Chapter 1924: Choice (Part 1)
Having obtained the Cosmic Thorn, Xia Qingyue used it for the first time, and the place she went to was the Dragon God Realm.
Before the Reincarnation Forbidden Land, facing the isolation barrier personally set up by Long Huang, she passed through it without leaving a trace using the Cosmic Thorn, stepping into the Reincarnation Forbidden Land that had once belonged only to Shen Xi.
At that time, the Reincarnation Forbidden Land was already devoid of holy light, a barren wasteland.
She walked silently until she reached the place where Shen Xi had once lived.
Ahead, the only patch of blooming flowers stood out conspicuously.
And at the center of this flower cluster was a scattered pool of bloodstains. Many years had passed, yet these bloodstains remained undisturbed, still releasing a faint aura of light.
"Everything was not an illusion or a subjective judgment." She murmured softly to herself. "Long Bai's hatred for him... far exceeds the worst scenario I imagined."
"If not for Jie Tian Mo Di's return to the world, he might have long ago..." She closed her eyes, briefly concentrating. Lingering in her heart was a cold sense of lingering fear.
Yes, without this crimson calamity, given Long Bai's hatred for Yun Che, he would have surely killed Yun Che long ago... No one could have stopped him.
"Fortunately, there is still the Evil Infant."
This was the greatest comfort, and besides Qianye Ying'er, it was the greatest protective charm by Yun Che's side.
Her divine perception slowly swept across this barren land. After a moment, her gaze fell upon a pile of shattered bamboo.
That was the bamboo house that had once belonged only to Shen Xi, and also the place where she and Yun Che had united. Now, it had become a pile of broken bamboo.
Xia Qingyue moved her figure, her finger gently tapping. A relatively intact bamboo tablet flew up from the debris and landed in Xia Qingyue's hand.
On the bamboo tablet were two lines of exquisitely elegant characters:
"Strange clouds and chaotic winds brush past the misty haze,
With Xi, embracing ten thousand flowers in slumber."
"..." Yun Che's expression shifted... This was a verse he had casually recited after a passionate encounter with Shen Xi back then. Shen Xi had laughed it off at the time, neither expressing like nor dislike.
Unexpectedly, she had secretly inscribed it on a bamboo tablet. And it seemed she had done so after he left the Reincarnation Forbidden Land.
Was it... because she missed him?
However, when he later entered the Reincarnation Forbidden Land with Qianye Ying'er, he did not find this bamboo tablet. Instead, deep underground, he discovered two bamboo tablets that were clearly buried deep by Shen Xi.
One was inscribed with "Xi," and the other with "Yun."
Xia Qingyue's gaze lingered on the bamboo tablet for a long time, but instead of putting it back, she tucked it away.
Yun Che: "...?"
Without staying too long, Xia Qingyue turned around. The Cosmic Thorn in her hand faintly shimmered with a crimson divine light... Suddenly, the divine light dissipated. She refocused her gaze, landing on the bloodstains left behind by Shen Xi.
She raised her jade hand, her five fingers gently gathering. A purple light covered the bloodstains, lifting a dozen or so drops of blood, which were gently enveloped in the purple light, then disappeared into her palm.
The bloodstains on the ground remained, only appearing much more "dried up."
"Hope... I will never need to use it." With a soft whisper, her figure vanished from the Reincarnation Forbidden Land.
Leaving no trace of ever having been there.
…………
South of the Southern Divine Realm, in a remote lower realm space.
Xia Qingyue stood in the vast cosmic space. Ahead of her was a small planet flowing with dreamlike blue light.
"A planet primarily composed of water. Similar appearance and aura, similar star region environment." She gazed from afar, softly murmuring its name: "Tianshui Star..."
"A perfect enough choice." She closed her beautiful eyes, her voice slightly bitter. "But for you all, it is too cruel and unfair."
"I only hope... that everything is just me worrying for nothing."
…………
The memories of nothingness traced back to the time after the great upheaval.
