Spring passed and autumn returned—another year went by in the blink of an eye.
Xie Yuyan had been secretly studying in the heavens for three consecutive years, sneaking around little by little, until he was finally caught by Ruibi and had the seal lifted. From then on, he could no longer return to the human world.

Luan Ling and the others had also grown a great deal. Before long, after passing their assessments, some of the young immortals would be assigned official posts and sent to their respective positions.

Luan Ling was also searching for a direction for her own future. Although she could sense that the Heavenly Empress already had plans for her, she was not someone who would follow those arrangements unquestioningly. After all, exploration was something she had to experience herself. And in some matters, even the Heavenly Empress was not necessarily right.

As she grew older, Luan Ling found it increasingly difficult to see through many of the Heavenly Empress’s actions. At the same time, she could not help but admire her ability to maintain a delicate balance between the Council of Elders and the rising new powers. Still, Luan Ling would not follow blindly. She had her own thoughts—and wanted to accomplish things in her own way.

Luan Qingchen stood at the front of the Tribulation Path, sword in hand, as if guarding the place. In truth, with his level of cultivation, simply standing there was enough to deter anyone. There was no need for him to actually take action.

“Big brother.”

Luan Ling glanced down. She could not see the bottom—below seemed to be nothing but ordinary clouds. Falling from here almost looked as if one could simply fly away. But thinking of what would happen to anyone who passed through this place made a chill run through her.

She immediately withdrew her foot and stepped back.

After all, the deadly weapon standing before her was, in name, her elder brother. But if she really fell, he probably would not even bother to pull her back up. Even if it were the Heavenly Empress herself falling down, he likely would not blink an eye. Like a merciless killer, as long as the person would not actually die, he would never intervene.

According to Luan Yu, however, Luan Qingchen had not always been like this.

In the past, he had indeed been aloof and distant, treating everyone with indifference, like the stereotypical immortal. But he was not in this half-dead, empty state. He would even occasionally play tricks on Luan Yu. Others did not notice, because Luan Qingchen had always been distant toward everyone. But as the one being targeted, Luan Yu knew very well what had happened.

He was absolutely certain—his big brother had deliberately set him up before.

Yet after Luan Qingchen completed the two heavenly tribulation trials of the Heavenly Realm, he returned as if he had lost his soul. Other than cultivating and strengthening himself, he ignored everyone. When he did act, it was always a single, fatal strike—never giving anyone a chance to react or beg for mercy.

As a result, most immortals in the Heavenly Realm had no particular impression of him—and did not dare to have one.

“Big brother, you refreshed at the Tribulation Path again today?”

Luan Ling looked at Luan Qingchen and deliberately spoke nonsense. She had more or less figured him out by now. Though he was an emotionless machine, her relationships with the Heavenly Empress and Luan Yu had eased considerably over the past three years. Only Luan Qingchen still ignored everyone completely.

But she had discovered that talking nonsense in front of him would not get her beaten. After all, once he truly took action, someone would definitely die. Petty scuffles were beneath him.

After testing her own brother for so long, Luan Ling had found only one thing that could stir his emotions.

“Oh, right, big brother. It’s been twenty years since the end of the War of Life and Death. If you calculate it, the founding of the Yong Dynasty in the human world happened right around that time. One of our former classmates was even born that very year—and has now left the mortal world and come to the Heavenly Realm.”

Only after she noticed a slight change in Luan Qingchen’s gaze did Luan Ling finally dare to get to the real point.

“Big brother, I checked the records. You returned to the Heavenly Realm right before the founding of the Yong Dynasty—when the Ye Qingchen regime collapsed. Luan Qingchen… Ye Qingchen… your names even sound alike.”

This matter had long been investigated thoroughly by Luan Ling.

Ye Qingchen was the identity Luan Qingchen had assumed in the human world during the Trial of Kings. Although it was a secret, it was not difficult to guess.

The name Ye Qingchen seemed to affect Luan Qingchen even more than the War of Life and Death.

The moment the name was spoken, Luan Ling felt the fluctuation of sword aura around him.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been the time to run.

But for some reason, Luan Ling felt that Luan Qingchen wanted to hear about what had happened in the human world. She steadied her mind, focused her core, and forced herself not to retreat.

“The Yong Dynasty labeled the Ye Qingchen regime as rebels. Throughout history, that’s how dynastic changes usually go—nothing surprising about it. But what I want to know is this, big brother: when you underwent your mortal tribulation, was your trial really only the hardship of being an emperor?”

“Why did Yu Yuan—the daughter of the Demon Sovereign, who started the War of Life and Death—claim that the Heavenly Realm was unjust and betrayed the one she loved most?”

“The Underworld says that it was because the Heavenly Realm sent an immortal to undergo a mortal trial, which caused her lover in the human world to die by heavenly decree. That was why she stormed the Netherworld, demanding an explanation of life and death.”

“But I feel that even if the Heavenly Realm truly handled things improperly, and even if Yu Yuan was deeply in love with that reincarnated immortal… starting a war that lasted three entire years over such a reason alone still seems far too reckless.”

Luan Qingchen listened to her quietly, as if recalling something. He stared ahead and murmured,

“The Demon… Sovereign.”

“Yes—the Demon Sovereign. He was truly terrible.”

Luan Ling straightened the corner of her robe that had been blown about by the sword aura. A strange sensation rose in her mind, as though something long sealed was slowly surfacing. Her head ached faintly, but she was in no hurry.

“Earlier, Lord Ruibi captured a heart demon who had defected from the Demon Realm and caused chaos in the human world. That heart demon had escaped because it could no longer endure the Demon Sovereign’s rule.”

