Chapter 585: Epilogue · The Fated Pact (Complete)

Epilogue · The Fated Pact (Complete)

The Old Astronomer stared fixedly at the crystal glowing with shifting light, dumbfounded: “This commotion??? Wait, Old Xue?!”

He lifted his head to tell the Whale Fisher about it.

But remembering the Whale Fisher’s earlier reaction, the Old Astronomer fell silent; both the Tortoise Manifestation and his own eyes flickered with a hint of amusement—the Whale Fisher would normally have sensed this disturbance, but now his inner fire was scorched dry, leaving no room for such distractions.

The array activated, its teleportation speed unmatched in the world.

Even rain clouds blocking the way were ripped apart outright.

Cloud qi could not draw near his person.

The Old Astronomer placed the Tortoise Manifestation atop his own head, dodging one calamity—while the garrulous Tu Shengyuan got drenched head to toe, looking like a soaked chicken.

The Whale Fisher surged forward, arriving swiftly at the secret realm of the Star Gazing Line. He raised his hand like a blade and slashed straight down—in an instant, the myriad arrays shielding the Star Gazing Line’s secret realm split open like waves cleaved by a sword, blooming layer upon layer like lotus petals.

In a single thought, he shattered one hundred and three arrays.

Instantaneous birth and death.

The current Array Master’s skill was truly extraordinary—he timed it perfectly, never slowing, gliding into the secret realm like a fish slipping into the sea. He cast his gaze upward and saw distant blossoms adorned with red lanterns.

The Whale Fisher’s sharp eyes caught the table and chairs, the red cloth bearing the character 【Double Happiness】.

His scalp prickled.

“Wait a minute!!!”

Secret Art—Demon Soul Disintegration Array.

Activate!

………………

Inside the Star Gazing Line, members of the Breaker Line and the Yaoguang Line were busy preparing; unusually, both factions felt cheerful—Yaoguang’s members were relieved, for the Emperor of Qin and Yaoguang’s return after their marriage eased their fears that their child might be mistreated abroad.

Meanwhile, the Breaker Line felt the Emperor of Qin had shown them immense respect.

He was loyal, decisive, and forged great achievements!

Awesome!

Did any of you old Breaker Line elders ever have a lord like this?!

Ha! You didn’t, did you?!

Even the Breaker Line members helped arrange the items needed for the “Wedding Return Ceremony,” yet beneath their joy, the old men of the Breaker Line felt a strange unease.

Though they’d won…

Hadn’t they won?!

Yet as they stared at Yu Yanming and his wife, grinning until their eye wrinkles formed, the old men felt a subtle defeat—a strange sense of having won, yet somehow lost.

After much thought, Zhou Wangji, the Breaker Line’s old master, gazed at his beautiful son, stroked his chin, squatted beneath a great tree, and whispered to the elders on either side:

“Shouldn’t we change our ancestral method of taking disciples?”

“Maybe next generation, we take a girl instead?”

The old men lowered their voices.

But who here lacked some trick or other?

These Breaker Line elders chattered like village matrons, yet their whispers rang like shouts in everyone’s ears—yet all still pretended not to hear.

Breaker’s temple twitched; shame and humiliation rose within him.

His fingers, gripping his fan, turned white.

Now he no longer wished to flee to the world’s edge.

He wanted to borrow a spade and dig a hole for each of these three old men—smash them unconscious, bury them right there.

Especially after those three old men muttered awhile, then all glanced at Breaker, clicked their tongues, and shook their heads in unison.

Snap.

Breaker’s fan snapped clean in two.

The top strategist who once spoke boldly of world trends, who at twenty-seven saw all heroes as rivals, now flushed crimson—once so elegant and unrestrained, at thirty-seven he was outright burning with rage.

Fuck all of you—

Huh?!

At that moment, Breaker sensed a shift in the array’s energy—a faint ripple escaped, its style unmistakably familiar.

No other, for this ripple had appeared repeatedly on the battlefield.

