Mu Hanyang’s single sentence instantly drew countless gazes toward Feng Qingyun and Long Yin. The small area that had already attracted attention immediately became the focus of the entire gathering. Yet after speaking, Mu Hanyang merely waved his hand lightly, putting on a show as if unaware he had just released earth-shattering news.
“This Lord has finished speaking. Pray continue, all of you; there’s no need for ceremony.”
As his words fell, the dancers stepped forward in graceful lotus steps and ascended the martial stage. Music gradually rose, and sleeves fluttered, celestial melodies drifted through the air. But most people no longer had the mind to watch.
The malice that had previously lurked beneath the surface was now laid bare. Still, many people’s long-standing doubts were finally answered at that moment.
So, the reason Mu Hanyang had tolerated the Demon Emperor entering openly was that he intended to lure the enemy into a trap.
Those few remarks just now sounded less like a reward notice and more like an arrogant death sentence.
The Demon Emperor was known as the strongest beneath the Heavenly Dao, and now he had the Linshuang Sword Master at his side. Even if every Golden Core cultivator present joined forces, they might still fail to keep the two of them here, let alone the weaker cultivators. The so-called bounty was essentially empty talk.
But what did the “strongest beneath the Heavenly Dao” matter when what he faced now was the incarnation of the Heavenly Dao itself?
The meaning Mu Hanyang had placed openly before everyone was simple.
I know none of you can kill him. But I can.
The pride in his expression when he said it was unmistakable, as if he wished to see Long Yin flee in panic, and Feng Qingyun beg in tears for Long Yin’s life. Yet neither of them moved, especially Long Yin. Though fully aware of the situation, he showed not the slightest tension. He sat there openly as before, and under the watch of countless eyes, he even peeled a lychee himself and lifted it to Feng Qingyun’s lips.
However, Feng Qingyun’s expression was far worse than Long Yin’s. He frowned at him, seeming unwilling to eat, but after Long Yin murmured something unknown, he finally opened his mouth and bit into the lychee with clear reluctance.
Even from afar, Mu Hanyang saw the scene clearly, and his face darkened instantly. It was like two powerful wolf kings competing for a mate, a contest without drawn blades, yet enough to chill any onlooker.
And while many felt uneasy, some could not help but weigh matters in their hearts. Logically, since the two stood on equal ground, they should be evenly matched. Yet after witnessing that, the balance in many minds subtly tilted…
Mu Hanyang might be the Heavenly Dao, but Feng Qingyun, knowing it, still did not even spare him a glance.
So who had truly won… was that not already obvious?
Since ancient times, tales of love have always been the most eagerly discussed topic after meals. But while countless people watched the spectacle, several inconspicuous cultivators below the stage quietly began making small movements, as if preparing something.
The Mistress of the Underworld took everything in, then lowered her eyes, showing no intention of acting. The fox Patriarch lightly flicked open his fan and merely smiled at the graceful song and dance, saying nothing.
Outwardly, the focus seemed to be on the performance. In truth, everyone knew where the real focus lay.
Many people, whether covertly or openly, kept glancing in that direction. Seeing that, Yue Jinshu held the bewildered merfolk egg and sneered, “That surnamed Mu sure speaks boldly. I simply refuse to believe someone of his level could be the Heavenly Dao of this world!”
“If the incarnation of the Heavenly Dao were truly like this,” Kū Xuè replied without even lifting her head, idly arranging the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on the table to amuse the egg, “then it’s no wonder no one in this world has ascended for ten thousand years.”
Mocking words from the Demon Emperor’s subordinates continued one after another. Yet the Demon Emperor himself, the true focus of everyone, said nothing at all.
He did not even glance at the exquisite performance on the stage. Instead, he stared fixedly at Feng Qingyun.
Feng Qingyun noticed his gaze, and when he spoke, a faint, almost imperceptible tremor had entered his voice: “Why aren’t you watching the dance? What are you staring at me for?”
“Because the Little Palace Master is more pleasing to the eye,” Long Yin said with a smile. “This Lord should look a few more times now, so later I may take out this memory and gaze upon it in longing.”
Feng Qingyun abruptly closed his eyes at his words.
Once the Heavenly Dao returned to Heaven and Earth, consciousness and memory would gradually fade away. In other words, Long Yin would have to watch as the very concept of “himself” slowly dissipated between heaven and earth.
