"You're late."

  The demon master's residual shadow waits for eternity, his will unbroken. It seems that it was all just to say this one insignificant sentence, leaving people bewildered and Meng Qi full of shock and wonder.

  It seems that as long as someone breaks in, he will say this sentence that has been lingering in his heart, and his will will be extinguished, leaving no trace.

  Was this sentence spoken to himself, or was it for that person who had been waiting for eternity but never arrived, or perhaps someone from the vast expanse of years past, who stood here facing him?

  If someone had taken his legacy ahead of time, why would his will continue to exist and wait for him to say such a sentence?

  If he had such a deep impression of people in his past life, why would it persist and remain with him to this day?

  Innumerable questions flooded Meng Qi's mind, and he didn't know how to explain this bizarre scene.

  As the silhouette of the demon master slowly dissipated, the pitch-black mountain peak suddenly shook violently, the mountain wall collapsed, and rocks cracked, as if experiencing a terrible earthquake.

  The dark earth was covered with a layer of black sand, and from the depths of the earth came a rumbling sound that rose and fell continuously, with cracks everywhere. A dark red moon hung low in the sky, its long tail of flames dragging behind it as it sank into the distance.

  Rumble!

  Blood moon falls to the ground, explodes fiercely, and fills the sky with smoke and dust.

  Evil spirits wailed, but their bodies couldn't help dissipating, black flesh fell off, and snow-white skeletons withered.

  The entire mausoleum presented a scene of impending doom, as if it was about to collapse and disintegrate, bringing Meng Qi back from his countless questions.

  Suddenly, he had an epiphany, and the Red Sun Town's evil knife slashed out, bringing forth the profound mystery of the Clear and Clean Stream. With a hint of subtle flavor, it drew beautiful marks, slashing towards Xiao Zi.

  She somehow unlocked her meridian points and recovered her martial arts skills, with a graceful figure, like a swallow swooping down to grab water, she suddenly attacked.

  The sword falls, the palm turns over, and the man retreats.

  "Xiao Zi" smiled and looked at Meng Qi, without a hint of guilt, saying: "When did you guess that I'm no longer Xiao Zi?"

  Meng Qi made a calm and clear gesture, his face serene, his heart neither angry nor fearful, and said calmly: "I've always been on guard against you, Gu Xiao Sang."

  No matter if it's Xiaozi or not, the necessary precautions must be taken. Moreover, the demon tomb has already begun to collapse, and as long as one is not killed instantly, there is a great chance of survival - if there wasn't any hidden opportunity here, I wouldn't have pushed the door open in the first place!

  But was it because his own Qigong skills were too poor, or did Gu Xiao Sang have some other extraordinary and profound technique that allowed him to silently and effortlessly break through the acupoints?

  Gu Xiao snorted and smiled: "Thanks to the master for understanding the true meaning of 'Anan's Broken Knife Method', otherwise I would have had to take a risk and open the door myself. Such great kindness, I'll leave you with an intact corpse."

  As soon as the words fell, Meng Qi only felt that the atmosphere around him changed, collapsing towards Gu Xiao's direction, and he himself was also involuntarily pounced forward. The stone tablet with the dragon pattern and phoenix script seemed to be pulled by an invisible hand, rising into the air and flying towards Gu Xiao.

  For the Tian Ting Jie Bei, Meng Qi didn't have a shred of greed, his whole heart was focused on dealing with Gu Xiao Sang. Although he now had the Bao Yu Li Hua needle, the Jian Zhi Wu Ming dart, and had stepped into the fifth stage of the Jin Zhong Zhao, Ah Nan's Po Jie Dao Fa had grasped the second style "Luo Hong Chen", but the gap between them wouldn't be smaller than the gap after his awakening with An Guo Xie!

  Fortunately, I don't need to defeat her, as long as I can hold on for a moment longer, the demon tomb will completely collapse, and the main quest will be over-fulfilled, allowing me to return to the cycle of rebirth.

  However, facing an enemy with such a huge gap in strength, pure defense can't last for long. Only by having a desperate heart and using offense as defense can we make the enemy cautious and gain time!

  As for this point, Meng Qi thought very clearly, without hesitation or reservation. His left hand had an extra metal black cylinder, reflecting the lightning, with a cold and stern light.

  Heavy rain and pear blossoms!

