Chapter 1683: I Have a Dream, Meng Yungui’s Story (Part 3)
The moment Yiluo Heavenly King’s command was issued, Meng Yungui did not retreat but advanced instead, leading the remaining few dozen soldiers of the Yuhua Camp to charge onto the great ship!
Yiluo Heavenly King’s expression twisted strangely. At this moment, Meng Yungui actually dared to charge toward him!
If he charged outward, there was still a chance to escape the net; charging onto the ship was walking straight into the trap!
To risk his own life to rescue these slaves on the ship—this was yet another act that seemed utterly foolish in his eyes.
“A generation’s Heavenly Master, astonishing talent, renowned throughout the world, yet time and again making foolish moves—your reputation far exceeds your true ability! Meng Yungui, you can die now!”
Yiluo Heavenly King let Meng Yungui kill his way onto the ship. There was no need for him to act; the divine demon armies on both sides had already blocked Meng Yungui and those few dozen Yuhua Camp soldiers.
The Divine Martial Guard attacked from behind. This battle had already become a trap to catch a turtle in a jar.
Yiluo Heavenly King watched coldly as Meng Yungui and his men, trapped in the encirclement, continued to fight desperately, trying to reach his side.
The few dozen Yuhua Camp soldiers under Meng Yungui dwindled in number, falling one after another, yet they still held firm around their commander, shielding him from the divine weapons and techniques of the Heavenly Court’s army.
If they couldn’t block them, they used their bodies to block them, their lives to block them!
“Such bravery is admirable.”
Yiluo Heavenly King praised repeatedly, clapping his hands and saying, “Meng Yungui, to have such valiant warriors following you shows that you are indeed a hero. Pity, today you will die here alongside these heroes.”
He still did not act, still watched coldly as the soldiers around Meng Yungui fell one by one, as Meng Yungui’s wounds grew more numerous, as his blood flowed more and more, as his spirit and energy waned.
Yiluo Heavenly King began to move, and as he moved, he grabbed a young boy, smiling, “Is this the kind of human you want to protect?”
The boy trembled all over, not daring to move.
“Hit me once, and I’ll let you go,” Yiluo Heavenly King said to the boy.
The boy opened his mouth, and after a moment, said in a trembling voice, “Master…”
Yiluo Heavenly King opened his mouth and sent the boy into it, laughing heartily, “Is this the kind of clansman you want to protect? They are not your clansmen—they are just a herd of livestock! No, even livestock would struggle before being killed; they are worse than livestock!”
He grabbed an old man again, continuing to undermine Meng Yungui’s conviction: “The humans of the Southern Heaven are maggots. They have no thoughts, no wisdom, just walking meat. And you are willing to die here for this walking meat! Meng Yungui, do you think it’s worth it?”
Meng Yungui fought his way onto the ship, drenched in blood, with only a dozen soldiers left by his side.
Yiluo Heavenly King swallowed the old man in one gulp, suddenly spread his wings, and ordered the Divine Martial Guard army to withdraw. The armies on both sides also retreated on their own.
Meng Yungui panted heavily, his strength completely spent, with little power left. Yet he raised his head and glared fiercely at Yiluo Heavenly King.
Yiluo Heavenly King clasped his hands behind his back and said calmly, “Heavenly Master Meng, if you can defeat me, I will spare all the humans on this ship. Come, make your move.”
Meng Yungui roused his spirit but looked at the soldiers beside him, who were also utterly exhausted.
He hesitated. These soldiers who had accompanied him no longer had the strength to continue fighting.
Suddenly, a thud came from beside him. An old general knelt on the ground, his head drooping, no longer breathing.
Meng Yungui was stunned. This old subordinate, who had always followed him, was covered in wounds. He had long suffered fatal injuries—his Heavenly Palace divine treasury was shattered, his primordial spirit riddled with holes—and now he could hold on no longer, his soul scattering.
Beside the old general, a young human deity swayed, forcing himself to lean on his sword. He could no longer hold on and grinned, “Heavenly Master, I can no longer follow you…”
His eyes widened, and suddenly he drew his sword and slashed it across his own neck, cutting off his head.
The young deity held his own head, and the head smiled, “General, I swear I will not burden the Heavenly Master!”
“Heavenly Master.”
Another soldier of the Yuhua Camp thrust his broken spear into the deck, the spear tip pressed against his own chest: “To have followed the Heavenly Master is the greatest honor of my life! Heavenly Master, until we meet again in the next life!”
He lunged forward, the spear tip piercing his heart, his body standing upright, unyielding.
“We have no strength left to fight. Staying by the Heavenly Master’s side, the Heavenly Master will have to look after us and cannot fight Yiluo with full force!”
The remaining Yuhua Camp soldiers each activated their divine weapons, bowed deeply, and one by one, the divine weapons slew their own primordial spirits.
