After hearing this, the shadow snorted in response: “On what basis do you think I will turn this land evil and that I will destroy all living beings here?”

“You know it to be true in your heart, but you are unwilling to admit it.” Li Qiye retorted: “Do you think you can control the power underground better than the tyrant back then?”

“Before your death, you had a strong body and a firm will that allowed you to suppress this power underground.” Li Qiye explained: “But now, you have nothing. You have given everything to this power. If you truly try to come out, how will you escape it or even try to purify it? How are you going to turn this land into a paradise?”

The shadow became quiet and did not answer.

“Because of this, I simply wanted to talk it out with you.” Li Qiye said: “I don’t want to fight and kill in this place. I’m too tired and bored to wonder whether I should seal or end you. I came today in hopes that you can realize this for yourself. Return to where you belong. The deepest recesses underground is your home, there’s no need to come out again.”

“Says who?” The shadow disagreed: “I will definitely rule the nine worlds again...”

“It seems that I have been wasting my breath this entire time.” Li Qiye interrupted him: “I’m sick and tired of you now. After so many years, you still don’t dare to face the consequences stemming from your own decision. You are not even comparable to your daughter. Her miserable fate and unimaginable suffering, it was all because of you…

“Even though she hated you, she didn’t hold onto this resentment till this day and allowed bygones to be bygones with the passage of time…”

“Stop, stop, shut up!” The shadow shouted after Su Yuhe was brought up. It held its head and didn’t want to listen any further, this was its inner demon!

“Outside of convincing you today, I also came with good news.” Li Qiye lightly said: “I buried your daughter’s remains in the most peaceful location. All of her obsessions are now gone. She has let go of her hatred, even what she felt toward the tyrant. In the future, she will be able to be reborn.” [1. The word for “reborn” here has a couple of different meanings: “to be reborn / to live in paradise (Buddhism) / to die / (after) one's death.”]

Li Qiye continued while staring at the shadow: “You should think about letting everything go as well. Forget about the tyrant and your daughter. Let go of your inner demon, only then will you be able to be free…”

“No!” The shadow screamed while holding its head: “No! I will certainly come back to the nine worlds!”

Li Qiye gently sighed: “I can only say that I am very disappointed. I didn’t want to use such means to force you, but this is your choice. I hope you will be able to face it one day.”

Having said that, he took out a vase decorated with an apricot flower. This was given to him before Su Yuhe left.

“No!” After seeing the vase, the shadow screamed as if it had seen a ghost and took a step back in fear.

This was Su Yuhe’s favorite vase. The Mortal Emperor personally gifted it to her when she married the tyrant. During her most painful times, she could only hold onto this vase and pour out her heart while waiting for the light.

Seeing this vase reminded it of everything. This was its inner demon; something it did not want to face.

“No…” The shadow begged: “Take it away, take it away, no—”

“It’s too late.” Li Qiye gently shook his head: “Face your decision!”

“No…” The shadow mustered some courage out of nowhere and pounced forward, wanting to break this apricot vase. However, when he approached, he became scared and immediately staggered backward while crazily shaking its head: “I can’t, I can’t, this was He’er’s favorite vase! I can’t…”

“Ah!” While it was wailing, something within it seemed to be trying to rip its body apart. He desperately struggled in order to stop it from coming out while retreating.

“No!” In the end, the shadow couldn’t restrain it. With a loud scream, its body was torn apart. An exact shadow-copy came out and immediately devoured it before escaping into the pit, disappearing without a trace.

“Boom!” All of the black energy receded like a tide into the ground.

“That was the inner demon.” Li Qiye stated while watching the whole thing play out.

Old Devil heaved a sigh of relief after seeing the shadow run away. After struggling for tens of thousands of years, it was finally over. He asked a bit later: “Will it return?”

Even though the shadow was devoured by its inner demon, this didn’t mean that it had perished. The inner demon was simply in charge at the moment. If the Mortal Emperor could suppress this inner demon one day, then he would be able to return.

Li Qiye explained: “Leave the vase here. With its suppression, he will not come out since he can’t fight his inner demon unless he lets go of everything. However, once he lets go of everything, he will know what he should do next.”

Old Devil became relieved and followed Li Qiye’s order.

After leaving the underground, Li Qiye coldly stared at Old Devil: “This is the power that you wanted. What do you think the end result of you obtaining this power would be? Becoming another tyrant or an abomination?”

Old Devil prostrated in shame: “My momentary foolishness has harmed the entire sect and forced everyone to experience tens of thousands of years of suffering.”

Li Qiye gently sighed and left without saying anything else.

After the war, the entire Mortal Emperor World regained its calm. The older generation returned to slumber while the younger generation was either training or kept a low profile without coming out.

This was the beginning of a new age with the Heaven’s Will coming together. It should be an exciting time, but this world was very quiet, peaceful even.

There was no other possible outcome. If it was a different generation with the Heaven’s Will emerging, the world would definitely be rowdy with geniuses coming out in waves. Many ancestors from imperial lineages would leave their mountains as everyone prepared to compete for the throne.

Such a bustling period would definitely be magnificent and stimulate one’s blood to the point of boiling. Geniuses would fight and sects would kill each other.

However, everything calmed down because everyone in the Mortal Emperor World already knew the result even before the competition begun. The Heaven’s Will of this generation belonged to no one but Li Qiye. No one else could compete with him for it.

Thus, the Mortal Emperor World became unusually tranquil and peaceful.

Li Qiye didn’t leave the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect or ask about any matters during this period of time. He simply focused on cultivating.

Magu also returned to the Heavenly Dao Academy because she knew that the day of their departure would eventually come. She would have to leave the Mortal Emperor World and the nine worlds altogether. Thus, she returned to leave behind an inheritance for the academy.

After all, the academy was her home. She naturally wanted it to have a distant source and a long flow as it continued to flow down. So before leaving, she had to do something for the academy. [2. Another imagery idiom. Imagine a long river. Because it is long, the source is distant. It symbolizes a great lineage/inheritance.]

During his stay at the sect, outside of teaching Li Shuangyan and the other girls, even Bu Lianxiang would come to him for advice sometimes.

The truth was that in the present, he didn’t really have anything to teach Bu Lianxiang. They rarely talked about cultivation. In her eyes, just snuggling with him was enough.

But when they were together, they had a talk about her galaxy. She told him: “You should take it and study it. It is a waste for me to keep it.”

“No, you keep it.” Li Qiye gently tucked her hair back behind her ear and said in a serious manner: “This is an item from your Bu Clan. Your ancestors left it to you, so it belongs to you.”

“But you will need it one day.” She insisted: “When you face it again in the future, you will need something even more powerful.”

“I am different now compared to back during the Ancient Ming Era. I have even more powerful items, I am extremely prepared if the war comes in the future. This galaxy will be left with you.”

Bu Lianxiang turned quiet for a bit before tightly holding his hand: “I don’t know what I still have to leave you.”

“There’s no need to leave me with anything.” Li Qiye said: “I am already very satisfied having reached this point in life. I have experienced and grasped everything I wanted. If the day comes when I die on the battlefield, I still won’t have any regrets.”

“Don’t say such unlucky things.” She quickly covered his mouth and became a bit flustered.