Chapter 363: A Reunion Spanning Over a Thousand Years (Part Two) — True Immortal

"You'd say so too, wouldn't you, little fellow?"

In the silent space, accompanied by the hissing of the little snake, there was only the woman's sorrowful murmuring whisper.

At this moment, along with the joyful reunion after over a thousand years, memories of those bygone days also welled up in Zixiu's heart.

That year, she had been an ordinary rodent with nothing special about her — even thinner and weaker than her kind. The only thing worth mentioning was that she had a little more luck than the others. Fortunate enough to gain the pity of Guangshan Dashi, who took her in, she was barely able to eke out a living in those famine-ridden, chaotic times, gaining a spirituality beyond her kind, so she wouldn't spend her whole life in a muddled stupor, or perish in the belly of a natural enemy.

After Guangshan Dashi passed away, and when she was on the verge of death in a flood disaster, she had the extraordinary luck to encounter an unusual natural enemy — a snake — that came to her rescue.

Little did she know that this single rescue would tie her and it together in an inextricable bond — the Ice Silkworm, battling fierce beasts in the water, riding the river to escape into the deep sea, fighting villains — one after another, even now as she recalled them, experiences that could be called magnificent and stirring.

That was the most beautiful time in her memory. The only pity was that she hadn't yet awakened her spiritual wisdom back then, which was truly a regret.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. One unfortunate encounter with the snake's bite ended that wonderful, dreamlike experience for her.

When she awoke, the snake was already gone. She looked around, alone — a single mouse. Driven by instinct, she followed that familiar scent engraved in her blood, and began a perilous journey of searching.

She traveled far and wide. Though she had no great power or ability to protect herself, relying on an extraordinary speed that came from who-knows-where, she could often turn danger into safety. So she crossed a thousand mountains and ten thousand waters, searching through the mortal world for that familiar scent. She didn't know why she searched — perhaps it was her body's instinct, perhaps she had grown accustomed to those wonderful experiences, perhaps it was the budding of awakened consciousness…

She witnessed with her own eyes the end of that chaotic era. The extraordinary Strange Beasts that once roared through the mountains and forests lost all their supernatural powers, degenerating into ordinary beasts. Only her agility remained unchanged.

Unfortunately, she ultimately never found that snake. After all mysterious forces in the entire world vanished, a mysterious figure shrouded in radiance appeared before her. That mysterious person observed her with great interest. The speed that had repeatedly saved her in the past was useless this time before that mysterious person — no matter how fast she ran, it was as if she were running in place.

That mysterious person, ignoring her panicked struggles, grabbed her tail and said with a light laugh: "Interesting, interesting. Passing through this realm by chance, I actually encountered a mouse with no particular marvel about it, yet bearing His aura…"

"Worthy of being… of the place…"

"Very well, considering we share the same clan, and you have had some fortunate encounters, I'll lend you a hand. Let's see what your fortune brings…"

After the mysterious person finished speaking, they extended a slender index finger, crystalline and carrying the light of spirituality, and tapped it on her head. Then she awoke — as if she had just had a long, chaotic dream. She woke up, and all her past experiences kept flooding back through her mind. Countless thoughts rose in her heart. She had been reborn.

This was her first meeting with the "Ancestor." That mysterious person called themselves "Zishu" — the "Ancestor" of the Lingneng Clan of the Xingkong Desolate Domain.

Just like that, she was forced to leave her homeland, departing from the world that had given her birth and raised her. In the end, she still hadn't found the snake she had been searching for.

From then on, she stepped into a bizarre and wondrous unknown world. There was the darkness of treachery and deceit, where anything was done for profit, and a planet could be destroyed with ease; there were also heroes of civilization who willingly burned themselves out for the hope of civilization, and all manner of strange lands and bizarre sights she could never have imagined… But for some reason, the more she experienced, the more of the darkness and madness within the clan she saw, the more she longed for that pure, thrilling beauty from before her spirituality awakened.

During those days following the "Ancestor," she once heard these words from the "Ancestor's" mouth: "People often love and never forget those people or things they long for but cannot reach, and under the filter of Time, they imbue them with all kinds of special meaning."

"This is called 'the moonlight in one's heart.'"

"A rare few will even turn it into an obsession. This obsession may be harmful, or it may grant the other party unimaginable power."

She didn't understand. She wanted to search, wanted to help that snake, to give it the glory she now possessed, in repayment for the old kindness.

But when she had searched for several hundred years without success and went to ask the "Ancestor," she finally understood how special the place she had once been truly was. It was a world the "Ancestor" could not casually set foot in. The precious Time spent there could not possibly be wasted on such a trivial matter as hers in a world that had already been visited.

