One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

As Zhang Taichu finished speaking, the air in the entire valley seemed to freeze at that moment.

The cracks on the originally smooth, mirror-like stone wall, caused by the shattering of the spiritual energy field, did not stop spreading. Instead, they began to seep out wisps of pale white energy, like living blood vessels.

These energies did not dissipate in the wind, but instead, defying the laws of physics, they intertwined, coiled, and piled up in mid-air.

hum-

A deep hum resounded deep within everyone's ears, as if something was struggling to crawl out from the long river of time.

"The... Sect Leader?!"

Grandma Jin Feng, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly raised her head, and an unprecedented light shone from her cloudy old eyes.

She stared intently at the pale, condensing light and shadow, her withered hands digging deep into the soil, forgetting even to breathe.

Under the astonished gaze of everyone.

The ball of light and shadow finally froze, transforming into a clear human figure.

He was a man who looked to be in his thirties.

He was wearing an inappropriate suit, his tie was hanging loosely around his neck, and his shirt was buttoned up incorrectly.

The most outrageous thing was that he was barefoot, with his trousers rolled up to his knees, looking like an old farmer who had just finished planting rice seedlings in the field, yet he insisted on attending some high-class cocktail party.

That extreme sense of incongruity, however, blended into an indescribable sense of freedom and...madness in him.

The leader of Quanxing Sect.

The culprits behind the Jia Shen Rebellion.

Rootless.

"Those who come after..."

The phantom slowly spoke.

The voice wasn't old; instead, it possessed a unique magnetism, exuding a nonchalant languor.

"Since you can break through this illusion of 'what it means to be human,' it means you are already a 'human.'"

"Or rather, you've become a monster who's no longer bound by rules."

The phantom did not look at anyone present.

It's like a pre-programmed sequence, mechanically reciting its last words to the void:

"At the end of art lies a wasteland."

"We saw cracks in the natural order there, and we saw the hypocrisy of the rules."

"I want to take everyone out to see the world beyond that crack, to become... the fourth kind of person."

"The fourth type...people who are not bound by heaven and earth, nor bound by cause and effect."

Upon hearing these words, Zhang Chulan's pupils contracted sharply.

He clenched his fists instinctively. The amount of information in those words was overwhelming; each word was like a key, impacting his understanding of the turmoil of that year.

"I see……"

Zhuge Qing pushed up his glasses, a layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead:

"Is this the truth behind the sworn brotherhood of the Thirty-Six Thieves?"

"Trying to defy the rules of Heaven... that's utterly insane..."

"Sect Leader..."

Granny Jin Feng was already sobbing uncontrollably. She prostrated herself on the ground, frantically kowtowing to the illusory figure:

"You're right!! You've always been right!!"

"The world is wrong!! The mediocre people are wrong!!"

however.

Just as everyone was immersed in the awe-inspiring experience that transcended time and space.

"Oh."

A cold laugh, utterly contemptuous, abruptly shattered the solemn atmosphere.

Zhang Taichu stood less than three meters in front of the illusory figure, hands in his pockets, head tilted, as if watching a clown performance.

"Are you done talking?"

"If you've finished speaking, then don't play the recording there."

It seemed to sense the undisguised mockery emanating from Zhang Taichu, or perhaps it sensed the aura of someone at the same "top" level.

The previously mechanical and rigid phantom suddenly stopped.

It slowly turned its head.

A subtle, human-like fluctuation appeared in those previously empty and lifeless eyes.

That was surprise.

It's a question.

There was even a hint of... the excitement of meeting a worthy opponent.

"what?"

The phantom let out a soft exclamation; the predetermined program seemed to have deviated from its intended course at this moment:

"strangeness……"

"It wasn't part of my plan..."

"Who are you?"

Upon seeing this, Wang Ye nearly bit his tongue off:

"He's...he's alive?!"

"This is just a remnant soul, isn't it?! How can it still talk?!"

Zhang Taichu did not answer Wugensheng's question.

He simply took a step forward, his deep eyes meeting Wugensheng's directly, his tone flat:

Who I am is not important.

"The important thing is, after listening to that nonsense you just rambled on, I found it rather laughable."

"You said you wanted to break the rules and take people to see the world outside the crack."

"And the result?"

Zhang Taichu pointed to the desolate valley around them, then to the kneeling, inhuman-looking Granny Jin Feng:

"Is this the result you wanted?"

"A group of people will die for you, and the rest will go mad for you."

"In the end, you yourself also became this lonely ghost who can only hide in the rocks."

"This is what you call... the fourth type of person?"

The rootless phantom fell silent.

He looked down at his hands, then at Jin Feng kneeling on the ground. For the first time, a hint of melancholy appeared on that face that always wore a cynical smile.

