Battle of the Sky and Seas 2

How could she find peace when divine will tormented her like this?

Huaiwen intended to bear everything alone. She didn't want anyone else to get hurt, didn't want anyone to die because of her. But she forgot the most important thing—she wasn't the only one who wanted peace in the world.

At the urging of Nan Zhi and Xuan Ye, Huai Wen's tears welled up, and her voice was slightly hoarse and weary: "Yes... I still have you. We... fight side by side."

"bell--"

Danger and grievances resurfaced. Xuan Ye held his weapon, Nan Zhi conjured her meteor hammer, and Huai Wen raised her gleaming sword. Their faces showed a fearless resolve; they were human, demon, and god. They were willing to take it upon themselves to bring peace to the world.

“Huaiwen, I will deal with the Imperial Preceptor and the other two. You deal with the Heavenly Emperor,” Nanzhi said. “I will entrust the Heavenly Emperor to you and Xuanye. I hope you can overcome all obstacles.”

Huaiwen nodded, and with a "whoosh," he rushed out.

Danger and resentment cleaved her path, while cherry blossoms and foxfire extinguished all harm. Thousands of red spirit butterflies surrounded the Heavenly Lord, but he simply pinched his fingers, and the butterflies exploded like cherry blossoms. The petals fell onto the empty sea, creating a sea of ​​flowers.

Amidst the falling blossoms, Huaiwen's sword was aimed directly at the Heavenly Lord's nose.

"Aren't you going to admire this breathtaking scenery?" the Heavenly Emperor asked with a smile, holding Mingjing between his two fingers.

Huaiwen said, "I have even better scenery to show you. Why don't you take a look?"

"Alright," Tianjun said, forcing Huaiwen back.

Nan Zhi tossed a jar of wine over and said with a smile, "When you're enjoying the scenery, how can you not pair it with fine wine?"

Seeing this, Xuan Ye hung up the ever-burning lanterns, connecting them for ten miles across the empty sea. Huai Wen caught the wine jar, looked at the ten-mile-long corridor of lanterns, and smiled: "With wine and scenery, naturally we shouldn't lack song and dance."

As she spoke, Huaiwen opened the history book and said, "Your Highness, let us enjoy the sounds of our homeland together."

Azure-gold spirits flew out from the history books, surrounding the Heavenly Lord in layers. The outermost spirits, holding musical instruments, began to play, the deep, melodious music of the ancient Yin Kingdom. The innermost layers of spirits, dressed in the costumes of Yin Kingdom dancers, began to dance.

Then they began to hum a ballad: "The mighty Yin Dynasty, its drums thunder. Light flows for a thousand miles, three days of sleepless nights. The prince is born, a youthful figure in the world. Heavenly sacrifices and rituals, a false divine favor. Old words and phrases, no sincerity in my heart. Not as I wished, life and death are already decided..."

The Heavenly Emperor's once calm and composed face began to twitch; his eyelids twitched, and the corners of his mouth moved slightly. As the dancer took a step forward, his right hand rose to the sky, and golden light, like a cold sword, shattered the souls of the Yin Kingdom one by one.

"Your Highness, why did you do this?"

"Your Highness, a king must not harm the people."

"Your Highness, why are you killing us?"

"Your Highness, we wish to play music for you."

The voices of the King of Yin and the people of Yin resounded in the Sky Sea. These voices were no longer empty; they transformed into incantations, hanging in the Sky Sea.

"Bang—"

The Heavenly Emperor was enraged. He gripped his scepter and struck it hard, causing all the incantations to vanish like smoke.

He said, "A horrible sight like this shouldn't exist at all!"

As the Heavenly Emperor waved his scepter, the ten-mile-long eternal lamp collapsed into the empty sea, turning into ashes. He then teleported the three Imperial Preceptors to his side, raising his scepter high and declaring, "Those who kill their rulers will surely perish."

At the Heavenly Emperor's command, the Imperial Preceptor and Lu Yuan transformed into his left and right arms, respectively, with the left hand capturing Nan Zhi and the right hand capturing Xuan Ye. The two giant hands collided, seemingly shattering the two men.

