Crack—
It sounded almost like teeth grinding together to the breaking point.
Unfortunately, An Ning was not the only one gritting her teeth nearly to powder.
Out in the Longyuan desert beyond Kunwu, the elder held outside was doing the same. Even armed with a Celestial Craft and standing at the tier of Exaltation—merely a hair's breadth from Celestial-Human—he had failed to so much as lift a hand earlier when countless missiles rained from the sky.
The two jinxes flanking him to the left and right like temple guardians had not looked away for a single instant.
"Old fossil, don't be rash," An Neng advised.
An De nodded along repeatedly. "Don't lose your head now! Keep calm, keep calm."
"Right, right, exactly—it's over already!"
"..."
Watching his forces wiped out before his very eyes had already been infuriating enough; watching these two demonic nuisances banter back and forth like a comedic duo sent the old man's blood pressure soaring.
Yet all the way to the end, even the instant Yue Chen died, he had never found a single opening to act.
From start to finish, an invisible boundary enveloped his surroundings.
Though they spoke no threats, if the elder dared to raise a hand—no, if his muscles showed even the slightest sign of preparing to lift a hand—what would meet him in that fraction of a second within fifteen paces was a desperate, life-or-death strike from two White Stags throwing their lives away together.
Dammit, the Twin Fingers of the Wild Gathering!
Just by hearing their names, one would know: ever since the House of An's old fossil stopped managing affairs, these two little terrors had been the traveling face and banner of the current generation.
As executioners of the Wild Gathering, their hands were stained with far more than the blood of Wolf Sins.
Now, seeing the dust settle, the elder's breathing grew heavier and heavier. His expression turned grim, and just as he turned around to demand an explanation, he saw both of them take a synchronized step backward.
"All right, that just about wraps things up."
"Time for us two to head home."
"Bye-bye, old fossil."
"Watch yourself next time, hear!"
With that, the two turned shoulder to shoulder and walked away, leaving the elder alone where he stood. He glared coldly after their departing figures, his expression shifting as his grip tightened silently around the Celestial Craft staff in his hand.
Yet in that very instant, as if sensing something, both of them suddenly looked back.
"Oh, what a coincidence."
An De smacked his forehead.
An Neng sighed with a smile. "We meet again!"
The elder's expression twisted violently.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
The instant they turned their heads, Flying Light burst forth from the night sky!
Like a dazzling golden blade cleaving the pitch-black vault of heaven in twain, sliced straight through the center, it left behind a dead-straight path, mirrored in the elder's contracting pupils with flawless, hairline symmetry.
As if the stars had parted to either side, the world was split in two.
In the flickering brilliance, everything seemed so close—as if one could touch the heavens simply by reaching out.
That was the last sight he ever beheld.
In that instant, he finally understood...
It was not the world that had been split in two.
It was himself.
Pop!
The sound of a bubble bursting arrived late.
This was no longer the supreme art An Ning talked up to bluff people—one she had barely scratched the surface of and practiced half-baked, which would make anyone laugh their teeth off if word got out...
It was the true, genuine peak realm of Projection.
—Meteor!
Starlight flickered, ushering in catastrophic ruin.
Coming from nowhere, heading nowhere, the razor-sharp edge between the stars flashed and vanished. Descending from the heavens, it casually swept past all worldly phenomena, sliced the elder in half straight down the middle, and plunged deep into the desert of Longyuan.
After a split second of dead silence, blood dripped down. Behind that point of origin in crimson, a stretching fissure and ravine abruptly tore through the rolling yellow sands, extending straight until it vanished beyond the horizon.
Like the digging of a grave, the chasm caught the two halves of the corpse toppling backward, then slowly closed back up under the pull of gravity.
Only a pool of crimson blood remained on the ground, gradually blanketed by the swirling yellow sand until not a trace could be seen.
The Celestial Craft staff that had tumbled into the sand suddenly leaped into the air, nimbly darting around the thieving hands of An Neng and An De, and shot away through the sky.
In the fleeting glow before its departure, a gaze seemed to look out from the scepter toward the two of them, laden with cold detachment and warning.
The two sighed helplessly, shaking their heads in unison.
"So stingy. Can't even touch it."
"That's Tianyuan for you."
"Embarrassing."
Amidst the howling winds and billowing yellow sands, their voices drifted back and forth as they silently vanished into the distance.
The howling gale swept over, carrying waves of yellow sand that bit by bit buried the pale corpses scattered across the desert, swallowing everything until no trace remained.
Meanwhile, ten thousand li away, in a secluded courtyard, an old man eating cold appetizers glanced up from the corner of his eye toward the sky and clicked his tongue.
"Those two wastrels... Can't even let their old man have a late-night snack in peace."
With that, he laid down his chopsticks, hunched over with his hands behind his back, and ambled away.
