Chapter 756: Return It to You

Chapter 756: Return It to You

If Zhao Changhe could hear this, he would understand many things.

Was the Night Emperor truly the embodiment of night and stars?

I'm afraid that's not entirely the case.

The stars were merely symbols; in reality, the Four Symbols had extremely clear definitions of heaven and earth—the four directions, the four seasons, the four times, the five elements, light and darkness, life and death... and so on. Taken together, that was called the rules.

She represented the rules and maintenance of heaven and earth. This included establishing emperors in the mortal world and protecting it. The ancient Night Emperor system was an extremely complete divine kingdom system, tens of thousands of times more standardized than other motley crews.

In Zhao Changhe's interactions with the Blind Woman, it was almost everywhere evident that she upheld the rules—not merely as something a "book spirit should follow," but because she, Ye Wuming, was born that way.

And in contrast, the opposite of rules was naturally chaos... that was Nine Nether. The two coexisted, representing the two sides.

Yet life was not a computer's preset. Did a being that always followed the rules truly exist? Moreover, the Night Emperor system always lacked a sense of sunlight and vitality; it was relatively dull and oppressive, making it easier for something to breed within.

I'm afraid that Ye Wuming's heart gradually developed an impulse to break the rules, especially after the Heavenly Dao had died. Thus, as Zhao Changhe saw, she often secretly used the rules to skirt the edges, and even when her temper flared, she dared to put emojis on the Heavenly Book broadcasts—an act so heretical that even someone like Zhao Changhe thought it was too extreme.

She was fundamentally a demoness who appeared serious, cold, and noble on the surface, but always harbored a little mischief inside.

Such a person seemed to have a name: repressed and secretly wild...

Yet was it possible that after becoming like this, she became stronger instead? Because she was more "complete."

The Heavenly Dao had split Ye Wuming and Ye Jiuyou to each represent the two sides, but Ye Wuming's heart still gave birth to her heresy. Then in Ye Jiuyou's heart, would there also be born her own rules and order? It was unknown. In any case, this time when the Blind Woman saw Nine Nether, she kept feeling that she was "trying to touch the path of the Night Emperor," meaning she was not as "crazy" as before.

At least in the past, she would not have endured so much in this matter, appearing unwilling to make a big fuss.

Were they both becoming each other's shape? Or were they both affected by each other's existence?

The Blind Woman was silent for a moment. Instead of answering Nine Nether's last question about Piaomiao, she did something that surprised Nine Nether—she sealed off the space around the Louguan Terrace, preventing this battle from affecting the civilians of Chang'an or damaging the surrounding mountains and rivers.

Nine Nether asked in wonder, "You actually care about this... Is this to help Piaomiao fulfill her part? Or because... Zhao Changhe likes it?"

The Blind Woman did not explain and remained silent.

Nine Nether added, "From the Sea Emperor battle and your words just now, I feel you are doing something even the Heavenly Dao didn't accomplish... You want to eliminate all gods and demons, don't you? Why do I feel that such provocation and slaughter should be my doing..."

The Blind Woman did not argue, saying calmly, "Compared to others, you are the one who deserves to die more."

Nine Nether sneered, "You should know that anyone can die, including you, but not me. Even your heart gives birth to me. I represent the root of the human heart. As long as the human heart is not extinguished, I will not be extinguished."

The Blind Woman said calmly, "It doesn't matter if it cannot be extinguished. Both Buddhism and Taoism speak of binding the heart-monkey and tethering the will-horse; no one says to kill the heart-monkey or destroy the will-horse."

Nine Nether's smile turned playful: "Do you still think I am the heart-monkey you expelled from your body? Or perhaps, your heart-monkey and will-horse were triggered by me?"

The Blind Woman was silent.

"You should know the former is definitely not the case... If it were, you would expel one and give birth to another, endlessly. You alone could spawn a bunch of Nine Nethers..." Nine Nether smiled and gave a verdict: "Sow."