A clear light swept across, the butterfly burned, and the giant hand slashed a small gash.

Huaiwen tried to rescue the two, but Fulin stepped forward to stop him, scratching his own face. Xuan Ye's face darkened upon seeing this, and crimson foxfire ignited around him. He shouted, "Danger!"

Wei Yuan, with fire in his veins, sliced ​​open both arms like a whirlwind.

Nan Zhi had just broken free of her restraints when Fu Lin broke her legs with his sword, causing her to fall. The arm crashed into the sea like a boulder, and Nan Zhi happened to be right below, about to be crushed. Huai Wen rushed over and saved her, but was also struck hard on the back by the giant hand.

Xuan Yexin nearly jumped out of his skin, but seeing Huaiwen escape unscathed, he took a deep breath and concentrated his demonic power. A massive cherry blossom foxfire filled the center of the Sky Sea, obscuring the stars within.

The enormous cherry blossoms, scattering sparks, were tightening as Xuan Ye instructed, attempting to envelop the Heavenly Lord.

As Tianjun attempted to leap away, Huaiwen put Nanzhi down and, taking advantage of the attack on her ice pillars with Fulin, swiftly and ruthlessly rushed forward, trapping Tianjun inside.

The icicles stood tall, and the Heavenly Emperor dodged them.

The Heavenly Emperor frowned, and a beam of light shot out from the tip of his scepter, shattering all the ice pillars and riddling the enormous cherry blossom foxfire with holes. He sneered, "I am the king of the world, revered by gods, humans, and demons alike. How can you possibly fight against me?"

"Even a king can be a tyrant," Xuan Ye retorted sarcastically.

The Heavenly Emperor laughed and said, "Yes, just like you, who became a demon king by killing people."

“Huaiwen, Huaiwen,” the Heavenly Lord continued, “You wish for peace and tranquility in the world, yet your companions are murderous demons, your master is a fallen god who toys with you, and you keep saying that you want people to have many offspring, yet you can’t even keep your own people.”

The Heavenly Lord pressed on: "Ask yourself honestly, wasn't the death of your senior brother Bai Yuqi also because of you? Wasn't the death of Rong Yun because of you? Wasn't the death of your master because of you? Even your clansman Liu Xi died because of you, and Jiang Liyan, who accompanied you on the way, also died because of you! You—are the culprit who killed them, you are the god of death in this world!"

It feels like a thousand needles pricking your skin, slowly making their way to your heart. This tingling, numbing pain, the panic in your heart, the shortness of breath—it's a torment that slowly intensifies with each passing moment.

Xuan Ye witnessed Huai Wen's suffering and couldn't bear to see it. Moreover, he and Huai Wen were bound by a red thread, and he could understand Huai Wen's despair.

Xuan Ye couldn't bear to see Huai Wen injured. His eyes suddenly turned fierce, and his claws materialized. His nine tails appeared, and he used all his strength to forcefully suppress the riddled cherry blossom foxfire, abruptly sealing the Heavenly Lord away.

Xuan's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he shouted in an icy tone, "You deserve to die!"

Amidst the burning cherry blossoms and foxfire, Xuan Ye heard the Heavenly Lord's maniacal laughter. Suddenly, countless red threads shot out from the cherry blossoms and foxfire, transforming into tree roots that pierced the ground of the Sky Sea, appearing from afar as a dense forest of red threads.

"Bang—"

Blood splattered out, soaking Xuan Ye completely.

But this is not the Heavenly Emperor's blood; it is Huaiwen's blood.

Xuan Ye's eyes widened as he caught Huai Wen, who was covered in blood. His hands trembled as he knelt on the sea surface, his clothes soaked through. Blood seeped into the seawater and gradually spread, turning the pure sea surface red.

"Huaiwen!" Xuan Ye called out Huaiwen's name in terror.

"What’s wrong with you……"

"You killed her." The Heavenly Lord's voice came from the cherry blossom foxfire.

Xuan Ye, clutching Huai Wen in terror, cried out, "Impossible!"

The Heavenly Emperor smiled and said, "Oh? Don't you know that we gods share the same destiny?"

