jdhmnovel Chapter 956: The Guest-Host
Chapter 956: The Guest-Host
Before the shattered ice crystals of Mirror Lake had even fallen to the ground, Yun Yao had already transformed into a streak of light, piercing the barrier of the small world. The heavens of the cultivation world were cleaved by twelve inverted golden pagodas. Mahayana-level magical weapons suspended from their pinnacles exuded a dark blue blood mist, outlining distorted celestial runes in the air. Liu Yan'er's figure, hazy and ghostly, stood atop the pagodas. Her face, a blend of mortal and divine, wore a sinister smile she knew all too well.
"Want to save Chu Mochen?" Liu Yan'er raised her hand and waved lightly. The image of the blood-red altar unfolded in the clouds. The sight of Chu Mochen being pierced through the scapula by the Heavenly Dao Chain stung Yun Yao's eyes. "Come to the Divine Palace dungeon and use your godhead fragments to exchange for his life."
Yun Yao clenched her fists, her nails practically digging into her palms. The system's warning boomed through her mind: "Trap detected! Within the dungeon lies a 'Energy Devouring Array' capable of devouring divine powers, but..." The mechanical voice suddenly froze. "Unknown signal interference detected. The mission database is... crashing!"
Her pupils shrank as she watched the system interface crack like a shattered mirror. In the final crack, she glimpsed the hidden underlying code—it turned out that every mission and reward she had received since her time traveling through time had been part of the path to awakening paved for her by the Heavenly Dao Divine Palace. But at this moment, the flickering codes were suddenly covered by a bright red, like a cipher written in blood and tears.
"Since it's a trap, let's turn it into a hunting ground," Yun Yao murmured softly. The pressure of the Void Realm suddenly subsided, transforming into the aura of a cultivator at the Tempering Body Realm. She deliberately left a chaotic wave of spiritual energy outside the Divine Palace barrier. As expected, three breaths later, Liu Yan'er's two Divine Palace guardians burst through the air.
The stench of decay from the dungeon assaulted Yun Yao's face. As she was roughly shoved into the iron cage, she encountered a pair of bloodshot eyes. The old woman, huddled in the corner, was covered in wounds, blackened blood clots clinging to her white hair. But deep within her cloudy pupils, a familiar light flickered, a light that made her breath stop.
"Xiao Cui?" Yun Yao threw herself in front of the iron bars, her voice trembling. The old woman's bony fingers suddenly grasped her wrist, and from her palm came half a blood-stained jade slip. The lotus pattern engraved on it was exactly the same as the ancient book she had found by the ancient well in the palace.
"Miss... I've finally waited for you." The old nanny coughed violently, the blood foam she coughed up spreading a strange purple-black color on the ground. "Before you were banished to the mortal world, you hid the purest law of creation in the ancient well of the palace. Liu Yan'er thought she controlled the way of heaven, but in reality, she was just... cough cough... a puppet trained by me to take my place!"
Yun Yao's entire body trembled. Before she could ask further questions, the old woman suddenly transformed into countless points of light. The last ray of light condensed into a bronze token, upon which the three ancient seal characters "System Master" glowed. The system within her sea of consciousness suddenly rebooted, but instead of the cold, mechanical voice, it said: "Detecting a resonance with the Law of Creation, activating hidden permissions - Retracing Thousands of Years of Memories."
Pictures exploded in her mind: the Tiandao Temple a thousand years ago, herself as the Chaos Saint injected a wisp of the law of creation into the ancient well of the palace; Liu Yan'er's crazy laughter when she was chosen by the gods; and the original appearance of the System Lord - it was the bronze order in the hands of the old nanny!
"So you've been waiting for this moment." Yun Yao gripped the bronze order tightly, a sneer curling her lips. Footsteps echoed outside the dungeon. She quickly swallowed the jade slip and began to practice the "Heaven-Defying Dao Jue" she had learned from it. Her Void Realm cultivation dissipated like the receding tide, replaced by the spiritual energy fluctuations unique to the Tempering Body Realm cultivator. But beneath every inch of her skin, chaotic energy surged.
The moment the iron cage was opened, Yun Yao suddenly stumbled and fell into Liu Yan'er's arms. "Yun Yao, you have come to this day?" Liu Yan'er pinched her chin, her eyes full of pride. "Hand over the fragments of the godhead, and I will leave you with an intact body."
