Chapter 409: Black Moon

By the shores of the North Sea, dark waves crashed onto the shore.

A strong, continuous wind swept past Ye Changong, yet not a single strand of her hair stirred. She seemed like nothing more than a moonlit reflection on water.

The young white tiger cub had a very soft body. She was as small and delicate as a domestic cat; her pointed, rounded ears were fluffy, giving her a youthful beauty. Her pupils were the black of the night sky, while the whites of her eyes resembled moist green jade, mysterious yet majestic.

Her slightly thick paw pads gently pressed onto the cliff rock. A thin bone chain was wrapped around her imposing neck. At this moment, her clear and beautiful eyes were fixed on Ye Changong, her teeth slightly bared, revealing ivory-white fangs, as if unwilling.

While still in the Yuanfu Divine Kingdom, Ye Changong had sensed the arrival of the Yuanfu meteor a while in advance.

Knowing the Divine Kingdom was about to close, she gave Baizang a final choice. She ordered Baizang to submit to her and become her sword, promising to return Baizang's freedom in the future. Otherwise, she would immediately relinquish her "Sealing" authority and execute Baizang on the spot.

Baizang gave no answer, knowing that once the Divine Kingdom closed, she would have a chance to escape.

Ye Changong, therefore, did not hesitate.

The dragon bone chains tightened instantly, like iron nails, piercing into her flesh. A pain Baizang had never known erupted in that instant. It was something more cruel than death itself. She felt every bone breaking, every fingernail peeling back. Serrated blades seemed to cut through her skin and flesh, and her soul writhed in agony, twisted like cloth.

Baizang had lived a pampered life for a thousand years; though her ferocity hadn't vanished, it wasn't what it once was. Amidst the intense pain, death lingered, never arriving. She trembled, unable even to scream for it to end.

As a deity, she originally believed she could not die. But the gap between her and Ju Fu was too vast…

Moreover, she had underestimated the Death Prison.

When she fell from Baizang's throne, her divinity plummeted, and she could no longer suppress the Death Prison's stranglehold. Even if she miraculously survived, only her divine soul would remain, never to rise again.

The beautiful-faced Ye Changong watched this scene expressionlessly.

While the Dragon Bone Death Prison could destroy Baizang's divine body, Ye Changong was unwilling to waste such power on a young deity destined to become a cripple. This was also why she hadn't used this great torture before.

The dragon bones continued to enter her body, joint by joint.

Ye Changong's cold words echoed occasionally.

"Even ordinary mortals understand the principle of 'when the rabbit dies, the hound is cooked.' As a Divine Lord, do you still delude yourself that you can maintain your dignity after the Black Sun descends?"

"All spirits are merely shepherd's purse, wheat, and rice; you are but scarecrows in a rice field…"

"Baizang, you are different from the Vermilion Bird Emperor and the others. They were born gods, while you are merely an ancient demon who fought her way up. What is it you seek with such unwavering conviction? Is it dignity? Or is it loyalty, like a subject to the Dark Lord?"

Baizang endured the agonizing pain of her soul twisting. She didn't know if the tearing of her flesh was an illusion, but the sharp pain in her bones was terrifyingly real. She felt as if someone was savagely pulling out her teeth, gouging out her eyes, tearing out clumps of her hair, ripping her skin from her flesh, then peeling back the flesh to tear out her meridians!

"Ye Changong!"

Baizang opened her mouth wide, emitting a painful, inhuman shriek.

Her subsequent words were swallowed by the excruciating pain, leaving only a series of tormented screams.

Ye Changong said faintly, "I know what you want to say. You want to say that I'm speaking so much today because I'm also flustered, also afraid, right?"

"You're not wrong," Ye Changong said slowly, a rare hint of regret in her captivating voice. "Killing you would require dismantling the exceedingly noble Dragon Bone Death Prison. I want to kill you, but I'm unwilling to waste such a divine artifact. You still have a chance now. Bear it for a little longer... I might lose control of it."

Baizang screamed loudly, her eyes bloodshot. Within the Death Prison, it was as if she had to endure every phantom torment of all human tortures before death would finally arrive.

Ye Changong stared at her silently.

As the Death Prison's dragon bones entered their final phase, she voluntarily took a small step back.

"Let's make a deal."

"Stay by my side for twelve years."

"After twelve years, I will return 'Sealing' to you and send you back to your homeland."

