Chapter 923: Karma Finally Repaid

Chapter 923: Karma Finally Repaid

This emperor was named Emperor Haoyang. In terms of personal cultivation, he surpassed Emperor Withered Wood somewhat, and could even be called the strongest in the entire Allphenomena Starfield. The fact that he was the first among the three to locate the Heavenly Book was clear proof of his vast divine sense.

As the strongest, his confidence was naturally the greatest.

Since there were only two treasures but three contenders... could he set the other two aside and claim sole possession? Emperor Haoyang was not reckless. He tentatively extended his divine sense from afar to observe the state of this book-shaped artifact. The first reaction upon probing was ecstatic joy at finding a treasure... This was actually a complete world!

It shouldn't even be called a small world; it deserved to be called a plane, for it even contained the stars of the heavens—it was essentially a small parallel universe! If he obtained it, not only would the Allphenomena Starfield be his, but even the path to further advancement would have a foundation!

Amidst the joy, there was also some surprise, because there was no artifact spirit obstructing his probing—meaning this world had no "Heavenly Dao."

For a supreme treasure of this caliber, having no artifact spirit... was that plausible?

No... this feeling suggested it should be a spirit-possessed treasure... Could it be that there was an artifact spirit, but it simply wasn't home? Emperor Haoyang's expression was extremely strange—an artifact spirit not at home...

No matter how hard he strained his imagination, he could never have guessed that at this very moment, the artifact spirit lady was in another time-space, being grabbed by the hair and tormented to the brink of death.

All he could think of was that this group had previously fought to a mutual ruin with Luo Chuan, and two powerful Other Shore presences—a man and a woman—seemed to be absent. Two Other Shores missing... and the only remaining Other Shore woman was currently sitting cross-legged by the sword, seemingly locked in a stalemate with Luo Chuan sealed within.

Only one Other Shore guarding this book! With such a golden opportunity, why wait to seize it alone! Emperor Haoyang carefully examined for a long time, confirmed there were no ambushes nearby, and a sword gradually materialized in his palm.

Then, with a sudden flick, it pierced through stars and realms, hurtling toward the back of Ye Jiuyou's head. At the same time, he blurred forward, reaching out to grab the book.

Assassinate the strongest within the realm, snatch the treasure, and flee—making heaven and earth his cage in the palm. His plan was clear and decisive.

But just as this realm-piercing sword stabbed into the Night Palace, a mocking smile curled at the corner of Ye Jiuyou's lips. With a jade finger pointing, the River of Stars Sword floating above the observation platform suddenly soared, accurately flying to meet the incoming flying sword from behind.

Emperor Haoyang had been observing from outside for a long time; how could Ye Jiuyou be unaware? The sword tips clashed, erupting in a sharp, piercing ring. At the same time, Luo Chuan's agonized cry came from within the sword: "Haoyang, you goddamn fool!"

If one were to truly speak of the strongest in the Allphenomena Starfield, it was undoubtedly Luo Chuan. Even while being besieged by the three forbidden lands, he had been playing chess against Ye Wuming for two eons—truly a being with three heads and six arms. Such a ruthless figure had fallen into the hands of this pair of dogs and bitches. And you, Emperor Haoyang, with your mother's confidence, came alone to stir up trouble, without even bringing a subordinate? Just this single sword strike was precisely calculated by Ye Jiuyou. The first strike was bound to be a realm-piercing sword, carrying immense power to traverse boundaries and strike at internal beings. She, Ye Jiuyou, was just worried about not having enough ways to torment and weaken Luo Chuan—how perfect to borrow this strike to make him suffer! The penetrating force of an Other Shore powerhouse surged into the sword, churning Luo Chuan's primordial spirit as if it were being sliced into a thousand pieces, causing him to writhe in agony within the sword.

