Chapter 1684: Heavenly Gate Dao Fire, Burning My Sparrow Soul
As Meng Yungui died, his primordial spirit immediately collapsed, his soul shattered, turning into streams of black sand that flew out from his corpse. His injuries were too severe; the spirit and soul within his primordial spirit were already broken. He should have died long ago, but his cultivation was so powerful that he had forcibly held on.
"Grandmaster Bai, you have finally set my mind at ease."
Yiluo Heavenly King, seeing the drifting black sand of soul from Meng Yungui's body, let out a long sigh of relief. He strode over, smiling, "Before this journey, His Majesty instructed me that the Third Grandmaster, Bai Yuqiong, is of the human race and has close ties with Meng Yungui, so I must be wary. Throughout this trip, I have been suspicious and wary of you, testing you repeatedly. Grandmaster Bai understands righteousness and personally slew the traitor Meng Yungui, earning my admiration. I can now fully relax."
Bai Yuqiong lowered her head, looking at the sword in her hand, her voice filled with coldness: "That traitor Meng did not recognize the times, did not understand the situation, lacked loyalty to his sovereign, and, having received the grace of the Heavenly Court, had no thought of repaying it—worse than a beast. Naturally, I had to kill him and sever all ties."
Tears glistened in her eyes, but strangely, the falling tears turned into flames floating beside her cheeks.
Her voice was cold, but within her body, a soul burning with blazing sacred fire struggled and roared!
Her heart was filled with endless sorrow and grief, making this unyielding soul grow hotter and fiercer, as if it wanted to break free from the restraints of her flesh, fully unleash its ferocious claws, tear through her body, and release infinite power!
Bai Yuqiong raised her other hand, gripping tightly the jade pendant hanging around her neck.
This jade pendant was given to her by Qin Mu to break the reincarnation techniques of the Yin Heavenly Sovereign. Once, this pendant had helped her reincarnate ninety-eight times, ensuring her soul remained undying.
This jade pendant was her inner demon, and also her heart knot.
I am me!
The one and only me!
There is only one Bai Yuqiong in this world!
I am not the Southern Emperor!
She had once said this to Qin Mu, resolutely, full of confidence.
And yet…
Bai Yuqiong looked at Meng Yungui's corpse ahead, then at the frightened Southern Heaven people around her. The Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird was not only the emperor of the Southern Extreme Heaven but also the emperor of the Southern Heaven.
As the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird, failing to protect the Southern Extreme Heaven, failing to protect its people, was a dereliction of duty, a failure, a mistake made by the Southern Emperor. And all of this should not be borne by the people of the Southern Heaven, nor should it be borne by Meng Yungui!
The people of the Southern Heaven had never done anything wrong; they just lived there. Meng Yungui had never done anything wrong either; he just happened to come to the Southern Heaven!
Bai Yuqiong's hand holding the jade pendant trembled: "I don't want to become the Southern Emperor, don't want to become part of the Southern Emperor. I am me…"
Drops of tears turned into sacred fire drifted toward the jade pendant, sinking into it.
Yiluo Heavenly King walked over, smiling, "His Majesty entrusted me with the control of the Southern Heavenly Gate to guard against you, but you have done well, not disappointing His Majesty. Grandmaster Bai, in the future, you will become a Heavenly Sovereign, just like Fire Heavenly Sovereign. Fire Heavenly Sovereign killed Cloud Heavenly Sovereign and gained His Majesty's favor, but Fire Heavenly Sovereign is ambitious. Do not repeat his mistakes."
"Will I become another Fire Heavenly Sovereign?" Bai Yuqiong revealed a smile.
Inside her, the mad soul's flames grew fiercer, harder to suppress.
That was something she dared not face—the soul of the Southern Emperor. This soul showed signs of awakening on its own, without needing the final reincarnation!
Was it the conscience Meng Yungui spoke of?
Was it Meng Yungui's death that awakened the conscience of the Southern Heaven people, and also awakened her own conscience?
Was this conscience causing the Southern Emperor's soul within her to awaken, to erupt with blazing flames, to burn her flesh and break free from its bonds?
Wild fire scorched her Dao heart, scorched her soul, making her want to release this uncontrollable fire, release the infinite energy in her chest, to protect the Southern Heaven in Meng Yungui's place, to do what the Southern Emperor had never done.
