The waters of the Huangquan River surged mightily, colliding against Chen Yi’s body with imnse force, striving to bury him completely. The roar of the current rumbled like thunder in his ears.
Chen Yi clutched tightly onto Yin Weiyin’s soul, grasping that small, exhausted fish that could no longer swim. In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
The dark-yellow river waters seed to possess a tranquilizing effect on the soul, their tumultuous waves crashing in torrents, with sprays of foam leaping everywhere.
Illusions rose and fell within the river’s currents.
Faces flickered past Chen Yi’s sight.
Zhou Yitang’s feigned calm when beholding the peony flowers, Yin Tingxue’s sorrow as petals scattered in re monts, Min Ning’s unshaken resolve before departing the capital, Zhu E’s struggles and allure during late-night conversations, Qin Qingluo loosing the shattered-arrowed bowstring before bidding farewell...
The surging waves carried away those faces and recollections, pushing them farther and farther into the distance.
Only the sound of the endlessly flowing river remained near his ears...
The past was but a mirage. You crossed one side of the desert only to find another, yet could never retrieve the scenery of that ti. All had passed. All was no more. Why not just let it go?
The current battered Chen Yi’s form. Sword in hand, he struggled desperately, pressing forward against the flow.
The waters of the Huangquan River seed to howl in fury.
More and more currents struck him like a candle trembling in the gale. His body, pierced by Qi Yangjian’s sword, bled profusely, with his lifeblood rging into the river.
The currents tore at Chen Yi, and pain surged through him like needles stabbing from below upward.
Yin Weiyin saw his grimacing face, yet he stubbornly refused to let go of her.
He would not release this powerless, struggling little fish.
A myriad of emotions swept over Yin Weiyin’s heart. It seed as though tears were dissolving into the river waters, while his figure, cutting through waves with the Hou Kang Sword, climbed upward bit by bit.
The fierce currents roared with boundless intensity. Chen Yi pushed onwards while the river waters resisted with all their might, pulling, tearing, shoving, and dragging him.
The crashing of the Huangquan River reverberated in his ears. It sotis taunted, sotis roared angrily, as if determined to rip them apart by sheer force.
"What of reincarnation?"
Amid the chaos, Chen Yi seed to murmur to himself,
"I can still find her."
As his words fell, the sword’s radiance suddenly flared brilliantly, the soaring sword qi cleaving through the river waters – an inch, two inches, up to ten feet.
Chen Yi, carrying Yin Weiyin, leaped forward to escape the Huangquan River’s embrace. But the river, as if enraged beyond asure, parted the sword qi and surged forward in relentless torrents.
Bang!
With a thundering crash, the current slamd into Chen Yi’s body. He groaned in pain as his wounds tore further, a wave of blood loss imdiately engulfing him.
Though he still held firmly onto Yin Weiyin, he was now like a flickering candle in the storm.
Yin Weiyin’s face stread with tears, her hand seemingly loosening its grip little by little.
Let him go back...
Alone...
That would suffice.
Her lips trembled as though she were about to whisper the two words.
"Shut up!"
Chen Yi growled lowly.
Yin Weiyin froze. Her hand did not let go. Instead, Chen Yi grasped her more tightly.
He continued to struggle with all his might, fighting the Huangquan River as fiercely as ever.
Even as the sword’s trembling edge quivered and humd within the water, it remained steadfast in its resistance.
Chen Yi did not know how much longer he could endure, but he moved forward bit by bit.
The currents crashed against his head, his shoulders, his wrists. The pain seed to grind his very heart into dust.
His hands began to tremble.
"Are you giving up here?"
Suddenly, a voice ca from an unknown direction,
"It’s not ti yet."
Chen Yi turned sharply, and he saw a soul erging from the unending cascade of water.
When he got a clear view of the figure’s face, Chen Yi was struck with astonishnt:
"Deng Ai?!"
It was none other than Deng Ai, who had previously leapt willingly into the Huangquan River.
Seeing him, Chen Yi subconsciously blurted out:
"You still rember ?"