Baizang finally succumbed.

Although the previous pain was real, there were no visible wounds on her body. Only her neck was bloody, the dragon bones slowly oozing out from under her skin after the torment ceased.

She lay on the ground, unable to even twitch a finger.

Ye Changong formed a seal with her.

It was a true slave mark, divine in its high-tier ranking; all later slave marks were but an iceberg tip of it.

This was something Di Jun had tinkered with when bored back then. No one knew why he invented it, or who it was ultimately used on…

After Baizang's complete surrender, Ye Changong smoothly linked this slave mark to her divine soul.

She didn't need to even think; if Baizang so much as attempted to defy her will, no matter where she was in the world, Baizang would suffer a fate worse than death.

Her command had now been issued.

But Baizang, towards this woman she loathed, still held a shred of dignity…

So Ye Changong subtly raised her arm.

The white cat whimpered, its dignity shattered in an instant. It rolled around on the cliff's edge, clawing wildly, exposing its snow-white belly.

Only after Baizang pitifully begged for mercy did Ye Changong release her. She loosened the chains and brought them to Baizang's mouth, letting her hold them herself.

Baizang opened her mouth, silently gripped the chains, and in a posture of leading herself, bounded away from the shores of the North Sea.

With the cat gone, only Ye Changong remained, sitting alone by the sea. She gazed at the vast ocean and the churning clouds above, a hint of bewilderment appearing in her clear eyes.

The phrase "Heaven's path is impermanent" resonated deeply even with her.

A moment ago, she was still in the Divine Kingdom; now, the unending sound of waves filled her ears…

She had calculated all earthly affairs, but she hadn't anticipated the abandoned Yuanfu star from the sky.

Or rather, she hadn't imagined the Dark Lord possessed such terrifying control over the stars... What exactly was its true form? Where did it truly come from?

At the moment the Divine Kingdom closed, she chose to project her true form to the North Sea.

Without the blessing of the Divine Kingdom's power, her graceful and lithe body once again became small and delicate, and her dark green Taoist robe fit her very poorly.

Shen Yu and the Five Emperors should also have left the Divine Kingdom by now, searching the world for her…

But she did not intend to see them for now.

In the North Sea, the four participants of the siege each displayed their powers, scattering in all directions.

The giant Kun swallowed the Sword Sage and sank to the seabed. When the icy sea was boiled, the Kun was still affected; when it resurfaced, its spine was completely seared, and most of its bones were cracked.

The one-armed Sword Sage floated out from its mangled remains.

The Kun gave him one last look, closed its cloudy fish eyes, and died, sinking to the seabed.

The Sword Sage, all alone, continued northward across the vast, empty sea, his destination unknown.

The tempest of these grand events had not carried its winds to the South Continent.

The South Continent still enjoyed pleasant autumn breezes and nights illuminated by magnificent starlight.

Ning Changjiu, Lu Jiajia, and Shao Xiaoli looked up together, only to see the moon swallowed by darkness. They didn't know what this truly signified, only that it portended ill.

"Is it a celestial dog swallowing the moon?" Lu Jiajia immediately asked after regaining her composure. "Was the celestial star chart calculation wrong, and the celestial dog swallowing the moon happened early?"

Ning Changjiu shook his head. "It doesn't seem like it," he said. "The celestial dog swallowing the moon usually has a process, but this didn't... By the time we saw it, the moon was already gone."

"Then what exactly happened?" Lu Jiajia was puzzled.

Ning Changjiu did not reply. He knew that the only certainty was the disappearance of moonlight, and the Yuanfu Divine Kingdom would close with it… At this moment, his master wouldn't even be able to return to the Unobservable, meaning she must be in the human world.

Ning Changjiu brought up another matter. "On the marriage contract between Xiang'er and me, the Vermilion Bird's inscription had four characters: 'Holding Moon, Splitting Clouds.' It was taken from an immortal's poem: 'A horse tramples the sun's wheel, crimson dew curling; a phoenix holds the moon's crescent, splitting clouds and flying...'"

Lu Jiajia was becoming increasingly astute. She quickly understood. "'A horse tramples the sun's wheel, crimson dew curling'... refers to Tianji?"

"Very likely," Ning Changjiu nodded. "Perhaps the Vermilion Bird is trying to warn us of something... Of course, it's also possible I'm just overthinking."