Each time, it reversed local outcomes.

Even aiding the grand strategy—Breaker, as Li Guanyi’s chief strategist overseeing total warfare, knew this energy signature intimately; he instantly recognized it as belonging to the World’s Array Master.

One-third of a breath later, Breaker understood what was coming—he snapped his head up and shouted: “It’s the Array Master!! He’s come here to cause trouble?!!”

Though he felt a subtle defeat from losing to Yaoguang, Breaker knew one thing clearly: since ten years ago, he had been his lord’s strategist.

Zhou Wangji froze; Yu Yanming’s gaze halted. They all looked up and saw the Whale Fisher, silver hair flying, riding the wind, carrying two old men, stepping through the air toward them. The Whale Fisher spotted Li Guanyi and Yaoguang and roared:

“Li Guanyi, what are you doing?!”

Having wandered far and wide, fishing, he’d forgotten to contact his daughter—and missed her wedding entirely. Now he was embarrassed, so he feigned anger; otherwise, he couldn’t even face them.

The silver-haired girl saw through her father’s thoughts instantly.

Her face showed no emotion; she lowered her gaze and spoke calmly:

“Fool.”

The Whale Fisher tossed Tu Shengyuan and the Old Astronomer out.

The Old Astronomer landed in the style of a martial hero.

As his buttocks hit the ground in the “Falling Sand” posture, the Tortoise Manifestation cushioned him, bounced, and he landed firmly—then he snatched the Tortoise Manifestation, flicked it, and it spun through the air, striking Tu Shengyuan’s rear with perfect aim, launching the talkative old man into a tree branch.

Tu Shengyuan’s face turned pale.

Instinctively, he touched his mouth.

His lips and tongue were intact.

He sighed in relief, then yelped in pain.

The Old Astronomer watched the Whale Fisher charge forward. Zhou Wangji recognized him as the famed martial legend; the Breaker Line’s current leader, ever aggressive, sensed something was off—he wasn’t here to stop it.

He opened his mouth to say: “Wait—”

But the calm, conservative Yu Yanming could no longer hold back—he slapped his palm over Zhou Wangji’s head, fingers clamping down, yanking him back, his hair standing on end, face flushed with fury:

“You left our child at my doorstep back then—now that our child is returning after marriage, you come to me?!”

“Fisher!”

“You really think I’m a vegetarian?!”

“I fucking—!”

Zhou Wangji gasped sharply.

Yu Yanming waved his hand, activating the array to intercept the Whale Fisher—twenty years of suppressed anger and resentment exploded at once. The Yaoguang Line’s secret realm array was peerless—even the Three Outer Sects had none to match it.

Array light erupted—the Whale Fisher crashed straight in.

The Old Astronomer’s lip twitched—he saw no true fire, merely a sparring match—but even so, he saw the Whale Fisher’s overwhelming, unrivaled aura.

Even with Yaoguang Line’s accumulated power, Yu Yanming was no match for the Whale Fisher—yet the old silver-haired man knew Yu Yanming was Yaoguang’s adoptive father, so he held back, using only technique to break the array.

Tu Shengyuan, dangling from the tree, grinned.

“This fisherman’s gone mad.”

“Just apologize to your daughter and be done with it.”

“Don’t apologize, pretend to be angry, just hoping someone will comfort you.”

“So awkward.”

“Has this fisherman even grown up?!”

The Old Astronomer: “…………”

The Tortoise: “…………”

The Old Astronomer had the urge to stuff this old bastard’s mouth with a three-month-old, worn-out shoe—this mouth shouldn’t be a storyteller’s; it should be on the battlefield, shouting challenges.

Or he should’ve been reborn eight hundred years ago.

During the peak of the Red Emperor’s reign, as envoy from the Central Plains’ Red Emperor Line to the western states.

With this mouth—

Too much.

But the garrulous old man was right: letting the Whale Fisher keep “acting up” wouldn’t do. Yet when he was off his game, he was utterly off—but his martial skill was truly unmatched.

