Xiao Die stepped closer, stretching her arms as if trying to embrace the air rich with spiritual essence. "Senior, I feel that the energy here does not flow outward. It circulates, absorbing the remnants of the slaughter aura from your body and converting it into nourishment for these trees. It is a perfect cycle of purification."

  "Hmph, purification or a hidden prison?" Ao Sheng stood up, wiping droplets of water from his golden robe. "I just tried to submerge my spiritual sense to the bottom of this lake, but I hit a hard wall. This water is only one fathom deep, but beneath it... there is a pressure capable of crushing dragon bones."

  Zhi Xuan nodded slowly; he had felt it from the beginning. "You are right, Ao Sheng. Do not be deceived by this tranquility. Spring is about rebirth, yet it is born from the womb of a deadly Winter. What you see as flowers are actually blades of Law waiting to bloom."

  "You mean this place is a trap, Senior?" Xiao Die flinched, her wings trembling with anxiety.

  "Not a trap, but a test of balance," Zhi Xuan replied. He released one hand from Mei Hua's back and flicked his finger into the air.

  Instantly, a peach blossom petal flying in front of him exploded into dust of green light upon contact with Zhi Xuan’s energy. "If I lose control over my killing intent even slightly, this entire valley will turn into a sea of fire or an ice storm in an instant. This place reacts to my emotions."

  "Wow, so if Brother gets angry, this beautiful place will be destroyed?" Mei Hua asked in an innocent yet sharp tone.

  Zhi Xuan chuckled, the sound of his laughter lighter in this place. "Perhaps not destroyed, Mei. But it will change according to what is in Brother's heart. So, let us ensure Brother's heart remains as calm as this lake for a while."

  "Senior," Ao Sheng called out suddenly, his eyes narrowing toward the end of the lake where a thin mist began to shroud the water's surface. "There is a building over there. A small pavilion... and it seems someone is there."

  Hearing this, the atmosphere on the boat shifted instantly. Xiao Die prepared rainbow dust in her hands, while Ao Sheng gripped the hilt of his spear tightly. Zhi Xuan squinted his eyes, piercing through the mist that slowly revealed an elegant old wooden pavilion standing atop jade rocks in the middle of the lake.

  "Someone?" Zhi Xuan murmured. "Inside my own Dao mirror?"

  "Perhaps it is part of your memory, brat," Ruo Xianxue whispered from within the Sea of Consciousness, her voice more alert than usual. "Or perhaps... it is a part of you, showing how you would be if you were different from now."

  Zhi Xuan did not answer. He steered the Seven-Star Boat closer to the pavilion. As they drew near, the scent of brewed tea began to waft through the air, mixing with the increasingly thick fragrance of peach blossoms. Inside the pavilion, the silhouette of someone sitting with their back to them could be seen pouring something into a marble cup.

  "Hey! Who are you to dare sip tea in the middle of my master’s enlightenment?" Ao Sheng shouted with his signature arrogance, trying to mask his nervousness.

  The figure stopped moving. The hand holding the teapot remained suspended in the air. Slowly, the person turned slightly, revealing a facial profile that looked very familiar to Zhi Xuan's eyes.

  "The mortal world is full of dust, but here... even dust does not dare to land," the figure’s voice sounded crystal clear, carrying a cool authority like a mountain spring. "Zhi Xuan, it took you a long time to reach this pavilion."

  Zhi Xuan was stunned, his feet moving automatically to the edge of the deck. "This voice... it is impossible."

  "Brother, that person has the same hair as you," Mei Hua said while pointing toward the pavilion.

  It was true; the figure sitting there had long silver hair flowing beautifully, wearing a plain white robe without any ornaments. When the figure turned fully, Zhi Xuan felt as if he were staring into the purest mirror. It was himself—but without scars, without the aura of slaughter, and without the sorrow that had always overshadowed his eyes.

  "A pure Zhi Xuan?" Xiao Die covered her mouth with her hand, unable to believe the sight before her.

  "Or perhaps..." Ao Sheng stared sharply, "Something trying to deceive us."

  The figure in the pavilion smiled gently, a smile Zhi Xuan had never shown to the outside world. He set down his teapot and gestured for them to approach.

