Chapter 894: Deep Blue Sea, Azure Sky, Nightly Heart

Chapter 894: The Emerald Sea, the Azure Sky, a Heart That Yearns Nightly

The process of reforging the blade took far longer than before.

That previous reforging of Dragon Sparrow had merely been an appetizer for forging Galaxy, a trial run that took no more than the time of a single incense stick.

This time, it took an entire day, lasting even longer than forging Galaxy.

In terms of materials, the grade of Void-Breaking Star Iron was not superior to Galaxy’s materials—both were top-tier. But Void-Breaking Star Iron was purer and more extreme, making its smelting and fusion far more difficult.

Fortunately, Zhao Changhe, San Niang, and Huangfu Qing were all experienced, and they were adept at elevating themselves through the insights gained from sword forging.

When Dragon Sparrow awoke from the chaos, she found her soul body incredibly solid, nearly comparable to a normal human, even the fair, rosy skin felt so real. A power slightly different from before spread through her body. Dragon Sparrow looked up at the sky, feeling it was like an eggshell, easily shattered.

The cosmos was but an eggshell... dimensions could be split at will. Nothing could ever block Dragon Sparrow’s blade again.

Dragon Sparrow’s gaze fell on the trio of sword forgers. Huangfu Qing and San Niang had only provided assistance. For them now, controlling the fire no longer drained their strength or fell short of the required temperature as before. After a full day, they were merely tired, sitting aside without any pretense, resting and observing the reborn Dragon Sparrow, their mouths stretched wide in grins.

There was a distinct air of “We also have a daughter now” and “What’s Ye Wuming or Xia Chichi? They’re behind us.” The clever Dragon Sparrow understood their thoughts at a glance.

Zhao Changhe’s condition was somewhat special... His clothes had all burst apart, leaving only a tattered pair of shorts on him. His muscles bulged, covered in sweat. The robust physique of someone fresh from heavy lifting was truly aesthetically pleasing. San Niang and Huangfu Qing, who had been looking at Dragon Sparrow, soon had their beautiful eyes drawn to him, unable to look away.

Dragon Sparrow finally witnessed what it meant for eyes to “pull threads”—it really existed... Not just them, even she found it hard to look away. This was the first time since the little female sparrow had gained sentience that she recognized the beauty of the human form.

So handsome...

In truth, the process of forging the blade had been a great test of Dragon Sparrow’s willpower; otherwise, she would have become a new sparrow. But after being reborn from the flames, Dragon Sparrow didn’t have many such feelings. Instead, her thoughts were—not just being inspected, but thoroughly rubbed from head to toe.

That feeling was indescribably strange.

If Ling Ruoyu were by her side, she would tell her that having thoughts like “his body is handsome” or “my body was rubbed” meant she was already infinitely close to being human, almost no longer the musings of a blade...

Although Dragon Sparrow, that silly one, had long stopped acting like a blade, it was only at this moment that her thinking truly transformed.

Of course, Zhao Changhe wasn’t just standing there showing off. He was also experiencing the process of power growth and transformation. Having forged the strongest blade and sword of this world himself, his understanding and mastery of the essence of power had truly reached the pinnacle of this world. The third level of the Imperial Realm had finally reached its end.

Apart from the Ye sisters, those two anomalies who had achieved pseudo-Other Shore, the highest achievement possible in this world was this. It was a limitation of the realm—the world’s grade could only support so much. To go further, one had to transcend the scope of this world.

For others, this was an insurmountable chasm, but for Zhao Changhe, it never was. His failure to break through to the next step had nothing to do with the world’s grade; it was simply that his own cultivation was insufficient... Given enough time and resources, he would eventually break through this barrier.

Ye Wuming’s move to summon people from other worlds was fundamentally aimed at solving this problem. Now, had her initial expectations been fulfilled?

But Ye Wuming, high in the Night Palace, stared fixedly at Zhao Changhe’s muscles, lost in thought for a long time. Was she supposed to be gratified at the success and completeness of her plan, or was she supposed to feel guilty that this guy was getting closer and closer to her?

“What’s it feel like?” Ye Jiuyou suddenly appeared before her.