The Blind Woman: "..."

"As for the latter, it is possible... Just like the Dao Venerable's demonization—though I did nothing, it might indeed be my fault, simply because I exist." Nine Nether tilted her head, her smile growing more mocking: "If you have the ability, conquer me. Tie me up, restrain me, humiliate me, tether me like a horse."

As she spoke, her expression actually became excited: "I'm looking forward to it too... Ah~"

The Blind Woman: "Pervert."

"Is this perverted? I look forward even more to my sister becoming an even bigger pervert, maybe so heretical that she strips and runs naked through Chang'an, hehe. Oh, by the way, speaking of will-horse and heart-monkey, doesn't following a man now mean you can't tether your will-horse?"

The Blind Woman did not lose her temper, only sneered: "Will-horse and heart-monkey do not refer to matters between men and women. When did your vision become so shallow, like a village gossip, unbearably vulgar?"

"From the moment I discovered that man's desire was to possess you, and yet you didn't kill him."

"..." The Blind Woman realized she was losing this verbal spar. It was not the fault of the battle; Zhao Changhe bore full responsibility.

Even the originally lofty confrontation had slid all the way down to the most trivial matters, also Zhao Changhe's fault. The Blind Woman simply didn't want to say more. With a flip of her delicate hand, the space around Nine Nether turned into a cage: "Then you shall be tethered."

Nine Nether didn't care; her expression turned cold again: "It's useless, my sister... You can defeat me, but you can never do anything to me. It's fated... Instead of wasting your thoughts on me, you might as well look—your man is injured."

"He is not my man!" The Blind Woman retorted instinctively, but in her heart, she was secretly alarmed by the battle situation over there.

After she had sealed it off, the aftermath of the battle couldn't cause any earth-shattering effects; if one didn't pay attention, it seemed like nothing was happening. Yet a casual glance showed everyone covered in blood. In just the span of a few exchanges, they were all wounded.

Whether a battle was to the death made all the difference... Especially since this was a second-level Imperial Realm opponent. Not counting the severely wounded Sea Emperor, this was the strongest enemy Zhao Changhe had ever fought to the death.

The Blind Woman watched for a while, then suddenly said, "I think the outcome is already decided."

"Bang!" At that moment, Zhao Changhe's blade struck the Dao Venerable, the wild knife seeming to cleave the blood figure in two.

Yet it had no effect. Although the Dao Venerable's yin spirit had been solidified into a physical form by Jade Void's blood, his transformation between reality and illusion had reached perfection. In this period of battle, almost everyone could only feel their attacks dissolve into the void, causing him no harm. Whether blades, flames, or even the soul-destroying effects now attached to the Dragon Sparrow Star River, none of the various methods had any effect.

No one could find the core key to the Dao Venerable's reality-illusion transformation.

Meanwhile, blood arrows splattered around the Dao Venerable. Though they looked like ordinary blood sprays, each drop seemed to possess the force of mountains and seas. They struck the surrounding spatial barriers, producing booming explosions that shook the earth and sky. Even the Blind Woman's space almost couldn't hold, cracking like a mirror with dense spiderweb lines.

One drop of blood, one world... It had almost reached that concept. The might of a world's explosion—how many could withstand it?

Zhao Changhe's heart stirred slightly, but he had no time to ponder deeply. To maintain the formation, he condensed a tortoise shell on his body and took a hit head-on. Even that extremely solid defense couldn't hold; it was pierced through with several bloody holes.

Li Shentong, renowned for his defense, fared no better, because he was also protecting Jade Void, who seemed quite injured... So Li Shentong was also covered in blood like a blood man.

Zhao Changhe and Li Shentong could hold their ground, but Huangfu Qing and Yue Hongling lacked such means.

Before Huangfu Qing, a path of blazing flames seemed to form. All blood beads that passed through were burned to ash, then transformed into twisted ghost faces that charged straight for her spirit platform through the smoke. Huangfu Qing instinctively stepped back. These ghost faces were not just for show; they were heart-stealing demons. If mishandled, they could kill.