"No."
Deng Ai shook his head, rembering neither the past nor even his own na. He was rely a soul on the brink of reincarnation.
Yet Deng Ai gazed deeply at them both and said,
"But that bowl of ng Po Soup – sothing was added to it... it made rember you."
As his words fell, Deng Ai drew a deep breath. Once the Ghost Lord, his baleful aura erupted, scattering the surrounding river waters with its imnse force.
The boundless torrent was instantly pushed back, creating a gaping void nearly ten feet wide.
With his hand on Chen Yi’s back, Deng Ai shoved powerfully.
Chen Yi’s figure surged upward against the current, breaking through the river’s pull.
As Chen Yi looked back, he saw the dark-yellow waters of the river engulfing Deng Ai’s form. As he vanished, Deng Ai seed to wave at them one last ti.
"Goodbye."
............
On the Path of Longevity.
Radiant lights rose with the wind, and an illusory green lotus swayed lightly. The woman who had fallen on the path seed to be rising again.
Brilliant glow spread outward like ripples in water, waves of rosy light undulating.
The Emperor of Great Yu, who was on the verge of pursuing Yu Zhen Celestial Monarch, abruptly halted and turned his gaze, only to see a figure standing firm on the Path of Longevity – a woman of ethereal beauty and grace.
Yin Weiyin’s eyes regained their sparkle. Ard with the Peach Wood Sword, she began to take deliberate steps back along the Path of Longevity.
The Great Yu Emperor’s expression shifted rapidly between dark and light. The shocking turns of events had left him unable to compose himself.
She ca back?
How could she just return like that?
Before his thoughts could coalesce, the Emperor raised his hand decisively.
His Dragon Robe billowed in the wind, exuding an unmatched imperial majesty. Circles of intense energy rippled outward with him as the center.
The massive ghostly sword flew back into his hand. Seeing Yin Weiyin’s face, the Emperor did not utter a word and swung the sword with unrelenting force!
The resulting gale tore the awnings of Ghost City completely, scattering roof tiles and sending stones and debris flying into the air. With overwhelming might, the ghostly sword swept forward, its montum utterly terrifying!
A figure darted out, pulling Yin Weiyin away from the blow. The stream of energy ford a brilliant white wind-line, shielding them from the raging gale.
Wind collided with wind, and the exploding airwaves forced Chen Yi, carrying Yin Weiyin, to retreat again and again!
As he stared at the Emperor, Chen Yi was montarily startled by how much the man resembled King Jing. Yet he quickly regained his composure.
With a faint smile, Chen Yi turned to Yin Weiyin and asked:
"And you let yourself be fooled by him just like that?"
"I... I was only half-fooled."
Yin Weiyin’s reply was hesitant,
"At the last mont, I changed my mind."
Chen Yi chuckled and turned his gaze upward, spotting a crane flapping its wings as it approached. The crane let out an excited cry aid at Yin Weiyin.
"Jade Dew!"
Yin Weiyin recognized the crane and imdiately leapt onto its back. The crane lifted its head and let out a spirited call, while Yu Zhen Celestial Monarch glided gracefully toward them from afar.
The fierce winds gradually subsided.
Yet the Huangquan River still surged in its reverse current, with massive water pillars shooting skyward. The Emperor stood before the river, taking in the dramatic scene.
He had thought that by seizing the Yama Hall and imprisoning King Chujiang, everything was ready. Yet as it turned out, the closer they drew to the final mont, the more unexpected twists arose.
Years of planning should culminate in a single success.
Could it all end in ruin in just one day?
The Emperor cast a cold, sidelong glance at the shadowy figure whose origins were unknown. Clad in dark robes and ard with the Brocade Spring Blade, the figure resembled an officer of the Imperial Guard.
The Emperor suddenly let out a cold laugh.
On his sacred land of governance, there were traitors and rebels of such ilk.
"Then I shall have them all executed."
With a confident and composed gesture, the Emperor raised his hand once more.
