Chapter 3168: He Has Come

Blood gushed like a spring, her face deathly pale.

Prolonged high-intensity combat had left her exhausted in both spirit and body, especially as she had to constantly guard against the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign's "Mutation" divine technique—such an attack in the past would have been impossible for her to evade.

The Red General had just stuffed a crystal orchid into her mouth when a green shadow appeared before her again, forcing her to swiftly draw her blade.

The Spirit Void Saint Sovereign truly had no intention of giving her even a moment to catch her breath.

Yet a flash of cold light streaked by—arriving first despite coming later—slicing the green shadow in two from the side, then embedding itself into the ground with a "duo" sound.

It was a long blade.

Upon seeing it, the Red General's pupils suddenly contracted:

Floating Life!

Following the direction of the blade's approach, the Great Shaman looked over—only to see a familiar black figure suddenly appear beside the Blessing Pool in the square!

Both he and the Red General had waited so long that upon seeing this figure, they could scarcely believe their eyes.

Jiǔyōu has arrived.

They had actually persisted until He Lingchuan finished the ground war and returned to the Panlong Secret Realm! He Lingchuan's figure flickered like a ghost as he arrived, and the two chilling beams he slashed down from heaven like slicing pastry, cutting the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign's avatar into three or four pieces in quick succession. He then appeared beside the Red General and seized her in one embrace.

Blade present, person present—he could teleport to the Floating Life Blade's location.

He rushed back to the Panlong Secret Realm in utter urgency; even with prior preparation, just stepping out of the Blessing Pool gave him a start:

The once prosperous and tranquil Panlongcheng was now shrouded in drifting black smoke, most buildings reduced to ruins, leaving only half a shattered city!

The once towering and majestic southern gate of Panlongcheng, doors and walls collapsed to seventy percent, the Great Shaman stood upon the ruins, clutching a crimson light sphere. He Lingchuan never imagined he would live to see Panlongcheng's walls destroyed so utterly. Even the real-world ruins of Panlong, first ravaged by war and then battered by over a century of wind and frost, still stood defiant.

But now, standing on the southern gate square, he could directly behold the Ark World opposite, as well as the teeming horde of aberrant beasts surging up from the Panlong moat1

Of course, the worst part was the Red General's condition!

Her battle armor was riddled with wounds, her left arm severed, blood flowing across half her body—exhausted and weak.

He Lingchuan had long known the Red General's struggle in the Boundless Realm was immensely arduous, had long known her defiance of the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign would exact a heavy toll—but seeing her in this state filled his heart with half anguish and self-reproach, half surging fury!

"I will make the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign repay your suffering a hundredfold!" he growled, his hands nonetheless gentle, "Can you still hold on?" "Not really." The Red General leaned against him, finally able to breathe, "How long has it been in reality?"

As her body relaxed, her vision darkened.

"Five days and five nights." Counting from the glow of the Vaiśravaṇa Heaven Altar, when the Red General drove the Great Vase into the Boundless Realm—full five days and nights have passed!

By her own strength, she bought this much time for humanity's war.

The Red General murmured: "No wonder."

No wonder she was so exhausted.

Earlier, she had severed her own arm—and that was not even the worst injury she had sustained in these five days.

The Red General let out a long breath, then turned her palm to clasp his hand. Their palms pressed together, both could feel the other's hot blood and warmth.

At last reunited, no longer must each fight alone.

In this fleeting instant, their anxious hearts suddenly settled.

"I have medicine here." He Lingchuan intended to feed her a spirit pill, but the Red General shook her head, "No need—I'll recover soon enough."

To her, any spirit elixir in the world pales beside the crystal orchid imbued with the power of death.

As she spoke, He Lingchuan indeed observed that, though her face was pallid, her severed arm's wound had indeed stopped bleeding, and within it, new flesh buds writhed and pulsed.

In such combat, the gods of death and life possess astonishing regenerative power—otherwise this great war would have ended long ago. "But you must be careful." The Red General turned to warn him, "You lack my and the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign's restorative ability."

With a thud, the western sky collapsed nearby, first belching pungent smoke, then instantly melting into a pool of yellow liquid.

Truly, they are granted no moment's peace. The Red General withdrew her hand and pointed at it:

"That is my divine puppet—the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign need only poke it with a fist to cause bodily mutation. I have released eight hundred and twenty-one such divine puppets, and they are nearly all slain by the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign."

A green shadow burst from the ground, rapidly coalescing—indeed, it was the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign's avatar:

"Jiǔyōu, we meet again..."

Before the words faded, He Lingchuan thrust his halberd forward in a horizontal sweep—the halberd wind like a shockwave, directly expanding outward five li!

Purple-gold light flashed—the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign's body and head severed, countless aberrant beasts reduced to ash and smoke!

The other avatars of the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign narrowed their eyes. The primordial force of the Jiǔyōu Great Emperor was vastly greater than the Red General's—more vast, more dense. After all, he is the Lord of the Cangyan Realm, the sole true god in the hearts of the myriad commoners of the Flashing Gold Plains.

Fortunately, fortunately the primordial force laws remain far from restored.

"What about that underwater avatar? Is it part of our original plan?"

Before He Lingchuan leapt from the Blessing Pool, in the Chaos Sea he had once caught a fleeting glimpse—seeing the bound Spirit Void Saint Sovereign's avatar, and also seeing the star-cloud chains desperately drilling at the pool's center. He Lingchuan even swung the Floating Life Blade, hoping to lend it aid—but this time, the vaunted "never-miss" Floating Life Blade came up empty, as if slicing a phantom, then returned to his hand.

He seemed unable to make contact with either.

No wonder the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign's true self does not descend into the water to rescue its avatar.

Upon realizing this, He Lingchuan hastily leapt from the water.

"Yes." The plan to sever the Life Divine Seal and the Ark—this was jointly devised by her and He Lingchuan. But both also understood true success was unlikely; at best, they could only halt the Jade Armor Insects from further destroying the Boundless Realm's laws, "The Life Divine Seal is too firmly rooted, cannot be pulled loose."

A green shadow re-emerged beside the Heavenly Bridge, condensing into the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign.

"This is the true self." The Red General pointed at the pool and told He Lingchuan, "The pool's life energy is highest, yet even after death it can rebirth." "You rest first, recover your primordial energy." After saying this to the Red General, He Lingchuan leapt and slashed, landing on the Heavenly Bridge and chopping downward at the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign's head!

Returning to the Panlong Secret Realm and seeing the Red General covered in wounds, He Lingchuan wished to utter not a single word more to the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign.

Blood-deep enmity—only death can end it!

The Red General pointed at his back, whereupon He Lingchuan's back also bore the pattern of the Jia Luo Heaven's Command Diagram.

From now on, his battles with the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign will also be counted toward the Command Diagram's energy.

The Red General had carefully preserved this divine puppet of Jia Luo Heaven, even unwilling to spare other great demon kings to block the Spirit Void Saint Sovereign's attacks for it—because the Command Diagram Divine Seal is uniquely useful, whether in single combat or group assaults, and whether paired with her or He Lingchuan's battle arts, it remains a formidable killing formation.