This was a sentence that shattered Xuan Ye's heartstrings! The fate of a celestial being is the same, just like that of Fu Lin and the Crown Prince back then. In the past, Fu Lin wanted to use her divine destiny to save the Crown Prince; now, the Heavenly Emperor uses Huai Wen's divine destiny to avert disaster.

The so-called Heavenly Ruler steals another's destiny, making her his scapegoat! So the Heavenly Ruler doesn't struggle because someone is taking the blame for him and enduring the tribulations for him!

Xuan Ye was filled with remorse. In the tomb, he clearly knew that the reason the Heavenly Lord became the Heavenly Lord was because someone had taken his place through tribulations. It wasn't the people of Yin who had helped him escape disaster; it was the people of Yin who had taken the beatings and torments of the gods for him.

Xuan Ye leaned down to look at Huai Wen, his face filled with regret. He clearly had a contract with Huai Wen, he clearly did. Why! He couldn't feel anything at all.

Huaiwen parted his lips slightly, his voice weak: "I'm sorry..."

"I have lifted the curse."

Xuan Ye raised his right hand, which was already stained with blood. He gently stroked Huai Wen's cheek and tenderly asked, "When?"

"On our wedding day," Huaiwen murmured softly.

On the day of Luo Fu Huaiwen's wedding to Xuan Ye, after Xuan Ye had fallen into a sweet sleep, Huaiwen cautiously woke up. Fortunately, the two had experienced this once in Pengxi, and Huaiwen understood that he was vastly inferior to Xuan Ye in this regard.

So on their wedding night, Huaiwen's tender kisses would sometimes turn greedy. In the midst of their intertwined lips and tongues, she would silently send the sleeping powder, made by the demon and human, into Xuan Ye's body.

Only when he is asleep can Huaiwen cast spells without any restraint.

Huaiwen held the jade pendant she had given to Xuanye in her palm, poured her own blood into it, and used it as a seal to firmly seal the curse shackles that wanted to flow into Xuanye's body within herself. She endured the pain that felt like thousands of needles piercing her body, and the mental anguish that tormented her spirit.

The breaking of the curse is extremely painful. It's a pain akin to having your soul torn apart and your tendons pulled out.

She completed all of this without uttering a sound.

When it was all over, she lay wearily on Xuan Ye's body, listening to his steady heartbeat. Huaiwen smiled with relief; she had done it, Xuan Ye was no longer implicated by her.

A strange sense of separation overwhelmed Huaiwen, making her heart ache. She hugged Xuan Ye tightly; she loved the cherry blossom scent emanating from him, his wit, his strategies, and his affections…

Driven by passion, Huaiwen rose slightly. She imprinted Xuan Ye's image firmly in her mind, but it seemed not enough. So she leaned down and kissed his brow, the tip of his nose, and his lips.

Even without a response, they continued to wallow in despair.

In the end, Huaiwen wanted to paint a portrait of Xuanye, something she had wanted to do for a long time.

But the sky outside the window was just beginning to lighten, and she no longer had time to paint.

Huaiwen sighed with regret: "We... in the future..."

The words they didn't finish saying that day truly became a regret. They had no future together.

Xuan Ye's tears fell silently, dripping onto Huai Wen's pale, blood-stained face. For the past three hundred years, he had tried countless times to find Huai Wen, to love her properly, to protect her. But when he finally found her, he couldn't protect her no matter what.

In the virtual realm, in Yong'an City, in Xicuo, in Pengxi... in this empty sea.

What he thought was protection each time actually pushed her towards the abyss of death. He was prepared to die with her, but she chose to separate them.

Xuan Ye was filled with regret, tears blurring his vision. Why did he have to endure such pain again and again?

“Ah Ling, you don’t need to cry… I always lie in your arms like this, but that time I came back alive.” Blood was seeping from Huai Wen’s lips.

“But this time is different…different…” Xuan Ye tried hard to suppress his sobs, but he couldn’t control himself. His tears wouldn’t stop, and he was completely devastated.

He killed him with his own hands this time…

He was a killer by nature, eliminating his enemies with a single move, leaving no survivors.