Chapter 2165 – Heart Toward Glazed Glass
Shenwu Youluan gently, very gently, placed Shenwu Yi inside a healing, profound formation and set up a simple isolation barrier. A ball of gentle, profound light gathered in her palm and slowly circulated around that frail body. However, the woman who should be in a deep coma right now slowly opened her eyes and even struggled to rise. Her movements were weak, yet they were empowered by a stubborn force that would not be thwarted.
“Wuyi!”
Shenwu Youluan hurriedly stepped forward and hugged Shenwu Yi’s upper torso. “Don’t move recklessly, and submerge your consciousness. The supreme one no longer plans to punish you.”
Shenwu Yi did not close her eyes, though. Instead, she said in a voice that sounded like a breeze blowing against the hair. “She… just obtained the Abyssal Heart Vine, and I am grievously injured… her eyes are not here. The Pure Land is not looking here either.”
Shenwu Youluan understood her meaning. She wanted to advise Shenwu Yi that whatever she had to say could wait until she recovered, but she also knew her own personality. She wouldn’t be acting like this unless she had something essential that she needed to do right now. So, she nodded weakly and moved closer to her lips. “Okay. Tell me.”
The bloodless lips parted slightly and began murmuring like she was dream-talking, “With heaven and earth in harmony, all things transform into purity; men and women unite in proper union, establishing the order of the universe…”
“……!”
Shenwu Youluan looked up, staring at Shenwu Yi in shock. It wasn’t until a few breaths later that she barely suppressed her bubbling emotions and asked in a hushed voice, “You… recovered your memories, Wuyi?”
The moonlit eyes, so weak that they lost their focus, stared fixedly at her. “So… that marriage certificate… really does exist…”
Shenwu Youluan froze. She was at a loss for words for a time. Then, she leaned closer and lowered her voice even more. “Who told you these words? What on earth happened to you during your time at the Forbidden Zone of Slumbering Gods?”
There was a slight tremor in her voice as she said this.
Shenwu Yi slowly raised her hand and pressed her fingers against the back of Shenwu Youluan’s hand with immense difficulty. It was to show the woman the force of her determination. “If you have it… now… show it to me… now…”
Despite being so weak that the only thing keeping her conscious and moving now was sheer willpower, she had repeated the word “now” twice. Shenwu Youluan wore a complicated expression. The short hesitation was itself a tacit admission.
She was just about to answer when Shenwu Yi’s murmur echoed in her ears again, “It… directly decides… my fate…”
Shenwu Youluan had never seen such determination and stubbornness from Shenwu Yi before. So, her teeth clenched slightly, she stopped hesitating and reached into her portable space. An instant later, she produced an abyssal crystal about one-third of a meter long and emanating a somewhat rich aura of abyssal crystal. Her fingers moved, and the abyssal crystal split open in the middle to reveal that it was artificially hollowed.
Shenwu Youluan carefully produced a jade slip from the abyssal crystal. The engravings on the jade slip were clearly the first three seals of the Purify God Seal.
The Purify God Seal was the core profound art of the Eternal Night Kingdom of God, so it made sense that it would be concealed so carefully. However, Shenwu Youluan unleashed a small puff of profound energy and shattered the jade slip, causing what looked like blood-stained pieces of paper to emerge from the fragments. With one swipe of the palm, the torn pieces of paper immediately started joining together into one. An instant later, a brilliant red sheet of paper, despite being terribly tattered and mostly covered in dried blood, took form, its words unnaturally clear.
The title of the red paper was “Marriage Certificate”. It reflected in Shenwu Yi’s eyes and, somehow, magically sharpened her blurry vision.
No one knew how much risk Shenwu Youluan had shouldered to conceal this marriage certificate… because it was the sole proof of Shenwu Yi’s past.
Right now, Shenwu Yi’s unfocused eyes were shining with indescribable radiance. The words written on the marriage certificate had etched themselves into her heart instantly… It matched word for word what Yun Che had recited in the Forbidden Zone of Slumbering Gods.
