Chapter 424

Zou Zoulong, who played East Emperor Taiyi, laughed loudly, "Not bad, once I recover, I will surely exterminate all the Wu people!"

Hou Yi's face remained calm, "So, I won't give you a chance!"

East Emperor Taiyi laughed loudly, "With your current state, can you kill me? I only need to strike the Chaos Bell once, and I can take your lives! If you wish to submit to me, perhaps I can let you off!"

Hou Yi smiled, "Are you sure the Chaos Bell's condition allows it to be rung, rather than shattered?"

Upon hearing this, East Emperor Taiyi's face turned grim.

The camera cut to a close-up of the Chaos Bell; it turned out that this innate spiritual treasure, having endured too much impact in the recent battle, had barely saved East Emperor Taiyi's life, but its body was already covered in cracks.

At this moment, no one can determine how much more damage this innate spiritual treasure can withstand—whether it can still be rung or will be shattered.

"You have keen eyesight!" East Emperor Taiyi couldn't help but praise.

Hou Yi calmly said, "Eyesight is as important to an archer as the bow and arrow in his hands!"

Seeing Hou Yi nock an arrow and aim at him, East Emperor Taiyi finally said, "Given the situation, if the bell breaks, I die; if it doesn't, you die. There's no need to gamble—I can let bygones be bygones."

Chang'e felt somewhat moved upon hearing this; for her, being together with Hou Yi for the long haul was what mattered most.

"Yi!"

East Emperor Taiyi, seeing this, added, "I can swear an oath in the name of Heaven's Dao!"

Hou Yi laughed, "You've always been ruthless and merciless, treating all the tribes of the Wasteland as mere chickens and dogs. Now that I've driven you to this point, and you bear the grudge of killing my son, any oath you utter is false!"

At this moment, East Emperor Taiyi finally grew a little panicked, pointing at Chang'e, "Don't you even care for her life?"

Hou Yi smiled, "So, for her, for the Wu tribe, and to avenge the countless beings of the Wasteland who were wantonly slaughtered by you and died unjustly under the ten suns, I too must kill you!"

Having said that, his whole body gradually rose into midair; the wind made his clothes rustle. His hair, which had turned black after treatment by the ancestral witches, instantly turned snow‑white, and his visage grew old once more.

Seeing this, Chang'e burst into tears, "No, no, if you keep draining your vitality like this, you'll die!"

Hou Yi, however, paid no heed; his body swelled, as if wielding the "Heaven‑Earth Embodiment" divine power, turning into a giant tens of meters tall, his bow and arrow enlarging as well, and flames appearing.

East Emperor Taiyi finally grew afraid, "I am the Heavenly Emperor, the sovereign of the entire Wasteland; you cannot kill me, nor are you able to!"

Before he could finish speaking, he took the Chaos Bell, transformed into a golden light, and flew off into the distance.

Hou Yi laughed, "Even the three‑legged golden crows cannot escape my Setting Sun Bow—what can your cracked bell do?"

Having said that, he finally shot the long arrow in his hand; but a swifter light pursued it, and with a boom, the Chaos Bell shattered into fragments, the entire silver screen engulfed in light.

When the brightness dimmed, the subtitles appeared, and the film officially ended.

However, the host did not come on stage; it turned out there was still a post‑credits scene.

Hou Yi died, and the Setting Sun Bow in his hand turned into a cassia tree.

Empress Hou Tu embodied the Six Paths of Reincarnation, sending a fragment of Hou Yi's heroic spirit to be reborn.

Chang'e remained beneath the cassia tree in the Moon Palace, awaiting Hou Yi's return….

Thus, the two parts of the Wasteland film series have finally concluded.

When the venue lights came up, many felt a sense of lament. The once‑dominant Wu tribe suffered grave vital injury and later vanished from the Wasteland's historical stage. The once‑flourishing demon‑race heavenly court was utterly destroyed—some died, some fled, and even the Heavenly Emperor was shot dead.

The male lead, Hou Yi, fell into the Six Paths of Reincarnation; it is unknown whether he will be reborn as Wu Gang or someone else.

Only Chang'e remains, alone, guarding the Moon Palace, waiting for her beloved to return! "Clap clap clap!"

Warm applause rang out, and the host walked onto the stage.

First, he expressed his feelings about the film in a few sentences, then invited Jiang Heng onto the stage.

"It's truly shocking—really, 'Hou Yi Shoots the Suns' was already wonderful, but I didn't expect the visuals of 'Heavenly Court's Collapse' to be even better. Pangu's true form steps on the Southern Heaven Gate, cleaves the Hall of Soaring Heavens with his axe, shatters the Primordial River Luo and the Great Array of Heavenly Stars. May I ask if all these ideas are yours?"

Jiang Heng laughed, "This mainly stems from the influence of the original novel; many of the ideas come straight from the book!"

"That's also impressive—being able to visualize the novel's descriptions must be quite difficult, right?"

Jiang Heng slightly nodded, speaking of some difficulties in the special‑effects production and the film's budget, leaving the in‑venue guests and audience stunned.

The film is indeed good, but it truly costs a fortune—ordinary people really can't learn to do that.

Afterwards came the Q&A session; since the event had already run for a long time, only one reporter's and two audience members' questions were answered.

The reporter's question was rather conventional, after all, he's a professional.

The audience's questions were a bit off‑topic; a male‑student‑type person asked whether Jiang Heng had plans to adapt novels such as 'The Mortal's Cultivation Journey', 'Spirit Sword Sovereign', and 'The Dragon Snake Ode' onto the big screen.

Jiang Heng's answer was that Faction: Outstanding Rising Film Company had already purchased the film‑and‑TV adaptation rights for those books; whether they become movies or TV dramas depends on the specific adaptation circumstances.

Upon hearing this, many young male viewers in the audience became excited, for if Jiang Heng were to film them, the quality would surely not be lacking.

If they are movies, the content and special effects would be even more splendid.

If they are TV dramas, given Faction: Outstanding Rising Film Company's consistent style, the quality would also not be lacking.

Another question came from a female audience member, asking Jiang Heng whether such an ending for Chang'e was too cruel.

From then on she would guard the Guanghan Palace alone, never seeing Hou Yi but instead waiting for Zhu Bajie.

Many who heard this chuckled inwardly, while others frowned slightly, feeling the question was nitpicky—surely we can't rewrite it so that Hou Yi and Chang'e live happily ever after in the Guanghan Palace! Jiang Heng didn't want to argue with her, so he gave a casual reply.

Thus the premiere and screening of Wasteland: Heavenly Court's Collapse concluded; the organizers led the guests to a hotel for the banquet, not mentioning it further.

That night, reports on the premiere appeared across major online media outlets.

Mtime. com's review said it was the pinnacle of Chinese‑language cinema, believing that the idea of condensing Pangu's true form from the Twelve Heavenly Gods and Fiends Grand Array was truly excellent.

Because of such a massive battle scene, the greatest fear is that the forces on both sides are too numerous and chaotic; each character's screen time is extremely limited, and if the audience zones out for a moment, they can't tell who is fighting whom.

To be frank, many viewers can recognize the ancestral witches, but sometimes they can't tell which one is which.

But Pangu's true form—viewers truly find it hard to forget after a single glance; it's overpowering and incredibly handsome.

An article posted on Tencent Entertainment's section described the Wasteland series as a perfect conclusion, with Chang'e fleeing to the moon alone awaiting Hou Yi, focusing on the feelings between Hou Yi and Chang'e, and interspersing a few praises of the film's special‑effects level.

Besides the various entertainment media websites, Douban saw a flood of netizens posting long and short reviews, almost all of them praising the work. (End of chapter)