Mo Bai’s chest split open, but no blood flowed, and her long hair ripped a heart out through the opening.

The heart was noticeably smaller than before. It beat weakly as Mo Bai gradually absorbed it.

The sight made Dai Qianzhong and Xie Xingchen’s hearts pound with alarm, but neither of them moved. Gao Siyun would never allow something like this to happen.

This was a battlefield between quasi-Ultra-Star-Rank monsters. All they needed to do was wait until Gao Siyun and Mo Bai fought so fiercely that they couldn’t pay attention to anything else, then seize an opportunity to attack.

Dai Qianzhong intended to kill both monsters at once, completely eliminating any possibility of an Ultra-Star Rank monster being born.

Xie Xingchen, on the other hand, only wanted Mo Bai dead. He didn’t want to leave behind a hidden threat, and more importantly, he wanted the Environmental Assimilation card. If he could get such a powerful ability into his hands, his chances of becoming an Ultimate Player would increase even further.

Just as the two expected, Gao Siyun let out a shrill scream. That was her daughter’s heart!

She felt the town and the trading market moving away from her and drawing closer to Mo Bai.

This was the world she painstakingly built. These were the offerings she prepared for her daughter’s resurrection. How could she let anyone take them away?

She charged at Mo Bai. Countless long arms pinned Mo Bai’s body in place, yet Mo Bai did not resist.

Arm after arm pierced through Mo Bai’s body. Blood streamed continuously from her, while only her hair continued to dance through the air.

Countless scalpels appeared around Gao Siyun, severing the strands of hair. Finally, she reached the heart.

When Gao Siyun saw the heart growing smaller and smaller, she couldn’t help reaching out with the hands of her true body to cradle it.

The mass of accumulated limbs parted, revealing Gao Siyun’s true body with Yang Lingxi on its back. She reached out and gathered the heart into her arms.

Her daughter could finally be resurrected.

A voice that sounded calm but was actually filled with compassion echoed from behind her in layer upon layer. “Don’t you think this was a little too easy?”

Gao Siyun jolted awake. She looked down at what she held. It wasn’t her daughter’s heart at all, but a flower so crimson to the point of bewitchment.

The Legendary Red Spider Lily was the card Mo Xiangyou transformed into after his death. It remained hidden inside the heart until Mo Bai discarded all her restraints. Only then did the card break free of the heart’s control and come to Mo Bai’s side.

Mo Bai and Mo Xiangyou had known each other for a long time, but only now did they truly meet for the first time.

Mo Bai held a card in her hand. The card depicted mountains and plains covered in strange red spider lilies. A winding river ran through the sea of flowers, and red spider lilies bloomed across its surface as well. A lone figure stood on a red flower and drifted down the river into the distance. There was no reflection of him in the water.

The strange flower in Gao Siyun’s arms transformed again and turned into a card.

Wish Card.

It was a card Mo Bai obtained in the Dream Domain. It had no particular ability. It was simply a wish.

The Wish Card dissolved into motes of light and vanished, sinking into the space between the sleeping Yang Lingxi’s brows.

Yang Lingxi, under Gao Siyun’s control all this time, opened her eyes.

As she opened her eyes, all the remaining limbs protecting Gao Siyun lost their vitality, collapsed to the ground, and quickly began to rot.

“Xiaoxi, what are you doing?” Gao Siyun shrieked. “These are all tools Mommy worked so hard to find for you! How could you just throw them away like that? Mommy loves you so much! How could you…”

“I know you love me. You protected me with your life and refused to die for so long because of me. I never doubted your love for me.” Yang Lingxi spoke.

“Then why are you doing this?” Gao Siyun sobbed.

“Because the price of your love is too heavy,” Yang Lingxi said.

“I only want you to live. You’ve already suffered so much,” Gao Siyun said.

Yang Lingxi shook her head. “You don’t only want me to live. You also want me to absorb every life in this town, step over everyone’s corpses and bones to climb to the top, and gain the power to control other lives at will.”

“That’s because we were too weak! The weak are the ones who get bullied. I want you to become the strongest existence there is, so no one will ever be able to hurt you again.” Gao Siyun pleaded with her earnestly.

That heart belonged to Yang Lingxi. If Yang Lingxi herself didn’t want to take it, Gao Siyun could never take it from Mo Bai.

Yang Lingxi said, “The Wish Card has already conveyed your true wish to me. Say your wish again, and don’t lie.”

“I… I want to become the strongest existence there is. I want to kill everyone in this world who might hurt us. That way, you’ll never be hurt again.” Gao Siyun said.

Gao Siyun spoke her true wish.

Yang Lingxi asked, “What if I don’t want to do that?”

“You’re still young. You don’t understand how cruel this world is. Listen to Mommy. Everyone outside wants to hurt you, so we need to kill them all.” Gao Siyun said.

Yang Lingxi said softly, “Mom, you’re sick.”