  "Come," the figure said. "For twenty-eight years you have fought with sword and blood. Do you not wish to know what it feels like if your hands held only a tea cup and not blood?"

  Zhi Xuan fell silent for a moment, looking at Mei Hua against his chest, then at his companions. There was a strong pull from that pavilion, a promise of peace he had always deemed impossible. However, behind that figure's smile, Zhi Xuan felt something vibrating within his soul—a warning that even Spring could be the most deceptive of seasons.

  "Ao Sheng, Xiao Die, return to the Divine Cauldron," Zhi Xuan commanded coldly, waving his hand as the Divine Cauldron emerged with a low hum. "Enter."

  "Senior! But that figure—" Xiao Die tried to protest, but Zhi Xuan’s sapphire gaze, now as sharp as nine winters, silenced her words.

  "Enter," Zhi Xuan repeated with unquestionable authority.

  Ao Sheng growled lowly, but he knew that if this other Zhi Xuan was an enemy, their presence outside would only be a burden to their Senior. With a sharp nod, he pulled Xiao Die’s hand. Both turned into glows of light—gold and rainbow—and streaked into the mouth of the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron.

  The Divine Cauldron spun once in the air before shrinking and disappearing into the folds of Zhi Xuan’s robe. Now, on the silent deck of the Seven-Star Boat, only Zhi Xuan remained, cradling Mei Hua, facing the figure of himself who appeared so holy in that pavilion.

  "You are very vigilant, Zhi Xuan," the figure in the pavilion remarked while sipping his tea. "Or should I call it... fear? Fear that your companions will see how filthy you are compared to me?"

  Zhi Xuan leaped from the boat, landing soundlessly on the jade rock separating the lake from the pavilion. "I have no time for mirror nonsense," Zhi Xuan hissed, his hand still cradling Mei Hua. "Who are you? A manifestation of the Law of Spring, or the remnants of an inner demon I haven't yet cut down?"

  The silver-haired figure chuckled, a sound like the tinkling of wind chimes in an ancient temple. He stood up, his white robe fluttering gently, not touching a single speck of dust.

  "I am the possibility you threw away," he answered calmly, stepping closer. "I am the Zhi Xuan who never held the Heavenly Sword. The Zhi Xuan who never let his hands be stained by the blood of the clans in the lowlands. Look at me... do you not miss this tranquility?"

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes. The Spring air around him suddenly felt suffocating. "Tranquility born of helplessness? If I had become you, Mei Hua would have died long ago. If I had become you, I would have been crushed under the feet of those who call themselves Gods."

  "Brother... this person smells like flowers, but his heart is empty," Mei Hua whispered suddenly. The little girl stared at the white-robed figure with a very strange gaze, as if she could see through that marble skin.

  The white figure was stunned by Mei Hua's words. His gentle smile faded slightly, replaced by a flat, cold stare. "Empty? No, little Mei Hua. I am perfection. Without scars, without sin, without burdens. Zhi Xuan, give the girl to me. Let her stay in this eternal Spring, far from the fishy smell of blood that always follows you."

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  "Your steps have gone too far, shadow," Zhi Xuan's voice lowered, a vibration of Slaughter Intent beginning to creep from the soles of his feet, causing the clear lake water around him to suddenly turn black. "You want to take Mei Hua from me? Even if Heaven itself asked for her, I would tear those Heavens into seven pieces."

  "Arrogant," the white figure countered. He waved his hand, and instantly thousands of peach blossom petals in the air turned into needle blades radiating the deadly essence of the Law of Spring. "Do you think your enlightenment of Cruel Heaven and Eternal Star is enough? In the face of pure holiness, your darkness is but dust."

  Zhi Xuan felt an immense pressure. This was not a physical attack, but an attack on his Dao Heart. This figure represented his deepest regret—the desire to be normal, the desire not to kill.

  "Great Saint," Zhi Xuan called out internally, "is this also part of the trial?"

  "This is Self-Severance, brat," Ruo Xianxue’s voice sounded sharp in his head. "Your Dao mirror is trying to discard the human part of you so that you truly become a heartless Sword. If you lose here, you will become a soulless puppet that only knows how to cleave the world."

  Zhi Xuan took a deep breath. He looked down, kissing the top of Mei Hua’s head. "Mei, close your eyes for a moment. Brother must prove to himself that these scars... are proof that I am still alive."