Only Li Guanyi could match him.

But you can’t have father-in-law and son-in-law brawl at a homecoming banquet.

The Old Astronomer suddenly remembered something. He slowly lowered his head, gazing at his Tortoise Manifestation with an encouraging, expectant look. The Tortoise Manifestation, having enjoyed the spectacle, chatted cheerfully: “The Array Master is clearly furious.”

“He wants to be present for the entire wedding return ceremony, so he must disrupt the Star Gazing Line’s preparations.”

“Otherwise, a father’s dignity will be trampled into the mud.”

“Yu Yanming clearly holds a grudge—he sees the Array Master’s intent and wants to stop him. Hmph, what a spectacle. If he can’t stop him, you can’t let Li Guanyi intervene—that’d ruin everything.”

“Now we wait to see who can block the Array Master.”

“Great show.”

“No one can stop him, surely—after all, who dares truly stand in the Array Master’s way?”

The Old Tortoise and the Old Astronomer conversed.

They chuckled in wonder.

But slowly, the Black Tortoise Manifestation sensed something strange—the old Celestial Clerk, who always crouched beside him to discuss and watch the show, was silent, yet the old tortoise inexplicably felt two pairs of eyes upon him, a chill creeping over him.

The old tortoise fell silent.

The old tortoise turned his head slowly and saw the old Celestial Clerk staring at him.

A grin of “we’re good buddies” appeared on the old tortoise’s face, tinged with cautious hesitation: “No one would dare go and stop him… right?”

The old Celestial Clerk’s lips twitched.

He revealed a smile the young Tuyuhun had known well.

“You’re not human.”

The old tortoise: “???!”

The old Celestial Clerk, brimming with vigor: “Go stop the Array Chief!”

The Black Tortoise Manifestation froze.

Me?!

Before he could object, the old Celestial Clerk leapt forward in three strides, bent low, reached out, seized the Black Tortoise Manifestation, then stomped his right foot forward and twisted his waist.

His sleeves flared.

His waist, spine, and legs tightened.

He spun into a tight inward rotation.

Like ancient folk who, wielding spears and javelins, dared hunt the Sun God, the old Celestial Clerk’s face bore solemnity.

“I’ll miss you, old friend.”

He unleashed his power suddenly.

The Black Tortoise Manifestation was flung through the air, spinning wildly.

The Black Tortoise roared: “Old baldy, you son of a—!”

The Black Tortoise slammed into the Array Chief at high speed.

The Array Chief was slapped flying.

“Where did this mosquito come from?”

The old Celestial Clerk grinned, watching as the Black Tortoise Manifestation struck precisely against the branch pinning Tu Shengyuan, then watched as the latter struggled futilely to free himself, screaming helplessly as the spinning tortoise came crashing down upon him.

The old Celestial Clerk murmured: “That way, the old man didn’t completely stand idle—he did something, didn’t he?!!”

Suddenly, a searing heat burned his palm—he snapped back to awareness and looked down: the Xue Shenjiang’s realm crystal glowed more intensely, its faint cracks slowly healing.

The old Celestial Clerk froze, then saw the fully activated realm of the Yao Guang lineage.

He stared at the Xue Shenjiang’s crystal.

In this unusual situation, the old Celestial Clerk immediately realized: Xue Shenjiang’s realm crystal had been created five hundred years ago by Yao Guang herself, and the method used must have been passed down through all subsequent Yao Guang lineages.

The old Celestial Clerk slapped his forehead, then burst into laughter: “To untie a knot, you must find the one who tied it—I never thought I’d overlook the obvious. This place is where old Xue awakens.” His hands moved swiftly, and in an instant, Yin and Yang energies swirled and transformed.

Through the Dao of Yin and Yang, he developed the principles of opposition, then the Eight Trigrams, then the Sixty-Four Hexagrams, Yang Dun 504, Yin Dun 504, totaling 1,080 arrangements—until the entire Yao Guang Realm was engulfed in swirling Yin-Yang energy.

