Chapter 1014: Death

"Senior Brother Li, is it my turn?" Hearing the familiar voice, Li Huowang's body trembled violently.

When he looked up, he saw Bai Lingmiao, her eyes covered with a silk ribbon.

Li Huowang looked at her, recalling the steamed bun she had given him at Qingfeng Temple, and all the small moments they had shared along the way. As memories flooded back, his expression grew increasingly pained.

"Why... why! Why is it like this!"

Just then, Bai Lingmiao reached out and gently removed Li Huowang's hands, which were tightly gripping his head. "Senior Brother Li, is it my turn?" she asked.

"No! Not yet! Not your turn yet! Let's go! Let's get out of here!" He didn't know where to run, but instinct urged him to escape the suffocating environment.

Li Huowang pulled Bai Lingmiao, running continuously using his cultivation abilities. Their surroundings shifted rapidly; one moment they were in Great Qi, then Tianchen, and in the blink of an eye, they were in Later Shu.

But no matter where he ran, the thing he was trying to escape remained relentlessly in pursuit, like a shadow.

Li Huowang kept fleeing, passing through all the places he had once traveled, but as he ran, his speed gradually slowed.

Finally, when he found himself back inside the smoke-blackened Qingfeng Temple, he could no longer escape.

Staring at the three smoke-blackened statues behind the altar, Li Huowang clutched his head and screamed hysterically.

He knew there was no escape, no matter where he went. If he didn't send Bai Lingmiao up with the two generals and prime ministers, past history would be altered.

If past history changed, everything would truly be over.

On one side was the entire world, and on the other, he had to personally send Bai Lingmiao to her death. He could only choose one.

The immense inner torment, enough to initiate the Cangqiang Ascension, made Li Huowang wish he were dead. This mental anguish instinctively compelled him to do something, anything, to alleviate the pain.

A barbed awl pierced Li Huowang's palm and was violently pulled out, but the intense pain did not alleviate his suffering in the slightest. Tears mixed with blood fell to the ground.

Just as Li Huowang picked up the torture tool again, Bai Lingmiao reached out and stopped his self-mutilation. "Senior Brother Li, whatever is bothering you, please say it directly. Don't always keep it bottled up."

"I... I can't..." Facing Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang, his face contorted in pain, was speechless.

He wanted to do something to change all of this, but he was powerless. Everything was a debt he had personally incurred before, and he could only follow the established process.

Bai Lingmiao seemed to know what she was facing, yet she appeared remarkably calm. Her slender, pale fingers gently covered Li Huowang's mouth. "Senior Brother Li, you needn't worry. The Unborn Old Mother has already informed me."

Li Huowang lunged forward and held Bai Lingmiao tightly, the intense reluctance in his heart almost driving him insane.

With her head resting against Li Huowang's, Bai Lingmiao softly asked, "Senior Brother Li, will I die after I go up?"

Li Huowang shook his head, saying painfully, "I don't know, I truly don't know!"

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao gently stroked Li Huowang's back and softly said, "Senior Brother Li, it's alright. The Unborn Old Mother said I'll only be gone for a while, and she'll send me back down once this period passes."

Li Huowang desperately wanted to believe her words, but he knew it was impossible. Bai Lingmiao was merely trying to reassure him, to prevent him from worrying.

Bai Lingmiao was the Holy Maiden of the White Lotus. From the murals in the secret chamber of Niuxin Village, it was clear that the Unborn Old Mother wanted Bai Lingmiao to ascend so she could undergo nirvana and be reborn as the Unborn Old Mother she once was—the one who had previously governed all of Tianchen.

Between a Sīmìng (Fate Official) and a mortal, with the exception of the Bewildering Heavenly Dao Sīmìng, there was always an endless abyss.

He also didn't know what fate awaited Bai Lingmiao after her ascent, or if he would ever see her again.

"No! I don't accept this outcome!" Li Huowang, having regained his resolve, gritted his teeth and looked intently at Bai Lingmiao.