  Zhi Xuan released the hilt of the Heavenly Sword within his soul. But this time, he did not bring out his dark blade. Instead, he stepped forward empty-handed, letting the peach blossom needles slash his cheeks and robe.

  "You speak of perfection?" Zhi Xuan laughed hoarsely, his steps becoming steadier even as blood began to drip from new cuts. "Perfection is a lie for those who fear pain. I am the sinful Zhi Xuan, full of wounds, who will drag the entire world to hell if necessary."

  "I am tired," he continued, spreading his arms and closing his eyes. When he opened them again, the sapphire glint carried the same gaze as hundreds of years ago. "You think I wanted this blood from the start? You have no idea what I went through before this. If the Heavenly Way is so grand, then why is the Dao of Heaven so heartless?"

  "Once, I did indeed long to be like you," Zhi Xuan spoke again, clenching his fist and raising his hand. "However, that all vanished when I was no longer the Zhi Xuan who held a shepherd’s crook."

  The white-robed figure was stunned, his hand that was raised to control the peach blossoms trembling slightly. The image of holiness seemed to crack upon hearing the words "shepherd’s crook"—a fragment of memory that should have been buried beneath thousands of piles of corpses and cultivation dust.

  "Shepherd’s crook," the shadow whispered, his previously melodic voice now containing a tremor of instability. "Zhi Xuan, you can return to that time. Here, in this valley, you are the ruler. You no longer need to keep walking for your Dao. Isn't this peace beautiful?"

  "This peace is but a grave decorated with peach blossoms," Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice as heavy as a bronze bell tolled in the depths of a valley. "You are my most beautiful lie, shadow. You are the coward hiding behind a white robe because you cannot bear the weight of Slaughter Intent."

  Zhi Xuan stepped forward, his feet stepping on the water's surface which was no longer clear, but began to radiate thick ripples of darkness. Every step was an acknowledgment of every sin he had committed in his hundred and twenty-eight years of life.

  "I am no longer the shepherd boy staring at the sky in awe," Zhi Xuan said, his silver aura beginning to clash with the holy light from the figure before him. "I am the wanderer who challenges the heavens because I know how cold the justice you boast of truly is. You stand beneath the shadow of Heaven; I walk amidst those shadows."

  Instantly, the atmosphere in the Peach Valley churned violently. The previously calming pale blue sky began to crack, revealing a hollow darkness behind that false horizon. The white-robed figure began to lose its human form; his face, once perfect, now warped like disturbed water reflections.

  "Zhi Xuan... you choose suffering over a quiet eternity?" the figure’s voice now overlapped, between a celestial whisper and a stifled ghost’s scream.

  "Suffering is proof that my soul has not turned to stone," Zhi Xuan countered with a voice that shook the pavilion's foundation. "You are merely the remnant of my fear of the future. You are the Zhi Xuan who gave up, and today... I will kill that possibility forever."

  Zhi Xuan released one hand cradling Mei Hua, then pointed his left palm—the arm housing the Kun Peng sapphire tattoo and devil blood—directly at the white shadow’s heart.

  "Eternal Star: Everything Returns To Origin!"

  A vortex of darkness appeared in the center of Zhi Xuan’s palm. But this time, it did not pull physical matter; it pulled the essence of holiness forming that white figure. The holy light radiating from the pavilion was forcibly sucked into the black hole in Zhi Xuan’s hand, creating a roaring sound like thousands of souls being pulled into the vortex of reincarnation.

  "No! This is impossible! You cannot annihilate a part of yourself!" the shadow roared, his body beginning to crumble into shards of light swallowed by Zhi Xuan’s darkness.

  "I am not annihilating you," Zhi Xuan said with sapphire eyes flashing coldly. "I am swallowing you. I am making your holiness a part of my darkness. For the sharpest sword is the one that knows how to remain clean in the midst of a pool of blood."

  BOOM!

  A violent tremor shook the entire Peach Valley. The wooden pavilion shattered into pieces, sinking into the lake which now turned into a vortex of dark energy. The white-robed figure vanished completely, absorbed into Zhi Xuan’s body.

