Chapter 1926: Choice (Part 1)

After obtaining the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike, Xia Qingyue used it for the first time to travel to the Dragon God Realm.

Before the Samsara Forbidden Land, she used the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike to seamlessly pass through the isolating barrier personally erected by the Dragon Monarch, entering the forbidden land that once belonged solely to Shen Xi.

At that time, the Samsara Forbidden Land was desolate, its sacred light having completely faded.

She silently walked until she reached the place where Shen Xi once resided.

Ahead, only a patch of vibrant flowers stood out remarkably.

At the center of this flower patch was a puddle of scattered bloodstains. Despite years passing, the bloodstains remained undried and still emitted a faint aura of light.

"None of this is an illusion or a baseless assumption," she murmured softly to herself. "Long Bai's hatred for him... far exceeds the worst I could have imagined."

"Had the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor not returned to the world, he might have already..." She closed her eyes, concentrating briefly. A cold sense of dread lingered in her heart.

Indeed, had it not been for this Crimson Calamity, given Long Bai's hatred for Yun Che, he would have undoubtedly acted to kill Yun Che long ago... and no one could have stopped him.

"Fortunately, there's still the Evil Infant."

This was the greatest comfort, and Yun Che's strongest safeguard apart from Qianye Ying'er.

Her divine sense slowly swept across the desolate land. Moments later, her gaze fell upon a pile of shattered bamboo.

It was once Shen Xi's bamboo house, the place where she and Yun Che united. Now, it was just a pile of shattered bamboo.

Xia Qingyue moved closer, and with a light touch of her finger, a relatively intact bamboo plaque floated up from the shattered bamboo and landed in her hand.

Engraved on the bamboo plaque were two lines of exquisitely elegant script:Strange clouds and chaotic winds brush against mist,With Xi, embrace ten thousand flowers in slumber.

"..." Yun Che's expression shifted. This was something he had casually recited after a night with Shen Xi years ago. At the time, Shen Xi had simply smiled, showing no particular like or dislike.

He never expected she would quietly inscribe it on the bamboo plaque. And it must have been after he left the Samsara Forbidden Land.

Was she... missing him?

However, when he later entered the Samsara Forbidden Land with Qianye Ying'er, he hadn't found this bamboo plaque. Instead, deep underground, he had discovered two other bamboo plaques clearly buried by Shen Xi.

One was inscribed with "Xi," and the other with "Yun."

Xia Qingyue's gaze lingered on the bamboo plaque for a long time. Instead of putting it back, she put it away.

Yun Che: "...?"

Without lingering long, Xia Qingyue turned around. The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike in her hand briefly glowed with a crimson divine light. Suddenly, the divine light vanished, and she refocused, her gaze falling upon the puddle of bloodstains left by Shen Xi.

She raised her jade hand, her five fingers gently closing, and a wisp of purple light enveloped the bloodstains, lifting more than ten drops of blood, which were then softly encased in the purple light before disappearing into her palm.

The bloodstains remained on the ground, though they appeared much "drier."

"I hope... I never need to use it," she whispered softly. Her figure then vanished from the Samsara Forbidden Land.

Leaving no trace of her presence.

South of the Southern Divine Region, in a remote lower realm space.

Xia Qingyue stood in the vast cosmic space. Before her eyes was a small planet overflowing with a dreamlike blue light.

"A planet primarily composed of water, with a similar appearance and aura, and a comparable starfield environment," she murmured its name, "Heavenly Water Star..." as she gazed at it from afar.

"A perfectly ideal choice," she said, her beautiful eyes closed, her voice slightly strained. "But it's too cruel and unjust to you."

"I only hope... I am worrying for nothing."

The ethereal retrospective scene shifted to after the cataclysm.

Yun Che saw that after he was teleported away from the edge of the Primal Chaos, trapped in despair, Xia Qingyue searched for him almost frantically. After eluding everyone's notice, she used the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike to perform dozens of spatial translocations, her divine sense sweeping across dozens of star regions.

