"Hey… what the hell is this?"
Lian turned toward Shéyǎn.
He lay flat on his back, staring up at the jagged ceiling of the underwater cave, chest rising and falling unevenly.
"Hu… hu… hu…" Shéyǎn sobbed.
"She… she was defending me."
Silence pressed down on them.
"F*ck… f*ck… F*CK." His voice cracked, his whole body trembling. "I'm a f*cking coward. I couldn't do anything to that monster."
He grabbed Lian by the robes, knuckles white.
"I tried. I tried to fight—but that thing… that thing isn't human." His words broke apart. "I couldn't protect her. I swore I would, but when it appeared, I was powerless. So I ran. Th-there was no stopping it. I was scared… so I ran."
His breath hitched violently.
"What kind of brother does that make me?"
Shéyǎn slammed his fist into the stone floor, again and again.
At that moment, a deep, oppressive aura began to pour out of him.
The air thickened, turning suffocating. Small cave creatures shrieked once before dropping dead, their bodies twitching as the murderous Qi crushed them.
"Shéyǎn!" Lian reached out, lotus Qi surging as he tried to absorb the killing intent—but this time it was useless.
The aura was too dense.
The more he resisted, the heavier and purer the pressure became, wrapping around Shéyǎn like a shroud.
"Shit… he's falling to his inner demon too." Lian clenched his teeth. "Damn it—what did he even face—"
Then it hit him.
The only thing that could have made Shéyǎn flee like this…
"That ancient demon…"
Lian grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing his gaze up.
"Hey. If you let grief consume you now, how are you going to avenge her?" His voice was sharp, cutting through the pressure. "Are you really going to give up here and let her death be in vain?"
All at once, the suffocating aura was dragged back into Shéyǎn's body.
The violent air stilled, the pressure vanishing as if it had never existed.
"Huu…" Lian let out a long breath of relief.
"Looks like that speech worked." He forced a faint smile. "I may not have known you for long, but I don't like seeing you so broken. If I had been powerless to save my parents…" His voice faltered. "I don't know how I would've reacted either."
Rattle—Rattle!
Something inside his spirit book began to shake violently.
"What the—?" Lian frowned and slipped a strand of consciousness into it.
Inside, Guǐ Shā Shǒu was thrashing wildly within its scabbard, the blade vibrating as if screaming in rage.
"Kill… Kill… Kill the demon."
"There's no demon here," Lian muttered.
"I guess you are right, I can't let her sacrifice be for nothing," Shéyǎn said quietly.
Lian looked up.
"She won't reincarnate peacefully through nirvana unless it's all destroyed."
Shéyǎn stood, his expression hollow yet terrifyingly calm. He tossed Lian a piece of full jade.
"What's this for?" Lian asked, confusion etched across his face. "You'll need it too."
Shéyǎn didn't answer immediately.
"You know why I was searching for the Martial Supreme Roots?" he said at last. "It wasn't for myself."
Lian's eyes narrowed.
"It was for Momo."
"She was born with the Death God's Murderous Body." His fists clenched. "Her body constantly generated killing intent. If she didn't release it—if she didn't kill—the backlash would tear her apart."
His voice trembled, but he didn't stop.
"She endured unimaginable pain just to stay sane. If it continued…" His jaw tightened. "She would have died."
Silence swallowed the cave.
And somewhere deep within the spirit book, Guǐ Shā Shǒu howled again.
"You know how great it seemed when she obtained the Shadow Evolution Technique," Shéyǎn said quietly. "Momo could go days without killing, without releasing it. But because her cultivation was too low, the technique didn't suppress her nature for too long; in fact, it amplified her murderous thoughts."
His fingers curled slowly.
"In this trial, I finally found a concrete way to raise her realm and erase those thoughts. I thought… I thought I had saved her." His voice cracked. "But after we won the trial for the roots, we were ambushed."
"That, sneaky rat Zhou Lung." A wave of murderous Qi extended, breaking the walls, then it calmed down again.
He lifted his head; his eyes were hollow.
"That's when we met it."
"The demon's pressure forced obedience. It was instinctive—like breathing. As if we were cultivating the same path."
A bitter smile twisted his lips.
"No, it's better to say that… we were practically the same existence."
Silence stretched between them, heavy and cold.
"I will embrace the path that has been laid before me," Shéyǎn said at last. "I will take my revenge, as a human or demon, it doesn't matter to me anymore."
He turned his back.
"So farewell, my friend. Let's hope never to meet again—because the next time we do, it may not be me standing before you… But whatever I've become by then."
With slow, steady steps, Shéyǎn walked out of the underwater cave, vanishing into the flowing darkness.
Lian watched him go, powerless to stop him.
Stopping him now would have been an insult—an act of pity he would never forgive.
"F*ck…" Lian muttered.
"I always knew the martial path was treacherous. I thought that because I was talented in pill refinement, I could take things slowly… that I could afford comfort."
He clenched his fists.
"That was naïve."
"I have to become stronger—strong enough that I never lose the things I treasure."
Moments later, Lian stepped outside.
The stench of blood hit him instantly.
Severed limbs lay scattered across the ground; the ground was destroyed from the many fights. Because he spent a lot of days refining pills, Lian hadn't realised that today was the final day of the Black Box. With time running out, cultivators had turned on one another, fighting desperately for jades.
The trial grounds had become a warzone.
"You filthy piece of shit!"
A familiar voice cut through the chaos.
Lian's gaze snapped toward the sound.
It was Huǒ Yànhuā,.
She was locked in combat with Yang, her clothes torn, blood streaking her arm—but her stance remained unbroken.
"You ungrateful bitch," Yang snarled, eyes burning with obsession. "I gave you everything. Power. Protection. Status. And every time I showed you my devotion, you spat in my face."
His smile twisted into something vile.
"Since it's the last day anyway, I won't bother pretending anymore. I'll break you here and now—make you mine whether you want it or not, today I will have my fill."
The surrounding Qi churned violently as Yang advanced.