Four thousand three hundred and twenty arrangements.

Yin-Yang evolution reached a level of Qimen Dunjia unseen before, unmatched after.

What I tread upon.

Is Yin and Yang.

He clasped his hands together—the true spirit of Xue Shenjiang faintly stirred. Since his fierce battle with Yuwen Lie years ago, Xue Shenjiang had sunk into slumber, dazed and unconscious, unaware of his location or purpose, as if waking from a dream only to be kicked awake by the old Celestial Clerk, dragged straight off his bed.

The old Celestial Clerk saw the Whale Fisher piercing through the Yao Guang lineage, nearing them.

A sudden insight struck him.

He seized the Xue Shenjiang realm crystal and hurled it toward the Whale Fisher.

He bellowed at the top of his lungs:

“Someone is trying to sabotage this generation of Yao Guang’s wedding!!!”

Even as Xue Shenjiang’s true spirit remained dazed, he heard those words.

The Array Chief, about to block the return banquet, suddenly sensed something wrong.

The array behind him shattered instantly.

The next moment, two boots from five hundred years ago—boots that had shattered Lingshan—crashed down from the sky, kicking the Whale Fisher squarely in the lower back, throwing off his movement. In an instant, silence fell over the entire Yao Guang Realm as Xue Shenjiang descended like a great roc, crushing the Array Chief from the heavens.

Not a moment’s hesitation. Not a shred of doubt.

The dazed Xue Shenjiang acted without hesitation.

“No matter which generation of Yao Guang’s affair this is—I’m here to lend support!”

Only then did Xue Shenjiang see the man he’d kicked down, and stared in shock:

“Huh?? You’re still alive, fisherman? How long have I slept?!”

The Whale Fisher, unable to match such brute strength, landed on the ground, grass tangled in his hair, veins bulging on his forehead: “You woke up after just over a year? Xue, are you doing carp leaps inside your coffin?!”

The silver-haired girl nibbled a pastry slowly.

Her face showed no emotion—her perception was keen; she knew this was merely a brawl.

After their brawl, the Whale Fisher and Xue Shenjiang were both bruised and swollen, still defiant.

Li Guanyi had brought tea.

The Emperor of Qin, dressed as a xiake, bowed deeply as he offered the tea with both hands.

“Father-in-law, please drink your tea.”

The Whale Fisher fell silent, muttered a few words, then sighed—he’d truly shown full respect—so he accepted the tea, then froze in surprise. Li Guanyi glanced sideways and froze too.

It was as if her soul had finally been touched—only now did the silver-haired girl realize something had changed; emotion, slow and delayed, finally reached her.

‘From beginning to end, I will walk with you to your end—whether it be the dawn of a new age or annihilation in war—I will be with you.’

‘Even the hero the whole world relies upon may be weak.’

‘When you need to, turn back.’

‘I am here.’

More than ten years ago, outside Guan Yicheng, the girl had lifted her hood, revealing silver hair and a face as cold and still as a frozen lake.

Now, Li Guanyi turned back—the silver-haired girl’s pastry had fallen to the ground, her silver hair stirred gently by the wind, her pale face flushed crimson, overwhelming emotion blazing across her features.

Like mist clearing from a long night, revealing a fleeting glimpse of moonlight.

The Tanhua blooms for a moment—none in this world may witness it.

The girl’s face flushed.

Here, spring lasted forever; the sky stretched like a vast dome, clouds drifting, the flower trees of the Guanxing Academy’s realm swaying in the wind like ink washes spreading—beneath them, the silver-haired girl smiled.

Then she opened her arms and flung herself into the xiake’s embrace.

‘I am a disciple of the Eastern Land Guanxing Academy—Yao Guang.’

‘Come to fulfill—’

‘The destined pact.’

??Epilogue Part Two Ends~ Recently had some things come up—won’t be taking so long between updates again~