Chapter 864 (2): Vermillion Bird Nirvana

Piaomiao quietly grasped the dagger that would have slit Sisi’s throat, tossed it in her hand, and slid it back into its sheath at Sisi’s waist, saying nothing.

The Sword Emperor sensed Piaomiao’s power at work. His face turned grim.

With her guarding the mountains and rivers, he could no longer wreak havoc outside while contending with the formation. He was pinned. Ordinarily, Piaomiao’s duty was to safeguard the realm without interfering in battles of destiny. She favored neither good nor evil, siding only with the victor. But now, Piaomiao was clearly taking Zhao Changhe’s side—protecting his women, no less. And she was a demon god capable of going toe-to-toe with the Sword Emperor all by herself. Had this battle already been lost from the start?

The Sword Emperor was not the Heavenly Dao. He was merely a nail driven in by its will. What puzzled him now was why the Heavenly Dao had yet to seize control of Piaomiao. If it could dominate Han Wubing in the Spirit Tribe’s secret realm, why not her?

Unless... Piaomiao is no longer within its grasp?

Right... She reforged her body, and even her soul merged with that mortal Cui Yuanyang.

She has broken free of the net. She has already escaped the three realms.

Distracted, the Sword Emperor could no longer endure the relentless assault of the Four Idols Formation. He finally threw back his head and let out a desperate roar, “If you don’t act now, forget drawing out Ye Wuming. Everything will fall to ruin at Zhao Changhe’s hands!”

As the Sword Emperor’s voice rang out, the Four Idols Formation suddenly unraveled.

At its core, the one anchoring its most vital link, Huangfu Qing, had gone motionless, her eyes slowly turning red.

The Vermillion Bird was a hidden pawn of the Heavenly Dao.

From the very beginning, Huangfu Qing’s cultivation had been tethered to the Heavenly Dao’s framework. Her relentless pursuit of flame, even her insights into life and death, had never truly broken free. Life and death were intrinsic to the Vermillion Bird’s path, and she had never transcended it.

Now, with Vermillion Bird under control, it coincided precisely with Han Wubing driving his sword toward Zhao Changhe.

The land shook. The dirt slipped away in a cascade, revealing the towering figure of a slumbering giant, flesh woven from rivers and mountains, eyes forged of sun and moon, breath rising and falling with the wind and clouds.

The ancient god of the land was awakening.

Vermillion Bird and White Tiger joined as the prophecy foretold.

The key to reviving the Spirit Tribe’s sacred earth had never truly escaped the Heavenly Dao’s grasp. The entire chain of fate had led to this point... As long as she arrived, the resurrection was inevitable.

White Tiger governed slaughter. Vermillion Bird governed life and death. These two alone were enough to reawaken the ancient god—everything else it already possessed, sealed away since the previous era. And yet, even now, this giant frame was merely a “corpse puppet,” incapable of merging with the divine soul still imprisoned within the Abyss of the Frost Chi.

What He truly needed was their deaths. Only the sacrifice of White Tiger and Vermillion Bird would grant it full rebirth.

Han Wubing thrust his sword toward Zhao Changhe. Would Zhao Changhe, unaware of the truth, respond by cleaving him down?

The Sword Emperor’s sword streaked through the sky like a sun-piercing ray, aiming directly at the immobile Huangfu Qing. Could the broken Four Idols Formation, lacking one of its pillars, shield her?

Lady Three, Xia Chichi, and Yue Hongling were horrified. Like madwomen, they threw themselves forward to protect Huangfu Qing. But without the intricate interlocking force of the Four Idols Formation, they were merely individuals. Against the Sword Emperor, they were powerless. They could not stop him.

At that moment, darkness fell. Though it had already been night, the stars and moon had still offered a dim light. But now, everything was swallowed whole, and not even a sliver of light remained.

A crushing, suffocating shadow descended as though the heavens themselves had sealed the world. The Sword Emperor’s sword halted.

It was a mere inch from Huangfu Qing’s heart, yet it could not move even a single hair further.

Suddenly, Ye Jiuyou’s voice echoed from within her abyss. “The lives of the Four Idols belong to Jiuyou. Do you think you’re worthy to take them?”

The Sword Emperor paused, startled.

Is Ye Jiuyou siding with Zhao Changhe after all?

But before he could dwell on it, he watched as Ye Jiuyou struck a palm against Huangfu Qing’s back with a resounding crack.

Blood sprayed from Huangfu Qing’s mouth, the glow in her eyes fading rapidly.

That blow would have killed anyone, and this generation’s Vermillion Bird was no exception. Huangfu Qing’s life force vanished. Her entire figure began to wither, collapsing into a flickering flame. The final ember of a master, flickering weakly, on the verge of dispersing on its own.

The Sword Emperor exhaled in relief. As long as she was dead, it did not matter who struck the blow. It seemed Ye Jiuyou, as always, had been unable to break her chains, falling back into her habitual patterns of vengeance.