Ye Wuming withdrew her gaze and glanced at Ye Jiuyou. “How did you get up here?”

“As long as I know where your Night Palace is, its so-called defenses and ethereal void mean nothing to me.” Ye Jiuyou said calmly. “I didn’t come to trouble you these past two days because Changhe needed to forge Dragon Sparrow, and I didn’t want any distractions.”

“Now that Dragon Sparrow is forged, what do you intend?” Ye Wuming asked evenly. “To bring Zhao Changhe and Piaomiao and conquer me?”

“Why not?”

“Our conflict has always been the deliberate result of the Heavenly Dao’s arrangement. You are not you, I am not I. The more trouble we cause each other, the more the Heavenly Dao rejoices. Now that you clearly know this, why do you still walk into its trap?”

Ye Jiuyou said calmly, “Its schemes are always wrapped in open plots... Don’t you know that for us to take the final step, we can never achieve it in our current state?”

Ye Wuming fell silent.

Ye Jiuyou continued, “No, you know. You’ve always known... The reason you merged with the Heavenly Book was to try using it as a vessel to solve this problem, wasn’t it? But in the end, you found it wouldn’t work, because the Heavenly Book was originally our body. No matter how we merge, we still lack the other half.”

Ye Wuming finally said, “So?”

Ye Jiuyou said, “When you wanted to perish together with the Heavenly Dao back then, was one of the reasons that you thought if you disappeared, I would absorb your remaining essence and become complete? You used your own life to give me fortune, a perfect solution that required no one to agonize over.”

Ye Wuming laughed derisively. “Flattering yourself. Is it because you have a man now that you’re starting to show your womanly sentimentality?”

Ye Jiuyou ignored her and continued, “Even Piaomiao’s hatred for you, under the lotus platform you prepared, would fade as she watched your lamp go out. Ye Wuming, your schemes are indeed formidable... If everything had gone as you planned, perhaps it would have been a perfect resolution, with everything settled beautifully.”

Ye Wuming finally grew angry. “So? Zhao Changhe, for a bit of lust, ruined such a perfect plan, and also ruined your complete opportunity. You don’t blame him a single word, and you come to me? Do you want me to kill myself in front of you? Sorry, times have changed. Dream on now.”

Ye Jiuyou, who had been very indifferent, suddenly smiled. “Do you think Zhao Changhe acted for a bit of lust? Do you truly believe that?”

Ye Wuming said expressionlessly, “What else could it be? Could it be that he couldn’t bear to part with three years of companionship and couldn’t bear to see you truly vanish like that?”

“Of course not.”

Ye Jiuyou looked at Ye Wuming with some pity but said nothing.

“What’s that look?” Ye Wuming snapped. “Since when do you get to pity me?”

“What I pity is that someone has calculated everything, but cannot calculate her own heart.” Ye Jiuyou yawned. “Forget it. Seeing you in this sorry state now, I’m quite pleased.”

Ye Wuming sneered, “If you came specifically to mock me, then please leave. How boring.”

“Of course, there’s something else to say.” Ye Jiuyou said, “You say he ruined my complete opportunity, but I say he understands me better than you ever did.”

Ye Wuming said helplessly, “Don’t feed me dog food to show off your love... Oh, you wouldn’t understand those words. The tacit understanding between him and me is greater than yours.”

“Look, look...” Ye Jiuyou laughed heartily. “You’re actually using that to annoy me?”

Ye Wuming: “...So what does he understand about you?”

“My opportunity, I will fight for it myself. It’s not for you to impose it on me without my consent, even if it’s your life...” Ye Jiuyou’s smile faded, and her expression turned cold again. “Ye Wuming, if I want your life, I’ll take it myself.”

Ye Wuming said flatly, “Are you done? If so, you can leave.”

Ye Jiuyou smiled again. “My husband is coming to find me. I have company. You stay here and brood... Oh, you brought many poems from other worlds and mixed them into the annals of history, didn’t you? One of them suits you well.”

With that, she didn’t say which one and vanished on her own.

But Ye Wuming seemed to guess which line she meant.

Was it “Chang’e should regret stealing the elixir, the emerald sea, the azure sky, a heart that yearns nightly”?

