Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“It's true when they say that the Spiritual Energy present in the mountains and the rivers can improve one's cultivation greatly,” said Yue Ling'er who looked at Yun Jiuge contentedly.

 She had never felt more proud. She was only able to help Yun Jiuge raise her cultivation this quickly because of the powers that she possessed as a member of the Ling Clan.

 No one else would be able to achieve what she did, including the man considered to be the strongest of them all – Emperor Zi Shang.

 “Who did you hear that from?” Yun Jiuge asked. The person who told Yue Ling'er that was clearly trying to mislead her.

 Yue Ling'er froze. She then frowned and contemplated for a moment before she shook her head and replied, “I don't remember. I seemed to have heard someone talking about it in the Celestial Palace. But, as for who that was, I don't remember.”

 Yue Ling'er had taken on a spiritual form after committing suicide, and a lot of her memories had become foggy over time. The only thing she remembered was her loyalty towards Yun Jiuge.

 Yun Jiuge felt her heart sink upon hearing Yue Ling'er's words. She immediately guessed that the person who misled her must have been the person who impersonated Li Wei.

 Yun Jiuge was well aware that Yue Ling'er only did what she did because she was deceived by that impersonator. But she still could not forgive her for what she did.

 “Take down all these things in your room right now!” Yun Jiuge exclaimed as she pointed at the tubes in the Pill Production Room that were extracting and transporting the Spiritual Energy from the mountains and the rivers into the room.

 “Why?” Yue Ling'er refused to do as she was told. She had spent a lot of time and effort to create those Spiritual Energy Absorption Tubes. It would be very difficult for her to create those tubes again in the future.

 “Yue Ling'er, do you really think you're helping me by doing this? You're actually hurting me!” Yun Jiuge said as she glared at Yue Ling'er.

 “What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the Medicinal Pools that I've prepared for you? That's impossible! I've prepared them according to recipes that I've specially designed. They should be very beneficial to your body,” answered Yue Ling'er, who was very confident about the Medicinal Recipes she had come up with.

 “They might be beneficial to my body, but what about to my heart?” Yun Jiuge looked Yue Ling'er in the eye and said, “You've followed me for hundreds of years. You should know very well what kind of person I am. If I really wanted to use the Spiritual Energy of the mountains and the rivers to increase my cultivation, then the Ling Clan would have ceased to exist a long time ago.”

 Yun Jiuge's mother realized that her daughter possessed the one and only Ten Thousand Phoenix Body when she was still in her womb.

 She then made the decision to groom her child into a G.o.ddess.

 She not only used up all the resources that had been stored in the Celestial Palace over thousands of years, she even kidnapped the children of the Ling Clan and forced them to extract the Spiritual Energy from the mountains and the rivers for her. The Ling Clan was nearly annihilated due to her actions.

 When Yun Jiuge grew up, she issued a command to protect the mountains and the rivers. She also worked on bringing the mountains and the rivers back to their former glory by sending her Holy Power to the lands. It was only then that the Ling Clan were able to continue surviving.

 “Why are you trying to make others suffer the same pain that the Ling Clan suffered in the past?” Yun Jiuge asked angrily.

 “Your Highness, I was just…,” Yue Ling'er stuttered. Her rosy cheeks turned grayish white and her lips kept quivering.

 She wanted to explain her actions, but she was cut off by Yun Jiuge, “I know you did them for my own good, but this isn't what I want at all. Destroy all these tubes at once and return all the Spiritual Energy back to the mountains and rivers!”

 “No,” Yue Ling'er gritted her teeth and said resolutely. “The person who took the Spiritual Energy from the mountains and the rivers was me. Thus, the Heavens would only punish me. I won't regret my actions as long as you're doing well.”

 The conviction within Yue Ling'er was so strong that no one — not even Yue Ling'er herself — could remove it from her body.

 Yun Jiuge gave up trying to reason with Yue Ling'er.

 The kind and understanding Yue Ling'er she knew had died a long time ago. The Yue Ling'er before her now only possessed a fearsome conviction.

 Since she was not going to be able to persuade her to mend her ways, she could only do things by force.

 “Ling'er, you lost your right to follow me the moment you chose to take your own life. You should go to the place where you belong!” Yun Jiuge said. A golden-colored Holy Flame appeared on Yun Jiuge's palm. It emitted a pure and holy light that quickly enveloped the entire room.

 There was an immensely dangerous power hidden within the faint golden light.

