The sky above the mountaintop remained dark, thick with fog. No trace of vegetation could be seen on the jagged black rocks. The environment here seemed completely different from the one below, filled with a sense of forbidding fortitude. Lu Qingjiu's torch had gone out, so he turned on his flashlight again and groped his way forward. The darkness, compounded by the thick fog, made his flashlight resemble a firefly, forcing him to slow down.
However, Lu Qingjiu could faintly hear some strange noises coming from afar. It was like the roar of a giant beast, piercing the thick fog. Lu Qingjiu continued to explore. He remembered that the mountaintop was surrounded by steep cliffs, so he took every step with extreme caution. Even so, when he reached the edge, he almost fell. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and sat down on the ground to prevent himself from sliding off the edge.
Cold sweat broke out on Lu Qingjiu's forehead, and he quickly moved a little further away from the cliff edge. He remembered seeing some marvelous sights here before, but now the fog was so thick that he couldn't see anything. Lu Qingjiu heard another dragon roar, and a deep sense of unease rose in his heart. He wanted to see clearly what was happening in the thick fog.
Just as Lu Qingjiu was thinking this, he heard a crisp sound like porcelain breaking. The sound was very loud, and seemed to come from the top of his head. Lu Qingjiu raised his head involuntarily and looked at the dark sky. Then he was shocked to find that the dark sky above his head had cracks - as if it had been broken by something.
A golden light shot out from the white end of the sky. The light broke through the obstruction of the sky and sprinkled on the ground, forming mottled spots of light on the ground.
The golden light gradually dispelled the fog, and the surrounding scene began to become clear. Lu Qingjiu finally saw the White Moon Fox and several dragons fighting with it. There were seven or eight dragons, most of them red candle dragons. The White Moon Fox chased and bit them from a distance, and Lu Qingjiu could only barely make out their tracks due to its speed.
Lu Qingjiu was a bit worried, his mind preoccupied with the possibility of the White Moon Fox getting hurt. He noticed that the dragons were fighting on a lone peak he had seen earlier. The peak's outer walls were as smooth as a mirror, piercing the sky, as if supporting the heavens and the earth. Lu Qingjiu remembered that when he had come here before, he had seen a black dragon circling the peak. Could that be the White Moon Fox's true form?
Under the siege of several Candle Dragons, Baiyue Fox didn't show any signs of weakness. Lu Qingjiu felt relieved and kept praying that Baiyue Fox could defeat them. But soon, Lu Qingjiu noticed something unusual. These Candle Dragons didn't seem to be heading for Baiyue Fox. Their target was the isolated peak behind Baiyue Fox.
The candle dragons flew in mid-air, circling and watching. When they found the right moment, they rushed towards the solitary peak, slamming heavily into it at an extremely fast speed. Their huge bodies left cracks on the cliffs of the solitary peak, and their scales also broke. Lu Qingjiu even saw a candle dragon that had its own dragon horn broken off.
The White Moon Fox was still being harassed by several other Candle Dragons. He obviously wanted to stop the actions of these Candle Dragons, but the Candle Dragons that were entangled with him seemed to be unwilling to die. They used their bodies to block the White Moon Fox and ignored the injuries on their bodies.
"Bang!" Another loud bang sounded, and Lu Qingjiu watched helplessly as a candle dragon crashed to death on the solitary peak. Its once graceful body twisted, and its bright red blood blossomed into a beautiful flower on the black stone wall. Then it began to slowly slide down, falling straight into the abyss with no end in sight.
"Bang!!!" Bai Yuehu finally got rid of several Zhulongs around him in response to Zhulong's suicidal attack, but at this moment, large flakes of ice-blue snowflakes fell from the sky. These snowflakes seemed to have floated in from the other side of the gap and landed only around the isolated peak. Lu Qingjiu clearly saw that after those snowflakes came into contact with the dragon scales, they would quickly freeze that piece of dragon scales into ice-blue, and Bai Yuehu's originally agile posture became a little slow. Seeing that another Zhulong was about to hit the isolated peak, Bai Yuehu gritted his teeth, flew forward, and used his own body to resist the attack of Zhulong.
Zhulong launched a powerful attack, striking Baiyuehu. The attack left a strange arc on Baiyuehu's body, and his claws twisted into an abnormal shape, clearly broken. Lu Qingjiu was heartbroken. He couldn't bear to see the Black Dragon, whom he coaxed and pampered, suffer such a fate. But what could he do? With a quarter of dragon blood in his body, he couldn't do anything. He was just a powerless mortal, and could only watch his beloved being killed by those monsters.
