Chapter 175: The Light of the Miracle

Inside the grand hall, the ritual had already begun.

The young girl knelt on a prayer mat, gently bowing her head and muttering incantations.

A middle-aged man in a loose white robe entered through the hall's entrance.

"Greetings, Counselor."

The men and women standing on either side simultaneously bowed.

The Counselor was the strongest person in Sundered City, second only to the King.

He looked at the girl kneeling before the prayer mat and spoke bluntly, "Your mother hanged herself."

"What?!" The girl rose in shock. "Mother... what happened to Mother? I want to see her!"

"Stop, kneel!" the Counselor roared.

His words were like a spell. As soon as he shouted, the girl instantly knelt again, pressing her head down, her hands clasped behind her back, unable to utter a word.

"Don't you know why your mother hanged herself?" the Counselor said coldly.

The girl knew, she knew better than anyone, that she was not the King's daughter. Her mother had conceived her with a general before marrying into the royal family. Fortunately, the pregnancy had occurred early, and her mother soon conceived with the King, making the deception easier. Moreover, after she was born, she proved intelligent and clever, so no one had any suspicions.

At first, she herself hadn't known.

It wasn't until later that she noticed differences between herself and other royal descendants and secretly told her mother about it.

That day, she watched her mother cry into a weeping mess before her. Her mother's last shred of hope vanished. After crying, she personally told the girl the truth, and at that moment, the girl felt as if her entire world had collapsed, and she too dissolved into tears.

They knew better than anyone what a crime it was to deceive the King in Sundered City.

It was a capital offense, punishable by seven days of inhumane torture and abuse in the Demon Prison, followed by death by a thousand cuts!

At that time, she was about to participate in the first assessment for royal descendants. She cried for days and nights, almost blinding herself. In the end, through various means—begging, pleading, and trickery—she managed to stumble through life until she was seventeen. Although some people had grown suspicious during this time, fortunately, her father, the King, still favored her and her mother. And every royal descendant was destined to be a warrior who could fight against the alien species outside the city walls and plant Sundered City's Azure Moon banner further afield.

But she had no royal blood at all.

Many of the extraordinary talents she displayed over the years were actually the result of diligent practice behind the scenes. For instance, she practiced a common fire-starting method day and night for half a year, making it indistinguishable from the innate fire control abilities of the royal family. Or she would feed the temple cat every day, interacting with it for over a year, then pretend to understand the language of other creatures, making it follow her commands.

She saw all her actions as simply a testament to the principle that heaven rewards diligence.

But no matter what she did, she could not escape the divine summoning that occurred at age seventeen.

Across from this palace, it was said, lay a forbidden land called the Abyss of Time. The blood of every royal descendant could summon an extremely powerful spirit from the Abyss of Time once the ritual began. The royal descendant who summoned it could then establish a blood-fusion contract through the ritual, thereby controlling the spirit.

She had originally planned to carry some royal descendant's blood with her and secretly use it when the ritual began.

However, before each ritual, bathing and changing clothes were handled by specialized attendants. Moreover, the summoned spirit would only form a pact with the one who drew the blood, so the exposure of her true identity was only a matter of time.

Hearing of her mother's suicide, she felt no particular sadness. For years, she had utterly detested her mother. If not for her mother's momentary indulgence, she wouldn't have had to live such a life for so long. If her inner strength hadn't been so great, she probably would have lost all her hair by now.

Her mother had enjoyed seventeen years of good life and was now growing old and faded. Unable to bear the pressure, she had abandoned her and gone first.

One less cellmate.

Alas, her own death couldn't be far off now.

"Mother... Mother was perfectly fine, why...? I... I don't know!" The girl suddenly raised her head, her eyes brimming with tears, still feigning ignorance.

The Counselor stared at her coldly. "It was merely the death of a commoner woman; nothing to be surprised about. Summoning the spirit is the most important matter and cannot be delayed. Currently, there's a shortage of people in 'Abyss Walkers.' If you can successfully summon a spirit, it will be the beginning of your glory."

The girl weakly nodded. "Yes, Counselor, but my mother died today, and I feel..."

The Counselor cut her off. "The ritual continues. I will personally preside over it."

With that, the Counselor walked to the stone gate, took the scripture scroll from the woman in the white robe, and began to chant deeply.

The girl trembled as she pressed her palms together, her mind racing for a countermeasure. But with the Counselor present, if she dared to run, she would surely be seized and thrown into the Demon Prison. At the thought of the horrifying scenes within the Demon Prison, her shoulders involuntarily shivered, and tears streamed down her face, feigning grief for her birth mother.