How boring.

...

Zhao Changhe picked up Dragon Sparrow, fondly swinging it a few times, feeling the connection with his beloved blade. He laughed, “I feel like even if the Heavenly Dao stood before me now, I could split it with one strike.”

San Niang laughed, “Don’t be so arrogant. If your theory from before is correct, there are still realms beyond, maybe more than one. Do you really think you can leapfrog the Heavenly Dao with just Dragon Sparrow?”

Zhao Changhe grinned and put his arm around her. “I don’t rely only on Dragon Sparrow. I have you all... As for relying on Dragon Sparrow, it’s you who want my Dragon Sparrow...”

“Damn you! Saying such things in front of the child!” San Niang pushed him away in disgust. “Go wash. You’re covered in sweat from who knows where, sticky and stinky.”

Zhao Changhe whined, “I want San Niang to wash me.”

San Niang casually slapped, and a huge water ball enclosed Zhao Changhe. The water inside swirled violently, scrubbing him like a washing machine. Outside the ball, San Niang hoisted it and ran off with it.

Huangfu Qing snapped to her senses. “Dead turtle, stop right there! Trying to steal my man, are you?”

San Niang ran fast, ignoring her. The man just now was too tempting, practically cheating. The turtle was craving him.

The newly forged Dragon Sparrow was left alone on the forging platform, neglected, making her question her existence. What did you forge me for?

So having a child is just the act of giving birth, but the child has to think about so much more...

Ling Ruoyu’s head poked out. “Sparrow, are you done?”

Dragon Sparrow was in tears. “At least Galaxy is good, coming to play with me. Come on, let’s fight and see who’s stronger now.”

Ling Ruoyu didn’t want to fight her. Hesitantly, she said, “I’ve been thinking. Your earlier suggestion about imitating Mother’s handwriting to write a love letter to Master—that’s doable.”

At the mention of this, Dragon Sparrow perked up, no longer wanting to fight. She eagerly asked, “How to write it, how to write it? What should the content be? Do you need my input?”

“That’s exactly why I’m coming to you.” Ling Ruoyu said in distress, “I have absolutely no idea how to write this sort of thing—how to express a woman’s love for a man? Especially in a situation like my parents’, I can’t even copy from worldly storybooks or poems; there’s no reference.”

Longque stroked his chin in thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers: “I’ve got it. We’re no good at this, but we can consult Tang Wanzhuang.”

“Prime Minister Tang? Would she be willing to write a love letter for another woman to her own husband? Wouldn’t she beat us to death?”

“That only shows you don’t know Tang Wanzhuang at all. Even if you asked her to personally tie Ye Wuming to your father’s bed, she’d do it—as long as she had the strength.”

“So where is Prime Minister Tang now?”

“Seems to be in Miaojiang.”

Over there, the woman who had thrown the man into the washing machine to clean him up and prepare him for use ultimately failed in her plan. Zhao Changhe scrambled out in disarray, forcing a smile: “Sanniang, I have things to do…”

“Going to keep some other slut company again?” Sanniang whimpered, “Isn’t one day for Ye Wuming enough?”

“Ye Wuming is no slut.”

“…Is that the point I’m making?” Sanniang said, half laughing, half crying, “So you still want to go find Ye Wuming?”

Zhao Changhe shook his head: “I need to go see Jiuyou about my next breakthrough—no one’s more convenient to ask. Besides, she’s in Miaojiang right now, and I want to see how their witchcraft is progressing. Wanzhuang and the others are supposedly tracing the location of the Heavenly Dao, and it’s been days with no word.”

At this, Sanniang seemed to have something to say but held it back, listlessly muttering, “Go ahead then. We don’t think they’ll succeed anyway; a few more days won’t help.”

“I don’t think it’s that easy either, so I’m a bit worried. This is still the top priority now…”

“Go on, go on.” Sanniang shooed him away like a fly and listlessly slumped to the side, unmoving.

The meat that had been in her mouth was gone… That body of muscles was so tempting…

Suddenly, her nape tightened as Huangfu Qing grabbed her by the scruff and lifted her up: “Got nothing to do?”

Sanniang struggled: “What’s there to do at a time like this?”