The White Moon Fox roared again, biting the neck of the Candle Dragon that had struck him. Then, with a powerful throw, it flung the dragon directly into the abyss. But even though he had killed another Candle Dragon, it was only a drop in the bucket. The surrounding Candle Dragons attacked again, and the White Moon Fox parried them several times before becoming exhausted. Under normal circumstances, given more time, he might have been able to defeat these Candle Dragons. However, none of the Candle Dragons before him had any intention of surviving. They couldn't even see the White Moon Fox, their entire focus fixed on the isolated black peak before them, as if breaking it would mean victory.
Lu Qingjiu didn't understand why they did this at first, until he noticed that every time Zhulong damaged the solitary peak a little, the crack in the sky became a little bigger.
The cracks in the black sky grew increasingly apparent, and a golden light illuminated the dark world. However, this light did not bring warmth, but instead brought a chilling chill to Lu Qingjiu. He used the light to see the hideous wounds on Bai Yuehu's body. In his efforts to block Zhulong, the scales on one side of his body had become bloody and mangled, the wounds deep enough to reveal the bone. His once slender and agile body was twisted, as if his spine had been struck. Even so, Bai Yuehu showed no sign of retreating. His eyes burned with a fierce fighting spirit, protecting the inviolable territory behind him. Even if his body was destroyed, he would not retreat a single step.
Unconsciously, Lu Qingjiu's eyes were wet. He stared at Bai Yuehu infatuatedly, holding the wooden box tightly in his arms with all his strength. He remembered Xuan Yu's words. If he was the one who could end it all, he wanted to do it immediately, no matter what the cost.
After another violent collision, Bai Yuehu seemed to be unable to hold on any longer. Due to inertia, his body fell heavily on the isolated peak and then began to slowly slide down.
"Bai Yue Fox... Bai Yue Fox... No, Ao Yue, Ao Yue!" Lu Qingjiu trembled as he called out Bai Yue Fox's name. He watched Bai Yue Fox's body continue to fall, calling out to his lover. Bai Yue Fox had originally lowered his head, but his furry ears suddenly moved, as if he had heard something. He slowly raised his head and glanced in Lu Qingjiu's direction. Because the distance between them was very far, Lu Qingjiu was not sure if he was hallucinating, but he could see that Bai Yue Fox had barely controlled his body, stopped falling, and climbed up the rock wall of the lonely peak in a panic.
There were two Zhulongs around, but Baiyuehu had no strength to block them. He tried to use his body as a buffer to let the Zhulongs hit him, but the Zhulongs had already seen through his intention and turned a corner abruptly.
"Bang!" With a death-dealing sound, the Candle Dragon's horn shattered into pieces upon contact with the rock face of the solitary peak. Its once solid body also shattered, its scales shattered, its body bent, and white brain matter and red blood scattered in mid-air. His death was not in vain, however. Lu Qingjiu clearly heard the sound of rocks collapsing. He watched helplessly as the solitary peak protected by the White Moon Fox began to crumble. Chunks of black rock fell from the peak, and the solitary peak began to tremble.
"Move aside, White Moon Fox." An ice-blue figure rose in the sky, carrying a chill as cold as ice and snow. He said, "Your sacrifice is meaningless."
The White Moon Fox did not answer, but only let out an angry roar.
"Get out of the way." The person who spoke was a man Lu Qingjiu had never seen before. However, his long ice-blue hair and his appearance that was somewhat similar to Xuanyu made Lu Qingjiu understand his identity - this was the Winter God after the fusion. Obviously, the polluted soul dominated, and the Xuanyu that Lu Qingjiu had seen before had completely disappeared.
Bai Yuehu glared at Dong Shen hatefully. His voice was hoarse and filled with anger: "Get out!"
The God of Winter looked indifferent. He said, "Zhu Rong is dead. No one can help you."
"If it weren't for you, how could Zhu Rong die?" Bai Yuehu said, "I won't listen to your nonsense. I won't let you in. Get out!" Another dragon roar sounded, and rocks from the lonely peak fell. He used his body to block the cracks in the lonely peak, refusing to retreat a single step.
The God of Winter said coldly, "Then it will be as you wish." After he said this, more snowflakes fell from the sky, and the White Moon Fox's body was frozen even more severely. The most despairing thing was that many red eyes appeared in the cracks in the sky that emitted golden light.
These eyes greedily spied on everything in the human world. Even through the cracks, Lu Qingjiu could sense the aura of tyranny and killing in their eyes.
Then Zhulong began to try to break the crack. It first stretched out a claw, then its head and body. But just as it tried to squeeze out, the White Moon Fox, which looked to be dying, turned around and flew into the sky. Before Zhulong came over, it bit off Zhulong's head with a fierce bite.
"Ah!!!" Zhulong screamed in pain and died. Baiyuehu was breathing heavily, and it was obvious that he was exhausted and unable to hold on any longer.