 The magnificent Divine Temple instantly became shrouded in smoke, and Yun Jiuge finally witnessed the might of the Devouring Power that Wu Lan had spoken of.

 Yue Ling'er was floating in the air at that moment. She looked at Yun Jiuge with her deathly gray eyes and said in a pained voice, “Your Highness, are you going to kill me?” Yun Jiuge sighed and answered, “I'm not going to kill you. You've already killed yourself.” She then snapped her fingers once, and the golden Holy Flame flew towards Yue Ling'er.

 “No, I don't want to die!” exclaimed Yue Ling'er. Her hair shot up towards the sky as gray-colored Death Runes appeared all over her body. A surge of Devouring Power burst out violently, and the entire Empress Mountain began to shake.

 Countless grayish white threads appeared in the air and stopped Yun Jiuge's Holy Flame in its tracks, and the golden light that was being emitted from the flame slowly began to fade away.

 Yun Jiuge was not fazed by what was happening. Her face remained expressionless and she continued to inject Spiritual Energy into the Holy Flame.

 The Yue Ling'er who had gone berserk looked extremely fearsome right now. Seeing her in that state only strengthened Yun Jiuge's resolve to kill her.

 Yun Jiuge had to kill Yue Ling'er at all costs, or else the latter was going to destroy the entire Canglan Continent before the catastrophe even struck.

 “Your Highness…,” Yue Ling'er cried out. She could sense the killing intent coming from Yun Jiuge and that made her incredibly dejected.

 She had done so much for her. She even gave up her life and her people. But, all she got in return was this cruel killing intent from Yun Jiuge.

 She could not accept it. This was not how things were supposed to be!

 The feelings of resentment within Yue Ling'er deepened, and the grayish white threads began to turn black as though they had been dyed in ink. Likewise, the sky above the Empress Mountain also became black.

 Billows of Resentment Qi began to merge into black clouds in the sky. Countless ghosts emerged at the clouds, and they led out shrill cries as they trembled. It felt as though a catastrophe was about to befall the s.h.i.+wan Grand Mountain.

 Upon seeing the dark clouds, the Miao people all knelt on the ground and shuddered in fear. They thought that G.o.d was furious at them and about to mete out his punishment.

 The insects and birds started flying about frenziedly. They were trying to find a safe spot to hide at but they were not able to find one.

 Wu Lan was standing guard at the bonfire at that moment. Although Yun Jiuge a.s.sured her that she was going to take care of the situation, Wu Lan still did not dare to release her people and her younger sister who were cursed just yet.

 When she saw the Resentment Cloud above the Empress Mountain, her face was filled with fear.

 It was true that she wanted Yun Jiuge to deal with that demoness, but this was not what she wanted to see. She did not want the lands that she lived on to also be harmed in the process.

 After all, if the entire s.h.i.+wan Grand Mountain was in ruins by the time Yun Jiuge killed the demoness, then none of them would be able to survive either.

 Yun Jiuge was floating in the air at that moment. The ends of her robes flapped about loudly as the winds blew against her harshly.

 The Holy Flame at her fingertips might have been weak but it did not look like it was going to extinguish anytime soon. The flame kept closing in on Yue Ling'er.

 Yun Jiuge knew that Yue Ling'er must be feeling misunderstood, sad and enraged right now. But she could not think of any other solution but to kill her.

 Right at this moment, a purple spear whizzed through the clouds and destroyed all the grayish black threads in its path.

 Yue Ling'er raised her hand at once. In the next instant, a huge black hand emerged and grabbed the spear.

 The hand and the spear collided against each other. Boom! A deafening sound was heard following the collision, and the impact sent shock waves through the skies.

 The shock waves sent Yun Jiuge flying, but she eventually landed in someone's gentle and unwavering embrace.

 “Zi Shang, why have you come?” Yun Jiuge asked. She looked at Zi Shang, who stood behind her, in surprise. Hadn't he been hiding from Yue Ling'er this whole time?

 “Zi Shang, you've finally appeared,” said Yue Ling'er. She looked at Zi Shang with bitter eyes.

 “I didn't want to interrupt your reunion with Yun Jiuge, but you've gone overboard,” Zi Shang said coolly.

 “I've gone overboard?” Yue Ling'er sn.i.g.g.e.red. “When Her Highness was reincarnated, you were the first one to s.n.a.t.c.h a Reincarnation Stone for yourself. You even destroyed the rest of the stones and made it impossible for the rest of us to follow her. Does Her Highness know how despicable you are?”