Chapter 865: Making a Move

Chapter 865: Placing the Pieces

"Rumble!"

As the Vermilion Bird flapped its wings in the nine heavens, the entire Spirit Race secret realm collapsed with a roar, the space completely shattering into nothingness, leaving the body of the Ancient God standing tall amidst the dust upon the lands of Miaojiang.

Far away in the Chill Dragon Ice Abyss, a strand of a remnant soul burst forth with wild laughter, instantly descending upon Miaojiang to merge with the body.

The Spirit Race's small world, buried for two epochs, was in itself a normally functioning plane—a world with its own sun, moon, and stars in motion; its very existence possessed a "Heavenly Dao." It was merely incomplete; the sun, moon, and stars were all illusions. Long ago, when Zhao Changhe's cultivation was still meager, he had seen through the falsehood, even using it to comprehend much of the connections between heaven and earth, which became his stepping stone before entering the Imperial Realm.

The reason it was incomplete was that it had always been a shell without a soul.

This was not how the Heavenly Dao had originally planned... His original design, just as Zhao Changhe had guessed, was merely to stuff a forged shell into the Heavenly Book. The small world derived from the shell would interfere with the world derived inside the Heavenly Book, thereby weakening and disrupting the Night Sisters' control over the Heavenly Book world.

But when He was designed by Ye Wuming in the previous epoch, resulting in mutual destruction with only a remnant soul left suppressed, this pre-planted shell became his backup plan for revival.

Everyone believed this discordant world was an "external enemy" suppressed here by the Heavenly Dao, and a vast crowd of people yearned day and night to revive it as a sharp sword to rebel against the Heavenly Dao. Who could have imagined that the countless efforts expended were actually aiding the revival of the Heavenly Dao instead?

Whether it was Lie or Ye Jiuyou, they had previously done a great deal of preliminary work in secret, all of which was helping the Heavenly Dao. The missing key had long been placed by Him in the "Proverbs"; even the Vermilion Bird and White Tiger themselves would desperately want to see what kind of result would gather.

Not even Zhao Changhe was an exception.

Yet once they came, it was too late... Everything done up to this day merely turned into a joke-like phrase: "The will of heaven is inscrutable."

Now, using the body to draw the soul, using death to infuse life. The moment the Vermilion Bird and White Tiger died, His revival had already become unstoppable.

That freezing hatred, even though it had only just broken through the soil and unsealed, instantly caused the hearts of all people across the world to throb. This Mid-Autumn night felt like the bitter cold of December, with snow flying across the globe.

However, just as the remnant soul howled down to fuse with the giant's body, the massive form of the Vermilion Bird in the sky flapped its wings and charged, straight at that freezing remnant soul.

The fiercest fire in the world caused the extreme cold of the weather to reverse; the snow that had just fallen vanished completely, across the entire scope of the Divine Land.

Wound within the flames, that remnant soul of hatred actually twisted into the shape of an evil ghost face within the fire, scorching and distorting amidst the blazing heat.

If the extreme cold of the Chill Dragon Ice Abyss could suppress this kind of distorted hatred from dissipating, then the Vermilion Bird's raging flames were the ultimate bane of this freezing cold.

The ghost face covered the firmament, its voice echoing in everyone's heart: "Vermilion Bird... you are seeking death!"

The Four Symbols Array gathered its power, roaring straight upward to aid the Vermilion Bird. The covered firmament once again revealed the Four Symbols stars, shining brightly across the long sky.

This was a duel between two kinds of world origins.

The three realms shook, the Divine Land quaked, and the Eastern Sea roared wildly.

It seemed as if the scene of doomsday was approaching once more—a precursor to the opening of the Third Epoch?

But with the battle reaching this point, what was Zhao Changhe doing, and where was Ye Wuming?

As Huangfu Qing underwent Nirvana, Zhao Changhe sat cross-legged in the void, before him Han Wubing, who was disemboweled and seemingly dead through and through. In his hand was the severed arm that Han Wubing had chopped off earlier; interestingly, while Han Wubing's body was now withered like a corpse, that severed arm began to look fresh and alive, as if it were the hand of the living person instead.

The severed section of the arm was currently shimmering with a soft light, slowly moving toward Han Wubing's upper limb, joining together.

Boundless life vitality was contained within the severed arm, beginning to transfer back into the body; blood flowed from the severed arm back to the heart, spreading once more to the limbs and bones.

The wound that looked like a disembowelment healed and restored itself at a pace visible to the naked eye, returning to a normal muscular form.

Han Wubing opened his eyes, the prior blood-red color gone from his gaze.

He stared fixedly at Zhao Changhe before him, asking strangely: "What is the name of the blade strike you just used? Why do I feel like the shackles placed upon me have completely shattered, as if I have walked out of destiny... This feeling is so groundless, yet so real..."

Zhao Changhe smiled faintly: "The blade is named Severing Karma."

Han Wubing's expression shifted slightly.

Zhao Changhe continued: "Do you feel like your strength has regressed again... regressed to only the Secret Realm level."

Han Wubing moved his arm and nodded: "Yes, what is the reason for this?"

