Chapter 667: The Darkness Before Dawn
Chen Guansong was extremely senior within the Great Zhou military, highly skilled in patience and forbearance, and deeply trusted by Her Holiness the Empress. He had presided over the Star Observation Institute for many years, commanded a vast network of disciples and protégés within the army, and his cultivation level was unfathomably deep—already half a step into the Divine realm. He played a critically important role in the rebellion of that early autumn. If not for unexpected events, afterward he would undoubtedly have become the leading figure of the Great Zhou military, ascending to the pinnacle of power alongside Shang Xingzhou, and would have commanded the Great Zhou army's northern campaign against the demons.
Yet, just as victory was within sight, he died.
He died a miserable death, burned alive by the true fire of the Heavenly Phoenix. And he did not perish instantly; he was scorched for a long time before he finally stopped breathing.
Before his death, he endured the most agonizing torment the human world could offer.
Because this was the Heavenly Sea Empress's revenge.
Before she left this world, she had already exacted her vengeance in advance.
At the same time, it was also revenge for those subordinates who had remained loyal to her unto death.
She flicked her sleeve, turning the corpse of the Heavenly Hammer Divine General into a sheet of flame, granting him the glory of following her back to the sea of stars.
Then she traveled ten thousand miles away, once again veiling the starry sky, stepping into a stream, and struck down with a palm toward that monk.
Countless starlight descended with her palm—not heavy, yet infinitely profound, utterly impossible to evade.
The monk flipped his palm upward to meet it. The thick fog behind the stream howled in from the solitary peak, gathering with the momentum of his palm strike.
When their palms met, the monk understood her intent and asked, "Not even leaving a single seed behind?"
"I have my own legacy," the Heavenly Sea Empress replied.
The monk thought she meant Xu Yourong.
Actually, that wasn't it—or rather, it wasn't only that.
"You truly are an extraordinary person."
The monk looked at the Heavenly Sea Empress and spoke, blood beginning to flow from his eyes.
This was the first time he had expressed any sense of awe toward her.
Then his body suddenly turned ethereal, dissolving into countless fragmented shards of light, vanishing without a trace along the Cloud Tomb.
Countless miles away, in another world, amidst a desert as vast as jade, there stood an enormous altar.
The monk sat cross-legged upon it.
Hundreds of thousands of devotees knelt in the desert around the altar, raising their hands, dancing toward the heavens, utterly devout, entranced, ecstatic, frenzied.
Suddenly, a spiritual force from another continent enveloped the entire world, pressing down toward the ground.
The monk opened his eyes. His pupils were pitch black. Two streams of blood trickled from the corners of his eyes, and then his entire body began to bleed.
More than a dozen priests around the altar exploded and died. The devotees let out terrified screams and began to wail.
No one knew how many died. The desert was stained red.
...
...
In the final moments of her life, the Heavenly Sea Empress did not, as many imagined, transform her last vestiges of life into the most frenzied force to slay those she disliked.
The Pope set down that pot of green leaves; she did not strike.
Han Qing abandoned resistance; she did not strike.
The Heavenly Sea manor was so quiet; she did not strike.
With one spear, she destroyed the Lingyan Pavilion. With one flick of her sleeve, she burned Chen Guansong to death. Then, burning the last of her life, she crushed that monk.
Because that monk came from the Holy Light Continent.
It was not until many years later, when the people of this world began dealing with the alien races of the Holy Light Continent, that they understood what it truly meant that on that early autumn night, Her Holiness the Empress had shattered that monk's projection from the Holy Light Continent—and how much time she had bought for the people of this world.
The Heavenly Sea Empress was certainly not a good person in the ordinary sense, let alone a sage.
The reason she chose this path in her final moments was that she had been preparing to do this for years.
Even though this world had betrayed her, she still stubbornly believed it was her world.
—This is my world.
Since it was her world, of course she had to protect it.
Any hand that dared to reach into her world would be severed.
That was what she thought, what she did, and what she accomplished.
...
...
Accomplished.
Finished.
The Heavenly Sea Empress returned to the summit of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum.
Having finished surveying her world, she now finally had a moment's leisure to look at her surroundings.
Chen Changsheng was by her side.
Chen Changsheng, who had long been forgotten by the entire world, had been right there beside her all along.
Perhaps because of a shared sense of kinship in suffering, she had not forgotten that he had always been at her side.
From the moment Divine General Han Qing had thrown the Frost Remnant Divine Spear in a sneak attack, to that conversation, to her final tour of her world—in truth, only a very short time had passed.
Moreover, Chen Changsheng's body was somewhat stiff, so he had maintained the posture from that earlier moment.
His left knee was slightly bent, his left hand gripping the sheathed Hidden Edge, his right hand holding the hilt of Stainless.
No one had noticed this scene.
From the very beginning, when the Frost Remnant Divine Spear arrived at the summit of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, he had already assumed this stance.
At that time, the Heavenly Sea Empress's body, soul, and spirit were all absent, leaving her unguarded.
The Frost Remnant Divine Spear came.
He didn't think about factions, or about the fact that she wasn't his mother—none of those questions crossed his mind. Instinctively, he grasped his sword, wanting to block that spear for her.
His severe injuries had not yet healed; he was extremely weak. But his scabbard still held thousands of swords, and he still had that string of stone beads.
Yet that was the Frost Remnant Divine Spear.
That was Han Qing's divine spear.
He had no time to react at all. That iron spear, like a bolt of lightning, pierced through the Heavenly Sea Empress's body.
He could only watch the scene unfold, powerless to do anything.
His sword couldn't reach; only his intent could.
"You want to save me?"
The Heavenly Sea Empress raised an eyebrow slightly.
Chen Changsheng didn't know what to say.
"With you?" She looked at him with a mocking smile.
The next moment, the black phoenix wings vanished into the night wind.
Suddenly, the mocking smile on her face faded completely, and she fell backward.
Chen Changsheng lunged forward and caught her in his arms.
The Heavenly Sea Empress looked up at the star-filled sky, a look of disgust on her face, as if she found it too dazzling.
He turned half a circle with her in his arms, shielding the starlight behind him.
Just like when they had first met years ago.
Back then, in the imperial palace, by the pond, as that squirrel ran past, he had caught her, turned half a circle, and shielded her from the falling flowerpot behind him.
Rain began to fall again in the night sky, pattering down.
Yet the stars were clearly shining above.
Faint light could be seen on the distant horizon, but the summit of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum was plunged into utter darkness.
The long night was finally about to end. Dawn was approaching.
Chen Changsheng could sense the presence below the Heavenly Book Mausoleum and knew that his master had arrived.
"I'll take you away," he said to her.
"Where can you take me? The Zhou Garden?" She looked at him with a sneer.
Only then did Chen Changsheng realize that Her Holiness had known everything all along.
"I'm not going to that sunless, godforsaken place."
The Heavenly Sea Empress gazed at the morning light on the eastern horizon and said indifferently, "Here is just fine."