"Alright, take it." Yun Yao suddenly revealed an innocent smile. Seal of Order between Liu Yan'er's eyebrows, taking advantage of her momentary daze. Chaotic energy burrowed into the seal like a venomous snake, and Liu Yan'er's pupils suddenly constricted—the power of her divine nature, so proud of her, was being devoured by the other party!
"Impossible! You're clearly in the Body Tempering Realm!" Liu Yan'er stumbled back, only to find her feet entangled in chains formed from the chaotic energy. Yun Yao slowly stood up, the aura emanating from her body causing the entire dungeon to tremble.
"Do you really think I'll let you do whatever you want?" Yun Yao raised her hand and summoned the Hongmeng Pen, the tip of which hovered at Liu Yan'er's throat. "You should have expected this day to come since you framed me in the palace. But since you helped me divert the guards from the Divine Palace, I'll let you go."
"Wait!" Liu Yan'er suddenly laughed shrilly, "Do you think defeating me can change your fate? Each of the twelve golden pagodas at the center of the Divine Palace seals the sins of your past lives! Even if you regain your godhood, you will be devoured by those sins!"
Yun Yao paused with her pen tip, then thrust forward without hesitation. As Liu Yan'er's body dissipated into a speck of light, she saw, through her remaining consciousness, the central core of the Divine Palace—atop twelve golden pagodas, floating fragments of her godhead from three previous lives, each entwined with pitch-black chains.
"So what if it's a sin?" Yun Yao tightly gripped the bronze order, and the chaotic energy condensed into armor around her body. "In this life, I want to defy fate and change my destiny!" She rushed towards the dungeon exit, but heard a familiar groan when she was about to leave.
Through the fluctuations of spiritual energy in the void, she saw Chu Mochen struggling on the blood-red altar. With every inch the Heavenly Dao chains penetrated, his Nascent Soul dimmed a little. And in the center of the altar, prominently placed was the "God-Slaying Platform," inscribed with her name. It turned out that since the betrayal a thousand years ago, the Heavenly Dao Divine Palace had prepared this final killing move.
"Yun Yao, don't come over!" Chu Mochen's voice was weak but firm, "This is my calamity, I can't let you..."
"Shut up!" Yun Yao's voice was filled with unquestionable majesty. "Do you think you can protect me by bearing it alone? Don't forget, we are going to rewrite the way of heaven together!" She activated the Anti-Heaven Technique and pushed her realm back to the Qi training stage, but the chaotic energy was boiling around her body like a substance.
The moment she stepped into the heart of the Divine Palace, the twelve golden pagodas simultaneously wailed. Yun Yao, looking at the fragments of her godhead from three previous lives, finally understood that Liu Yan'er's final words were true—each fragment bore the mark of her "mistakes" as the Holy Maiden of Chaos: the destruction of half the Divine Palace to save Chu Mochen, the countless lives lost due to the unchecked laws of creation...
"So I'm the real villain." Yun Yao laughed at herself, tears streaming down her face. The bronze token suddenly glowed warmly, and the old woman's voice echoed through her mind: "Child, do you think the Law of Creation can only be used for destruction? Go and see what's in the ancient well in the palace."
Her consciousness involuntarily retraced back to the day she first arrived at the palace. In her memory, as she squatted by the ancient well, wiping the ancient books, a drop of blood had indeed fallen into the well. And now, in the illusion at the heart of the divine palace, that drop of blood was radiating a brilliant light, resonating with the chaotic energy within her body.
"So that's how it is!" Yun Yao suddenly laughed. "The so-called sin is just a one-sided statement of the Heavenly Dao Divine Palace!" She waved the Hongmeng Pen, and the tip of the pen touched the most hideous chain. The chaotic energy and the laws of creation merged, and as the chain shattered inch by inch, she finally saw the most secret truth of the Heavenly Dao Divine Palace -
Deep within the Divine Palace, another self slumbered. That "her" clad in a black robe, entwined with a power of laws more terrifying than the chains of Heaven. Liu Yan'er was merely a pawn created by this "Shadow Yun Yao," a tool to force her awakening.
"Interesting." A dangerous glint flashed in Yun Yao's eyes. "Since someone wants me to become the second Lord of Order, I'm determined to break this chessboard!" She merged the Bronze Token into her godhood, and her aura surged to that of the early Chaos Realm. This was only the beginning of her counterattack...