Beyond the Southern Heavenly Gate, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King lay dead on the celestial steps;
Before the Hall of Divine Might, the Four Heavenly Kings had been decapitated;
Beside the Hall of Fragrant Grace, the Black Fiend God and Wang Lingguan fought fiercely.
In the ruined Hall of Court Assemblies,
Lingchuan looked at the Demon-Quelling Celestial Venerable standing silently in her way.
Her heart churned with conflicting emotions, and she rebuked him:
"Celestial Venerable, you betrayed me twice in the past.
What face do you have to stop me from demanding justice from the Jade Emperor today!"
The Demon-Quelling Celestial Venerable gently urged her, "Yan'er,
I failed to protect you in the past, and I promised we would roam the world hand in hand in our next life.
But now the order of the Three Realms has fallen into chaos, and a calamity is about to befall Heaven and Earth.
I cannot stand by and do nothing, and you cannot keep making one mistake after another."
Lingchuan drew her sword. "Since it has come to this, let's fight!"
Though she said so, she could not help recalling
how in her previous life she had wandered the jianghu with Ye Xuan, carefree and unrestrained;
how in this life she and Zhili had shared a harmonious marriage, deeply devoted to one another;
and how later, for his sake, she had bathed the imperial city in blood before shedding her mortal body and ascending to immortality...
At last, unable to hold back, a single clear tear fell into the mortal world, stirring up the loves and grievances of three lifetimes.
