Chapter 146 The Jade Bottle: We've All Become People Inside That Bottle
The demon leader also noticed the two who had suddenly appeared.
Standing at the very center of the demon horde was a large mountain, perhaps its very essence was a mountain. The mountain was covered with fragments of stars, countless broken corpses, and broken armor and weapons.
At that moment, the demon opened its mouth and spoke calmly: "Two ants, come and die."
Beside that demon mountain, there was a writhing black shadow. The shadow transformed into a dark abyss, where countless twisted faces struggled. Bai Ye's eyes flashed with golden light as he recognized it as the Demon Emperor of the Shadow Demon Clan. He never expected that a race that relied solely on possession could actually have a demon who could cultivate into a Demon Emperor.
The old ape we'd fought before had also arrived. It looked much better; its dry, old skin and fur had returned to a youthful state.
It wields a giant staff, the staff inscribed with countless stars, and upon closer inspection, one can discover that those stars are real.
Bai was secretly alarmed. If the old ape's staff, forged from stars, were to come down with a single blow, it could probably destroy an entire world.
The three demon emperors joined forces, along with dozens of demon kings and countless demon kings. Many of these demons were so enormous that their mere presence exuded a powerful sense of oppression.
This massive, united army stretched across the void sea, a dark mass that, if it were to truly march upon the Nine Provinces, could destroy everything in an instant.
"Zhulong, hand those two over to me, and we can temporarily withdraw our troops," the Shadow Demon Emperor said coldly.
The old ape also spoke up, saying, "Past grudges should have long since faded away. Hand them over, and my Black Demon Ape clan will immediately withdraw our troops."
"So noisy!"
The woman in white, her black hair flowing freely, gently raised her hand and pointed a finger towards the sky.
In an instant, silver light spread across the heavens, and the unstoppable river of time surged forth, causing the billions of demons who had been charging and roaring to freeze in place.
The space fell silent instantly.
"Hmph!" The Demon Mountain Emperor let out a cold snort that seemed to transcend time and space.
The sound waves vibrated violently, colliding with the laws of time. After a moment, the imprisoned time resumed its flow.
"Candle Dragon, no matter how strong you are, you cannot stop our army's advance!" The old ape's voice shook the surrounding area, and he swung his Star Staff out fiercely.
This strike seemed to stir up the entire universe, causing the stars in the sky to flicker and dim. As the staff passed through, space collapsed layer by layer, and countless shattered stars flashed in the shadow of the staff.
Even though he wasn't facing the stick directly, Bai still felt a chill run down his spine, his soul trembled, and every hair on his body stood on end.
The woman's gaze was indifferent, and with one step, the galaxy seemed to reverse. Brilliant silver light transformed into a vortex that devoured everything before her, completely engulfing the world-destroying staff shadow. The starlight on the staff flickered uncertainly, almost annihilated by the power of time.
"You dare destroy my imperial weapon!!" The old ape roared, shattering the void.
The woman remained silent, and with a flick of her palm, she condensed the laws of the heavens, creating a giant hand that covered the star field, which pressed down on the old ape.
"I'm here to help you!" the Shadow Demon Emperor roared, his body enveloped in surging black mist. Countless ancient enslaved creatures leaped out from the black mist, and the oppressive aura emanating from several of them had already touched the threshold of the Emperor Realm.
Faced with the combined attack of the two demon emperors, the woman took another step.
With each step she took forward, her aura surged. The Tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things.
With three steps, the woman's figure became somewhat blurred. She seemed to have transformed into this sea of nothingness, or perhaps into the entire sky. All things in heaven and earth were under her oppressive aura.
A strange phenomenon appeared in the heavens and earth, drawing in countless stars, which transformed into a torrential downpour that crashed down upon the demon army. Each star burned with the Daoist fire that could incinerate all things, illuminating the void in a fiery red glow.
The Demon Mountain Emperor roared, and the massive mountain spun rapidly, using its diamond-hard shell to withstand the torrent of stars.
