The spiritual energy was restored, and he became a mortal immortal in two days.

The Northern Frontier, the Natural Barrier Pass

A thousand miles beyond the pass, dark clouds loomed over the city.

The demon army surged in like a tidal wave, with birds in the sky blotting out the sun and beasts on the ground shaking mountains and rivers.

Leading the group was a nine-headed demon serpent a thousand feet long, none other than the Heavenly Demon Zhu Jiuyin.

On the head in the middle stood a man in black robes, his face sinister and his eyes like a dark abyss.

This person is the incarnation of Zhu Jiuyin, whose cultivation has reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, and he is just one step away from stepping into the Void Refinement stage.

"Wu Minghuang, three hundred years have passed, and you are still as stubborn as ever."

Zhu Jiuyin's voice was like the hissing of ten thousand snakes, "Prime Minister Chen has abandoned the mortal world, and you still want to guard this broken thread for him?"

On the wall, Wu Minghuang stood holding a gun.

Behind her stood the last strength of the Heavenly Wind Immortal Dynasty.

Twelve Nascent Soul cultivators, eighty-seven Nascent Soul generals, and three thousand elite Golden Core warriors.

Most of these people have white hair and are veterans who lived through the "Human Line" era three hundred years ago.

"Zhu Jiuyin".

Wu Minghuang pointed the tip of her spear at the demon serpent, "Three hundred years ago you hid like a dog, afraid to show your face, but now you're all high and mighty."

Zhu Jiuyin's nine heads roared simultaneously: "Insolence! I have now reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage; killing you is as easy as slaughtering a dog!"

"Then let's give it a try."

Without another word, Wu Minghuang stepped out of the gate!

Crimson gold phoenix flames soared into the sky, transforming into a ten-thousand-foot-tall fire phoenix that rushed straight towards the demon army!

This shot was fired without holding back. The instant the gun was fired, the clouds for a hundred miles were torn apart, and the sunlight pierced through the dark clouds like a sharp sword!

"Form the Great Demon Formation!"

Zhu Jiuyin shouted fiercely.

Below, a million demons roared simultaneously, their demonic energy converging into a jet-black pillar of light that clashed with the fire phoenix!

"boom!!!"

Heaven and earth faded.

The shockwave leveled mountains within a hundred miles, and cracks appeared in the walls of the Tianqian Pass. Wu Minghuang was sent flying a hundred feet backward, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes were even more fierce.

Behind her, twelve Nascent Soul cultivators attacked simultaneously!

"Protect His Majesty!"

The twelve supernatural powers transformed into a light barrier, resisting the backlash from the Great Demon Array.

However, most of these twelve people were nearing the end of their lifespans, and three of them vomited blood on the spot, with cracks appearing in their primordial spirits.

"The old folks are pretty resilient."

Zhu Jiuyin sneered, and his nine heads simultaneously spewed out poisonous fire, ice, lightning, and putrid water... Nine types of demonic arts converged into a torrent, threatening to completely submerge Tianqian Pass.

Wu Minghuang wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and formed a hand seal.

"In the name of Wu Minghuang, I borrow the destiny of the nation for six hundred years..."

A crimson phoenix seal appeared between her brows, and blood-red flames ignited around her.

That's not Phoenix Flame, it's the "Nirvana Flame" that burns away lifespan and national destiny!

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"

The old prime minister cried out from the fortified wall, "Burning the nation's destiny will lead to the complete collapse of the Immortal Dynasty!"

"Foundation?"

Wu Minghuang smiled, a sorrowful smile, "With the master gone, what use is this legacy to me?"

Crimson flames shot into the sky, and her cultivation level began to rise rapidly!

Late stage of Nascent Soul... Peak stage of Nascent Soul... Half-step into Void Refinement!

"madman!"

Zhu Jiuyin's expression finally changed. "You're forcibly attempting to break through to the Void Refinement Realm. Even if you succeed, you will die and your cultivation will be extinguished!"

"So what?"

Wu Minghuang opened her eyes, which had turned crimson gold.

With a wave of her hand, the fortune of the vast land gathered and condensed into a blood-red spear in her palm.

"This shot is for the three hundred years that the gentleman has guarded."

The gun is fired.

There was no sound, no light.

Time seemed to stand still.

Zhu Jiuyin's pupils shrank suddenly. It wanted to hide, but found that the surrounding space had been completely sealed off.

It tried to block, but the sorcery unleashed by the nine heads was silently annihilated the moment it touched the tip of the spear.

This is the power of the Void Refinement Realm—it involves rules and touches upon the very origin.

"No!!!"

The blood-red spear pierced through the middle of Zhu Jiuyin's head and emerged from the chest of his transformed body.

The force of the spear did not stop, continuing to penetrate backward, stringing together the three Nascent Soul demon kings and the seventeen Golden Core demon kings behind it!

One shot, and he killed a Heavenly Demon, three Demon Kings, and seventeen Great Demons!

The demon army collapsed.

