At this moment, it was already early February in the mortal world, the season when green sprouts vied to emerge.
Yet in the Northern Frontier, the howling blizzards drowned the vast, desolate lands. Snowstorms hundreds of zhang tall raged violently, devouring all.
If one looked down from the sky upon the Northern Frontier, beneath the blizzards would be shattered ice layers riddled with countless wounds. With multiple Saints having joined the battle, not a single inch of pristine earth remained in the entire region.
And amid this blizzard roared the nightmarish, ghost-like army of the Night Barbarians.
The Night Barbarians earned their name for two reasons, first, their skin as dark as ink and their savage, feral faces; and second, their primitive barbarity. Uncivilized and wild, they tore raw flesh with their teeth and fed on humans.
Tens of thousands of them surged forward, all with tusked jaws and green-blue skin. Their bodies hung with bones, gold and silver ornaments, rags, and sometimes, fresh or withered, severed human limbs.
These were not trophies for show, but spoils of war or... food.
The craftsmanship of human civilization meant nothing to them, mere strange, meaningless decoration.
"BOOM-"
Shen Xingzhu stood amidst the white storm, clad in a stark, killing-black dress, like a blot of ink dropped into a snowy pool.
And that drop of ink was rapidly diffusing, spreading into a sweeping, dark tide, tearing apart the defensive lines of the Night Barbarian royal city!
She was alone, but charged forth like a crashing wave, unstoppable.
Neither howling winds nor biting snow could impede her.
While the front lines were locked in stalemate, Shen Xingzhu had already broken into the depths of the Northern Frontier alone, straight into the very core of the enemy: the Night Barbarian royal city!
On her sharp sword's blade, she unfurled a vast Domain of the Dao!
After exchanging bodies with Shen Meinan, Shen Xingzhu spent less than a month in seclusion before breaking through the Master Realm, stepping directly into the Profound Realm.
This wasn't due solely to her natural talent, but rather because the mechanical doll that Shen Meinan had used as a stand-in when she ran away from home... was actually the container for her true cultivation.
All these years, Shen Meinan's slow progress wasn't due to a lack of aptitude.
It was because, from the moment of her birth, the Shen family used a secret technique to transfer her cultivation into the doll.
For every ten parts she cultivated, nine were sealed into that automaton.
Even so, she still reached the Innate Realm in fifteen years.
By all accounts, her talent surpassed even Shen Xingzhu's.
And now that Shen Xingzhu had absorbed this cultivation, her power soared once more, proving that point.
But the story went further, far earlier, to before either of them were born.
Aside from the Shen family, no one knew this secret:
Shen Xingzhu and Shen Meinan had almost grown as one in the womb.
They were not twins, but rather a true anomaly, one being, two souls. Their organs, skeletons, flesh, and even brains were all intertwined, merged, yet not entirely fused.
They resembled overlapping seals, stamping at the same spot with a slight shift.
In a world where cultivators could perfectly perceive their internal states, even someone as dignified as Lady Shen had been terrified upon witnessing this.
This could hardly be called "human." Anyone who saw those four eyes fused together would be chilled to the bone.
Mutations might occur in mortals, but in a prestigious cultivation family like the Shens, such an error was unthinkable.
They initially suspected some demonic interference.
But there was no trace of demonic energy, instead, the twins radiated purity, and even in the womb, absorbed spiritual energy on their own.
Fortunately, a few days later, Daoist Lin Qingya, wielder of the Path of Wuwei and Sect Master of Xuanxin Dao Sect, appeared out of nowhere.
Using the sect's ceremonial sword, he performed a peerlessly precise sword technique to separate the two, allowing them to grow independently.
This sword was the very same one that Shen Xingzhu would carry for life.
But it wasn't enough to merely separate them, they had to be completely isolated from one another to prevent them from fusing like opposite poles of a magnet.
Thus, the more forceful and dominant of the two, Shen Meinan, was placed back into the womb.
And sealed... for ten years.
In that time, Shen Xingzhu grew into an independent being. The two could no longer merge.
And yet, unexpectedly, they still fused in another way after birth.
Shen Meinan, as an unconscious embryo, had no awareness. Shen Xingzhu felt nothing unusual either.
But as they grew, the family discovered something strange: their senses were linked.
Separated for ten years, this link had weakened to its lowest level, just enough to share senses.
But if they so chose, they could freely exchange consciousness between their two bodies.
And here lay a secret even the Shen family didn't know:
They had already swapped minds once.
In other words, the current "Shen Meinan" was actually Shen Xingzhu, and "Shen Xingzhu" was Shen Meinan.
The second swap was merely them returning to their rightful selves.
Normally, this would be easy to detect.
The "Dao" within a cultivator's body is unique. Any discrepancy in alignment would be noticed immediately.
