Both Xi Yue and A-Xiang had in one way or another gotten where they were now because of him, so Xi Ping owed them an explanation. He wasn’t going to take the time to worry about anyone else—Xi Ping thought it was rather fortunate that when the great demon had been about to break out of the East Sea, he hadn’t had time to say anything to san-ge, or else it would be truly hard to cover up. 

He used his left hand to write a crooked note on the white jade proximal: “I am alive and well. Take care and do not worry about me. I am returning to Flying Jade Peak.” 

The note looked like it had been written by a seriously injured person. As for what kind of injury and why he hadn’t gone through the spiritual bones and used his spirit to tell him directly, let san-ge make his own guesses; anything else Xi Ping said would be a mistake. 

Anyway, there was a consensus among mortals that as long as you were still breathing, the immortals could save you. With that premise, whatever san-ge guessed, he wouldn’t be too heartbroken. 

This way, if removing the spiritual bones went smoothly, he would go back to being a mortal. First he would go to Prince Zhuang Manor to take his beating; then he would continue being a wealthy lordling. In the future, he would marry a beauty who wouldn’t disgrace the family so he could keep the family line going. When shifu left seclusion, he could send his sons and grandsons to be decorations at Flying Jade Peak. 

In case… Whatever “in case” there was, he could pretend shifu had taken him back to the inner sect to go into seclusion. Immortals, after all, could be in seclusion for a hundred years, long enough to fool a mortal’s longing. 

The rest, Xuanyin Mountain would smooth over. He had handled the situation appropriately enough. 

Elder Zhang took out a stone only slightly larger than a broad bean, dull grey. Looking closely, Xi Ping saw that the stone was actually transparent, but its whole surface had been polished into smooth hexagons, as if it had been inset with hundreds upon thousands of little mirrors. Each mirror reflected light, so the stone seemed clouded. 

“This is a star stone that comes from the Sea of Stars,” Elder Zhang said. “The punishment of the removal of spiritual bones normally falls onto a master. You opened your spiritual eyes too recently. Your consciousness won’t be steady enough. You can temporarily shelter in the star stone.” 

Zhao Yin said, “When your consciousness hides in the star stone, your sensations will be cut off. You won’t feel pain. The three of us will oversee the process. We will temporarily seal your spiritual eyes. We will not harm your meridians. We’ll use the best quality bone jade from the Beijue Mountains to replace your spiritual bones. It is tougher and more resistant than real bone. You won’t have any difficulty getting around in the future… Is there anything else to explain?” 

“Nothing,” Xi Ping said, seeming careless. “I’ll have to trouble you elders to send me back home to Jinping afterwards… Fortunately I haven’t been cultivating long.” 

Fortunately he wasn’t yet a hundred-year-old immortal. His grandmother in her seventies was still living. His parents were concerned that he was holding up his future prospects. They didn’t say it, but inwardly they were in fact hoping that he would come back. The Marquis telling him before he had left “you’ll have no protection in the immortal sect, don’t cause trouble” still reverberated in his ears. Fortunately these people were fastened to his feet and could drag him back into the mortal world to live as a mortal in peace. 

He thought rebelliously: if that hadn’t been the case, then however powerless he was today, he would have to stab right through that bullshit Sea of Stars in the future. 

“Quite right.” This time, Zhao Yin didn’t see what wickedness was brewing beneath the young master’s skin. “These things pose a looming danger for the nation and for you yourself. The earlier you’re rid of them, the better.” 

Zhang Jue sighed to himself, then lightly tapped the center of Xi Ping’s brow. Xi Ping’s vision went dark. His consciousness poured at once into the star stone. 

The countless little mirrors on the star stone reflected countless versions of him throughout his life—Xi Ping’s own memories of infancy were vague, but all the little details of pissing and shitting appeared clearly in the star stone. He seemed to have returned to his carefree teenage years. Waking up, he was once again in the Yongning Marquis Manor, which was transformed by spring breezes. In a daze, he rolled over and fell off of a stone bench onto the ground covered in fallen petals and sneezed from the smell…some public nuisance must have swept them into a pile there on purpose to catch him. 

Madam Cui’s maid, holding back laughter, ran over to call him, saying that her mistress was calling the young master to come taste some freshly made snacks. Xi Ping, covered in fragrance, had to get up. He had quite a few veiled complaints against his mother’s tricks, which hadn’t changed in twenty years. Each time he had to pretend to be taken in, let himself be “coaxed,” then dress up in all kinds of ridiculous outfits to pose for his mother’s drawings… She never changed the wording, as if he were some kind of greedy guts. 