By this time, midnight had passed, the Quanscale Moon had ended, and the Mother Star was about to pass Tianji Star.

What would happen after this remained unknown to them.

Shao Xiaoli watched all this with a worried expression, feeling useless, unable to contribute to the conversation or offer any help.

"Don't think too much," Ning Changjiu said. "Let's keep going. Getting back sooner might allow us to help."

He averted his gaze, forcing back the irrepressible worry in his heart.

Lu Jiajia also lowered her head and assented.

Sword light once again illuminated the night. Ning Changjiu flew alone with his sword, while Lu Jiajia carried Shao Xiaoli. The three flew into the wild, desolate mountains, the peaks and stones of the Southern Wilderness beneath their feet.

The surroundings were uninhabited.

Upon reaching the heart of the Southern Wilderness, they were all exhausted and stopped to rest temporarily.

It was a place of abundant spiritual energy, but just over a month ago, he and Liu Junzhuo had battled there, utterly destroying these thousand peaks, which now appeared as nothing but ruins.

Ning Changjiu was unsure if the sisters Liu Junzhuo and Liu Xiwang were still cultivating there. After some hesitation, he led Lu Jiajia over, reasoning that they would meet eventually, and they also needed to rest for half a day to guard against any sudden ambushes on their journey.

Lu Jiajia showed no change in expression when she heard about them, but Shao Xiaoli, throughout the journey, kept her thin lips pursed, as if drums were beating in her heart, looking very nervous.

Entering the thousand peaks, the ruined landscape before them was shocking.

"You caused such a commotion fighting that woman?" Lu Jiajia asked, surprised at the devastation among the peaks.

Ning Changjiu said, "Liu Junzhuo is, after all, a peak expert of the Five Paths; my victory over her was not easy."

Shao Xiaoli commented from the side, "Indeed, Master is quite adept at fighting girls."

Ning Changjiu and Lu Jiajia both froze.

Lu Jiajia's expression changed slightly as she asked, "Xiaoli, did you... hear something last night?"

"Huh? No..." Shao Xiaoli blinked. "I was talking about when Master was an enemy of Sister Siming. Why do you ask, Master's Wife?"

Lu Jiajia feigned composure, saying with cool dignity, "Ah, I see. Nothing, then."

Ning Changjiu lightly coughed twice and casually said, "Let's go, let's take a look inside."

Lu Jiajia walked on, looking at the dust-like piles of stone, and asked, "You fought so fiercely, did you develop any feelings for each other?"

Ning Changjiu earnestly replied, "Don't overthink it. Everything I did was to kill the Sword Sage."

Shao Xiaoli nodded, brimming with confidence. "After killing the Sword Sage, Master can take over the entire Sword Pavilion and naturally become its master. Then, none of the senior sisters, second senior sisters, or junior sisters will escape."

Ning Changjiu froze for a moment, taking a sharp breath.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jiajia's eyes narrowed as she stared at Ning Changjiu. "Is that what you truly think?"

Ning Changjiu sighed, tapped Xiaoli's head, and said, "This wicked disciple's intentions are punishable! Stop trying to sow discord between your master and your master's wife!"

As he spoke, his Yin Eyes had already opened and expanded outwards.

Traces of Liu Junzhuo and Liu Xiwang's cultivation still remained on that peak, but they had left, perhaps recently.

Ning Changjiu wasn't sure whether to feel regret or relief.

He led Lu Jiajia and Shao Xiaoli back to the cliff.

As the sun set and night fell, the moon still did not rise.

It was tightly shrouded by an unknown blackness, causing much unease.

Without the moon at night, the light was much dimmer.

The three rested on the spirit-rich cliff, meditating and adjusting their breath while each pondering their thoughts.

Lu Jiajia and Shao Xiaoli found a pool of spiritual energy and bathed. They hadn't brought extra clothes, so Shao Xiaoli, upon returning, changed out of her red dress and put on Lu Jiajia's white robe.

Shao Xiaoli tied her belt, shook out the loose sleeves, and with a stiff upper lip, said, "Master's Wife's clothes are truly beautiful, and they suit Xiaoli well."

Lu Jiajia looked at her gently, smiling without a word.

Their attire was elegant and graceful; walking in the starlight, they indeed looked like a pair of sisters.

By the time they returned, Ning Changjiu had briefly adjusted his breath. He opened his eyes; though his body was pure, he was physically and mentally exhausted, so he also took a soak in the spiritual energy pond for a while.