But she didn't want to die.
If she released the Southern Emperor's soul, Bai Yuqiong would no longer be Bai Yuqiong; she would be the Southern Emperor!
Yiluo Heavenly King walked to her side, looking at the struggling Southern Heaven people, and said, "You will do better than Fire Heavenly Sovereign. All of you, kneel!"
His face darkened as he shouted at the Southern Heaven people: "The farce is over. All of you, kneel."
But before him, no one knelt.
Yiluo Heavenly King's face grew even darker, sneering, "You maggots, do you want to die?"
Suddenly, a young boy picked up a piece of broken wood and, with all his strength, threw it, hitting Yiluo Heavenly King on the forehead.
This strike was nothing to someone of Yiluo Heavenly King's level, but it was like touching a dragon's reverse scale, a great humiliation, suddenly igniting the fury in his chest!
Yiluo Heavenly King raised his hand, grabbing the boy's throat, lifting him up, and said coldly, "Hit me again!"
The boy, struggling to breathe, raised his fist, trying to punch him in the face.
Yiluo Heavenly King grinned, opening his mouth wide: "Pitiful thing, without any power…"
Just as he was about to swallow the boy, a flash of sword light passed, and the hand holding the boy's neck was severed at the wrist!
"I am not Fire Heavenly Sovereign!"
An extremely angry voice sounded in his ear, and in an instant, sword light pierced his brow, his eyes, his throat, his chest!
The sword light in Bai Yuqiong's hand was incredibly agile, in a flash piercing into his body, wantonly destroying his flesh, penetrating his divine treasures, his heavenly palaces, straight to his primordial spirit!
Yiluo Heavenly King roared, his wings spreading, countless feathers flying like golden flying swords, blocking Bai Yuqiong's sword light!
Boom!
His primordial spirit soared into the sky, his heavenly palaces arranged in layers, forming a small Heavenly Court!
Those who had not cultivated eighteen heavenly palaces were said to have a small Heavenly Court. Yiluo Heavenly King was the Northern Heavenly King of the Heavenly Court, the most honored among the Four Heavenly Kings. His heavenly palaces numbered as many as six!
Six heavenly palaces forming a small Heavenly Court was enough to be considered top-tier combat power in the Heavenly Court!
But just as his small Heavenly Court appeared, clouds rose from Bai Yuqiong's head, and from the clouds, four heavenly palaces emerged. From each palace, a Bai Yuqiong stood up, flying forward with unpredictable divine abilities!
These Bai Yuqiongs were all real, each with an independent body and independent primordial spirit—this was the unique secret of the Qionghua Palace!
Bai Yuqiong had reincarnated one hundred and ninety-seven times. Over those one hundred and ninety-seven lifetimes, to escape the death calamity brought by the Yin Heavenly Sovereign, she had cultivated too many techniques and divine abilities.
She had once studied under Moon Heavenly Sovereign, learning the incomplete Ultimate Void Sutra. She had also joined the Daoist sect as a nun, the Buddhist sect as a Bodhisattva, and had even been a disciple of various emperors of the Heavenly Court!
Her techniques were strange, based on Moon Heavenly Sovereign's Ultimate Void Sutra, fused with various other techniques. The spatial applications were naturally inferior to the current Ultimate Void Sutra, but she had integrated too many things, forging her own unique path.
Five Bai Yuqiongs attacked in an instant, ignoring Yiluo's small Heavenly Court and primordial spirit, heading straight for his physical body.
Yiluo Heavenly King's body was injured, and he immediately unleashed all his combat power, no longer restraining his flesh. Layers of golden feathers burst from within him, his body growing larger!
He was from the half-divine race, the chieftain of the Golden-Winged Roc clan from the Yuan Realm, with divine sinews and demonic bones. His muscles bulged, his wings grew wider, covering more ground!
As a Heavenly King responsible for the Heavenly Court's combat functions, he had experienced countless battles. His combat experience and ability far surpassed those of a Grandmaster!
But before his body could fully shed its human form, one of the Bai Yuqiongs pierced through his roc head, pinned his head down, and slammed him hard onto the deck of the giant ship!
