A great battle involving over ten thousand combatants on both sides, fought to the bitter end — fewer than one in ten survived! Even the most powerful experts could not guarantee their absolute safety in such conditions.
Lin Taidou died at Yang Kai's spear, and the senior leadership of the Righteous Alliance was nearly wiped out to a man.
Yet Yang Kai himself had sustained grave injuries. Compared to Lin Taidou, who was still in his prime, Yang Kai was considerably older, his spirit and vigor no longer what they once were.
He had to sacrifice his own body in order to bring Lin Taidou down beneath his spear.
Xiao He was likewise drenched in blood, her aura feeble.
Both of them had been pushed to the very brink of collapse.
The surviving White Lotus Cult members had no time to raise a cry before thunderous rumbling echoed down from the cliffs above. In an instant, the earth shook and the mountains trembled.
Every person still alive looked up — and their faces drained of color.
Enormous boulders were tumbling down from the cliff faces on both sides of the canyon, accompanied by a deluge of arrows and streams of burning oil.
Despite being drenched in blood, Yang Kai still leaned on his spear, tilting his head to gaze up at a certain point high above.
In that direction, the White Lotus Matriarch had shaken off her earlier decline. Her flushed face was flushed with triumph as she looked down from her vantage point. Behind her, Qu Huashang clenched both fists, her body trembling ever so slightly.
When the rolling stones, raging fire, and rain of arrows buried Red Wind Canyon completely, the White Lotus Matriarch could no longer contain herself and burst into peals of triumphant laughter.
Unifying the world — the final obstacle was not the Righteous Alliance.
It was Yang Kai! From beginning to end, she had never been his match. Even if the Righteous Alliance were annihilated, the world would never have been hers to rule.
But now, that obstacle had finally been swept away.
The fog of aging decay that had long clung to the White Lotus Matriarch dissipated entirely. The wrinkles on her face seemed to have thinned as well. Judging by the ruddy glow of her complexion, she could likely live for several more decades without issue.
Qu Huashang understood that she had been used. What the White Lotus Matriarch had exploited was precisely the ambition that had smoldered in her heart for years.
In recent years, the White Lotus Matriarch had repeatedly put on the facade of failing health — all to stoke that ambition into an even fiercer blaze.
The cheers of the surrounding White Lotus Cult members shook the heavens, yet in Qu Huashang's ears they sounded impossibly distant. It was as though nothing in this world concerned her anymore.
The Righteous Alliance had fallen, Lin Taidou was dead, and Yang Kai was dead. No one in this world could stand in the way of the White Lotus Cult's dominion.
Alone above all others, the White Lotus Matriarch finally displayed a vigor and passion befitting a much younger woman. She was enshrined within the White Lotus Cult's grand hall like a sovereign ruler of the world.
Two months later, in the great hall, the stench of blood was overwhelming.
A sharp sword protruded from the White Lotus Matriarch's chest. She lay slumped in her high-backed chair, blood soaking through her robes.
Staring in disbelief at Qu Huashang, she clutched her chest. "You… how dare you?"
Qu Huashang stood three feet away. Though the White Lotus Matriarch was dying, a person as cunning and ruthless as her could strike a final blow at any moment. Qu Huashang was not foolish enough to give her the chance.
The bewitchingly beautiful woman now resembled a venomous serpent, her expression utterly cold. She said flatly, "Why wouldn't I dare?"
The White Lotus Matriarch coughed up a mouthful of blood. "I haven't yet passed on the formula for the Blood-Condensing Soul-Cleansing Pill. If I die, you won't survive either. Within three months at most, your body will explode and you'll perish."
It was precisely because she trusted so absolutely in the efficacy of the Blood-Condensing Soul-Cleansing Pill that the White Lotus Matriarch had never bothered to guard against Qu Huashang — which was the only reason the younger woman had succeeded.
The Blood-Condensing Soul-Cleansing Pill was something only the leader of the White Lotus Cult was permitted to possess. Each leader would only hand the formula to the next upon their deathbed.
"Is this what you mean?" Qu Huashang suddenly produced a jade vial from her robes and tipped out dozens of blood-red spirit pills.
The White Lotus Matriarch's eyes went wide, her disbelief growing even more profound. "How is this possible? Where did you get the formula?"
She was certain she had never told anyone the formula, nor left traces of it anywhere. There was absolutely no way Qu Huashang could have obtained it.
"He gave it to me." When Qu Huashang spoke of "him," a trace of grief entered her expression, and she recalled the events at Red Wind Canyon.
Before Yang Kai left, he had given her a certain item. Only after that day had ended and she examined it did she realize it was actually the formula for the antidote to the Blood-Condensing Soul-Cleansing Pill.
Judging by the material and the fading traces of the handwriting, the item appeared to be quite old — at least a decade or more.
In other words, Yang Kai had obtained this formula more than ten years ago. He and Xiao He had likely long since neutralized the poison of the Blood-Condensing Soul-Cleansing Pill, rendering them completely free of the pill's control.
He could have left at any time. But he had never departed, staying by her side the entire while. Even when her demands were utterly unreasonable, he had never refused.
Even when she demanded he walk to his death, he had gone to his doom without hesitation!
The White Lotus Matriarch naturally knew exactly who Qu Huashang meant by "him." She froze for a moment, then smiled bitterly. "I never expected that he was actually a master of alchemy as well!"
Having obtained the antidote's formula without any leads to work from, the only explanation the White Lotus Matriarch could conceive was that Yang Kai had reverse-engineered it through analysis of the quarterly antidote doses — deconstructing their ingredients and working backward.
Such skill was far beyond what any ordinary alchemist could accomplish. The White Lotus Matriarch even doubted whether her guess was correct.
"Yes. I never expected it either," Qu Huashang murmured.
The White Lotus Matriarch suddenly laughed. "Very good. As the leader of the White Lotus Cult, one must be this cold and ruthless. You are a woman — already at a natural disadvantage compared to men. Had you been indecisive on top of that, you would have doomed our sect's centuries of heritage. I knew I had not misjudged you! With you taking over as Matriarch from now on, I can rest easy."
Qu Huashang bowed gracefully. "Please, Matriarch, go on your way!"