Chapter Thirty-Five: Reborn After Surviving Tribulations, Blessed by Heaven

The tenth level of Hell.

A soft, cloud-white barrier wrapped around the ghost fire, emitting faint, icy-blue fragments of light that maintained the environment within.

Su Qin glanced at the person who had been standing guard outside the barrier and stepped forward, lowering her voice. "Your Highness, why not rest for a while? Shall I take over the watch?"

"There is no need. It will be over in half a quarter of an hour."

No one could survive for a full hour within the Ghost Flame. Therefore, Yan Yi was in no hurry to leave. He only had to wait a little longer, and everything would reach its conclusion.

"Your Highness, if you keep watch like this, it will surely drain your spirit."

"It is of no consequence."

"Your Highness!" Su Qin wanted to persuade him further, but seeing Yan Yi slowly close his eyes, it was clear he had no intention of listening. She could only swallow her grievance, not daring to speak another word.

Thus, the group waited for another half-quarter of an hour—a full hour in total. Yet, the ghost fire before them remained motionless.

Su Qin was growing frantic and was about to step forward when someone hurried over to kneel and report.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, it is bad!"

The ghost servant Mao Ding arrived in a panic, prostrating before Yan Yi. "His Highness, the Third Dragon Prince, has brought his troops to Hell!"

"What?!" Su Qin was shocked. She lunged forward, demanding, "Where are they? How many men did he bring?"

"They are already at the gates of the Underworld. No more, no less—about a hundred."

"Ha," Su Qin curled her lip in mockery. "What immense audacity, to dare trespass into our Underworld?" She turned to the sovereign. "Your Highness, let me go and deal with him."

"Stay," Yan Yi said, his eyes slowly opening. A clear, cold light flashed in his obsidian pupils. He parted his thin, crimson lips, his voice frigid. "Wait for the human to emerge first. Whether she lives or dies, Long Kong will not dare to make a move while she is here."

"But what if he does act? Your Highness, we cannot let such a madman linger outside our gates, harboring designs upon us."

"Rest assured. I have already sent someone out; someone will come to inform me."

Su Qin froze. "Who does Your Highness mean?" Was it General Hei Chang? Or Lady Meng Po? Surely it could not be Bai Chang, who was locked in the dungeon?

Yan Yi did not answer, for the ghost fire before them began to shift. The barrier and arrays set down an hour ago seemed to lose their effect.

"Ah—!"

A desperate, agonizing scream erupted from within. It sounded like a woman in unbearable pain, yet also like a grieving soul wailing in injustice.

"Let me go!"

"Let me go—!"

"Boom!" The entire barrier of the ghost fire exploded in mid-air with a thunderous roar.

The firelight soared into the sky, overpowering the original hue of the barrier and erupting with immense spiritual power that surged toward the Nine Heavens, shaking every level of the eighteen hells.

"Heavens..."
"What is happening?"
"Why is Hell trembling?"

The ghosts throughout the realm panicked, grabbing their weapons and rushing to the tenth level, waiting in formation.

Yan Yi remained calm, his gaze coldly sweeping over the ghost fire. Beneath the scorching brilliance, a woman dressed in human robes slowly emerged.

She looked pale and weak, yet her features were delicate and her temperament refined, like a lotus in the white. However, her dress was torn and stained, and the fair skin revealed beneath the rags was covered in severe burns.

This was none other than the human princess who had entered an hour ago—Changsun Lucha.

But the woman who had entered had been aged and withered, a crone of eighty years. The woman who emerged now had smooth skin and her original youthful beauty, no longer frail, but reborn with vitality.

"This..." The crowd was stunned. "How can this be?"
"How did she walk out of the ghost fire alive?"
"No, it’s impossible! How could it happen?"
"It is a first in millions—no, tens of millions of years!"

"Shut up!" Su Qin roared, causing the ghosts to shrink back in terror. She turned, eyes burning red, and glared at Changsun Lucha. "How are you still alive?"

