"I, have returned!"

These confident and flamboyant words made Jin Shi continuously furrow his brow.

The Heavenly Dao split that was arrogant beforehand and would only hide behind the Great Emperor Qingfeng afterward, could actually have such presence?

"Something's wrong, something's very wrong, it might be the Great Emperor Tiangui in disguise, we need to be cautious and alert."

The Great Emperor Jin Shi transmitted to Divine General Bai.

Baize stood up and bowed respectfully, "Greetings, elder."

"Ah, Xiao Bai is still sensible."

Sikong Jiu beamed with joy, then quickly criticized with a stern face, "Xiao Jin Shi just won't do, really think I couldn't hear your Divine Sense transmission? How can a dignified Emperor Realm speak ill of someone face-to-face, you need to change that in the future!"

"..." Baize.

In just two sentences, the majesty vanished.

It seemed as if the Heavenly Dao split wearing a red bellyband, sometimes arrogant and sometimes timid, had returned.

Jin Shi reacted with laughter.

Back when he was weaker, he called everyone Daoist friends, treating them as equals, but now he directly calls him Xiao Jin Shi?

"Daoist Jin Shi, don't be angry. We are all gathered here for the survival of the Immortal Domain, so amongst ourselves, speaking freely is natural."

Sikong Jiu clicked his tongue and said, "In the past, The Supreme Emperor used to kick my backside regularly, pity can't kick it back now."

"Heh, our own?"

Jin Shi casually remarked, "Daoist Xu is dead, Daoist Li is dead, Tiangui is trapped on the Immortal Path, unable to move, and you, Elder, just happened to condense a body now, quite the coincidence."

Sikong Jiu's smile gradually faded.

The atmosphere in the palace instantly plummeted to freezing.

Baize was pondering, thinking of saying something to break the silence when Sikong Jiu suddenly slammed the green gourd behind him onto the ground.

From the gourd poured three bowls of liquor, not spilling onto the ground, but neatly placed on the table.

"This bowl is to honor The Supreme Emperor. This bowl is to honor Daoist Li, and the last bowl... is to honor myself."

Sikong Jiu's face, more beautiful than a woman's, carried a calm that made Jin Shi shiver.

"What do you mean."

"The deaths of The Supreme Emperor and Daoist Li, I deeply regret."

Sikong Jiu's eyes gradually turned blood red, "But I, Sikong Jiu, have never been one to covet life and fear death, nor will I ever hide behind Paoze to continue a miserable existence."

"You have not experienced the pain of sworn brothers dying before your eyes, nor have you felt the despair of enduring humiliation for a cycle, blaming yourself day and night for not being able to personally avenge them."

"Xu Qingfeng entrusted everything to me before he departed. The Immortal Domain he couldn't protect, I will protect it for him. Tiangui whom he couldn't kill, I will kill him in his stead, until my own demise and Dao collapse!"

"You are not me, how do you know I don't want to condense my body sooner and escape the Heavenly Dao's constraints?"

All past events surfaced in his mind.

Sikong Jiu closed his eyes, trembling, "Daoist Jin Shi, you don't understand me, I don't blame you. But please refrain from making such jokes in the future."

After saying this long string of words.

Sikong Jiu opened his eyes again, full of clarity.

He somewhat carelessly sat beside Divine General Bai, smiled, and said:

"Let me see where the Barbaric Beasts have appeared. My strength has only recovered a fraction, it's best to start practicing on the Barbaric Beasts."

On the other side.

From Sikong Jiu's previous words, Jin Shi felt a wave of despair, self-blame, and remorse.

But there was no anger toward her.

The pain of words that wound, Jin Shi had experienced before, such as the denigration of the Great Emperor Xianghuo by the few in the Nine Kings' Palace.

Yet Sikong Jiu didn't get angry.

He instead pulled out the dagger stabbed into his heart, called it an unintentional joke, and gently let it go.

Jin Shi bit her lip hard.

She didn't explain that her previous words were unintentional or against her true intention, nor did she try to find other reasons to defend herself.