The other four Bai Yuqiongs formed a formation. Before Yiluo Heavenly King could stand, the formation erupted. In an instant, he suffered countless attacks, his body exploding, blood and flesh splattering!
Yiluo Heavenly King's primordial spirit transformed into a Golden-Winged Roc, spreading its wings, carrying the small Heavenly Court of six palaces as it fled, shouting, "Divine Martial Guards! Activate the Southern Heavenly Gate! Suppress and kill the traitor Bai Yuqiong!"
The twenty thousand soldiers of the Divine and Martial Guards roared in unison, unleashing their power to activate the Ancestral Court's Southern Heavenly Gate!
Between the two mountain ranges of the Southern Heavenly Gate, Dao fire erupted instantly to its peak. The flames of Dao fire swept across the sky, boiling away the waters of the Heavenly River, twisting and collapsing the starry sky of the Flame Bright Realm!
Tongues of fire licked the starry sky, licked the Heavenly River, turning everything in their path to nothing!
The five Bai Yuqiongs abandoned their pursuit of Yiluo Heavenly King's primordial spirit and rushed to block the Southern Heavenly Gate!
She could dodge the Dao fire's power, but the Southern Heaven civilians on this ship could not. She could not let Meng Yungui's death, which had awakened the Southern Heaven people's conscience, be in vain!
Her aura exploded completely, her divine abilities meeting the Dao might of the Southern Heavenly Gate!
The blazing Dao fire surged forward, blocked by the five Bai Yuqiongs. The Dao fire hit an invisible wall, constantly impacting, constantly shaking, trying to break through.
Before the wall stood Bai Yuqiong's figure; behind Bai Yuqiong were the living beings on the ship.
The bodies of the five Bai Yuqiongs were scorched, their snow-white arms turning black as charcoal. Suddenly, one Bai Yuqiong turned to ash, swallowed by the Dao fire. Then the second Bai Yuqiong was dissolved by the Dao fire, then the third, the fourth!
Soon, only one Bai Yuqiong remained on the ship, her body trembling, unable to hold on any longer.
Yiluo Heavenly King's primordial spirit shouted, "Burn her to death! Burn these maggots on the ship!"
Frantic, he mobilized the other armies, ordering tens of thousands of Heavenly Court gods and demons to activate the Ancestral Court's Southern Heavenly Gate together.
The Ancestral Court's Southern Heavenly Gate was a naturally formed gate of the Dao, containing the most sacred Dao fire. Even the twenty thousand Divine and Martial Guards, all at the Jade Capital, Lingxiao, or even Imperial Throne levels, could not fully unleash the gate's power.
Now, with tens of thousands of other gods and demons added, the power of the Ancestral Court's Southern Heavenly Gate skyrocketed!
Bai Yuqiong was pushed back, her body trembling more and more. She had retreated to the front of the Southern Heaven people on the ship, her foot stepping on the hem of Meng Yungui's robe.
Bai Yuqiong wept bitterly, grabbing the reincarnation jade pendant on her chest. Her heart trembled, and she suddenly exerted force.
"I am Bai Yuqiong!"
The Dao fire of the Ancestral Court's Southern Heavenly Gate swallowed her. From the flames came her voice: "I am Bai Yuqiong of the human race!"
The cry was clear, somewhat like a phoenix's call, but different.
Although the Dao fire swallowed her, it could no longer advance a single step. Yiluo Heavenly King and countless Heavenly Court gods and demons saw Bai Yuqiong's figure standing within the Dao fire, still not burned to ashes.
The woman bathed in the Dao fire, her body emitting an unimaginable heat, unimaginable flames, connecting and merging with the Dao fire of the Ancestral Court's Southern Heavenly Gate.
Inside her, something seemed to awaken suddenly, tearing at her shell, tearing at her flesh, growing out from within her, escaping.
Then, the gods of the Heavenly Court saw Bai Yuqiong's body begin to change. Gorgeous feathers emerged from her body, appearing exceptionally beautiful even in the Dao fire of the Southern Heavenly Gate.
"It's a phoenix!" a general shouted.
"Not a phoenix! A phoenix has flesh and blood!"
Yiluo Heavenly King, feeling the fear of a natural enemy, shouted, "It's a Vermilion Bird! Quickly—shut down the Southern Heavenly Gate! The Dao fire cannot harm her; instead, it boosts her power!"
