The Cold and Aloof Palace Master's Daily Demon-Slaying Life

Clearly, he also "saw" Zuo Qingqiu.

Or rather, they sensed Zuo Qingqiu's undisguised, vast, and majestic aura as if the Heavenly Emperor himself were in the world—the aura of a Golden Core True Monarch!

A brief silence.

The astonishment in the eyes of the Old Ancestor of Earth Luo slowly faded, and he regained his composure, even showing a hint of understanding and a faint sense of relief.

He seemed to understand why the sect he left behind had fallen into such a state.

He also understood why his backup plan had been triggered.

It turned out that the enemy was a Golden Core True Monarch.

No wonder.

No wonder all the remaining members of the Purple Mansion perished, no wonder the sect's protective formation was broken, no wonder they resorted to extreme measures like blood sacrifice, and no wonder my own backup plan was forced out.

He remained silent for a moment, seemingly processing the information or weighing something.

Finally, he spoke again, his voice still old and peaceful, but his tone had subtly changed.

The air of superiority that had previously clung to him when he referred to himself as "this one" quietly vanished.

"This... fellow Daoist."

The old ancestor Di Luo looked at Zuo Qingqiu and spoke slowly, his tone carrying a hint of discussion, and even a hint of barely perceptible earnestness.

"I am Di Luo Zhenjun, the founder of this Di Luo Sect."

He frankly revealed his identity.

"This woman..." He looked down at the broken monster body he was currently inhabiting, a complex look flashing in his eyes. "Although she has entered the demonic path and acts irrationally, judging from her character, she is deeply obsessed and would rather die than retreat. She does have some of the spirit of our Luo Sect back then."

"She should be the last successor of my sect, which has long since become unrecognizable."

Ancestor Di Luo raised his head and looked at Zuo Qingqiu again, his gaze calm and composed.

"Fellow Daoist, your supernatural powers are unparalleled. You have completely destroyed this mountain gate, and most of your disciples have been killed."

"You may take all the remaining cultivation techniques, scriptures, resources, and even the dragon vein of the Yanfu Mountains. I have no objection."

"I only beg you, fellow Daoist, to spare this woman's life for my sake, to let her leave, and to give her a way out. Is that alright?"

His tone, which began as a calm statement, gradually took on a clear sense of pleading by the end.

Clearly, he also knew very well that, in the face of a living, healthy Golden Core True Monarch, his own wisp of remnant spirit, which had been dead for tens of thousands of years and was now only a trace of life remaining, had absolutely no right to "negotiate".

Zuo Qingqiu listened quietly, her face beneath the bamboo hat remaining calm and expressionless.

It seems that this Diluo Ancestor is not omniscient. He seems unaware of the defection of someone to the Western Lands and believes that Xia Zhu is the last successor of the Diluo Sect.

Only after Old Ancestor Luo finished speaking and looked at her with his aged eyes, which held a hint of hope, did she slowly open her mouth.

The voice was clear, calm, and undisturbed.

Do I...know you?

Ancestor Di Luo was taken aback.

Zuo Qingqiu continued, her tone so calm it was as if she were stating a fact:

Why should I give you face?

Ancestor Di Luo remained silent, and the hope in his eyes dimmed somewhat.

Zuo Qingqiu tilted her head slightly, seemingly pondering for a moment, then looked at Old Ancestor Di Luo with her clear, deep eyes and asked her third question:

"Your face..."

"How much is it worth?"

The voice remained calm, without any deliberate emphasis.

But the meaning behind his words was like the sharpest ice pick, mercilessly piercing through the last bit of expectation and hope of the old ancestor Di Luo.

do not know.

We have no connection.

It's worthless.

So why should I give you face? Why should I let her go?

Just because you're a remnant soul that's been dead for tens of thousands of years?

Based on the fact that you... were once the founder of this sect?

Sorry.

It doesn't work for me.

Ancestor Di Luo stared blankly at Zuo Qingqiu, at those calm, clear eyes that seemed to contain the entire cold starry sky, devoid of any emotion.

a long time.

He sighed softly.

That sigh was long and heavy, as if it carried tens of thousands of years of time and endless helplessness.

"yes……"

"I have never met you before, my fellow Daoist."

"My old face is long gone and is indeed not worth mentioning."

He slowly shook his head, a self-deprecating, bitter smile on his face.