"Miaomiao, don't worry, I will save you! I will!"

"I won't be defeated by this ordeal! Absolutely not! We promised each other! We would return to Niuxin Village together!"

"I don't accept this outcome! I can't touch the Unborn Old Mother right now, but once I deal with the Living Heaven, I'll tear her apart entirely and save you!"

"This world isn't scientific at all; anything is possible! Nothing is impossible!"

"I will definitely find every possible way to bring you and Suisui back!"

Hearing this, the Two Gods behind him smiled, embracing Li Huowang's head and kissing him forcefully. "Now this is the Li Huowang I know—the one who can never be defeated, no matter what."

"Don't worry, we're just going up to help, not to die. We'll utterly defeat the Living Heaven together!"

Li Huowang nodded with difficulty, wiped the tears and blood from his body, and stood up again.

There was still a chance for everything. He couldn't give up. If he were to be defeated by this hardship, how could he possibly save Suisui?

He turned his head to look at the three smoke-blackened Heavenly Venerables inside Qingfeng Temple, took a deep breath, and roared violently, "Sanqing! Just you wait!"

With Li Huowang's roar, the three statues immediately shattered into fragments.

"Senior Brother Li, send me back now. Time waits for no one."

Hearing Bai Lingmiao's words, Li Huowang, his expression slightly grim, shook his head. "No, we still need to go to one more place. It wasn't just the six white donkeys that went up with you that time."

Gao Zhijian soon returned from Baiyujing. The process was surprisingly smooth, so much so that he was puzzled why Senior Brother Li insisted that all five emperors escort the two dragon veins.

As he passed through the Yak Gate and returned to Shangjing City, he saw Li Huowang, his face grim, standing with Junior Sister Bai at the Altar of Heaven, waiting for him.

"Old Gao," Li Huowang said to him, "there's something else we need to send to Baiyujing."

"Oh? What is it? Speak freely."

"Two generals and prime ministers."

Li Huowang's words swept through everyone present like a cold wind. Everyone understood the profound weight behind those five short words.

Gao Zhijian paused, then, after consulting with the other emperors, a difficult smile appeared on his face. "Alright. I'll issue the orders immediately."

He then turned to Bai Lingmiao. "Junior Sister Bai, this matter also requires assistance from the White Lotus Sect. Is that feasible?"

At this moment, Bai Lingmiao no longer had her previous composure. Two streams of clear tears soaked through the silk ribbon covering her eyes and streamed down her face. No matter how many times Li Huowang wiped them away, they wouldn't stop.

"Feasible!" The Two Gods readily agreed, uttering those two words, which felt heavier than a thousand catties.

With the joint call from both the White Lotus Sect and the imperial court, the contaminated strategists and the contaminated White Lotus followers gradually gathered in the open fields on the left side of Shangjing City.

As the military orders were passed down layer by layer, everyone learned what they were about to face.

The morale of the million strategists began to waver, though most of them were both strategists and White Lotus believers, or had been White Lotus followers who later became contaminated. The two groups were not clearly distinct.

White Lotus followers gradually gathered before Bai Lingmiao. Facing their Holy Maiden, these devotees devoutly knelt on both knees and kowtowed to her.

The sight of over a million followers simultaneously kowtowing was incredibly spectacular.

The leading white donkey, on behalf of all White Lotus followers, asked, "Holy Maiden, is this the divine decree of the Unborn Old Mother?"

"Yes." Bai Lingmiao, her tears almost completely spent, uttered the word, using nearly all her strength.

Upon hearing the clear confirmation, all the followers immediately stood up.

"Unborn Old Mother! Vacuum Homeland! Brothers and sisters! The time has come for us to have the honor of returning to the Vacuum Homeland!" This cry spread like waves, layer by layer.

Hearing these words, with a resounding boom, all the White Lotus followers cheered excitedly, their enthusiasm further amplified by the overwhelming negative energy.