The names “Xiao Che” and “Xia Qingyue” were written at the end of the marriage certificate, and a pair of deep, intact fingerprints were marked beneath their birthdates. With trembling fingers, Shenwu Yi lifted the ripped sleeve she had received from Yun Che and checked his fingerprint first. They matched seamlessly with the one on the marriage certificate, even though her vision was terribly blurry right now. Just the same, her right fingerprint matched the one left behind by the woman named Xia Qingyue perfectly.
“……”
Her moonlight in her pupils shook violently, and her fingers curled unconsciously.
That… is my past… I’m not someone without a past after all… I’m not a rootless duckweed after all… Xia Qingyue… is my name… my true name… Blue Wind Empire, Floating Cloud City… a surname that doesn’t exist in this world… a birthplace that doesn’t exist in this world… Yun Che… Xiao Che… homeland… I…
“Aunt…”
She closed her eyes, her voice weak as a somniloquy. “Remove… the traces…”
Her palm fell limply, and her consciousness finally sank completely into darkness.
Shenwu Youluan gently set Shenwu Yi down and tucked both the marriage certificate and the ripped sleeve into the abyssal crystal. However, it would be a long, long time before her chaotic thoughts and feelings settled.
When she first picked up Shenwu Yi at Endless Fog, she already knew from the marriage certificate she carried that she was not a native. She knew it was extremely likely that Shenwu Yi came from the Eternal Pure Land because the surname Xia, “Blue Wind Empire” or “Floating Cloud City,” did not exist anywhere in this world. However, she also knew that Shenwu Yi would lose all freedom if this secret were ever to be revealed. So, she hid it out of pity and planned to return it to her after she had fully recovered.
Shenwu Yanye had noticed Shenwu Yi’s Nine Profound Exquisite Body first and forced her to become an Eternal Night Divine Daughter. In Shenwu Youluan’s opinion, becoming an Eternal Night Divine Daughter was a fate far worse than being exposed as a denizen from the Eternal Pure Land. That was why she had always harbored indescribable guilt and regret toward her.
She never thought that this secret would be exposed by Shenwu Yi herself out of nowhere. She had no way to predict what kind of ending this sudden twist of fate would bring, but no matter what it was, it could not be deeper than the lightless despair the Eternal Night Kingdom of God was already stuck in.
……
Yun Che’s self-recovery lasted a long time. In the end, his injuries and profound energy were mostly recovered. He had intentionally dragged out his recovery time, but it was still an extraordinary pace in Hua Caili’s opinion.
“As expected of the light profound energy. I think it’s even greater than before.”
Leaning against Yun Che’s shoulder, Hua Caili said smilingly, “A while ago, Aunt reminded me that people capable of producing light profound energy are exceptionally pure and good. She warned me not to abuse this fact and bully you. At this point, Aunt is going to treat you better than she treated me… hehe.”
It sounded like jealousy, but her tone was filled with pure, unadulterated joy.
Yun Che replied with a smile, “The reason Aunt is treating me so well is because of you and for your sake.”
He climbed back to his feet and stretched a little. “Alright. We should head back now.”
“Okay!”
Hua Caili put away the Glass Cloud Sword and remarked, “The Forbidden Zone of Slumbering Gods was described as a place of many unfathomable mysteries, so I initially thought it would be filled with oddities and special opportunities. But now, I think it’s not much different from the Endless Fog. It just has more abyssal ghosts than abyssal beasts.”
Yun Che replied, “This is a place where countless gods had perished, so it made sense that it used to be a graveyard of divine relics. However, we should not forget that this place belongs to the Pure Land. They must have scoured the place countless times over and picked up most of the divine relics. Otherwise, they would not have been so generous as to open it to the Six Kingdoms of God.”
Hua Caili nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Speaking of, I wonder why that wretched Shenwu Yi requested such a peculiar reward?”
It was at this moment that she recalled that… the Abyssal Monarch still owed her a favor.
Yun Che made a grabbing motion, and the Void Breaching Divine Jade he tossed away earlier returned to his grasp.
Hua Caili looked confused by this. She blurted out, “Why didn’t you use the Void Breaching Divine Jade to escape immediately when you were in danger earlier, Big Brother Yun? Was it because Shenwu Yi ambushed you while your guard was down?”
Yun Che opened his lips to answer, but something occurred to him, and he blanched suddenly. “Oh no!”
