God
The wind and snow of Kunlun Ruins served as an eternal background soundtrack, whimpering across the frozen mountain ridges and lonely temples, isolating all life and warmth. Yinglong stood alone in the center of the vast hall, the pool of golden divine blood still uncoagulated on the cold jade tiles beneath his feet, like a burned brand.
The throbbing pain in his chest didn't ease, but instead became sharper and clearer as he spat out the blood. It wasn't an external injury caused by the power of annihilation, but rather a hollowness and backlash from the depths of his soul, the result of a certain bond being forcibly severed.
Ao Guang's last words, his figure clutching the sword and stepping forward resolutely, his dragon eyes burning through the black armor... these images repeatedly and uncontrollably rushed through her mind, and each replay brought a new and deeper shudder.
She subconsciously lowered her head, looking at her empty right hand. It was this hand that had grasped Fen Ji, the tip of the sword piercing his heart. The burning sensation of his dragon blood on her fingertips seemed to have never faded.
Why?
Why would he rather be destroyed physically and spiritually than use this method?
Just because... she married someone else?
A thousand years, for a god, is no unbridgeable chasm. She had always believed that the tacit understanding and subtle affection born of fighting side by side had long since faded into a faint memory amidst their respective responsibilities and the passage of time. She accepted the Emperor's arranged marriage to deepen the connection between the Dragon Clan and the Heavenly Court, to prepare for possible future disasters, and also... a farewell to the past.
She never imagined that at the bottom of the East China Sea, someone took those parting words as a vow that she must keep with all her heart.
"Wait until I come back..."
Did she really just ask him to wait? Or...was that just a feeble offer of comfort in a time of turmoil and a heavy mission, when even she herself couldn't be sure of her return date?
Yinglong closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the bone-chilling air from Kunlun Mountain's summit, trying to suppress the turmoil swirling within her. She was the Nine Heavens God of War, wielding weapons and upholding the laws of Heaven. Her will had long been forged as strong as divine iron. But now, tiny, ever-growing cracks appeared within that iron.
Can't think about it anymore.
She turned abruptly and walked deeper into the hall. There was a pure pool. The water was not ordinary water, but the "Sword Washing Spring" that condensed the radiance of the Zhoutian stars and the spiritual veins of Kunlun. It was often used to warm and nourish divine weapons and cleanse evil spirits.
She wanted to place the Burning Silence Sword into the spring. The last trace of Ao Guang's presence on the sword, that dark golden dragon blood, had to be removed. Along with the constant reminder of the final, tragic scene, it had to be washed away.
However, just as she grasped the hilt of the sword and was about to dip the tip of the sword into the pool of water filled with starlight, something strange happened!
“Buzz!”
The Fen Ji Sword trembled violently, emitting a low, yet resisting, humming sound! The hilt became scorching hot, and the long-dried dark golden dragon blood suddenly lit up with a faint light. A familiar and violent aura rushed along the hilt and rushed straight into her soul!
It wasn't an attack, but rather a remnant of... obsession. It carried reluctance, madness, and a faint, distant pull!
Yinglong's hand froze in mid-air, and his pupils shrank slightly.
This is not right.
Divine weapons possess spirits, and Fen Ji is her own divine weapon, connected to her mind and spirit. He would never resist her will without reason. Moreover, Ao Guang had already been completely destroyed, so how could the bloodstains he left behind still have such a strong spiritual remnant?
unless……
An absurd, almost impossible thought, like a dark fire under the ice, suddenly arose in her heart.
Unless, he was not completely annihilated!
That final self-destruction, that all-consuming darkness and annihilation... could there be something left?
Once this idea appeared, it grew wildly and could no longer be contained.
She recalled Ao Guang's state when he rushed to the Yaochi Lake, the Silence Mysterious Armor, the Ni Lin Halberd, and his act of forcibly extracting the essence of the East Sea Spirit Vein... These were all the dragon race's most hidden and forbidden methods. Especially the Silence Mysterious Armor, which was said to be related to the dragon race's most fundamental law of Silence. Its final unleashing might not be a simple mutual destruction...