A sky-devouring black light burst forth from the pitch-black mountain, clearly intending to refine all the stars in the heavens.
The woman's eyes turned slightly cold, and with a flick of her palm, the Dao principles reappeared, which she then used to fan out the weakest old ape.
The old ape's towering figure was sent flying backward by a single palm strike, instantly disappearing into the depths of the chaotic mist.
"Nothing special." The woman's robes fluttered, her tone as calm as still water. "Even if you all join forces, what can you do to me?"
Bai Ye gazed at the white-clad figure facing off against the three demon emperors, feeling his blood boiling.
This is the true power of a Celestial Emperor: his words are law, he can overturn the heavens with a flick of his hand, and he can hold off an army of billions with the power of a single person.
"Retreat ten thousand miles, or die!"
With a clear shout from the woman, the demon army of hundreds of millions retreated like a tide, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
This scene stunned the two of them once again. Bai's eyes sparkled with admiration; the white-clad woman's imposing presence was many times stronger than that of her cheap old mother.
"Senior!" Bai called out.
The woman didn't turn around. She gently raised her palm and waved it behind her. A stream of light lifted the two of them and placed them on the highest branch of the World Tree. Emerald light swirled, forming a barrier that enveloped them.
Standing on the branch, the two men's gazes remained fixed on the woman in white. She stood with her hands behind her back, her back to the two men and the tree, gazing in the direction where the demon army had gone, seemingly deliberately avoiding meeting them.
Bai could only look at Xiao Lü and ask, "Xiao Lü! What's going on here?"
"You stinky tiger, you're finally back? I thought I'd never see you again." Little Green's voice was excited, and the emerald green leaves wrapped around Bai Ye's arm, as if shaking hands with her.
"I'm back, so why is the demon army blocking this place?" Bai continued to ask.
"That's a long story..."
"Then get to the point."
Xiao Lü said casually, "It's nothing. About a year ago, a large army of demons suddenly appeared and attacked me like crazy."
"Are you injured?"
"Don't interrupt me! Are you even listening to me?"
"Listen, listen, tell me." Bai stopped interrupting and listened to Xiao Lü recount the events of the past year.
At that time, Xiao Lü was completely powerless against such a large army of demons. She was about to be torn into firewood and carried back to be burned in an instant.
Just then, the woman appeared.
"She was like someone who had traveled through eternity, radiating celestial light, as beautiful as a goddess. And she even looked almost exactly like your sister Zhong. I thought she had come to save me." Xiao Lü used all the words she had learned in her life to describe the woman.
"And then what? Nobody asked you to comment on her beauty," Bai said, rolling his eyes as he reminded him.
A small jade bottle rests on a slender, verdant branch. The bottle radiates a lustrous, ethereal light, while a hazy mist swirls around its mouth, obscuring its contents.
"She told me to hide this bottle, and then she stayed there, no matter how the demon army attacked, even the demon emperor joined forces, they couldn't make her retreat."
Upon hearing this, Bai Ye and Zhong Jiuli turned their gazes back to the woman.
"This place is not safe to stay any longer. You should return to Kunxu as soon as possible." A clear, ethereal voice drifted from afar, even colder than Zhong Jiuli's voice.
Bai Ye gazed at that retreating figure and couldn't help but ask, "Senior, have you been guarding this place since ancient times?"
Zhong Jiuli spoke at the same time, "Are you me? Or am I you?"
Perhaps annoyed by the two men's persistence, the woman in white finally turned around, her ethereal and beautiful face showing a hint of helplessness.
She did indeed look almost identical to Zhong Jiuli. If there was any difference, it was in her eyes. They were eyes that had endured countless ages and were filled with weariness.
Zhong Jiuli's eyes held the rising and setting of the sun and the myriad things in the world, while this woman's eyes seemed to hold only emptiness.
