After rebirth, the eldest sister voluntarily abdicated and gave way to the wise.

Chapter 623 The Bright Moon Shines (3)

When I learned the sect's biggest secret, I was holding the Ruyi Osmanthus Cake that I had begged and pleaded to be steamed at Taotie Peak, the first one I had snatched, and was planning to send it to my senior sister.

My senior sister wasn't in her own courtyard, so I immediately guessed that she had probably gone to Master's residence.

It's a very secluded place; usually, no one comes here.

Before I even got close, I could hear arguing coming from inside the house.

Perhaps the two were so engrossed in their argument that neither of them noticed that I had already reached the door.

Later, after thinking about it for a very long time, I finally understood that sometimes what is called "divine will" is just like this.

There was no warning, no planning, no expectation, and no room for regret.

"I forbid you to go, Master. I'm making this clear today: either I go to repair the divine and demonic sealing formation, or you, or any of my fellow disciples, will sacrifice yourself. I will die with you and never live on!"

"You...you wicked disciple! You wicked disciple!"

That was the first time I saw my master get angry, and he was furious beyond control.

That was also the first time I saw my senior sister contradict our master, with a resolute determination to destroy everything.

I stood frozen at the doorway, the pastries in my hand scattered all over the floor, and called out in fear, "Senior Sister."

The two people inside the room turned around in surprise and looked at each other in a panic.

What kind of place is Tianqianzong?

A celestial abode, a heavenly palace, a blessed land beyond the heavens that one wouldn't even dare to dream of.

What kind of place is Zhenfeng?

With four distinct seasons, flowers, birds, insects, and fish, you can be free and unrestrained here. You can do whatever you want and learn whatever you want without any restrictions. Fellow students help each other and are as close as family.

I, or anyone else in the cultivation world, probably never imagined that such a secluded paradise could be both a blessed land for immortals and an inescapable hell that traps people.

Perhaps I was too naive back then, and I didn't understand the price of the righteous path, or the pain and despair that the First Immortal Sect had to bear.

"A thousand years ago, the extraterrestrial demons invaded our cultivation world. Their power was on a completely different level from ours. They were too powerful. If it weren't for the constraints of the Heavenly Dao rules of this world, we would have been powerless to resist them."

"Even so, our predecessors still went to the battlefield without hesitation, vowing to protect our world. After hundreds of years of fighting, the Tianqian Sect and the righteous path of the world finally won, but the casualties were heavy, and the Tianqian Sect was almost wiped out... Our predecessors sacrificed themselves to the formation, and only then could the Demon Lord and his proud subordinates be sealed with the Divine Demon Sealing Formation."

"Ayou, I cannot and will not stand by and watch our world turn into a terrible hell once again. This is not the path I want to take, do you understand?"

I do not understand.

Why? Why the Heavenly Qian Sect? Why the Array Peak? Why us? Why... why her?

"Because we are the number one immortal sect in the world, because our formation peak will never lag behind others, and because I am Jiang Liqian, the most outstanding disciple of the Heavenly Qian Sect's Formation Peak True Person Chongdao."

I stared at her blankly.

That was the first time I glimpsed the enormous, pure, and majestic shadow behind my senior sister, while I felt so insignificant.

That was the first time I felt so deafened, as if my soul resonated with it, trembled with it, suffered with it, and finally died with it.

I regarded her as a savior, and she gladly accepted it and worked hard to achieve it, sparing no effort.

How could there be such a person.

Why are there such people?

“Ayou, don’t look at the world now with the sad eyes of the past. I’m not a special person. There are too many people like me in this world. They are not special. I am not special either. Only you are special. You are the most special person. You have to love yourself well, okay?”

"You are good, very good. No one is better than you. Always remember my words."

Senior sister secretly entered the Outer Realm without telling anyone, preparing to go to the sealed land and repair the sealing array with her own body.

What I thought was a heart-to-heart talk turned out to be her repeated farewell.

Her sect, her master, her senior brothers and sisters—none of these would be reasons for her to be bound.

I do not know either.

However, my senior's plan still fell through.

The person who performed the ritual was the master.

What the sect leader told his senior sister was not the true location of the sealing formation.

My senior sister lost the first and most important family member to her.

Unfortunately, the path of spiritual practice is long and arduous, and tragedies seem to repeat themselves time and time again.

The war between immortals and demons finally broke out, and she lost her second, third... Countless fellow disciples perished under the demon army, and countless lives were slaughtered.

From the moment darkness fell, Shitian Sword never stopped.

The final battle against the demons in the outer realms has brought this world to its final, most critical moment of survival.

Second senior brother, third senior sister, fourth senior brother... they all died in the raging fire set by the demons. The eldest senior brother, with his last breath, shouted for me to take her away... at least, at least for Zhenfeng, for the sect, to leave behind the last spark that can be started again.

This is the senior brother's personal motive.

It's mine too.

Before I could do anything, my senior sister had already rushed towards the Demon Lord in the most resolute way, sacrificing herself to severely injure him, thus buying the world some breathing time.

I watched helplessly as she disappeared into the endless flames of karma, and for the first time, I felt the suffocation of life.

Gods may fall, suffering may continue, and painful emotions may become more and more etched into the heart as life progresses, until they fester and decay.

My senior brother gave me something on his deathbed.

It was a half-finished product. The eldest brother said that if this thing were completed, it might be able to make up for the regrets that were not fulfilled in the cycle of reincarnation, and also save the people who did not have time to say goodbye.

I don’t know if my senior brother said that to me on purpose, but his words really gave me a sliver of the will to live.

I carried this unfinished piece across mountains and rivers, through endless yellow sands and white snow, through countless blessed lands and secret realms...

In an unknown place, I met a true god.

He gave me a choice.

—To offer one's soul as a sacrifice to the Returning Gate.

From that moment on, I was no longer a living person, but a spirit without a soul, without life, and without a future.

The spirit of the returning gate.

In return, I will gain the ability to reincarnate until my heart's desire is fulfilled.

He reminded me that everything has its own laws and rules, and those who break these rules will become rebels against the way of heaven. As long as I am not yet reborn, it will hunt me down to the ends of the earth.

Divine punishment will accompany me for the rest of my life.

"Make a choice, you humble mortal."

I closed my eyes, and bitter tears welled up in my throat again.

It turns out that my senior sister and I really, really... didn't...

"Thank you, Your Majesty."