Huangfu Qing said, “Of course, compete with them to see who can first calculate the location of the Heavenly Dao. Even if we don’t counterattack, we need to know where the enemy is—know yourself and know your foe. Are we just going to wait passively here, not even knowing where the enemy is? That’s no way to wage war.”

This was exactly what Sanniang had been about to say earlier. They were actually in a secret competition with Tang Wanzhuang and Sisi over this, so she didn’t want to tell Zhao Changhe outright.

Over there, they said there was some witchcraft that could trace and calculate, but the Four Symbols Sect thought it unreliable—after all, this was the Heavenly Dao, not some random cat or dog you could calculate. Besides, the so-called witchcraft was itself a part of the Heavenly Dao; how could you use its own skills to calculate it?

But while the Four Symbols Sect could raise objections, they themselves didn’t know what to do. Many of their spells and rituals were highly refined and exquisite—communicating with the firmament and such—but upon reflection, it was awkward, because they found that no matter how they communicated, they either reached the Night Emperor or the spirit of heaven and earth.

Whether the Night Emperor or the spirit of heaven and earth, both were Ye Wuming. The Four Symbols Sect was inextricably tied to her; this karmic bond could never be severed.

The awkward part was that even if they communicated with Ye Wuming to cooperate, it seemed they still couldn’t calculate where the Heavenly Dao was. If Ye Wuming could do that, she’d just tell Zhao Changhe directly—why would everyone need to calculate?

But the Four Symbols Sect elders still wanted to try, unwilling to let Tang Wanzhuang and the others claim this merit first, lest they be mocked at meals and lose their appetite. Maybe Ye Wuming alone couldn’t do it, but Ye Wuming plus the Four Symbols might work?

And in the Four Symbols ritual, anyone could be missing except Sanniang. Others used tortoise shells for divination; here, they could just stick Sanniang in place…

“Call Chichi over, and let’s all put in more effort. We’ll show those little sluts that the Four Symbols Sect is always the first wife—they’re only fit to serve tea.”

Zhao Changhe went back and grabbed Longque: “Let’s go to Miaojiang. Ruoyu, are you coming with me or staying in the capital?”

Ling Ruoyu nearly jumped up—this was a godsend: “I’m going to Miaojiang too! I want to travel ten thousand miles!”

“Uh, this time it’s not ten thousand miles—I’ll teleport directly.”

“Then I’m coming too. Isn’t my master there?”

“That’s true. Missing your master?”

“Yes.”

Zhao Changhe grabbed Ling Ruoyu’s hand: “Then hold tight…”

With a “whoosh,” the father and daughter vanished.

When they reappeared, they were already in the sky over Miaojiang, with a smiling Ye Jiuyou ahead: “I knew you’d come to me first.”

Zhao Changhe was surprised: “Have you started learning divination from your sister… oh, your little sister?”

“Not really. I was just arguing with her when I saw you coming to Miaojiang, so I ditched her to see you first.” Ye Jiuyou smiled as she ruffled Ling Ruoyu’s hair: “Sure enough, you came to me first—let’s see if Ye Wuming gets mad.”

Zhao Changhe was amused: “What does she have to be mad about? Could she be jealous?”

“Not necessarily…” Ye Jiuyou laughed. “Changhe… that arrow you shot back then pierced through many things.”

Zhao Changhe: “?”

Ye Wuming watched expressionlessly, thinking that if she were to be angry, it would be that Ling Ruoyu was being all chummy with Ye Jiuyou—who cared about that big blockhead?

Her daughter was close to every stepmother, but not so close to her…

Just as she was murmuring about the blue sea and the lonely heart under the night sky, her mind stirred.

She had actually sensed the summoning of the Four Symbols Sect.

Heavens above, the Four Symbols Sect’s doctrine called for the descent of the Night Emperor. For the first time in this era, it was truly enacted, but the one receiving the message was not the Night Emperor in people’s eyes now, Zhao Changhe, but the former Night Emperor, Ye Wuming.

Ye Wuming hesitated for a moment… Should she descend?

This excuse was pretty good—it wasn’t her going down on her own; it was the Four Symbols summoning her to descend…