Lu Jiajia saw many unsigned paintings in the cliff cave.

The paintings were very rudimentary, quite capable of boosting one's confidence in drawing.

"Did those two Miss Lius leave these here?" Lu Jiajia asked, curious.

Shao Xiaoli observed for a moment. "How could that be?" she said. "If I splattered porridge on a wall and let Lord Bloodfeather peck at it, it would probably look better than these. I think these must be totems left by primitive people many years ago..."

Lu Jiajia pondered for a moment. Although she felt the patterns looked somewhat new, she agreed, "Hmm, that makes some sense."

Shao Xiaoli turned her head and gazed at Lu Jiajia.

Lu Jiajia touched her cheek curiously. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Shao Xiaoli said, "These paintings are too ugly... I need to look at Master's Wife to cleanse my eyes."

Lu Jiajia gave a soft huff. "Xiaoli just needs to look in a mirror herself."

Shao Xiaoli wouldn't give up. With the intention of flattering her Master's Wife, she began to rub her shoulders and massage her back. "Master's Wife, you carried me all this way; you must be tired."

Lu Jiajia smiled gently, but pressed down on her hand, saying with a faint smile, "Alright, you're flattering me like this, aren't you just trying to steal your Master? Don't think I'll let you off easily."

Shao Xiaoli held her hand but remained silent.

Lu Jiajia said, "By the way, back in Broken Realm City, did Ning Changjiu ever say anything about me behind my back?"

Shao Xiaoli immediately sat up straight.

"I want the truth," Lu Jiajia added.

Shao Xiaoli thought for a moment. "He said it many times, always when he was unconscious... Master loves Master's Wife very much, Xiaoli is very envious."

"I see..." Lu Jiajia didn't ask anything further.

She stood up and said, "It's getting late. While we have time, I'll teach you some more sword techniques. These are all things I've learned through contemplation over the years. Ponder them well during our journey, and focus your little mind on more important matters."

Shao Xiaoli nodded quickly.

By the time Ning Changjiu returned from his bath, Lu Jiajia had already taught Shao Xiaoli several sword techniques' mental cultivation methods and energy circulation techniques.

Shao Xiaoli pondered while saying, "These sword techniques have many traces of Master in them."

"Yes, many of my sword techniques were taught to me personally by him," Lu Jiajia said.

Shao Xiaoli mulled over the idiom, growing even more envious.

Ning Changjiu returned to the cliff. The two women stopped talking and both looked at him.

Lu Jiajia's cherry lips parted slightly, but before she could speak, Ning Changjiu spoke first. He had figured out many things: "What's obscuring the moon must be the Yuanfu Star. The Yuanfu Star is far smaller than the moon, but the moon itself doesn't emit light... It doesn't need to envelop the moon, only block the sunlight from reaching it. That's why we can't see the moonlight."

Lu Jiajia listened, finding it inconceivable. "The Yuanfu Star... If the Dark Lord's power can move stars, then how could it not enter this world?"

Ning Changjiu had considered this question and offered his answer: "It's highly likely that the Dark Lord also possesses authority, and that authority is related to the stars. Furthermore... I had a dream where someone told me that the Dark Lord is a ghost. A ghost might knock on the door to scare someone or throw stones to test the path when it sees a brightly lit house, but a ghost would not dare enter the house before the candlelight and Buddha's light extinguish."

Perhaps this world possesses candlelight and Buddha's light that even a ghost like the Dark Lord fears.

Shao Xiaoli asked, "So what should we do? Is there a way to brush away the dust of the Yuanfu Star?"

Ning Changjiu said helplessly, "People often compare the moon to a bright mirror or an ice wheel, but it's not a mirror after all... If I had a bow large enough, perhaps I could try."

"Large enough?" Shao Xiaoli asked. "How large?"

Ning Changjiu raised his hand, his posture as if measuring the world.

"Ideally, a bow that spans the entire world," he said.

Shao Xiaoli felt a hint of despair. She knew it was impossible.

After speaking, Ning Changjiu also shook his head. "Now, I wonder how Xueci is doing, and Master might also be somewhere in the world, waiting for us to find her. There's still so much to do..."

Lu Jiajia asked, "So, after we return to the Central Plains, where should we go first?"