Seeing that the star stone had his consciousness firmly wrapped up, Zhao Yin nodded and said, “Not even an ascended spirit could struggle free of the life inside the star stone. Let’s begin.” 

Zhang Jue ignored him. He sat to one side, holding the star stone that contained Xi Ping’s consciousness in his palm, standing guard. 

Since he had entered the dim star stone, it had taken on a coating of white fluorescence, like the fog lamps of Jinping City—only a young man just out of the cottage could provoke this kind of light from the star stone: only recently grown up, with his heart still at home, his loves and hatreds both shallow—the star stone would be as limpid as a mountain stream. 

How long it had been since the immortal sect had seen such a thing. 

Zhao Yin wasted no more words. He molded a few inscriptions out of thin air and placed them over all of Xi Ping’s senses. Then a realistic human skeleton appeared from the palm of his hand. 

Xi Ping floated in midair, and the skeleton quickly adjusted its size beside him. In hardly any time, it was identical to his own skeleton. Next, the skeleton made of bone jade turned into white light, which “spread” itself flat over Xi Ping’s body, slowly seeping into his skin and flesh. Meanwhile, dazzling silver light “poured” from Xi Ping’s back, as if he had grown a pair of quicksilver wings. 

As the spiritual bones were forced out of his body, they gradually took on the form of a skeleton. 

Indeed, Elder Zhang very meticulously avoided his meridians. Two full ke later, when the demon seed on the ground had shrunk to half its previous size, Xi Ping’s spiritual bones had at last been fully substituted by the bone jade. 

There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him. Only his aura had suddenly changed. The somewhat unsteady spiritual energy around him had gone with the spiritual bones. He had become a mortal. 

Zhao Yin inspected his spirit. “With no Way of the Heart, his spiritual foundation has naturally collapsed upon losing his essence. Otherwise, he is unharmed. Soon enough we will be able to restore his consciousness.” 

Normally, the removal of spiritual bones was nowhere near this gentle. This was Xuanyin Mountain according dignity to a disciple who “understood the big picture.” 

The wrinkles in Zhang Jue’s forehead relaxed slightly. The Dignitary of Fate High Elder reached out and pulled over Xi Ping, who was floating in midair, as if he suspected Zhao Yin of tampering with Xi Ping in some way and he was planning on personally inspecting Xi Ping’s meridians. 

Zhao Yin didn’t squabble over this trivial detail with him. He lowered his eyelids and pretended not to see, his gaze falling on the ancient demonic god’s spiritual bones. 

Perhaps it was his mistake, but it seemed to him that there was a peculiar smile on the skeleton’s face. 

How could a skeleton smile? 

But as soon as Zhang Jue touched Xi Ping’s wrist, it was as if he had accidentally grabbed a seven-stringed qin. 

The strings twanged as soon as they were touched, letting out a drone. 

As soon as this human-shaped qin sounded, the whole seal at the bottom of the sea shook. The demon seed that had been subdued by three shed skin masters working together instantly swelled to twice its size! 

As if he had been burned, Zhang Jue quickly drew his hand back. Without hesitation, Zhao Yin smashed the removed spiritual bones. 

But cracking noises came from Xi Ping’s body. His flesh sank and twisted bit by bit, then returned to its original form, as if all the bones in his body had broken and regrown! Then he seemed to become a lamp. Fine white light trickled down from him continuously. When the white light hit the ground, it became shard after shard of bone jade. 

Zhao Yin had spent two ke substituting his spiritual bones with bone jade, and he spent two ke “spitting out” the top quality bone jade after crushing it. 

The bone jade mixed with the dust of the spiritual bones on the ground, and another set of spiritual bones grew inside Xi Ping’s body! 

The young man’s aura suddenly altered greatly: this young man who had evidently established a foundation hardly any time ago had drawn the remaining spiritual energy in the East Sea into a newly-created essence and broken through into the middle established foundation period! 

Lin Zongyi abruptly stood up, personally rolled up his sleeves to reveal a pair of emaciated hands, and once again removed Xi Ping’s spiritual bones. 

His actions were far firmer and rougher than Zhao Yin’s. It only took him one ke to remove the spiritual bones, simply smashing Xi Ping’s spiritual foundation. 