The "Ancestor" seemed to be searching for something — something that seemed to have some connection to that snake. Only then did she suddenly understand what those words the "Ancestor" had once spoken truly meant.

And it was that very thing that had created everything before her eyes.

What exactly it was, she didn't know.

Perhaps it was some terrifying bloodline beneath the starry sky, perhaps some incomparably powerful being, perhaps some formidable power, perhaps…

In any case, she knew that whatever could pique the interest of the "Ancestor" — who was so bored and disinterested that they couldn't even be bothered to manage the vast Lingneng Clan, letting those generally decrepit, decaying things seize all power — must be extraordinarily extraordinary! At the same time, any existence targeted and found interesting by the "Ancestor" would absolutely not meet a good end.

It was one of the strongest beneath this starry sky!

After that, she gave up all such thoughts.

But fate plays tricks on people sometimes. Just as she had given up the thought of searching, the appearance of a peculiar Crystal left her dumbfounded.

It was something similar to what the "Ancestor" had bestowed upon this realm's Guyue True Immortal to achieve a breakthrough — a Mist Crystal!

Only its color was a piercing, blood-like red. And within the mixed aura it carried, she actually detected a trace of an exceptionally familiar scent — that familiar scent engraved in the deepest part of her body, the one she had searched for hundreds of years without finding!

In that instant, she understood that the existence she had been longing for day and night had somehow appeared before her in a way she could never have imagined.

Moreover, the appearance of that Crystal, and the reaction of True Immortal Guyue after handing it to the "Ancestor," made her understand that the two were inevitably heading toward opposition.

This was irreconcilable!

True Immortal Guyue — she couldn't stop him.

The "Ancestor" — she couldn't stop them either, and they had also shown her kindness.

Bai, whom she had already met — he was likewise not someone she could stop. The only thing she could do was make him flee as quickly as possible.

Consider it repaying the old kindness…

Run, Bai.

With the help of that half-crippled True Immortal, flee far from here, back to where you belong.

Murmuring inwardly, Zixiu put her mask back on, listened to the sounds outside, and looked toward the one who had come.

It was True Immortal Guyue, who had arrived a step too late.

Guyue, whose terrifying aura seemed to suppress a raging fury, looked around the moment he entered, and hurriedly blurted out a string of words.

"Where is that damned intruder?!"

"Why didn't you stop him?! What about that little whelp the clan elders reserved at the raw material factory?!"

Staring at True Immortal Guyue, who for the first time showed such an anxious demeanor, Zixiu said nothing and merely let out a soft, snickering laugh. It seemed she had never seen True Immortal Guyue so urgent before.

"I'm asking you a question?!"

With a certain premonition in his heart, the fury Guyue could barely contain flared up even more. His violent aura madly battered the area. If this place hadn't been constructed from the Sighing Wall, it would long since have been unable to withstand the might of a True Immortal and collapsed completely.

"Over there~"

"The other party was too strong. I designed a trap and confined them inside. Please go capture them personally, Leader~"

As if deliberately waiting for the breaking point of the other's emotions, it was only when Guyue was about to Burst that Zixiu unhurriedly pointed.

"Hmph!"

Hearing the satisfactory answer, Guyue gave a cold snort, flung the cape behind him, and commanded without room for doubt: "Move, come in with me! I'll protect you!"

Zixiu neither agreed nor disagreed, and followed the other inside. The moment they entered, there was a crisp, thunderous Boom—.

The great door that had just vanished closed once again.

"What are you doing this for?"

Guyue faintly sensed something was wrong. Frowning, he stared at the other as his condensed power began to ripple around his body.

"True Immortal Guyue, didn't you already guess?"

Seemingly having achieved his goal, Zixiu stopped pretending and simply sat down against the wall.

"I implore you, True Immortal, to sit here within the Sighing Wall for just a moment…"

"You—you—you dare?!!!"

What answered Zixiu was a roar that could no longer be suppressed. Guyue's reason snapped completely. How dare this noble being from the Lingneng Clan utterly destroy his ascension plan?!

He had abandoned everything he once had, betrayed his own creator, and even cast aside his dignity, clawing his way upward step by step at any cost. Only now, after great difficulty, had he managed to use that little whelp's blood and flesh to make contact with those great ones. And now this madman dared to betray his own civilization—not only destroying that little whelp but also letting the Destroyer escape?!

This destruction was everything he had worked for!

"Aaaah!! You seek death!!"

"Boom!"

A muffled, heavy strike rang out—that was the enraged Guyue venting his fury. Carrying the power of a True Immortal capable of grinding all things to dust, Guyue delivered a thunderous punch.