The God of Winter didn't mind. He waved his hand and the Candle Dragon on the other side of the crack began to continue squeezing in.
This time, two of them came directly. Bai Yuehu said angrily, "You are dreaming!"
Winter God smiled faintly and said, "Have you forgotten something?"
Bai Yuehu was stunned.
God of Winter said, "There is another one." As soon as he finished speaking, a fiery red figure appeared beside him. That figure was clearly the grandfather who had just handed Lu Qingjiu the torch. The grandfather had red hair and was obviously in a contaminated state. Lu Qingjiu and Bai Yuehu didn't react in time. They saw him flash and change back into a dragon form, and slammed into the already crumbling isolated peak.
"Grandpa!!!" Lu Qingjiu screamed in fear, but it was too late.
Ao Run had already used all his strength in this collision. Although he no longer had his dragon horns, his huge dragon body and enormous force instantly smashed the already broken peak into pieces.
After a resounding roar, the lone peak before them began to slowly tilt, emitting a deafening sound. Rocks from above continued to fall, plummeting into the endless abyss. Along with the lone peak, Ao Run, with a satisfied smile on his face, fell. As if fulfilling a wish, he chased the rocks and fell into the bottomless sea of clouds.
As the solitary peak fractured, the golden crack in front of Lu Qingjiu began to widen. What had once been only wide enough for a single Candle Dragon to pass through now became a passageway for them to roam freely. Even if the White Moon Fox tried to stop it, it was powerless. The red Candle Dragons, like streaks of flame, continuously rushed towards the human world. However, they seemed to have no interest in the White Moon Fox and did not attack him. Instead, they began to swirl around the Winter God like dancing butterflies.
The dark sky began to crack, and golden light continued to extend from the cracks, eventually spreading to the entire sky. Lu Qingjiu's head seemed to have turned into a fragile piece of porcelain. The black night was gradually occupied by the golden light.
Lu Qingjiu looked at Bai Yuehu, who also looked back at him. Their eyes met, and they both saw a tenderness in each other's eyes. Bai Yuehu began to fly towards Lu Qingjiu. He was in a state of disarray, but he still wanted to use up his last bit of strength to meet Lu Qingjiu.
Lu Qingjiu also showed an anticipation, but just as Bai Yuehu slowly approached Lu Qingjiu, the debris falling from the sky hit him heavily. Normally, Bai Yuehu could dodge this kind of thing with a flick of his body, but today, he didn't have the strength to do so. So, with Lu Qingjiu screaming, he watched Bai Yuehu being hit. The debris seemed to be extremely heavy. After being hit, Bai Yuehu let out a low groan and immediately lost consciousness, falling straight into the abyss.
Lu Qingjiu missed him just like that.
"No, no, no--" Lu Qingjiu screamed. He knelt on the edge of the cliff and stretched out his hand towards the White Moon Fox, wanting to grab his beloved Black Dragon with his hands. But everything was in vain. The White Moon Fox disappeared from his sight and disappeared into the abyss shrouded by the sea of clouds.
"Moon Fox, White Moon Fox——" Lu Qingjiu called out White Moon Fox's name miserably, but there was no response.
Ice-blue snowflakes began to spread from the solitary peak to the surroundings, landing on Lu Qingjiu's head and shoulders, but he did not feel cold. All his attention was focused on the bottomless abyss in front of him.
The crack in the sky has completely spread to wherever the eye can see. Behind the crack, there are countless pairs of colorful eyes spying on the world. There is greed, cruelty, curiosity and doubt in these eyes. It is the curiosity of one world about another world, and they begin to try to squeeze their bodies out of the crack to make the crack bigger.
Are the two worlds about to merge?
Lu Qingjiu pondered blankly, Bai Yuehu had failed? What about him? What should he do? Could he only sit here and wait for everything to happen like a helpless lamb?
No, he must be able to do something.
As Lu Qingjiu was thinking this, he suddenly felt a mysterious change in the wooden box in his arms. He looked down and found that a faint red mist had emerged from the text lock on the wooden box. Lu Qingjiu immediately remembered what Bai Yuehu had said. The text lock on this wooden box was special and could only be opened by entering specific words at a specific time. For example, only on Lu Qingjiu's birthday would the three words "Lu Qingjiu" appear on the text lock. Now, this text lock seemed to hold a secret.
"The answer, what's the answer..." Lu Qingjiu flipped through the text lock, but found nothing. There were too many alternative answers in the text lock at this time. He even flipped through more than fifty and still couldn't get to the bottom. The sky was about to collapse, and he had no time to guess the answers one by one.
