Chapter 1727: Who Carries the Burden for You?
The soldiers of Diên Khang were cleaning up the battlefield. Linh Dục Tú ordered that news of the Heavenly Court's great defeat, the fall of Huyền Đô and U Đô, and Diên Khang's great victory be spread throughout all the myriad worlds before she finally had time to go see Tần Mục.
Tần Mục lay on the sickbed, once again without any breath. Hư Sinh Hoa had already inserted one by one the Đạo-punishing divine nails into his wounds to suppress the Dao injuries within his body.
In this battle, every person's role had been crucial, every army had been crucial. What Tần Mục did was no different from what the other soldiers did.
He did his best to hold back Hạo Thiên Đế, and the others also did their best to fight and kill.
This victory was the victory of everyone. The only difference was that Tần Mục survived, while some soldiers did not survive this decisive battle.
"His problems aren't major."
Hư Sinh Hoa stood up and said to Linh Dục Tú: "There is no one in this world who can kill Tần giáo chủ anymore. If there is, they exist in the past universe."
He wanted to leave, but Linh Dục Tú called him back and asked: "This war killed many people. My husband is in deep slumber and cannot wake for a while. In this world, the only ones capable of using resurrection arts are probably you and Lam Ngự Điền."
Hư Sinh Hoa shook his head: "Those who understand soul gathering and can draw the black sand of souls to reshape them—there are more than a dozen in Diên Khang, including Thiên Âm nương nương. It's not just me and Lam Ngự Điền. Reshaping souls for the gods who died on the battlefield with their souls scattered would be enough to drain the magical power of all of us. Reshaping souls requires a price. Bringing the dead back to life requires an even greater price. Even at Tần giáo chủ's peak, he could not resurrect all those who died in battle."
He looked at Linh Dục Tú: "Tần phu nhân, Diên Khang has the arts of creation and the divine artifacts of creation. If you could exhaust Diên Khang's wealth to reshape bodies for the dead, drain the national fortune, and then drain the power of Diên Khang's strong ones—including completely borrowing the power of U tôn, Tiểu Thổ Bá, and Thiên Công, down to the last drop—then it might still be possible to revive the soldiers who fell on the battlefield. After this great war, Diên Khang no longer has such abundant national strength!"
He changed his tone: "Diên Khang relied on the sacrifices of these soldiers to find a thread of life, a thread of hope, in a war that was nearly lost. Now, complete victory is still far off. If we destroy this good situation because of this matter, then why did we bother resisting the Heavenly Court? Tần phu nhân, don't let their sacrifices be meaningless!"
He was usually one who never showed joy or anger on his face, but now his words were somewhat heavy.
Linh Dục Tú said: "As long as the physical bodies remain, if we restore the heroic souls of the fallen and let them return to their bodies, can't they come back to life? That way, we wouldn't need to consume too much national strength..."
Hư Vô tôn chủ shook his head: "Tần phu nhân, there are no physical bodies left."
Linh Dục Tú was stunned for a moment.
"Hạo Thiên Đế's methods are too ruthless. The Nguyên Giới has now become a massive blood sacrifice altar. All living beings who died in this blood sacrifice altar will be transformed into energy and offered to the prehistoric universe."
Hư Sinh Hoa was silent for a moment, then said: "I went to look at the soldiers' corpses. They decay very quickly. The blood of gods and demons seeps into the ground, and within a day or two, all their essence, energy, and spiritual power is lost. Because so many soldiers died and were wounded, this blood sacrifice isn't very conspicuous. But if the blood sacrifice is completed, I'm afraid two or three Dao-achievers from the Di La Cung will descend! Hạo Thiên Đế has lost his mind and will surely die a terrible death. I noticed the signs and told Lam Ngự Điền. He has already taken his divine artifact and gone searching everywhere, trying to find where the blood sacrifice altars are hidden. I hope he can destroy them."
Linh Dục Tú nodded silently.
Hư Sinh Hoa said: "Tần phu nhân need not be too anxious. Tần giáo chủ always prepares for the worst. He had actually anticipated this long ago and made defensive measures. The Great Dao of U Đô has already changed now."
Linh Dục Tú was somewhat puzzled.
Hư Sinh Hoa said: "I cultivate the Great Dao of U Đô and discovered that the Great Dao of U Đô is no longer just sixty-four kinds, but has increased by six, reaching seventy kinds. The six added ones are the Six Paths of Reincarnation—six kinds of reincarnation Dao. Tần giáo chủ previously ordered people to forge the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel precisely to deal with today's situation."
"What do you mean?"
"Thổ Bá Tần Phượng Thanh controls the Six Paths of Reincarnation. The power of this divine artifact has gradually spread throughout the myriad worlds, becoming a treasure that stands above the Minh Hà long whip and the Thổ Bá divine eye."
Hư Sinh Hoa walked out, saying: "The six kinds of reincarnation Dao will probably allow the deceased to enter reincarnation and gain new life. Of course, that's provided they haven't been transformed into black sand of souls. In the future, the duties of Thổ Bá and Thiên Tề Nhân Thánh Vương might be different from the original Thổ Bá and Thiên Tề Nhân Thánh Vương. Tần giáo chủ planned ahead and had already made contingency plans before the great war even began. Admirable."