“I’ve met the White Tiger Immortal Emperor and the others,” Zhong Jiuli said proactively. “They said that I’m their closest friend, but I think their closest friend should be you, right?”
Upon hearing the name of her old friend, a look of reminiscence flashed in the white-clad woman's eyes. "They...are they still alive?"
“They’re still here!” Bai Ye chimed in. “They’re all in the Emperor’s Tomb in the Void Demon Realm. Once I become an Immortal Emperor, I’ll flatten the Void Demon Realm, and then you’ll be able to reunite with them.”
A smile appeared in the woman's deep, ancient eyes. Her gaze was distant, as if she had seen through eternity. "I am you of yesterday, and you are me of tomorrow. Cause and effect are like a cycle, so there is no need to be troubled."
The woman's voice was calm, yet it stirred up a storm in Zhong Jiuli's heart. Although she had suspected it beforehand, hearing the answer with her own ears still shook her to her core, leaving her unable to calm down.
"That day, the day I broke through to the next realm, it was you who helped me, wasn't it?" Zhong Jiuli murmured to herself.
The woman nodded slightly and changed the subject: "You should go back now."
Zhong Jiuli pressed on, "Why do you know of my existence, but I don't know of yours?"
"You wouldn't want to know of my existence." The woman shook her head and chuckled, flicking a wisp of spiritual light from her fingertip, which entered Zhong Jiuli's spiritual platform. "You should go back now. Go back and cultivate diligently, break through as soon as possible. I don't know how much longer I can hold off the demon army."
Bai listened to their conversation, her gaze sweeping back and forth between their faces. Although she wasn't very educated, this talk of cause and effect seemed to imply that they were the same person, just from different timelines.
Hearing the woman urging them to leave, Bai couldn't help but ask, "What about you? Aren't you coming with us?"
The woman shook her head, her gaze falling on Xiao Lü. "Xiao Lü, take them back to Kunxu."
After she finished speaking, she drew her fingers across her palm, using a drop of imperial blood as a guide to draw upon countless laws, opening a passage back to the Nine Provinces for the group. At the same time, the leaves of the World Tree also emitted a dazzling, clear light, which surged towards the jade bottle.
The small jade bottle emitted an extremely dazzling light, which fell on Bai Ye and the others, attempting to suck them in.
"Wait, I still have something to ask!" Bai Ye's voice was drowned out by the time tunnel, and he could no longer wait for the woman's response.
......
Inside the channel, light floats and sways, while outside, a band of light twists and rotates.
Bai lowered his head and looked at his palm. The little green plant had shrunk to about an inch tall, its branches and leaves swaying gently, shimmering with emerald light, but its roots remained withered, as if time had taken away its vitality. Only the newly sprouted tender leaves at the top were lush and vibrant with life.
"She actually managed to uproot you from the void and send you back to Kyushu?" Bai Ye's voice was full of amazement; the power of that woman in white was simply unimaginable.
"I thought I was going to be stuck in that godforsaken place for the rest of my life." Little Green Branches swayed, and she was very happy to be able to return to Kyushu with Bai.
"Wait!" Bai suddenly stopped, realizing a crucial point. "Why do we have to enter that bottle to return to Kyushu? I tore open the passage myself when we came out earlier."
"Because she... hid the entire Kyushu in the jade bottle." Zhong Jiuli's somewhat deep voice echoed in the passage.
"The reason why cultivators in the Nine Provinces cannot ascend is because we have all become people trapped in that bottle."
"She's really strong," Xiao Lü exclaimed. "I only stayed there for a few days, and I felt like I was going crazy from that deathly silence. Later, when the demon army came to our door, although we were almost destroyed, I felt that life was actually a little better."
"You wouldn't believe it, spending all day in that gray, gloomy place, with no one to talk to, and strange things swimming by every now and then. There's no day and night, time seems to stand still. I can only relieve my boredom by swaying my branches and listening to the rustling sound I make."