Ning Changjiu said, "First, we'll go back to the Ancient Spirit Sect to check on Xiaoling. Then, Xiaoli will stay to look after the sect, Jiajia will go find Xueci, and I'll make a trip to the Southern Ocean. If nothing major happens, I'll join you as quickly as possible."

Lu Jiajia had no objections. "The Ethereal Pavilion is near the Southern Ocean," she said. "Its mistress, Yu Qing, once coveted the power of the Ancient Underworld Kingdom. Be careful if you encounter her."

"Yes, don't worry," Ning Changjiu said. "On the Heavenly Ranking, she's only one rank higher than Liu Junzhuo. Once the Divine Kingdom is established, she'll be no match for me."

"Alright, as long as you know what you're doing," Lu Jiajia said softly.

Shao Xiaoli looked at Ning Changjiu, seeming to hesitate.

Ning Changjiu noticed the girl's unusual behavior. "Xiaoli, what's wrong?" he asked.

Shao Xiaoli obediently knelt beside Ning Changjiu and said, "I know Master is very worried about Ancestor and about us, but you shouldn't worry too much."

Ning Changjiu said lightly, "Don't worry, your Master always remains calm and composed in the face of great challenges."

Shao Xiaoli and Lu Jiajia exchanged a glance. Finally, Lu Jiajia spoke:

"Then... since my esteemed husband is so calm, composed, and self-possessed, why... are you wearing my clothes by mistake?"

Ning Changjiu snapped back to reality completely.

He looked at Lu Jiajia and Shao Xiaoli's direct gazes, then slowly lowered his head, staring at the white robe draped over him.

He had previously felt the collar was a bit loose and thought it was because he had grown thinner from worrying and working.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He rolled up his sleeves, feeling a little embarrassed.

On one side, Shao Xiaoli and Lu Jiajia finally couldn't hold back, bursting into giggles, shaking with laughter.

Hearing their laughter, Ning Changjiu's heavy mood lightened somewhat. He got up, went back into the cave to change his clothes, and when he returned, Shao Xiaoli was still laughing. "Master looks especially beautiful tonight," she said.

Lu Jiajia also pinched her voice, speaking with spirited confidence, "Miss Ning is truly a beauty that can topple kingdoms. Would you be interested in marrying into our Lu family?"

"You two... sigh..."

Teased by them, Ning Changjiu, adhering to the principle of bullying the weak and fearing the strong, caught Shao Xiaoli and symbolically punished her a little, setting the sect rules straight.

The night wind blew across the cliff. The three sat close together at the edge of the precipice, looking at the stars in the sky, and rested for a while.

Half an hour later, they would resume their journey to the Central Plains.

Also gazing at the starry sky was the Fifth Senior Brother.

The Fifth Senior Brother also understood the full story behind the moon's obscuration.

This was indeed an unexpected event.

If Master and the others were still in the Monastery, they should be able to influence the Moon Prison through the Unobservable, and then disperse the dust obscuring it, but…

The Fifth Senior Brother looked at his Heavenly Stele manuscript, at the sleeping village, and his own empty sleeves, and could only lament, "A scholar is useless in all ways."

Then, the Fifth Senior Brother realized something even more terrifying.

Every action Baizang took was meticulously calculated by Master, culminating in the decisive blow in the Yuanfu Divine Kingdom. But from another perspective, could this have been the Dark Lord using Baizang as bait to trick Master into achieving the Three Purities' Unity and reigning over the Yuanfu Kingdom, only for the Dark Lord to then destroy the Yuanfu Star, using half its dust to obscure the moon and the other half to smash into the North Sea, saving his puppet Ke Wenzhou...?

This meant that when Master planned to kill Yuanfu, the Dark Lord was aware but remained indifferent.

Could it be that everyone had underestimated its intelligence, and it was actually carrying out a much grander scheme?

A chill ran through the Fifth Senior Brother's heart; he could only hope he was wrong.

The Fifth Senior Brother stood alone at the entrance of the Unobservable, feeling an inexpressible loneliness. He gazed at the black moon, then clenched his teeth, turned, and picked up a broom.

Compared to the Heavenly Stele project, the moon was clearly more important.

"Master, you shouldn't have saved me back then. If you had revived Old Man Yu Gong, he probably would have been more useful than me."

He sighed, rolled up his sleeves, and, broom in hand, went alone to clear the dust, so that the Unobservable could function normally in the future.