"Where are you off to, Grandpa?"
The young man still stir-frying in the kitchen poked his head out. "The wine just finished warming, there's another dish coming, and the rib soup isn't ready to ladle out yet."
"Ladle it out first. It's too hot anyway—let it cool a bit. I'll drink it when I get back."
The old man spoke without looking back as he pushed open the gate. He strolled across the quiet courtyard and stepped over dew-soaked flagstones as if out for a casual walk, heading up the hill.
On the hilltop ground, trampled iron-hard over countless years, there were only scorch marks. Weapons were scattered sparsely across racks—sabers, spears, swords, halberds, everything under the sun.
Withered fingers brushed across the weapons like picking soldiers. After settling on a broadsword, he gave it two forceful shakes and swung it, whipping up a heavy whoosh that cleaved the air.
Decent quality. This one will do.
The old man nodded. He looked up at the overcast night sky, his shriveled chest swelling as he took a deep breath, and let loose a shout:
"Ha—!"
Without a sound or a trace, the broadsword in his hand vanished.
No roar was heard, as though sound itself had been slaughtered.
Only across the dark veil of night did a streak of lightning and fire slant upward from the hilltop. In an instant, it cut a dead-straight path, plunging into the overcast sky to tear a bizarre, gaping hole in the clouds before swiftly vanishing behind them.
Speeding, speeding, speeding—
That beam of flashing brilliance broke free of gravity's pull in silence, soaring freely until it burst into the eternal darkness and vacuum beyond the world.
Like a satellite, it slipped into the mortal realm's geostationary orbit.
Immediately afterward, the speck of brilliance seamlessly melded into the sprawling belt of light, filling a spot that had just opened up.
A star had returned to the sea of stars.
And there, alongside the countless sabers, spears, swords, halberds, tables, chairs, folding stools, pots, bowls, pans, basins, refrigerators, washing machines, and all manner of other odds and ends in orbit, it turned and circled silently above the mortal world.
Like a wisp of the Milky Way, ethereal as a dream.
Below the slowly closing overcast sky, the old man, finished with his chore, had already turned with his hands behind his back and walked away.
He returned to the table and picked up the bowl of soup.
Slurped a mouthful.
Frowned.
Still too hot...
***
"The rain is getting heavier," Lyu Yingyue sighed softly. A wisp of steam rose from her cup, blurring the wrinkles on her face.
In the blaze of raging flames, wisps of her white hair seemed to catch a burning red glow, making her look a touch younger.
Above, thunder boomed and rain poured down in sheets. Amidst the suffocating deluge, the wreckage of an airship rested against a hillside, flames leaping and dense smoke billowing.
Yet the cataclysm, the thunder and fire, the downpour and dense smoke—at this moment, all seemed like an illusion.
Though surrounding her at the very center, they merely drifted past, not a single raindrop touching her body.
Inside the airship's wreckage, the parlor remained brightly lit and intact, but aside from her, not a soul could be seen.
Yet for some reason, the sound of cracking began at her fingertips and crept upward.
"...I see. Poison, is it?"
Lyu Yingyue lowered her gaze, staring at her right hand as it gradually crumbled away into nothingness, and sighed softly. "To think I fell for it back in Midtown... Thank you all for waiting here for me for so long. Now that you have achieved complete success and won your victory, why not show yourselves?"
In the dead silence, the torrential rain roared.
No one answered.
Yet Lyu Yingyue's gaze cut through the rain, settling upon the figures concealed in the void around her. "Shang Jiu, Gao Qing, Li Yucheng, Lyu Zong—the four of you are, after all, the faces and banners of your respective houses, pillars of the Federation. Two Celestial-Humans, two matrix relics, three Celestial Crafts, traveling ten thousand li just to deal with an old woman like me... I am truly flattered."
Along with her words, lightning flashed across the dark world. As if a hand had suddenly yanked away a curtain, several figures stepped out of the shadows, appearing out of thin air.
They encircled the burning airship, locking down the perimeter in an inescapable net.
"Heh. An old fox who's hidden in the Security Bureau all these years is putting on airs even now."
Shang Jiu said expressionlessly, "Warden Lyu, at this point, there's no need to hide anything. As a Celestial-Human holding the dual paths of Tianyuan and Mirror, how could a mere Soul-Scattering Poison leave you breathing your last? Why be so hypocritical? What are you still trying to cover up now?"
"...Well, and here I thought I'd kept it well hidden."
Lyu Yingyue laughed nonchalantly, grinning as the sounds of fracturing grew fiercer.
Cracks surfaced on that weathered face shrouded in dark ash. "Mr. Shang makes some sense. At this stage, beating around the bush is pointless. We ought to deal with each other honestly."