Meng Yungui’s eyes blurred with blood and tears. The eleven figures standing tall in death and the old subordinate kneeling without breath filled his heart with deep sorrow, yet strangely, with calm.
He blinked hard, forcing the blood and tears from his eyes. At this moment, tears and blood would only blur his vision.
He was not much better off than these old subordinates. His divine treasury and Heavenly Palace were also covered in cracks, and his primordial spirit was on the verge of shattering.
He, too, was not far from death.
“Wait for me, gentlemen. Just a moment.”
He staggered toward Yiluo Heavenly King. At this moment, his aura was intense, mingling with his blood and qi, staining the entire ship crimson!
At this moment, Yiluo Heavenly King was somewhat moved. Meng Yungui was already at the end of his strength.
In this state, Meng Yungui couldn’t even unleash one-tenth of his usual power!
“Numbers are techniques. Follow yin and yang, harmonize with techniques and numbers.”
Meng Yungui walked forward, murmuring under his breath, “Yin and yang are zero and one, base two. The three powers are heaven, earth, and man, base three. The four symbols are the four emperors, base four. The five elements are the five luminaries, base five…”
Yiluo Heavenly King frowned. Meng Yungui was reciting the most basic formulas of mathematical techniques. He had heard of these basic formulas and had studied them.
But the path of mathematical techniques was too tedious. As a demigod, he had not immersed himself in it but had instead focused on cultivating Dao techniques and divine powers.
Meng Yungui seemed to be unconsciously reciting these most basic mathematical formulas, while mobilizing his remaining vital energy and cultivation. Around him, the vital energy gradually transformed into runes, which evolved according to the mathematical laws of various bases.
Yiluo Heavenly King’s expression grew serious. Although he didn’t know what use Meng Yungui’s recitation of these basic mathematical formulas had, he saw Meng Yungui’s runes transforming into Dao patterns!
The Dao patterns around Meng Yungui rapidly combined, forming Dao chains, and the Dao chains were forming a domain!
Meng Yungui’s great mathematical domain deepened layer by layer!
In Meng Yungui’s current state, he didn’t have enough vital energy to unleash such a powerful domain, yet this man kept draining the energy from his primordial spirit and physical body, forcing his domain to grow stronger!
More critically, Yiluo Heavenly King realized that Meng Yungui’s great mathematical domain was specifically targeting his own techniques and divine powers. Every Dao pattern, every Dao chain, was aimed at his weak points!
This strike could kill him!
Yiluo Heavenly King’s eyelids twitched, and he quickly deduced that the most likely outcome was that he and Meng Yungui would perish together!
Finally, Meng Yungui took the last step, completing his great mathematical domain. This final strike was like an ocean of mathematical techniques, filled with profound mathematical principles!
At that moment, Yiluo Heavenly King took a step back, spread his wings, swept up countless humans from the Southern Heaven on the ship, gathered them under his feathers, and rushed toward Meng Yungui!
The mathematical domain suddenly stopped, halting right before the nose of the first Southern Heaven human.
Meng Yungui stood there, his strength suddenly exhausted, and he fell to his knees with a thud.
Yiluo Heavenly King let out a long breath. The humans under his wings fell to the ground one by one. Cold sweat covered his forehead, and he laughed heartily, though his laughter carried a tremor.
“Heavenly Master Meng, so you still have that woman’s soft heart, unable to strike at these livestock.”
His body trembled slightly as he laughed, “If you didn’t care about these livestock, you would have killed me. Hah, but you care too much about the lives of your clansmen. That’s why you humans can never accomplish anything!”
His body stopped trembling, and he stepped forward.
Meng Yungui knelt on the ground, his head bowed.
Yiluo Heavenly King plucked a feather, which turned into a golden sword, and approached him.
Yiluo Heavenly King raised the sword. At that moment, an old man on the ground knelt, crawling tremblingly to his feet, blocking Meng Yungui’s path, and looked up, saying, “Master, please don’t kill him…”
Yiluo Heavenly King frowned, looking at this old farmer, clearly a man who had spent his life facing the soil with his back to the sky.
“Say that again?” Yiluo Heavenly King said coldly.
The old farmer said, “Master, please don’t kill…”
Swish.
Yiluo Heavenly King swung his sword, and the old farmer’s head rolled to the side. Yiluo Heavenly King kicked his body away and raised his sword again.
At that moment, a young man stood up, spread his arms, and blocked Meng Yungui’s path: “Master, please don’t kill him!”
Yiluo Heavenly King looked at the young man in surprise, laughing, “You dare to stand and speak to me?”
“Master…”
The young man had barely spoken when the sword light fell, and he became a headless corpse.
Yiluo Heavenly King looked around, chuckling darkly, “Who else dares to stop me from killing him?”
Among the crowd of Southern Heaven humans, figures silently stepped forward one by one, blocking Meng Yungui’s path. There were old people, women and children, and strong men. They were silent, and not one of them knelt.