Emperor Haoyang was no better off. To protect himself from utter annihilation, Luo Chuan's primordial spirit launched a desperate counterattack—no joke. A sinister, cold aura crept along the sword tip into his mind. Emperor Haoyang's sea of consciousness felt as if a mortal had been drenched in ice water; his entire body went numb.

At that moment, Ye Jiuyou flickered and appeared beside him. Emperor Haoyang only sensed a ghostly presence closing in, and before he knew it, a palm had silently struck his chest.

It was as if he had been erased from the universe by some great Dao law. His protective robe directly bore a large hole, his chest caved in as if scooped out, flesh and blood vanished, organs gone.

"Pfft..." Emperor Haoyang spat a mouthful of blood, retreating swiftly in lingering fear.

Fortunately, his protective robe had extraordinary defensive power, managing to mitigate some of the damage; otherwise, this blow could have directly destroyed his physical body.

Emperor Haoyang simply couldn't understand how this woman, who had clearly expended a great deal in the previous battle and hadn't fully recovered, and whose original strength was merely at the early stage of Other Shore—shouldn't be this strong at all—had suddenly consumed some heavenly treasure overnight?

"Fool!" Luo Chuan's furious voice came from the River of Stars Sword: "She and the book spirit are twin-born. The book spirit is absent, so she is the heaven of this world! You are fighting against the power of an entire plane! Do you really think I couldn't subdue the Heavenly Book all these years because I was weak? It's because they are strong!"

Back then, Ye Wuming, combined with the power of the entire world, could stalemate Luo Chuan for two eons. Now that Ye Jiuyou had taken Ye Wuming's place, how could Emperor Haoyang be any exception?

Completely ignorant of his enemy, Emperor Haoyang was severely wounded in one blow. In pain and regret, he tried to flee but found he couldn't escape.

The stars around him shimmered. Though they were the stars of their Allphenomena Starfield, they had unknowingly formed the shape of the Four Symbols.

Four directions, four seasons, stars as a cage.

Four women each took a corner, smiling faintly: "Emperor Withered Wood's Star Array Formation—we thought it was quite good, so we learned to use it."

It was Emperor Withered Wood's formation method, but with their own inner essence. Having stepped out of the Heavenly Book world and seen the vast universe, Yue Hongling, Huangfu Qing, and the others were also constantly absorbing nourishment that belonged to them.

The path to Other Shore did not belong solely to innate demon gods; it also belonged to them, even if for now they could only achieve it through formation.

Just as Luo Chuan had once been restricted by Emperor Withered Wood, now Emperor Haoyang couldn't escape either! With this obstruction, Ye Jiuyou was already right behind him like a shadow, another palm that devoured everything striking his back.

Enduring his injuries, Emperor Haoyang swiftly offered up a bronze bell.

The jade hand struck the bell, and it instantly shattered into four pieces.

Cold sweat pouring down, Emperor Haoyang shouted harshly, "Are you still watching the show? If I fall here, you won't have a good outcome either!"

A sigh came from beyond the stars. A withered old Daoist appeared at the edge of the star prison, and a jade ruyi spun through the air, heading straight for Xia Chichi, who seemed the weakest among the Four Symbols.

The third Other Shore emperor of the Allphenomena Starfield—Emperor Wu Wang. Emperor Haoyang had been observing for so long; the second emperor had finally found him too.

That jade ruyi artifact wasn't helping to break the formation and rescue people—it was killing! They could all see that these women's formation was closely tied to their own attributes. If one died, the whole thing would collapse.

Xia Chichi, the first to be targeted, sighed.

She appeared the weakest, but outsiders would never know that she was actually the strongest...

As the master of the Divine Continent and carrying Zhao Changhe's first child, she was the most direct protector of Piaomiao. Apart from being able to transfer all of Piaomiao's power to Zhao Changhe, the only other person it could be transferred to was her, Xia Chichi.

The Ice Soul suddenly unsheathed, slashing diagonally at the edge of the jade ruyi.