"But she's been here all alone for countless millennia," Zhong Jiuli murmured softly, already understanding why the other party had said they didn't want to know about her existence.
Because that kind of eternal silence can drive a person insane.
She clutched her chest, where a mix of emotions threatened to overwhelm her.
Every wisp of smoke rising from chimneys across the land of Kyushu, every family filled with laughter, and every peaceful night's sleep is earned by someone through eternal solitude.
And so, that woman stood alone in this void, guarding her treasured homeland, year after year, ten thousand years after ten thousand years.
Bai was equally stunned by this discovery and speechless. She couldn't imagine how much determination it would take for a person to willingly exile themselves to nothingness, to watch the joys and sorrows of the world inside the bottle as an observer, yet never be able to participate in it.
......
The desolate state, the capital of the Great Li Dynasty.
All nine towers lit up, their dazzling light soaring into the sky, transforming into a massive light curtain spanning tens of thousands of miles, protecting the entire imperial capital.
Beyond the light curtain, the world lost its color.
The massive, dark army of void demons surged like a tidal wave to the horizon, millions of them blotting out the sky. Their bodies churned with black energy, constantly impacting the great formation and creating ripples, making the formation seem as if it were about to shatter at any moment.
On the city wall, Li Shoumo held a warhammer, his armor was mostly shattered, dark red bloodstains were congealed on his cheeks, and his hair fell down his face, looking like he had just experienced a great battle.
Beside her, disciples from major sects such as the Heavenly Sword Sect, Hundred Flowers Valley, and Purple Cloud Palace stood guard on the city walls. These young disciples were all covered in blood, their faces weary, and the weapons in their hands reeked of blood.
The Wilderness State had already fallen six months ago.
Countless Void Demons, like hellish demons, surged forth from all directions, wreaking havoc on this ancient land.
Countless villages and cities were turned into ghost towns under the rampage of the demon army. Ordinary formations were powerless to stop the Void Demon Army, but the Great Li Imperial Capital, with its ancient Tongtian Formation, successfully blocked the invasion of the Void Demon Army.
However, this grand formation was clearly unable to hold out for much longer. Faced with the relentless attacks of the demon race day and night, the light of the nine towers had dimmed.
The situation was extremely bad, and a sense of unease and uncertainty permeated everyone's hearts. If they continued to hold on like this, no one could see any hope.
Li Chengfeng, carrying a long sword, stepped onto the city wall and came to Li Shoumo's side. She patted her friend's shoulder and said in a seemingly relaxed manner, "Your face is covered in blood. Go down and rest. I'll hold the fort here for now."
Li Shoumo raised her hand and wiped the dried blood from her cheek with her sleeve. Gazing at the boundless demonic tide outside the formation, her voice hoarse, "How long can we hold out like this?"
"Who knows? We'll hold out as long as we can. Didn't Senior Yun send a message a couple of days ago saying that reinforcements from Wangu City are already on their way?" Li Chengfeng's voice still carried a hint of optimism.
"Perhaps if we hold out a little longer, we might be able to wait for Pavilion Master Liu to bring people to rescue us?"
“They won’t be coming.” Li Shoumo shook his head slightly, his voice very soft. “The Xuanjia Army brought back the wreckage of the warships from Wangu City. The reinforcements encountered the main force of the demon race on their way.”
Li Chengfeng's smile froze for a moment, then returned to normal. She tightened her grip on Li Shoumo's shoulder, leaned closer, and smiled, "Then we must hold on until the very end. You know, Little Tiger's family is still here. She will definitely come back."
Li Shoumo nodded and pushed Li Chengfeng away slightly. "If you're going to talk, just talk. Why are you getting so close?"
"Look at our Great Princess, her blood-stained battle robes still cannot diminish her splendor," Li Chengfeng chuckled, teasingly.
Before she could finish speaking, a commotion erupted from the edge of the protective array. A large hole had been breached in the defensive array, and the demon army surged in like a tidal wave, instantly shattering the brief peace.