The smile on the face of the removed spiritual bones was increasingly evident. The angle of the lower jaw was too great, no longer matching Xi Ping’s appearance… As soon as the bones left him, without waiting for Lin Zongyi to act, they went to pieces. Then there was a repeat of what had just happened. Xi Ping’s body once again grew another set of spiritual bones. 

This time it only took one ke, and his aura came right up to the late established foundation period! 

Meanwhile, as if bouncing back the roughness with which Lin Zongyi had removed the bones, the demonic energy in the agitated demon seed rose sharply. The inscriptions all around flickered. In the distance, the reincarnation wood forest grew wildly! 

Xi Ping’s consciousness was obviously residing in the star stone just fine, but his body turned slowly in midair and gave Lin Zongyi a mocking smile identical to the one on the spiritual bones. 

For a moment, Zhao Yin had the impression that they weren’t removing spiritual bones; they were personally helping the ancient demonic god return to the human world! 

“Yuan Hui’s way of death has no Way of the Heart. Each time he was destroyed was an opportunity. After they were crushed, the hidden bones would regrow flesh.” Zhao Yin quickly reckoned on his fingers. “Why would it be the exact opposite with him—the body regrowing spiritual bones? Could it be the his spiritual bones are not the true hidden bones…? So where are the demonic god’s hidden bones concealed?” 

The three shed skin high elders looked at each other in dismay for a moment. Suddenly, without warning, Lin Zongyi reached out and aimed a blow at Xi Ping. 

Zhang Jue quickly stood up, but it was already too late. 

Though Xi Ping was currently in the late established foundation stage, it was after all only the established foundation stage. A hit from this shed skin elder, who was nearly as old as the earth and whose every speech was like a heavenly commandment, scattered him like a puff of smoke. Before his flesh could disperse, it simply turned to dust. 

Zhang Jue said, “What are you doing!” 

But Lin Zongyi and Zhao Yin simultaneously looked at the star stone in Zhang Jue’s hand. 

A cultivator’s consciousness could find a temporary resting place, but it would only be temporary. In fact, it was about the same as a mortal breathing in anesthetic gas. Once the body was destroyed, the consciousness would immediately be annihilated. 

In other words, right now, the star stone ought to have become grey once more. 

But the star stone in Zhang Jue’s hand was still glittering brightly. 

Zhang Jue also realized something. He quickly hid the star stone in his palm. 

Zhao Yin said grimly, “Zhang-shixiong, these hidden bones… If my guess is correct, they are attached to his consciousness.” 

The way of death was born out of death. It had no Way of the Heart. It was visible but not tangible. Before, they had only thought that this young disciple had been possessed by the demonic god’s hidden bones; they hadn’t thought that he had managed to inherit them completely. 

In other words, Xi Ping hadn’t entered the “way of death” by mistake; he himself was the “way of death.” No wonder that when his hither seal had smashed his own spiritual foundation, his consciousness had been able to return calmly once the spiritual foundation had been restored. The demonic god’s hidden bones, which could multiply endlessly, were with his consciousness. 

Zhang Jue coldly said, “So now you two want to kill him? The Dignitary of Rule himself said that this disciple had rendered an indelible great service. Do you mean to say that it would accord with the Way of Heaven to kill without cause a person who has rendered a service? Gentlemen, are your Ways of the Heart yet steady?” 

Zhao Yin pursed his lips, his expression becoming very unpleasant for a moment. 

Just then, the demonic energy in the demon seed suddenly began to blaze. Black fog rose towards the sky and nearly broke the seal at the bottom of the sea. 

For a time, the three shed skin elders had no attention to spare for their internal strife. They joined hands to suppress the demon seed. They felt that the intensity of the demon seed’s resistance was hardly less than that of a living, breathing eight-hundred-year-old great demon. 

And at the same time, the dust hovering in the area once again gathered together. Right before the eyes of the three hard-pressed shed skin elders, it was about to join into a human form.

Zhao Yin said, “You saw that, Zhang-shixiong!” 

Lin Zongyi pulled down his mouth seal. “The demonic god must be eliminated.” 

When his judgment fell, the star stone in Zhang Jue’s hand suddenly shook. 

And almost at the same time, outside of the Sea of Stars, the Dignitary of Fate elder abruptly opened his eyes. His pupils were white, identical to the white light in the star stone. With a glance, he kept Lin Zongyi’s judgment away from the star stone. 