Yang Lingxi suffered far too much at such a young age, and this caused her mother, Gao Siyun, to develop a mental illness. Apart from her love for Yang Lingxi, all that remained in Gao Siyun’s heart was the terror of being hurt.

To avoid being hurt, she hurt others first.

Once someone like Gao Siyun acquires extraordinary power, she would turn into an unpredictable madwoman capable of nothing but slaughter.

Eventually, she would lose herself and even the ability to distinguish friend from foe. Perhaps even Yang Lingxi, the daughter she was so determined to protect, would meet with disaster.

“You’ve already taken revenge, but you still refuse to stop. You refuse to let your hatred dissipate, and you’ve even taken your anger out on innocent people.” Yang Lingxi looked at her. “Mom, I have a wish too. Will you listen to it?”

The Wish Card appeared in Yang Lingxi’s hand, and she held it out to Gao Siyun.

Written on the Wish Card were the words: I wish you could become the rational, fair, and tolerant mother you used to be.

The wish wasn’t transmitted through words alone. Yang Lingxi’s consciousness and emotions also flowed into Gao Siyun’s mind.

Gao Siyun’s madness came from her love for Yang Lingxi and her desire to protect her. Yang Lingxi’s wish also came from her love for her mother.

Gao Siyun felt that love.

Gao Siyun suddenly fell silent. She stopped screaming, and the distortion vanished from her face.

She swept back her hair, and an intelligent composure returned to her expression. “Xiaoxi, if I stop being insane, you’ll completely die.”

With the help of the Wish Card, Yang Lingxi instantly understood Gao Siyun’s feelings. Of course, Gao Siyun knew that she was forcing things and that she was going mad.

But she knew even more clearly that her daughter was dead and no longer had the strength to remain in this world.

That was why Gao Siyun dragged her daughter along. If love wasn’t enough to keep Yang Lingxi here, then she would use hatred instead.

She bound Yang Lingxi with intense hatred and used her own body to hold her daughter’s body in place, carrying her on her back and forcing the two of them to remain in this world through this twisted method.

“Don’t you want to live?” Gao Siyun asked.

“I do. But more important than staying alive is my hope that you won’t become unrecognizable because of me. Before you love me, you should love yourself first,” Yang Lingxi said. “If you prefer the normal version of yourself, then please stop caring whether I live or die and choose that version of yourself. If you prefer the version of yourself that is mad, uninhibited, and willing to do anything, and you feel freer living that way, then please don’t take me with you. Put me down and walk forward freely on your own.”

Yang Lingxi’s wish was for her mother to love herself before loving her.

As she finished speaking, their two bodies gradually separated. Yang Lingxi’s small body detached from Gao Siyun and fell to the ground. She stood quietly, looking at Gao Siyun.

Without Yang Lingxi, Gao Siyun stood blankly for a moment before saying, “I once held hatred because there is far too much malice in this world. But I can’t blame the entire world for a part of that malice. If I did, I would also become part of it and turn into someone I once hated.”

Gao Siyun looked at Yang Lingxi. “Why did you give me the option of choosing a path toward malice? If you wanted what was best for me, shouldn’t you have stopped me completely and prevented me from doing anything bad?”

Yang Lingxi stepped forward and hugged Gao Siyun. “Mom, I love you, but I don’t want to use that love to control you. I know that you would abandon everything for what I want, but that might not be what you want.”

“Even if it meant sacrificing the entire world, I would still want you to live. That is my love for you, but it isn’t what you want.” Gao Siyun finally understood Yang Lingxi’s wish. “Love isn’t forcing your own wishes onto the person you love. It means respecting each other and maintaining a more independent kind of love.”

Yang Lingxi nuzzled against Gao Siyun’s chest.

“You understand so many things now.” Gao Siyun stroked Yang Lingxi’s hair.

“It’s already been seven years,” Yang Lingxi replied.

“Yes. Seven years have passed. You’ve already developed a self of your own, so I can’t keep treating you like an infant who only needs protection. It’s just a pity that you won’t be able to continue growing.”

Those words meant that she was going to let go.

Yang Lingxi smiled sweetly. “I’ve been very happy all these years. I’ve already received so, so much.”

Gao Siyun embraced Yang Lingxi. “If there is another life, I hope we can meet again.”

“Certainly.” Yang Lingxi’s voice gradually became ethereal.

Her body slowly turned transparent and transformed into Positive Flow, drifting away toward some unknown destination.

The power within her body was absorbed by the heart nearby, then entered Mo Bai’s body through Environmental Assimilation.

But Gao Siyun did not disappear.

“It seems I won’t meet her again.” Gao Siyun realized something.

Yang Lingxi could become Positive Flow, but Gao Siyun could not.

Gao Siyun tried to leave the same way Yang Lingxi did, but she couldn’t.

Some forms of malice could be dissolved, while others could only be destroyed. The rules of the world had their own way of passing judgment.

