Great Demon - Chapter 85 Part 2

Yunshuo immediately replied, “I will search my consciousness now.”

Changying gave a slight nod.

Yunshuo closed his eyes, and a moment later, he suddenly opened them again. He reached into the air and pulled forth a brush, its strokes as bold as iron and silver, and quickly wrote down a long list of names. Then, he withdrew the brush and respectfully presented the list with both hands.

Changying glanced at it briefly before clenching the paper tightly in her hand, as if she might crush it to dust. “I understand now.”

So Xuanqing had, in the end, hidden something from her.

The Turbid Mirror, two hundred years ago must have been tampered with. Yet looking across the Nine Heavens, even Xuanqing, Kunyi, or the motionless Buddha at the edge of divine light might not have been capable of doing so.

Lowering her golden eyes, she said coolly, “Shangxi City.”

Yunshuo did not understand, and even Fate Keeper was perplexed.

“There is a force in Shangxi City even I cannot withstand. It is likely tied to the strange occurrences in the city. If a devil being used that power to manipulate the Turbid Mirror, none of you would have been able to perceive it,” Changying said coldly. “This matter will be brought to light in due time. There is no need to worry.”

Yunshuo bowed and said bitterly, “Thank you, Divine Venerable, for your guidance.”

Changying waved a hand dismissively, and Yunshuo turned and left the Observatory Pavilion.

Above the pavilion, birds cried out sharply. Among the towering stacks of life lamps, countless flickering hun soul flames swayed in and out of the shadows.

Fate Keeper let out a slow sigh. Seeing Changying turn around, he quickly said, “I wonder what matter Your Divinity wishes to ask me about.”

“It is still about the events from two hundred years ago,” Changying replied icily.

Fate Keeper was momentarily stunned. “But I have already told Your Divinity everything regarding the celestial signs, without the slightest omission.”

“This is not about the celestial signs.” Changying glanced around the area and waved her hand, erecting a barrier around herself and Fate Keeper.

Outside the barrier, the young boy could still see what was happening, but he could not hear a single sound.

Fate Keeper racked his brain, trying to think of anything he might have forgotten. “I would appreciate Your Divinity’s guidance.”

“When you divined the ancient god’s calamity, who else came to this place?” Changying asked coldly.

Fate Keeper’s eyes shifted slightly, and he immediately dove into his own consciousness. Searching through the thousands of spiritual threads in his mind, he carefully combed through the past.

That day, a thick mist had veiled the upper firmament, leaving the Heavenly Palace dimmer than usual, though not entirely shrouded in darkness. After he had divined the celestial signs, he recorded them in his book. At his side, there had not been a single attendant.

This divination concerned an ancient god and was a secret of the Nine Heavens; thus, it was not suitable for too many people to know.

After recalling the events, Fate Keeper slowly recounted everything that had happened and then furrowed his brows. “Is there something wrong with it?”

Changying asked again, “Did anyone come after that? Has your divination record ever been read by anyone?”

Fate Keeper shook his head repeatedly. “No one has ever come. This Observatory Pavilion is filled with the life lamps of mortals—it’s not a place one can enter at will. If these lamps were disturbed, it would be difficult for me to explain.”

“Did the Heavenly Emperor ever visit?” Changying asked.

Fate Keeper was momentarily stunned before replying, “This record… even the Heavenly Emperor has never touched it.”

Changying nodded, indicating that she understood. However, she found it all the more strange. At that time, one of the Devil Lord’s hun souls was still sealed within the Crystal of Law, another hun soul resided in Jingyi’s body, while the last hun soul belonged to that fool. Judging by the fool’s age, he should not have been born yet.

Her golden eyes sharpened. She thought that perhaps, before the fool’s hun soul was born, it had tampered with something. Yet, upon further contemplation, the situation seemed even more bizarre.

It just so happened that on that day, the Divine Sun was shrouded in thick fog, casting a gloomy shadow over the Heavenly Palace. How could a mere hun soul manipulate the shifting clouds?

This matter was surely connected to the Endless Abyss. That abyss was indeed filled with unfathomable mysteries.

“Your Divinity?” Fate Keeper noticed the deep contemplation in her gaze and lowered his voice to call out, “Is there something wrong with Observatory Pavilion?”

Changying returned to her senses and shook her head. “It’s not the Observatory Pavilion.”

“Then what is it?” Fate Keeper was taken aback.

“The Endless Abyss.” Changying slowly uttered the name.

***

Within the Endless Abyss, rolling thunder and writhing lightning slashed through the blackened sky, striking down with a deafening roar.

The gathered devils immediately launched their spells against the barrier, causing sparks to scatter in all directions. Their rage was boundless, fearing that something might happen to Guanshang’s recently unified hun soul.

However, the hun soul had already crashed into the barrier, spreading fractures across its surface, yet it still did not shatter.

The web-like glow in the sky streaked down, striking the ceramic jar in Zhuyou’s hands. The already tattered devil hun soul let out a hoarse scream, growing even weaker.

Yet Guanshang was not harmed by the lightning itself—it was the pressure carried within the strike that overwhelmed him.

That pressure was all too familiar, identical to the force hidden within the rift Changying had once cleaved open.

The white lightning surged into Zhuyou’s head, causing her eyes to widen in pain. The ceramic jar in her hands shattered with a resounding crack. She clasped her hands together, tightly imprisoning Guanshang’s hun soul.

Her hun soul and po soul trembled violently. It felt as though the lightning had pierced straight into her spirit, brushing past her soul form. A crimson glow flared within her spirit, untouched by the strike, yet it felt as though one of her po souls had been forcibly torn apart.

