Bai Shuo whipped her head toward Hua Hong, meeting her steady gaze, and felt a chill run through her. She finally understood the full meaning of Fan Yue’s words: “It’s no use.”
Hua Hong might have forsaken her identity as a Yiren royal, but she hadn’t abandoned her responsibility to her people.
For a thousand years, the Yiren had been trapped here, unable to live freely in the Three Realms, despised and hunted. She wanted to change that. While she wouldn’t help the Yiren King, she wouldn’t stop him either.
“No… it’s wrong! Even if Hua Yong ascends, he’d be nothing more than a dark god…” Bai Shuo protested urgently.
“Righteous god, dark god—what does it matter?” Hua Hong’s eyes gleamed with sarcasm. “Your celestial clans constantly preach about the righteous path, the demonic path, the heavenly way, and the path of devils. Yet a thousand years ago, when the Yiren were slaughtered, were they demons? They were only born as Yiren.”
Bai Shuo fell silent, unable to refute her words. After a long moment, she lowered her head and spoke again.
“Hua Da Tie, you have your own convictions, but I have someone I need to protect too. Please, let me go back. Even if I can’t stop the Yiren King, I can’t abandon A-Zhao.”
How could she? She had promised him—sworn never to leave him!
Did Chong Zhao’s life mean more to her than her own, or her promises to him?
Fan Yue’s angry gaze fell on Bai Shuo, and she flinched, unable to meet her young disciple’s eyes.
A strange silence fell over them near the city wall until a hand landed on Bai Shuo’s shoulder.
Bai Shuo hung her head, her voice muffled. “Mumu, Master can’t take you with her. Stay with Hua Da Tie; she won’t harm you. I… I don’t have much, but on festival days, remember to burn some offerings for me and your Senior Master. I’ll be thinking of you down there…”
What nonsense was she saying?!
Fan Yue’s expression was tense, his brow furrowed deeply—until his face suddenly shifted, his gaze darting to something behind Bai Shuo.
As Bai Shuo spoke, her head dipped lower and lower, an acrid stench filling her nostrils as a foul wind brushed past. Sighing, she turned to face Fan Yue. “I keep telling you to wash up. When I’m not around—”
Her eyes widened in shock, her pupils contracting as she took in the thing behind her.
Above them, streaks of light tore through the night sky like falling stars, landing just outside the Foreign City. It was Jin Yao and his party, joined by the heads of the Six Celestial Sects, as well as Tian Yu and the Fox Clan elder, Chang Huo, who had rushed over upon hearing the news.
Under the canopy of stars, only the sky above the desolate city remained dark.
“Jin Yao, what exactly is happening in the Foreign City?” Chang Huo demanded angrily.
Mu Jiu was not only the young master of the Fox Clan but also the only nine-tailed fox apart from the clan leader himself. His life was tied to the very future of the Fox Clan.
“A fiend assumed the identity of a Yun Xiao disciple and entered the city,” Jin Yao replied.
“A fiend? Where is the Yiren King? With the Twilight Sovereign’s Locking Spirit Array in place, the Yiren King should have been aware of any fiend’s entry into the city. Why didn’t he report it?” Chang Huo’s voice was indignant.
“I can’t sense the Yiren King’s spiritual presence,” Jin Yao said solemnly, and the faces around him turned grim.
“What? Even you can’t sense the Yiren King? What on earth is happening in that city?”
“Please, open the Locking Spirit Array at once!” the head of Kunlun urged.
The key to the Locking Spirit Array lay in Jin Yao’s hands. Had the Yiren King not granted him permission to open it, none of them would have allowed their disciples to enter the spirit-sealed Foreign City.
With a flick of his hand, Jin Yao summoned a golden dragon scale, glimmering with divine light. He tossed the scale toward the sky above the city.
“Go!”
A surge of energy channeled from his palm into the dragon scale.
“Open!”
With a whispered command, the scale emitted a radiant light, descending onto the city gate. A golden dragon array appeared over the gate, and the dragon scale transformed into a spectral golden dragon, which soared and roared within the array as the city gates slowly began to open.
The Foreign City was unlocked!
The party relaxed slightly—until, without warning, the dragon array began to reverse. At the center of the array, a strange vortex appeared, from which a sword emerged, pinning the dragon’s image firmly in place.
“No!” Jin Yao’s expression changed drastically as he shot toward the gate. But he was too late. The golden dragon let out a howl of agony before it exploded in a blinding flash.
An overwhelming wave of divine power radiated across the Foreign City, forcing Jin Yao back several steps. Feng Xian flew forward, swiftly taking his place by Jin Yao’s side to help him stabilize the energy.
In the night sky, an immense golden array enveloped the entire Foreign City, echoing with a mighty dragon’s roar.
“Is this the Locking Spirit Array left by the Twilight Sovereign?” murmured the Yun Xiao Sect Master as he stared at the vast golden dragon array before him.
“No.” Jin Yao’s face was pale. “This… is the God-Slaying Array.”
0 Comments