“Dignitary of Rule,” Zhang Jue said with emphasis, lowering his voice, “if you eliminate demons without reference to guilt, are you still worthy of being the Dignitary of Rule?” 

Zhao Yin said, softly, “Zhang-shixiong, can you not have noticed that Lin-shixiong’s verdict was ‘the demonic god must be eliminated’?” 

Zhang Jue’s white pupils trembled slightly. 

Lin Zongyi said grimly, “Dignitary of Fate, look to the human world.” 

Hardly had he spoken than countless scenes suddenly flashed on the four walls of the seal at the bottom of the sea, over the scar-riddled inscriptions: the sound of a qin being smashed echoed all around. The people who heard that enraged twanging seemed to have their hatred ignited. They attacked without a thought for the consequences, dying in droves by hand cannon, sword, and arrow. 

“Yes, if you are able to reach the shed skin level, there is no right and wrong Way of the Heart. We all understand this. Never mind this child who has just come of age, the historical records say nothing of Yuan Hui himself committing frenzied misdeeds,” Zhao Yin said. “But even if Jingzhai doesn’t know what it means that the demon seed has reappeared in the human world, do you mean to say that you don’t know either?” 

Zhang Jue was silent. 

“When the five sages achieved the full moon positions, the remaining masters were eliminated one by one by the Way of Heaven. Since then, the sects have operated on the foundation of the five sages. The spiritual mountains were divided, and in the human world, pure and impure were also separated. There was order. Only with this order in place can the immortal sects and the mortal world have peace,” Zhao Yin said. “Southern He stirred up the flames of war, and one of the five great spiritual mountain ranges was lost. Since then, the demons at the bottom of the Impassable Sea have multiplied by leaps and bounds. In the last two hundred years, how much instability has entered the human worlds, how many citizens have died as victims of injustice? Even now, the people’s resentment over Moon Plated Gold—in the final analysis, hasn’t it all been because of a loss of order among the spiritual mountains?! Can the Dignitary of Fate High Elder need someone else to explain this reasoning to him?” 

Lin Zongyi said, “When those who have been cast aside by the Way of Heaven return to the world, it must do injury to the righteous path. Karma is involved here. Human strength cannot overcome it. Dignitary of Fate, it isn’t as simple as ‘without cause’.” 

“In the future, when Jingzhai leaves seclusion, if he is truly able to attain the shed skin level, he will also see this reasoning. What choice do you want him to make?” Zhao Yin pointed. “Zhang-shixiong, look there.” 

The demon seed that had been suppressed by the shed skin elders was constantly overflowing with demonic energy. Thread after thread of demonic energy, as if drawn in by an attractive force, poured towards that gathering human figure. 

“I trust that none of the masters involved in the war of gods and demons wanted to see the people suffer, but do not forget that it was because of them that the demons in the Impassable Sea were born.” 

Xi Ping’s form had mostly taken shape now and faintly gave off the aura of a consummate established foundation. One more time, and perhaps he would go straight to an ascended spirit. 

On the young face that was gradually becoming clearer, there was a faint smile, as if he were mocking all of nature’s laws and rules: the sun and moon rising in the east and setting in the west, the day and night divided into twelve shichen, men and beasts living and dying, reincarnating and multiplying without end, water flowing into the east, trees growing up towards the sky, only establishing a foundation after forming your heart, only becoming a god while following the righteous path…

Zhang Jue at last closed his eyes once more. The star stone slipped out of his hand.  

A faint clash came from the Dignitary of Fate High Elder’s sleeve, and the shard of Zhaoting that bore the engraving of its name flew straight out and entered the center of Xi Ping’s brow. 

When he had been at Flying Jade Peak, the Sword that Mended the Heavens had been assigned by Zhi Xiu to be a loyal nursemaid, helplessly flying circles around his rebellious disciple to keep him from destroying the whole frozen mountain. 

Now the sword had broken, but its instinct to protect the young disciple remained. 

The star stone shattered, and the pure white consciousness inside it, the indolent Marquis Manor and Jinping’s late spring, all vanished along with it. 

And by coincidence, just at that moment, Xi Ping’s body assembled completely. The mocking smile on his face was gone. All his aura dimmed. 

The East Sea calmed. The demon seed once again became silent. The demonic god had been eliminated.