Xia Chichi, who seemed utterly incapable of blocking this strike, actually managed to knock the star-shattering jade ruyi away. Emperor Wu Wang's eyes widened in shock. The next moment, the power of the stars, like a stirred hornet's nest, sent ten thousand beams of light roaring toward him, bombarding him relentlessly.

The Four Symbols Formation was not just for trapping enemies—it was an offensive formation from the start!

Emperor Wu Wang offered up a whisk that coiled into the sky, trying to deflect the power of the stars. But Piaomiao silently appeared behind him, a Clear River Sword in hand, stabbing quietly into his back.

Ever since she had integrated into the team, Piaomiao had willingly taken a supporting role. Many had forgotten the grace she displayed when she forged the four swords, pierced the Netherworld, and pinned down a demon god with a single strike.

To outsiders, it looked like a group of rabbits suddenly jumping up to bite, unaware that they were actually tigers.

Caught in a pincer attack, Emperor Wu Wang retreated in disarray. In that split-second change, Emperor Haoyang had already been blasted by Ye Jiuyou until his body was like tattered cloth, blood spilling into the cosmic void, looking eerie and terrifying.

Ye Jiuyou couldn't actually pursue, because Luo Chuan, sealed within the River of Stars Sword, was constantly trying to break free, and she couldn't afford to be distracted. In her ear came the voice of Tang Wanzhuang, the overall commander of this battle: "Don't chase a cornered enemy; beware of self-destruction... This blood coagulation formation also seems abnormal. Better to feign a flaw and let Haoyang escape, and see what Withered Wood is thinking."

Ye Jiuyou understood. Just then, Luo Chuan stirred, and Ye Jiuyou swiftly withdrew her palm to strike the sword body. Seizing the brief respite, Emperor Haoyang transformed into light and fled in an instant.

Ye Jiuyou made a move to chase, but the blood droplets floating around suddenly burst, instantly turning the cosmic void into a sea of blood.

Fortunately, Ye Jiuyou had never intended to pursue. She feigned the motion but actually withdrew into the Heavenly Book, precisely avoiding this blood sea of the Netherworld.

Then, in a flash, she appeared beside Emperor Wu Wang from the Heavenly Book, joining Piaomiao in a dual sword strike. Emperor Wu Wang, now facing the combined assault of Ye Jiuyou, Piaomiao, and everyone in the Four Symbols Formation, dared not linger. Taking advantage of not yet being fully encircled by the Four Symbols Formation, he decisively fled.

In the distance, Emperor Withered Wood let out a soft sigh. The situation did not match his expectations. He had originally thought these two could force Ye Jiuyou and the others to struggle desperately, giving him the best chance to strike... But unexpectedly, they had used Luo Chuan's primordial spirit to absorb the sharpest attacks, and from then on, the initiative was entirely in their hands, giving them a significant advantage.

He could only blame that fool Haoyang for being too greedy, not waiting for Emperor Wu Wang to act together, nor taking the time to understand the enemy's characteristics before rashly giving them the opportunity to divide and conquer.

But what could be done now? Although he could have struck at the most critical moment and become the straw that broke the camel's back, the main pair of dogs and bitches were still lurking somewhere unknown, likely watching his, Emperor Withered Wood's, movements. If he acted rashly, the next moment, the long-prepared divine abilities of that pair would all fall upon his head.

Emperor Withered Wood, intimidated by the unknown whereabouts of Zhao Changhe and Ye Wuming, dared not move a muscle from start to finish.

Three Other Shores besieging the Heavenly Book world—one wounded, one fled, one frozen like a wooden chicken—the crisis was thus resolved.

