3 The Third Pig

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The woman in elegant robes was momentarily stunned. Yet, she was evidently of a higher rank than the old man in blue, able to control her emotions with ease. Even when publicly insulted by the former top figure of the Celestial Realm in front of her subordinates, she responded swiftly.

“My sect is but a minor branch, naturally unnoticed by the Celestial Sovereign.”

“It is said that once, the Sovereign sacrificed half his cultivation to reseal the Path of Ghosts, yet now that seal is on the verge of collapse… Throughout his life, the Sovereign stood firm in times of crisis; surely he would be willing to sacrifice once more for the sake of all living beings. This immortal body need not be taken by us personally, right?”

The assembled immortals echoed her words in agreement. “The Sovereign’s meridians are severed, his immortal bones lost; he is beyond saving. To discard this vessel would be wasteful. Why not save him fully, bring him peace in the afterlife?”

“Though the Kindness Prefecture imprisoned and tormented the Sovereign for five centuries, blood is thicker than water; the Sovereign truly should bear no grudge.”

“Indeed, in all of millennia, the Sovereign is the only one born with immortal bones. After death, flesh and blood lose much of their power; how could the Sovereign be so selfish and stubborn, acting alone!”

“If the Sovereign’s immortal body dissolves into the heavens and earth, then even commoners could attain enlightenment. Who would still wish to worship the Celestial Realm? What status would we then hold?”

The woman in the splendid robes sighed deeply, fell to her knees, and intoned, “I beg the Sovereign to consider the dawn of all living beings!”

Behind her, countless figures raised their voices like a roaring tide, shaking mountains and valleys:

“Please, Sovereign, think of the common people!”

“Please, Sovereign, think of the common people!”

The fervor swelled, the atmosphere thick with tension, ready to erupt into battle.

Li Zhenzhen took small steps through the snow-covered shrubbery, intending to slip away and find a safe place to hide amid the chaos.

The male lead lifted his eyelids slightly, suddenly addressing Li Zhenzhen, who was still struggling to carry her dog out: “What about you?”

Her hands clutching the dog froze. “?”

His tone was icy yet gentle: “Do you also think I should be skinned alive and fed to these parasites?”

Deng Xizhi seemed to speak casually, not expecting a reply.

Yet this brazen conversation infuriated the immortals present.

Finally, one cultivator could no longer contain himself, drawing his blade and leaping forward.

“I hope the Sovereign will sacrifice the self for the greater good!”

Deng Xizhi raised his eyelids with annoyance and looked toward the speaker.

True intent condensed at his fingertips; the frozen earth cracked, cold air crystallized into icy pillars, and a storm swept through the ancient pines.

The two sides clashed swiftly.

Compared to the fierce, staggering killing moves of the cultivators, Deng Xizhi did not even wield a weapon.

At his level, swords and blades were unnecessary; his will was the sword’s direction.

Snow and blood spattered as he moved, his broad, ornate robes clinging to his slender waist.

He was like a lone boat navigating upstream against a torrent.

Blades and spears struck him without effect.

Only his wide sleeves, floating like clouds, sliced through the incoming cultivators one by one.

Eventually, growing impatient, his movements became expansive and forceful.

Wave after wave of cultivators were swept aside with a heavy swing of his sleeve.

They collapsed, icy spikes bursting from their chests like thick shards of ice, intestines spilled across the ground.

This brutal spectacle cowed the crowd, who watched the encircled yet unmoving Celestial Sovereign retreat in fear.

Someone in the crowd spoke up: “Fear not! He is merely holding on now. Five centuries ago, I saw with my own eyes how his pipa bone was pierced and his spiritual meridians severed; now his immortal bones have been extracted by the Kindness Prefecture. He is beyond hope, a leaky vessel. The more he kills, the faster his cultivation dissipates!”

“If we attack together, we can wear him down!”

“Exactly! What’s the Sovereign now? A mere cripple. Once his cultivation fades, he is no different from a mortal. With so many of us, can’t we defeat a crippled one?”

“Kill him, and we’ll divide his immortal body!”

“Fortune favors the bold! Charge together!”

Deng Xizhi drew the killing sword “Dustbreaker” from his shattered spiritual consciousness.

He fought alone against hundreds, slaying cultivators as effortlessly as butchering swine, his sword intent cutting through the withered branches and dead leaves of winter.

Soon, the ground was littered with severed limbs.

Li Zhenzhen found a spot unlikely to be affected, crouched silently like a background figure, and activated noise-cancellation mode on her task panel.

Suddenly, the world fell into silence.

Both Li Zhenzhen and the system exhaled in relief.

After a moment, Li Zhenzhen asked, “Why hasn’t our mission failed yet?”

Ordinarily, as the source of all energy in a small world, the death of either the male or female lead would cause collapse, especially since the story was from the female lead’s perspective.

This was her first time descending to the grassroots level and encountering such a situation, exhausting the system to no end.

But he would never show weakness before Li Zhenzhen; his tone remained cold and ruthless:

“This is not something someone earning three thousand a month should concern themselves with.”

“In special cases, I will report directly to superiors. If all else fails, they can send another agent to complete the female lead’s storyline.”

Li Zhenzhen flicked away a finger that had landed on her shoulder and opened her operations panel.

“Our connection to the main system is severed.”

!

The system was horrified.

After a moment, he forced calmness: “I'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.