Time and again, finding nothing, she finally, in her last attempt, desperately suppressed the urge to continue her search.

Because she had to preserve the spatial divine power of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike.

She arrived in the east of the Eastern Divine Region, at her homeland... the Azure Cloud Continent.

Holding the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike, the dense purple glow in her eyes transformed them into deep, profound jade.

All the power in her body surged frantically, flowing without reservation into the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike in her hand.

"Spirit of Heaven Punishing... I beg you... awaken!"

One breath... two breaths... ten breaths... Finally, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike emitted a piercing cry, like a lament. The crimson divine light, symbolizing the strongest spatial divine power in the current world, poured down, enveloping the entire Azure Cloud Continent.

A spatial passage spanning almost half of the Primal Chaos was also slowly being carved open at that moment.

The other end of the spatial passage was in the south of the Southern Divine Region, where the Heavenly Water Star was located.

Just as the entire Azure Cloud Continent was completely enveloped by the crimson divine light, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike suddenly began to tremble violently, and its mournful cries became increasingly weak and obscure.

Shui Meiyin had told Yun Che that forcibly awakening the dormant spike spirit using primordial power as a medium, and then forcibly activating the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike's spatial divine power through the temporarily awakened spirit, would cause immense damage to the already feeble spike spirit.

But even with such a cost... transitioning the space of two planets across nearly half of the Primal Chaos was still too difficult, a "miracle" that Shui Meiyin said might never be repeated.

And now, Yun Che truly witnessed... that the cost of this miracle was far more than just severe damage to the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike's spirit.

The wails of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike grew agonizingly sharp, piercing the soul. If this planet transfer failed, there would be no second chance. Xia Qingyue's purple eyes turned abruptly cold, and she violently spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, which splattered onto the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike.

At the same time, her body shattered like violet crystal, releasing thousands of concentrated violet glows... so dense that they pierced through the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike's crimson divine light.

And this was the fleeting violet divine light, inscribed by the Everlasting Shadow Stone.

Although the intense violet light only appeared for an instant, it caused the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike's spatial divine power to surge explosively... simultaneously, Xia Qingyue's aura abruptly collapsed.

The starfield trembled, the crimson divine light rapidly dissipated, and the space ahead still contained a water-blue planet, but it was no longer the Azure Cloud Continent.

However, from a distance, the Azure Cloud Continent and the Heavenly Water Star looked so similar that even Xia Qingyue had moments of disorientation, thinking the transfer might have failed.

Her face turned ashen white, and her body could not even withstand the incoming spatial storm, swaying and trembling incessantly. Blood quickly spread across her violet robe, dyeing more than half of it crimson in an instant.

The purple light in her eyes rapidly faded. She murmured weakly from her lips: "This sin... is unforgivable... Only with the rest of my life... can I fully repay it with him..."

Unable to sustain herself, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spike flickered with a faint red light, returning her to the Moon God Realm.

*Thud!*

Upon returning to the Moon God Palace, she fell heavily to her knees. Her violet robe was completely soaked in blood, losing all its original color.

After a long period of gasping, she struggled to her feet. With a slight raise of her plain hand, a prepared violet profound formation shone beneath her, and she was enveloped by its purple glow.

However, her respite was cut short, lasting less than ten hours.

Lian Yue's aura rapidly approached. Xia Qingyue's previous order was not to disturb her unless there was news of Yun Che.

Within the profound formation, her blood-soaked robe shattered, revealing her incomparably beautiful, icy skin and jade-like bones for a fleeting moment before being covered by a new violet robe.

Lian Yue brought news that the Heaven Smiting God Emperor and the Dragon Monarch were jointly sailing their ships toward the Azure Cloud Continent.

She opened her beautiful eyes, and the purple glow reappeared in her pupils.

The profound formation's light faded, and she stood up, saying, "Order Yue Wuji to accompany me out of the realm immediately!"

