The Blazing Sun Flying Boat departed the Lost Realm, soaring beyond the clutches of the “Death Sea Area”.

Upon an island specifically designated for the docking and repair of flying boats, Jiang Wang reclaimed his ‘loaned’ Yuan Stones. Bidding farewell to the cultivators of the Yang Valley, he steered the vessel directly towards Huai Island.

It was already the early morning of the fourteenth day of the fourth month.

Having grown accustomed to the perpetual gloom and absence of light within the Lost Realm, traversing this emerald sea under the twinkling stars and radiant moon felt akin to “parting clouds to behold the moon,” a sudden, striking clarity!

This journey, though a perilous struggle between nine deaths and one life, had ultimately seen him transcend the “nine deaths” to seize that solitary “life”.

This journey, though burdened by accumulated debts, had finally culminated in the completion of the sin-washing, allowing him to save that foolish girl. He had not disappointed others, nor himself.

Moreover, the experiences within the Lost Realm would forever be etched upon his memory.

Those cultivators who fought with desperate abandon, those who cast aside worldly grievances to stand united, facing the threat of foreign races – the incandescent spirit the human race could ignite in such moments…

Indeed, every cultivator who reached the Outer Tower realm should undertake a pilgrimage to the Lost Realm, to witness the sacrifices made for the human race.

The Azure Cloud Mark shimmered into existence and then faded, tracing elegant arcs through the air.

Nine days consumed in the arduous task of sin-washing, returning to the near sea on the dawn of the tenth day. Throughout this period, he had not afforded himself a single moment of rest, not a single breath’s delay.

He was locked in a desperate race against time, vying for speed with the flow of the hourglass.

Even if granted a second chance, he lacked the confidence to replicate his performance, for it was simply impossible to have done any better.

The Horizon Platform was now drawing nigh.

Legend had it that this was the spot where the ancestor of the Fishing Sea Tower had left a single inscribed line, and it now approached from the distance, growing larger and clearer.

As the formation of the Horizon Platform was already active, a direct descent was impossible.

He adjusted his trajectory, and thus, upon the stone steps ascending to the Horizon Platform, he beheld…

Chong Xuan Sheng, Fourteen, Jiang Wu You, Li Long Chuan, Yan Fu – familiar faces, one after another.

“What are you all doing here?”

Jiang Wang dissipated the Azure Cloud Mark, drifting down with effortless grace. Suppressing the warmth that surged within his heart, he inquired casually, “How fares Dao Friend Bamboo?”

He knew these friends must have been diligently following his news, enabling them to await his return before he reached the Horizon Platform.

When departing, they bid farewell; upon returning, they welcomed; though the Horizon be distant, sincere hearts shine brightly for one another.

Is this not the essence of friendship?

But Chong Xuan Sheng remained silent.

Jiang Wu You’s phoenix eyes were alight with killing intent. She too remained silent.

Li Long Chuan’s face held a troubled expression.

Yan Fu regarded him with a calm gaze, though his worried emotions were deeply concealed.

It was as though an invisible, heavy hammer had struck his heart.

Jiang Wang felt a powerful sense of unease, managing only a strained smile at the corner of his mouth. “What is wrong with all of you?”

“Brother Jiang truly possesses a captivating grace that illuminates all! Your reputation from the journey to the Lost Realm spreads far and wide across the near sea, you have performed exceptionally well. You have earned my deepest admiration!”

A young cultivator adorned in black brocade edged with gold, standing upon the Horizon Platform, performed a salute. “We have finally awaited your return after completing your task, quickly take Bamboo Biqiong girl away!”

This person smiled with great brilliance.

Beside him stood a tall and slender young cultivator, his expression complex. Judging by his aura, his cultivation was far from ordinary.

Jiang Wang did not recognize these two individuals, but he surmised they were likely prodigious talents among the younger generation of the Fishing Sea Tower.

He remained silent.

The confrontational atmosphere on the stone steps intensified his unease.

He hurried across the stairs, stepping onto the Horizon Platform.

Bamboo Biqiong was neither bound nor restrained; she was alone in the center of the Horizon Platform.

Curled up.

As if sleeping.

