Chapter 363: Heavenly Heart, Full Moon; Divine Fire Turns to Ashes

Ning Changjiu jumped onto the surface of 'Moon Prison'.

He was so bathed in light that his perception of it was no longer clear. His toes gently touched down. Below him, mountains and seas sculpted by lava flows rose and fell in rough, gentle undulations. The world was divided into pitch-black and grey-white, and around him, a light, airy coldness lingered.

Ning Changjiu turned his head and looked back.

He could hardly imagine how far he had climbed that night. This river of moonlight was extraordinary; as he moved within it, time and space seemed to warp. Every cloud of dust he stepped on felt like steps formed from particles of time.

The human world was in the distance, a colossal sphere with azure blue as its dominant color. Clouds and wind drifted across it, permeating the entire world, like fish swimming in deep blue waters.

The void was a pitch-black sea. The azure mother planet was immersed in this inky sea, and within it, dark, grotesque life forms seemed to lie in wait. Fortunately, a faint, ethereal layer of atmosphere covered the mother planet, blocking the invasion of darkness.

At this moment, the moon connected with it via a beam of light.

The mother planet was like the flat surface of a sundial, and this beam of dawn was its gnomon.

He had reached the end of the light.

Ning Changjiu gently set down Siming, who he had been carrying on his back. After arriving here, the world seemed to have changed. Unconsciously, he had left the world that had oppressed and sought to kill Siming, and entered the world of the Moon Palace. Though desolate, the world of the Moon Palace had gently embraced them.

The sundial no longer showed cracks. On Siming's face, the seductive beauty gradually faded, replaced by a clear, serene look. Her black robe slowly rippled in the wind, as if drifting on a lake.

Ning Changjiu looked at her tranquil, pale face and felt a sudden sense of peace.

Earlier, while climbing the Moon Pillar, he had constantly felt an invisible hand pulling him, preventing him from leaving. But here, both his and Siming's bodies felt incredibly light, as if they had no weight at all.

His body was covered in injuries, his bones shattered, his internal organs damaged, and his torn muscles could no longer exert any strength.

But fortunately, he no longer needed to run here.

He looked up and, on a distant mountain where silver waves seemed to lie dormant, he saw an ethereal Taoist temple.

"When the jade toad hangs in the sky at midnight, ascend to the White Cloud Temple again."

The rhyme from his inner demon tribulation had come true; the White Cloud Temple now stood before him.

He held Siming's graceful, slender body in his arms. With one arm supporting her knees and the other around her shoulders, he leapt up. Without using much spiritual energy, they ascended into the air.

He flew towards the moonlit, cloud-shrouded depths he saw, ascending higher and higher without ever returning to the ground.

Three Thousand Worlds.

In the Vermilion Bird illusion, the decisive battle between the Fire Phoenix and the Vermilion Bird continued.

Flashes of crimson and pitch-black flames flickered across the world, erupting on the ground and in the sky. The previously impregnable air walls, under the clash of their sword qi, now bloomed with many small black flowers formed by cracks.

At this moment, Zhao Xiang'er and Jiu Yu were pure swords, pure killing weapons!

Jiu Yu's moves changed with incredible speed. Every sword swing, every turn, appeared three-dimensional from the front, but from the side, she seemed to have almost no thickness. She was like an ethereal projection, yet capable of unleashing real and dazzling sword light!

Zhao Xiang'er's speed was equally swift. In her mind's eye, pages of the Ancient Pure Yang Scroll burned one by one, the ancient texts recorded within them integrating into her bloodline.

Within her delicate, lithe body, the surging power of her bloodline formed unimaginable might. Every leap, every strike, was clean and sharp, without a single superfluous movement. The resolute, almost suffocating intent of death, wielded in her hands, produced a beauty of simple lines.

Zhao Xiang'er opened her Lunar Eyes, her pupils filled with myriad silver rays. With her Lunar Eyes, she quickly adapted to Jiu Yu's unpredictable moves, weaving like a thread through her opponent's impenetrable sword techniques, and was never drawn into Jiu Yu's world.

Jiu Yu was neither human nor bird. She wasn't even a life form in the purest sense, yet she possessed emotions.

Her entanglement with Zhao Xiang'er filled her with rage. Her opponent's figure was like the wind—appearing with a touch, vanishing with a wave, ghost-like. Meanwhile, Jiu Yu was like a Taoist priest armed with a compass, wielding a grand banner, and adorned with countless treasures. Despite possessing a full arsenal for capturing demons, she couldn't apprehend the cunning female demon.

Jiu Yu's nine tail feathers trembled without wind.

Consumed by fury, she declared, "You, an impure being, dare to usurp the true divine child?"

Jiu Yu wildly swung her black sword, and the power of authority, like dazzling lightning, struck down upon them.

“Foolish,” Zhao Xiang’er scoffed. She made a feint with her sword, her figure flickering, and bypassed the power of authority directly. She tossed her flying sword, scattering countless points of light; it arced around Jiu Yu’s side and struck towards her back.

Jiu Yu swung her arm, transforming it into a sword, and parried the umbrella sword. Zhao Xiang'er's figure flickered, and she was already behind Jiu Yu.

She thrust out a finger.

Snow-white currents of air spiraled and danced; the moment Jiu Yu's figure touched them, she was instantly flung away.

Zhao Xiang'er reached out and caught the rebounding blade. Her feet trod on the void as if it were solid ground, and with a push, her body transformed into a black shadow and lunged towards Jiu Yu.

Jiu Yu hastily met the sword. Amidst the clanging sounds, she was forced back step by step by Zhao Xiang'er.

“Is this all the Daughter of Vermilion Bird amounts to?” Zhao Xiang’er questioned coldly.

Jiu Yu couldn't understand. She had once been Zhao Xiang'er's innate spirit, sharing a sea of consciousness with her. Why could she not comprehend Zhao Xiang'er's moves now?

What exactly was going on?

At this moment, Jiu Yu lacked a demon core, so she was not truly complete. She had not yet taken over Zhao Xiang'er's body, and her power was still far from her peak.

Yet, despite this, Zhao Xiang'er had fought against numerous sparrows and had sustained near-fatal injuries during her battle with the Peacock Ming King. Facing a gravely wounded girl, why was she still being defeated so miserably?

Jiu Yu was unwilling to concede.

She snorted coldly and charged forward, meeting the sword once more.

To the side, the elegantly dressed Vermilion Bird attendant stood. She quietly watched the fight, her thoughts far away.

Zhao Xiang'er...

If the you of yesteryear had possessed such will, how could the Divine Kingdom have changed hands?

What a pity.

Though you now possess a heart as strong as a deity's, you have lost the power truly worthy of a god.

Before her, Jiu Yu, who had charged forward again, was once more forced back by Zhao Xiang'er.

Zhao Xiang'er's silver eyes burned, as if her very life was fuel, continuously supplying her with power.

Soon after, Zhao Xiang'er's offensive completely overwhelmed Jiu Yu.

Jiu Yu was knocked out of the air and forced to the ground. She darted about, desperately fleeing under the layered, encompassing sword intent of Zhao Xiang'er. Meanwhile, Zhao Xiang'er's sword movements became increasingly unconventional. On her exquisite face, there was no fear, only a cold, proud brilliance shining forth.

Xiang'er was like a true master, capturing a runaway servant, locking her in a courtyard, and relentlessly l