He had said it would not be painful. He had even said that before he completely vanished, his state would resemble Feng Qingyun’s in his previous life after death, but before rebirth, still able to remain beside him, constantly watching him.
When he said that, Long Yin had even smiled and kissed him.
“If the Little Palace Master blooms a little earlier next year,” he joked, “perhaps this Lord will still be able to see it.”
Yet no matter how he framed it, Feng Qingyun always felt that such a process of fading away was no different from being slowly cut to pieces. Long Yin had once explained while imagining the future that whenever Feng Qingyun thought of him, wherever the erosion of memory had reached, he would reappear in Heaven with whatever fragments remained.
But if the memories faded too quickly, leaving nothing at all, then he would be like a blank sheet of paper.
“…That might be fine too,” Feng Qingyun had murmured at the time, leaning against his shoulder.
But now that the moment had truly come, he could only sit there, face pale.
Seeing that no amount of coaxing worked, Long Yin was nearly frantic when, from the corner of his eye, he noticed the dance on the martial stage nearing its end. Suddenly, inspiration struck him.
“Little Palace Master,” he coaxed, “can you perform a sword dance?”
Feng Qingyun snapped back to attention and looked at him.
“…I can.”
“Then next time…” Long Yin lowered his head with a smile, resting his forehead gently against Feng Qingyun’s. “Will the Little Palace Master dance for this Lord?”
Feng Qingyun gazed into his eyes at such close distance. After a long moment, like someone speaking in a dream, he answered: “…Yes.”
As that single word fell, the music on the martial stage also came to an end, the final graceful movements drawing the curtain.
The song was finished.
It was time for people to part.
The entire venue fell silent once more.
Feng Qingyun closed his eyes and leaned into Long Yin’s arms, lingering for three seconds. Then he abruptly opened them and stood from his seat with resolute determination.
At first, the crowd was startled. But soon, realizing something, a sense of inevitability rose in their hearts. Mu Hanyang had scarcely left the Xiān Gōng Sect for months. If the hearts of the Four Ancient Beasts were now complete, someone must have gathered them for him.
As for who that person was, once Feng Qingyun, who had once broken with the Xiān Gōng Sect, returned, the answer was already obvious. Thus, when Bai Ruolin also rose to her feet, hardly anyone looked surprised.
Even now, Bai Ruolin still believed the one meant to merge with the Heavenly Dao was Mu Hanyang. Only in her heart, Mu Hanyang was not some incarnation of Heaven, but merely an unlucky sacrifice chosen for the ritual. Even so, she did not wish to let him seize the authority of the Heavenly Dao too early. That was why she had kept Zhuque’s heart clenched in her hand until the very last moment.
But now, seeing that the hearts of the Four Ancient Beasts were gathered and the fate of the world’s ascension hung overhead, she could only suppress her personal feelings with a cold expression. Before countless eyes, she took Zhuque’s heart out of her storage ring.
The moment it appeared, its brilliance illuminated all directions, dazzling beyond belief. It was like a mass of flame condensed into solid form, blazing as if it would burn away every shadow between heaven and earth.
Seeing the wondrous sight, the crowd stiffened, rising one after another and looking up.
Zhuque’s radiant light drew nearly all attention, and naturally, no one noticed that Feng Qingyun quietly removed a storage ring from his own finger and left it in Long Yin’s hand.
When the crowd’s gaze returned to Feng Qingyun, they saw him ascend step by step. Reaching Mu Hanyang, he stopped before him just as Zhuque’s heart slowly descended between the two.
Feng Qingyun glanced at Lian Ziqing beside Mu Hanyang, then took out the remaining hearts: Xuanwu’s, Baihu’s, and Qinglong’s. As the three hearts rose simultaneously, the immortals hidden among the crowd stiffened. Each of them sensed a familiar aura and immediately confirmed in unison.
Those truly were the hearts of the Four Ancient Beasts. There could be no mistake.
All prior doubts were finally dispelled at that moment.
They silently prepared themselves, waiting only for the instant Mu Hanyang merged with the Heavenly Dao before striking at once. But in truth, only Zhuque’s heart was genuine. The other three, however, were forgeries concealed by Long Yin using the authority of the Heavenly Dao.
Immortals watching from afar naturally could not detect the problem.
But for Lian Ziqing, who stood closest, that was another matter.
He looked at Mu Hanyang with apparent admiration, yet his gaze kept drifting toward the Four Ancient Hearts, suspicion flickering in his eyes. Feng Qingyun saw through his thoughts at a glance and immediately said coldly, “Fellow Cultivator Lian, please step down and wait below.”
