Chapter 215: Beyond the Abyss Before the Farewell

A red sun pierced the heavens. It was not a real sun; its surface was etched with fine scales that resembled black crows perched on its edge. Behind the corona, a layer of illusory light faintly flowed, revealing a world beyond the light curtain that was vast and magnificent.

It was a door open to them.

Shao Xiaoli said with concern, “If I go back by myself, will I be more than ten years older by the time I get home?”

Ning Changjiu had long made up his mind. He unfastened the withered branch, handed it to Shao Xiaoli, and asked, “Do you still remember this?”

Shao Xiaoli, of course, remembered, and said in a panic, “Isn’t this Big Brother’s divine weapon?”

“You named it Beiming back then,” Ning Changjiu said.

“Hmm…”

“You cultivate the Beiming Divine Sword, so of course, you must wield Beiming as your sword,” Ning Changjiu stated.

Shao Xiaoli looked at him incredulously and said, “How can you give something like this to me?”

“Because I also want to confirm something…” Ning Changjiu hesitated, then continued, “Keep it safe. If a woman comes to claim it within five years, she is your Divine Maiden. You can then exchange it for her to lead you out. If no one comes for it, then return it to me in a few years.”

Shao Xiaoli shook her head and said, “Big Brother should keep this for self-defense.”

Ning Changjiu explained, “It can absorb physical time, but there’s nothing like that outside. For you, it’s a treasure sword; for me, it’s just a slightly harder piece of iron.”

Shao Xiaoli hesitated for a long time before finally taking the withered branch. “Big Brother, remember to come back and get it,” she said.

“Mhm,” Ning Changjiu replied, smiling at her.

Shao Xiaoli covered her face with one hand and raised the other high.

They waved goodbye.

Ning Changjiu and Siming stepped towards the great door. In that brief moment, they had the following conversation.

“That item is a unique divine artifact in the world. Aren’t you afraid she’ll invite disaster by possessing it?”

“Keeping it here is actually the safest option.”

“Why?”

“In the Infinite, I glimpsed my own destiny…” Ning Changjiu’s voice grew softer. “Once the matters in Nanzhou are settled, I must meet someone, but I dare not bring this sword with me when I see her.”

“Someone? A woman? You call that branch a sword?” Siming asked, puzzled.

“Of course, the Beiming Divine Sword, the name that little girl gave it.” Ning Changjiu’s smile was swallowed by the light curtain.

Shao Xiaoli stood still, holding the ‘Beiming’ Big Brother had given her, feeling the spiritual energy flowing within her. The light in her eyes shone with a long-lost warmth. She sat by the cliff edge, and only much later did she turn and walk into the icy snowscape.

The red sun’s light was like a warm hand, guiding her forward.

The gate of the divine realm opened, and the light of the sundial engulfed them. They were like two boats drifting with the current, yet they ascended against a waterfall, crossing swift currents and fault lines, arriving in that hidden realm.

Ning Changjiu and Siming were pushed upward by bubbles of time.

When Ning Changjiu opened his eyes, Siming had already struggled up from the viscous fluid of time. She walked silently past him, raised her head, and gazed at the shattered remnants before them, her back conveying an inexpressible sense of desolation.

No one would believe that this place was once a glorious divine realm, superior to all others in the world.

Ning Changjiu also stood up.

The Golden Crow and the Moon Sparrow flew out from behind them, separated from each other, and returned into their bodies.

“Is this your realm?” Ning Changjiu stood beside her, observing her serene profile. Her flowing silver hair seemed like strands of delicate gray.

Before them was not a divine realm at all, but a colossal ruin. Everything in this ruin was covered in cracks and could not withstand a touch.

The ruin was located within a vast, dark abyss. This abyss resembled a well, one buried deep in the earth’s core. Looking up, the well’s opening was as tiny as a grain of sand, its distance from them unknown.

