Chapter 1: The First Rebirth

"Wei Wuxian is dead. It's really satisfying!"

Just after the great siege of the Burial Mounds ended, before the next day even came, this news spread across the entire cultivation world as if on wings, even faster than the spread of the war flames in the past.

For a time, whether among the renowned noble clans or the cultivators in the mountains and fields, everyone was discussing this siege operation which was jointly led by the four great mysterious cultivation clans and participated in by hundreds of large and small families in the chaotic battle.

"The Yiling Patriarch is dead? Who could have killed him!"

"Who else could it be? His younger brother Jiang Cheng, acting out of righteousness and disregarding family ties, led the Yunmeng Jiang Clan, the Lanling Jin Clan, the Gusu Lan Clan, and the Qinghe Nie Clan to take the lead and completely wipe out his lair, the Burial Mounds."

"I have to say, it's a good riddance."

"Indeed, it's a good riddance! Finally, this scourge has been completely eradicated."

"If it weren't for the Yunmeng Jiang Clan adopting and cultivating him, Wei Wuxian would have been just an ordinary and mediocre person wandering in the countryside and marketplaces all his life. How could he have stirred up such a storm as this? The master of the Jiang family treated him like his own son. But what did he do? He defected openly, became an enemy of the cultivation world, brought great shame to the Jiang family, and even caused almost the entire Jiang family to be brutally killed. What is an ungrateful wretch if not this!"

"Jiang Cheng actually allowed this fellow to be so arrogant for so long. If it were me, when Wei Wuxian defected back then, I wouldn't have just stabbed him once. I would have directly gotten rid of him from the clan. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to do those insane things later. What's the use of talking about the affection of being fellow disciples, fellow cultivators, or childhood playmates?"

"Where did you hear this hearsay from? Wei Wuxian wasn't killed by Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng was just one of the main forces that forced his death. It was Wei Wuxian himself who suffered a backlash from practicing evil arts. He was bitten and devoured by the ghost generals under his command and was literally torn into pieces and turned into powder."

"Hahaha... It's retribution. The group of ghost generals he raised were like a pack of mad dogs that weren't properly leashed, biting people everywhere. In the end, they bit him to death. Serves him right!"

"But if Jiang Cheng hadn't formulated a plan based on Wei Wuxian's weaknesses for this siege, it's hard to say whether it would have been successful or not. Don't you forget what Wei Wuxian had in his hands and how more than three thousand renowned cultivators were completely annihilated in one night back then."

"I heard it wasn't just three thousand. Maybe it was five thousand."

"He was truly insane..."

"Fortunately, he destroyed that evil artifact before he died. Otherwise, leaving such a thing behind to harm the world would have made his sins even more serious."

"Alas... Speaking of Wei Wuxian, he was once a very famous young master of a noble clan in the immortal cultivation sects and wasn't without his own achievements. He became famous at a young age and was so carefree and unrestrained... How on earth did he end up like this..."

"It can be seen from this that cultivation must ultimately follow the right path. Taking the evil and heretical path may bring unlimited glory for a while, as if one is very amazing. But hey, what's the final outcome? Dying without a whole body."

"It wasn't entirely the fault of the cultivation path. In fact, Wei Wuxian's character was really despicable, provoking the wrath of both heaven and people. Good and evil will eventually be rewarded, and the cycle of heaven is just."

...

After his death, the conclusion was drawn. The contents of the discussions were more or less the same, and even if there were occasional faint dissenting voices, they were immediately suppressed.

However, there was the same thought that no one dared to speak out weighing on everyone's mind.

Wei Wuxian's remaining soul couldn't be summoned. In other words, his soul couldn't be found.

Perhaps it was devoured together when he was swallowed by countless ghosts.

Perhaps it escaped.

If it was the former, naturally everyone would be overjoyed. However, no one doubted that the Yiling Patriarch had the ability to overturn the heavens and the earth and move mountains and seas. If it was the latter, once his primordial spirit was restored and he was reborn by seizing another body, at that time, the cultivation world and even the entire human world would surely face even more insane revenge and curses, and fall into darkness and a bloody storm.

One hundred and twenty stone beasts for suppressing the mountains were placed on the top of the Burial Mounds. Each great clan began to conduct frequent soul-summoning ceremonies, strictly investigate cases of body snatching, collect strange phenomena from all over, and be highly vigilant.

In the first year, all was calm.

In the second year, all was calm.

In the third year, all was calm.

...

In the thirteenth year, it was still all calm.

More and more people believed that perhaps, the Yiling Patriarch had truly been completely annihilated both in spirit and soul.

Even if one once had the power to turn the clouds with a wave of the hand and cover them with another wave, one would eventually one day become the one to be overturned.

No one will be forever enshrined on the altar of divinity, and legends are just legends after all.