“Humans… so weak, like ants, yet they are endless and cannot be killed off…” Ruo Hua’s laughter was light and airy, “But we dragons… we are doomed not to be favored by the heavens. The heavens favor this race of humans… Why do they get the heavens’ favor? Back then, I never understood this.”

Qiao Xuan looked at Ruo Hua, listening to her sweet and gentle laughter, yet he felt cold all over, as if a chill seeped into his very bones.

“Until I saw everything in the mirror…” Ruo Hua’s eyes revealed a wild and obsessive longing as she spoke slowly, “Only then did I understand—the problem wasn’t the humans. It was the Three Realms that had gone bad. They need to be purified. That is the true meaning of the cycle of the Three Realms, isn’t it?”

“It’s not about death, but rebirth. All of this is to welcome a cleaner, more beautiful world.” Ruo Hua’s gaze on Qiao Xuan was devout and tender, “And you are the hope.”

Qiao Xuan looked at Ruo Hua’s face.

Underneath her stunning beauty and gentle exterior was a deeply ingrained madness. She hated everything—she hated the world.

Words of persuasion swirled on the tip of his tongue, but in the end, he didn’t say them.

For a moment, he even understood Ruo Hua’s feelings.

He finally realized why it had been so difficult for him to survive his tribulation.

Why had the heavens been so unkind to him?

Striking him down once wasn’t enough—he had to endure seven lifetimes of hardship, dying miserably each time. Perhaps the heavens really wanted him dead…

If there was any difference between him and Ruo Hua, it was probably because he had his master by his side.

This world wasn’t completely devoid of things worth holding on to.

But Ruo Hua had nothing.

Qiao Xuan said, “I want to go outside for some air.”

Ruo Hua covered her mouth and chuckled softly, “I’m not untying you.”

Qiao Xuan replied calmly, “That’s fine.”

Ruo Hua sized him up thoughtfully.

Qiao Xuan raised an eyebrow, “Since I’m so important to you, yet you won’t even grant me such a simple request, how do you expect me to cooperate with you?”

“Cooperate?” Ruo Hua looked at him mockingly, as if she had just heard a joke.

Qiao Xuan knew he couldn’t fool her and spoke lazily, “Whether or not your talk about the Chaos Consciousness is true, you won’t be able to get the full Fire of World Annihilation without me. If you push me too hard, not only will I refuse to help you, but I might even cause some trouble for you…”

Ruo Hua’s gaze flickered slightly.

“Honestly, I don’t like the heavens either…” Qiao Xuan shrugged and sighed, “The first time I faced a tribulation, I was nearly struck to death by lightning. Then, after seven lifetimes of tribulations, I died tragically each time. Hua Lan and Jiang Weiqing… they’re all just part of my love tribulation, and that’s why they treat me differently. I’m sure you’ve guessed as much… And besides, I’m the last phoenix. Don’t you think we’re somewhat connected by fate? Even if our paths differ, after spending some time together, can’t we at least be friends?”

Ruo Hua looked at him, curling her lips and letting out a soft hum, “Such a silver-tongued little fellow.”

Of course, she didn’t believe his nonsense, but she still dotingly opened the door and smiled, “Come along, then.”

Qiao Xuan followed her out of the room.

By chance, Qiao Xuan actually recognized the island. It was none other than Fan Chi Island, where he had once been the city lord as Huo Chou.

Looking around, Qiao Xuan sighed, “Fan Chi Island has changed so much. I almost didn’t recognize it.”

Ruo Hua glanced at him in surprise, “You know this place?”

“Of course,” Qiao Xuan replied, “You know about Hua Lan and Xue Ming, but you don’t know that Lian Su and I were also connected in one lifetime. I was the city lord of Fan Chi City. He awakened after killing me.”

Ruo Hua finally showed a hint of surprise, “So you were the great demon lord who gifted Lian Su countless merits.”

Qiao Xuan’s expression was complicated, “Unexpected, right?”

Ruo Hua’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, “Tell me more. What happened between you and Lian Su? That monk, always talking about saving all beings, but he killed someone… how fascinating.”

Qiao Xuan said, “I wanted to destroy the world.”

Ruo Hua: “…”

Qiao Xuan spoke with a heavy tone, “Honestly, sometimes I feel like it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to just destroy this whole world.”

Ruo Hua gave him a stern look, clearly not buying it.