He suddenly turned around and ran into the abyssal fog.
“Huh? Big Brother Yun!!” Hua Caili let out a cry of surprise and swiftly followed behind him. Yun Che did not slow down, though. He just kept running while his aura grew increasingly irritated and anxious.
Finally, he came to a stop. The abyssal fog before them was vast and thick, suffocating. A grayish maw was lying on the ground and emitting an aura so terrible that the soul trembled just being near its presence.
“Is this… an Abyss of Death?” Standing beside Yun Che, Hua Caili exclaimed in surprise. This was the first time she saw the fabled Abyss of Death that was said to exist in the deep areas of the Endless Fog.
Yun Che reached toward the Abyss of Death with a palm, profound energy and soul presence surging in increasing panic and frustration.
“What’s going on, Big Brother Yun?” Hua Caili asked worriedly.
Yun Che slowly clenched his palm into a fist and exhaled deeply. He said in a difficult voice, “When I was attacked by several abyssal ghosts earlier, I accidentally dropped the Cloud Glass Sword into the Abyss of Death…”
“Ah?!?”
Hua Caili let out a cry of shock. She finally understood why he was acting so panicked.
“The Glass Cloud Sword is connected to me by soul aura, and yet I have completely lost contact with its presence.”
Yun Che was doing his best to keep his voice calm, but still, he couldn’t keep his disappointment from leaking. “The reason I didn’t escape immediately despite the dangerous situation I was in was that I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to retrieve the Cloud Glass Sword at a later time. But… I guess…”
“……” Hua Caili’s lips parted as she searched for the words to comfort him, to no avail. She could only move closer to him. Anything that fell into the Abyss of Death would return to nothingness. This was stated in every record regarding the Abyss of Death.
Yun Che exhaled one last time before withdrawing his palm. Then, he smiled like he was letting go and even turned around to console Hua Caili instead, “There’s no helping it… It’s fine. Master always said that to gain something is fortune, and to lose something is fate. I’m sure he won’t blame me for this.”
“Mm!”
“…… Let us leave then.”
A pair of Void Breaching Divine Jades shattered, taking Yun Che and Hua Caili away from the Forbidden Zone of Slumbering Gods.
The instant they disappeared, an ancient, demonic groan rose from the soundless Abyss of Death. However, it disappeared into the gloomy abyssal fog in the next instant.
……
“Our homeland is not their ‘Eternal Pure Land’. It is our Eternal Pure Land!!”
“If the denizens of the Abyss set foot in our homeland, everyone shall turn into helpless lambs awaiting slaughter…”
“You called yourself an utterly selfish and cold-hearted person, but I think that your self-proclaimed coldness stems from your body and soul naturally rejecting this world!”
“You are Xia Qingyue…”
“I am the emperor of the ‘Eternal Pure Land, and you are its empress…”
“What I need most at this moment is your aid…”
“No matter what… must… stop…”
“……”
Shenwu Yi abruptly startled awake and sat bolt upright. An instant later, excruciating pain surged through her entire body. Despite this, she clenched her teeth tightly and did not allow a single whimper to leak. Her surroundings were utterly still, and no one was by her side. Only the healing profound formation hummed silently as it worked.
Her five senses quickly regained their usual clarity as she slowly rose to her feet. She walked outside the room and stood at the Pure Land, overlooking the distant sky. A clear wind blew, and her pitch black robes swayed lightly in the wind. The bloodstains on her hem had dried into dark marks like faded crimson blooms on an ink-wash painting, lending a kind of shattered beauty. Her jade-like face was as pale as frost and snow, and her lips were drained of color. Only her long eyelashes, delicate as butterfly wings, cast faint shadows across her pallid features.
The abyssal corruption that hadn’t yet been fully expelled for a thin layer of gray mist around her. It made her look like a falling star of a dark night: cold, solitary, but also divinely breathtaking. Her gaze drifted toward the pure white horizon. Her eyes, once frozen with ice, had shed their indifference and sharpness, leaving behind only deep pools of stillness.
Another breeze swept by, ruffling the strands at her temple and teasing the delicate hair hanging in front of her forehead. She paid it no attention. Her thoughts had long drifted toward the fleeting past and the unknown future.
