The mont Tantai Xue turned to flee, Hongyue's crimson eyes flashed with murderous intent.
Her body vanished in a streak of scarlet light, reappearing directly in Tantai Xue's path. The God of Order's inheritor barely had ti to widen her eyes before Hongyue's sword slashed downward—a vicious arc aid to split her skull.
Tantai Xue scread, raising her arms in a desperate block. Golden barriers materialized before her, layers of divine law woven in haste.
BOOM!
Hongyue's blade shattered them all.
The impact sent Tantai Xue crashing to her knees, blood spraying from her lips. Her arms trembled, sleeves torn, revealing deep gashes where the crimson sword's edge had grazed her.
"You—!" she gasped.
Hongyue didn't give her ti to speak. She reversed her grip and stabbed straight for Tantai Xue's throat.
This ti, there was no block. No escape.
But—
CLANG!
A silver blade intercepted at the last mont.
Jian Yun.
His hollow eyes were empty, yet his body moved on instinct—no, on command. He had crossed the battlefield in an instant, disregarding his own injuries, to shield Tantai Xue.
Hongyue's sword screeched against his, the force driving him back a step. But he held firm.
"Damn it," Hongyue snarled.
She twisted her wrist, and her crimson blade slid along Jian Yun's sword with a tallic shriek before biting deep into his shoulder. Black blood spurted, but he didn't flinch.
Tantai Xue seized the opening.
With a gasp, she rolled away, clutching her bleeding arm. Her golden eyes burned with venom as she spat, "This isn't over! You think this victory ans anything? Don't forget that Yun Lintian's woman is in our hand!"
Hongyue tried to lunge past Jian Yun, but he shifted, his blade locking with hers again.
SHING!
A slash—too fast to fully dodge.
Tantai Xue scread as Hongyue's sword carved a deep gash across her side, nearly severing her at the waist. But in that sa instant, Tantai Xue's body dissolved into golden mist, her form scattering like shattered glass.
Her voice echoed as she vanished:
"Next ti... I'll rip out your souls myself!"
Then she was gone.
Hongyue stood frozen for half a breath, her grip tightening on her sword until her knuckles turned white.
Then she turned to Jian Yun.
Her aura erupted.
The scarlet moon above pulsed, its light thickening like blood. The ground beneath her feet cracked, fissures spreading like spiderwebs as her killing intent solidified into a suffocating pressure.
"You," she said, her voice deathly calm, "are going to regret that."
Jian Yun didn't respond. His hollow gaze remained fixed on her, his sword raised.
Hongyue moved.
A hurricane of crimson slashes tore through the air, each strike aid to maim. Jian Yun blocked, parried, countered—but he was already wounded. Already weakening.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
tal shrieked as Hongyue's relentless assault drove him back. Black blood splattered the ground with every step. A slash tore open his thigh. A kick shattered his ribs. A poml strike to his temple sent him reeling.
Still, he fought.
Still, he stood.
Hongyue's fury burned hotter.
"Die!"
She reared back for a final strike, her sword glowing with annihilating power—
"Hongyue!"
Lin Xinyao's voice cut through the haze of bloodlust.
Hongyue hesitated.
Lin Xinyao stepped forward, her own wounds still bleeding, but her gaze firm. "Don't kill him."
Hongyue's lip curled. "Why the hell not? He is useless now."
Lin Xinyao shook her head and said. "He can still be saved."
Hongyue scoffed. "You want to save him? Look at him. Does he look like the Fleeting Cloud Sword Emperor we know?"
Lin Xinyao t her glare without flinching. "If you kill him now, Lintian will definitely bla you."
For a long mont, Hongyue didn't move. The scarlet moon's light flickered, as if even it wavered at her hesitation.
Then, with a disgusted click of her tongue, she lowered her sword.
"Tch. Fine." She shot Jian Yun one last venomous look. "But he's not walking away free."
Lin Xinyao nodded. She stepped forward, raising a hand. Pale silver light wove from her fingertips, forming ethereal chains that coiled around Jian Yun's limbs. His sword clattered to the ground as the bindings tightened, sapping the last of his strength.
His knees hit the dirt. His head bowed.
But his hollow eyes... flickered.
Just for a second.
Sothing like awareness flashed in their depths.
Then it was gone.
Hongyue watched, unimpressed. "Happy now?"
Lin Xinyao exhaled. "For now."
Hongyue rolled her shoulders, the crimson moon above finally dimming. The battlefield fell silent, the only sound the distant howl of the wind.
Tantai Xue had escaped.
Jian Yun was subdued.
And the two won stood amidst the wreckage, bloodied but unbroken.
Hongyue sheathed her sword with a sharp click.
"Next ti," she muttered, "I'm cutting that bitch in half."
Lin Xinyao didn't argue.
***
**
*
The Netherworld was silent.
Yun Lintian floated in the void, his body suspended between life and death. The God of Death's power had been fully absorbed—his flesh, bones, and divine essence now rged with his own. But the true trial had only just begun.
Consolidation.
The power of a Primordial God was not sothing to be wielded lightly. It demanded understanding, balance, and absolute mastery.
His body pulsed with opposing forces—Death, cold and infinite, a void that consud all things. Life, vibrant and unyielding, the spark that defied oblivion.
For six months, he had wrestled with them.
Now, at last, harmony.
Boom!
A tremor ran through the Netherworld as Yun Lintian's eyes snapped open.
His left eye was pure black, a darkness so absolute it seed to swallow light itself. His right eye glead erald-green, radiating vitality.
His hair, once jet-black, had turned snow-white—a testant to the strain of containing such power.
He exhaled, and the Netherworld itself shuddered.
"Finally."
His voice carried the weight of eternity.
He flexed his fingers, watching as black and white energy coiled around them—Chaos, the perfect fusion of Life and Death.
He was no longer just Yun Lintian.
He had transcended.
Si Junyi materialized before him, his crimson Yama King eyes assessing.
"Took you long enough," he remarked dryly.
Yun Lintian smirked. "Had to make sure I didn't explode."
Si Junyi said indifferently. "Exploding would have been inconvenient."
A beat of silence. Then—
Si Junyi said further. "You've stayed here for six months. A lot has happened."
Yun Lintian's aura flickered—just once—before settling back into that eerie calm.
"Tell ."
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