"Oh no, the great formation has been broken."
"They rushed in."
Exclamations rose and fell; the demon army was simply too numerous. In the blink of an eye, the black wave broke through the defenses and spread up the city walls.
"Waaaaah...!"
"Thump...!"
The mournful bugle call and the heavy war drum sounded at the same time.
Within the capital, regardless of age or the extent of their injuries, all cultivators who were still able to move transformed into streaks of light and rushed toward the city walls that were being eroded by darkness.
"Xuanjia Army, heed my command!" Li Shoumo raised his warhammer high and soared into the sky. "Defend the city gate to the death, not retreating an inch!"
"Yes!!!" Countless Xuanjia soldiers responded in unison.
Li Shoumo swung his warhammer, and the enormous hammer shadow crashed down with immense force, instantly turning hundreds of demons into mincemeat.
This small gap was quickly filled by the surging monsters from behind, seemingly without end.
Li Chengfeng moved with his sword, the longsword unsheathed like a dragon's roar, the silvery sword light like the Milky Way pouring down from the heavens, fiercely slashing into the enemy formation.
"Heavenly Sword Sect disciples, follow me and kill them!"
"Disciples of Hundred Flowers Valley, activate the Myriad Flowers Spirit Returning Array!"
"Purple Cloud Palace, Demon-Slaying Sword Formation!"
The cultivators from various factions roared and charged forward in formation, meeting the dark tide head-on.
Sword light flashed, petals fell, thunder roared, and various dazzling spiritual lights bloomed like fireworks in the darkness, brilliant for a moment before being swallowed up.
Close combat is bound to be bloody.
This dam built of flesh and blood saw human cultivators constantly being pierced by sharp claws and torn in two. Before their severed limbs even hit the ground, swarms of demons would rush in to snatch and devour them.
A black, demonic aura surged into the sky, and the sound of sharp teeth chewing flesh and bones mingled with the shouts of battle, sending chills down one's spine.
The cultivators present all knew that they would die sooner or later, but the scene of watching their companions being devoured before their eyes still greatly undermined their confidence.
The capital of the Great Li Dynasty was now a lone boat, teetering on the brink of collapse in the face of the onslaught of the black tide.
Li Shoumo smashed the head of a ninth-tier demon with a single blow, splattering her with foul-smelling demon blood. She gasped for breath, her hand gripping the hammer trembling slightly, her vision filled with the ever-surging demon army and her fallen comrades.
The battlefield high in the sky was even more brutal. The few remaining elders of the royal family and seniors from various sects all mobilized, each fighting against a demon general who was a whole realm above their own.
Their defeat seemed inevitable.
The figures of senior masters continued to fall from the sky, like burning meteors. Before they even hit the ground, they were torn apart by countless soaring demons, exploding into clouds of blood mist in the air.
"Master!!" A-Yu roared furiously, his eyes bloodshot.
High in the sky, the Heavenly Sword Sect Master's sword-wielding hand was severed by the Demon King's claws, and his chest was pierced by a single blow, with blood raining down.
"Master!" Li Chengfeng and the other disciples were furious. Without any hesitation, they rushed into the air, trying to catch the falling figure.
The demon king high in the sky looked down at these ignorant human youths, a bloodthirsty smile on its ferocious face. Its black bone wings suddenly flapped, and dozens of bone spikes with black energy came whistling, aiming straight for the foreheads of the group.
"Li Chengfeng!" Li Shoumo exclaimed in shock, the Emperor's Seal in his hand bursting forth with extreme light, "Freeze!"
Golden light, like lightning, surged towards the dark bone spikes, barely holding them in mid-air for a fleeting moment. However, humanity was weakened, and the power of the Human Emperor's Seal was reduced to less than one-tenth. The bone spikes in the air easily broke free of their restraints and continued shooting downwards.
At the critical moment, a clear shout rang out again from the sky: "Freeze!"