  This provided a sensation of purifying cold and burning heat within his meridians. Zhi Xuan staggered for a moment, blood seeping from his eyes and nose due to the immense spiritual burden. However, he remained standing tall.

  "Huff... huff..." Zhi Xuan regulated his heavy breathing, feeling that every breath now carried an essence far purer than before.

  But before he could compose himself, still cradling Mei Hua, the Secret Realm shifted again, bringing the scent of wet earth and flowing lava. Zhi Xuan staggered, his head spinning as the change occurred abruptly.

  Zhi Xuan’s vision blurred, as if the world before him was an ink painting doused in water, fading and merging into a chaos of colors. Intense nausea hit the pit of his stomach as gravity around him suddenly turned upside down. He felt his mortal and devil bodies scream, trying to adapt to the natural laws changing in the blink of an eye.

  The peaceful peach blossom valley was now burning in silence. The previously pink petals turned into glowing embers, then petrified into volcanic ash before touching the ground. The clear lake where the pavilion once stood boiled, erupting with molten lava that crawled up to envelop the jade rocks.

  There, on a throne made of obsidian rock, sat a man in robes that blazed like primordial fire. His hair stood upward, radiating strands like a dark and burning fire god. His aura seemed to purify all forms of cold and radiated a thick Yang aura; even the Heavenly Devouring Cup within Zhi Xuan vibrated faintly as if in response.

  Zhi Xuan forced his feet to stay planted on the now violently vibrating ground. The heat radiating from the obsidian throne was not mere ordinary fire, but the heat of a creation furnace capable of melting even the purest spiritual essence. Every breath he took felt like swallowing shards of embers, parching his throat.

  The man on the throne did not move, but his presence seemed to be the axis of all the wrath of the Yang element in the Secret Realm. The fire strands in his hair danced, licking a sky that had now turned coppery orange. The aura he radiated was so dominant that the Sword Intent and Slaughter Intent within Zhi Xuan’s body were forced to cower, as if meeting the ancestor of all power.

  "Oh, my poor self," the man’s voice echoed, not through the air, but through vibrations in Zhi Xuan’s marrow. "Why are you still bound by karma to those mortals?"

  Zhi Xuan looked up, his sapphire eyes now struggling against the painful glare of the fire. He felt Mei Hua in his arms shiver slightly, not from fear, but from the extreme temperature. Instinctively, Zhi Xuan awakened the cold Kun Peng aura in his left arm, creating a thin shield to keep the temperature around the little girl stable.

  "Summer," Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice hoarse. "Only the Law I have mastered, wanting to demand the self that unites the four seasons?"

  The man on the obsidian throne slowly opened his eyes. His pupils were spinning fireballs, radiating ancient wisdom that transcended any lifespan. He did not smile like the white shadow earlier; his face was as rigid as an immovable mountain carving.

  "I am the Summer that has become you, boy," the man stated, his muscular hand resting on the throne's arm. "You have passed the deceptive Spring; now you stand at the peak of the judging Summer. This is the time you sever those disgusting karmic ties."

  Zhi Xuan felt the Heavenly Devouring Cup within his Sea of Consciousness thud loudly. The artifact seemed to struggle, wanting to come out and swallow the fire radiating from the man. However, the pressure from the man suppressed the Cup back into its place.

  "You carry devil blood, the ocean, silent sword intent, and a hole in your Dao Heart," the fire man stood up, every step causing the lava around the throne to surge in excitement. "Your body is an inharmonious battlefield. How can you hope to reach the peak if within yourself there is a civil war that never ends?"

  "Harmony belongs to those with a straight path," Zhi Xuan countered, forcing himself to step forward even though the obsidian ground beneath him began to glow. "My path is crooked and full of thorns. I do not need harmony; I only need the strength to keep walking."

  "Fool!" The man’s roar triggered lava explosions in the distance. "Strength without harmony is merely delayed self-destruction. You swallowed your white shadow to seek perfection, yet you only added a new burden to your already fractured soul."

  "Silence!" Zhi Xuan commanded with a sharp roar, wiping the blood flowing from his eyes. "You are what is within me, even imitating my appearance!"

  "Karmic ties, you say?" Zhi Xuan continued, referring to the snow jade and the red cloth embroidered with stars that remained. "These are the proof that I come from the world below. Proof that everything will return to the depths."