Qiao Xuan smiled faintly, “I told you we were connected, and you didn’t believe me.”

Ruo Hua was starting to get annoyed. When she was angry, there was a hint of girlish playfulness in her cold demeanor, “I’m not going to let you go.”

Qiao Xuan took a step forward, murmuring, “Look over there… At dusk, when the night falls like blood over Fan Chi City, it’s quite a beautiful sight…”

Ruo Hua instinctively glanced in the direction he pointed.

Her pupils shrank.

In an instant, a streak of light shot toward her!

It was a long sword made from bamboo.

Ruo Hua sneered, waving her hand to shatter the bamboo sword into pieces. But in that brief moment, Shu Chen had already appeared before her!

Taking advantage of the distraction, Qiao Xuan rolled away, and a massive white wolf grabbed him by the collar and dashed off!

The moment Ruo Hua had captured him, Qiao Xuan had sent word through an avatar left at Xuanhe Valley, informing Shu Chen and Xue Ming to come and help him escape once he had figured things out.

Ruo Hua’s eyes narrowed. She hadn’t expected them to find her so quickly—it was clearly a trap! But how had Shu Chen tracked her down?!

Her expression turned icy as grey flames ignited in her palm, quickly spreading into a massive wave of fire aimed at Shu Chen!

“Throw me over there!” Qiao Xuan shouted.

Xue Ming hesitated, knowing full well how dangerous the flames were. It didn’t believe anyone could withstand them.

But Qiao Xuan was resolute, leaping off Xue Ming’s back on his own.

The moment he landed, the raging grey flames vanished as if doused with water, disappearing in an instant, unable to even approach Qiao Xuan…

Ruo Hua’s expression changed.

Without the Chaos Fire, she wasn’t a match for Shu Chen and Xue Ming. Seeing that the situation was turning against her, she tried to flee, but Shu Chen smirked coldly, sending countless bamboo swords flying toward her.

Qiao Xuan stared at the sea of bamboo swords, dumbfounded, thinking to himself, Did Shu Chen just uproot the entire bamboo forest back home? Has he not been beaten up for this?

Ruo Hua gritted her teeth, and white dragon scales flickered faintly on her skin, making her body as hard as stone. But there were simply too many bamboo swords, seemingly endless.

“Ugh…” Ruo Hua was caught off guard as a sword pierced her shoulder. Before she could react, another struck her arm and thigh, knocking her to the ground, staining her robes with blood.

Shu Chen finally stopped, staring at her coldly.

The white ribbons binding Qiao Xuan loosened, and he walked over to Ruo Hua, sighing as he looked down at her.

Ruo Hua gritted her teeth, staring at him, unable to understand how things had turned out this way. She had calculated everything…

She had been so close…

Qiao Xuan crouched down in front of her.

“Everything I told you was true. I didn’t lie to you. Back then, I struggled to survive, just wanting to cultivate and live as a person. But I couldn’t pass my tribulation, and the heavenly lightning nearly obliterated my soul…” Qiao Xuan gave a bitter smile, “At the time, I thought I just wasn’t smart enough, that I lacked understanding. I wondered why it was so hard to just live a simple life. Why did the heavens hate me so much? Thanks to you, I finally understand why now.”

“But there was someone… someone who did everything he could to help me survive that tribulation and live as a person again. So, I thought… maybe it’s not so bad to just keep living…” Qiao Xuan smiled, “Since I’m alive, I should taste all the delicious food, see all the beautiful sights, and spend a long, long time with the people I care about… My desires have always been simple.”

“So, I’m sorry. I can’t be like you,” Qiao Xuan said.

The coldness in Ruo Hua’s eyes gradually faded. It was as if she had accepted everything, and she smiled slightly, “Oh? So now, are you going to kill me?”

Qiao Xuan shook his head earnestly, “You’ve always been good to me. I don’t want to kill you. If you can give me an answer and let go of this obsession, I’ll let you go. How about that?”

Ruo Hua sneered, as if finding his words laughable.

Qiao Xuan sighed, “I have two more options for you.”

He raised a finger, “If you really can’t let go, just say the word, and I’ll end it for you. That way, you won’t have to suffer.”

Ruo Hua smiled faintly, “And the second option?”

Qiao Xuan rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a thumb-sized jade-colored fruit, “This is a Forgetfulness Fruit. Even a god who eats it will lose all their memories. If you eat this, I’ll act like none of this ever happened.”