"Because I have cut your connection with the White Tiger. From now on, you are only Han Wubing."

Han Wubing's expression became exceedingly strange; the true divine and buddha-like power of Zhao Changhe's strike had already exceeded his understanding, even exceeding the scope of what the ancient White Tiger could comprehend.

"Where is the ancient White Tiger?"

"The ancient White Tiger's intent has now fused into the Four Symbols Array, tangling with the Heavenly Dao's remnant soul above... His resolution at this moment should be going to his death. Do you want to save him?"

Han Wubing remained silent for a long while before saying: "Death is a form of release for the White Tiger. His best destination is just like the ancient Four Symbols, dust to dust, earth to earth."

"I thought you would hope to have him fuse with you again... that way, it might even create a modern White Tiger that breaks through the triple layer of the Imperial Realm."

"No need, Yue Hongling can just inherit his intent. As for me..." Han Wubing paused, shaking his head slightly: "Old Zhao... if I say I want to ask a favor of you now, is it a bit... hard to bring up? After all, I did quite a few things that can't be considered friendly, yet you still expended effort to sever this karma for me."

Zhao Changhe burst out laughing: "Those things were due to the burdens of the ancient past. When you are just Han Wubing, you have never let me down. Speak, what do you want your brother to do?"

Han Wubing said word by word: "Please break this cage."

Zhao Changhe looked up at the sky; the Vermilion Bird flapped its wings, and the Four Symbols evolved the firmament, together trapping the Heavenly Dao's remnant soul of hatred in the void.

He slowly stood up, drawing his blade into his hand, looking toward the sky: "An imposed cage, I will slash it... but your own barrier, you, Han Wubing, must break it yourself."

Before his voice could fade, his expression suddenly changed, and he clutched his heart, arching his body in pain.

Han Wubing swiftly supported him: "What's wrong?"

Zhao Changhe's face was pale as he took a deep, sharp breath, whispering: "The Spirit Race's gu... has a problem."

...

The Vermilion Bird and White Tiger had both feigned death to bring about life... so the so-called revival of the Spirit Race lands was also just watered-down fake wine.

The land had indeed stood up, yet it left behind a hollow shell of a mindless stone giant, wantonly trampling the mountains and rivers.

A serious problem had occurred with the revival of this body; it had no soul, nor did it have flesh and blood, being merely a massive stone man.

Yet its destructive power remained terrifying; that was the power of a small world, and with one stomp, a thousand mountains were leveled.

Ye Jiuyou flew upward, binding it tightly to restrict it.

The stone man roared to the heavens, yet unexpectedly could not break free from the entanglement of this slender figure, which was like a maggot in the bone. That foot trampled a mountain peak, yet stayed raised in mid-air, unable to stomp down no matter what.

Ye Jiuyou's power was likewise the power of a world; under circumstances where the Spirit Race world had no will, it was still no match for the power of Jiuyou.

But Ye Jiuyou suddenly discovered that this stone was beginning to evolve flesh and blood.

She froze slightly; the sacrifices of the Vermilion Bird and White Tiger were both watered down, so where else did a problem occur to cause the rebirth of flesh and blood?

In the distance, Piaomiao, who had consistently stayed out of the battle and was only responsible for protecting the rivers and mountains, shifted her expression slightly: "Oh no..."

She clearly felt that the sacred beasts raised by the Spirit Race, like the Blood Ao, hissed to the heavens and died one after another, their flesh and blood automatically sacrificed, melting into the stone man's body.

The ancestral god prayers and sacrifices of all Spirit Race people across an entire epoch were also helping the Heavenly Dao revive its flesh and blood. Therefore, what they cultivated was the method of flesh and blood, and the gu insects were the various parasites bred by this shell.

The hidden pieces the Heavenly Dao had arranged for two epochs also included the entire Spirit Race.

Many Spirit Race people screamed and wailed as the gu insects originally raised inside their bodies burst through their flesh, bringing souls and blood into the giant's body.

Piaomiao closed her eyes and spread her hands, her immense power of rivers and mountains protecting all Spirit Race bloodlines, forcibly restricting this flesh and blood witchcraft: "No wonder Changhe didn't let me join the battle... The lifespan of all living beings is His nourishment, it does not lie in a duel between one or two demon gods... Is this what Jiuyou called the furnace of heaven

Sisi was overjoyed: "You're all right?"

Zhao Changhe said: "Any technique will backfire... His heart-stealing worm is nothing but a technique. If you and I can break this spell, the backlash will be his. Now it's just the two of us... do you have faith?"

...

In the void beyond the Three Realms, Ye Wuming floated in the gloom, eyes closed, gazing down at the world's exterior like a book, as a god looks down from above.

Before her, endless stars were gathering, unknowingly forming the shape of a human body.

That was the body of the original Heavenly Dao, destroyed in her self-destruction at the end of the last era, scattered into the endless void, now returning. Its visual perception was profoundly mysterious—though it seemed no larger than Ye Wuming herself, the entire Heavenly Book world appeared as if in the palm of its hand, the distortion of scale beyond words.

This was the true Heavenly Dao.

The body within the Heavenly Book world was still a decoy; its original form had always been outside.

