Qing Lan watched Ji Shiyou and Ming Yue awaken, his expression calm.
Even if both had returned to their peak state, capable of destroying heaven and earth in an instant, he remained unfazed. He looked at them, his eyes devoid of ripples, as if he were looking at two corpses.
"Fate, predestined? Who predestined it?
Is it the Heavenly Dao? Is it bored out of its mind?
With nothing better to do, it comes to plan other people's lives.
My destiny is mine to control, what business is it of his.
If he wants to interfere with my destiny, he can forget it!
Even the Heavenly Dao cannot.
I am not one to submit to fate; if you want to kill me,
then I will defy heaven and change destiny, killing all gods and Buddhas in the sky!"
Hearing Qing Lan's words, Ming Yue's eyes filled with murderous intent, her blood surging.
The Wu clan inherently yearned for freedom and rejected restraint.
Upon hearing that someone had dictated her life and planned her destiny, her Wu clan bloodline erupted like a volcano, causing lightning and thunder to fill the sky, as if the world were ending.
"Across the heavens and beneath the earth, through the nine heavens and ten lands, whatever you wish to do, I will support you from behind.
No one, no matter what, can separate you and me.
What is this talk of predestination, of fate?
Even in death, we will die together; fate cannot separate you and me."
Ji Shiyou looked at Ming Yue with adoration, speaking with deep affection.
His words clearly stated that he would never yield to fate.
No matter what Ming Yue chose to do, he would stand behind her and support her unyieldingly.
Hearing Ji Shiyou's words, Ming Yue turned and looked back.
She smiled enchantingly, her eyes filled with deep emotion.
Ji Shiyou's lips curved into a happy smile.
The cold moonlight poured down from the sky, enveloping the two of them.
Their expressions turned serious as they looked at Qing Lan.
The shift in Qing Lan's aura earlier had already made them sense that he had changed.
The aura he exuded was ancient and weathered, likely originating from the Primordial Era.
One of them was a princess of the Primordial Era, the other a proud scion of the Moon Palace.
Yet, Qing Lan regarded them with disdain, his identity must be extraordinary.
However, they had never seen this person before, finding him utterly unfamiliar.
They did not know which great deity he was, but it no longer mattered.
No matter who it was, anyone who sought to separate them would be their enemy.
Whether they were immortals, demons, or sages, they dared to fight them.
Ming Yue and Ji Shiyou asked no further questions and attacked directly.
With a movement of their divine senses, the twelve Ancestral Wu Golden Body Dharma manifestations rose from the ground, charging towards Qing Lan.
Meanwhile, Ji Shiyou manipulated the moonlight, transforming it into countless moon blades, which also whistled towards Qing Lan.
Instantly, the heavens and earth changed color, and clouds surged.
A colossal energy storm seemed poised to shatter the space.
But Qing Lan, at the center of the storm, remained unperturbed, as calm as ever.
He extended his right hand and, with a gentle wave, faced the mountain-like twelve Ancestral Wu Golden Body Dharma manifestations.
Space seemed to freeze, lightning extinguished, and the wind ceased.
The twelve golden bodies halted in their tracks, then collapsed one by one, turning into dust.
And the countless wind blades, imbued with the power of Taiyin, unleashed by Ji Shiyou, were controlled by Qing Lan.
They reversed their course and flew back towards Ji Shiyou and Ming Yue.
Ming Yue's expression shifted slightly; this was clearly the power of rules, something only a Saint could wield.
Ji Shiyou also recognized it and waved his hands.
The sky was once again filled with moonlight, forming a shield that blocked the returning wind blades.
As they were both formed from the power of Taiyin, the moon blades met the shield, and the two cancelled each other out.
However, Qing Lan did not stop there. At some point, a ball of light had condensed in his hand.
The ball of light was about the size of an egg, with a strange power swirling around it.
This power felt corrupt, ancient, decadent, and filled with the aura of death.
"The world was originally chaos, and chaos is eternal.
There were no heavens or earth, no living beings.
No good or evil, no beauty or ugliness, no grudges or entanglements.
Without beginning or end, that is perfection.
But life emerged from chaos, each with its own nature, unaware of the heavenly mandate.
Thus, there was destruction! Since you are stubborn and unrepentant,
then in this light of destruction, return to chaos!"
Qing Lan held the ball of light and spoke a strange passage.
Then, he tossed the ball of light he held towards Ji Shiyou and Ming Yue.
As the ball of light left his hand, it transformed into a gray radiance.
This was likely the light of destruction Qing Lan spoke of; anything illuminated by it,
whether flowers, trees, mountains, or buildings, would vanish.
Ming Yue and Ji Shiyou felt the terror of the light of destruction and faced it with grave concern.
Ming Yue mobilized all the elemental powers she could, surrounding them.
Multicoloured energies converged and compressed around them, becoming tangible.
They formed a multicolored eggshell-like shield, protecting them within.
Ji Shiyou also released moonlight, adding another layer of defense outside the multicolored shield.
The moonlight shimmered, ethereal and dreamlike, revealing faint multicolored light.
It appeared dazzling and beautiful, full of vibrant colors.
But the two within the multicolored shield wore solemn expressions.
For they lacked absolute confidence in their ability to block the gray light of destruction.
However, there was no more time to consider, as the light of destruction had reached them.
The defense they had jointly erected did have an effect.
The shimmering moonlight and the brilliant multicolored hues did not disappear; they blocked the light of destruction.
But it only lasted a few seconds before the moonlight grew thin.
And the multicolored shield, formed from various elemental powers, grew dimmer and dimmer.
It was clear that even with their combined efforts and utmost exertion,
they could not hold back the light of destruction for long. The destruction of the moonlight and the shield was only a matter of time.
Ji Shiyou remained silent, quietly pulling Ming Yue behind him.
His thought was that as long as he had a breath left, he would stand in front of Ming Yue.
Even in death, he would not let Ming Yue die before him.
But Ming Yue quietly returned to Ji Shiyou's side, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
Her strong personality meant that even in the face of death, she was unwilling to be a woman behind a man.
She wanted to be a great woman fighting alongside her man.
No matter how dangerous, even if it cost her life,
she would face it head-on and never retreat.
The moonlight outside the shield had vanished, and the multicolored shield was on the verge of collapse.
The light of destruction was about to shine upon them.
At this moment, Ji Shiyou and Ming Yue paid it no mind, their eyes locked on each other.
They both understood that they could not block this light of destruction.
Since death was inevitable, they would face it with a smile.
However, they were not people to wait passively for death.
Their hearts were connected, and they understood each other's thoughts without speaking: self-detonation!
They were both proud individuals who would never allow themselves to die at the hands of another.
Their lives could not be taken by anyone else.
Only they themselves could end their lives.
Thus, they looked at each other with deep affection, while the magical power within them gathered frantically.
Cracks began to appear in the space around them.
Yes, they were going to destroy this space.
Even in death, they would not submit to fate.
They would live together and die together.
After death, they would enter the boundless spatial rifts, and no one could separate them.
At the same time, even in death, they would drag Qing Lan down with them.
This was their dignity, and their resistance against fate.