Xuan Yi stood with his back to the White Empress, tall and unmoved as an ancient pine by the window.
The sky was dim, the night growing colder.
He said, “Emperor Duotian’s aura is growing weaker and weaker! He is somewhere in this star region—I can sense it.”
Fear had gradually faded.
The White Empress raised her breathtakingly beautiful face and gazed toward the window, her heart filled with boundless, complicated emotions.
She believed Xuan Yi’s judgment. The so-called Blood Absolutes War God was most likely Huang Tian.
Only Huang Tian would risk everything, even his own life, to kill Emperor Duotian.
When she had first met Huang Tian, he had been exactly that kind of resolute person—heart like bedrock, unwavering in all things.
A hundred thousand years had passed. From the day of the Ni Shen Clan catastrophe until now, she could finally be free. For the White Empress, the most agonising thing had been wanting death yet being unable to die—until someone could finally kill her.
Yu Yan and Qing’er were her only two attachments left in this world.
Huang Tian was the name she least wished to speak, for the guilt in her heart ran too deep.
Xuan Yi said, “I have heard that the ancestress of the Twelve Divine Maiden Districts was Yu Chan, the fourth disciple of Xinghuan Tianzun, who obtained the Tianzun World. I have witnessed nearly every kind of power in this universe, yet I still feel only awe before the power of a Tianzun. If the Tianzun World truly lies within the First Divine Maiden City, perhaps today you…”
Far away in the starry void, Emperor Duotian’s star-soul divine throne lost its light and vanished into darkness.
…
Across the entire universe, countless eyes turned toward Paradise Realm and then toward Xinghuan Heaven.
The Master of the Island of the Fallen Gods stood beneath the sacred peach tree and sighed deeply. “A bloody battle can no longer be avoided!”
“I could go,” a gentle voice rang out.
Light flashed.
The Dragon Lord appeared beneath the peach tree, hands clasped behind his back. He lifted a face so handsome it could drive the women of the world mad and gazed into the boundless starry sky.
The Master said, “If you go, Feng Caiyi will surely follow. Once the balance breaks, Xinghuan Heaven will have even less chance of survival! The Heavenly Court cannot truly force two ninetieth-step spiritual cultivators into the Hell Realm camp. In this game, both Heavenly Court and Hell Realm are carefully weighing the stakes. Even the Tianzun must still be hesitating. Leave the next move to Chi Xingtian and Qing Chan—we should have faith in them.”
A single ninetieth-step spiritual cultivator was already enough to command the attention of any power.
Two would be even more so.
…
A blood-feathered divine sparrow three thousand li long pulled a palace and halted in the starry void.
Behind the palace stood row upon row of armoured Luo Sha clan soldiers, each radiating thick blood qi and possessing the strength to move mountains.
Luo Yi stepped out of the palace, her crystal crown gleaming, her divine robe flowing like water-silk. Her willow-leaf eyebrows were tightly knitted with worry.
“Your Highness, shall we still proceed?” a Luo Sha god asked.
Luo Yi replied, “We shall. Why not? The fiercer the storm, the more inevitable this battle becomes.”
…
Chi Xingtian had transformed into a massive cyan cat, bounding through the starry void. Each leap crossed an entire star region, appearing and vanishing.
Mu Lingxi stood atop the cat’s head, urging, “The War God Mo Sang of the Temple of Destiny has fallen, Emperor Duotian of Paradise Realm is dead—the situation in Xinghuan Heaven must be at a breaking point. We must hurry!”
They had no time to seek Empress Qian’gu at Haishi Xingwu and raced straight toward Xinghuan Heaven.
…
The armies of the Heavenly Court’s thirteen realms continuously teleported through spatial wormholes, forming vast military arrays that layered the boundless starry void.
The armies were iron-blooded and merciless, their aura like a rainbow.
Bright armour, banners blotting the sky—every soldier a saint.
Pseudo-god generals rode white dragons, patrolling above the formations.
At the vanguard stood thirteen majestic divine palaces. The aura radiating from each was utterly terrifying, capable of locking space and preventing ambushes by Hell Realm gods.
Mandala Flower Goddess sat in one of the palaces and asked a general below her, “Still no contact with Fan Xin?”
The general shook his head. “The immortal god should already have entered Xinghuan Heaven. Given the current state of Xinghuan Heaven, messages cannot get through.”
“With the fall of Emperor Duotian and Qian Mo Sang, today’s battle is now unavoidable. Xinghuan Heaven must be surging with undercurrents—she should not have gone,” Mandala Flower Goddess said, shaking her head.
Jia Tianxia’s transmitted voice rang inside the palace: “Flower Goddess, please come to the Blood-War Divine Palace for counsel.”
…
Night was dark, yet ten suns refused to set, glowing a sinister crimson.
In the mortal realm of Xinghuan Heaven, chaos reigned.
Outside Divine Maiden Clothing City, cooled lava lay everywhere. The entire city was gripped by panic. Cultivators sensed the atmosphere of impending doom and fled in carriages, escaping far away.
They did not know that fleeing the city was useless.
To gods, a city and a great world were no different.
At the city gate, a white-robed nun gazed at the eerie crimson sky, her eyes calm as still water.
Xue Tu stood behind her, wanting to flee yet not daring. His throat bobbed. With a dry voice he said, “Lady Zen, even War God Mo Sang’s star-soul throne has gone dark. There must be great terror inside the city. Shall we wait for Hell Realm’s armies to arrive before entering? Or wait for the Grand Patriarch to return?”
The white-robed nun ignored him.