She paused, then sighed ruefully. "It's just that sometimes, the truth isn't quite as pretty as you think."
In that instant, dead silence fell amidst the storm.
As if stripping off a hypocritical mask, Lyu Yingyue raised a hand to her face and pulled away the layer of disguise that had felt like second nature to her.
Her true face was revealed.
All elegance was gone; a twisted, fractured countenance emerged from beneath the phantom facade.
Across that scar-ravaged face, not a trace of former gentleness remained. It looked as though it had suffered the scorch of infernos and the corrosion of strong acid; flesh had withered and proliferated anew, tangled across exposed cheekbones in an ugly, grotesque visage.
Not just her face—her neck and exposed hands were knotted with gnarls of muscle and flesh, twisted into hideous contours under a virulent curse.
Illuminated by the firelight, she looked more terrifying than an evil spirit, sending chills down the spine.
It was unimaginable that the old fox who navigated between rival factions with such dignified elegance and refined grace—keeping countless rivals on high alert—would look so hideous.
For a moment, even the encirclement of attackers froze in place, briefly stunned.
Yet Lyu Yingyue made no move to seize this precious opening for a counterattack. Instead, she glanced at their expressions, and a smile that could hardly be called warm appeared on her monstrous face.
"So many years have flashed by, even I've gotten used to that hypocritical mask," Lyu Yingyue sighed softly, spreading her hands as she looked around curiously at their astonished faces. "Well? Is this meager truth worth the look?"
"With such poise, you are a hero through and through. What does appearance matter?"
Gao Qing, the gray-haired contemporary White Carriage, lowered his eyes with a soft sigh. "Far better than an old rat like me who still scrambles after petty gains at my age. Alas... forced by circumstances, fate is beyond our control."
"Why waste words on this ugly freak now?" Lyu Zong's expression darkened as he urged, "Finish the job completely! Don't let her stall for time!"
"I don't see it that way,"
Lyu Yingyue shook her head, the mocking smile on her scarred face deepening. "A hypocrite like me may lack grandeur of spirit, but at least I know which way the wind blows. My life may be cheap, but I still want to live a few days longer. If you will stay your hands and depart, and your four houses withdraw from the southern Federation, I can swear upon Tianyuan to let bygones be bygones."
Let bygones be bygones?
What a joke!
At this stage, it was an all-or-nothing gamble! Lyu Yingyue had fanned the flames to this point, and everyone had placed their bets—could it possibly end in a draw?!
"There is no need for further nonsense, Warden Lyu," Li Yucheng said with a shake of his head. "If you must blame something, blame your own insatiable desires."
BOOM!
Shang Jiu remained cold and impassive. Lightning flashed around his body as the Celestial-Human-tier matrix relic within him blazed with searing light, echoing the storm clouds spanning ten thousand li and the endless thunderstorm that had brewed for so long.
Now, thunderous light across ten thousand li surged into a raging deluge, hurtling down from the heavens.
In that instant, all the besiegers attacked brazenly without a second thought.
Unfortunately, it was not four against one.
It was... two against two!
BOOM!
The sound of a bubble popping rang out. Gao Qing, the Celestial-Human locking down space and commanding the eight directions, shuddered violently as he saw a hand thrust out from his chest.
Its five fingers shifted with keen edge as the essence of the Path of the Desolate Ruins emerged—stagnant freeze!
In that preceding instant, an uncanny trance and sluggishness had engulfed him, as though an invisible hand lying in wait for ages had blocked the White Carriage's shifts.
It was merely an instant, but after that instant, everything had changed.
Between the fingers, a strand of darkness appeared out of thin air and detonated outward—he sluggishly tried to turn his head, but before he could, he was utterly swallowed by a terrifying black hole of material annihilation, body and soul extinguished!
In the blink of an eye, a Celestial-Human had dissipated without even a sign of warning.
Every shift had already been swallowed by an illusion that spanned hundreds of li without anyone realizing, like the silent upheaval of seas turning to mulberry fields behind the theater's curtain.
The moment that figure vanished into ash and smoke, the person behind him finally appeared before everyone's eyes.
It was none other than Li Yucheng, who had already grown impatient and urged everyone to strike!
The instant he struck, he had vanished from his original position.
Or rather, he had never been there in the first place; right from the start, he had been cloaked in illusions, vanishing from everyone's perception.
In the split second of betrayal, the bizarre black box in his hand vanished, swallowing the unsuspecting Lyu Zong inside and sealing him under layer upon layer of locks.
And then, heaven and earth inverted—
The moment Lyu Yingyue finally rose from the sofa, the torrential rain, thunder, torrents, flames, and everything else vanished completely—or perhaps, right from the beginning, they had been nothing more than empty phantoms.
Myriad phenomena rotated and recombined, reality and illusion inverted.