At the center of the abyss lay a vast expanse of shattered bones, piled high, as if tens of thousands of monstrous beasts had been buried together. From the thick earth below, ribs protruded like swords. These bones didn't seem formed from bone; they were true steel—snow-white, intricately carved steel. Most of them were deeply buried underground, with traces of divine radiance still lingering on their surfaces. The mere tip of the iceberg they revealed possessed unparalleled hardness and sharpness. Compared to them, the skeletons of ancient behemoths Ning Changjiu had seen before seemed like mere paper that could be easily cut.

And they now stood upon this mountain of bones.

Was this the divine realm that Yechu and Siming had longed for?

“This is not our realm.” Siming’s hand covered the hard, sharp bone. She gently gripped it, and blood seeped from her palm. “I was mistaken about the simplest thing.”

“What was it?” Ning Changjiu asked.

Siming sighed, “The time is not yet ripe; the gate to the divine realm will not open. How can we go back?”

“Then where is this?” Ning Changjiu asked again.

Siming replied, “This is the Abyss of Buried Bones, where the Divine Lord fell. His body is buried deep underground; these bones are a part of him. The other, complete part should be within the divine realm.”

In the past, had Siming discovered after seven hundred years of effort that she hadn't returned to the divine realm, her Dao heart might have crumbled. Yet, at this moment, she wasn't annoyed; instead, she grew even calmer.

She looked up at the immeasurably tall abyss and asked, “How do we get up?”

Although Siming had left the divine realm, her cultivation had only just entered the initial stage of the Purple Court, progressing slowly. As she asked this question, she subconsciously extended her finger, intending to summon her divine authority. Suddenly, she frowned. “Why is there only half left?”

Ning Changjiu was momentarily stunned by her words, then felt his own body, and chuckled apologetically, “The other half seems to be in my body.”

Previously, when the Golden Crow and Moon Sparrow merged, their authority was evenly distributed across the entire sundial. Now that they had separated, half of it naturally returned to Ning Changjiu’s body.

Siming took a deep breath. If it weren’t for the slave mark still on her, she would have turned hostile then and there.

Ning Changjiu asked, “What are your plans now?”

Siming said frankly, “Since I can’t go back, I’ll explore the outside world. It was originally just a joke, but now that I think about it, I really can go see that woman you’re always thinking about.”

Ning Changjiu’s brow furrowed slightly. “You dare?”

Siming smiled faintly. “Are you feeling guilty?”

“My conscience is clear,” Ning Changjiu said.

Siming chuckled faintly, her eyebrows arching with mockery.

Ning Changjiu stared at her smile, his expression displeased.

Siming immediately said, “Let’s think about how we can get out of here instead.”

Ning Changjiu said, “How else? We’ll just climb out.”

Siming said, “It’s so high, how long will it take to climb out?”

“I only know that someone has climbed out,” Ning Changjiu said.

He was referring to Lady Bai. This must be the abyss where Lady Bai was born.

Siming asked, “How did that person get out?”

Ning Changjiu had asked Lady Bai this question in Linhe City, but received no answer then. Now he knew: “The ground full of white bones can be made into a ladder.”

That bone demon, back then, had hammered the hard bones from the ground into the walls, then climbed on them, inch by inch, out of this bottomless Abyss of Buried Bones. If one searched carefully, traces or remnants of those bone nails could still be seen on the walls.

Pondering this, Ning Changjiu approached the wall and touched it with his fingers. Just as he was about to use the bones as steps, Siming suddenly walked behind him and called his name.

“What is it?” Ning Changjiu asked.

The moment he turned around, he saw something leaning in. He instinctively wanted to retaliate, but his Dao heart detected no murderous intent. Then, soft strands of hair tickled his neck. He felt something entangle his lips—something as soft as the finest sea sand, yet with a faintly warm, moist touch, and a hint of subtle sweetness. It was Siming’s lips.

Ning Changjiu was still hesitating whether to push her away. In that moment of hesitation, a pang of pain shot through his lips. Siming released him, smiling, as if she hadn’t had enough. She extended a finger to wipe away the blood from her lips and said, “Shao Xiaoli asked me to convey this to you.”

Ning Changjiu recalled their sudden kiss before the sun rose. At the time, he had thought the two girls had developed feelings through their love-hate dynamic, never imagining that the kiss was meant to be indirectly conveyed to him…

Siming chuckled softly, “That silly girl, even at the last moment, didn’t have the courage to kiss you herself. She ordered me in my ear to kiss the master for the mistress, heh… What a foolish girl, how did she end up meeting a clever person like you?”