Lian Ziqing froze, then looked up at him in disbelief.
“Master has said,” Feng Qingyun explained calmly, “the Heavenly Dao’s return is a matter of great importance for the world. Outsiders must not be present.”
“Palace Master Feng…” Lian Ziqing murmured cautiously.
The crowd below was astonished.
What was this? Could it be that Feng Qingyun had truly changed his mind because of Mu Hanyang’s Heavenly Dao status? Was he… jealous?
But if the spectators only suspected it, Mu Hanyang himself believed it completely. The only one who sensed something wrong was Lian Ziqing, yet he could not pinpoint what it was.
As he hesitated, Mu Hanyang barely thought at all, as the word outsider struck directly at his heart. Instantly delighted, he said to Lian Ziqing, “Ziqing, go down first! No need to worry about me.”
Lian Ziqing looked at him, momentarily stunned, as if he had not expected him to be so foolish.
But the arrow was already on the string.
Seeing that Feng Qingyun would not hand over the hearts otherwise, Lian Ziqing hesitated briefly, cast Feng Qingyun a deep look, then bit his lip and turned to step down from the platform.
Once he left, and with Bai Ruolin still unwilling to approach from afar, the visible area suddenly held only Feng Qingyun and Mu Hanyang.
The feeling of heaven and earth containing only the two of them pleased Mu Hanyang immensely. He curved his lips slightly and sat there, staring without blinking at the person before him, as though enjoying being served.
Feng Qingyun lowered his eyes, unwilling even to meet his gaze. With a flick of his sleeve, he placed the four hearts on the table before Mu Hanyang.
“Please,” Feng Qingyun said softly. “Senior Brother.”
That “Senior Brother,” almost entirely free of mockery, made Mu Hanyang’s pride and satisfaction nearly overflow. He immediately rose from his seat.
But what he didn’t know was that behind that address lay another meaning.
Senior Brother, please… be on your way.
Countless people held their breath, staring unblinkingly. Under the gaze of all, Mu Hanyang calmly gathered his spiritual power, suddenly wrapping the four hearts and lifting them into the air as an offering.
The instant the hearts rose, heaven and earth trembled, as mountains seemed to overturn. Endless power surged as if finally returning to its rightful place, pouring in with boundless spiritual energy.
Among the guests, some even gasped aloud in shock.
Mu Hanyang could no longer suppress the curve of his lips; the smile on his face solidified into triumph. But at that very moment, the situation changed abruptly.
Several figures suddenly shot up from the crowd, immediately unleashing multiple immortal artifacts toward Mu Hanyang!
The power radiating from those artifacts exceeded most people’s understanding. One glance made it clear they were no ordinary treasures, yet everything happened in a flash, and most cultivators could not react at all.
As for the few who could react… They remained still, making no move whatsoever to block the attack for Mu Hanyang.
Mu Hanyang merely sneered at the immortals rushing toward him. Standing at the center of dazzling light, he showed no fear, shouting, “I expected this long ago! No matter, come if you dare!”
With that, he raised his hand and seized the floating Qinglong’s heart. Blinding light enveloped him, and immense power poured endlessly into his body.
As for Feng Qingyun, he discreetly assessed the immortals’ positions. Seeing they were still some distance from the platform, he decided to see the act through to the end. With a backhand strike, he shattered a bell-shaped immortal artifact flying toward them.
But when the artifact exploded, the immense reverberation instantly resounded through the heavens.
Golden Core cultivators like Feng Qingyun were fine, but the lower-level cultivators below were not. Many had no time to gather spiritual power to defend themselves and were shaken into coughing up blood.
It was then that Mu Tingwan finally acted. With a sweep of her sleeve, she unleashed her full power, as rippling green waves surged forth, instantly intercepting the invisible sound waves. Emerald ripples spread gently, covering the entire Xiān Gōng Sect like a spring breeze.
But immediately afterward, countless people looked down in horror.
From the cracks in the ground beneath their feet, Huangquan water surged up from nowhere. Just as screams were about to erupt, the water suddenly shot skyward. The deathly aura of the Underworld perfectly merged with Mu Tingwan’s life force, forming a cyclical, endlessly renewing barrier that instantly sealed off the countless immortal artifacts outside it.
The Mistress of the Underworld had acted as well!
