Chapter 666: The Final Choice
The iron spear was pulled inch by inch from the Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress’s abdomen, like a fresh bamboo shoot emerging from the muddy ground of a forest after rain. Yet what it brought forth was not dewdrops, but blood. Phoenix blood soaked the iron spear, soaked her hands, and fell upon the stone slabs of the peak, burning fiercely like sacred flames.
In the firelight, her silhouette was exceptionally clear, her wildly dancing black hair and phoenix wings behind her rendered profoundly dark.
A violent, furious, nearly maddened phoenix cry spread from the peak of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum to every corner of the world. In an instant, it enveloped the entire capital city. Many cultivators of lower realms were directly knocked unconscious by the sound; those closer even exploded into clouds of blood mist.
The iron spear was finally fully withdrawn, grasped in the Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress’s hand.
She was drenched in blood, standing atop the Heavenly Book Mausoleum peak, swaying as if about to fall.
The night sky was cloudless, yet suddenly raindrops began to fall, landing on her peerlessly beautiful face.
It seemed that in the next moment, she would collapse. But in the end, she did not.
With a crack, lightning struck, illuminating the peak of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, driving away the raindrops, and revealing the scene at the summit to all.
Along with the lightning came the iron spear.
The Frost Remnant Divine Spear landed on the peak of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, still steadily held in her left hand.
The mountain trembled violently for an instant.
She swung her right hand, lifting the Heavenly Book Stele and smashing it into the darkness before the Heavenly Book Mausoleum.
The darkness seemed empty and void, but the Illumination Clear Stele tore through the air, forcibly opening a passage in the night sky, arriving before the ruins of the Southern City several miles away.
The green leaf on the Heavenly Book Stele shattered along with it, scattering into countless threads that coiled toward the Pope.
The Pope reached out, retrieved the basin of green leaves from the night sky, and placed it before himself.
Silently, a clear light flashed and vanished. The Illumination Clear Stele disappeared, returning to its place within the Heavenly Book Mausoleum.
That green leaf had truly vanished. Only three leaves remained in the basin.
…
…
The Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress’s body, Dao, and soul were all grievously wounded. The last trace of her vitality was gone, about to fade into the sea of stars.
This was something everyone had confirmed. Yet people also knew that as the true ruler of this continent after Emperor Taizong, a great figure whose traces could never be erased from human history, the Sacred Empress would never die quietly—such was not in her nature.
Before she departed this world and returned to the sea of stars, what mad act would she commit? What things would she drag into destruction with her? No one knew.
The Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress stood atop the peak, looking down upon the world, her expression indifferent, her body drenched in blood, like a deity, yet also a demon.
The entire world began to tremble in fear in advance.
Lotus seas stirred with waves, lotus blossoms bloomed, surrounding the endless green with layer upon layer of encirclement.
After doing these things, Bie Yang Hong, supporting his grievously wounded body, blocked himself before Mao Qiu Yu.
Mu Jiu Shi had long since vanished to who knew where. The elders of the various clans and sects once again hid deeper into the darkness, not daring to meet the Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress’s gaze. People awaited the arrival of the final moment, though they also understood that the Sacred Empress’s last strike before her death would likely be reserved for those truly great figures, not for themselves.
The Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress gazed toward Luoyang City.
The darkness before the Daoist temple shattered instantly. The Mist Phoenix also shattered, transforming into countless spatial cracks surging toward the Daoist Calculator.
The Daoist Calculator’s expression tightened. Several strange, incomprehensible syllables burst from his lips. A wooden sword rose from the ruins of the Daoist temple, turning into a brilliant streak of light that slashed seemingly randomly through the night sky. At the same time, his figure blurred as he fled further into the distance.
Countless streams of blood scattered across the night sky of Luoyang City, forming a bloody line over ten miles long.
The Daoist Calculator broke through the night sky, landing on a street, his body covered in wounds, drenched in blood.
He had chanted the final volume of the Three Thousand Daoist Scriptures in dragon tongue and slashed with his lifebound wooden sword, yet still could not withstand the Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress’s Dao techniques. But in the end, he survived.
The Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress no longer paid attention to Luoyang. She withdrew her gaze and looked toward an unnamed street in the Southern City of the capital.
The Pope stood on that street at this moment, standing in the accumulated water, amid collapsed houses and corpses.
The Pope looked at the peak of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, at the world that had suffered so much calamity tonight. His aged face was filled with a sorrowful expression.
The entire world was utterly silent, awaiting the final confrontation between these two saints.
Suddenly, the Pope set down the basin of green leaves in his hands.
Gasps rang out everywhere in the night, followed by sounds of tearing air. Countless experts of the Li Palace, disregarding the Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress’s gaze, desperately rushed toward this place.
Because people saw clearly: the Pope was preparing to let go.
The Pope was preparing to leave this world together with the Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress, returning to the sea of stars!
Time seemed to pass slowly, yet it flowed normally.
Nothing happened.
The world remained silent.
The basin of green leaves drifted slowly in the water filled with corpses and rubble.
Atop the peak of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, the corners of the Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress’s lips curled slightly, revealing a mocking smile.
She was mocking her former companion.
How boring.
Do you think I would follow your wishes?
Divine General Han Qing stood at the end of the sacred path, gazing at the peak, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
The Pope had set down that basin of green leaves, yet the Sacred Empress had not struck at him.
But even if he truly could set down that lunchbox, would the Empress spare him?
Those tangled emotions vanished in an instant. Han Qing truly calmed down, awaiting the moment when the iron spear would pierce his body.
Suddenly, the starlight atop the Heavenly Book Mausoleum peak scattered.
A straight passage appeared in the night sky, followed by the howl of the spear like wind and thunder!
The Heavenly Sea Sacred Empress flicked her sleeve. The Frost Remnant Divine Spear shot through the night like lightning, flying toward a certain place in the capital.
She did not even glance at Han Qing. This disregard was her true feeling and attitude at that moment.
The Frost Remnant Divine Spear returned to where it should have stayed—the Great Zhou Imperial Palace.
A heavy impact sound rang out from a distant part of the capital, followed by the crash of collapsing buildings.
Behold, he built a lofty tower—that tower was built by him.
Behold, his tower has fallen—I will destroy your tower.
That tower collapsed from its high platform, crashing to the ground and shattering into pieces.
The most famous building in the capital for centuries, the most symbolic structure of the Great Zhou dynasty—the Lingyan Pavilion—had vanished.
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…
The torrential rain on Success Ridge continued to fall, corpses everywhere in the rainwater. The continent’s sixth divine general, Tian Chui, was the Sacred Empress’s most loyal subordinate. The Han Province Army he led was the strongest among the Great Zhou Northern Army. Though ambushed tonight, their resistance was the fiercest, and their casualties the heaviest.
Chen Guan Song, the dean of the Star Picking Academy, looked at the corpse of Divine General Tian Chui, whose eyes were still wide open. His face was slightly pale, a hint of apology in his eyes. If he, in the capacity of Tian Chui’s teacher, had not led the military and Heavenly Sea clan experts to successfully ambush Tian Chui tonight, there would have been no way to halt the advance of the Han Province Army.
“Your teacher will surely fulfill your last wish, leading the army to attack Snow Old City. So, Tian Chui… rest in peace.”
A cold voice suddenly rang out in the rainy night.
“Do you think you are worthy?”