Ning Changjiu was silent for a moment. He licked the blood from his lips and said, “Don’t tell anyone about this.”

“Is that all you’re thinking about?” Siming’s smile faded, and her icy eyes grew cold. “You left her there alone, to walk all that way by herself. Don’t you feel any guilt? Or do you simply not like her?”

Ning Changjiu said, “Feelings arise from the heart, not something I can control. But when we meet again, I will give her an explanation.”

Siming sneered, “An explanation? What kind? Are you planning to build another divine realm, put all the girls you like and who like you inside, and have them each perform their duties and live in harmony?”

After saying this, she stared at Ning Changjiu, but instead of seeing struggle or frustration on his face, she saw him lower his head slightly, seriously considering her suggestion.

Siming’s Dao heart had remained calm even when she couldn't return to the divine realm, but now it stirred with a ripple of emotion. “Are you actually serious?”

Ning Changjiu shook his head gently and chuckled, “Just a joke. Let’s not think about that; let’s get out of here first.”

Siming scoffed, “Then what about me, Young Master Ning?”

Ning Changjiu also smiled. “If you can’t remember your identity, you can always touch the slave mark on the inside of your right thigh.”

Siming’s smile vanished. Her fingers within her sleeve trembled slightly as she said, “Then this servant must serve Young Master Ning well. And remember to take me to meet the mistress when the time comes.”

“You’re asking for it.”

Ning Changjiu sighed, not understanding why this divine official was so reckless. With a slight thought from him, Siming knelt on the ground, her lower abdomen burning, her body coursing with electric currents, trembling uncontrollably and unable to exert any strength.

“You… you said you wouldn’t touch me,” Siming stammered with difficulty.

“I didn’t actually touch you,” Ning Changjiu said.

“Shameless…” Siming propped herself up with one hand, gasping for breath, the red on her lips growing more vivid.

Ning Changjiu walked up to her and smiled faintly. “Behave better from now on, or the punishment won’t be just this much.”

Siming, who had initially scoffed at this, finally found it unbearable after repeated stimulations from the slave mark and pleaded for mercy. She lay half-prone and limp on the ground, her body heaving continuously, her disheveled silver hair clinging to her delicate cheeks, and reluctantly apologized to Ning Changjiu for her earlier insolent words.

After this incident, Siming indeed became much more docile. Afterward, Ning Changjiu mostly resorted to threats and did not impose further discipline.

They began to work together, hammering bone nails into the smooth walls. Their current cultivation was far stronger than Lady Bai’s when she first emerged, so the bone nails they placed were widely spaced, over ten zhang apart, serving as their footholds for each leap.

But the abyss was still too deep; even so, leaving it would not be an overnight task. They used their spiritual energy to resist the invisible pull of the abyss while constantly leaping up, hammering bone nails into the walls, standing on them, regulating their breathing, and preparing for the next jump.

When they were tired, they would rest on the same bone nail. Siming deliberately teased him, pressing her body against his. Ning Changjiu was initially unmoved, but the closer they got to the well opening, the more ‘reserved’ he became, always maintaining a distance from her to avoid being seduced by this woman whose calamitous beauty could ruin nations.

After several days and nights, the almost invisible mouth of the abyss finally revealed itself before them. The well’s opening was much narrower than the abyss, appearing like an ordinary well in the wilderness. Even when exiting, it could only accommodate one person at a time.

Siming went out first, then pulled Ning Changjiu out.

“We… we’re out.” Siming looked at the overgrown ancient well and sighed in relief. Everything that had happened over the years felt like a fleeting, illusory dream.

Ning Changjiu’s hand rested on the edge of the ancient well. His gaze turned downward. He saw dense, hanging lines on the wall they had just climbed. These lines were identical to those in the Southern Wilderness’s abyss, only they hadn't been visible when looking up from below.