And she appeared to be protecting Mu Hanyang with all her strength. Seeing that, the crowd trembled inwardly. Even the immortals became three parts more convinced of Mu Hanyang’s identity as the Heavenly Dao.
Thus, those incomplete fallen immortals forced out the last trace of immortal Qi within themselves, determined to kill Mu Hanyang at all costs.
The Mistress of the Underworld curled her lips almost imperceptibly. With a slight hook of her finger, the vast curtain of Huangquan water receded just a little, though almost no one noticed.
Yet no matter how grand the spectacle, false was still false.
Even with countless powerful figures, whether acting in goodwill or knowing the inside story, lending Mu Hanyang support, the truth was bound to show. Spiritual energy above churned chaotically, and the battle was about to erupt.
Yet Mu Hanyang, holding Qinglong’s heart, still showed no change.
His expression shifted slightly, though he forced himself to remain calm. Raising his hand again, he grabbed Baihu’s heart and attempted to refine it with spiritual power.
It too showed no reaction.
After all that effort, Mu Hanyang still stood wholly between heaven and earth, with not the slightest sign of dissolving into the Dao.
Lian Ziqing’s brow twitched, and he suddenly realized…
His earlier suspicion had not been an illusion.
Those three hearts were indeed fake.
Mu Hanyang clearly realized it as well. But before he could question Feng Qingyun, in sheer panic, he skipped over Xuanwu’s heart Feng Qingyun had brought and instead grabbed the Zhuque heart Bai Ruolin had provided.
And that one was the only genuine heart present.
But the moment Mu Hanyang poured spiritual power into it, blazing phoenix True Fire burst forth from the heart…
…and instantly ignited half his arm!
“!”
The searing pain ignited shock and fury. In alarm and rage, Mu Hanyang hurled Zhuque’s heart away, and Lian Ziqing finally understood everything; his face turned even paler than Mu Hanyang’s, who was now engulfed in phoenix flames.
“This is wrong! We’ve been deceived!” he shouted, no longer bothering to maintain appearances or send private transmissions. Gathering his last scraps of immortal Qi, he cried to the entire assembly, “Mu Hanyang is only a decoy! He’s not the incarnation of the Heavenly Dao! The real Heavenly Dao is someone else!”
Many cultivators had already risen in confusion. Hearing that, their expressions changed drastically. And yet, they stood frozen, uncertain, with swords drawn yet unsure where to strike.
Burning in agony under the raging fire, Mu Hanyang heard it as well and, in a lightning flash, realized everything. For a moment, the humiliation and fury of being toyed with overrode even the physical pain.
Without hesitation, he swung his sword and severed his own right arm.
Experiencing the agony of losing an arm once more, the pain stoked his rage even further. Lifting his eyes toward Feng Qingyun, he roared hoarsely, “You actually used me as a target!?”
Yet even though Mu Hanyang and the immortals had finally uncovered the truth, it was already too late.
Feng Qingyun paid no heed to Mu Hanyang’s furious questioning. With a speed swift as thunder, he reversed his hand and seized the still-blazing Zhuque’s heart, then flung it toward the martial field.
He seemed entirely unafraid that the spiritual fire, which had just burned Mu Hanyang into severing his own arm, might harm him. And indeed, it did not scorch him in the slightest. Instead, the flames curled fondly around his wrist, lingering as if reluctant to part, before tracing an arc across the heavens and halting in midair.
The blazing, crimson Zhuque’s heart hung there like a rising sun, reflected in the eyes of countless onlookers. Even the breath of heaven and earth seemed to turn still for a moment.
In the next instant, the heart suddenly burst apart.
Countless meteor-like flames, accompanied by the vast spiritual energy between heaven and earth, surged like a breached dam toward a certain point within the arena.
Those closest to Long Yin perceived the direction of that power almost at once. Yue Jinshu, holding the merman egg, froze for a moment before turning her head in astonishment, staring at the unfolding scene.
The true Qinglong, Baihu, and Xuanwu Hearts finally revealed themselves at that moment, emerging from the storage ring Feng Qingyun had left in Long Yin’s possession. Within Zhuque’s blazing fire, the other three hearts shone together with a radiance that shook heaven and earth.
The immortals’ expressions changed drastically.
They had planned to strike the moment the Four Ancient Beasts’ hearts gathered, at the instant when the Heavenly Dao was about to return to its place and the Path to Heaven faintly opened. By killing the Heavenly Dao, then, they would seize the lingering authority of that power and pass through the heavenly path, thus completing their return to the Immortal Realm.