"The road... is very difficult to walk."

Wugensheng's voice became somewhat ethereal:

"To rebuild, you must first destroy."

"This is the price."

"cost?"

Zhang Taichu scoffed, taking another step closer. His aura, like a towering mountain, pressed down heavily on the illusory figure.

"Stop trying to glorify yourself."

"You think you've seen a crack in the Way of Heaven, but you've just gotten stuck in a rut."

"All things carry yin and embrace yang, and achieve harmony through the interaction of these energies."

"Rules are just crutches for the weak; the strong never need to look at road signs when they walk."

"You're too eager to be a god."

Zhang Taichu's voice grew colder and colder, each word like a heavy hammer blow striking Wugensheng's remnant soul:

"You want to bring everyone to your level, but you forget that they don't even have the ability to breathe at that level."

"You're not saving people."

"You are killing someone."

"Wugensheng, you've narrowed your path."

As the last word fell.

boom!

The surrounding space seemed to tremble.

The illusory image of Wugensheng fluctuated violently, like a candle flame being blown about by the wind.

He stared blankly at Zhang Taichu, seemingly processing what he had just said.

a long time.

He suddenly laughed.

"Haha...hahaha..."

The laughter started low and gradually grew wild, eventually turning into unrestrained laughter.

"Okay...okay!"

"I've taken a narrow path... someone actually said I've taken a narrow path..."

"Interesting... This is so interesting..."

Wugensheng laughed so hard he almost fell over, tears welling up in his eyes.

"What a pity... what a pity I died so young."

"If only I had been born a few decades earlier, and met a freak like you..."

"How wonderful this world is!"

Zhang Taichu stared expressionlessly at the laughing Wugensheng, showing no reaction whatsoever to the other's praise.

He slowly raised his right hand, and a ball of dark blue light began to circulate in his palm.

"Have you laughed enough?"

Zhang Taichu's voice was devoid of any warmth:

"You've laughed enough, now hand over the stuff."

"I don't have time to reminisce with you about the past."

Wugensheng's laughter stopped abruptly.

He looked at the dangerous blue light in Zhang Taichu's hand, a knowing look on his face:

"You want to know the truth about what happened back then?"

"Still want to know... about Feng Baobao?"

Zhang Taichu did not answer.

Swish!

His figure vanished instantly.

When he reappeared, he was already standing in front of Wugensheng.

The large hand, glowing with a ghostly blue light, unceremoniously grabbed the face of Wugensheng's phantom.

"I don't like riddles."

Zhang Taichu's eyes were icy cold:

"I'll take it myself."

"No!!!"

Grandma Jin Feng let out a piercing scream and scrambled to her feet, ready to rush over:

"Stop!! Don't touch the sect leader!!"

But she was too slow.

Buzz—! ! ! ! !

As Zhang Taichu tightened his grip, the dark blue light surged instantly, like countless tiny tentacles, forcefully piercing into Wugensheng's remnant soul.

Brute force read.

There was no warm exchange, and no room for bargaining.

This is Zhang Taichu's style.

The illusory figure of Wugensheng struggled violently, a look of pain appearing on its face.

But he did not retaliate.

In those gradually unfocused eyes, a sense of relief and liberation was revealed.

Countless fragmented images, sounds, and memories flooded into Zhang Taichu's mind along with that blue hand.

The cause of the Jia Shen Rebellion...

The list of the Thirty-Six Thieves...

The birth process of the Eight Extraordinary Skills...

and also……

The most crucial secret about Feng Baobao's background.

A few seconds later.

"I see."

Zhang Taichu slowly uttered four words, the blue light in his eyes gradually fading.

He let go.

The rootless phantom, having lost its power, began to disintegrate at a visible rate.

His body transformed into countless tiny specks of light, scattering in all directions.

In the moments before it completely dissipated.

The iconic smile reappeared on that face, which now only had half of it remaining.

He gave Feng Baobao, who was standing in the distance, a long look, his lips moving slightly as if he wanted to say something.

But in the end, he said nothing.

Only a faint sigh escaped into the wind of the Qinling Mountains.

"Sect Leader!!!!"

Grandma Jin Feng rushed into the dissipating light, her hands flailing wildly in the air, trying to hold onto the broken rays of light.

But she couldn't grasp anything.

That was utter annihilation.

Even the last shred of his obsession was forcibly stripped away. Even if a celestial being were to arrive, they could not save this madman who once stirred up the world.

"It's gone...it's all gone..."

Grandma Jin Feng knelt on the ground, looking at her empty palms, feeling as if her spine had been removed.

Her faith, her god, the dream she guarded her whole life.

At this moment.

It's completely shattered.