Siming looked ahead, gazing at this truly vast and free world, feeling as if she had been reborn into another era. Suddenly, she felt something touch her back. It was the wind… a gentle wind, utterly different from the winds of that other world. She tilted her head slightly and saw light softly reflecting on her cheek.

Light… Where was the light coming from? Thinking this, she slowly turned around, then was completely stunned.

The night sky here was not dark. Above the grassy, undulating plains, the brilliant Milky Way stretched across the sky. They looked like dazzling diamonds scattered by a clumsy fairy, or perhaps like never-ending, ethereal blue fireworks in the sky. And beyond the Milky Way, a solitary crescent moon hung.

She gazed at the crescent moon, which she hadn’t seen in seven hundred years, and her heart softened, suddenly feeling an urge to weep. She was like an exquisite porcelain vase, at this moment emptying all its aged wine. From now on, her heart would hold only this vast starlit river and ethereal moonlight.

Ning Changjiu also turned, gazing languidly at the long-unseen night sky. He noticed the change in the woman’s expression beside him. When he glanced at her, he saw that the frost in her eyes had melted, and her face bore an unprecedented gentleness.

“Long caged, now returned to nature.” Ning Changjiu spoke softly, “You are free now.”

Siming scoffed with self-deprecation, “With a slave mark on me, what freedom can there be?”

Ning Changjiu also smiled. “I won’t interfere with your comings and goings. As long as you don’t deliberately provoke me, you are a free person.”

Siming said, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll do something evil without a master to discipline me?”

Ning Changjiu said, “I believe the divine official of the divine realm is not a bad person. Now that the shackles are removed, you can truly live and pursue the great Dao you desire.”

“And you? Will you go pursue the woman you fancy?” Siming countered.

Ning Changjiu said earnestly, “I’m actually a little afraid.”

“Apprehension on nearing home?”

“No.” Ning Changjiu looked at the moon in the sky and said, “I know my destiny. In twelve years, I will surely die. They all believe I’m dead now… Two or three years have passed, and perhaps they have moved past their grief and resumed their lives. But if I meet them, what we will face afterward is another separation. A permanent separation.”

“Whether I see them or not, whether I tell them or not, it will be cruel for them either way,” Ning Changjiu stated.

Siming said, “That’s cruel for you as well.”

“Mhm.”

“Actually, you don’t need to overthink it.”

“Why?”

“You just need to ask yourself if you truly want to see them.”

Ning Changjiu thought for a moment and said, “I do want to see them.”

Siming nodded gently, looking into his eyes. She said earnestly, “Fate is like the authority of the divine realm; no matter how supreme it may be, it can still be shattered and destroyed. Fate is always illusory until it truly arrives. It’s just a prophecy, one you don’t need to believe, only to resist.”

Siming continued, “This is something I learned from you. I hope you don’t forget it yourself.”

The mist in Ning Changjiu’s heart gradually dissipated, and the moonlight pierced clearly into his eyes.

“I understand. Thank you,” Ning Changjiu slowly exhaled, expressing his sincere gratitude.

Siming chuckled softly, stood up, her flowing silver hair brushing lightly against her delicate ankles.

Ning Changjiu glanced at her snow-white, jade-like feet and said, “Remember to wear shoes and socks from now on.”

“Heh, what’s wrong? Don’t want anyone else to see?” Siming narrowed her eyes. “Do you really think of yourself as my master and me as your private porcelain collection?”

Ning Changjiu also smiled, countering, “And aren’t you?”

Siming looked at Ning Changjiu’s gaze, which was somewhat familiar. After every confrontation, she was always the one who ended up begging for mercy and yielding. So, she suppressed her feelings a bit, curtsied lightly, and with a bright, enchanting smile, said, “Since master dislikes it, I will obey master then.”

Ning Changjiu looked at the woman standing before him and said, “Are you leaving?”

Siming said, “Yes. Before the divine realm opens, I want to travel and explore this world more. I have a feeling that the world now is somewhat different from what I first saw.” She turned to face Ning Changjiu and continued, “I have a premonition that it won’t be long until we meet again.”

Ning Changjiu chuckled, “Are you perhaps eager to see me again?”