Ruo Hua’s expression finally changed. She scoffed, “You might as well just kill me.”

Qiao Xuan nodded, “So you choose the second option. Got it.”

With that, he grabbed her chin and forced the fruit into her mouth. The fruit melted instantly, and Ruo Hua, after a brief struggle, fell into a deep sleep.

Watching this, Shu Chen frowned, “That Forgetfulness Fruit is extremely rare, only appearing once every hundred thousand years. While it can erase a god’s memories, it’s also a holy fruit for cleansing one’s bones and granting a new life. And you just gave it to her? I would’ve just killed her—what a waste…”

Qiao Xuan shrugged, “I have no use for it, so why not let her eat it? No need to be so stingy.”

Shu Chen paused. He wasn’t being stingy, just dissatisfied with Qiao Xuan’s decision to spare Ruo Hua.

Qiao Xuan stood up, clapping his hands, “Let’s go home.”

Shu Chen sighed, “Alright…”

As they passed by him, Qiao Xuan suddenly asked, “You knew all along that I was the one who broke the seal, didn’t you?”

Shu Chen froze, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he stared at Qiao Xuan.

Qiao Xuan turned and smiled.

“No wonder… I always found it strange. Master was on the verge of death, yet you all didn’t let me go after Bai Cang, didn’t let me do anything. Turns out… turns out you all knew from the start that Bai Cang wasn’t the key, that I was the one who broke the seal and caused everything.”

With every word Qiao Xuan spoke, Shu Chen’s face turned a shade paler. His lips trembled, “I…”

Xue Ming didn’t understand what they were talking about. Although Qiao Xuan seemed calm, the atmosphere between them made it uneasy. It nudged Qiao Xuan’s neck with its head, its eyes filled with concern.

Qiao Xuan patted the wolf’s head and smiled, “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Xue Ming felt agitated. It didn’t want Qiao Xuan to be upset, and it couldn’t understand their argument. But to Xue Ming, as long as it could stay by Qiao Xuan’s side, it would do anything for him.

Qiao Xuan turned to Shu Chen and said, “Let’s go. What are you standing there for?”

Shu Chen lowered his gaze, his lips tightly pressed together. He remained silent.

………………………

The two of them, along with the wolf, quickly returned to the Celestial Realm.

Qiao Xuan told Xue Ming to wait for him, then headed toward his master’s quarters. Shu Chen reached out to grab his hand, his expression conflicted, and finally said hoarsely, “Senior Brother… he just didn’t want to put you in a difficult position…”

Qiao Xuan turned and looked at him with a calm gaze, “I know this wasn’t your decision. As for matters regarding my master, I don’t need your input.”

Shu Chen’s face was full of shame.

“Let go,” Qiao Xuan said, one word at a time.

In the end, Shu Chen couldn’t stop him. His fingers trembled slightly before releasing their grip in defeat.

Without a backward glance, Qiao Xuan left.

Xuanhe Valley was as beautiful as ever, with its eternal spring and breathtaking scenery.

Everything looked full of life.

But soon, it would become a place without a master.

The flowers, the trees, every blade of grass here had no idea what was about to happen…

Qiao Xuan finally stopped in front of the stone chamber.

He gave a bitter smile.

When Ruo Hua had spoken those words, all he could feel was how ridiculous they were. But in the end, he couldn’t deny it.

It turned out everything was just a circle.

He had wandered through the Three Realms, naively searching for the truth, but instead, he had unknowingly opened the seal, destroying everything his master had spent hundreds of thousands of years protecting.

The Three Realms were on the brink of collapse, and now even his master was about to die…

If only, after surviving his tribulation and becoming human, he had obediently stayed in Xuanhe Valley and never gone anywhere. If only he had stayed by his master’s side, he wouldn’t have stumbled upon the relic, seen the illusion, or gone to the Underworld. None of this would have happened…

One wrong step had led to a world of difference.

But in this world, the only thing that couldn’t be undone was what had already happened.

Regret was the most useless emotion of all.

But it was so unfair…

The one who had made the mistake, the one who should have died, was him, and yet his master was the one paying the price.

Was this what the heavens called justice?

Qiao Xuan took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Tai Chu lay slumped against the edge of the bed, his silver hair cascading down his face. His long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and when he saw Qiao Xuan return, he coughed lightly, his voice filled with worry, “I told you not to go.”

