AUOF - 150

“The Jade of Death, is the Sword of Salvation. What does that mean?” Si Tu gently traced the small words, her brows furrowed in confusion. “What about the original sword jade? Could it really have been taken by someone else first?”

Sang Li and Ji Hengyu both remained silent.

Ji Hengyu wasn’t surprised by this outcome. There had been no news from Jiwu, indicating his soul was restrained. And the Divine Realm remained quiet, suggesting either the sword jade was already in their possession, or they had found another way to deal with him.

“Could it be... the person who reached the Dragon Tomb first?” Si Tu guessed, her mind a mess.

Now that the sword jade was gone, their only bargaining chip was gone too.

Sang Li’s expression was grim. She took a deep breath, her gaze slowly moving to Ji Hengyu’s face. The man’s expression remained unfathomable, making her feel that he wasn’t very concerned about the sword jade’s whereabouts.

Sang Li remained silent for a moment, then said, “He probably hasn’t left Desolate Water. Let’s go look for him; maybe there’s still a chance.”

Ji Hengyu didn’t object, and the trio began to retrace their steps.

However, as soon as they exited, they ran into a problem. Before them were three paths, all unfamiliar. Clearly, it wasn’t the way they came.

The three exits were dark and silent, leading to unknown destinations.

Sang Li stood in the middle, unable to decide, and bit her lower lip. “What should we do?”

Si Tu sighed as well. “The puppets can’t go deep; there seems to be a binding seal affecting them.”

This meant they could only rely on luck.

Si Tu nudged Sang Li with her elbow. “You’re lucky, you choose.”

Ji Hengyu also gave her a look.

Sang Li: “...” Alright, looks like it’s up to luck.

She looked left and then right, deciding to abandon both sides and choose the middle one.

The passage was pitch black, an impenetrable darkness that stretched endlessly. Strangely, both sides of this path seemed to be under some kind of seal, preventing any spells from being cast. The situation was eerily similar to when she and Ji Hengyu had breached the Heavenly Gate.

Thinking of Ji Hengyu, Sang Li instinctively reached out to grab him, but her hand grasped empty air.

Sang Li was startled and immediately stopped. Si Tu, walking behind, couldn’t see the path and bumped her head into Sang Li’s. “A’Li?”

“Ji Hengyu is gone.”

In the pitch-black darkness, where she couldn’t see her own hand, even his presence had vanished without a trace.

Going back now was impossible. Si Tu gripped Sang Li’s hand, reassuring her, “He’s an Immortal Lord, after all. Nothing bad can happen to him. Let’s keep going forward; maybe he’s already outside.”

Sang Li thought this made sense too. She steadied herself and continued forward.

They continued walking in the darkness for an unknown period. Then, Sang Li saw a flickering light in the distance. She brightened. “Si Tu, look—!”

No one responded.

Unbeknownst to her, she was now completely alone.

She stood in the boundless emptiness, cold sweat drenching her back.

This was the second time. Whether it was Ji Hengyu or Si Tu, she had no idea when they had vanished from her side.

Being in a lightless environment for too long naturally caused stress, and the strangeness of this place cast an even deeper shadow over her heart. Sang Li took a deep breath and quickened her pace towards the source of the light.

It was a door.

An ancient door, appearing out of nowhere, standing in the profound silence.

Sang Li reached out and pushed it open.

Everything began to rapidly recede. In the blink of an eye, she found herself in an empty secret chamber.

Ghost fires burned around the secret chamber, unremarkable and seemingly normal. The only thing that drew attention was a small orb of light suspended in the center of the room.

It had no physical form, like a white ember, flickering in the silence and gloom.

Sang Li was gradually drawn to the light, walking step by step towards it. When she reached out, the small white light slowly descended to her fingertip.

It seemed to possess a mesmerizing power, enticing Sang Li to draw closer. By the time Sang Li regained her senses, it was too late. The light orb pressed against her brow and drilled into her spiritual sea. A dull pain assaulted her. Before she could react, her spiritual sea burst open, and a chaotic, unfamiliar memory, like a hot wave, enveloped her.

She saw the heavens collapse and the great fate about to turn.

She saw the sea of fire extinguish, leaving no place for humanity to stand; she saw famine-stricken lands, countless screams and cries assaulting her eardrums.

This was the most terrifying scene Sang Li had ever witnessed in her life.

They lingered before her eyes with terrifying realism. She could even clearly see how the evil spirits, emerging from the depths of the earth, wantonly plundered and devoured life in the world.

There was a sound above her head.

Sang Li lifted her head. In the sky obscured by a crimson tide, a figure stood faintly, clad in scaled armor, looking down disdainfully at this hell of lava. Sang Li tried to see more clearly, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see the person’s face.

Finally, she saw some shadows swarming towards the sky.

Very familiar.

Were they... Spirit Clan?

They moved as if going to their deaths, their backs full of determination as they left, never to return. The next moment, rolling thunder and fire swallowed them.

Sang Li’s soul was profoundly shaken.

This horrific scene of purgatory remained seared into her eyes even after the vision stopped, leaving her feeling like she was encased in wax, unable to move, and burning all over.

The light orb detached from her body and returned to its original position.

“How was it?”

What?!

A sudden voice behind her jolted Sang Li awake.

She whirled around to see a man standing with his hands behind his back, his eyes smiling, silently waiting for her to speak.

Sang Li couldn’t help but be wary, quietly stroking the wings of Big Eye Babe hidden in her sleeve.