Yun Che saw that after he had been teleported away from the brink of death at the edge of chaos, Xia Qingyue had frantically searched for him like a madwoman. Evading everyone's notice, she used the Cosmic Thorn to perform dozens of spatial shifts, sweeping her divine perception across dozens of star regions.
Time and again, she found nothing. Finally, on the last attempt, she forcibly restrained her impulse to continue searching.
Because she had to preserve the spatial divine power of the Cosmic Thorn.
She came to the east of the Eastern Divine Realm, to her homeland... Lan Ji Star.
Holding the Cosmic Thorn, the purple light in her eyes was so intense that her pupils turned into deep emerald.
All her power surged wildly, pouring into the Cosmic Thorn without reservation.
"Spirit of the Cosmic Thorn... I beg you... Awaken!"
One breath... two breaths... ten breaths... Finally, the Cosmic Thorn let out a piercing screech like a lament. The crimson divine light, symbolizing the strongest spatial divine power of the present era, cascaded down, enveloping the entire Lan Ji Star.
A spatial passage spanning nearly half of chaos was also being slowly carved open at this moment.
The other end of the spatial passage was to the south of the Southern Divine Realm, where Tianshui Star was located.
Just as the entire Lan Ji Star was completely shrouded in crimson divine light, the Cosmic Thorn suddenly began to tremble violently, and its mournful sound grew increasingly weak and obscure.
Shui Meiyin had once told Yun Che that using the power of primal chaos as a medium to forcibly awaken the sleeping thorn spirit, and then using the temporarily awakened thorn spirit to forcibly drive the spatial divine power of the Cosmic Thorn, would cause severe damage to the already frail Cosmic Thorn spirit.
But even with such a cost... swapping the spaces of two planets across nearly half of chaos was still extremely difficult. It was what Shui Meiyin had called a "miracle" that might never be replicated again.
And now, Yun Che was truly witnessing... the cost of this miracle was far more than just the severe damage to the Cosmic Thorn spirit.
The Cosmic Thorn's mournful cry grew gradually sharper, piercing the soul. If this planet transfer failed, there would be no second chance. Xia Qingyue's purple eyes turned cold abruptly, and a mouthful of blood violently spurted out, splattering onto the Cosmic Thorn.
At the same time, her body also shattered like a purple crystal, bursting forth with myriad intense purple beams... so dense that they pierced through the crimson divine light of the Cosmic Thorn.
And this was the fleeting flash of Purple Que Divine Radiance captured by the Hengying Stone.
Although the fierce purple light only appeared briefly, it instantly surged the Cosmic Thorn's spatial divine power... Simultaneously, Xia Qingyue's aura suddenly collapsed.
The star region shook, the crimson divine light quickly dissipated. Ahead, the space still held a water-blue planet, but it was no longer Lan Ji Star.
However, from a distance, Lan Ji Star and Tianshui Star were too similar. Even Xia Qingyue experienced moments of disorientation, wondering if the transfer had failed.
Her face turned deathly pale, and her body could not even withstand the incoming spatial storms, constantly swaying and trembling. Blood rapidly spread across her purple robe, staining more than half of it red within moments.
The purple light in her eyes quickly faded. She weakly murmured to herself, "This sin... is unforgivable... Only the rest of my life... spent alongside him to repay..."
She could no longer hold on. The Cosmic Thorn flickered with faint red light, taking her back to the Yue Shen Realm.
Bang!!
Returning to the Yue Shen bedchamber, she fell heavily to her knees. Her purple robe was completely soaked in blood, no longer retaining any trace of its former color.
After gasping for breath for a long time, she struggled to rise. Her delicate hand gently waved, and a pre-prepared purple profound formation lit up beneath her, then her entire body was submerged in the purple light.
But this respite of hers had not even lasted ten hours before it was forcibly interrupted.
The aura of Lian Yue rapidly approached... Her previous order had been not to disturb her unless there was news of Yun Che.
Within the profound formation, her bloodstained robes shattered completely, her stunning ice-like skin and jade bones briefly revealed before being covered by a new purple robe.
What Lian Yue brought was news that Zhou Tian Shen Di and Long Huang were jointly driving a ship toward Lan Ji Star.