"It is I who have overstepped my bounds."

He eventually accepted reality.

If the attackers are only a hundred or more Great Perfection Purple Mansion cultivators, his backup plan, which contains a trace of True Monarch aura and possesses some True Monarch methods, can reverse the situation, save the sect from danger, and annihilate all the invading enemies.

The terror of the True Lord far exceeds the imagination of the Purple Mansion.

Even a wisp of its aura is enough to easily annihilate a Grand Perfection cultivator of the Purple Mansion realm.

but……

If the enemy is himself a true lord.

That would be completely different.

A mere wisp of energy, trying to contend with a complete True Monarch?

It's like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, or an ant trying to shake a tree.

wishful thinking.

Moreover, his original body had already perished tens of thousands of years ago.

At this moment, "he" is nothing more than a mixture of "aura" and "obsession" that has barely survived thanks to a special restriction.

They no longer felt such deep emotional attachment to this "sect" that had long since degenerated beyond recognition, nor did they feel the need to fight to the death to protect it.

More than anything, it's perhaps just a longing for the past.

Now, seeing that things are beyond saving...

That's it.

That's it.

What sect in this world can last forever?

The cycle of prosperity and decline is a natural law.

You can't force it.

There's no need to force it.

Old Ancestor Di Luo looked at Zuo Qingqiu again, his gaze complex, which eventually turned into a complete sense of relief and peace.

"It's time for this old man to go."

"May you, fellow Daoist, enjoy great fortune and soar to great heights."

He spoke softly, as if saying goodbye to an old friend.

Then, he slowly closed his eyes.

next moment--

"Buzz..."

A very faint sound, like the ripples of water.

The tiny golden spot, the size of a grain of rice, that had forcibly "frozen" the process of her body's collapse between Xia Zhu's eyebrows began to dissipate from the inside out.

The light grew fainter and fainter.

Like a candle flickering in the wind, it finally burned out its last bit of oil.

At the same time, the ancient and vast aura emanating from the remnant spirit of the Earth Ancestor, which was emanating from Xia Zhu's body, also quickly faded and disappeared.

In just two or three breaths.

The golden light completely dissipated.

The ancient atmosphere has vanished completely.

Those weathered eyes that belonged to the Old Ancestor Di Luo slowly closed and never opened again.

It was as if it had never existed.

Everything has returned to square one.

All that remained was Xia Zhu's cracked, weak body, still suspended in mid-air, but now without its last "support".

As the remnant soul of the Earthly Ancestor actively dispersed that wisp of True Monarch aura, the power that forcibly "froze" the process of Xia Zhu's body collapsing also disappeared.

Without the support of this force, Xia Zhu's figure, which was suspended in mid-air, trembled slightly and then began to fall again.

Perhaps it was because the backlash from the previous triple sacrifice was already extremely severe, or perhaps it was because this broken body, in its final moments, "beared" the aura and power of a True Lord's lingering will, leading to even more severe strain and damage...

"Click...click...click-click..."

A series of teeth-grinding sounds, like porcelain shattering completely, came densely from inside Xia Zhu's falling body.

The deep, crisscrossing cracks on her body, which were already visible to the bone, seemed to be infused with a final burst of power, and began to spread, expand, and connect wildly!

Cracks, like a spider web, instantly covered every inch of her skin, even spreading to her cheeks, neck, and hair.

Her body, like a cracked glass vessel that had reached its limit, began its final disintegration as it fell.

"puff--"

A soft sound.

Xia Zhu's finger first transformed into countless tiny, dark red light fragments, which then scattered.

Next came the palm, wrist, forearm...

The rate of disintegration is accelerating, like a chain reaction.

Arms, shoulders, torso, legs, head...

They all turned into countless tiny specks of light, which drifted away.

A few breaths later, before Xia Zhu even landed on the ground, her physical body and primordial spirit had completely disintegrated and vanished in mid-air.

With that, the witch Xia Zhu was completely dead.

This foolish girl, who risked everything for a promise, returned to the world.

Later generations offered only a few words of evaluation for this witch—

"Fear is the instinct of living beings, courage is the hymn of mankind."

There are always creatures on earth that dare to face the lightning from the sky.

-

PS: Phew! The Xia Zhu arc is finally finished! Writing battle scenes is so difficult; I'm completely terrible at it. Thankfully, the next long stretch will be mostly slice-of-life.