This movement naturally didn’t escape his notice. The smile in his eyes deepened, and he said teasingly, “Can the Nine Spirit Realm now tolerate the free entry and exit of demonic creatures?”

Hearing this, Big Eye Babe simply gave up trying to hide.

It spread its wings and charged at the man, but Sang Li did not stop it. She saw him standing calmly, motionless, allowing the evil fire spewed by Big Eye Babe to burn through his chest.

A bizarre scene occurred. His body seemed like a wisp of mist, dispersing under the evil fire only to re-coalesce.

Big Eye Babe tilted its head in confusion. Just as it was about to spew fire again, Sang Li stopped it.

“It’s useless.” She looked expressionlessly at the mysteriously appearing man. “He’s just an illusion.”

It should be a memory illusion left behind before his death.

“This, too, should be yours, right?”

The man smiled and slowly walked over to Sang Li under Big Eye Babe’s watchful gaze, casually touching the light orb with his fingertip. “I haven’t left many things in this Nine Spirit Realm. If you’re referring to this Spirit Gathering Box, then yes, it should be mine.”

Spirit Gathering Box?

Sang Li frowned, unable to help but look at the light orb.

“The illusion shown, is it real or false?”

The mysterious man counter-asked, “It’s a memory extracted from my spiritual sea. Do you think it’s real or false?”

Sang Li was startled and looked him over again.

She saw no unusual or distinct features on him, but after a closer look, she found his eyebrows and eyes somewhat familiar.

“When we came, were those obstacles all removed by you?”

The mysterious man shook his head: “As you can see, I am just an illusion trapped in the Spirit Gathering Box; I don’t have that much power. Before I saw you, someone did come, but with his spiritual power, he couldn’t awaken me.” He smiled and asked, “Sang Li, who do you think I am?”

He called out her name.

At this point, Sang Li could no longer express her feelings with mere shock. She took two steps back, vaguely noticing the flickering, indistinct golden纹路 (markings/pattern) imprinted on his forehead – that was... a divine mark.

Sang Li opened her mouth, uttering a voice filled with disbelief: “...Di Qi.”

The mysterious man smiled, tacitly confirming it.

“Impossible! You are already...”

“Yes, I have been dead for over three thousand six hundred years.” Di Qi finished her sentence. He circled the Spirit Gathering Box once. He seemed unwilling to waste time discussing his identity. He raised his palm and summoned the light orb back. The glowing white light shone on his face as he lowered his eyelids, gazing at it. “I already walked the path of destruction once, so I had to leave myself here.”

His words were too abstruse and difficult to understand, yet combined with the various scenes she had seen earlier, Sang Li still understood.

“You knew the Nine Spirit Realm would be destroyed?” Sang Li asked, puzzled. “I don’t understand, if so, why did you still...”

Before she finished speaking, Di Qi pressed his fingertip against her forehead. This time, Sang Li saw different memories.

They were Di Qi’s memories.

The scroll of images flashed by like a fleeting moment, rapidly shifting to another scene without lingering for an instant.

Through the gaps, she saw a truth unknown to the world.

Di Qi removed his fingertip. “Do you understand now?”

Sang Li was speechless, as if frozen in a stalemate.

After a long time, her gaze slowly moved to Di Qi’s face. “You opened the Heavenly Gate to save all realms?”

Di Qi neither nodded nor shook his head, but instead gave a bitter smile: “Those who intended to save the world ultimately became its destroyers. Don’t you think it’s ridiculous?”

Sang Li remained silent.

Di Qi was originally a true god who could manipulate void and time cycles. Through the memories he left behind, Sang Li saw him inadvertently breaking through the void, witnessing the Heavenly Gate tearing open, each world becoming a chaotic hell, and then the evil spirits from beyond the Heavenly Gate successively invading the Nine Spirit Realm...

“I believed the truth of the destruction of all realms lay beyond the Heavenly Gate. If I could find the cause beforehand and obstruct it in time, I could surely change the situation.” Di Qi raised his eyes. “But I never expected that I was the cause.”

Di Qi saw the world’s destruction, but did not know when it would happen.

Perhaps a year later, perhaps ten years later, or perhaps tomorrow.

Di Qi had to stop it before that moment arrived, so he used divine power to steal the Sky-Mending Stone and opened the Heavenly Gate, hoping to go beyond it to find the truth.

At first, everything went smoothly. After quietly traveling through a dozen small worlds, Di Qi realized that all this came at a cost.

His divine power, including the power of the Sky-Suppressing Stone, was being absorbed by the world beyond the Heavenly Gate. By the time he realized it, it was already too late.

The Sky-Suppressing Stone could no longer close the Heavenly Gate. He became like a chaotic link, connecting unrelated worlds through the Heavenly Gate, causing all energies to merge and ultimately leading to an irreparable chaotic situation.

The laws of the Heavenly Dao were broken, and ultimately, divine retribution descended, turning those worlds into hells. People transformed into evil spirits, and they began to contend for the Nine Spirit Realm, the only pure land remaining.

Di Qi knew he had committed a grave mistake. Before he could rectify any of it, he was annihilated by Ji Hengyu’s sword.

However, the moment the Cursed Serpent-Slaying Sword entered his body, Di Qi, through his divine power, saw the truth he had always sought.

Thus, in the last moments of his life, he over-exhausted all his divine power, allowing his divine consciousness to travel back to a specific point in time.

However, at this time, Di Qi’s power was weak, insufficient to support him in gathering all his memories in one place. He could only divide the Spirit Gathering Box, which contained his memories, into three parts, leaving them in a certain part of the Desolate Water Dragon Tomb, waiting for the day someone could open it.