The group of women returned victorious. Ye Jiuyou said to Tang Wanzhuang with great admiration, "How did you guess that Withered Wood wouldn't dare to move?" "Easy to know. After all, even we don't know where that pair of dogs and bitches are. How could Withered Wood dare to gamble? As long as we fight well ourselves, the less he dares to act." Tang Wanzhuang leisurely took a sip of tea, then sighed, "But this only got us through their first battle, where they didn't know us. Next time, they will have some understanding of us. Once the three join forces and deploy their subordinates to target our Four Symbols formation separately, we will surely be unable to defeat them. Now, let's discuss: should we immediately leave this starfield far behind, or wait a little longer for Changhe to return?"

From within the River of Stars Sword, Luo Chuan was laughing wildly: "No need to choose... Thanks to those two fools tying up your strength, I have already broken free!"

As his words fell, the River of Stars trembled. A wisp of primordial spirit left the sword and vanished beyond the realm in an instant.

The crowd was horrified.

They had already tried to overestimate this fellow's abilities, yet they still hadn't expected that such a brief moment of interference would give him an opportunity to escape. With Zhao Changhe and Ye Wuming absent, none of them could truly stop this fleeting primordial spirit.

After all, it was a spirit without a physical body; breaking free from restraints was much simpler than under normal circumstances. The reason they had been able to seal him before was simply because Ye Wuming had altered the rules of the Heavenly Dao. But how long could an Other Shore be bound by such rules? This was going to be troublesome... Releasing a tiger back to the mountains would bring endless calamity.

Ye Jiuyou's expression was especially grim. This was her mortal enemy. After finally capturing him, she couldn't kill him, and before she could torment him for even a couple of days, he had escaped.

All because of those damned emperors... No wonder the three emperors had ruled the starfield for so many years and still couldn't do anything about Luo Chuan, who was restrained by Ye Wuming. If Luo Chuan had actually subdued the Heavenly Book, those three would have been crushed long ago.

Just then, Ye Jiuyou's expression shifted. Her face, dark as charcoal, suddenly bloomed like spring flowers: "They're back."

With these words, Ye Jiuyou's form flickered, and she was already in pursuit.

Outside, Luo Chuan's laughter still echoed through the void, but it was abruptly cut off.

"Where are you going, Chuan Mei?" Amidst the fleeing primordial spirit, though it was hidden within a void space, Zhao Changhe's smiling face inexplicably appeared ahead, blocking the way. No one knew how he had intercepted it.

Luo Chuan was horrified. He tried to twist away into another time-space, but found the time-space was in chaos, completely unusable.

Sweeping with his divine consciousness, as expected, Ye Wuming floated quietly behind him, her eyes as indifferent as ever.

Luo Chuan, who had been able to pluck chestnuts from the fire during the battle between Ye Jiuyou and the three masters of the Paramita, now felt his soul leave his body in sheer terror. Just like Zhao Changhe, the opponent Luo Chuan valued most in his heart was actually Ye Muming. Seeing her appear, the sensation was entirely different from any other time.

No matter how poor his current condition was, he still possessed the power of the Paramita. To bind his time and space would require the absolute suppression of at least the mid-to-late stages of the Paramita; when had this dog-like couple's strength reached such a level?

"Whoosh!" Ye Jiuyou appeared behind him, the three of them forming a triangle that locked him in the center.

Just as Luo Chuan was about to break through, Zhao Changhe's Longque saber left its sheath, delivering a plain, unremarkable slash straight overhead.

There was no sound of wind, no flash of the blade.

Great sounds are hard to hear, and great forms are shapeless.

The most fundamental slash seemed to strike the singularity of the universe.

To his horror, Luo Chuan discovered that his very intent to dodge was suppressed, unable to even surface, as if he were helplessly watching the fundamental composition of his own primordial spirit being pierced by a single blade, like the breaking open of an inner world.

A strike that cleaved heaven and earth apart.

"This slash is Lie's re-initiation of creation, and it is also the Sword Emperor's single horizontal and vertical stroke, reopening this heaven," Zhao Changhe's voice echoed from within the primordial spirit. "Those of the Paramita are immortal, but not truly immortal... as long as one finds the method. Treat you as an initial point of energy, with you as the core, opening this world—would it not dissolve entirely into the azure void, vanishing without a trace?"