  Meng Qi took advantage of the collapsing atmosphere, aimed at Gu Xiao Sang, lightly pressed the trigger, and instantly, silver lights filled the air, like a violent rainstorm, rapidly shooting towards Gu Xiao Sang.

  At the same time, his right hand wielded the Red Sun Slashing Devil Blade, cutting out Greed, Anger, Delusion, Love, Separation, Resentment, Fear, and all the sufferings of the world, past and present, as if they were all manifesting before his eyes.

  After realizing "falling into the red dust", Meng Qi's "breaking clear and clean" has reached a deeper level, as if with one knife cut, the pure and clean Zen forest has transformed into an endless sea of suffering, unable to escape, unwilling to escape!

  Facing the torrential rain of Pear Blossom Needles and the "Broken Qing Jing" double attack, Meng Qi's strongest killing move, Gu Xiao San's perfect and flawless face still had a faint smile, her palms parted, the aura collapsed again, and in front of her continued to rotate, forming a terrifying vortex that actually wrapped around the dense silver needles.

  Then, the whirlpool dispersed, and the air flowed in all directions, carrying heavy rain and hailstones flying towards all sides, pattering down to the ground.

  With Gu Xiao's palms parted, the ribbons on her white dress all rose up, fluttering as if divine, and the air around her suddenly became ethereal and picturesque, as if a compassionate and sacred voice had descended.

  "The world is like a prison, all living beings are suffering, the cycle of rebirth never stops, worries and troubles never end. Pity us worldly people, with no divine intervention from heaven, no birth from an immortal mother, and a true hometown in emptiness!"

  "No life for the old mother, true emptiness of hometown!"

  She changed her palm to a finger, the airflow retracted, and collapsed in front of Meng Qi's knife, producing an extremely strong suction force, as if Meng Qi was actively delivering the knife to her fingers.

  Light solidified, the sword scattered, Meng Qi retreated several steps in a row, and he felt that his body's essence and internal energy were rolling out of control. If it weren't for his own "Duan Qing Jing" which was not an ordinary technique, he would have turned into a dry corpse!

  "It's enough to make me take out two of my greatest moves, I'm a bit reluctant to kill you." The danger posed by Bao Yu Li Hua to Gu Xiao Sang was still considerable, so she didn't take advantage of Meng Qi's difficult situation to attack, and instead took the opportunity to catch her breath. At the same time, she caught the Tian Ting Jie Bei, and somehow managed to shrink it down to the size of a palm, which she then stored in her pouch.

  The demonic master's residual shadow was almost gone, and the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Spear's vital energy continued to expand and contract, as if it couldn't find its target.

  The mountain peaks swayed violently, as if they were about to collapse at any moment. In the distance, the dark earth had been thoroughly divided by deep canyons.

  "But who made Little Purple like you?" Gu Xiao Sang looked at Meng Qi, who had just rearranged his hands in a starting position, and smiled, "Let you try 'Thousand Threads'!"

  As they spoke, the wind suddenly rose, and the air currents danced wildly. Meng Qi felt a slight swelling in his brow, and vaguely sensed that there were invisible threads wandering around him, capturing him from all directions.

  Is this her weapon? Meng Qi suddenly had an epiphany, then calmed down and decided to use the "Falling Red Dust" she had just grasped, in order to achieve an unexpected effect.

  He didn't use his life-saving move earlier, he's planning to activate "Falling Red Dust" now!

  Looking at the current situation, this knife can only break through Gu Xiao's attack and hold on until the demon's tomb collapses.

  The Demon Lord's shadow completely dissipated, the purple lightning spear's electric light solidified in mid-air, his will faded away, and his vital energy began to rapidly drain. Gu Xiao Sang took a step forward, silk threads converged, cutting towards Meng Qi!

  Meng Qi was about to execute the "Shen Shen Jue" when a purple light suddenly flashed before his eyes, and a deafening roar shook him, rendering him stunned on the spot.

  The last wisp of spiritual energy remaining in the "Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Spear" suddenly changed, and a thick, purple lightning bolt struck directly at Meng Qi!

  Gu Xiang was shocked and dared not advance, his footsteps slipped as if dancing on ice, and he retreated with a flutter.

  No matter how much of the remaining aura of the Jiǔ Xiāo Divine Spear was scattered, as a symbol of the ancient Thunder God's authority, it had its own profundity. If not absolutely necessary, one should never forcibly resist it.