This catastrophe had arrived far too quickly.

Her slightly recovered Violet Pylon divine power was entirely projected onto her body's surface. In her current state, she absolutely could not allow anyone to perceive her extreme weakness.

Yun Che, moreover, could never have dreamed that the Xia Qingyue he faced outside the destroyed "Azure Cloud Continent" that year was in such an extremely weakened state.

With the Azure Cloud Continent destroyed and Xuan Yin's jade pendant shattered, Yun Che escaped in a way she hadn't planned. She returned to the Moon God Realm, but she was too weak to track Yun Che's whereabouts.

"I need to seclude myself for a period. Until I emerge, all matters, great and small, shall be decided by Yaoyue and Yue Wuji. Do not disturb me unless it's a matter of immense gravity."

"Yes," Jin Yue, by her side, dutifully responded as always.

This time, however, watching Xia Qingyue's retreating figure, she clearly stood stunned for a long time.

She felt that Xia Qingyue seemed exceptionally exhausted... a fatigue so profound that even someone as powerful as her could no longer conceal it.

The scene shifted again. Xia Qingyue, in seclusion, awoke from a dream, her face streaked with tears.

"No... this isn't real... it can't be real!" She covered her brow with her hand, her voice filled with unbearable anguish.

What... did she dream of?

"It's just... a dream."

The tear stains vanished as she told herself this.

But soon, a second time, a third time, a fourth time...

She awoke from the same dream, and each time, the dream was clearer than the last.

Her profound strength and internal injuries had not yet fully recovered. Plagued by an unshakeable anxiety, she ended her seclusion early.

Stepping out of the barrier, she found Jin Yue, who had been waiting for her. She asked Jin Yue about a few recent matters, but then heard a startled cry from her.

"Master, your mirror... it's cracked."

She lowered her gaze to her neck. On the bronze mirror, a memento from Yue Wugou, a thin, long crack had appeared.

She froze, stunned. After a long moment, she held the bronze mirror in her palm and gently opened it... Instantly, she was as if struck by lightning, her whole body stiffened, and her pupils visibly constricted.

Previously, the profound images engraved within the bronze mirror depicted four people: Xia Hongyi, Yue Wugou, and the young Xia Qingyue and Xia Yuanba.

But now, the profound images in the mirror showed only three people... only she had disappeared.

The thin, long crack ran precisely through the location where her profound image had previously been.

Mercilessly reflecting the cruel dream she refused to believe.

Her hand slowly tightened, tendrils of purple light surging, wanting to destroy the bronze mirror right there... But in the end, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She could only let out a long sigh.

"Jin Yue," she said, closing the bronze mirror. With a wave of her plain hand, she pushed it towards Jin Yue, "Help me destroy it."

As she spoke, her figure had already moved away, seemingly unwilling to witness its destruction.

"Ah?" Jin Yue hastily took it, her face a picture of prolonged bewilderment and confusion.

When dream connected with reality, she lost her last reason to deceive herself.

She knelt before the tombs of Yue Wuya and Yue Wugou, accompanied only by the desolate whisper of the wind.

"It was I... who harmed you... it was I..."

Again and again, she murmured words that others could never truly understand.

"The world exists because of balance. There is creation and destruction, light and darkness, and destiny also has its balance..." She softly recited the words once spoken by the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor: "So, you had already told me the answer."

"No wonder you said I... am the most tragic person in this world."

She extended her jade hand, and tears dropped into her palm, reflecting a mournful shimmer.

"I never thought I would one day... loathe my own existence so much..."

"Bearing the sins of countless lives from the Heavenly Water Star, I thought I was no longer worthy of human dignity... But it turns out, I'm not even... human... I'm merely... a tool... a wish... a vessel..."

"Heh... heheh..." She laughed, but her laughter was colder and more sorrowful than when she was weeping heartbrokenly.

A tool?

A wish?

A vessel?

Yun Che watched and listened, dumbfounded.

What was she... saying!?