Chapter 640 – The End of Days - Part 1

A deadly undercurrent surged up in an instant. Then just as swiftly, it settled into dust.

Like masters clashing blades, once the final move was made, the outcome would be clear. Victory or death, with nothing in between.

Ying Zhuoyao knew Li Yuan would use the Life Star Art. The moment he did, she believed her victory would be assured.

Because the final step of the Life Star Art required Li Yuan to

upload

his power to his designated star.

It was like a bank from the world Li Yuan came from before crossing over. When a person deposited a huge sum of cash, the bank had to count it. During that process, the money was essentially unusable. He couldn’t spend it, and certainly not in an emergency.

She had been preparing for this day for a long time, and brought the Celestial Sovereign with her just in case.

The Celestial Sovereign had once been a supreme figure in the Xia Dynasty, a genius who had unraveled the mysteries of Mortal World Transformation on his own. He was dazzling beyond words, a once-in-a-generation prodigy.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

With him by her side, Ying Zhuoyao's chances soared even higher.

But what she didn’t expect was that Li Yuan had already mastered a second power, the power of the New World.

It was something he had once gleaned from the Human Emperor’s golden body, but this power had long since transcended its origin. It was beyond even Polaris. It had fused with the rivers and mountains of this world, become one with them, and in doing so, had birthed a new heavenly seal.

He turned his hand, and the world flipped.

In that single moment, a game of cosmic chess that had spanned tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of years was brought to its conclusion.

Ying Zhuoyao looked at Li Yuan.

In his eyes, she saw a radiant golden light.

His pupils had turned a blinding gold.

Bathed in that golden gaze, the Celestial Sovereign was overwhelmed with agony. He could feel the last traces of strength in his body vanishing at a terrifying speed. The youthful form he had managed to maintain was rapidly aging, crumbling before his own eyes.

He twisted and writhed as if being tortured. Every inch of his body, even his soul, was racked with unbearable pain.

And yet his willpower was terrifyingly strong. Even in the midst of this suffering, in the fog of fading consciousness, he managed to cry out, “Father, it hurts! Your son is in pain! Please don’t kill your son!”

His voice was raw, pitiful, even sincere, as if trying to stir Li Yuan’s emotions, to distract him.

But Li Yuan remained silent, unmoved.

Still, the Celestial Sovereign didn’t stop. As if a sudden idea struck him, he suddenly began rolling frantically toward the edge of the cliff.

He was trying to escape Li Yuan’s attack. He didn’t understand this new power or how it worked, but one thing was clear. If he stayed put, he would die.

Li Yuan couldn’t move right now, so the Celestial Sovereign gambled everything on creating some distance. Maybe this mysterious force had a limited range. If he could get far enough away, maybe he could launch a counterattack.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

He rolled and tumbled, then shot through the air off the edge of the cliff, plummeting downward at breakneck speed.

As he fell, that suffocating, crushing pressure...was fading.

What kind of power is this? It’s like a domain...but its range is small

, the Celestial Sovereign concluded in a flash, his heart lifting with sudden hope.

This is doable. If I can just escape its reach, I can strike back with the power of the old era. The world is regressing. New can never match the old. Li Yuan has no access to the old world’s strength. Which means, in the end, he still loses!

Time stretched unbearably as the pressure around him continued to fade.

He forced his eyes open, just a sliver. But the moment he did, an unbearable itch bloomed inside his body. His flesh itched, his bones itched, everything itched.

Before he could even react, vines burst from within his body. They whipped in the wind, then with a slap like ivy latching onto a wall, they clung tight to the cliffside.

The Celestial Sovereign was slammed flat against the rock face, pinned with crushing force.

He reacted instantly, shifting his form from Ping’an to that of a child.

Immediately, the vines that had bound him so tightly slackened.

He opened his mouth and, with teeth like blades, bit through the vines tethering him to the cliff. Then he kicked off with all his remaining strength, launching himself into the air.

WHOOSH!

He broke free of the botanical prison. Though bloodied, his body riddled with vines, he managed to leap into the void.

But clinging to the sheer cliff wall was a lone ancient pine tree.

As the Celestial Sovereign fell, the tree suddenly opened its gaping maw.

He had no time to evade. The pine tree caught him mid-air and clamped down.

This tree, which had once seemed so ordinary, had become impossibly hard, like iron forged by time itself.

The Celestial Sovereign gritted his teeth, trying to summon one final burst of strength to break free from its grip. But in just those few seconds, he felt his energy drain away completely.

Above, the scorching sun continued to blaze, its cruel light burning away his remaining vitality.

His struggle weakened. Then, at last, it ceased altogether.

Atop the cliff, Li Yuan and Ying Zhuoyao listened in silence as the chaos below gradually subsided.

Ying Zhuoyao suddenly spun her staff and lunged, aiming it straight at Li Yuan’s heart.

He looked up at her. His eyes blazed gold.

A jolt of pain shot through her arm, and her staff dropped from her grasp.

In the next instant, vines sprouted from her limbs, pinning her in place before him.

The sun above blazed mercilessly, casting down light so intense it could scorch away life itself.

Ying Zhuoyao’s true body was never particularly strong. Under that withering light, her strength vanished in the blink of an eye.

The golden light in Li Yuan’s pupils dimmed at last.

But the vines kept growing.

Twilight had come. And once dusk fell, there was no turning it back.

“This power can’t be reversed,” Li Yuan said quietly. “And I can’t stop it either. Your final strike meant nothing.”

There was no pride in his voice. No triumph. No satisfaction at having won.

Only exhaustion.

Ying Zhuoyao lay on the ground, her once green robes soaked through with blood.

She didn’t look at Li Yuan. Just stared skyward, as the last glimmer of light faded from her eyes.

She had fought through too many battles. By the time the final confrontation arrived, all she had left was a sliver of her peak strength. How could she possibly win like that?

“Southern Dipper, Polaris, Valley Obscura...they’ve all gone. Now it’s my turn.” She smiled. Not in defeat, not in bitterness, but with a strange, almost serene relief.

“Come here. Take my lifespan. Stay alive,” Li Yuan said suddenly. If he had been powerless, she might’ve consumed him completely. But now, he held absolute control over life and death. And in that moment, he chose to spare her, this enemy, this rival... He actually wanted her to live.

Ying Zhuoyao was visibly stunned. But she didn’t move. Instead, she said, “That lifespan absorption ability? I lied. It wasn’t a gift, I made it up. It was just a part of my own power. After the Great Upheaval of Heaven and Earth, I couldn’t advance any further. That power vanished along with everything else. Unless...you drop all your defenses and let me take everything you have, your essence, your soul, I won’t survive.”

Li Yuan replied, “At least for now, you can still draw from my life force. We can still talk. Who knows...maybe there’s another way.”

“...” Ying Zhuoyao gazed up at the sky.

The sunlight was brilliant.

“It’s too late.” She didn’t move, simply turning her head to look at Li Yuan. A mocking smile touched her lips. “Are you afraid of being alone?”

Li Yuan said nothing. But his silence said enough.