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

Beyond the thirty-third heaven lies the Nuwa Palace.

This is the sacred ground of sages, transcending the primordial chaos, a place that should be tranquil, inactive, and imperishable through countless eons. Yet today, within those tightly closed palace gates, an extremely oppressive atmosphere permeates the air.

A tiny point of light, both multicolored and extremely dim, wobbled through the chaotic gale, struggled to squeeze into the palace wall, and finally drifted down before the high cloud bed.

That was Nuwa's physical body and divine thoughts.

At this moment, where was the composure and domineering aura she once displayed when toying with Buddha and deceiving the heavens in the mortal realm? That wisp of divine thought was so weak that it seemed about to collapse at any moment, and the originally brilliant seven-colored light was now like a candle flickering in the wind.

On the cloud bed, the sage Nuwa slowly opened her eyes.

Those eyes were as deep as the starry sky, exuding a detached indifference, but when they saw that wisp of divine thought about to dissipate, a complex emotion still flickered deep within them.

She extended a jade-like finger and gently touched it. A surge of sacred power protected the wisp of divine thought, preventing it from immediately dissipating.

"You've gone too far."

Nuwa's voice was cold and detached, yet it carried an undeniable air of authority: "I sent you down to the mortal realm merely to oversee things, not to stir up trouble. Look at the mess you've made!"

Although her physical body and spiritual senses were weak, her personality was completely different from that of her original self. Even in this state, she still let out a light laugh, a laugh that carried a hint of mockery and a touch of pleasure.

"A good thing? Isn't this a good thing?" The voice of the other woman was broken and intermittent, yet every word was piercing to the heart. "If I hadn't intervened, Su Bai would truly be dead on Mount Ling today. My lord, do you dare say you really wanted to see him die?"

"shut up!"

Nuwa frowned slightly, her holy aura subtly fluctuating, causing the entire Nuwa Palace to tremble. "Do you know that your 'Heaven-Stealing and Sun-Changing' technique almost triggered a full-blown calamity? Yang Chan has gone mad, and not only did you not stop her, you aided and abetted her, helping her perfect that substitute technique, even causing the Great Dao to weep!"

"Now the entire prehistoric world believes Su Bai is dead. The Queen Mother of the West, Jin Ling, the Three Immortals of Sanxiao... those women have gone completely mad, almost dragging the entire Western Sect down with them! If Pingxin hadn't intervened, this prehistoric land would probably have been shattered today!"

Nuwa's tone grew increasingly harsh as she spoke, clearly indicating that she was genuinely angry.

As a sage, she valued the grand scheme of things and the primordial balance of the universe. Her act of using her body to manipulate events pushed the situation to the brink of chaos; had several sages not intervened in time to suppress it, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Faced with the questioning of the true self, the physical body showed no fear whatsoever, and instead laughed even louder.

"So what?"

The illusory figure of the ethereal being swayed slightly in the holy power, staring directly into the cold eyes of the true self, "They are mad because they have feelings! Because they dare to love and hate! The Queen Mother of the West dared to fight on Mount Ling for him, Jin Ling dared to sever her master-disciple relationship for him, and Yang Chan even dared to imprison herself for life for him..."

"And you? My dearest self?"

The other woman's tone turned sharp, "You sit high above the thirty-three heavens, called a saint, but in reality you're nothing but a clay puppet! You clearly have him in your heart, you clearly can't bear to see him die, but what do you dare to do? You dare nothing!"

"You only dare to push him out, using the so-called 'general trend' to numb yourself. You killed me, saying it was to prove your Dao, but now that a wisp of my divine consciousness is about to return, can you really sever those emotions?"

The sage Nuwa fell silent.

She looked at the wisp of divine thought swaying in the wind; it was the obsession she had once severed, the part of her emotions as a "human being".

"I did for you the things you didn't have the courage to do."