These words stirred up a storm in the hearts of the others present.

Could it be... she wasn't the King's daughter?

The girl was quite well-known within the royal family. When appearing at large gatherings, she carried herself with royal dignity, poised and elegant.

Her swordsmanship was also extraordinary. In her previous monster hunts outside the city, she had performed commendably, even earning praise from the King. Many regarded her as an excellent successor, and consequently, she had many admirers throughout the city. However, the royal family's status was so exalted that most people could only gaze at them from afar their entire lives.

But what if all of this was a lie...?

As everyone watched the sobbing girl, their thoughts diverged.

The ritual proceeded as planned.

After the Counselor finished chanting the scripture, the stone gate glowed in the girl's trembling eyes.

In the center of the stone gate, something pulsed like a beating heart. Then, faint crimson spiritual energy began to flow like blood along the gate's patterns. In a very short time, the crimson energy permeated the entire gate, and the ancient totem, once filled, emitted a dazzling light.

A rumbling sound echoed through the grand hall.

The stone gate slowly opened.

All eyes were drawn towards it.

Even those present who had seen it before were still captivated by the scene behind the stone gate.

It was a circular, inwardly collapsing plane, seemingly composed of countless fine straight lines that moved at an incredibly high speed, though it was impossible to discern if they were moving inward or outward. The deep cavern facing them was like a pair of eyes, its pupils buried in immeasurable depths. Its "whites" were a gray hue verging on nothingness, and behind them, faint, flickering white specks of light shimmered, like fish swimming in a stream. Beyond these lights, there was a grayish-white moon... This moon moved slowly towards them, from far away to near.

This was a vast abyss rushing towards them.

As soon as it opened, an oppressive feeling descended upon the palace. Everyone, after gazing at it, couldn't help but close their eyes, silently chanting purifying scriptures.

If Ning Changjiu had been present, he would have noticed that this abyss looked almost identical to the one in the Southern Wilderness.

Similarly, everyone here, even the King, would be sent back to their starting point if they entered the abyss.

It accepted no one.

The girl also trembled before this abyss.

She felt as though the abyss was staring at her, seeing through all her pretenses.

All mortal beings were humble ants before it. It was eternally vast, just like the endless ruins outside the city that could never be reached.

"Spirit light ignites, royal blood calls the soul, life is revealed, answering the master's call..."

The Counselor chanted in a low, deep voice.

He took the dagger handed to him by the woman behind him, gently drew it from its sheath, and offered it to the girl, who was weeping profusely.

As she heard the sound of the dagger's blade scraping against its wooden sheath, it felt as though something was slicing through her heart.

The girl trembled as she took the dagger, knowing that all her clever tricks were useless now.

She wished she could plunge the dagger straight into her own heart.

But she was also afraid to die.

She picked up the knife, cut her palm, and prayed ceaselessly in her heart.

"Oh, Spirit Father, please save me... You don't have to be a summoned spirit; I'll be your obedient servant, follow your every command, give you the best treatment in the entire city, and worship you like an ancestor... Please, please come out..."

Weeping, she placed her hand on the concave surface of the abyss.

Blood flowed into it.

In the desert, the slaughter gradually came to an end.

Blood Feather Lord and the Sword Scripture Spirit collaborated, continuously encouraging Ning Changjiu. One spoke of Zhao Xianger's virtues, the other of Lu Jiajia's, hoping he would remember his two wives and not lose the courage to resist.

Ning Changjiu's head was throbbing. If this broken sword didn't still have some use, he would have buried it in the sand.

The moon descended.

From a distance, the moon still glowed with a grayish-white light, but as it sank to meet the horizon, the entire moon turned black, with only a faint silvery glow remaining at its edges.

The ancient tree remained in the distance, keeping its distance from Ning Changjiu, too afraid to approach.

The other surviving spirits also confronted each other, occasionally launching probing attacks. However, most possessed some intelligence and valued their lives, so each attack was not aimed at killing the opponent but at reaching the moon's descent point faster.

Ning Changjiu once again cut his finger, using his blood as bait to draw the spirits, who were desperately trying to maintain their sanity, into a brutal slaughter.

But fresh blood was not effective for everyone.

Nine Infants' hatred for him surprisingly surpassed the allure of the blood.

After countless battles, Nine Infants' spirit was now covered in numerous wounds, and its tumors had been hacked away by an axe.

It swam towards him.

Ning Changjiu did not back down this time.