But Wu Minghuang also fell from the sky.

The old prime minister leaped to catch her, tears streaming down his face: "Was it worth it, Your Majesty?"

Wu Minghuang's face was as pale as paper, and the phoenix mark between her brows was dim.

She burned the last six hundred years of the Heavenly Wind Immortal Dynasty's national fortune, forcibly stepping into the Void Refining Realm in an instant, and killed Zhu Jiuyin, but also exhausted everything.

"Help me...return to court."

She looked south, towards Tianmen Mountain.

"I would like to... take another look at the lines you drew, sir."

Three months later, Fengming City

The capital is now empty.

The common people retreated into the map of mountains and rivers, the soldiers died on the battlefield, and the civil and military officials died for their country.

The once bustling streets are now deserted, with only the autumn wind swirling fallen leaves.

Wu Minghuang walked alone on Zhuque Street.

She had taken off her imperial robes and put on a simple red dress, just like when she first met Prime Minister Chen three hundred years ago.

Beneath the red robes, her body was already as transparent as glass, a sign that her soul was about to be scattered.

Walk to the "Holy Teacher Square" in the center of the Imperial City.

In the center of the square stands a hundred-foot-tall golden statue of merit.

The statue's face is blurred, but its posture is upright, with its hands behind its back gazing at the sky, which is exactly what Chen Xiang looks like.

This is a golden statue that the people of Tianfeng spontaneously cast three hundred years ago in gratitude for the Holy Teacher's kindness.

Wu Minghuang walked to the base of the statue and slowly sat down.

She leaned against the cold stone statue's feet, looking up at the blurry face.

"Sir... Minghuang has guarded it for three hundred years."

"The demons have retreated... Zhu Jiuyin is dead... the people are safe..."

She coughed up a mouthful of blood, which contained golden specks of light—those were fragments of her shattered soul.

"But Tianfeng... is dead."

As the sun set, it stained her red dress blood-red.

The autumn wind was bleak, blowing her long, loose hair.

Wu Minghuang took out a jade pendant from her bosom.

That was left to her by Chen Xiang before he left. He said that if there was any emergency, she should crush the jade pendant and he would come back no matter where he was.

For three hundred years, she had wanted to crush it countless times.

But in the end it didn't.

"Master is about to break through to a higher realm... Minghuang cannot hold you back..."

She gripped the jade pendant tightly and pressed it against her chest.

My vision began to blur, and I seemed to hear a voice from three hundred years ago—

"Little Phoenix, it will be very difficult for you to cultivate with me."

"Minghuang is not afraid of hardship!"

"Very well, from today onwards, you are my disciple, Prime Minister Chen."

"Sir... I'll call you 'sir' one last time..."

Wu Minghuang closed her eyes, a smile playing on her lips.

"In the next life... I still want to meet you."

The setting sun sank completely into the western mountains.

The woman in red turned into specks of crimson-gold dust, which drifted away in the wind.

Only the jade pendant slipped from her vanishing palm and fell beside the base of the golden statue of merit, making a crisp sound.

In the autumn of the 903rd year of the Tianfeng Calendar, the last female emperor, Wu Minghuang, perished.

The Immortal Dynasty's national fortune was exhausted, the map of the state collapsed, and thirty million people were scattered in all directions, ushering in the era of mortals.

The holy teacher Chen Xiang has never returned since he left two hundred years ago.

Lingxiao Headquarters: Dead silence.

The projection screen went dark.

No one spoke in the conference room. Lin Xiaoman's eyes were red-rimmed, Ye Li gripped her sword hilt tightly, and Wang Mingyuan took off his glasses and rubbed his temples vigorously.

"So when Mr. Chen Xuan returned..."

Lin Xiaoman's voice trembled, "What I saw was ruins? And the Empress's dissipating soul light?"

"What's even crueler is..."

Ye Li said hoarsely, "Even until her death, the Empress believed that Prime Minister Chen had gone to break through to a higher realm, unaware that he had actually been traveling in the mortal world for two hundred years."

"She endured for three hundred years, waiting for someone who would never return."

Wang Mingyuan put his glasses back on: "There's a small piece of text on the last page of the autobiography that was previously hidden by an array, and we've only just deciphered it."

He brought up the text projection:

[Wu Minghuang's Last Words]

If you return and see this text, you need not blame yourself.

The phoenix guards the human world, not for the sake of the master, but for the sake of all living beings.

I only wish that you, sir, will achieve the Great Way and live a long and prosperous life.

If there is an afterlife...

The text ends here.

"She didn't even complain."

Lin Xiaoman's tears fell. "Three hundred years of torment, the destruction of the country and the loss of her family, her soul scattered... she was still thinking of him at the very end."

Wang Mingyuan remained silent for a long time before suddenly asking, "Ye Li, was your master, Pei Hanchuan, truly only damaged in his Dao heart because of the defeat in the Three Swords?"

Ye Li was startled.

"I'll go ask him."

She turned and left.