Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

“My Buddha body has fallen into the demonic path, and my Buddha heart has been cleansed by demonic energy. I am no longer connected with the Buddha path. From now on, the world has lost a Buddha and gained a demon.”

"But I still don't understand..."

Liu Xun Kong stood inside the empty Five-Jeweled Pagoda, staring blankly at the place where he had resurrected Qu Wenxue.

He still didn't understand why Qu Wenxue had thrust out that sword.

Is it simply because she was once a princess who fought against demons and protected the righteous path, or because she was a favored daughter of a prestigious and righteous sect, or because she hated the demonic path to the bone because of her background...?

So Qu Wenxue stabbed her former lover Liu Xunkong with that sword.

Even though Liu Xun Kong was originally the leader of the Azure Sky Alliance, renowned throughout the world and famous, and the head of a prestigious and righteous sect.

Even though Liu Xunkong once ventured alone into the demon's lair to rescue the severely injured Qu Wenxue, and fought against thousands of demons for ten days and ten nights, nearly dying, he finally managed to bring Qu Wenxue safely back to the Azure Sky Alliance.

In the end, this is how it ended.

……

tick.

The sound of blood.

Inside the Five-Tiered Exquisite Pagoda—

Duan Xingchen and Gu Wangjun looked up in surprise, their gazes shifting from the ancient pages of the book to the counter beside them.

Because of the previous deeds of the Blood Spirits, the two of them immediately became tense.

Gu Wangjun quickly closed the book and stood in front of Duan Xingchen, using his strong body to protect his junior sister.

However, this time...

What appeared before the two was a Buddha statue with a dark crimson color all over its body, and the blood flowing on the slightly thin Buddha statue was like a long, thin stream.

The blood-red Buddha stood not far away, and the source of the blood was the Buddha's tightly closed eyes.

This time, just this once.

Blood Spirit did not move, nor did it attack anyone. It simply remained silent in the darkness, letting the blood trickle from its eyes.

The expression on that Buddha statue was one of sorrow from beginning to end, an endless sorrow, a sense of bewilderment, helplessness, and grief...

It was so real, and so pitiful.

At least for the moment he saw the Buddha statue shedding tears of blood, Duan Xingchen felt as if his heart had been violently clenched.

She could sense the bewilderment, confusion, and sadness that Liu Xunkong felt when he woke up alone in the tower.

"Let's go. Let's go to the next floor."

Gu Wangjun took a deep breath, and when he saw that the Blood Buddha showed no intention of making a move, he lowered his guard.

Duan Xingchen nodded. She knew that the way to leave this place should be on the fifth floor of the Five-Colored Exquisite Pagoda.

Gu Wangjun stepped onto the stairs, with Duan Xingchen closely following behind him.

But before leaving, Duan Xingchen couldn't help but turn back and glance at the blood-red Buddha with tears streaming down his face.

"Ugh--"

She sighed deeply and then stepped onto the stairs leading to the last floor.

only--

When she stood at the top of the fifth step, she was stunned.

The surrounding area was shrouded in thick fog, but there seemed to be wisps of blood in the fog, giving it a somewhat bloody misty feel.

There was no smell of blood in the air.

All around was a mixture of crimson and pale, and Duan Xingchen could not see anything else; this fifth floor seemed very empty.

"Senior Brother..."

She turned around, ready to ask her senior brother if he knew anything about the situation here.

However, what awaited her was nothingness.

"Senior Brother...?"

As far as the eye could see, there was only a thick fog.

Gu Wangjun's once conspicuous figure had vanished, and even the steps he had come up from were no longer in sight.

I was standing at the bottom of the stairs just now and hadn't moved at all!

And where is Senior Brother...?

Suddenly, it seemed that only Duan Xingchen remained in this world, along with the starlight emanating from her delicate body.

She swallowed hard, then looked around blankly.

After a few seconds of silence, as if gathering his courage, he shouted loudly, "Senior Brother...where are you—!"

"Senior Brother—!!"

"..."

silence.

No one should.

A chill ran down Duan Xingchen's spine, and she couldn't help but shiver.

And it was at this moment—

She noticed a figure in the distance.

"Senior Brother!"

Duan Xingchen was overjoyed and quickly walked over.

But as she approached the figure, she noticed that the person looked rather thin and not as tall as Gu Wangjun; he appeared rather bony and emaciated.

She immediately stopped in her tracks, looking tense with her brows furrowed, and dared not take another step forward.

"Unfortunately, I am not your senior brother."

A hoarse voice came from the figure.

It slowly turned around—facing Duan Xingchen.

There was an indelible sadness on that thin, pale face.

Duan Xingchen stared wide-eyed at the person in front of him in astonishment.

"You are……"

She didn't know this person.

But she had seen it before.

Just now, not long ago—that Buddha statue shedding tears of blood.

The man before Duan Xingchen looked exactly like the Buddha statue—or rather, the Buddha statue itself was the man before Duan Xingchen!

The man's eyes, which held a dim light, reflected Duan Xingchen's image. He parted his lips slightly and said calmly:

"My name is Liu Xunkong—"

"It's Liu Xunkong from the book you were just reading."

……

Duan Xingchen was so frightened that he took several steps back, staring at the man who called himself Liu Xunkong with a solemn expression: "No, no... Liu Xunkong should be that Demonic Immortal, but the Demonic Immortal is dead, so how could you be Liu Xunkong?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xunkong gave a bitter laugh, his voice sounding extremely weak: "This is my tomb, a secret realm formed from my soul and body."

"It is not impossible for my remaining consciousness to appear here."

"you……"

Duan Xingchen wanted to press further, but she was clearly more worried about Gu Wangjun's safety. "Then where did my senior brother go?"

"He should still be shrouded in mystery. To be honest, I don't know where he went either."

Liu Xunkong shook his head and said, "This mist itself is formed from demonic energy. Space is disordered here, so it's perfectly normal to get lost."

Duan Xingchen took a deep breath, his expression slightly relaxed: "Then... what is your purpose?"

"Purpose?"

Liu Xunkong looked puzzled. "Miss, what are you talking about?"

"Didn't you build this tower?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xunkong was taken aback at first, then shook his head and chuckled bitterly.

"This tower is the embodiment of my painful past memories, memories that even I cannot forget. If I could forget them, I would have forgotten them long ago. Why torture myself like this?"

Liu Xunkong lowered his head, his face full of bitterness.

Thinking of the person's plight, Duan Xingchen's heart of pity and compassion wavered slightly, her vigilance weakened a bit, and her gaze towards Liu Xunkong was filled with sympathy.

She already knew how much Liu Xunkong had sacrificed for Qu Wenxue, only to be pierced through the heart by his beloved in the end. The pain he felt in that instant must have been indescribable.

Liu Xunkong shook his head, as if trying to put that painful past behind him, and then turned to Duan Xingchen and said:

"However, these are my memories after all, and they have nothing to do with you. I cannot leave this place, but you can."

Duan Xingchen was taken aback, then asked, "Do you know a way to leave this place?"

Liu Xunkong nodded expressionlessly, then tossed a talisman with strange characters on it to Duan Xingchen.

Duan Xingchen took the talisman and found that he did not recognize the characters on it.

"This is……"

Seeing Duan Xingchen's confused look, Liu Xunkong explained, "This is the only way to leave here."

What you need to do is very simple—

Liu Xunkong looked at Duan Xingchen and then uttered the words that made the girl's heart tremble.

"Use your inner energy to affix this talisman to my body, and then, while my mind is still focused—"

"Kill me."