The lightning of annihilation struck Su Bai squarely in the back.

This attack was ten times more terrifying than the previous six attacks combined!

"Click..."

Su Bai even heard the sound of his spine cracking. The terrifying lightning force instantly tore through his protective divine light, scorched his flesh, and frantically destroyed his internal organs.

"puff!"

A mouthful of scalding blood spurted from Su Bai's mouth, but he forced himself not to spray it on Ashuang. Instead, he turned his head away and splattered it on the floor beside the bed.

pain.

A pain that penetrates to the bone and tears at the soul.

But Su Bai's hands remained firmly planted on either side of Ashuang, creating that last three inches of space for her to survive.

"Well……"

Su Bai was in so much pain that his whole body was convulsing, and his consciousness was beginning to blur.

But he cannot fall.

If he falls, the person beneath him will die.

And just then...

Although Ashuang, who was being tightly protected by Su Bai, was in a deep coma and her physical body was frozen by the laws of time, she was still in a deep coma.

But the terrifying shock brought by the lightning tribulation, and the scalding smell of blood dripping onto her cheek, still penetrated through the layers of blockage and stimulated the depths of her soul that was being reshaped.

A single tear uncontrollably slid down from the corner of Ashuang's tightly closed eye.

"Who...who is bleeding..."

"That scent feels so familiar..."

"This feeling... is like... being in the Northern Sea... in the Ruins of Return..."

Under the frenzied stimulation of the aftershocks of the lightning tribulation, and under the powerful infusion of the merits of reincarnation.

Ashuang's original, incomplete, and sealed true spirit, which had been sealed for countless lifetimes, was smashed open as if by a heavy hammer!

hum! ! !

A burst of icy blue light suddenly erupted from Ashuang's body.

That was not the power of an ordinary person; it was the original imprint belonging to Xuanming, the Ancestral Witch of Rain!

The floodgates of memory burst open!

The wind and snow of the Northern Sea, the carvings in the ice cave, the mutual dependence of Guixu, the sacrifice at Buzhou Mountain... countless images flooded into her mind like a tide.

"what……"

Amidst the excruciating pain of soul reconstruction, Ashuang—or rather, Xuanming who was awakening—suddenly opened her eyes!

What catches the eye.

It was a face that, even when stained with blood and contorted in pain, still did its utmost to shield her from the wind and rain in this world.

That face perfectly overlapped with the figure in her memory who had fiercely protected her on the battlefield of Buzhou Mountain.

At that moment, reality and memory intertwined.

All the grievances, all the longing, all the love, in this instant transformed into a lifelong call that remains clear even across time and space, across life and death.

With trembling hands, she reached out her withered hand and gently stroked Su Bai's still bleeding cheek, tears streaming down her face like a burst dam.

"Brother..."

This "brother" was no longer Ah Shuang's timidity, but carried the unique aloofness and deep affection of the Ancestral Witch Xuanming.

Rumble...

It seemed to sense the revival of the ancestral witch's true spirit, or perhaps it was overwhelmed by the two people's obsession.

The Purple Heaven Lightning Punishment above the sky, after striking down its seventh strike, surprisingly did not continue.

The dark clouds churned for a while, and finally, as if they had completed some kind of task, they slowly dissipated with resentment and helplessness.

The world returned to deathly silence.

"Xuan...Ming?"

Upon hearing that call, Su Bai's previously unfocused pupils suddenly sharpened. He looked at the pair of eyes beneath him, aged yet radiating a familiar light, and managed a strained smile.

"You...are awake..."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Bai could no longer hold on, his head lolled to the side, and he fainted completely in the crook of her neck.

Ashuang, who had just awakened, fell into a deep coma again due to the great shock to her soul and the excessive strain on her physical body.

……

This coma lasted for three whole days.

In those three days, the small thatched hut in Frost Realm was transformed into an impregnable fortress.

Despite her own injuries, Lady Pingxin forcibly mobilized the essence of the underworld to set up eighteen sacred barriers outside the thatched hut, isolating it from all prying eyes of the Heavenly Dao.

Even with his spine broken and the wound on his back so deep that the bone was visible, Su Bai's first action upon waking was not to heal his wounds, but to crawl to the bedside and continue channeling his essence into Ashuang, stabilizing her newly recovered and still unstable true spirit.

"Brother, you should rest for a bit, I'll take care of it." Pingxin looked on with heartache.

"No."

Su Bai shook his head, his face pale but resolute. "This time, I must stay by her side. I want to see her wake up."

He fears.

I fear this is all a dream.

I'm afraid that when she wakes up, she'll turn back into Ah Shuang who doesn't remember anything.

Time slips away, bit by bit.

Until late at night on the third day.

The wind and snow outside stopped, and moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating Ashuang's aged face.

Su Bai was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding her hand, his eyelids drooping slightly.

Sudden.

The hand he held in his palm moved slightly.

Su Bai jolted awake, instantly snapping back to reality: "A'Shuang? Xuanming?!"

Empress Pingxin also appeared at the bedside instantly, holding her breath.

Under the watchful eyes of the two.

The old woman on the bed slowly opened her eyes.

This time, her eyes changed.

She was no longer the timid, clear-eyed, yet humble mortal girl, Ashuang.

Those eyes were as deep as the eternally cold pool of the Northern Sea, as clear and cold as the snow and ice atop Mount Buzhou. Although they were still murky (due to the limitations of the physical body), the divine light flowing within them, the calm and majesty that came from seeing through the vicissitudes of life and experiencing life and death, were something that no ordinary person could possess.

That is……

The Rain Ancestral Witch, who once dominated the primordial world and struck fear into the hearts of demons!

She looked quietly at Su Bai, then glanced at Ping Xin, who was standing beside her, her face filled with excitement.

There was no weeping or shouting.

She merely moved the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing a faint smile that Su Bai knew all too well, tinged with a hint of arrogance and aloofness.

"How did you get into such a mess?"

Although her voice was old and hoarse, the tone and style were unique to that person.

"Sister Xuanming! You're finally back!"

Pingxin could no longer hold back and rushed over to hug her, bursting into tears.

Su Bai sat there, looking at her, and as he smiled, tears streamed down his face.

came back.

They're really back.

Xuanming, who loved carving ice sculptures, who was stubborn but soft-hearted, and who gave his life for him, finally crossed the cycle of reincarnation and returned to him.

however.

After the initial joy subsided, an extremely cruel reality was poured over the heads of the three of them like a bucket of cold water.

Xuanming raised his hand, looking at his withered, age-spot-covered arm, and frowned slightly.

She tried to mobilize the power of the laws within her body.

Empty.

Apart from the newly replenished true spirit consciousness, this body contains no magical power and no ancestral witch bloodline.

This is just a mortal body, exhausted and nearing its end.

Even if consciousness returns, even if memories are restored.

But she was still a mortal who could die of old age at any time.

"It seems..."

Xuanming lowered his hand, looked at Su Baiping and Ping Xin, and said with a hint of helpless self-mockery:

"I may be back, but this body..."

"I'm afraid it won't last more than a few days."

A mortal body!

It's just a return of consciousness!