It was impossible. From the moment the ghost fire was born in this world, no one had ever walked out of it alive. Not only did she emerge, but she had restored her youth and vitality, becoming a practitioner who could neither be destroyed nor extinguished. This was a mockery! A supreme shame to their Hell!

Changsun Lucha winced, feeling her wounds tremble with agonizing pain. The burns on her back and legs made it impossible to take another step. She cautiously shifted her gaze toward the sovereign of Hell.

"I... I do not know why I am still alive," she whispered. "I only know that when I entered, my body burned, my appearance changed, and my inner essence was transformed. But I know that I am still alive."

"Lord Yama... whatever punishment you still wish to inflict, I, Changsun Lucha, will accept it." Because this was the punishment she deserved.

"Then I shall kill you!" Su Qin manifested a long sword and lunged, the blade pointed straight at the girl.

"Stop."

Yan Yi raised a hand, releasing a dark, somber light that shattered the sword in Su Qin's hand.

Su Qin’s right hand was jolted by the impact, forcing her to halt. She stared in shock. "Your Highness?! Do you truly intend to let this human leave Hell alive? There are no outsiders here; if we kill her now, no one will ever know she survived the ghost fire."

Changsun Lucha looked up in terror. She had heard stories of Lady Su Qin in the mortal realm but had never taken them to heart, thinking them mere legends. She realized now that they were true. In the ghost realm, if one spoke of ruthlessness, Lady Su Qin was the first, and Lady Meng Hui of the eighteenth level was only second.

Did they truly not want her to leave?

Changsun Lucha’s timid gaze met the turning Lord Yama, and her heart skipped a beat. "L-Lord Yama..."

"She survived because of the Pearl Flower of Immortality," Yan Yi said, whether to explain to Su Qin or to Changsun Lucha herself. "The flower possesses the power of rebirth and eternal life. Since the recipient is human, she naturally remained unharmed."

Su Qin refused to accept it. "But she entered our ghost fire, the land of the Ghost Flame, Your Highness!"

Yan Yi looked at the dying flames and gave a faint, cold laugh. "That person was willing to go to such lengths for you?"

He had used his own life-source to forge a path, transmitting it to her to extinguish the fire's erosion, allowing her to absorb the spiritual power of the Pearl Flower within a single hour and fuse it with her body. She had transformed from a mere mortal into a true practitioner, against whom the ghost fire held less than half its lethal power. With this dual protection, she had survived.

"What..." Changsun Lucha did not fully understand his words, but she knew exactly who he was talking about. *Long... Kong.* Have you come?

Yan Yi waved his hand, ordering the ghosts to withdraw. "Let her go. Since she could walk out of the Ghost Flame alive, it is Heaven’s protection. My word is final; I shall not make things difficult for her."

"Your Highness?!" Su Qin was nearly hysterical. "How can you let her go? Even if you don't kill her, you could imprison her!"

"I said, let her go." Yan Yi turned, his immense aura crushing Su Qin, leaving no room for defiance.

"S-Su Qin understands." She lowered her head, biting her lip until it bled.

"Thank you, Lord Yama, for this grace. Changsun Lucha will remember it."

"No need. Once you leave Hell, you are no longer human, nor under the jurisdiction of the ghost race. Whatever your fate—life or death—it is your own."

"Changsun Lucha understands." She bowed deeply, offering him the highest salute of the human realm.

Regardless of the future, she only needed to be safe for now.

Changsun Lucha left Hell with a faint smile, going to find the person she had missed so dearly during those hours.

Behind her, the Mandara flowers of the underworld bloomed in vast, sweeping waves, covering every palace, dungeon, and the site where the ghost fire had finally gone cold.

In a single day, Hell was filled with enchanting flowers, and a radiant glow bathed all eighteen levels.

A small child watched the falling petals, a look of pure, childlike innocence on their face. "It’s blooming again."

Is Mother coming home soon?