In an instant, countless Spirit lights shattered—that was the sound of the protective blessing the Lingneng Clan strong one had placed upon Zixiu crumbling apart.

As a living being personally instructed by the "Ancestor" and brought back from outside, no matter how neglected or uninvolved, his status was still beyond what ordinary members of the Lingneng Clan could compare to.

"Stop—!!!"

On the other side, Zi Da, who had been watching every movement here, arrived at last. In an instant, he saw the leader actually striking his dream goddess.

Without time to think, his eyes reddened as he shouted in fury.

Perhaps because he had thrown that punch, Guyue calmed for a moment. His intuition told him something was wrong, and his dark, sullen face turned to look.

"You wretched, broken-down wretch—are you mad?!" In the past, Zi Da might have been intimidated by such a glare, but now, burning with equal fury, he no longer hid his contempt. Even if the other was a True Immortal, he still looked down on this traitor who had sold out his master for glory. He blurted straight at Guyue, "Have you not only betrayed your god, but now want to betray my Lingneng Clan too?!"

"You dare strike our clan's princess?!"

"Think your wings have hardened? Think you've got what it takes?!"

"Go on, if you've got the guts, kill me too? Let's see how long you can keep living!"

"She betrayed the Lingneng Clan and let the flesh-and-blood stockpile the elders had earmarked as raw material escape…"

Facing Zi Da's torrent of abuse, Guyue silently clenched his fists, his face cold as he spoke word by word.

"Come on! If you've got the guts, traitor… huh? Betrayed?"

Zi Da, who had been getting more and more heated in his cursing, froze at the words, seeming unable to believe it. He stared blankly at Zixiu, who lay on the ground gravely wounded and apparently not refuting. His mouth hung open, stuck for the longest time—the sharp mind that had once made him the top officer in charge of ceremonial diplomacy here could not think of a single thing to say.

After a long while, he seemed to remember something and stammered: "Th-that's still not something you can just go around beating her for… matters like this can only be decided by the clan's elders and the 'Ancestor'…"

Guyue's face beneath his mask stiffened. Silently he clenched his fists and began madly destroying this space. Faced with the relentless destruction of True Immortal power, even the most renowned materials could not hold up. This barrier existed mainly to let the important people inside wait for the powerful reinforcements crossing over from beyond.

……

The time it takes to drink a cup of tea later, a suffocating aura of greyish-red erupted violently, shaking the heavens.

With the eruption of this aura, the entire world began to tremble. All battles were forcibly halted by this vast, mighty power. Even the remains of this old True Immortal could not withstand this force and began to sway.

It was a terrifying gravity coming from who-knows-where!

In an instant, the heavens shifted and the world underwent a drastic change!

It was Guyue revealing his true form—he transformed into an illusory shadow and rapidly ascended into the sky.

A grey moon hung in the sky, blood coloured the heavens. Within that endless depth, a beast-shadow coiling around the world slowly spiraled up and clung to the grey moon, becoming part of it.

The sight of a blood-night grey moon wrapped in a beast-shadow had fully descended!

This was Guyue's True Immortal aspect—a moon-body nearly as vast as the continent beneath appeared!

"What power is this? How terrifying!"

Jin Yun'er, who was already straining to control Baichuan's continent-sized body, was instantly crushed beneath that terrifying gravity and boundless pressure, pinned down and unable to move.

It was not only her—all allied forces, those Desolate Gods, Desolate Kings, and Desolate Beasts were the same. The most wretched of them, those old gods, fell straight into unconsciousness.

"Ant, you cannot escape!"

High in the sky, Guyue's expression had turned cold. Like a god, like a demon, he lowered his indifferent gaze upon the tiny White Tiger atop the Tongtian Giant Tree base.

"Lingxin, are you ready?"

Under the terrifying gravity, Baichuan forced himself to stand and not kneel beneath the True Immortal's might, raised his head to look at the other, while inwardly communicating with Lingxin.

"I have long been ready, sir."

"Then let us begin!"

So this is the might of a True Immortal? It really is powerful, but it seems a little different from what I had imagined. I wonder how it compares with the planet-body I have prepared for so long?

Narrowing his eyes, Baichuan ignored the groaning of his body and murmured to himself.

Facing this power that would terrify any ordinary person, for some reason he felt rather eager to try.

"Boom—!"

The next instant, facing that world-destroying blood-night grey moon spectacle, that "tree" which should have been dead actually began to sway. Then a thunderclap that echoed through the world rang out… no, that was not thunder! It was the sound of the world's prohibitions being broken!

The world had been breached!

……

(End of this chapter)