Qing Shen's voice grew weaker and weaker, a sign that her strength was running out, but her eyes were brighter than ever before. "Su Bai isn't dead, he's still alive, that's enough. As for Yang Chan... ha, that little girl may be a bit stubborn, but at least she dared to hide him and dared to lie to the whole world."

"Are you jealous, my lord?"

Nuwa, the Sage, took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the tremor in her heart, and said coldly, "I am a Sage, long since transcending worldly affairs. How can there be any talk of jealousy?"

"Yeah?"

The other body let out a meaningful sigh, "I hope that after I completely return to my original form and merge with you, you'll still be this stubborn."

"I'm about to disappear... This time, it's really time to return."

The figure of her beloved began to transform into countless points of light, which were pure emotions and memories, everything she experienced in the mortal realm, including that moment of attraction to Su Bai, her mad admiration for Yang Chan, and her teasing of Tathagata.

"My Lord, please accept this 'gift'."

"From this day forward, I am you, and you are me. This cause and effect, this debt of love, you cannot escape..."

As the last word fell, the seven-colored light spots scattered with a roar, merging seamlessly into the brow of the goddess Nuwa, like weary birds returning to their nests.

"boom--"

Nuwa's body trembled violently, and a blush, never before seen, instantly appeared on her usually calm face.

Those overwhelming memories and intense emotions overwhelmed her defenses like a raging flood.

She saw Su Bai's figure fighting bloody battles on Ling Mountain and felt the heartache in her heart at that moment; she saw Yang Chan's crazed eyes and felt that suffocating love; she even felt... in that instant, the impulse of her to rush down and hug that man without regard for anything else.

"Well……"

Nuwa, the sage, groaned and gripped the edge of the cloud bed tightly with both hands, her knuckles turning white.

The emperor's mind was in turmoil.

This time, things are truly in chaos, more thoroughly than ever before.

"Su...Bai..."

She murmured the name softly, and a single tear uncontrollably slid down her cheek.

Qingshen is right, she can't escape it.

Now that she has regained control of her body and soul, those suppressed emotions have come back to haunt her a thousandfold. She is no longer the detached spectator; she has become a participant.

……

The West, Mount Ling.

Although the Great Thunder Temple has been reduced to ruins, the Buddha still sits serenely on the broken half of the golden lotus.

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas around were busy treating the wounded, repairing the great formation, and cleaning up the shocking bloodstains.

But Buddha did nothing.

He just sat there blankly, staring at his slightly charred right hand, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

Not right.

Something's really not right.

"This palm strike of mine is called 'Annihilation of Cause and Effect.' It seems to possess boundless power, but in reality... I held back!"

The Buddha was roaring madly in his heart.

Although he was furious with Su Bai and shouted that he would suppress Su Bai, he knew exactly what was going on.

There are too many people standing behind Su Bai!

The Queen Mother of the West, the Holy Mother of the Golden Spirit, the Three Immortals of Sanxiao... this group of ladies were watching them intently from the sidelines. If they were to actually kill Su Bai with a single palm strike, the consequences would be something the Western Sect could not afford.

Therefore, although Tathagata used all his power in that palm strike, he only used 70% of his internal strength.

According to his calculations, this 70% of the palm force was enough to severely injure Su Bai, cripple his cultivation, and suppress him under the Five Finger Mountain (or a similar place), preventing him from ever turning the tables. However, it was definitely not enough to kill him on the spot, much less to turn him into ashes!

"The physical body of a Great Luo Golden Immortal is tempered by the laws of nature; moreover, he was an Ancestral Witch in his previous life, possessing an incomparably powerful physique. How could he possibly shatter into pieces like a porcelain doll at the slightest touch?"

The Buddha was completely baffled.

The scene was so horrific, and so...exaggerated.

Blood rained down from the sky, the Great Dao cried out in anguish, and the true spirit dissipated. His manner was as if he wanted everyone to know he was dead.

"Could it be... that this kid is faking his death?"

The moment this thought popped into his head, even Buddha himself was startled, but then he realized it was unlikely.