Blue Wind Empire, Floating Cloud City… Qingyue of Xia… homeland… empress… Yun Che… Xiao Che…
She was obviously standing in the untainted Pure Land and basking in flawless heavenly light, and yet it felt like an endless night fog was enveloping her and making her look even lonelier and colder than she already was.
It’s real… everything he said… is real…
She slowly closed her eyes, and the first thing that came to her soul sea was those eyes filled with insoluble love and resolve. When she slowly clenched her fists… she actually felt as if she could feel the lingering warmth of that blood-drenched sleeve.
From start to finish, her body and soul were silently rejecting the world she was in. However, that man was drawing not just her senses, but her heart and soul toward him…
Her eyes opened once more, exquisite beauty rippling in those wonderful orbs. However, the man’s voice continued to echo within the depths of her soul:
“I am probably the most death-fearing person in this world, for if I were to die… should you ever regain your memories, your heart would be torn apart. My homeland… our homeland… would forever plunge into an unpredictable, irresistible abyss of calamity as well.”
She subconsciously pressed a hand to her chest. She could tell that her heartbeat was completely out of control. Even the thick gloominess that usually shrouded her heart was swiftly being dispelled by his voice.
“But I, a mere Divine Master, must prevent the next activation of the Void Breaching Great Formation in less than fifty years, regardless… This is why I had no choice but to resort to any means necessary!”
Less than fifty years… must stop…
If the road ahead could not be seen, then listen to the heart’s voice, for it was the most exquisite, truthful, and flawless guidance of the profound.
……
Suddenly, Shenwu Yi turned around. When her gaze regained its focus, they had regained their usual depth and iciness.
Since that is the case… the final page of the “Secret Tome” must be revealed ahead of schedule… then…
Shenwu Yanye! I permit you… to repay your debt… sooner… than… expected[1]!
……
Yun Che and Hua Caili had just stepped out of the Void Breaching Great Formation when Meng Jianxi rushed over and examined him carefully. A while later, he hid a sigh of relief and said, “It looks like you encountered some fierce battles. I’m glad to see that you’re fine.”
Yun Che was a little caught off guard by this. Then, he realized something and smiled at Meng Jianxi. Nothing else needed to be said.
At that moment, Hua Caili noticed Dugu Zhuyuan was there as well. She exclaimed in surprise, “Uncle Dugu? Shouldn’t you be battling against Aunt in the Heaven Above Abyss? Even your shortest battle lasted three days, but this time… it couldn’t be over already, could it??”
Dugu Zhuyuan suddenly let out an enigmatic sigh. His gaze looked immeasurably complicated as well.
His reaction caught Yun Che’s attention, and he asked casually, “Is aunt… senior Sword Fairy perhaps delayed by something?”
Dugu Zhuyuan cast them a look and hesitated for a moment. In the end, he said, “Today’s fight is my last fight against the Sword Fairy. After this, there will be no need for further conflict.”
“Huh?”
Hua Caili looked completely confused. “But why?”
Dugu Zhuyuan shook his head and refused to clarify. “I see that you are injured, Divine Son Yuan. You should head back and rest.”
Although Hua Caili was overflowing with puzzlement, she ultimately did not press him for an answer. She left together with Yun Che.
After they were gone, Dugu Zhuyuan finally let out a long sigh and mumbled somewhat dazedly, “It is only now I know that I learn that the reason she is the Sword Fairy… isn’t because she can only be the Sword Fairy. It is because… she doesn’t want to be anything else but the Sword Fairy.”
“The only reason she forced herself to remain mortal is for Caili… I will never be able to measure up to her or reach her for as long as I live[2].”
1. Ah crap. So, my current theory is that Xia Qingyue also lost her family in the Abyss (remember they killed everyone related to her to keep her existence a secret), which is why she hates Shenwu Yanye so much. Since this parallels her fate in Primal Chaos, you can’t help but wonder if the Artifact of Fate is in effect… except the one on the other end is no longer Yun Che, but a certain dark side of the Ancestral God… ☜
2. IDK if it was mentioned before, but apparently Mars said that the first mortal to become a True God in the Abyss would be Ying’er. It is Ying’er, but well, it’s Hua Qingying’er. 😀 ☜