She looked up.

“If a Demon Sovereign like that raised a daughter, then it would indeed not be surprising for her to start a war out of rage for someone she loved. But over the years, through secret investigations, I’ve heard another version of the story. I wonder if you’ve heard it, big brother.”

Luan Qingchen frowned. His expression already showed signs of pain, and his sword aura grew even more violent.

Although Luan Ling’s spiritual sense could still withstand it, her body was beginning to falter. She even thought that next time she should bring a few people to protect her while asking him questions.

But at this moment, she suddenly realized that her feet could no longer move at all.

They were both immortals—yet Luan Qingchen’s power was so overwhelming that it existed on an entirely different level. She even began to wonder whether the Heavenly Emperor, during his past seclusion, could have inspired the same level of awe and fear that Luan Qingchen now did.

Despite the crushing pressure, Luan Qingchen had no intention of harming her.

Instead, he finally spoke, asking her a single word:

“What?”

For Luan Qingchen to ask her a question on his own was an enormous breakthrough. It also confirmed the conclusion Luan Ling had painstakingly pieced together over the years.

She said to him,

“I heard that the current Demon Sovereign is no longer the same one as before. The present ruler of the Demon Realm is actually the one Yu Yuan truly loved.”

“And the real trigger of the War of Life and Death was not her mortal lover—but her elder sister, who happened to descend to the human world, became entangled in the chaos of mortal warfare, and was struck by heavenly tribulation lightning—”

“Kua Ning.”

The name was spoken at the same time by both of them.

Luan Ling did not know whether it was her imagination, but at the instant Luan Qingchen uttered the name, his entire body seemed to tremble.

She immediately realized it was no illusion.

Because the sword aura around Luan Qingchen—collapsed into chaos.

Luan Ling had already prepared herself to cry out for help with all her strength. She knew very well that even resisting would be futile.

But in the next moment, Luan Qingchen suddenly leapt down from the Tribulation Path in front of her.

Instinctively, Luan Ling reached out to grab him—then froze, withdrew her hand, and slapped her own forehead.

For ordinary immortals, jumping down meant fearing the tribulation.

For Luan Qingchen, jumping down meant that the Tribulation Path itself should be afraid.

“Junior sister.”

Just as Luan Ling was recovering from the shock, she suddenly felt a gentle, nourishing warmth flow through her heart, liver, spleen, and lungs. Turning her head, she saw that Zhu Yin had come to find her.

“Senior sister,” Luan Ling pressed a hand to her chest. “Thank you.”

The matter of Luan Ling helping her brother with emotional rehabilitation was already known, to some extent, within Qilin Hall.

Zhu Yin looked thoughtfully toward the Tribulation Path.

Luan Ling seemed to know what she was thinking and said calmly,

“It’s fine. If big brother truly lost control, I would have been dead long ago. Don’t worry. He just remembered something.”

She smiled slightly at Zhu Yin.

“Although big brother is already incredibly powerful as an immortal, I always feel that the way he became like this is inseparable from those so-called heavenly tribulations.”

“Your own emotional trial may have been an accident. Our strength is limited, and the damage we could cause is also limited. But big brother is different. With his power, the entire Heavenly Realm might not be able to stop him.”

“If one day, like you, he discovers something… and reaches his breaking point, the whole Heavenly Realm could suffer.”

Her expression was calm, yet resolute.

“To prevent that day from ever coming, I must uncover all the truth—and eliminate the part of the Heavenly Realm that is wrong.”

Long ago, Yu Yuan had implanted a segment of memory into Luan Ling’s mind and then sealed it.

The immortals of the Heavenly Realm could not undo the seal. Coupled with the Heavenly Empress’s authority, the matter was gradually set aside.

But although everyone else let it go, Luan Ling never forgot.

She always remembered that there was something unresolved—something connected to Luan Qingchen. But Luan Qingchen himself no longer remembered, and would never seek out his lost memories.

And so, all this time, Luan Ling had been searching for the code that could unlock that sealed memory.

Not long ago, her divine consciousness finally discovered the method to break the seal.

After seeing what lay within, and connecting it with all the clues she had gathered, she suddenly understood many things.

Those things were also the source of Yu Yuan’s fury.

Because her sister—Kua Ning, the Demon Sovereign—had been struck by a bolt of heavenly lightning in the human world. That lightning had nearly shattered her heart meridian.

That lightning had taken away her child with Luan Qingchen—and had also damaged her lifespan.

If Kua Ning had merely been an ordinary demon, Yu Yuan’s hatred might not have become so terrifying, nor would she have harbored such deep resentment for so many years.

But what made it truly tragic was that Kua Ning’s identity was far more complicated than anyone imagined.

Even if judgment were left to Heaven’s own laws, she would deserve a plea of injustice.

She was the daughter of a mortal and the former Demon Sovereign—bearing half mortal blood.

That mortal woman was named Lu Wuyu.

Years ago, during the great battle between the Demon Sovereign and the Heavenly Emperor, Lu Wuyu had used her half-divine body to forcibly block the Demon Sovereign in order to stop him from destroying an entire mountain range.

After that battle, her spiritual veins were completely ruined. The Heavenly Realm was unable to repair them, and it was impossible for her to ascend to the Heavenly Court in such a state to complete her unfinished cultivation and become a true immortal.

The Heavenly Court could only leave compensation and opportunities for her sect—and then, regretfully, let her pass away.

The Heavenly Court owed Lu Wuyu.

And more than forty years later, a bolt of heavenly lightning fell—

striking Lu Wuyu’s daughter—

simply because she stood in the way of the Trial of Kings.

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