She looked toward Mo Bai. From the moment she and Yang Lingxi began speaking, Mo Bai didn’t attack either of them.

Mo Bai left the space to the mother and daughter.

Gao Siyun looked at the players standing nearby. Dai Qianzhong watched with a frown, hesitating over whether to strike, while Ding Xun and the others wore anguished expressions.

“What are they looking at?” Gao Siyun asked.

“A grand show one of my friends prepared for them,” Mo Bai said.

Mo Bai studied everyone’s expressions and sighed. “My friend likes playing tricks on people. Who knows what kind of illusion he created to fool them this time?”

“No wonder I was able to speak with Xiaoxi in peace,” Gao Siyun said.

Mo Bai asked, “What are you planning to do?”

“Will you spare me?” Gao Siyun asked.

“No.” Mo Bai shook her head. “I’m going to assimilate this entire town. There can’t be another boss besides me here. You have someone you want to protect, and I have someone I want to take back.”

“You won’t waver even after witnessing something as touching as what just happened?” Gao Siyun asked.

Mo Bai didn’t answer. Her attitude said everything.

After a moment of silence, Gao Siyun said, “I’ll turn into a card and take that card with you. If you ever get the chance to meet Xiaoxi, please give it to her.”

That could be another kind of reunion.

“All right,” Mo Bai said.

“I won’t do it myself. You do it.” Gao Siyun spread her arms.

Without Yang Lingxi, and with most of her power taken by Mo Bai, only her hatred and a small amount of energy remained to sustain her. She was no longer strong.

She was merely an A-rank monster that offered no resistance.

Long hair wrapped around her body. When it withdrew, Gao Siyun was gone, and only a card remained.

Mo Bai didn’t look at the face of the card. She simply put it away.

She wouldn’t use this card. When she met Yang Lingxi again, Yang Lingxi would open it herself.

Gao Siyun and Yang Lingxi were both gone, and all the power within them now belonged to Mo Bai.

With its true body gone, the heart ceased resisting. It obediently submitted to Mo Bai and allowed itself to be assimilated.

The Legendary Red Spider Lily was having a great deal of fun. For Dai Qianzhong and Xie Xingchen, it staged an elaborate battle in which the two sides exchanged blow after blow and appeared perfectly evenly matched. Neither of them could find an opportunity to attack. This bought Mo Bai the time she needed to quietly assimilate the town.

“Thank you,” Mo Bai whispered.

A rich, intoxicating fragrance drifted around Mo Bai, as if saying, No need to thank me.

After Gao Siyun disappeared, the previously sealed Black Boots card returned to normal.

Mo Bai walked over to the Black Boots and picked up the card.

The Black Boots became as docile as the little black goat. They didn’t dare defy Mo Bai’s power.

The card transformed into a pair of boots. With a tap, tap, tap, they ran one lap around the deep pit, then circled Dai Qianzhong once before returning to Mo Bai as though asking for praise.

They were telling Mo Bai that this area was now their domain and Dai Qianzhong could no longer use her abilities.

Mo Bai said quietly, “You’re claiming territory inside my domain?”

Only then did the Black Boots realize that Mo Bai was now the master of this place. With a flop, they fell flat on the ground and didn’t dare move again.

After subduing the hidden danger within her domain, Mo Bai closed her eyes and devoted herself entirely to assimilating it.

She felt endless malice, death, and madness. Her body trembled uncontrollably, as if only merging with them could ease the pain.

But a voice in her mind kept asking, Did you obtain this power for revenge, to kill every member of the Combat Group in the world?

Mo Bai’s answer was, Yes and no.

She wanted revenge. Debts should be repaid, and grudges should be settled. Allowing people like Xie Xingchen to live would only give them the chance to hurt even more people.

But revenge wasn’t all she wanted.

Before she decided to create a domain, she held one small, extravagant hope in her heart.

She wanted to create a home for the Observation Group players.

Mo Xiangyou could blur the boundary between the instance world and the Infinite World by using the Red Spider Lily to guide lost Observation Group players to her town.

Gu Tiandong could become the town’s guardian and prevent outsiders from harming it.

Then she would sustain the domain.

Her idea never changed. She wanted to establish an organization that would protect the Observation Group players.

That was her small wish.

This thought drifted amid the endless malice, yet it was never swept away.

It took root in Mo Bai’s mind, protecting her sanity with that wish as its foundation.

It stayed there until Mo Bai completely assimilated the power within her.

After absorbing all the power, Mo Bai felt a strange resonance.

She sensed that, apart from herself, there were three other existences like her.

She was familiar with two of them, and both were in instance worlds. One was filled with endless loneliness. That was Dusk. The other contained nothing but joy and happiness. That was The Story.

There was one more, but it wasn’t in an instance world.

Mo Bai clearly sensed the location of the final Ultra-Star Rank monster.

It was in Neverland.