Yin Weiyin’s Nascent Soul was still under his control, bound by the Soul-Hooking Chain, ready to be dragged back to the Path of Longevity.
Clang!
The sound of the chain falling empty echoed sharply.
The Emperor’s expression shifted slightly, his head whipping around to locate the source.
He saw that the Nascent Soul, which had been trapped, was now gone. The Soul-Hooking Chain appeared to have been silently severed, its cut clean and smooth with sword qi radiating faintly from its edges!
Another glance revealed a one-ard woman standing atop Ghost City. In her hand was the glowing, ethereal Nascent Soul.
Zhou Yitang thrust her hand out and said:
"Go."
With a burst of light, the Nascent Soul flew forward in an instant, arriving before Yin Weiyin in the blink of an eye.
"It’s you?"
In that mont, Yin Weiyin recognized it. The Nascent Soul resembled the ghostly woman from her mories, though many questions remained unanswered. Yet she instinctively knew who it was.
The Nascent Soul gave her a faint smile and, in the next mont, rged seamlessly into Yin Weiyin’s Divine Sense.
The Nascent Soul once again took its place in the Heart Lake.
Watching this unfold, Chen Yi’s expression grew concerned as he silently recited the Heavenly Eye Opening Technique.
Golden light crossed his pupils, and the scenery within Yin Weiyin’s Heart Lake beca visible to him.
Within her Heart Lake, the Nascent Soul sat regally, exuding unmatched dominance. The lake’s waters rippled outward, and a seed of ignorance, small as a mustard seed, shifted to the side, retreating slightly to make space.
Chen Yi faintly sensed that the seed of ignorance in Yin Weiyin’s Heart Lake seed to be subject to his will.
It felt like an extension of his own body – though it resided within the Heart Lake of this female crown, he could manipulate it as easily as moving his fingers.
But now was not the ti for astonishnt. Chen Yi turned to face the Emperor once again.
The Dragon Robe billowed, its gold-thread embroidery appearing dull and shadowy in the dim light of the underworld. Against the backdrop of the Emperor’s sinister features, a chilling energy arose, more terrifying than before.
After a long silence, the Emperor finally uttered three words:
"Good, good, good."
As these words fell, the Yama Hall, built upon countless bones and flesh, trembled of its own accord!
The deafening quake caused the entire Ghost City to shake violently. Chen Yi steadied himself, watching as the Yama Hall split in two, cleaving cleanly down the middle.
A resplendent golden dragon claw stomped through the Yama Hall’s crimson roof tiles!
Behind the dragon claw erged a massive golden form – shrimp’s eyes, deer’s antlers, an ox’s nose, lion’s mane, fish’s scales, and a serpent’s tail... one feature after another ca into view as it rose from the fractured Yama Hall, encircled by misty purple energy of the underworld and the turbulent waters of the Huangquan River!
A golden dragon, flourishing claws and whiskers, rose from the Yama Hall. Each movent stirred gale-force winds, drifting to the Emperor’s side as though it were an awe-inspiring manifestation of a Golden Body Dharma!
"He actually diverted the underground dragon vein of Great Yu!"
Yu Zhen Celestial Monarch exclaid in shock.
The underground dragon vein represented the fortune of a nation. If the dragon vein shattered, so would the nation’s foundation. Matters involving the dragon vein were of paramount importance; even the most prominent clans would face mass executions for mishandling it. Yet the Emperor, posthumously titled the Filial Emperor, not only seized the Yama Hall but also diverted the Great Yu’s dragon vein.
Was it to claim the Yama Hall that he diverted the dragon vein, or to divert the dragon vein that he seized the Yama Hall? Or perhaps the two were interdependent? No one could say for certain. But what Yu Zhen Celestial Monarch did know was that the diverted dragon vein had been tainted by foul energies, and the dragon that had ford bore an ominous, ghostly aura.
The golden dragon let out a thunderous roar at the four of them!
Thunder bood and cracked instantly, bolts of lightning splitting forth. The strikes were a deep purple, splintering the rooftops beneath their might, scattering tiles and igniting the heavens itself!
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