Deep down, Siming certainly did not want to. She could imagine herself dominating a region, only for this accursed young man to suddenly appear and call her ‘servant.’ What she had said earlier was merely polite talk; if she genuinely had a chance to see him again, she would try her best to avoid him.

Siming said serenely, “With the starry river slanting across the sky tonight, and moonlight shining like jade, such a beautiful scene and auspicious moment can always soften the sorrow of parting. Perhaps this servant should bid farewell to her master now?”

“Wait,” Ning Changjiu called out, stopping her.

Siming’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. “Surely he isn’t having second thoughts, wanting to keep me as his personal servant?” she thought.

Ning Changjiu said, “Guard me while I cultivate.”

“Guard you?”

“Yes, my inner demon tribulation… is coming,” Ning Changjiu said.

As his last word faded, dark clouds gathered, starlight dimmed, and tough, resilient threads began to coil around his skin, wrapping him layer by layer. The countless trials in Duanjie City, life-and-death struggles with powerful enemies, and the physique and soul reshaped by the Asura Divine Record… his Dao realm and cultivation had long surpassed the Longevity Realm. He could suppress his cultivation before, but with the bright moon in his eyes now, he involuntarily recalled the day of his ascension, and thus, the flood of his cultivation realm finally broke through the gate. Achieving the Purple Court Realm was a natural progression.

Siming looked at him and said, “With your current state of mind, the inner demon tribulation can’t possibly trap you in the slightest. Even the subsequent tribulation lightning would struggle to leave a mark on your Asura body. Why would you need me to guard you? Don’t tell me you just want me to stay with you a little longer?”

Ning Changjiu didn’t argue with her. The resilient threads completely enveloped his body. Siming had originally intended to leave immediately, but after a moment of hesitation, she returned to his side, sat cross-legged, and gazed at the serene face of the young man in the cocoon, awaiting his awakening.

Tribulation clouds pressed down, faint thunder rumbled, and birds and beasts scattered through the forest.

Ning Changjiu’s spirit slowly descended from a high place, gradually touching the ground. The sound of hooves echoed in his ears. From a cart, a swaddled infant fell, a tiny baby crying incessantly in the middle of the road. Pedestrians’ footsteps and passing carriages could end his life at any moment.

People nearby looked at the infant, then at the departing carriage, murmuring amongst themselves.

Ning Changjiu woke. He wanted to speak but could only make babbling sounds. Then, he felt someone pick him up. The one who picked him up was his savior, yet not a good person. For a year, he was almost constantly hungry. A year later, he was sold with many other children to another family.

Because of his delicate features, his price was not low. That family, once fairly prosperous, also suffered a sudden misfortune a year later, so he was fostered into another home.

Ning Changjiu wasn’t concerned with his past. Time leaped forward, and when he was four, he arrived at a familiar intersection and looked into the distance. He was waiting for his second senior brother. He waited from dawn till dusk. His second senior brother didn’t come. This was his fate in this life; his second senior brother never found him.

He continued to grow. The joys and sorrows before him, the partings and reunions behind him, failed to stir his Dao heart. He simply waited calmly, waiting for his sixteenth birthday. He knew his inner demon was not the Old Fox, but the Nine Infants of the wilderness. He had experienced the darkest, most desperate moments during his battle with the Nine Infants.

The flow of time here was erratic. The years leading up to sixteen passed like fleeting clouds, only gradually slowing down upon reaching the Imperial City. The days in Linhe City were as slow as a tranquil stream, and every moment on Tianku Peak felt even more real than a dream.

Before the Nine Infants arrived, he remembered a certain promise. This inner demon tribulation was overseen by a little girl, and he had promised her that he would come to play with her next time he was here. They had set a secret code back then. He recalled the code and recited it to the sky.

“Behold, tonight’s lantern feast at the small pavilion.”

The world fell into a momentary silence. In an instant, Ning Changjiu sensed a black point, and then a searing pain exploded within his soul. He lowered his head and saw half a blade protruding from his chest. Behind him, a young girl with childlike features and clothes woven like clouds and mist suddenly appeared, standing with a knife and a cold expression. Her pupils were completely black.