At that moment, all the gods and demons saw a magnificent Vermilion Bird burst from Bai Yuqiong's body within the Dao fire, breaking free from her physical restraints, spreading its dazzling wings in the flames.
In that instant, all the Heavenly Court gods and demons controlling the Southern Heavenly Gate felt they had lost control of it. The power of the Dao fire within the gate was greater than ever, but the one controlling this gate of the Dao was no longer them.
"Retreat—"
Yiluo Heavenly King roared, spreading his wings and fleeing with his heavenly palaces!
On a distant tower ship, the usually mad Shang Pingyin suddenly snapped to his senses and shouted, "Do not retreat! Form a formation to resist immediately!"
But it was too late.
Yiluo Heavenly King's command became a death sentence for the Heavenly Court army. If they had not retreated and formed a formation, they could have resisted the Dao fire of the Ancestral Court's Southern Heavenly Gate.
Their strength was immense, and the Heavenly Court's formations were profound, though not as exquisite as the Yan Kang formations. In formation, they could have fought the Vermilion Bird.
But Yiluo Heavenly King was not a Grandmaster; his ability to assess the situation was inferior to Shang Pingyin's.
This retreat, without the protection of a formation, allowed the Vermilion Bird to flap its wings. The Dao fire of the Southern Heavenly Gate turned, surging forth, drowning everyone!
Countless Heavenly Court gods and demons struggled and fled within the Dao fire, turning to ash as they ran. Many primordial spirits left their bodies, but they could not escape the Dao fire before turning to dust!
"I am Bai Yuqiong!"
The Vermilion Bird's cry echoed through the sky. The massive figure, burning with Dao fire, flew through the sea of flames formed by the Southern Heavenly Gate and the Dao fire, flapping its wings to chase Yiluo Heavenly King, who had transformed into a roc carrying his heavenly palaces as he fled!
The fastest god under heaven was not the Nine-Headed Phoenix, Red Emperor Qi Xiayu, nor the ancient god Great Sun Star Lord, famed for speed, nor the chieftain of the Golden-Winged Roc clan, Yiluo Heavenly King.
It was the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird, flying with Dao fire!
The Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird, when flying, twisted countless spaces with its Dao fire, arriving in a few flaps!
"I am Bai Yuqiong, Bai Yuqiong of the human race!"
The Vermilion Bird caught up to Yiluo Heavenly King's primordial spirit in a few flaps. In a few strikes, Yiluo Heavenly King's primordial spirit was torn apart, turned to ash by the Dao fire, becoming black sand of soul.
The Vermilion Bird flew back, landing on the bow of the slave ship. Its body shrank, and it cried to the sky: "I am Bai Yuqiong, Bai Yuqiong of the human race—"
Its eyes showed confusion, various memories flooding in chaotically, making its mind a mess.
"I am Bai Yuqiong, Bai Yuqiong of the human race…"
It seemed to only know how to repeat this phrase, not understanding its meaning, only able to cry out again and again, trying hard to recall the past.
Behind it, a little girl from the Southern Heaven human race bravely stepped forward, tremblingly reaching out her hand. The Dao fire was not as hot as she had imagined; instead, it was quite gentle.
The little girl gently stroked its feathers, trying to calm it down.
It turned its head, looking at the girl, its eyes still confused: "I am Bai Yuqiong, Bai Yuqiong of the human race…"
"You are Bai Yuqiong of the human race," the girl said to it.
The Vermilion Bird quieted down.
The Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird had tens of billions of years of memories. When the Vermilion Bird's soul awakened, the Southern Emperor's memories also awakened.
Bai Yuqiong's mere one hundred and ninety-seven lifetimes of memories were completely scattered, all kinds of memories jumbled together.
She could no longer remember who she was.
"I am Bai Yuqiong," the Vermilion Bird would occasionally say.
She only remembered a man's voice in her heart, a voice that became a belief, telling her to protect the land of the Southern Heaven and the people on it.
—Why are my eyes full of tears? Because that fool Zhai Zhu threw a handful of sand into my eyes… Well, Zhai Zhu quietly asks for monthly votes for The Legend of Mu. Dear readers, if you have any, please cast them~~~