Following his words, the Ye sisters suddenly struck together, palms slamming into Luo Chuan simultaneously.

For the first time, Luo Chuan felt the savor of death, struggling frantically: "Even if I detonate my primordial spirit, I will not let you lot succeed so easily!"

"Want to self-detonate? You have to ask if I agree first; I specialize in stopping that," Zhao Changhe bared his teeth in a grin, the blade vibrating slightly.

"Click..." A strange sound like a ticking pendulum grinding to a halt rang out, and Luo Chuan discovered to his horror that he could not even manage to detonate his primordial spirit.

The power of creation blossomed from within his body, all energy decomposing and melting away; the force of the self-detonation scattered like dust and smoke, utterly unable to condense into a harmful power.

Ye Wuming's gaze turned somewhat complex. Once, she had attempted to detonate her primordial spirit to perish together with Luo Chuan, but it was later proven that even self-detonation could not kill him... Now it was Luo Chuan's turn to attempt it, the tables turned, and his self-detonation could harm no one.

"No!" Luo Chuan's unwilling roar of fury echoed; he could not even comprehend why this was happening, or how Zhao Changhe had achieved it.

Even if he was severely wounded, even if their family of three was besieging him, he shouldn't be so utterly defenseless, unable to even mount a deathbed counterattack...

When the gap between power levels widened, the understanding of creation and destruction also differed.

Ye Jiuyou's mind was completely at ease, hatred resurfacing in her eyes as she once again channeled the power of absolute annihilation. Even during the great battle just now, she had not driven the full measure of her power like this single strike, as if the loneliness and hatred of her entire life were poured into it, piercing through the river of eternity.

"Ah!!" A shriek of agony resounded through the universe, and Luo Chuan's primordial spirit twisted and dissolved, no longer able to form a human face.

Twisting and turning, it gradually transformed into specks of fireflies, floating in the void.

Luo Chuan, the "Original Heavenly Dao" who had been entangled with the Heavenly Book World for thousands of millennia, vanished in body and soul amidst his wails. Whether in the past or the future, or in any parallel universe and space-time, the imprint of this person would no longer exist.

Ye Jiuyou seemed completely drained, actually gasping for breath.

"The betrothal gift for you, the missing source of the world, shall we let him fill it?" Amidst the blur, Zhao Changhe's voice could be heard asking.

Ye Wuming smiled softly: "I will defer to you."

She pointed a finger, and the specks of fireflies seemed to find a destination, gathering and flying off like comets, plunging into an unknown space.

Ye Jiuyou did not react to the gentleness in Ye Wuming's tone; at this moment, her own gaze was equally complex.

Once, she had been born into chaos with a naive consciousness, only to be partitioned by Luo Chuan. Now, he was being cut and decomposed within her own palm, scattered into an unknown world under Ye Wuming's command, transforming into primal spirituality.

A sip and a bite, karma was just so.

This was the best outcome.

"Is your grudge appeased?" Zhao Changhe asked.

Ye Jiuyou snapped out of her reverie, looking at the remnant spiritual aura around them with some bewilderment, suddenly breaking into a brilliant smile: "The repayment of karma leaves a bit of emptiness, it feels somewhat surreal..."

"Empty?" Zhao Changhe blinked: "Then shall I be responsible for filling it up?"

Ye Jiuyou paid no mind to this crude double entendre, wrapping her arms tightly around Zhao Changhe's waist and lifting her head to demand a kiss: "Changhe... kiss me, a bit harder... let me feel that I still exist."

Zhao Changhe followed her wishes seamlessly, kissing her deeply.

Thousands of stars twinkled, as if lighting the candles of a wedding.

Ye Wuming hesitated to speak, floating to the side with her arms crossed, feeling a sour emotion in her heart for the very first time.

So this was what jealousy felt like...