Ming Hua District Master’s heart was heavy. She had seen star-soul thrones vanish in the star regions near Xinghuan Heaven.
One belonged to the City Lord’s disciple, Ye Yunshuang.
If even the City Lord’s disciple had fallen, one could imagine how perilous the city was now.
Entering meant there might be no return.
Suddenly the air currents between heaven and earth grew urgent. Above their heads, another star-soul throne winked out.
That region of space turned to darkness.
“The White Empress has fallen!”
Jue Miao Zen Nun lowered her gaze toward the city.
Ming Hua District Master felt as though struck by lightning. Her delicate body trembled violently and she collapsed to her knees, all charm gone, tears streaming as she sobbed, “City Lord!”
The White Empress had shown Ming Hua District Master great kindness.
Without her help, Ming Hua would never have become a god and might long ago have become the lowliest slave, dying under torment.
Whoosh!
Ming Hua District Master flew into the city as a streak of divine light, heedless of all else.
Jue Miao Zen Nun glanced at Xue Tu. “Let us go.”
“No, please!” Xue Tu begged.
Jue Miao Zen Nun stared at him.
Xue Tu nearly dropped to his knees, heart pounding. “First the Temple of Destiny’s War God fell, now even the White Empress is dead! The White Empress was the lord of the First Divine Maiden City, controlling all arrays in the city, including a corner of the Tianzun ancient array. How terrifying must the enemy be? This prince will not go—kill me if you must!”
Jue Miao Zen Nun nodded seriously. “Very well. No need for you to guide me—I will simply search your soul.”
Xue Tu’s heart raced. “No! This prince must guide you. The ruins of the Tianzun Divine Temple are extremely dangerous, and the spatial teleportation array is hard to find. Come—Lady Zen first!”
Jue Miao Zen Nun and Xue Tu arrived at the Heavenly Divine Maiden Tower. Every woman inside already knew of the White Empress’s fall; the building was filled with weeping.
Confusion, sobbing, and panic spread among them.
The once-prosperous and lively pleasure district had become shrouded in sorrow.
“The District Master is dead, the City Lord has fallen. Today Xinghuan Heaven faces great calamity—the Twelve Divine Maiden Districts will cease to exist.”
“Flee—first escape the First Divine Maiden City, or when divine might descends the entire city will be annihilated.”
“Why is heaven so unjust? What have we done wrong?”
…
Jue Miao Zen Nun and Xue Tu entered the Divine Queen Palace. Ming Hua District Master was already inside, cradling the White Empress’s corpse and weeping.
Jue Miao Zen Nun observed the surroundings and noticed the palm prints on the two divine palace doors. She extended a snow-white, crystalline jade hand and measured them for a moment.
From the dented prints, a vast, sinister force erupted.
Xue Tu stood nearby and glanced at the dents. He instantly felt an immense hand pressing down and involuntarily retreated two steps.
Jue Miao Zen Nun clenched her five fingers, crushing the residual force in the dents. A trace of gravity appeared in her calm eyes.
Xue Tu approached Ming Hua District Master and looked at the White Empress’s corpse. He could not help exclaiming, “This is the White Empress? Impossible!”
The body in Ming Hua’s arms was ancient beyond measure—snow-white hair, withered and skeletal, no different from bones buried for ten thousand years.
Yet from the aura it emitted, Xue Tu was certain it was indeed the White Empress.
What terrifying power had killed her?
Jue Miao Zen Nun examined the arrays in the Divine Queen Palace and found them relatively intact—no signs of fierce battle.
She said, “This is an Age Corpse.”
“An age poem?” Xue Tu asked.
Jue Miao Zen Nun explained, “Peach Blossom Tribulation and Age Corpse. Peach blossoms are beautiful; age is cruel. To use an Age Corpse—such a vicious method—to kill a woman famed throughout the universe for her beauty at the slow pace of time’s passage is perhaps the cruellest act in the world!”
“At least she left a complete corpse!”
Xue Tu sighed. When he turned, Jue Miao Zen Nun had already vanished.
The ruins of the Tianzun Divine Temple remained dim, completely cut off from the outside world.
Jue Miao Zen Nun followed a trail of footprints, passing through stone walls into the ruins. From afar she saw a young man standing at the edge of a spatial teleportation array.
The young man had already repaired the shattered purple-gold array tower and set it back in place.
Jue Miao Zen Nun said, “To kill, why use an Age Corpse? You were too cruel to her!”
Xuan Yi’s palm rested on the purple-gold array tower. “After death, nothing remains. The manner of death is unimportant. Mo Jie is dead, Qian Mo Sang is dead, Yu Baiwei is dead—yet you still dare come here. Who are you?”
Jue Miao Zen Nun replied, “Who I am is unimportant. What matters is that I know who you are—and why you have come. After repairing the spatial teleportation array, can it still transmit?”
Xuan Yi said, “It seems our purposes align.”
“They do not! I am here to find someone; you are here to kill. If you wish to kill him, you must first pass me!”
Jue Miao Zen Nun formed the Fearless Seal with her jade fingers. Ten thousand rays of Buddha light burst from her body.
Understanding dawned on Xuan Yi. “In the last ten Yuanhui, the Ming Clan produced an unparalleled woman named Kong Yinxue. She studied under Yutian Buddha alongside the Sixth Patriarch and sat at the feet of Yunqing Ancient Buddha. Though of the Ming Clan, her Buddhist attainment was profound. You are Kong Yinxue’s descendant! Is Nu Tian Shen Zun your father or grandfather?”