Instead, she deeply bowed and remained standing for a long time without rising, "Jin Shi wronged Daoist friend, willing to accept punishment."

"Hey, I already said we're our people, and it's also my fault for speaking so recklessly just now."

Sikong Jiu didn't mind at all, beckoned, "Come, sit down."

Baize looked deeply at Sikong Jiu.

She understood why The Supreme Emperor chose to perish together with the Nine Kings' Palace and the Blue Giant Jellyfish in Heaven Beyond Heaven.

It was not just an act of helplessness.

It was because The Supreme Emperor knew, even if he fell, Sikong Jiu would carry everything forward.

"The Supreme Emperor, you're truly despicable. Those alive carry far more than those who have died."

Baize unknowingly muttered out.

"What Divine General Bai said isn't correct."

Sikong Jiu no longer referred to her as Xiao Bai, and said seriously, "Though those alive suffer, at least they are still alive. Being alive is wonderful."

The final four words.

Sikong Jiu said them lightly, but Baize couldn't hear any notion of goodness from his words.

Baize sighed softly and asked, "By the way, why does the elder call the alien beasts Barbaric Beasts, do you perhaps know their origins?"

Jin Shi sat beside Baize, quietly listening.

"The origins of these Barbaric Beasts can be traced back to the First Era, they were called Barbaric Beasts due to their strong bodily size and unlimited power, with highly prolific abilities. During the Emperor's Palace's purge of the Emperor Realm in the Immortal Domain, the Barbaric Beast tribe mysteriously vanished."

"I originally thought they were exterminated by the Emperor's Palace, but didn't expect Tiangui to have raised them, planning to use them today to destroy the Immortal Domain and accelerate the disappearance of the White Jade Stairway."

"Unfortunately, they had long lost their intelligence, born as killing machines and unable to recover."

Speaking of this, Sikong Jiu lamented, "Tiangui couldn't have foreseen, he would ascend the Immortal Path prematurely."

"So that's how it is."

Baize nodded; she previously only knew that the Barbaric Beasts were related to the Great Emperor Tiangui, but now she understood the whole story.

She further asked, "Apart from slaying Tiangui, is there another method to completely rid of the Barbaric Beasts?"

"There is."

Sikong Jiu contemplated, "Unless..."

"Unless?"

Baize emphasized her tone.

"Unless we find the Beast King Bloodline of the Barbaric Beast tribe and use the power of the bloodline to command the Barbaric Beasts."

Sikong Jiu shook his head and sighed, "But that will be difficult, Tiangui surely hid the Beast King Bloodline in a place where no one can find it."

"Then we'll have to kill them all." The Great Emperor Jin Shi squinted.

"Can't kill them all, the Barbaric Beasts reproduce very quickly, absorbing spiritual energy or the blood and aura of living creatures makes them grow rapidly."

Sikong Jiu rubbed his brow, feeling headache.

"Then why didn't the Barbaric Beasts cause rampant disasters during the First Era?" Jin Shi asked.

"In my era, the Barbaric Beasts did wreak havoc, destroying Spirit Veins and consuming living beings, their evil deeds unspeakable. But the Emperor Realm powerhouses were each fighting their own battles, in day-to-day combat and bloodshed, so no one had time to bother with the Barbaric Beasts."

"Perhaps the Beast King of the Barbaric Beast tribe grew overambitious, even declaring to dominate the Immortal Domain and enslave the Emperor Realm. Then tens of billions of Beast Kings' Bloodlines were massacred by dozens of Emperors to just three remaining, since then the Barbaric Beasts became obedient."

Sikong Jiu said.

"For such wickedness, why not kill them all." Jin Shi said indignantly.

"Because every once in a while there's a great sacrificial ritual. Plus, many Emperor Realm in the First Era were evil cultivators, demon cultivators, needing blood, bones, and souls for Artifact Refining and Alchemy."

Sikong Jiu shrugged and said, "So they left three as stock."

"..." Jin Shi.

"..." Baize.