But now, everything was too late.
They had mistaken the incarnation of the Heavenly Dao and could only watch helplessly as the Path to Heaven opened, as all things were about to return to that ancient twilight battle of the gods.
Right in front of their eyes, ten thousand years of effort dissolved into nothing.
In their fury, the immortals inwardly cursed Mu Hanyang with venom, wishing they could tear him into pieces. Among them, only Lian Ziqing retained a shred of reason, and at last, his true nature surfaced. His face stiffened as he shouted hoarsely:
“Heavenly Dao!”
“To return to your rightful place is to sever yourself from heaven and earth! You have battled us for tens of thousands of years, are you truly willing to die like this for the sake of a mere seed?!”
And yet, Long Yin ignored him completely.
Through the blazing radiance that seemed ready to swallow heaven and earth, he merely gazed from afar at the person whose stubborn expression concealed tears on the verge of falling.
He smiled faintly. Knowing his voice could no longer reach, he still spoke:
“It’s time to say farewell.”
Feng Qingyun could hear nothing. Yet the shape of the man’s lips perfectly overlapped with the words that sounded in his heart at that moment:
[Do not cry, Little Rose.]
[In the name of the Heavenly Dao, I promise you. I will return to your side once more.]
Some invoke the name of the Heavenly Dao only to kill and vent their private hatred. And some swear by the Heavenly Dao in truth, merely so that the one they love will not shed tears.
But no matter how beautiful the words, who could truly guarantee what lay ahead?
No one could.
They were all gambling, gambling on a possible future, gambling on an ending that might yet be whole. The final words drifted lightly through Feng Qingyun’s heart, vanishing like smoke. At last, he could bear it no longer and abruptly closed his eyes.
What did it feel like to personally send the one you loved to his death?
Feng Qingyun did not know, but when he opened his eyes again, he knew only one thing.
From that moment onward, no one would walk the road beside him.
He had nowhere to retreat. He could only press forward, toward the distant shore called hope, to seek the Dao companion who had died for the world and for him… once more.
Amid encirclement on all sides, Feng Qingyun finally drew the Linshuang Sword with resolute finality. Sword Qi shot skyward like a white rainbow piercing the sun. Under frost that spread for a thousand li, Zhuque’s flames were abruptly frozen in midair.
Before countless astonished gazes, a vast resonance suddenly burst forth between heaven and earth.
The Fifth Symbol.
The Qilin’s heart had returned to its place.
At once, multicolored radiance split the sky, and celestial music resounded. All clouds withdrew, as though welcoming the return of The One to his rightful seat. Compared to the upheaval that caused heaven and earth themselves to rise and fall, Mu Hanyang’s earlier spectacle was nothing worth mentioning.
At that moment, in overwhelming shock, everyone realized the truth.
The Heavenly Dao had returned.
And once their astonishment settled, the conclusion became unavoidable: Mu Hanyang had merely been a decoy, pushed forward to draw the attention of those strange immortals, nothing more than a substitute fated to die.
And the true incarnation of the Heavenly Dao was the Demon Emperor, Long Yin.
Moreover, the return of the Heavenly Dao was never a process of reclaiming authority. It meant using one’s life to complete the Great Dao, vanishing utterly into heaven and earth, no different from death.
That was why Long Yin bore no smile at the moment of his return. His solemn bearing only made Mu Hanyang, who had flaunted borrowed authority in the name of the Heavenly Dao, appear all the more laughable.
He had not even understood what the return of the Heavenly Dao meant, yet had been overjoyed, even advancing the Heavenly Gate Ceremony just to boast of it before the world.
Under the countless gazes, Mu Hanyang’s face turned deathly pale. Yet at the same time, a burning pain continued to flare across it. He stood there in disbelief, unwilling to accept that his entire life had become a farce.
But everything was not yet over.
Or rather, it was only the beginning of all that was to come.
After the celestial music slowly faded, and before anyone could react, their minds suddenly felt as though they had burst open. Countless memories surged forth like spring water, and for a moment, the entire world seemed to freeze.
It was just as the fallen remnant immortal had said.
Once the Heavenly Dao returned to its place, everyone in the world remembered everything from their previous lives.
Including Mu Hanyang, broken-armed and wretched as a stray dog. At last, together with his pale-faced disciples, and with all under heaven, he remembered the past life he had obsessed over.
And how that life, in which he believed countless people had fought to ruin his marriage…
Had truly unfolded.
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