Chapter 1990: Her!

Heaven and earth were like a curtain of eternal night.

The man in long robes stood there, his entire body surrounded by mysterious talisman markings formed of the Laws of the natural order, as if he were the ruler of darkness. Even the Master Gods’ avatars of will paled by comparison.

Everyone sensed the danger; the air of a lethal threat was so intense that even just

looking

at the man in long robes filled his heart with an irrepressible sense of impending peril!

“Power involving the River of Destiny?” said Su Yi. “Then have a look at this. Tell me, is this power capable of destroying you?”

He flipped his palm, and a streak of sword qi condensed out of the mysteries of Profound Ruin and floated in the air.

The long-robed man’s eyes silently narrowed. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d master a power connected to the River of Destiny before even becoming a god. It’s truly surprising, but… your control over it is far too weak. It isn’t even worth looking at.”

Here, he asked with great interest, “Is there anything else? Don’t even bother taking out that Dao Sword. You’re not yet a god, and you can in no way display its true power. In my eyes, it’s no threat.”

It seemed he wasn’t at all worried that Su Yi would play any tricks. He was utterly fearless.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The other Master Gods stared at Su Yi, decidedly unfriendly.

“Oh,” said Su Yi. He flipped his palm and produced a jade pendant. “How about this?”

“That?” The man in long robes laughed at first, but when he saw the pendant, his smile froze, and his eyes widened.

The Dipankara Buddha and the others keenly sensed the shift in his expression, including a newfound hint of solemnity.

It seemed… he was afraid of that pendant!!

The pendant was only about the size of a fist, perfectly round and translucent, and entirely unassuming. It was carved with the words “The Spirit Platform of Fangchun, Bodhi maintains the balance.”

The Master Gods’ eyelids twitched.

Earlier, the man in long robes had appeared from a jade pendant. Now, Su Yi had taken out a jade pendant of its own, and it seemed the energy imbued within it wasn’t at all ordinary!

“The Spirit Martial Epoch? A Dao Talisman refined by the master of Mount Fangchun….?” After a moment’s silence, the man in long robes sighed, seemingly ruefully. “It’s been far, far too long since I last laid eyes on such a treasure.”

A moment later, he shook his head. “That jade talisman cannot stop me either.”

He fixed his clear gaze on Su Yi and laughed. “Is there anything else? If not, I’ll get started.”

The atmosphere was instantly heavier. Dark shadows gathered throughout heaven and earth like rising floodwaters.

The Master Gods were ready and raring to go.

But then, a pleasing, ethereal voice resounded out of nowhere.

“You’re an existence who’s touched upon the mysteries of the River of Destiny. Aren’t you ashamed to be putting on airs like this?”

The crowd was stunned. All of them instinctively looked at the same place.

The Chaos Dao Cave!

They weren’t sure when, but a dreamlike and ethereal slender figure had emerged from the cave. She was an exquisite, otherworldly beauty, transcendent and detached, and her starry eyes were crystal clear.

As she approached, a rain of the light of the Grand Dao condensed into a divine ring that slowly revolved around her, reflecting countless fleeting and strange visions.

“How could it be her…?” Master God Yun He was stunned.

This mysterious woman was obviously none other than Divine Daughter Xi Ning of the Xi Family! She’d come with Divine Venerate Xi Yue when they paid their respects. How could Master God Yun He

not

have recognized her?

But Master God Yun He noticed the differences a moment later.

This “Xi Ning” had far too inscrutable and ethereal an aura, and she was incomparably terrifying. When she appeared, even he, a Master God, felt his heart quake with unease!

The Dipankara Buddha, the Angler, and the others were stunned. All of them sensed that something strange was afoot, and all of them were uncertain.

Su Yi, meanwhile, was completely stunned.

Xi Ning… is still alive!?

But before he could celebrate, Su Yi sensed that something wasn’t quite right. This Xi Ning was as ethereal as a cloud of smoke. It might have looked like she was directly in front of him, but it

felt

like she was endlessly far away!

That aside, her aura was far too terrifying, every bit as terrifying as that of the man in long robes!

This discovery left Su Yi astonished and confused, but it also filled his heart with undisguisable excitement.

No matter what, Xi Ning definitely isn’t dead. If she was, how could this have happened? Ah, I see. This must have something to do with her secrets!

The sight of Xi Ning bleeding out in his arms had practically made him lose control. His heart was full of grief and rage.

Only now did he realize that Xi Ning hadn’t actually met her end. She was surely still alive!! Of course this discovery delighted and excited Su Yi! How could he be anything but thrilled?

Xi Ning had sacrificed herself for him. Were she gone forever, Su Yi would have carried the guilt of that for the rest of his life.

Fortunately, that had not come to pass. No words were greater cause for celebration than “false alarm!”

“I wouldn’t have expected to meet someone of the same path here.” When the man in long robes saw Xi Ning, he couldn’t help but sigh. “I truly couldn’t have anticipated this development.”

Someone of the same path!

This descriptor made the Master Gods’ hearts shake. The man in long robes would only refer to someone like that if they too had begun seeking the mysteries of the River of Destiny!

Who could have imagined that Divine Daughter Xi Ning of the Xi Family would be one such existence?

