Chapter 1946: [Death and Rebirth] (Part 1)

Liu Yuzhang widened his eyes; although he could see the situation inside, he could not enter it. Despite his myriad curiosities, he could only sigh helplessly. He certainly did not want things to end like this, he sighed and said: "Prince, don't you want to know what's inside?"

Hu Xiaotian shook his head; although he was also curious, he secretly felt something was amiss. He extended his palm, felt the barrier—it was warm and supple to the touch, he pushed hard, encountering the same situation as Liu Yuzhang: he could not enter. Although he had skin-to-skin contact with Qin Yutong and had practiced the Heaven-Man Myriad Phenomena Diagram, after all he was not a true descendant of the Heaven's Mandate One, lacking their genes in his body.

Ji Feihua said: "I'll go in and have a look!" Her right foot had already stepped inside; just as Hu Xiaotian was about to dissuade her, Qiqi resolutely stepped into the barrier first.

Hu Xiaotian wanted to stop them, but it was already too late; Ji Feihua nodded at him, indicating he need not worry, and followed her into the barrier. Only by truly entering could one sense the subtle change—this transparent barrier did not touch their bodies, but rapidly retracted around them as they entered, leaving a gap and distance so minuscule that outsiders could hardly notice it.

Liu Yuzhang watched the two women who had gone beyond the barrier, clicking his tongue: "Women's curiosity is always so strong, but tonight we can only stand by and watch."

Hu Xiaotian coldly stared at Liu Yuzhang, already beginning to regret listening to that old coot, bringing Ji Feihua and Qiqi into danger; if they met any mishap, he would surely regret it for life. He silently resolved that if either of them suffered any harm, the first person he would kill would be Liu Yuzhang.

Liu Yuzhang narrowed his eyes and spoke in a sharp voice: "Are you trying to kill us?"

Hu Xiaotian smiled: "Why would you think that, Master Liu? If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't wait until now."

Liu Yuzhang let out a grating laugh: "Not having that thought would be best; after all, our cooperation so far has been decent." His eyes fixed on the backs of the two women inside, he whispered: "So close yet so far—perhaps that's the feeling. If they refuse to come out, we may never see them again."

Hu Xiaotian's heart jolted: if danger occurred on the other side of the barrier now, he could only watch helplessly. He dared not think further, the smile on his face vanishing as he asked: "Master Liu, are you hiding something from me?"

Liu Yuzhang replied: "What would I gain by hiding it from you? I don't know what's inside either; in fact, this is the first time our household has seen such a wondrous sight."

Lan-colored arcs of light swept past Ji Feihua and Qiqi; Ji Feihua turned to glance at Hu Xiaotian outside the barrier, while Qiqi seemed to forget everything around her and kept walking forward. The Lan light converged before her, forming Lan-colored arched bands; Ji Feihua followed closely, unable to refrain from asking: "What's wrong with you?"

Qiqi still did not turn back, softly saying: "This place is almost exactly like the scene in my dream."

A slowly rotating light wheel appeared before them, strange symbols flickering on its rim; Ji Feihua's gaze was also drawn to the wheel, watching it turn in the void, marveling at the wondrous beauty of its ever-changing light and shadow.

Qiqi reached out to lightly touch the flickering characters, but soon paused; as she pondered what to do next, Ji Feihua extended her hand to activate the next character. Qiqi glanced at her, her eyes full of astonishment.

Only then did Ji Feihua understand why Liu Yuzhang had believed that only the two of them could open the gate of the Underground Palace: each of them had received the information from a skull, and neither could alone trigger the mechanism before them.

Working in perfect sync, they soon had activated every symbol on the light wheel; the wheel's spin quickened, and its light grew ever more blinding.

Ji Feihua and Qiqi instinctively covered their eyes; the light wheel shattered like dust and scattered, its light fading as a rotating black sphere appeared in its former position, its surface engraved with ancient patterns. Both placed their palms on the sphere, halting its rotation. At that moment all light vanished, and the barrier that had kept Hu Xiaotian and Liu Yuzhang outside mysteriously disappeared.

Hu Xiaotian rushed to the two women's side at once; Liu Yuzhang, unwilling to be left behind, gazed at the black sphere in their hands with fiery fervor—this sphere was stored deep within the Underground Palace of the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda, surely most precious; had it not been for the presence of the two great masters, Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian, he would have already seized it.

Liu Yuzhang asked eagerly: "What's inside?"

Ji Feihua shook her head, having examined the symbols closely but not knowing how to activate them; Qiqi drew the dagger Hu Xiaotian had given her for self-defense from her waist, slit her palm, and let crimson blood fall onto the black sphere. Then a remarkable sight unfolded: as her blood seeped into the sphere, it seemed to light up, and Lan-colored glowing symbols ignited one by one.