Yinglong abruptly retracted the Fenji Sword and gripped it tightly. The humming of the sword gradually subsided, but the faint glow of the remaining dragon blood and the subtle pulling sensation did not disappear.
She couldn't stay here any longer.
A curfew? A time to reflect on one's mistakes?
Compared with this possible, subversive discovery, the punishment from Heaven seemed insignificant.
She had to check.
Where to go?
East China Sea!
That was the place Ao Guang had waited for a thousand years. It was the source of his power and the starting point of his ultimate annihilation! If there were any traces left, the most likely place would be at the edge of the East China Sea, in the ruins of the Dragon Palace that he had destroyed with his own hands!
Her mind was made up, and Yinglong's eyes once again gleamed with a sharp light, the resolve of a god of war. She no longer hesitated, a crimson divine light surging around her. Her figure instantly blurred, transforming into a streak of extremely obscure light. It silently penetrated the restrictions of Kunlun Ruins, ripping through the void, and sped off towards the East Sea in the lower realm!
The laws of heaven, the prince's marriage contract, the duties of the god of war... at this moment, she threw them all out of her mind.
She just wanted to know an answer.
Ao Guang, are you really...completely disappeared?
---
At the same time, in the Ninth Heaven, the Prince’s Eastern Palace.
"She went to the East China Sea?"
The Crown Prince of the Heavenly Emperor stood on the Cloud Platform, his hands behind his back, listening to the reports from his trusted immortal officials. His face was so gloomy that it could drip water. He toyed with a pearl the size of a longan in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the strain.
"Yes, Your Highness. After leaving Kunlun Ruins, the War God Yinglong broke through the void and his aura pointed directly towards the East China Sea. His whereabouts... were quite secretive, but he was not able to completely avoid our supervision." The immortal official replied in a low voice, his tone cautious.
"Good, very good." The prince sneered, the pearl on his fingertips making a subtle shattering sound. "That madman Ao Guang died to prove his will, but she still remembers him! Donghai...what did she go to Donghai for? To pay tribute? Or...to discover something?"
He turned around abruptly, a cold glint in his eyes. "Ao Guang self-destructed his Mysterious Armor of Annihilation, and his Ni Lin Ji was also destroyed. Logically, there's no chance of him surviving. But the Dragon Clan's secret techniques are strange, so there's no guarantee there won't be any accidents..."
He would never allow any accidents to happen. Ao Guang must be completely dead, and Ying Long must completely sever his ties with the past!
"Pass the order down," the prince said in a cold voice. "Tell the Thunder and Fighting Tribes to send their elite troops to the East China Sea under the pretext of inspecting the lower realms and eradicating the remnants of Ao Guang! Keep a close watch on Yinglong's every move! If any signs of Ao Guang's remnant spirit are found... whether true or false, eliminate them immediately and completely to prevent any future trouble!"
"Yes!" The immortal official accepted the order and bowed and retreated.
The prince stood alone on the cloud platform, looking at the rolling sea of clouds below with a sinister look.
"Yinglong, you finally... chose to look back at him." He whispered to himself, with a hint of resentment of betrayal, "Since you can't let go, then I will help you... cut it off completely!"
The pearl in his hand finally couldn't bear the force anymore. With a snap, it turned into powder and fell from between his fingers.
Storms rose again over the East China Sea. Following the Crown Prince's orders, invisible nets were quietly cast across the sea, grieving over the recent fall of the Dragon King.
The red light that Yinglong transformed into was tearing through the sky at an even faster speed and rushing towards the end of the East China Sea.
She could feel that the humming of the Fenji Sword in her hand seemed to become... a little clearer as it approached the East China Sea.
The deep ocean that buried the past and secrets was ahead, silently waiting for her arrival.
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