After obtaining his long-cherished Heaven-Shattering Axe (divine weapon), Dongfang Yelai immediately began to study it.
He hoped to commune with its spirit and wield it with ease.
But two days later, he sensed something was wrong.
This Heaven-Shattering Axe didn’t feel right!
Not only did its spirit remain silent, but the scratch at the axe’s haft had vanished!
Dongfang remembered that mark all too clearly—he had seen it more than once and even asked his master why it hadn’t been removed.
That old bastard had told him the scratch was indelible.
There was only one possibility: Bai Shuang the scoundrel had swapped the true Heaven-Shattering Axe!
He’d had every opportunity on the journey to pull a switch.
Fury flared within Dongfang. He first wanted to confront Gou Langtu and demand justice.
Then he thought better of it.
He couldn’t be certain who had truly ordered the switch!
Yet to suffer this indignity in silence was unthinkable.
Though a divine scion, Dongfang Yelai was also an abyssal god, master of stealth.
He slipped into Gou Langtu’s chamber under cover of darkness, seeking any clue.
To his shock, Gou Langtu and Bai Shuang returned just as he entered.
From their conversation, Dongfang learned the truth: it had been Gou Langtu’s idea all along.
From the start, Gou Langtu had coveted the Heaven-Shattering Axe.
And he’d been planning this for ages—including having Dongfang adopt Hong Zhencheng as his disciple.
Only a true abyssal god could ever wield that axe. As a demon lord, Gou Langtu could never activate it himself.
So he needed a vessel—and he had picked Hong Zhencheng long ago.
That was why he’d instructed Bai Shuang to keep him alive under Dongfang’s watch.
Even if something happened to Hong Zhencheng, Dongfang would be there to safeguard the plan.
Gou Langtu’s bond with Hong Zhencheng’s ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) body was already ninety percent complete—another reason Dongfang had survived so long.
Hearing their cold betrayal, Dongfang’s rage reached its peak.
“So you’ve been using me as nothing but a blade?” he snarled. “Do you really think you’re safe from my wrath?”
He struck, hoping to slay Gou Langtu on the spot.
But he had underestimated this long-lived old fox.
With a single counter, Dongfang was gravely wounded. Were it not for an escape talisman, he would have perished there.
After leaving Mount Baimien, Dongfang did not tend his wounds. Driven by a single breath, he raced toward the East-West Valley to kill Hong Zhencheng.
“Old dog, you want to hijack my vessel? Dream on! If I can’t use the Heaven-Shattering Axe, neither can you!”
But upon reaching the valley, his resolve faltered.
Despite his distant concern for this disciple, did he truly deserve death now?
It was unthinkable.
So upon entering the tomb palace, Dongfang changed his mind.
Before his life faded completely, he would do one humane act.
Gently, he nudged Hong Zhencheng. “Leave—go as far away as you can. Take a new name, or seek sanctuary with a powerful divine pact. Don’t let that old dog find you.”
Hong Zhencheng’s eyes filled with tears.
He could feel his master’s life slipping away.
“Master, here...” he stammered, pulling a healing pill from his storage ring.
But Dongfang shook his head.
“My body is shattered beyond repair. Zhencheng, the first master I knew wasn’t like this. I cared for our brothers, for you all. But when I saw my master’s injustice, I never imagined it would lead us here. Master...father... if you had been honest with me sooner, perhaps none of this would have happened.”
As he spoke his final words, Dongfang gazed skyward, his eyes clear at last.
His aura dissipated.
Tears streamed down Hong Zhencheng’s face.
Though Dongfang Yelai had failed as a master, in his last moments he truly spared his disciple—and that changed everything.
Ye Yu suddenly emerged behind them. In a low voice he said, “There’s no time to linger. If Dongfang Yelai thought to seek you out, that old fox surely knows by now. We’d best leave at once.”
Hong Zhencheng nodded, then used his divine power to bury Dongfang’s spirit body beneath the earth—his final act of filial devotion.
Together, Ye Yu and Hong Zhencheng sped from the tomb palace toward the Scorching Sun Gate.
If Gate Lord Zhu Xincheng had faith enough to accept Ye Yu, surely saving Hong Zhencheng posed no great obstacle.
Their pace was swift—yet another presence moved faster still.
A streak of light shot from behind them, arced overhead, and smashed into the ground, shattering an entire divine ridge.
Hong Zhencheng stared in horror. “Divine Lord, what was that just now?”
Ye Yu frowned and spoke gravely, “You can’t call her just ‘that’—it’s too disrespectful. After all, she once served as your divine pact leader.”
Hong Zhencheng pointed to the dust-choked scene below.
“Divine Lord, are you saying that streak of light was Xie Buyu?”