But Shen Xingzhu had concealed it flawlessly.
Her every action, every gesture, conformed perfectly to her persona.
As in that time within the dungeon, if not for Chen Kuang catching her in a lie, no one would have guessed her true identity.
Shen Xingzhu's Dao was "Emotionless."
The Dao of "Compassion"... belonged to Shen Meinan.
Dao of Compassion. Dao of Ruthlessness. Two sides of the same coin.
"BOOM-!!!!"
The massive gates of the city crumbled into dust, snow and ash scattering in all directions.
Shen Xingzhu, sword in hand, stepped slowly into the royal city.
Behind her lay a sea of blood and mountains of corpses, as well as countless more Night Barbarians rushing forward to die.
Her entire body dripped with blood, each step she took left a trail of falling crimson.
That boundless sea of blood was the ink she had spilled.
Step by step, she advanced, even the Night Barbarians, who knew no fear, hesitated and retreated.
And yet, Shen Xingzhu's expression remained still, her face pure and pale, devoid of emotion. Her eyes, though bright as the moon, were hollow as the void.
Eternal stars above, a single candle below.
The stars never shift. The candle flickers faintly.
Yet it is only when that flickering candle finally goes out, that one can truly see the brilliance of the stars in the dark.
Shen Xingzhu stopped before the throne.
Her aura had reached its zenith.
Seated upon that towering stone throne was a colossal demonic creature, its knotted, muscular frame formed a mountain of blackened flesh, riddled with countless crimson eyes.
The Night Barbarian King, Ahos.
But he no longer had a head.
Where his head should have been was only a hollow scar, even the blood had dried.
Shen Xingzhu stepped onto the throne platform, raised her gaze, and spoke coldly and with certainty:
"Sacrifice."
Who had sacrificed the King of the Night Barbarians?
Shen Xingzhu's heart trembled, then she heard Lin Qingya's voice in her ear:
"Xingzhu! Be careful! All four Night Barbarian priests have self-detonated!
They are summoning the Barbarian God!"
Lin Qingya's voice was heavy with urgency.
And Shen Xingzhu knew exactly what the "Barbarian God" was.
The deity venerated by the Night Barbarians and some minor Western kingdoms.
Its name: Loutuo Luo.
Its realm: The Celestial Vastness Realm.
A realm that had vanished from history since the end of the Ancient Era.
"RUMBLE-"
A deafening noise exploded from the sky.
Shen Xingzhu lifted her head,
And saw the sky split apart.
A colossal rift tore through the black firmament, shattering the stars, like a whirlpool, clear yet chaotic, swirling in hues of gold and violet.
An indescribable pressure descended.
CRASH!
The ground collapsed beneath her feet.
Countless Night Barbarians were instantly flattened into bloody pulp, crushed into splatters of meat paste.
Shen Xingzhu's skin broke out in goosebumps. Her scalp prickled, and her knees suddenly buckled, one leg already collapsed to the ground, slamming down with such force it gouged a trench into the earth.
Her face remained expressionless. She forcibly held back the collapse of her other leg, halting it midair, trembling.
"Shiiick!" The muscles in her legs tore apart with a sickening sound, blood streaming freely.
"C-crack...crack..." Her spine groaned under the pressure, vertebrae protesting as if about to splinter apart.
Shen Xingzhu's lips turned deathly pale, a thin trickle of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth.
She stabbed her sword into the ground behind her, using it to prop up her wavering body.
Then..
"Why... don't you kneel?"
From the sky, a deep, strange voice echoed down, like a great bronze bell struck with divine force. Just hearing it was enough to shatter the minds of some mortals.
Shen Xingzhu's expression did not change.
After a pause, she squeezed out a sneer from between clenched teeth:
"Once, in the Liang Kingdom's dungeon, I saw a blind man, trying to survive, bowing and scraping, servile to the bone. In the end, he still had both his legs broken."
"What a pathetic sight. Every time I saw him afterward, I couldn't help but laugh at him in my heart."
"So what if he later became glorious? What use was that?"
"That's why, I will never allow myself to fall into that same state."
This wasn't about some grand ideal of human righteousness, nor even the dignity of a cultivator, but simply her utter disdain and contempt for such a situation.
That was the real Shen Xingzhu.
The one Chen Kuang had once glimpsed through the faint candlelight, a sliver of a cruel, twisted soul beneath the surface.
Yet in truth, Shen Xingzhu was also speaking of herself.
That moment of loss of control in front of Chen Kuang had been the only time she let her Dao heart waver.
She had since corrected it.
There would never be a next time.
Because if there was... she'd have no more fallback. Changing one's Dao and inner nature was not without its costs.