"I thought... the revival of the Spirit Clan's land would consume all your attention and Ye Jiuyou's..." the figure spoke slowly as it coalesced: "But I never imagined... that without you, humans could already organize such power to suppress this era, and all your arrangements, seemingly painstaking, have long been a hands-off approach, leaving everything to Zhao Changhe?"

Ye Wuming said calmly: "Others may not know, but I, who have merged with the Heavenly Book and become half of the Heavenly Dao, know that the fate of all beings, the flow of qi, and so-called hidden heavenly will do not point to me. The stubbornly effective 'heavenly will' outside me, the pages I did not write yet passively present a chaotic world—these are all part of the Heavenly Dao. You never truly dissipated; you would return sooner or later. That trace of hatred was deliberately left to mislead me, making me think it was all that remained of you."

"As expected of you." The Heavenly Dao sighed: "So the upheaval within the realm now—are you allowing and guiding it?"

"I am waiting for you." Ye Wuming said flatly: "Ordinarily, the hidden heavenly will is elusive, and I cannot track where you are. But I know that as long as you still want to eliminate me and Ye Jiuyou, you will choose a time to descend... Now, with the Spirit Clan's ancient god body reviving, chaos spreading, drawing the attention of all the world's powerful, it is naturally your best chance to return amidst the turmoil... I have been waiting for you for a long time."

"Ye Wuming is still Ye Wuming..." The Heavenly Dao chuckled in response: "So you should also know that no matter how much you have done, even if you have perished with me and willingly trapped yourself in the Heavenly Book without rebirth, you can only keep reincarnating. Starting another era will still be the same... You cannot kill me. Do you think Zhao Changhe can? Given time, perhaps, but not today. Your time is too short—just three years. That he has reached this point is already me giving you false hope."

Ye Wuming was silent.

Zhao Changhe was more perceptive than anyone; he had already sensed that his rapid breakthroughs were problematic—a manipulated fate, partly from her Ye Wuming, but more from "hidden heavenly destiny." When he thought he could stand alongside the highest beings at the third level of the Imperial Realm, the final result might tell him it was all a mirage, and the contrast at that moment would be fatal.

But knowing was one thing; there was no solution. Even Ye Wuming could not resolve it. All she could do was take on the confrontation with the Heavenly Dao herself again.

In this matter, she had never relied on Zhao Changhe... He only needed to handle matters within the world.

She had already planned everything that followed.

"Do you really think that if you can stop me, they can resolve the internal matters?" The Heavenly Dao laughed: "You trust them, but they do not trust you much. They had every ability to completely prevent my Spirit Clan body from reviving, yet they set up all this, leaving it half-alive. That is because they are also fishing for you, to see what you would do when the Spirit Clan god body revives. Look at Ye Jiuyou's expression when you did not appear—like she had swallowed a stinky duck egg... So she can be that vivid too, ha... hahaha..."

Ye Wuming said nothing.

She felt, however, that Zhao Changhe's guidance of these events seemed more like cooperating with her to ambush the Heavenly Dao. He could indeed have prevented it all, but after prevention? Where would the elusive Heavenly Dao plant its next seed? Rather than living in constant suspicion, it was better to use this opportunity to trigger everything, allowing Zhuque to break free from her cage and end his karma with Han Wubing.

Of course, this judgment was unverified, just Ye Wuming's guess. Zhao Changhe now had many exchanges that he conducted through telepathy behind her back; she could not fully see them.

If this judgment were true, then Zhao Changhe's ability to peer into time and causality had exceeded expectations. He was also manipulating the chessboard from the clouds, not merely responding to moves. Whether Zhao Changhe had grown that strong, Ye Wuming dared not be sure.

The Heavenly Dao was laughing: "Like the last era, if you could trust each other, I would have a harder time. Unfortunately, you are still so laughable... Because of my existence, you dare not trust anyone, and your behavior earns no trust from others. Never able to join hands—this too is a fate you cannot escape, part of the heavenly will. Ye Wuming, you will never escape this cage."

Ye Wuming finally said: "They just do not trust me; that does not affect their own affairs. My matters are none of their concern."

The Heavenly Dao laughed: "Then let us see if the Zhao Changhe you believe in can do what you hope. Look at his heart-stealing worm now—is it not ridiculous? I do not know whether to call their mutual trust right or wrong."

Ye Wuming gently raised her hand; in her palm seemed to gather the power of all heavens, surging.

"Boom!" Her jade hand pressed lightly, meeting the Heavenly Dao's simultaneous strike.

Their duel was not as dazzling as what happened inside—no August snow, no blazing flames... Nothing. Just a simple palm against a fist, the sound of their clash very soft.

If Zhao Changhe had seen it, he would have recognized it as exactly like the final blow Ye Jiuyou had struck at him that day.

That was a strike of returning to simplicity, like a cosmic black hole.

Their blows met and seemed to lock. In truth, all so-called heavenly interference and hidden will were sealed within that palm; everything inside the Heavenly Book world would receive no interference from them.

So this heart-stealing worm truly depended only on themselves.

If the backlash succeeded, that would be the moment Ye Wuming had long awaited.