Everyone's eyes fixed on the sphere, which blossomed like a petal, revealing a Lan-colored light sphere the size of an ostrich egg before them.

Hu Xiaotian privately wondered: could this Lan-colored light sphere be the ultimate weapon for destroying soul-phantoms? Yet it did not look like it.

At that moment Qiqi slowly rose to her feet, her eyes turning Lan, Lan-colored light emanating from her eyes and linking with that Lan-colored light sphere.

Hu Xiaotian felt both astonishment and worry at the sight, yet dared not disturb Qiqi, fearing that any interruption might harm her.

The Lan-colored light sphere's glow grew ever stronger, while Qiqi stood as if in deep meditation; Ji Feihua was the first to react, exclaiming: "It's draining Qiqi's energy!" Before she could finish, she had already raised her palm to strike the Lan-colored light sphere.

The Lan-colored light sphere flickered suddenly, dodging Ji Feihua's palm—but in doing so it also severed its link with Qiqi, whose body went limp and collapsed. Hu Xiaotian hastily opened his arms to catch her, feeling her skin icy cold; his heart sank—this sphere was truly bizarre, having already inflicted harm on Qiqi in an instant.

The Lan-colored light sphere shot off into the distance; Liu Yuzhang, seeing it flee, rushed forward to grab and stop it, but the sphere reached his face and instantly transformed into a long beam of light, piercing his chest with lightning speed.

Liu Yuzhang's martial arts had already reached the peak of mastery, yet before that beam he had no room to dodge; he cried out in anguish as his chest was pierced through on the spot, then collapsed face-up on the ground.

Ji Feihua rushed to Liu Yuzhang's side, only to find he had breathed his last; Hu Xiaotian lifted Qiqi and told Ji Feihua: "Hurry! Leave this place!" The light sphere had vanished from their sight; Ji Feihua also sensed danger, and together with Hu Xiaotian they hurried toward the exit.

The light sphere's speed far exceeded theirs; before the two could approach the base of the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda, it had already spiraled upward into the tower, rising along its spiral of light, shooting out from the summit—at the same moment the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda collapsed with a tremendous roar.

The light sphere swept over the long bridge, which broke apart inch by inch; as it flew, subterranean buildings collapsed one after another.

The ground of the Imperial Gardens Bureau trembled continuously; Huo Shengnan and the others tasked with surrounding it also felt the tremors underfoot, realizing something must have happened below. Just as they decided to go to the medicinal storehouse to check the commotion, a Lan-colored shot up into the sky, sweeping across the night like a comet, circling once in midair before darting downward diagonally.

Inside the Observatory of the Heavenly Secrets Bureau, Hong Beimo gazed ahead in rapt attention, as a resplendent, flowing celestial chart unfolded before him in space—had he not seen it with his own eyes, he could never have believed it real.

Opposite him, Huo Xiaoru lightly flicked her sleeve; the wondrous celestial chart in the void turned from substance to illusion, swiftly vanishing completely from Hong Beimo's sight.

Hong Beimo stared in astonishment at Huo Xiaoru, murmuring: "Who exactly are you?"

Huo Xiaoru replied: "Having seen the celestial chart, can you still not guess my identity?"

Hong Beimo clenched his fists, his face filled with disbelief, shaking his head: "Impossible, you are clearly dead… you are clearly dead…"

Huo Xiaoru smiled enchantingly, she walked slowly to the window, stretched out her hands, and pulled open the screen; the night was deep, the moon bright and stars sparse, a Lan-colored meteor streaked from the direction of the Imperial Palace toward her, chasing wind and lightning; Huo Xiaoru opened her arms as if to embrace the meteor, the Lan-colored light sphere shot into her chest, merging with her body, her whole frame shimmering with a deep Lan glow as she turned slowly, her clear black-and-white eyes already overflowing with Lan light.

Hong Beimo stepped back a pace; the vital energy in his Dantian Qi Sea surged, instantly raising his internal force to its utmost.

Huo Xiaoru gently shook her head; the Lan light around her faded in an instant, disappearing completely, and she returned to her usual delicate, frail appearance, her eyes regaining clarity, she whispered softly: "I could kill you with ease!" As she spoke, Hong Beimo felt an invisible pressure pressing down on him; he wanted to throw a punch, but found he could not even lift a finger.

Huo Xiaoru stepped forward with light lotus steps, locking her gaze on Hong Beimo's eyes: "Back then you joined forces to harm me, thinking you could consign me to death—do you really suppose I would be so easily killed by you?"

Hong Beimo shook his head firmly: "Impossible, you are clearly dead—how could you possibly have returned from death?"