Chapter 174: The Scheme Ultimately Fails

Is this much essence truly enough? Hearing Yuanjun's words, Tian's cold eyes stirred with a faint ripple.

Before He could calm and sense further, His exquisitely perfect skin suddenly began to writhe violently, just as before.

Roar! As if countless living beings' roars converged, a bellow erupted from His chest.

He swelled again, like something being inflated, until He became a massive spherical form.

"Essence is insufficient…"

Too much has been worn away; as Yuanjun said, this little essence cannot possibly sustain His return.

The sword light slashed by Bie Xuening, and the depletion from his autonomous arrival on the Central Continent.

Both of these consumed too much of this sliver of Xuan's essence.

Added to which, Gu never obtained Huo's essence, and completely twisted the carrier's true heart…

Now, Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan and He are in a peculiar state; the faint essence can no longer suppress the resolute will to die.

If this continues, He will likely suffer severe damage.

"Gu!"

Now only Gu remains to be watched—if He left no backup plan, this return scheme will surely fail.

Suddenly! Hum~ Infinite seven-colored divine radiance seeped in, filling The Entire Secret Realm, illuminating it with breathtaking beauty.

A grand will descended; ancient shadows flickered.

"Still."

Yuanjun raised her hand and lightly slashed; countless threads of cause and effect solidified from emptiness, piercing in all directions, piercing through the seven-colored divine radiance and pinning it fast.

In another realm imperceptible to all, the threads of cause and effect pierced even the present, reaching into the past, sealing infinite spacetimes and destroying all possibilities.

The flickering ancient shadows shattered and dispersed one by one.

In a single glance, Gu was subdued by Yuanjun! Even if He had other methods, He could no longer use them.

Failed…

Gazing at the dense, omnipresent threads of cause and effect, as if forming the very veins of The Entire Secret Realm, 'Tian' clearly understood this.

What Xu Xing said earlier—that Xuan acted on the frontlines of the Starry Battlefield—must have been related to this essence depletion.

Coincidence?

"Tian—!"

In His ear…

No! A voice of boundless resentment, as if even all the waters of Tianhe could not wash clean its intense hatred, came from within His body.

Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan's voice.

This return scheme was built entirely upon her hatred for Him.

Now, His perfect face had been stretched open, appearing grotesque and terrifying, yet within the suspended colored eyeballs, His expression remained as cold and distant as ever, unchanged in the slightest.

It is time to depart.

He made His decision.

If He succeeded in returning, whether this carrier lived or died, or even had a physical form, meant little to Him.

Unfortunately, essence is insufficient; departing now means this scheme has failed—but…

Better than the carrier dragging Him to death.

"Release!"

A grand voice, like celestial law, began severing the bond between them.

From start to finish, He had controlled the situation.

"No—!"

Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan tried to grasp Him, pulling Him down to die together.

But Tian's methods were too sublime; she could not reestablish the connection.

Feeling the bond slowly unravel, Tian watched coldly as Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan was about to perish, then turned His attention to Xu Xing.

Even he could not stop this process now.

Yet Xu Xing still made no move, watching all this with cold eyes.

Until the very instant the bond between Tian and Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan fully severed. "Brother of the Dao!" Yuanjun suddenly spoke.

Yet at the very moment she spoke, Xu Xing's crimson longsword had already slashed forth with unmatched sharpness.

The void rippled, spreading endlessly; The Entire Secret Realm seemed to twist.

Not only the present, but the ripples began affecting the past—all events that had ever occurred within this Secret Realm manifested within this sword stroke.

Time surged forward, forward! Until the very moment Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan failed to cross the Immortal Gate!

An invisible blade-light flashed; at every moment of the past, a blade-light flashed.

Crack! Backlash, Gu's opportunistic intrusion, Tian's parasitism—all were severed at their root.

The past domain that originally belonged to Gu was now split open by this blade-light.

The Sword That Begins in the Present severs the Source of the Past! Xu Xing never intended to stop the bond's severance.

Yet Tian still watched coldly; no matter how the past changed, it would not affect Him.

The threads of cause and effect, filling every corner of the Secret Realm, suddenly released the seven-colored divine radiance and surged into the body of Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan, now swollen into a massive sphere.

Soon, a white shadow was dragged out by the threads of cause and effect.

It was Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan!

Her aura was as faint as that of an ordinary mortal with no cultivation, yet utterly pure.

'So all this was done merely to save her.'

No wonder he acted only at the instant the connection was fully severed.

However, even if rescued, the vessel was merely a mortal.

Her cultivation realm and comprehension of the Dao had all been transformed into the fuel for her return, irretrievable.

She had even abandoned the chance to cut herself with a sword…

The final thought flashed—and heaven finally fully detached; her will sank once more into slumber.

"Brother of the Dao, how shall we proceed?" Xiang Yuanjun's hand flashed with light.

A brown coat covered Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan's snow-white body.

As for benefits… a token gesture suffices.

Before them, the massive sphere had now expanded to hundreds of meters tall.

It was merely an empty shell.

Yet within it lay the essences of Heaven, Xuan, and the Ancients, along with the essences of three other Cave-Truths, Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan's entire cultivation, the corruption of backlash, and the righteous alliance's spirit-force.

If left to erupt unchecked…

Its terrifying power would not only obliterate this Secret Realm, but the entire underwater city of the Supreme Council—and indeed, the vast majority of territories under the righteous alliance's rule! "Such a grand gift…" Xu Xing smiled, swinging his sword to send a blade qi into the sphere, accelerating its explosion, "must surely be given to the Ancient!"

"Reasonable," Xiang Yuanjun nodded slightly.

This entire affair was the Ancient's doing; failing to return the favor would insult His deeds! Hearing their words, the seven-colored divine radiance clinging to every corner of the Secret Realm trembled, then rapidly retracted.

But it was already too late.

As for tracing cause and effect, no one in the Tai Xuan Realm could match Xiang Yuanjun! A slender thread of cause and effect fluttered, its origin unknown, vanishing into the abyss—as if stretching infinitely far.

The blade qi curled, carrying the empty shell brimming with terrifying power, following the thread of cause and effect, ascending to its source.

Long moments passed…

The thread of cause and effect vibrated with a low "hum," then slowly dissolved away; faintly, a roar of fury and frustration could still be heard.

It seemed the Ancient was quite pleased with the gift.

At that moment, a faint whimper sounded.

Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan slowly opened her eyes; her clear, dark-and-white pupils flickered with confusion.

"Jian Zu… Xiang Yuanjun…?"

What happened? Hadn't she… died? "Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan, how does rebirth feel?" Xu Xing asked.

"I…"

Friend Friend Friend Meng Xuan opened her mouth, but did not know what to say.

First chapter! (End of chapter)