Almost at the same moment, Zhao Changhe’s Dragon Bird howled from its scabbard and cleaved directly into Han Wubing’s chest, splitting him open from breastbone to belly.

Not even the ancient White Tiger at full power could have withstood this strike. Zhao Changhe, now at the third layer of Profound Control, unleashed a strike that harnessed the very essence of heaven and earth.

Han Wubing stood still, unmoving. He looked down at the gash in his chest, the red fading from his eyes.

As the essences of Vermillion Bird and White Tiger flowed into the earth, a sharp crack echoed across the realms. Far away, deep within the Abyss of the Frost Chi, the ancient seal shattered, unleashing a wrathful, howling remnant soul. The towering figure within the Spirit Tribe’s secret realm opened its eyes.

The Sword Emperor felt the tremor in his heart and exhaled, reassured. He glanced at the stunned Lady Three and the others, then chuckled. “Well then, I suppose their lives indeed belong to Your Highness Jiuyou. Good luck with that.”

With that, he stepped forward, ready to enter the secret realm and welcome the descent of the Heavenly Dao’s divine vessel.

But in the next instant, his expression changed.

Why... is the Four Idols Formation still intact?

That flickering remnant flame of Vermillion Bird should not be enough to sustain the formation. If she’s truly dead, how could its power persist? Unless... she never died to begin with? But if that’s the case, what was the point of that entire performance?

The moment that thought formed, the attacks came.

Lady Three, Xia Chichi, and Yue Hongling struck at once. They struck not toward Ye Jiuyou, but instead unleashed their full fury against the Sword Emperor himself. He moved to evade, but behind him, a slender hand adorned with a black jade ring appeared. It pressed gently against his back.

Bang!

A deadly silence fell across the battlefield.

The Sword Emperor lowered his gaze in disbelief, staring at the hand that had pierced clean through his heart. Then he turned his head and saw Ye Jiuyou’s beaming smile. “You said trusting them was foolish, so I find it curious what made you think you could trust me?”

The Sword Emperor: “...”

Clutching his chest, he felt no regret. Nor did he bother to lift his eyes to admire the grandeur now unfurling above. His thoughts turned elsewhere.

If Vermillion Bird’s death was a ruse, then what about Han Wubing’s?

As the thought left his mind, the flickering flame on the ground—the last vestige of Vermillion Bird—suddenly surged, taking the shape of a blazing bird. It grew rapidly, wings spreading wide.

With a clear, piercing cry, the colossal form of Vermillion Bird soared into the highest heaven. Its wings eclipsed the sky, and the firmament became a sea of flame.

“Using death to give birth to Vermillion Bird’s new life... That was the gamble we sisters planned days ago. She lacked only this one ordeal, this final transformation, to reach the third layer of the Profound Control Realm, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell her beloved husband. Poor thing, weighed down by her own secrets...” Ye Jiuyou withdrew her hand and laughed softly. “But so long as I’m the one orchestrating it, nothing can go wrong. Look at that.... Isn’t it beautiful? The extremity of death birthing life, that’s the essence of the Vermillion Bird, born of the underworld. And they say her divine role is opposed to mine? Lies. All of it.”

Vermillion Bird had been reborn in fire. Her nirvana was complete.

Huangfu Qing had set a new goalpost for all mortals of this era. Apart from the cheat known as Zhao Changhe, she had become the first mortal to break free of the Heavenly Dao’s cage and ascend to the third layer of the Profound Control Realm.

And the cost?

Well, from now on, she would have to call Ye Jiuyou “big sister.”

Jiuyou’s mind briefly wandered to the conversation from the night before.

“Have you made up your mind? Even if I act as the conduit and ensure you survive, there’s no guarantee you’ll break through. In fact, you may come out of it gravely wounded.”

“I’ve made up my mind. Whether I break through or not is secondary. I feel like the barrier holding me back is a kind of invisible confinement. Could it be the same boundary that the rest of you are seeking to defy? The Heavenly Dao’s cage?”

Ye Jiuyou’s expression grew serious. “You are a mortal of this era. How could you sense something like that?”

“Maybe my Vermillion Bird essence is too pure,” Huangfu Qing said. “I’ve been thinking... Maybe my condition is a fatal flaw. And maybe we can exploit it for our own purposes. Maybe we can use it as bait to set up a trap.”

“That’s a lot of ‘maybe.’ What if you’re wrong? You’ll suffer for nothing.”

Huangfu Qing smiled. “Even if I am, I’m willing to stake my life. I am the Vermillion Bird, whose flames burn the heavens. Never again will I look up at demon gods from below.”

Ye Jiuyou stared at her for a long time, then finally smiled. “Fine. I’ll help you... on one condition.”

“What is it?”

“From now on, call me Big Sister.”