Indeed, after Jiang Wang had departed for the Lost Realm to wash away his sins, no one had subjected her to further punishment, but neither had anyone attended to her needs.

She had simply remained on this Horizon Platform, her cultivation utterly abolished, her body teetering on the brink of death, curled up for a full nine days and nine nights… now on the tenth day.

Upon the vast expanse of the Horizon Platform, those black-armored warriors standing at the edges seemed to merge with the night.

While the slender figure curled in the center, and the bright moon at the horizon, appeared equally solitary.

In the heavens, the bright moon shone long; in the human world, the candle flame flickered, about to be extinguished.

“What is the meaning of this?” Jiang Wang asked.

He gazed at Bamboo Biqiong, curled motionless on the ground, then looked at the people around him, his expression caught between crying and laughing. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Jiang Wang, do not be anxious, Palace Master Hua Ying has specially invited a medical cultivator from the East King Valley to come, the situation may yet be salvageable. Let the elder examine her.”

With Jiang Wang’s return, Ji Shaoqing no longer had reason to obstruct them. Chong Xuan Sheng and the others finally ascended the Horizon Platform.

Approaching Jiang Wang’s side, Chong Xuan Sheng spoke words of comfort.

As his voice faded, from the crowd standing further down the stone steps, an old man wearing a veiled hat emerged. He stepped lightly to Bamboo Biqiong’s side, half-squatted, and extended a finger to take her pulse.

Jiang Wu You, Chong Xuan Sheng, and the others had gathered so many people on the Horizon Platform, even inviting a medical cultivator from the East King Valley… what did this signify?

Jiang Wang forced himself not to think.

On the vast Horizon Platform, save for the roar of the sea wind rolling the waves, there was no other sound for a time.

When the old man from the East King Valley opened his eyes, Jiang Wu You inquired, “Elder Su?”

Elder Su withdrew his fingers, shaking his head.

Jiang Wang stood there, feeling only his heart sinking, sinking deeper and deeper.

“You are the foremost medical cultivator among the near sea islands,” Jiang Wu You persisted. “You must have a way.”

“Some time ago, perhaps there was,” Elder Su sighed. “Now, it is no longer something that medicine and stones can save.”

Chong Xuan Sheng cast a somewhat worried glance at Jiang Wang, saying, “She was after all once a transcendent cultivator, she should have some foundation, see if you can find another way…”

“Wealth is not an issue,” Yan Fu stated.

“If she were originally an ordinary person, then perhaps there would be a way. It is precisely because she was once a transcendent cultivator. The one who abolished her cultivation did not consider her physical body at all, the means were incredibly crude, directly destroying her Heaven Palace, completely severing her future… People possess tenacious vitality, often precisely because there is still a future.”

Knowing deeply the backgrounds of the young people before him, Elder Su patiently explained, “Later, there was a strand of pure Yuan Qi protecting her life soul. But this Yuan Qi was not abundant, and it was water without roots, flowing away quickly. From her body’s condition, she was actually unable to hold on three days ago; to have endured until now is already a miracle.”

“She struggled with great effort.”

Elder Su concluded, “But people are like lamps, life like oil, she has already exhausted hers.”

People are like lamps, life like oil, she has already exhausted hers.

In truth, many of the words they spoke did not register with Jiang Wang. He was in an inexplicable trance. In the nine days and nine nights within the Lost Realm, he too had been utterly exhausted, utterly fatigued, his heartstrings stretched taut.

But this sentence, he heard clearly.

“I struggled with great effort.”

Jiang Wang said slowly, “I deeply respect the Fishing Sea Tower. The Fishing Sea Tower provided a reason, and I went to resolve that reason. The Fishing Sea Tower provided a path, and I went to walk that path.”

His voice was calm, even peaceful. “I exhausted everything, used up every ounce of effort. What could be done, I did my utmost; what could not be done, I did desperately. Every breath of time within the Lost Realm was spent either fighting or healing.”

“I truly struggled with great effort.”

He repeated himself, then asked, “But why is the result still this?”

There was no sorrow on his face, but rather an expression that made others feel even more pain.

He asked Chong Xuan Sheng, he asked Jiang Wu You, he asked Elder Su, he asked every person present, “Who among you can tell me… why?”