"That's a celestial phenomenon! The mournful cry of the Great Dao cannot be faked, nor can the dissipation of a true spirit. If it were a feigned death, how could it have deceived so many quasi-saints present? Even Empress Pingxin believed it?"

Buddha felt like his brain was about to explode.

He now felt like a suspect standing next to a corpse, knife in hand. He clearly remembered only scratching the other person's skin, only for the other person to suddenly explode on the spot, scattering debris everywhere.

This is outrageous!

"No, we have to find out the truth."

The Buddha took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the agitation in his heart.

He formed a mudra with his hands, and the broken golden wheel of merit behind his head began to turn with difficulty.

"By reversing cause and effect, we can deduce the secrets of heaven!"

He wanted to use his expertise in the Dao of Cause and Effect to trace back to the moment Su Bai fell, to see what exactly happened.

"Buzz—"

An invisible wave spread out along the lines of cause and effect, attempting to pierce through the mists of time and space.

However, the next moment.

"puff!"

The Buddha suddenly spat out a mouthful of golden blood, and his aura instantly weakened.

Backlash!

A terrifying backlash!

The instant he attempted to deduce the truth, he felt a vast, heaven-like power that abruptly and forcefully severed his investigation.

In that celestial realm, all was in chaos, and nothing could be seen clearly.

All the clues, all the causes and effects, point to one ending—utter annihilation.

but……

In the depths of that chaotic mist, Tathagata keenly sensed a faint yet lofty aura.

That is... holy power!

"saint?!"

The Buddha's pupils contracted sharply, and his heart pounded wildly. "A sage has intervened to conceal the secrets of heaven? Who is it?!"

The Master of Heaven? Impossible, he's been imprisoned.

Yuanshi Tianzun? He'd love to see the Western Sect make a fool of itself, so there's no reason for him to help Su Bai fake his death.

Laozi? He has always advocated following the way of Heaven. Su Bai is a variable, so he won't do that.

Jieyin and Zhunti? Even less likely, they'd rather capture Su Bai and use him as a watchdog.

After using the process of elimination, the remaining name is almost obvious.

"Nuwa?!"

Buddha gasped, feeling a chill run down his spine.

If it was Nuwa herself who intervened, then this makes sense. Only a sage could create an illusion that even a quasi-sage couldn't see through; only a sage could evoke the Great Dao's lament; and only a sage could cause such a great loss for an expert in the Dao of Cause and Effect!

"But...why?"

Even Buddha couldn't understand it, no matter how hard he tried: "Why would Goddess Nuwa help Su Bai fake his death? Could it be that she also...?"

Regardless of the truth, what lies before the Buddha is now a huge mess.

Su Bai is "dead," a fact universally acknowledged throughout the Three Realms.

Moreover, it happened on Buddha's territory, where he was killed by Buddha with a single palm strike.

This black pot, so big and round, was stuck to his back and he couldn't shake it off.

"It's over..."

Looking at the devastated Mount Ling, Buddha recalled the murderous look in the eyes of the Queen Mother of the West as she left, and the cruel words uttered by the madwomen of the Jie Sect.

"With Su Bai gone, these women have lost their will to live. They'll probably hold this grudge against my Western Sect for generations to come."

"Will my Western religion ever be able to live in peace again?"

The Buddha sighed deeply, feeling that he had never been so wronged in his life.

He clearly held back, clearly only wanted to catch a laborer, but the laborer self-destructed and even demolished the boss's house. In the end, the boss had to bear the crime of murder and be chased by a group of crazy women for ten thousand years.

What the hell is this?!

"Pass down the order..."

The Buddha waved his hand weakly, his voice filled with deep weariness, "Close the mountain gates and allow the people to recuperate. For the next five hundred years... no, for the next thousand years, no disciple of the Western Sect shall set foot outside Mount Ling."

Can't afford to provoke, can I still not hide?

Let's seal off this sacred mountain.