[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-watching-the-immortals-fall":3,"chapter-watching-the-immortals-fall-watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-412":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Watching the Immortals Fall",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2260285,4410,"Chapter 412","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-412",412,"\u003Cp>People say those involved are blinded by the situation—this is indeed true. Looking back now, some things have become clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was extraordinarily intelligent since childhood, emotionally mature far beyond his years—he must have known long ago of my extraordinary nature, and spent years pretending to be compassionate and sorrowful to win my favor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I returned after making a great vow, distancing myself from kin, able to see the sword’s heart but not the human heart. I once cherished him as a son, never imagining the same suffering could breed such different natures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Chen’s eyes held a flicker of memory, then turned to the Head of the Heavenly Book Academy: “But Brother Zixu, you too made a misstep.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Head of the Heavenly Book Academy narrowed his eyes: “I’ve spent these years sustaining the Dao of Heaven—how is that a misstep?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You ruined Ji You. You should have told him earlier—that cultivation path was wrong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Chen stared at him without expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Night Watcher lineage originated from the Heavenly Book Academy; the last Night Watcher, Cui Lang, was his younger brother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this world, no one understood better than he did that this lineage required perfect synchronization between soul and body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, he watched Ji You walk down the wrong path—and did nothing to stop him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment of silence, the old Head of the Heavenly Book Academy spoke: “I am not the Dao of Heaven. I cannot be certain I am right—how could I dare to arbitrarily alter his life’s path, shifting his destiny because of me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know you have a good excuse—you can watch anyone die with cold eyes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, I did not do nothing.” The old Head fixed his gaze. “Though I spent my life following rules, before I died, I gave him one thread of connection.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Chen, who had shown little emotion since appearing, finally flinched—his pupils trembled: “You mean… he’s still alive?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old Head of the Heavenly Book Academy gazed at the rolling darkness: “I don’t know.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do you mean?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Soul-locking won’t make him disperse instantly—it only lets him fade naturally when he loses himself. So I left him one thread—he may follow it back, but to return, he must first overcome his own will and reclaim himself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old Head of the Heavenly Book Academy glanced at him: “If he regains himself against one-in-ten-thousand odds, he still needs one-in-ten-million chances to escape.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Chen stared at him: “One-in-a-thousand?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He must tear through the darkness binding his flesh, press forward relentlessly, shatter every restraint—nothing else matters. But his senses are gone. He walks without direction, unaware of where ahead lies. He must keep moving forward. Given the strength of Ji You’s flesh-sealing, compared to his soul, this feels like a thousand years.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You might as well just say he’s already dead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Chen’s words left the Head of the Heavenly Book Academy speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tearing through darkness, pressing forward—it’s not inherently difficult or terrifying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the problem is, that darkness is endless and directionless. Even he doesn’t know if pressing forward will ever bring him back—that’s what’s truly terrifying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because there is no hope in such a thing, and human nature struggles terribly against despair. Master Chen imagined himself in that place—and knew it was impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Head of the Heavenly Book Academy knew it too, which was why he had remained silent just now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Does humanity truly have no chance left?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After long silence, Master Chen turned his gaze toward the churning southern darkness and asked softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If there truly were a chance, why would we have expended so much effort to stop them in the first place?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Head of the Heavenly Book Academy sighed: “The Ancient Remnant are the race most attuned to the Dao of Heaven. From their inception, the world granted them all talents. When they use the new Dao to mend the old Dao, they become the eternal Dao.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Chen fell silent, then let out a soft sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That sigh was quiet—but it shattered his flesh instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dust rained down, exploding into a storm of flying sand, swept away by the night wind in all directions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, his body glowed with immortal radiance, leaving only a single spiritual essence, which surged upward into the heavens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he ascended originally, he never left this world—he vowed to guard humanity as a Night Watcher and returned. Now that night has come, his vow unfulfilled, he has little time left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Head of the Heavenly Book Academy looked up, silently watching.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought Master Chen would choose to dissolve into this world, for the Dao’s backlash—the thunderous retribution—was now too much for him to bear. Better to end it himself, cleanly and gracefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother Yanliang, go well…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Head of the Heavenly Book Academy whispered his farewell, still gazing upward, ready to witness his final moment—yet what he expected never came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Head of the Heavenly Book Academy blinked in surprise, then transformed into a beam of immortal light and soared upward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the boundless, hollow void—vast, empty, and shimmering—he arrived in a realm of pure white nothingness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the space one passed through before ascending to the Immortal Realm—the closest point to the Dao of Heaven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, Master Chen stood motionless, staring ahead—as if fixed on something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old Head of the Heavenly Book Academy hesitated a moment, then shifted his gaze to where Master Chen looked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes fell—and there, in the endless white void, stood Ji You, bathed in golden light, his spiritual sense flickering wildly like a dancing flame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked as if he had just survived a brutal battle—his body still thrummed with residual energy, causing thunderous echoes all around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, the old Head of the Heavenly Book Academy froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had just been discussing with Master Chen: for Ji You’s soul to awaken, he must overcome his will, reclaim himself, and endure a void with no direction, no time, no hope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merely imagining such a scene was suffocating—seemingly simple, yet utterly impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet here he was—returned, standing before them, alive and vivid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did Qingyun become like this?” Ji You panted, turning his head as if sensing their presence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You actually made it out?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pitch black, fought like hell—Old Doc, long time no see.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Head of the Heavenly Book Academy stared at him a long while before speaking: “You… how long were you gone?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A year? Two years? I don’t know. There was no time, no distance, nothing. I even thought I was standing still. But can you answer my question first—what happened to Qingyun?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After speaking, Ji You looked down at the churning darkness beneath his feet, the blood-and-flesh storm in the distance, and the pale-white figures emerging from within it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he stepped out of that void, there was nothing around him—only Qingyun beneath his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Qingyun he saw was nothing like the one he had lost consciousness in. The Dao was in chaos, the air thick with the stench of blood—like a living hell. He was filled with questions—what had happened?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the Head of the Heavenly Book Academy’s voice sounded beside his ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Ancient Remnant have awakened.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You blinked in surprise: “The Remnant were extinct since ancient times—why have they awakened now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Head of the Heavenly Book Academy shook his head: “The Remnant never perished. Thirteen hundred years ago, their Holy Emperor tried to absorb the Dao of Heaven, provoking Heaven’s wrath—but the wrath came not from the ancient Dao, but from the new Dao born after the ancient one was absorbed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You mean… they succeeded?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Only half.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Chen continued: “The Holy Emperor was arrogant—he refused to be bound by the Dao and sought to become it himself. But his absorption was incomplete, and instead, it birthed another Dao, which descended sacred artifacts to suppress them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You stared in shock, then, as if remembering something, gazed at the churning darkness and whispered: “So… this is the night the Night Watchers guard?”\u003C\u002Fp>",1339,"2026-06-19T15:28:41.911Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e30b70bb566dabf7ee5c256b2a5a123e0a1697193522ff85ac965fa7ca79d678","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-413","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-411",430,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwatching-the-immortals-fall-cover.jpg"]