Qiao Xuan clenched his hand, his voice hoarse, “Master, when did you find out?”

Tai Chu didn’t ask what Qiao Xuan meant by “find out.” He simply said softly, “Does it matter?”

Qiao Xuan pressed on, “Was it when I faced my first tribulation?”

Tai Chu sighed, neither confirming nor denying it.

So, it was all true after all. His suspicions were correct.

His master’s attitude left him with no doubt.

Closing his eyes, Qiao Xuan was momentarily transported back to a thousand years ago—the first time he faced his tribulation. He had been filled with hope, thinking that he would finally be able to become human. Who could have known that a mere fledgling bird like him, far from a prodigy, would draw eighty-one heavenly lightning bolts, nearly shattering his very soul?

Later, Qiao Xuan learned that ordinary people didn’t receive such “top-tier treatment.”

But he had comforted himself by thinking that maybe, as the last phoenix, he had drawn a little extra “attention” from the heavens. Now he understood—the heavens had simply wanted him dead.

If his master had known everything back then and still shielded his soul from the heavenly tribulation, sending him to endure his seven lifetimes of trials, did that mean he had defied the will of the heavens from the very start? How great a price had his master paid to lightly block that heavenly lightning?

Qiao Xuan had no idea.

He couldn’t even imagine.

Tai Chu looked at Qiao Xuan’s expression and gently beckoned him closer, saying, “Come here.”

Qiao Xuan took a step forward, kneeling by his master’s side.

Tai Chu lowered his gaze and spoke slowly, “The seven lifetimes of tribulation were indeed bitter, but they also shielded you from the heavens. The cycle of reincarnation concealed you, and the heavens could no longer find you. In the future, if you live quietly as a small, carefree immortal, you won’t have to worry about the heavens troubling you anymore.”

Qiao Xuan forced a smile.

So this was the reason for his seven lifetimes of tribulation—he had died seven times and endured countless hardships just to avoid the heavens’ pursuit…

Seven lifetimes of love trials, and a slim chance at survival.

So that’s what it meant…

But did you really think that’s all I cared about?

Did you think I was just afraid of dying?

An inexplicable surge of anger rose in Qiao Xuan’s chest. Gritting his teeth, he said, one word at a time, “Master, you are the one who guards the Three Realms, yet you took the risk of saving someone you should never have saved. Don’t you think that’s laughable?”

Why did you have to save me? Why would you go to such lengths to keep me alive? Why didn’t you just let the heavenly lightning strike me down?

Who asked you to do all this for me?

I only… I only wanted you to live…

Tai Chu’s eyes held a fond but helpless look, as if Qiao Xuan were a child throwing a tantrum. He spoke softly to reassure him, “The Chaos Consciousness is immortal. Even if you were gone, there would always be another… I’ve just grown tired of guarding the endless cycle. I want to rest… And if you live well, for thousands or tens of thousands of years, as long as the seal doesn’t break, wouldn’t that be protecting the Three Realms as well?”

Qiao Xuan’s chest heaved, his eyes reddening as he laughed bitterly.

Yes, it was a reasonable idea. Instead of spending his whole life chasing after an unkillable Chaos Consciousness, time and time again… wouldn’t it be better to let him live a good life, and then the Fire of World Annihilation would never return?

But why?

You can rest, you can leave, but why must I be the one left behind?

Tai Chu lowered his eyes, placing a hand on Qiao Xuan’s. His voice was filled with concern, “This was my choice. It has nothing to do with you…”

Yes, it was you who fought desperately to save me. It was you who chose to die. You did all this for me, and you didn’t even tell me…

You didn’t even ask me…

Qiao Xuan suddenly stood up, his fingers trembling as he forcefully shook off his master’s hand. He let out a cold laugh, “Of course, it has nothing to do with me. Did you think I would die for you? Someone like me, selfish and scared of death, finally managed to survive. All I want now is to eat, drink, and have fun. I don’t care if there’s a flood outside or if the world is ending. Even if everyone else dies, I won’t.”

“And don’t think for a second that I’ll thank you. I’ll keep living as carefree as ever, just like before…” Qiao Xuan’s eyes were bloodshot as he looked at Tai Chu, his lips curving into a self-deprecating and mocking smile, “Master, with a disobedient and ungrateful disciple like me, do you regret taking me in?”