The single word uttered seemed to be a decree of heaven and earth.
As the sound waves passed, time seemed to freeze. Those deadly bone spurs were fixed on the foreheads of Li Chengfeng and the others.
Not only bone spurs, but the falling Heavenly Sword Sect Master hovered in mid-air, the sword light swung by the cultivators, the sharp claws of the demon race, and the blood droplets splattering in the air were all frozen in place.
A void passage appeared in the sky, and two figures rushed out from the void.
Upon recognizing the newcomer, all the human cultivators below were overjoyed, and a single thought arose in their minds: Zhong Jiuli has returned from the Void Demon Realm! The Nine Provinces are saved!
Zhong Jiuli lowered her gaze, sweeping over the blood-soaked land. She said nothing, but simply raised her hand and gently pressed it down on the boundless demon army below.
When the Celestial King made his move, the world lost its color.
A colossal hand of law, spanning thousands of miles, appeared out of thin air, its palm swirling with the phantoms of the sun, moon, and stars, carrying a power of rules that no one could comprehend, as it swept across the battlefield.
The world was silent, and everyone could see that the giant hand swept across the sky with such ease. Under the giant hand, millions of demon soldiers were wiped away like dust, their bodies disintegrating inch by inch, turning into black smoke that drifted away with the wind.
After the palm strike, the world became clear.
There was no trace of any demon race inside or outside the city walls.
Zhong Jiuli raised her finger and lightly tapped the void, and the frozen world resumed its flow.
Even though they could move, everyone remained rooted to the spot, staring blankly at the two figures in the sky, as if they couldn't believe their eyes.
"Thump!"
"Ouch!"
A series of muffled thuds broke the silence, and many cultivators fell to the ground in strange postures, the sounds pulling everyone's thoughts back to reality.
Some people tried to help their companions up, while others chuckled. The laughter seemed contagious, and soon it echoed from all directions.
Laughter was mixed with sobs. Many people couldn't help but cover their faces and weep, mourning their own salvation and the loss of their fallen comrades.
Amidst these sounds of mixed joy and sorrow, Bai Ye and the others from the Heavenly Sword Sect returned to the ground. They escorted the Heavenly Sword Sect Master to the disciples of the Hundred Flowers Valley for help.
After settling them in, Bai turned to his friends and asked, "Where did these demon armies come from? Weren't they already kept outside?"
Li Shoumo replied, "After you left, the turmoil in various parts of the Nine Provinces continued. Large-scale massacres broke out in various provinces one after another. Someone used the blood of thousands of living beings as a sacrifice to open a void passage and invite the demon race to descend."
Zhong Jiuli frowned and asked, "What about the situation in the other states?"
"They must be not far from us. Demons are rampaging everywhere, but their situation should be better than ours. The foundation of the Wilderness State is still somewhat weak," Li Shoumo replied.
Li Chengfeng added, "Currently, the highest level of the attacking demons is only at the Demon King level, which is already a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. If a Demon Emperor level being had appeared, the defense lines of each state would probably have already collapsed."
"Understood," Zhong Jiuli replied.
Her eyes closed slightly, and her powerful divine sense spread out like a tide, encompassing mountains and rivers, earth veins and caves, and wherever the Void Demon Clan was hiding, all were within her perception.
The next second, Zhong Jiuli opened her eyes, flicked her wrist, and a large bow appeared. With a casual pull, thousands of law arrows instantly formed, the bowstring as taut as a full moon.
"go!"
With a low shout, she lightly released her fingertips. Thousands of arrows shot through the sky like meteors, scattering into a dazzling display of light as they rained down on every corner of the desolate continent.
Each arrow struck a demon's encampment. Whether it was a demon king lurking deep within the earth's veins or a demon army on the offensive, they all turned to ashes the instant the arrows fell.
With a single arrow, the Void Demon Clan of the entire Wilderness State was almost completely wiped out.
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