Chapter 3072: The Road To Redemption (1)
Nian Shi’s decision was final. He would not be chasing phantoms. He would consolidate his ultimate victory by mastering the ultimate power.
Tantai Lanling bowed deeply, her expression one of absolute faith. "A wise and lofty plan, my Lord. This lowly one has no objections. I shall stand guard and recuperate my strength, awaiting your glorious ascension."
Nian Shi gave a slight, indifferent nod. Without another word, he moved to the center of the devastated plain, where the barriers had once stood. He sat down in the lotus position, exactly where Yun Lintian had been meditating before.
The Beyond Heaven King’s Crown on his brow glowed softly, drawing upon the unique energies of the land to aid him. The dual auras of Creation and Uncreation, now under the command of a ruthless and infinitely experienced will, began to swirl around him with renewed intensity, no longer chaotic, but moving with purposeful, terrifying precision.
He closed his eyes, one dark, one silver, and plunged his consciousness deep into the core of the vessel, seeking to impose his absolute will on the two supreme laws and force them into a perfect, subservient unity.
Tantai Lanling watched for a moment, a shiver of awe and fear running down her spine. The air hummed with concentrated power that felt both life-giving and utterly annihilating.
She then quickly found a place a suitable distance away, sitting down to meditate and heal her own injuries, her senses alert to any disturbance that might threaten her new master’s crucial seclusion.
***
**
*
Time lost all meaning.
Yun Lintian drifted in an endless, silent blackness. It was a void without sensation, without thought, without hope. He was a speck of consciousness adrift in a sea of nothing, a forgotten memory fading into oblivion.
How long had it been? A second? An eon? There was no way to tell. The brutal process of being overwritten by Nian Shi had shattered his sense of self. The agony of having his memories, his will, his very identity scoured away had been absolute. He had felt himself dissolving, becoming nothing.
Is this the end? The thought surfaced from the depths of his fading awareness, a final, quiet whisper before the eternal silence.
A bitter, silent laugh echoed in the confines of his own mind. I actually fell so easily... in such an unexpected moment.
He had prepared. Oh, how he had prepared. Countless countermeasures, hidden aces, strategies woven into strategies for facing Nian Shi and Yin. He had anticipated grand battles, cosmic clashes, intricate schemes and counter-schemes.
He had never anticipated that his downfall would come from a moment of sheer, overwhelming grief, from a few well-placed, cruel words that shattered his focus at the most critical juncture. He had been defeated not by a superior technique, but by his own heart. He never had the chance to use any of his preparations.
The images came then, unbidden and agonizingly vivid. Linlin’s gentle smile and Qinqing’s naughty giggles, forever erased. Qingxuan and Niuniu’s fierce devotion, burned to ash for his sake. Chuntao’s serene strength, falling with the moon she loved. Mumu’s playful spirit, extinguished.
The trust in the eyes of his disciples, the hope of his people—all gone, because he was not there.
He had failed them. Not only could he not protect them, but he couldn’t even avenge them. His body was now a weapon in the hands of their murderer, his hard-earned power being used to perfect the very tyranny that had destroyed them.
The despair was a bottomless pit, threatening to consume the last flicker of his consciousness. He had nothing left. No body, no power, no hope. Just the crushing weight of failure and loss.
"Have you given up already?"
The voice was soft, clear, and piercingly familiar. It cut through the oppressive silence of the void like a shaft of moonlight through a stormy night.
Yun Lintian’s fading consciousness jolted. That voice... it was impossible. It couldn’t be...
He tried to "look" around, but there was only endless darkness. "Ning Yue?!" His mental cry was a mixture of shock, confusion, and a desperate, fragile hope. "Is that you?!"
The voice did not answer his question directly. Instead, it repeated, gentle yet firm, "Have you given up already, Big Brother Yun?"
The use of that old, affectionate name sent a tremor through his soul. He forced himself to calm the chaotic whirl of emotions. This was not the time for shock or doubt.
"Given up?" his spirit responded, the words filled with a defiance that came from the deepest core of his being. "Of course not! I haven’t given up yet!"
It was true. Even in this utter defeat, stripped of everything, that stubborn spark of will, the same one that had refused to die at the bottom of the Forgetful River, had not been extinguished.
"If you haven’t given up," the voice of Ning Yue questioned, its tone shifting to one of slight admonishment, "then why are you lying here, acting like you have?"
Yun Lintian was speechless. Acting like he had given up? He was a disembodied soul trapped in darkness! What else could he do?
Before he could form a response, a change occurred in the endless black.
A single point of light appeared in the distance. It was small at first, but it grew rapidly, not with blinding intensity, but with a soft, warm, and incredibly pure radiance. It pushed back the darkness, not by erasing it, but by creating a space within it.
As the light expanded, figures became visible within it.
At the center stood a woman clad in robes of pristine white. Her features were exquisitely beautiful, yet carried an aura of ancient wisdom and profound peace.
It was Ning Yue, but not the Ning Yue of his memories. This was a Ning Yue whose presence felt... complete, foundational, as if she were an integral part of the universe itself.
Behind her stood a magnificent tree, its branches stretching into infinity, its leaves shimmering with the light of countless stars and the depth of countless worlds. It was the World Tree, but it appeared more vibrant, more real than any projection he had ever seen.
And standing calmly beside the towering trunk of the World Tree was a tall, imposing figure. He wore simple robes, but his bearing was that of absolute majesty and primordial power. His eyes held the weight of eons and the untamable wildness of the first storms. Yun Lintian recognized him instantly—Long Yi, the First Dragon Ancestor, in his human form.
Yun Lintian was utterly stunned. His consciousness, which had been on the verge of fading, now sharpened with overwhelming shock and confusion.
"Ning Yue? Is it really you?" he asked, his voice trembling with uncertainty. "But... how? I thought... I thought you were gone. Erased when Nian Shi destroyed the original timeline..."