His hatred for Nine Infants was even greater than Nine Infants' hatred for him.

When it first appeared, he had an urge to utterly destroy it, but reason held him back.

By now, most of the other spirits, large and small, had been killed or wounded in the hours-long melee.

The moment for the decisive battle had finally arrived.

Nine Infants charged forth like a furious war chariot, swift as lightning.

Ning Changjiu gripped the broken sword, spiritual energy surging incessantly within his body.

"Sword Spirit!" Ning Changjiu roared.

The Sword Scripture Spirit, having witnessed the hours of fighting, was equally thrilled. "Alright, Master!"

Ning Changjiu's pupils suddenly lost focus.

Before Nine Infants could pounce, Ning Changjiu also leaped high into the air.

In the darkness, the two figures silently passed each other.

Nine Infants' charge missed.

But in the blink of an eye, Ning Changjiu was on top of Nine Infants' head.

The sword plunged down. Amidst the sound of shattering soul scales, the blade bit deep into Nine Infants' spirit.

A soul-like hiss, white in color, rippled outwards in endless waves.

Ning Changjiu stood on Nine Infants' forehead, dragging the sword forward in a furious dash. The blade tore through its soul scales, cutting along the central axis of its skull, emerging from its upper jaw.

Nine Infants roared incessantly, its severed mouth agape, trying to swallow Ning Changjiu whole.

Ning Changjiu directly reached out and grabbed its strongest tooth. With a push from his foot, he lunged forward, his sword, held horizontally before him, sliced into the corner of Nine Infants' mouth. He then rushed on, splitting its body directly down the center, cutting it into two halves!

Nine Infants' spirit shattered at last.

Ning Changjiu's pupils refocused.

The moon descended and stopped.

Gripping his sword, he raced away. Along his path, spirits scattered like splashing water.

The moon was upon him.

The moment he leaped, a scythe-like object suddenly lunged from beneath his feet.

It was a demon scorpion lurking in the sand.

Blood Feather Lord acted decisively, flying out from the sword and blasting it with a gush of true fire.

It hadn't even had a chance to boast to Ning Changjiu.

The black moon descended upon him, and his body plunged into that seemingly eternal darkness.

After an unknown period, his body gently landed.

Ning Changjiu did not arrive in the previous space as he had expected.

This was a new place, a world connected by caves, sprawling like a honeycomb, with each cave filled with grayish-white light.

"What is this place?" the Sword Scripture Spirit asked.

"I don't know," Ning Changjiu replied.

"How do we get out?"

"I don't know."

"Take her away, and imprison her in the Demon Prison."

The Counselor glanced at the hourglass held by the man in black.

The sand had completely run out.

Yet, there was not the slightest movement behind the stone gate.

Silence fell over the grand hall. Everyone's gaze towards the girl was no longer gentle; it was cold and icy, like looking at a mangled corpse.

"No! Don't take me away! There must be some misunderstanding... Just wait, Counselor... Please wait!" The girl pleaded incessantly, repeatedly bowing towards the stone gate, hoping for a miracle to occur.

The Counselor's face was utterly cold. He looked at the girl, already having planned how he would explain her death to the King.

"Counselor, please wait longer... My spirit might be missing a limb or two, which is why it's slow to arrive. Please... please give him a chance!" The girl continued to wipe away tears, despair filling her heart.

From either side, men and women in black and white robes stepped forward. They seized the girl by her arms, lifted her, and began to walk her out.

"Counselor, please spare me! Don't take me to the Demon Prison... Just kill me now, use the knife now, I beg you..."

"Waaah, let me go...!"

The girl's hands were tightly held as she was mercilessly dragged out of the hall.

A shameful and despicable illegitimate daughter, daring to step into this solemn and sacred royal hall, was in itself a blasphemy against the gods.

Her fate was sealed.

The girl was dragged out the door.

Her status and position had completely inverted between entering and leaving the hall.

Her heart turned to ashes. Shackled, she was dragged down the steps.

"Wait."

Behind them, the Counselor's voice suddenly rang out.

The girl startled, abruptly turning her head. She saw that everyone was looking towards the stone gate.

Her heart leaped into her throat. She continuously wiped her face, and through her blurred vision, she wasn't sure if it was an illusion—a light had appeared in the abyss beyond the stone gate.

Her mouth was half-open, unable to utter a sound. She kept wiping her eyes, but the tears only flowed more profusely.

She stared intently at the seemingly ordinary white light.

It was the brightest, most dazzling light she had ever seen in her life, a miraculous light that would forever be etched into her memory.