The lightning that overflowed from her spirit surged up her arms, latching onto the devil hun soul in her grasp. Guanshang let out a voiceless wail, as if being torn apart.

But however much Guanshang suffered, it was nothing compared to what Zhuyou endured.

Zhuyou clenched her teeth, feeling as if all her strength was being drained. She was on the verge of collapse but forced herself to stand firm.

The pain did not just burrow into her soul—it was everywhere, an all-encompassing agony that spread through her organs, her limbs trembling uncontrollably.

If she had absorbed all the devil energy from the surrounding devil soldiers as she had before, she could have alleviated some of the pain. But doing so would only deepen the corruption of her devil thoughts.

She lowered her gaze, slowly releasing her hands. Guanshang’s hun soul was now covered in wounds, barely holding together.

Outside the barrier, the devil soldiers continued casting their spells in desperation.

Zhuyou let out a painful chuckle and flicked her sleeve, reinforcing the barrier. The fractures that had covered it moments ago vanished completely, leaving it even stronger than before.

Guanshang’s hun soul was in unbearable agony, able only to let out hoarse cries.

Zhuyou left Guanshang’s broken hun soul where it was. Seeing that the lightning had finally dissipated, she tore through the Endless Abyss and stepped out in an instant.

***

In Shangxi City, no one could make out what the crimson figure suddenly shooting skyward was. Seeing it break through the skies, the people quickly found places to hide.

That streak of crimson, of course, was Zhuyou.

In all her hundreds of years, she had never once longed for divine light as she did now.

Tens of thousands of spiritual threads writhed within her consciousness, as if they too could not bear the pain. A single thought flooded her mind—

She wanted to see the divine light. Only divine light could heal the wounds upon her spirit.

***

Above the Nine Heavens, Changying had only just left Observatory Pavilion when a sudden pain surged through her chest. She pressed a hand against her heart. Though her hun soul and po soul had not been injured, it felt as though they were being torn apart. The pain nearly forced her to revert to her true form.

Zhuyou!

The blood connection between them pulsed stronger and stronger. Changying immediately surged forward, soaring down from the clouds. In a flash, she transformed into her dragon form and coiled around the streak of crimson light.

The moment her dragon body wrapped around it, the red light revealed its true form—a tiny, palm-sized scarlet-feathered bird.

Zhuyou had clearly shrunk herself on purpose, unwilling to be seen by the immortals.

Changying had endured this pain before. How could she not know how much Zhuyou was suffering? She soared higher, as if to crash into the blazing sun.

Yet she did not collide with the sun. At the last moment, she came to an abrupt halt upon the clouds. Twisting her dragon body, she lay motionless upon the brilliant, colorful mist.

“I won’t let anyone see you,” Changying said.

Zhuyou had no words to respond. Her mind was filled with only one thought—So this was the pain Changying had endured before.

The Obsidian Dragon coiled tighter upon the clouds, shielding the crimson-feathered bird within her embrace. She spoke in human tongue, “If you are in pain, bite me.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than a light peck landed upon her razor-sharp scales—soft and weightless, like raindrops falling upon her body.

The trembling four-winged bird shivered as it nestled closer, its downy feathers brushing lightly against the dragon’s scales.

Changying paused for a moment, as if something had stirred deep within her blood. Then she spoke again, “There is no one else here. You don’t have to hold it in.”

But Zhuyou was not suppressing her voice—she had already been wracked by so much pain that she could no longer distinguish north from south or east from west. It felt as though her throat was being clenched shut. Her hun soul and po soul had not simply been torn apart; rather, it was as if she had lost one hun soul altogether, ground into dust and impossible to recover.

Panic swelled within her. She didn’t even know which po soul she had lost. It was like missing a flavor from a dish—three thousand years ago, she had not yet known the tastes of the mortal world, but now, after her long-awaited reincarnation, she had finally experienced the seven sufferings and five aggregates of this tainted world. And yet…

She had lost a po soul.

The crimson-feathered bird trembled violently. Its tightly closed beak suddenly parted, as if it wished to speak, but after a long pause, it only let out a soft chirp.

The Obsidian Dragon tensed abruptly, sensing a sudden weight upon her body. The bird she had curled around had, in an instant, transformed into a silver-haired woman clad in black.

Zhuyou lay motionless upon the dragon’s scales, her face buried against the creature’s back, her silver hair spilling in disarray over her cheeks. If not for the faint tremors that ran through her body, she might have seemed utterly lifeless.

Her pale arms, slipping free from the wide sleeves bunched at her elbows, draped limply over the dragon’s sharp scales. After a long while, she finally forced out a hoarse whisper, “I understand now.”

The Obsidian Dragon curled tighter around her. “What do you understand?”

“I was struck by the lightning within,” Zhuyou lifted her head slightly, the corners of her eyes tinged red. “That lightning carried the pressure from beneath the chasm.” She paused before continuing, “The Endless Abyss is connected to the realm beyond. That pressure belongs to—”

Changying suddenly stiffened. Slowly, she shifted her massive body, lowering her head to gently nudge Zhuyou. “I understand now. Where is Guanshang?”

“He is still within the Endless Abyss. Though his three hun souls have reunited, his entire being is in shambles. He won’t be able to return to his body anytime soon.”

Zhuyou, nudged by the dragon’s snout, instinctively lowered her head again. The agony in her spiritual platform was unbearable—she had already bitten her lip hard enough to draw blood in an effort to suppress it.

“Say no more. I will heal you,” Changying said coldly.

Zhuyou feebly patted the dragon’s back, struggling to form words. After a long moment, she finally muttered in fragments, “No need… just hide me well.”