Her beautiful eyes opened, and purple light reappeared in her pupils.
The light of the profound formation faded. She stood up. "Order Yue Wuji to immediately leave the realm with me!"
This calamity came far too quickly.
Her Purple Que Divine Power, which had only partially recovered, was fully exerted on the surface of her body. In the current situation, she absolutely could not let anyone see her extreme weakness.
And Yun Che could never have dreamed that back then, outside the destroyed "Lan Ji Star," the Xia Qingyue he faced was in such an extremely weakened state.
Lan Ji Star was destroyed, the Xuan Yin Jade shattered, and Yun Che escaped in a way she had not planned... She returned to the Yue Shen Realm, but no longer had the strength to search for Yun Che's whereabouts.
"I need to go into seclusion for a while. Until I emerge, all major and minor matters will be decided by Yaoyue and Yue Wuji. Unless it is a monumental event, do not disturb me."
"Yes." Jin Yue beside her obediently responded as always.
But this time, looking at Xia Qingyue's back, she was clearly dazed for a long time.
She felt that Xia Qingyue seemed exceptionally tired... a fatigue so deep that even someone as powerful as her could no longer hide it.
…………
The scene shifted again. Xia Qingyue, who was in seclusion, woke from a dream, her face covered in tear stains.
"No... this isn't real... it can't be real!" She reached up to cover her forehead, her voice filled with unbearable pain.
What... did she dream of?
"It's just... a dream."
The tear stains faded, and she told herself that.
But soon, a second, third, fourth time...
She woke from the same dream, each time clearer than the last.
Her profound power and internal injuries had still not fully recovered. Amidst an unshakable unease, she ended her seclusion early.
Stepping out of the barrier, Jin Yue was waiting for her outside. She asked Jin Yue about a few recent events, but then heard her gasp in surprise.
"Master, your mirror... is cracked."
She lowered her gaze to her neck. The bronze mirror left by Yue Wugou had a long, thin crack appearing on it.
She froze there. After a long while, she held the bronze mirror in her palm and gently opened it... Then, as if struck by lightning, her entire body stiffened, and her pupils noticeably contracted.
Once, the bronze mirror had engraved profound images of four people: Xia Hongyi, Yue Wugou, and the young Xia Qingyue and Xia Yuanba.
But now, the profound images in the bronze mirror only showed three... only she had disappeared.
The long, thin crack also ran exactly through the position where her image had once been.
It mercilessly reflected the cruel dream she had refused to believe.
Her palm slowly clenched. Wisps of purple light surged, wanting to destroy the bronze mirror on the spot... But in the end, she could not bring herself to do it. Only a long, drawn-out sigh escaped her.
"Jin Yue," she closed the bronze mirror, her hand waved, and actually pushed it toward Jin Yue: "Help me destroy it."
With those words, her figure had already drifted away, as if she couldn't bear to witness its destruction.
"Ah?" Jin Yue hurriedly caught it, her face showing a long-lasting bewilderment.
…………
When dreams connected with reality, she lost her last reason to deceive herself.
She knelt before the graves of Yue Wuyai and Yue Wugou, accompanied only by the lonely sound of the wind.
"It was me... who harmed you... It was me..."
Over and over, she murmured words that no one else could ever truly understand.
"The world exists through balance. Where there is life, there is death; where there is light, there is darkness. Fate also has its balance..." She softly recited the words once spoken by Jie Tian Mo Di. "So you had already told me the answer."
"No wonder you said that I... am the most pitiful person in this world."
She extended her jade hand. A teardrop fell into her palm, refracting a chilling watery light.
"I never thought... there would come a day... when I loathe my own existence so much..."
"Carrying the sins of countless lives on Tianshui Star, I thought I had already lost the right to human dignity... But it turns out... I am not even human... but merely... a tool... a wish... a vessel..."
"Heh... heh..." She laughed, but her laughter was colder and more desolate than when she had wept heartbrokenly.
Tool?
Wish?
Vessel?
Yun Che stared blankly, listening.
What... is she saying!?
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[1] Chapter 1533
[2] Chapter 1591