Linh Dục Tú turned around, came to the sickbed, sat on the edge of the bed, and looked at Tần Mục, who had no breath at all.
Tần Mục's injuries pained her heart, but there was nothing she could do. The smartest and most powerful beings in this world, like Lam Ngự Điền and Hư Sinh Hoa, could not heal Tần Mục's Dao injuries. Even the most skilled physicians were helpless.
She could only quietly wait for Tần Mục to wake up on his own and heal himself.
The man lying on the sickbed had done too much for Diên Khang and for this universe. Every time danger arose, he was always the first to rush to the front, even willing to have people carry his coffin forward when severely wounded.
His foresight was too far-reaching. He had already planned today's contingency plans decades ago.
She gently leaned down and nestled beside Tần Mục. In decades of marriage, they had been apart more than together. She never expected that only now could they have a moment of peace.
Suddenly, Linh Dục Tú stood up, left the sickbed, and walked outside.
"Diên Khang has just won its first victory—this is the most critical period. There's no room for romance!"
She regained the sharp decisiveness of a generation of empress. While handling official business, she issued orders one after another, having each army sort out the wounded, reorganize them into new units, and send them to support Giang Bạch Khuê, Long Kỳ Lân, and others to expand the gains of victory.
"We must completely drive the Heavenly Court out of Nguyên Giới!"
At the same time, Linh Dục Tú issued orders to mobilize all the supernatural practitioners of Diên Khang to ensure the logistics lines remained unbroken—cutting through mountains and building bridges across rivers along the way, establishing teleportation portals at waypoints along the route. She had to ensure that supplies never ran out, and at minimum, the miraculous medicines and elixirs sent from Diên Khang's rear must never be lacking. The lives of the soldiers in each army were the top priority!
As for the wounded who remained behind, they were cared for by Diên Khang's physicians, who worked around the clock to treat them and save their lives.
By the time Linh Dục Tú finished all this, it was already deep into the night. Stars dotted the sky, but the celestial patterns were still in chaos. Another great battle was still ongoing in Huyền Đô, not yet concluded.
That was the war between Thiên Công and Tổ Thần Vương. It was crucial to them as father and son, but to Diên Khang, it no longer affected the overall situation.
Linh Dục Tú draped a robe over her shoulders and looked up at the sky beyond in the night. She saw another battle out there, also very intense. Occasionally, the Thái Cực star domain would appear, black and white intermingled, or the Dao light of the Thanh Minh mirror would descend from beyond the heavens, like green auroras, very dazzling and beautiful.
That was the battle between the Thái Thủy ancient god and the Thái Cực ancient god, which had already lasted a long time.
Their battle caused all sorts of magnificent scenes to appear beyond the heavens—bizarre and colorful sights formed by their supernatural powers. They weren't very visible during the day, but at night, they appeared exceptionally brilliant.
Supernatural powers were like paintings spread across the night sky of Nguyên Giới, suddenly appearing and then gradually fading.
In the west, the suns had long since disappeared, becoming the glow of sunset sinking behind the mountains, dyeing the western sky crimson.
The night air was slightly cool.
Linh Dục Tú heard a long howl coming from the dark night. That howl carried a unique state of mind—sometimes melodious and gentle, sometimes like a long sword piercing the heavens, sometimes like a small bridge over flowing water, sometimes like iron horses and golden spears, the clash of battle on the battlefield—it actually gave one a magnificent and grand spectacle.
Linh Dục Tú gazed into the distance. At the place where the howl came from, a massive Đại La Thiên was tilting, emerging from the thirty-six layers of void. The Đại La Thiên was splitting apart, swaying as if about to fall into Nguyên Giới.
Hum—
The Dao light of that Đại La Thiên suddenly became incomparably intense, dispelling the darkness of Nguyên Giới's night, making everything bright as day. That was the Dao light of the primordial one qi!
The howl continued to come, becoming impassioned and sonorous, like a blade that split heaven and earth galloping across the battlefield, venting its dissatisfaction with oppression!
"Could it be Thương Quân and Thái Sơ? Thái Sơ didn't retreat with Hạo Thiên Đế but was held back by Thương Quân?"
Linh Dục Tú's heart stirred. She could hear fighting spirit and killing intent from Thương Quân's howl, a desire to protect all living beings, but it seemed he could never elevate his fighting spirit and killing intent to the extreme.
Suddenly, from the room behind her came Tần Mục's voice: "Phu nhân, please summon Nguyệt tôn chủ and Đồ gia gia."
Linh Dục Tú's heart leaped with joy. She hurried back into the room and glanced over—Tần Mục had woken up at some point and was struggling to sit up.
Linh Dục Tú immediately activated the Tam Nguyên Thần Hội to notify Nguyệt tôn chủ and the butcher, while she herself went forward to support Tần Mục and help him sit up properly.