In the instant awareness returned, the sky of ten-thousand-fathom dark clouds lay beneath their feet, while rolling mountains stretched into the distance from the earth above their heads.
And the grand, boundless thunder suddenly lost control, shattering and losing its target, splitting into two around Lyu Yingyue's form to plunge into the unknown.
Domain of the Path of Tianyuan—[Inversion]? No, more than that—there was also the Mirror Path's [Spilt Water Cannot Be Gathered]?!
Shang Jiu was chilled to the bone—Domains of two different paths manifested from a single person! No, more than that, what else was hidden behind this...
Yet in the instant of realization and pondering, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Laughing at himself.
At this point, what was the point of thinking about any of this?!
It was nothing more than victory meaning life and defeat meaning death.
BOOM!
Shang Jiu's body abruptly swelled and expanded, turning into boundless thunderous light that blanketed the world. Raging fire and frosty wind shifted endlessly as a colossus emerged from the limitless blaze...
Through it all, Lyu Yingyue showed no reaction, only smiling.
She waved her hand.
A sheer curtain, soft as a phantom, appeared from her fingertips. Cast out, it once more blanketed a thousand li, turning into rolling dark clouds that shielded everything from prying eyes.
Behind that veil woven of endless illusions, no sound could be heard, no light could be seen; all spectators were shut out from the stage, unable to interfere in the slightest.
Behind the curtain, all things rotated, seas shifting into mulberry fields.
And when the grand curtain rose once more, everything was already over.
In the washing of the storm, Shang Jiu's mangled body lay in the mud, pierced and pinned by spear after spear glowing with golden light.
He was on his last breath.
"Good work,"
Lyu Yingyue nodded, offering her thanks to Li Yucheng, who still bore lingering flames and scorch marks on his body.
Unfortunately, Li Yucheng didn't appreciate it at all. He cast a deadpan glance at her. "Hurry up and finish it so I don't have to keep making a fool of myself."
In the mire, residual heat radiated outward, evaporating rainwater and scorching the mud into baked earth. Skewered beneath the spears, Shang Jiu struggled, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.
Yet his hollow eyes remained fixed on Li Yucheng with bone-deep venom.
"Actually, one thing you said was right: I was indeed stalling for time."
The shadowy veil once more enveloped Lyu Yingyue's face, cloaking the scars beneath and restoring her poised, elegant appearance.
She lowered her eyes, looking down at Shang Jiu with a rueful sigh. "In case you didn't know... half an hour ago, the Supreme Court of the Federation was to release an announcement opening a formal case and investigation into the Northern Realm Armament Corruption Scandal. Before dawn, a vast number of people who receive word will likely be preparing to resign or switch sides.
"To save their own skins, Echo and Xinyuan will definitely sell out Tiancheng—and to save themselves, the Li family had no choice but to jump ship. Predictably, from here on out, the People's Party is finished."
Lyu Yingyue paused, her smile growing more delightful. "Now it seems I've won my gamble. What's more, by serving as the bridge and sending charcoal in the snow... thanks to everyone's help, I've earned immense credit."
As the rain beat down, Shang Jiu's expression twitched, wanting to say something more.
But he never got the chance.
Lyu Yingyue stood up. Looking back one last time, she glanced at the silent Li Yucheng. "I'll leave the rest to you."
Snap!
The sound of shattering rang out.
In Li Yucheng's hand, Shang Jiu's final remains crumbled into ash and smoke.
And amidst the torrential storm, Lyu Yingyue's figure was nowhere to be seen.
As though time were flowing backward, surging flames rolled in reverse, the fractured frame regenerated, and falling rain ascended into the sky as the battered airship restored itself to wholeness.
Once more it soared above the tempest.
Steadily continuing its journey.
Inside the cabin, a crisp clatter sounded.
A pen had dropped to the floor.
The dozing assistant jolted awake, instinctively wiping his drool as he looked around. "D-did I... fall asleep?"
"Yes, quite soundly. I didn't wake you."
Lyu Yingyue turned around. Looking at his sleepy state, she consoled him gently, "No need to rush your work. Take care of your health and rest a while longer."
"I..."
The assistant froze, then sighed in embarrassment. He flusteredly tidied up the items on the desk that he had knocked about while sleeping and got back to work. Yet when he took a break to pick up his coffee cup for a couple of espresso shots, he saw that Lyu Yingyue was still seated by the window.
She was staring blankly at the dark clouds and the sky outside.
He hesitated, then asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"
"Well..."
Lyu Yingyue thought for a moment and smiled self-deprecatingly. "If I had to say, probably... the future."
The future?
The assistant poked his head out curiously and took a look as well.
It was pitch black; nothing could be seen.
"The future sure is bleak," he sighed softly.
"Isn't that the truth?"
Chapter 379