"Calm down, calm down." Lu Qingjiu kept comforting himself in his heart. He began to try hard to recall all the information, trying to find the answer to the text lock. The text lock can only contain three words, and all the answers are also three words. So what is it?
"White Moon Fox? Lu Qingjiu? No, no..." Lu Qingjiu remembered Xuanyu coming to him specifically before, and he said, "Someone has already given you the answer. You are the only one who can save this."
Lu Qingjiu wondered what it meant that someone had already given him the answer. What was the answer? He was so anxious that he bit off half of his nails in order to calm himself down. He looked at the sky that was about to shatter, and then at the bottomless abyss, and suddenly thought of something.
Lu Qingjiu thought of the divination that Dashu had once told him.
“When the mountains reach the end of the world, the water will eventually run out. When the willows are shady in the village, it is difficult for the flowers to remain tomorrow. If you don’t enter the water, you will be in trouble. It is difficult to recover the mountains and rivers.” He read out the hexagram that he had never understood before word by word. When Lu Qingjiu read the last three sentences, his whole body shuddered and he repeated again, “If you don’t enter the water, you will be in trouble. It is difficult to recover the mountains and rivers——” Dashu once said that if the first two sentences were Lu Qingjiu’s situation, then the last three sentences were the solution.
"If you don't enter the water, it's hard to avoid being in trouble, and it's hard to recover the mountains and rivers." Lu Qingjiu was thinking, but suddenly he laughed. He finally understood the meaning of Xuan Yu's words. Indeed, someone had told him the answer, and told it so clearly, but he himself didn't understand.
"No—Zhou—Shan." Lu Qingjiu slowly entered these three words into the text lock. His whole body tensed up, and then he heard a pleasant sound.
"Click." The text lock opened.
Lu Qingjiu saw what was inside. It was a white fragment that emitted a warm light. He reached out and picked up the fragment, feeling the light slowly spreading throughout his body.
Unlike the dazzling golden light shining down from above his head, the light on his body was full of tolerance and gentleness, like a compassionate god or Buddha.
Lu Qingjiu was also infected by this breath and felt that his body was becoming lighter and lighter, as if he had broken free from the constraints of the flesh.
Meanwhile, Winter God, who was originally waiting for the results in the distance, noticed the movement here. After seeing the changes in Lu Qingjiu, his face changed drastically and he said, "Stop him for me!"
The Zhulongs beside him heard the sound and rushed towards Lu Qingjiu. However, before they got close to Lu Qingjiu, they were stopped by the white light shield. The shield was not hard, but very soft. The Zhulongs were trapped in it, as if they were stuck in a quagmire and could not move at all. Naturally, the Zhulongs failed to stop Lu Qingjiu.
Winter God's previously calm expression began to crumble. He tried to stop Lu Qingjiu, but he couldn't get close. Only then, facing truly powerful forces, did he realize the gap between himself and the ancient gods. He was just a fragment, and he couldn't even get close.
The white light began to slowly rise, flying towards the sky. Lu Qingjiu was wrapped in it, watching himself getting farther and farther away from the ground. Although he was surrounded by angry candle dragons, his mood was exceptionally calm, like a deep lake that even the wind could not stir up.
He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he was going to the place he was supposed to go. It was an indescribable and mysterious feeling. It was the first time Lu Qingjiu had ever experienced such a peaceful soul. He was rising, rising continuously, until he reached the top of the sky, shoulder to shoulder with the clouds.
When it reached the apex of the sky, the light from Lu Qingjiu's body began to spread outward. Wherever it touched, the golden light was covered by white light, and the sky once again returned to pure black. The non-humans who attempted to rush into the human world from behind the golden light gradually dissipated after coming into contact with the white light, turning into a speck of dust in this world.
Lu Qingjiu saw the endless mountains and rivers, the boundless ocean, the emerald green spring, the fiery red summer, the golden autumn, and the crystal white winter. He felt a wonderful change in his body. All his distracting thoughts disappeared, and all his consciousness seemed to merge with the world. He no longer felt pain, nor was he sad anymore.
Is this the end? Lu Qingjiu thought blankly. He could no longer feel his body. It was as if only his soul still existed, and his flesh had become a heavy bondage.
In front of the heaven and earth, all desires became so insignificant. Lu Qingjiu heard someone calling him, and he closed his eyes. Just as he was about to be completely immersed in this peaceful atmosphere, a name suddenly emerged from the depths of his heart... White Moon Fox.
White Moon Fox? Lu Qingjiu thought of his beloved fake vixen. His heart ached suddenly, and a tear shed involuntarily. But soon, the pain was soothed by a peaceful mood. He closed his eyes and fell into an eternal sleep.
Lu Qingjiu knew nothing about what happened next.
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