Gu Ruoyun's hand which was hidden in her robes clenched into a fist. She took two steps back, lowered her eyelids and communicated through her soul, "Zixie, is there any way to defeat him?"

Silence!

All was quiet from within her soul.

Her voice was like a tiny pebble which had been thrown into a vast ocean, receiving no response.

Zixie seemed to have disappeared and this caused Gu Ruoyun's chest to tighten. She called out urgently, "Zixie..."

There was only silence.

Zixie has always remained in the Ancient Divine Pagoda. In fact, he'd never left. Therefore, why had he suddenly disappeared at a time like this? Did something happen?

A sense of panic suddenly appeared in her clear and calm eyes at the thought of this. This panic was not because of the danger she now had to face alone, but because... It now seems that something had befallen Zixie!

Ever since her rebirth, this reckless and demonic man had always remained by her side. It was he who had followed her from her weakest moments towards her current position in power! One could say that without Zixie, she would not be where she was today! If something had happened to Zixie, she would never be able to forgive herself!

"Gu Ruoyun, I'll give you one last chance. Hand over the Ancient Divine Pagoda and Qianbei Ye."

The man stepped closer towards Gu Ruoyun and raised his chin arrogantly as he scornfully instructed her.

Gu Ruoyun backed away and the fist in her robes clenched itself tighter and tighter. Suddenly, she laughed. Her smiled looked absolutely magnificent and was a huge contrast to her previously cool demeanor.

"The Ancient Divine Pagoda? If I give it to you, I'm afraid that my life will be in jeopardy after that. You might as well kill me if you really think you can. However, if you kill me, you'll never have the Ancient Divine Pagoda."

The man paused in his steps and laughed. Despite his masked expression, you could hear the cold arrogance in his voice.

"Gu Ruoyun, don't think that I'm ignorant of the fact that the Ancient Divine Pagoda is hidden in your soul. I only need to kill you and take your spirit away. All that's left is to make you give up the Ancient Divine Pagoda and Qianbei Ye!" He raised his foot again and every step he took echoed within Gu Ruoyun's heart, "After countless grudges for over ten thousand years, I can finally have a conclusion today! Gu Ruoyun, you should never have come back! However, since you've chosen to return to this place, I'll let you have the chance to experience the pain of having your soul destroyed so that you'll never be able to reincarnate again."

Gu Ruoyun frowned gently as she thought, I still don't understand what this man is talking about.

What does he mean by 'I should never have come back'?

Could it be that we've met each other before? But why was it that I can't seem to remember anything?

"Actually, it doesn't really matter if you don't hand over the Ancient Divine Pagoda. As long as you're dead, no one else in this world will ever be able to control the Ancient Divine Pagoda. Then I will only need a little bit more time to break this seal and escape this place. When that time comes, the entire mainland will all be mine. Hahaha!"

The man's smug voice rang throughout the entire cave. A strong power, drenched in an aura of death, erupted from his laughter.

At this moment, Gu Ruoyun was suffocating under the sheer force of his powerful coercion. It was as if a huge mountain was pressing itself firmly against her body, making it hard for her to breathe.

This time, as the clutches of Death drew nearer and nearer, it all became clear...

"No, if this keeps up, I'll die here for sure! Right now, Xiao Ye has yet to recover and Zixie has disappeared without a trace. If I die, no one else will be able to help them. So, I must survive for their sake." The anxiety in Gu Ruoyun's heart grew stronger. She did not know what had happened to Zixie which had caused his sudden disappearance.

This is why I must leave this place as soon as I can! Only then will I be able to enter the Ancient Divine Pagoda and investigate the situation...