More and more people stood in front of Meng Yungui, so many that Yiluo Heavenly King frowned, his anger burning higher and higher.
“You maggots! How dare you defy divine might!”
Yiluo Heavenly King flew into a rage, laughing loudly, “There are so many heavens in the Southern Heaven; even if I kill all of you, there will still be plenty of slaves and servants!”
He erupted with his aura, sending all the Southern Heaven humans blocking his way flying. Suddenly, those humans he had sent flying were caught midair by a gentle force.
Yiluo Heavenly King snorted coldly, looked up sharply at Bai Yuqiong approaching, and said calmly, “Heavenly Master Bai, are you also going to rebel for these maggots like Meng Yungui?”
Behind him, the Southern Heaven Gate in the Ancestral Land blazed with fire, radiating endless Dao might!
Bai Yuqiong looked straight ahead, meeting Yiluo Heavenly King’s eyes, and said softly, “The Heavenly King’s divine powers are unmatched. You have subdued the rebel Meng Yungui. Killing him would only dirty the Heavenly King’s hands. Let me do it. That villain Meng is skilled in mathematical techniques; it’s hard to say if he has hidden a trick.”
Yiluo Heavenly King raised an eyebrow, smiling ambiguously, “Heavenly Master Bai wants to personally execute that villain Meng? I heard you both came from the Dao Sect, fellow disciples. Can you bring yourself to do it?”
Bai Yuqiong stepped forward, arriving before Meng Yungui, drawing a divine sword, and pressing it against his chest.
Seeing her back to him, Yiluo Heavenly King grew alert and quietly stepped back, lest she suddenly turn and strike.
He was cautious by nature and didn’t trust Bai Yuqiong.
Bai Yuqiong’s gaze fell on Meng Yungui’s face. At this moment, Meng Yungui was actually smiling, looking up at her with a grin.
“Senior Brother, why did you choose this moment to betray the Heavenly Court?”
Bai Yuqiong’s right hand, gripping the sword, turned white from the force. She lowered her voice, gritting her teeth, “This isn’t like you! You can’t save the Southern Heaven!”
“I can. They stood up.”
Meng Yungui coughed up blood repeatedly, reached out, grabbed her sword, and slowly, with effort, pushed it toward his own heart, gasping, “They still have hope. Junior Sister, kill me. You can gain Yiluo’s trust. You can protect these awakened clansmen. You have a chance to kill Yiluo…”
“No, I don’t!”
Bai Yuqiong tried to keep her voice as low as possible, pulling the sword back, not letting it pierce his heart, her voice choked with tears, “I can’t fight the Southern Heaven Gate, Senior Brother! I can’t fight the Divine Martial Guard! I can’t fight Yiluo Heavenly King!”
“You can.”
Meng Yungui’s finger broke, but he still used his last strength to grab her sword and drive it into his heart, grinning, “You asked why I betrayed the Heavenly Court. I’ll tell you. Someone told me he had a dream. In his dream, humanity stood up, and once they stood, they never knelt again. He said in his dream, humanity was no longer slaves, no longer food for gods and demons. In his dream, humanity controlled their own destiny. This kind of dream…”
Blood flowed from his mouth, and his words were slurred with it: “I had it too. When I became a human god and ascended to the Heavenly Court, I carried this dream. Later, I thought it was childish and forgot it. Until I came to the Southern Heaven and saw everything here, this dream was reborn like a demon in my Dao heart.”
Tears fell drop by drop, and he looked up at Bai Yuqiong, his eyes pleading: “Junior Sister Bai, I only realized just now that it wasn’t a demon in my Dao heart. Before, I always thought about how to cultivate the mathematical domain, but I could never achieve it. When this dream was reborn, it came naturally. My fear before was the true demon…”
His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he coughed up large mouthfuls of blood, swallowing the rest of his words.
In the distance, Yiluo Heavenly King sneered, “Heavenly Master Bai, what are you waiting for?”
Meng Yungui used his last strength, grabbing Bai Yuqiong’s sword and driving it into his heart.
Bai Yuqiong’s hand trembled, but this time she didn’t stop him.
Meng Yungui sat calmly on the ground, raised a finger, and pointed at the Southern Heaven people.
A smile appeared on his face as he murmured, “What humans can do without learning is their innate ability. What they know without thinking is their innate knowledge… As children, all know to love their parents… As they grow, all know to respect their elders… Loving kin is benevolence; respecting elders is righteousness. Nothing more—extend it to all under heaven…”
His head tilted to the side, and he fell to the ground.
Bai Yuqiong pulled the sword from his chest, turned around, and looked at the Southern Heaven people.
Meng Yungui had taught her one last lesson before he died. That was…
Every person has the conscience within their heart. The people of the Southern Heaven were not beyond redemption.