  Meng Qi was locked by the last bit of spiritual energy of Jiuxiao Shen Lei's spear, his soul and body were like being struck by lightning, completely paralyzed, unable to move, and could only watch as the purple electricity fell onto his hand.

  Rumble!

  This time the thunder directly exploded inside Meng Qi's body, and he only felt that his eardrums and related orifices were blown open one by one.

  Rumble!

  The thunder sounded again, but lacked the mysterious and profound effect of directly shaking the acupoints. However, purple lightning surrounded Meng Qi's body, crackling and popping, continuously tempering his Golden Bell Shield, causing the dark golden light to flicker and gradually condense.

  Rumble!

  The sound faded away, Meng Qi came back to his senses and found that all the purple electric lights had disappeared, but there was a new mark on the back of his hand - a bright purple scar in the shape of lightning, with a faint sense of majesty and nobility.

  The lightning mark contracted inward, slowly disappearing, but Meng Qi knew that if he exerted himself fully, the lightning mark would reappear on his palm.

  "What's going on?" Meng Qi was shocked. Why would the spiritual energy of the Jiuxiao Divine Thunder Spear choose him, and what use was this thunder mark?

  And just now, under the lightning-like purification, his own Golden Bell Shield's fifth stage was rising steadily, and it was not far from being fully rounded.

  What's most important is that the thunderclap, seemingly from the ninth heaven, brought an unimaginable mysterious sound, opening up the nine related orifices in one's ears, and afterwards one only needs to condense it.

  Normally, Meng Qi condenses a Qihai into three steps, stimulating the true energy, slowly opening it up, and then condensing it according to the method. The first two steps take the most time, so he originally planned to spend six or seven months condensing the ear-related Qihai. Now, it seems that it can be completed within a month. The saved time can be used to try normal grinding and opening without the aid of Dan medicine, making up for hidden dangers.

  These thoughts flashed through Meng Qi's mind and were immediately reined in, for with a great enemy before him, he could not afford to be distracted.

  Gu Xiao looked at the scene with a mixture of surprise and bewilderment, her expression dazed, her lips slightly parted, revealing a rare glimpse of her innocent and youthful aura.

  She came back to her senses, a faint smile at the corner of her mouth: "Alright, we're even. I get the Heavenly Court Boundary Stele, and you get the Divine Thunder Essence. That way, you can die with peace of mind."

  The words had barely fallen when the will of the demon master dissipated, and the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Spear's essence vanished. The entire black mountain peak slowly collapsed, its summit waves rippling as if something had been shattered.

  "Little monk?" Jiang Zhiwei drew her sword and appeared at one corner, her face pale, looking at Meng Qi with a hint of surprise.

  However, she immediately came back to her senses and made a gesture of invitation to Gu Xiao Sang.

  On the other hand, Qi Zhengyan emerged with his body stained with blood, and his face, which rarely showed any expression, was filled with a hint of astonishment.

  Hong Xiaoguang turned around cautiously and looked at Gu Xiao Sang.

  In such a situation, Meng Qi was lost in thought. Perhaps from different roads, there would be different stone gates, and he would see different peak scenery. This might be an illusion, or perhaps it was the overlap of different spaces.

  However, in the end they all belong to this side, and it is here that the will of the Demon Lord and his residual image truly exist.

  Gu Xiao was suddenly surrounded, but she wasn't afraid at all. She smiled and said to Jiang Zhiwei, "You seem to have used 'Sword Out of Me' again, your state isn't very good, is it?"

  She didn't wait for Jiang Zhiwei's response and carefully sized up Qi Zhengyan, her expression slightly strange as she said: "You can actually come up alive?"

  As they spoke, her body gradually became transparent, surrounded by white lotus flowers, with a fragrance that filled the nostrils.

  After obtaining the Heavenly Court Boundary Stele, her mission is considered complete. As for the main storyline, she had long been prepared to deduct her good deeds.

  So, with a clear purpose in mind, she didn't hesitate and chose to return before the battle began.

  Meng Qi saw that Jiang Zhiwei was not in good condition and did not want to fight desperately with Gu Xiao Sang here, so he just sent her off - she was almost unscathed, while he and Qi Zhengyan had their own ultimate moves, but the gap between them and her strength was huge, and they also consumed a lot.