It was truly far too unexpected.

“No amount of planning can account for the unpredictability of destiny. You dare not strive for supremacy in the Grand Dao, instead focusing your efforts on plotting and scheming, but attempting to seize the power of reincarnation through petty tricks is as futile as gathering water in a woven basket,” said Xi Ning. As she approached, a colorful rain of light poured down around her, making her seem holy and ethereal.

She stopped beside Su Yi, then gazed intently at her profile. Countless deep, tender sentiments seemed to churn in the depths that clear, starry gaze.

But in the end, she just said softly, “Daoist Brother, long time no see.”

Long time no see.

It was a plain, calm statement, yet somehow full of endless joy and deep feelings.

“Is Xi Ning still alive?” asked Su Yi. He could tell that this “Xi Ning” seemed to have known him a long time ago, and that they had an extraordinary bond.

But that was mere conjecture, and he wasn’t overly emotional about it. What he really cared about was whether Xi Ning was alive or dead!

The woman was stunned, and her starry eyes dimmed imperceptibly. She subtly lowered her head and said tenderly, “She’s fine.”

Su Yi instantly sighed in relief, then said excitedly, “Many thanks!”

The woman’s gaze shifted inscrutably, and she looked a bit conflicted. She shook her head. “You needn’t thank me, Daoist Brother. You’ll… soon learn who I am.”

She spoke with undisguisable melancholy. She’d waited eagerly for countless years, all to see him again. Little did she know, they’d be reunited as strangers.

It wasn’t that they didn’t recognize each other, but… that her Daoist Brother hadn’t awakened the memories of their shared past!

“Strange. If you know his past life, why don’t I recognize you?” the man in long robes asked suddenly. “There’s no mark of your Grand Dao on the River of Destiny, either.”

The woman disregarded him and gazed intently at Su Yi. “Daoist Brother, I’ll be leaving soon. Is there… anything you want to say to me before I go?”

Her eyes shone with a hint of anticipation.

After a brief daze, Su Yi asked, “Just what is the connection between you and Xi Ning?”

The woman’s eyes flashed with strange light, and she pressed her lips into a smile. “She is me, and I am her, across different incarnations. However, it’s completely different from how you entered the cycle of reincarnation to cultivate anew. As the Xi Ning you know gradually undoes the seals in her life origin, she’ll recover the complete, original me.”

Su Yi’s eyebrows rose. “Then… who are you really?”

The woman fell briefly silent. “You’ll naturally know once you awaken the memories of your past life, Daoist Brother.”

“Why feign mysteriousness? It’s just a name. What’s there to hide?” the man in long robes said with a hint of mockery.

The woman’s starry eyes silently frosted over. She turned and said, “You aren’t worthy of learning my name.”

The man in long robes laughed. “Is that so? Ah, but when geese fly overhead, they leave behind their calls, and when the wind blows, it leaves its mark. Now that you’ve shown yourself to me, I’ll naturally be able to figure out just who you are!”

Boom!

The dark power enveloping heaven and earth was thrown into upheaval, and countless markings of the natural order shot from the man in long robes, like divine imprints of darkness descending upon the woman.

The Dipankara Buddha and the others’ expressions shifted. All of them moved further away, practically simultaneously. They could in no way contend with power of this level. The aftershock alone was enough to destroy their avatars of will!

Ultimately, the reason for this was simple: the Laws of the Immortal Realm had restricted their power to the Lesser God level.

But the man in long robes was different. Even though he was just the manifestation of a soul imprint, his terrifying power was so immense that he could disregard the backlash of the natural order of the Immortal Dao!

Simply put, the Master Gods were shackled and restrained, but the man in long robes was entirely unfettered!

“Take this!” The woman raised a slender white finger and tapped the air.

Boom!

A bundle of colorful light exploded and fell like rain. Its searing radiance was like a blazing sun tearing apart the darkness, burning up the eternal night, and illuminating everything on all sides.

Off in the distance, the man in long robes let out a muffled grunt.

“You’ve… stepped into the Domain of Eternity?” The long-robed man’s expression darkened, and his clear gaze was instantly incomparably imposing, like twin endless abysses of darkness.

His brow was utterly solemn, with no trace of his former composure!

“Daoist Brother, as I said earlier, that man is putting on airs.” The woman gestured to the jade pendant in Su Yi’s hands. “Had you used that treasure earlier, you could have destroyed this soul imprint with ease.”

Su Yi’s eyebrows rose. “He tricked me?”

“That’s right.” The woman inclined her head. “Were he not afraid of it, he’d have attacked by now rather than resorted to petty tricks to deceive you. He wanted you to believe that the pendant is useless.”

Su Yi instantly understood. The long-robed man shrouded in the air of an impending threat had almost tricked him!

Su Yi wasn’t to blame for this; when Lin Jinghong gave him the pendant, she said it wasn’t good for much beyond saving his life. Su Yi had no way of knowing how extraordinary the pendant really was!

Meanwhile, the Dipankara Buddha and the others’ hearts shook. Even if you’d hit them over the head, they would never have guessed that the terrifying existence they revered had been playing petty tricks earlier!