The voice in the sky paused, then murmured:
"You are... good feedstock... You will... evolve into something... worthwhile..."
In the next instant, the space beneath Shen Xingzhu collapsed.
She plummeted into darkness.
Her body swayed, and suddenly became light. She stood up again effortlessly.
But the world before her... was no longer the same.
Shen Xingzhu's pupils shrank sharply, and for a moment she stood there in stunned silence.
This wasn't a mere spatial shift.
If it were merely moving from one place to another, the environment would still match her internal understanding, formed of things she recognized.
But this world, completely defied her perception.
A world that transcended cognition!
Shen Xingzhu's face turned pale.
Even her own spiritual energy had vanished, and the surrounding world had no spiritual energy either.
As if... it had never existed at all.
...
Meanwhile,
Chen Kuang and Xiuzhu were summoned once again by the Three Great Chan Masters.
Since the escape of Xiuxin, the "Mortal World Heart-Refinement" reform of the Pure Land had entered full swing for an entire month.
Unlike the earlier trials, this time it was a complete and open transformation.
In just a month, the Pure Land had degenerated into utter debauchery.
Under the atmosphere of "breaking precepts under divine sanction," few monks could still hold to their original hearts.
Only the most talented and the most deeply rooted in cultivation persisted.
Pure Land was no longer pure, yet the outside world remained almost entirely unaware.
Chen Kuang knew: the next step was the most critical moment in the Heavenly Demon invasion.
Not only would they summon the Demon King Mara, but they would allow countless lesser heavenly demons to possess the monks of the Pure Land, to launch a perfect inside-out siege.
A single, clean sweep to devour the entire Central Domain.
But first, they needed to open the gate between the Realm of Desire and Cangyuan.
Chen Kuang and Xiuzhu stood before the meditation chamber, watching as the doors creaked open on their own.
To their surprise, the Three Great Chan Masters, who hadn't left this chamber in ages, actually walked out.
No, not three. Only two.
Because the one who appeared most human, Chan Master Not-Speaking, had been beheaded.
His severed head was covered in blood-drawn runes and symbols.
Chen Kuang's pupils shrank sharply.
A sacrifice!
They had actually sacrificed one of their own!
As if sensing Chen Kuang's shock, Chan Master Not-Hearing casually lifted the head in his hand and smiled:
"Didn't expect this one to still have some self-awareness. Tried to resist.
So we sacrificed him while we were at it."
"Today, the gate to the Realm of Desire opens. We'll summon a few more greater demons."
Chen Kuang arched an eyebrow but said nothing.
Chan Master Not-Seeing chuckled:
"Just wait. You two have rendered great merit. I'll speak highly of you to the Demon King."
Chen Kuang returned a smile:
"Then I'll thank Chan Master in advance."
Not-Hearing and Not-Seeing strode forward, flesh rotting with each step. Within mere strides, their entire bodies were corrupted beyond recognition, not even remotely human anymore.
Not-Hearing caressed Not-Speaking's head, black mist engulfed his palm, transforming into a claw that pierced through the skull.
He chanted in a tongue unintelligible to mortals.
In the sky above, a massive rift suddenly tore open.
Chen Kuang's heart skipped a beat.
There could be no mistake, this sensation was exactly the same as when he had once sliced open the heavens.
So... Cangyuan truly lay within a shell, and outside that shell... was another world.
But which world did the Realm of Desire lead to?
Chen Kuang stared into the sky.
Xiuzhu spoke:
"Our spiritual forms have resided in these vessels too long. They're reaching their limit. Would the two Chan Masters allow us to return to the Realm of Desire for recovery,
before continuing our service under the Demon King?"
This was a request they had carefully prepared.
The truth was: if a host body resisted too strongly, its spirit and soul would reject the possession, leading to rapid bodily decay.
Which is what was now happening to the Three Great Chan Masters.
As expected, the two demonic masters showed no suspicion. They laughed:
"Very well. We've yet to see your true forms in the Realm of Desire.
Such talent following us is only proper."
Chen Kuang and Xiuzhu exchanged glances.
From within the massive rift, shadow-like beings began to pour out.
The two demon monks' bodies went limp and collapsed into pools of rotten meat.
Chen Kuang instantly understood:
"Spiritual projection!"
At this point, there was no turning back.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and allowed his spiritual consciousness to depart his body, rising into the sky.
But the next moment, his feet touched solid ground.
His body felt heavy, as though he had already landed.
Chen Kuang's eyes flew open.
He saw his body covered in dried, dark red bloodstains, his robes, the floor, the sofa...
Sofa?!
Chen Kuang shot upright.
In front of him was a familiar living room.
His body froze.
He slowly turned his head, and silently counted:
One... two... three.
Three corpses, two small, one old.
All neatly arranged.