Chapter 249: Turn the Tide of the Grand Scheme!

"Master, why…?"

Watanuki Iki seemed to want to say something to her long-absent Hachiyō Eirin; countless questions filled her heart, and she desperately needed an answer.

But Watanuki Toyoki waved her off, and as the Princess of the Moon, she now turned the folding fan in her hand toward her own teacher.

Iki stared in disbelief at her sister, yet saw the struggle and trembling in her eyes, as if suppressing some emotion; finally, her lips quivered twice, swallowing every word she meant to say.

Although Yagokoro Shizuka had been kept in the dark all along, she now forced herself to draw a breath, wary of the Watanuki sisters; the other great yōkai, though startled, stood by her side.

Yet Hachiyō Eirin had no strength left to answer their confusion or assert her position.

"Thump. Thump. Thump."

Blood surged into her increasingly hot, boiling brain, as if forming a cerebral thrombosis; the Moon's mind now barely had the strength to stand.

If she were still the old Hachiyō Eirin, Tsukuyomi could have broken free from her 【Domain】 in an instant—even with Jia Qi's interference, she could not have held out this long.

After all, she was now on the surface of the Moon; severing the connection between the 【Moon God】 and the 【Moon】, while sustaining the existence of the Pot Heaven in the midst of battle, was many times harder than dealing with a lone Pure Fox.

Fortunately, the current Hachiyō Eirin was a being from Mount Penglai, capable of infinite resurrection; with this immortal body, she could still barely hold on until the final outcome was decided.

One after another, black spatial fissures emitting terrifying energy appeared beside her, only to heal again; from within them, faint roars could occasionally be heard.

In the deathly silence of the standoff, the atmosphere grew heavier and heavier, leaving only the tearing sounds from the Moon Palace and the increasingly clear male voice from within the spatial fissures.

Finally, everyone heard Jia Qi's exultant cry—

"Hah! I get it!"

His words were like a stop button; all spatial fissures vanished, the wind stilled, and the yōkai and gods stared at each other in stunned silence.

"What happened inside the Pot Heaven?"

Questioning dominated their minds.

…

The revived heir of the Northern Dipper, after reviewing all the powers, abilities, techniques, and secret mysteries he now possessed, passed over every single offensive tool.

His attacks had failed; that meant no matter how powerful his offensive techniques were, they were useless now—he needed something that could break through this situation—

Something long ago given to him by the Northern Dipper's predecessors, deemed most suited to him, named…

"Water Shadow Heart."

His battle-frenzied heart grew utterly calm, still as a mirror on tranquil water; he carefully reflected on everything that had just transpired.

A strike whose power could never be diminished…

A body that could not be harmed in the slightest…

As if rejecting and denying everything…

No matter how the world changed, the bright moon above remained unchanged for eternity…

The immortal Moon People, the unchanging Moon Capital…

The Capital Where History Ended…

Tsukuyomi, purified of all filth…

Jia Qi suddenly opened his eyes and burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha!!"

"I understand! I understand completely!"

"Tsukuyomi, I now comprehend you!"

"Water Shadow Heart—Jia Qi—again!"

"I thought it was my health bar that was locked—but it was yours all along!"

Since the battle began, her health bar had never dropped a single point—it was because the Moon God, who despised the changes and brutal struggles of the earthly realm, had chosen to come to the Moon's surface and thus severed all connection.

"Unchanging"—this was the power Tsukuyomi wielded, the ability she possessed.

Though the name might differ, Jia Qi, who had now fully reclaimed the true essence of the 【Water Shadow Heart】, understood it completely.

Hearing his cheerful, slightly self-deprecating words, Tsukuyomi's expression finally turned sharply displeased; for the first time, she truly regarded this obsessive, terrifying figure who should have been crushed long ago…

"Jia Qi…? I shall remember you."

"That is indeed an honor."

With the last of her strength, she braced herself in an unshakable, ironclad stance once more.

The ability to pinpoint the meridians of all things—activate.

Northern Dipper Secret Art: The Inevitable Slash—Fist Thief's Severance!

Jia Qi's "Martial," and Tsukuyomi's immense "Dao," now collided head-on, with no room left for retreat or compromise.

Taiyin governs killing.

The Northern Dipper governs death.

Master of Taiyin! Fight! Man of the Northern Dipper!

The ten directions of the cosmos brimmed with lethal intent.

Give it everything you've got!!!

Then came silence.

The sky shattered into countless fragments, falling toward the ground.

All things decomposed, signaling that the world of the Pot Heaven was about to collapse.

————————

Space, as an extremely solid substance, is harder than natural diamonds.

It is said the heir of the Southern Dipper's Solitary Vulture Fist could cut diamonds with two fingers, but no one has ever heard of a fist capable of cutting space.

Although the fundamental structure of the Northern Dipper world differs from that of the Eastern world, and the definition and existence of space are not the same, manipulating space in this world remains no simple task.

The space of the world humans inhabit is composed of countless microscopic fragments invisible to the naked eye; beings of extraordinary talent like Yagokoro Shizuka and Watanuki Toyoki possess the ability to manipulate space.

But there is another possibility—

To destroy it with power strong enough to strike the world itself!

"Zheng—Zheng—Zheng—Zheng—Zheng—!"

A strange vibration echoed repeatedly; at the same moment, the calm surface of the Moon Sea began to ripple faintly.

"Thud!"

Hachiyō Eirin suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Both sides in the standoff turned toward one direction.

First to fall out was Jia Qi, his entire body drenched in crimson blood, his frame torn and mangled beyond recognition, Bolo Bolota.

The next to appear was Tsukuyomi, cold-faced and utterly unharmed.

Tsukuyomi returned to her loyal Moon Capital.

All the yōkai held their breath, their eyes filled with despair; the Moon People, by contrast, felt rare relief—though they rarely expressed emotion, even they sensed relief.

No wonder the yōkai despaired; even when the Moon God could only wield her own power, she had defeated the Heavenly Dragon's Proxy. Now, on her own divine domain, victory was impossible.

"Zii—"

A thin line of golden blood appeared on her fair neck.

Yagokoro Shizuka's eyes flashed bright for an instant, then dimmed again; clearly, she was not unharmed—yet even this minor wound offered no hope of victory.

The Sage of Yōkai glanced at the gravely wounded figure on the ground, carefully lifted him up, sighed inwardly, and prepared to surrender to Tsukuyomi.

If only she could spare the remaining yōkai, she would do anything—even kneel and beg.

But Jia Qi, as if knowing her thoughts, grabbed Yagokoro Shizuka's arm and chuckled, shaking his head.

Unexpectedly, the seemingly unharmed deity did not smile; instead, his face grew dark as water, while Jia Qi, coughing blood nonstop, laughed aloud and gave a thumbs-up to a figure that had quietly appeared.

"Hecasa, my mission is complete!"

(End of Chapter)