"Master, be careful! These Bridal Specters are incredibly strange and terrifying. Once targeted, the consequences are disastrous!"Xiao Mi spoke up immediately, worried Yi Tianxing might underestimate them and get hit with a curse. That would be disastrous.
"Freeze!"
Yi Tianxing furrowed his brow and uttered a single command.
That word carried the power of his Golden decree, infused with the authority to command the heavens. Instantly, the red-garbed bride froze in place—her sword halted mid-swing, body suspended in the air.
Whoosh!
But in the very next instant, the frozen bride vanished, turning into a streak of red light, and once again pounced toward Yi Tianxing.
"Hmm?"
Yi Tianxing raised an eyebrow in surprise. Without hesitation, he grabbed a nearby goblin and tossed it toward the incoming bride.
The moment the two collided, a horrifying scene unfolded—
The bride latched onto the goblin's back, as if riding it like a new husband. In an instant, the goblin's body withered, rapidly shriveling like a dried husk. The bride was silently siphoning its essence.
A truly gruesome sight.
"Master, we have to go! She's begun draining the goblin's vitality and won't stop until it's dead! We should leave—now!"
Xiao Mi urged with urgency.
"No rush. I still need the peaches."
Yi Tianxing remained calm. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned the Four Seasons Wind Pouch, unleashing an intense suction force that swept through the grove, harvesting every ripe peach from the Bridal Peach Trees.
One peach… two peaches…
In a blink, an entire river of peaches surged toward him.
All the ripe Bridal Immortal Peaches in the forbidden grove were collected—leaving only a few unripe ones hanging from the branches.
Then, without hesitation, Yi Tianxing opened the Great Divination Celestial Umbrella, concealing his presence. His aura vanished.
The very next moment, tens of thousands of brides in red burst forth from the grove.Each one breathtakingly beautiful, their beauty unmatched, but their eyes filled with intense hatred and deadly resentment.
Like crimson wraiths, they darted through the forest in all directions, seeking the thief who dared steal the peaches.
But under the protection of the umbrella, Yi Tianxing's presence was completely undetectable.Even when the brides passed right beside him, they saw nothing.
The search continued for a full quarter of an hour. When they found no trace, the brides finally vanished in a fury.
"So many of them…" Yi Tianxing's heart tightened.
What he had just witnessed was no illusion—tens of thousands of red-garbed brides. Perhaps even more were hidden in the grove. This forbidden zone was far more dangerous than it appeared.
"What is the true secret hidden within this Bridal Grove?"
Yi Tianxing's curiosity deepened.
With the umbrella shielding him, he pressed deeper into the forest.Walking across fallen petals, he felt as though he were treading through a sea of flowers. Yet all the mature peaches were now gone. Only unripe fruit remained. The grove had grown eerily silent.
Even the brides from earlier had vanished, as though the entire encounter had been a hallucination.
"That 'old acquaintance' you mentioned earlier—where exactly is she? If you don't tell me, I might not find her in this vast forbidden zone."
Yi Tianxing transmitted his voice to the Nine-Colored Deer.
"I can't leave this place," the deer replied, "but I'll give you this."
The deer produced a jade talisman. Upon its surface was etched a blood-colored mountain, glowing faintly, pulsing with an eerie rhythm.
"What is this mountain?"Yi Tianxing examined the talisman. Just by looking at it, he felt a strange aura of pressure, as though the mountain contained unimaginable destructive power.
"This jade talisman will guide you to the target."
The deer offered no further explanation.
Gripping the talisman, Yi Tianxing suddenly felt a mysterious pull, an instinctual guidance.
"East."
That was the direction.
Without wasting time, he followed the jade talisman's guidance, ignoring the scenery as he made his way deeper into the grove.
Eventually, he arrived at a valley blanketed with peach blossoms.The miasma here was far denser than anywhere else—thick enough to choke.
"This must be the place."
Yi Tianxing waved his hand. A gust of divine wind swept through the valley, blowing away the petals and dispersing the miasma.
As the fog cleared, a bronze coffin came into view—majestic and eternal, etched with elegant patterns, exuding an aura of timelessness.
"She's… already dead?"
Yi Tianxing frowned, a strange unease growing in his heart.
He approached. The coffin lid was tightly shut, without even a seam.
"Did you find the bronze coffin?"The Nine-Colored Deer's voice sounded again.
"Yes. But how do I open it?"
"Use the jade talisman. Place it on the coffin—it will open naturally."
"Can't I take the coffin with me? Open it outside the zone?"
"Absolutely not!"The deer's tone grew firm."Her fate star is far too unique. She must be suppressed by the power of this forbidden zone. If you remove her, it will cause a catastrophe. That bronze coffin was personally forged by my former master to seal her. You must open it here. Trust me—it won't harm you. In fact, you'll be grateful."
"...I hope you're right."
Despite his reservations, Yi Tianxing's curiosity pushed him onward.
He placed the jade talisman on the coffin.
Crack!!
The moment it touched the surface, a burst of divine bronze light flared out. A mighty suction force erupted from the coffin, dragging all the miasma from the grove straight into it.
In mere moments, every trace of peach-blossom miasma was gone.
Then, with a crisp sound, the coffin lid loosened and slid aside.
Yi Tianxing opened it fully—and stared inside.
"Who… is this?"
Lying within the coffin was a woman whose beauty defied words.
She wore a bright red wedding dress, her elegance otherworldly. Her face was exquisite, as though sculpted by the gods. Yet her expression was icy—an aloof, untouchable aura surrounded her.
Her skin was like jade, glowing with divine luster.Every part of her was flawless—a beauty forged by heaven itself.
"Master, don't touch her! That fate star… my god—it's the Star of Calamity!!"Xiao Mi screamed, visibly shaken.
After spending more time alive, Xiao Mi had matured swiftly. Now, its instincts were sharp.
"The Star of Calamity?"
Yi Tianxing's expression changed.
He knew exactly what that meant.
The most ominous fate star under the heavens.
Those born under it were destined to bring death.
Either their mother or father would die at birth. Then, as they grew, relatives would perish one by one—a death per year if lucky, all at once if not.
Friends? Lovers? Allies?
Everyone dies.
No one around them could escape.
Worse still—those with this fate often couldn't die themselves. Even suicide failed.Heaven wouldn't let them die.
Years ago, before the cataclysm, when Yi Tianxing had worked as an exorcist, he'd once encountered someone with the Star of Calamity fate.
That incident had nearly killed him. He'd only survived by retreating immediately.
And now, the woman in front of him—She was one of them.
"You tricked me! You dare throw a Star of Calamity at me?!"
With a flick of thought, he summoned the Nine-Colored Deer, pulled it from his tower space, and slammed it to the ground.