Yue Hongling retreated even further. She parried with her sword horizontally, but the fierce impact sent her floating backward, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.

But the next moment, Yue Hongling's eyes sharpened. The long sword in her hand flew out, a brilliant red light turning into a fierce beam straight at the Dao Venerable!

Not a hidden weapon... it was a flying sword!

Sword control art!

All her essence, energy, and spirit were poured into one. The sword spirit responded. The radiance of this sword even pierced through the Blind Woman's spatial barrier. Chang'an's night sky suddenly split open, and the setting sun that had already descended seemed to reappear before everyone's eyes.

A true sword opening the heavenly gate, the great sun manifesting!

The Dao Venerable was about to take advantage of the formation's disorder to strike Zhao Changhe, but the sword light made his scalp tingle. He abandoned attacking Zhao Changhe and turned his body back into blood mist, dispersing into the void.

Nine Nether was saying, "How is the outcome decided? They simply cannot break the Dao Venerable's reality-illusion transformation. Controlling void is one of the strongest controls; it's beyond their ability to see through."

Before she even finished speaking, Jade Void, who had seemed quite useless because all his abilities were ineffective against the Dao Venerable, suddenly reached out and poked one of the blood mist droplets.

That was originally his blood! He had used great divine power to solidify the yin spirit, allowing the Dao Venerable to be captured. If anyone could further discern reality from illusion, only Jade Void himself could do it.

And with that finger, Jade Void's appearance rapidly aged and hunched. His powerful Imperial Realm strength faded swiftly, and in an instant, he became like an ordinary old man.

If my power was inherited from you and is ineffective against you... then I'll just return it to you!

Reverse power transfer!

Jade Void transferred his lifelong cultivation into his own blood!

If the Dao Venerable had even a single breath of time, this would be a supreme tonic. But he didn't even have that breath to digest it. Suddenly, a huge amount of foreign power surged into his body. How could his so-called "return to void" disperse it cleanly? To onlookers, it seemed a typical yin spirit core shone brightly, brighter than the sun.

Yue Hongling's mind moved with it. The flying sword that had pierced through adjusted its center of gravity slightly.

The Sunset Divine Sword shot straight toward the sun, like Hou Yi's arrow piercing the golden crow.

"Jade Void, you madman!"

"Boom!" From the void came the Dao Venerable's furious roar. His yin spirit took the full force of the Sunset Divine Sword. An earth-shattering explosion rang out. Yue Hongling spat another mouthful of blood and fell from midair. The recoil force shattered her meridians.

The Sun-Moon-Star formation remained. Zhao Changhe and Huangfu Qing's power protected her, solidifying as one. Her heart meridian was not lost, and she still had strength to lift her head and look at the collision point of the sword light and yin spirit.

Countless illusory images scattered outward—that was the Dao Venerable's indestructible soul.

Huangfu Qing formed a hand seal.

Sparks scattered, phosphorescent flames filled the sky. The power of the Vermilion Bird, commanding life and death.

All the nether souls struck by the ghostly fire hissed and sizzled, twisting into distorted specters that drifted and sank in the void, as if dragged into the waters beneath the Bridge of Helplessness, struggling and flailing amid ghostly wails and piercing shrieks.

In the midst of their thrashing, a broadsword swept across, shaving over the heads of these floating, sinking souls.

The newly forged Dragon Sparrow, its soul-destroying power unleashed without restraint, became the final straw that crushed the nether souls.

The ghostly wails began to weaken, eventually dissolving into a curse that drifted through the void: "Yuxu... you will die a miserable death..."

All turned to look at Yuxu, shielded behind Li Shentong from the impact. Yuxu, already white-haired and stooped like a little old man, was still smiling, smiling like a child.

Jiuyou stood dumbfounded.