"Slowly... it hurts..."
Tần Mục sucked in cold air and said: "These nails were definitely inserted by Hư Sinh Hoa. Every single one goes deep into flesh, blood, and marrow."
His forehead was covered in cold sweat. He finally sat steady and panted a few heavy breaths.
Nguyệt tôn chủ's injuries were not yet healed, and the butcher was also covered in Dao injuries. Both had been kept behind for treatment. The two hurried over upon hearing the news, only to see Tần Mục sitting there asleep, layers of dream worlds spreading out.
The two walked into the room and happened to step into his dream. They saw that Tần Mục's dream didn't seem like a dream at all—it seemed like a real world.
When they entered Tần Mục's dream, they saw it was a sign of the eve of a universe's destruction. In that dream universe, the ultimate void was being compressed and contracted by Dao-achievers. Gusts of cold, silent wind blew out from the ultimate void, and wherever they passed, in the territories of the Dao-achievers, in the myriad heavens, people suffered disaster upon disaster, living in misery.
Even gods and demons often fell into the five declines of heaven and man. Frequently, while in meditation, they would suddenly be struck by a cold wind entering their orifices, and their flesh, bones, and primordial spirits would all dissolve, dying inexplicably.
This universe was full of scenes of decay, yet it was at its peak—unprecedentedly powerful, with countless strong beings and an extremely large number of Dao-achievers, forming a stark contrast with its decay!
To reduce the pressure on the universe and sustain its life, the Dao-achievers deliberately created conflicts, causing the living beings in each heaven to slaughter each other and attack one another. Every major heaven, including the ancestral court where the World Tree stood, was filled with chaos and smoke.
Just then, Nguyệt tôn chủ and Thiên Đao Đồ Phu's gazes fell upon a young man carrying a long blade on his back. He was rummaging through piles of corpses, drinking blood water, and eating rotten flesh from the dead.
However, the five declines of heaven and man had already invaded all the major heavens. Any god or demon who died would quickly rot and stink. Yet this young man forced himself to endure the nausea and eat the stinking rotten flesh.
After this young man recovered his strength, he began killing again—slaughtering the gods who ruled the heavens, honing his blade, honing his Dao heart.
He was like a mad demon, killing from one heaven to another. Countless gods and demons fell beneath his blade.
He was incomparably ferocious, possessing an undefeatable conviction, like the most cruel beast, the most cunning hunter, slaughtering wantonly to elevate his Dao realm.
"Is it Thương Quân?" Nguyệt tôn chủ asked in confusion.
Just then, they were treated to a rare sight of Thương Quân's gentle side. He sat by a stream in front of a dilapidated small village, admiring a small flower. Children surrounded him, singing and dancing. The children placed a flower crown on his head, and a satisfied smile appeared on Thương Quân's simple face.
Then, Thương Quân took to the path of slaughter again, challenging higher gods, drawing his blade against stronger beings.
One day, he finally became one of the strongest existences in this universe and launched an attack on the lofty Dao-achievers above!
The moment a Dao-achiever died by his hand, he finally achieved Dao through the path of slaughter.
But his goal was not to achieve Dao. It was to kill the Dao-achievers who had snuck over, to kill those lofty existences who manipulated this universe!
Slaughter was not his purpose. What he truly wanted to do was protect the ordinary people of this universe!
Now, he finally had such power!
He put on the flower crown the children had given him, looked at his Đại La Thiên, joyfully gazed down at the universe below, and a simple smile froze on his face.
The first native Dao-achiever of the Sixteenth Era, and also the last Dao-achiever of the Sixteenth Era—his achievement of Dao completely crushed this universe, crushed the ultimate void.
The Great Destruction arrived at this moment. The entire universe collapsed into ruin. Countless ordinary living beings died horribly in the first wave of the Great Destruction.
The one who most wanted to save this universe, to save ordinary beings, became the final straw that crushed this universe, became the executioner who slaughtered the very beings he wanted to protect!
The moment the universe's destruction calamity erupted, Thương Quân went mad. He cared nothing about how to survive the destruction calamity but instead crazily attacked those Dao-achievers amidst the calamity!
Nguyệt tôn chủ and the butcher stared blankly at this scene. Finally, as the universe in this dream was destroyed, the dream disappeared.
Tần Mục panted heavily and said: "Nguyệt tôn chủ, Đồ gia gia, can you awaken the ultimate killing intent in Thương Quân's heart?"
The butcher walked out and ordered the soldiers to bring over a hundred giant war drums, each a hundred zhang tall, and set them up. He tore off his clothes, revealing his muscular build, and held two great hammers in his hands.
Nguyệt tôn chủ sat behind the formation of war drums, restrung her zither strings. The sound of the zither slowly came forth, echoing the howl in the night, unhurried, neither fast nor slow.
Thump!
The drum sounded. The butcher swung his great hammers, and the drumbeats struck precisely at the moment when the zither music and the howl broke off—deep and powerful.
————A four-thousand-character chapter! Please subscribe, please vote!