Chapter 777: Lou Yujing's Death

Then, Lou'er would frequently conspire with Saint Chi Hai, while the latter arranged for the Tu clan to assist him.

Tu Jiuniang of the Tu clan particularly admired Lou'er.

The kingdom of Hongyue soon became the empire of Hongyue, and hence the divine empire of Hongyue.

At the same time, Lou'er began to incite conflict between various branches of the sect. Despite the fact that the sect guardians continued to pacify the various branches, it was useless. Lou'er's position continued to rise as his incitement proved decisive.

A schism developed within the Taiqing Immortal Sect as the various branches of the sect tore into each other.

Only when a significant portion of the sect had perished from these bitter struggles did the upper echelons of the Taiqing Immortal Sect suddenly realize that something was amiss. They prepared to reunite the sect—but at that point, the divine empire of Hongyue rebelled.

Lou'er led a huge army to wipe out the strongest cultivators of the Taiqing Immortal Sect, leaving only a few weak disciples to be rescued by the Yuqing holy land.

That day, blood flooded out of Taixu and dyed the blue skies red. Lou Yujing became the nightmare of the sect.

That day, Lou Yujing and Saint Chi Hai celebrated over fine liquor. Saint Chi Hai praised Lou Yujing effusively; Lou Yujing drank quite a bit and smiled happily.

After sending Saint Chi Hai away, Lou'er was alone once more. He raised a cup to the moon as a tear dripped down his face. He said nothing, but he smiled at the sky and downed the cup of alcohol in one long gulp. Another cup of alcohol sat on the stone table to his side, which he didn't touch and didn't allow anyone else to touch.

"It's time to awaken. I'm still fighting Xiao Nanfeng," Lou'er murmured to himself. His body trembled.

He knew that he was in a dream from the start—or rather, among his most deeply treasured memories. Even so, the chance to see his master again was something he would never give up. He remained within the dream realm like a moth attracted to flame.

Now, however, he took a deep breath and shattered the void around him, destroying his reality and causing it to break apart in shards of glass.

The next moment, however, he found himself back in the Taiqing Immortal Sect, at the moment when he had attacked it. Corpses were scattered all over the land, and the blood pooled until it could form a viscous, cloying river.

"A dream within a dream?" Lou Yujing frowned.

"Lou Yujing, why did you become a traitor to the sect? Why kill us?!"

"Lou Yujing, I hold you accountable for my death!"

"Lou Yujing, return my life to me!"

Countless corpses who had collapsed within pools of blood suddenly seemed to come back to life. They shrieked and shouted as they stood up and demanded restitution from Lou Yujing.

Lou Yujing frowned, ignoring their demands. He didn't care for them at all. The next moment, however, he could hear a crisp feminine voice.

"Lou'er, what have you done?!"

The woman's voice quavered, causing even the aloof Lou Yujing to suddenly whirl around. He found his master dressed in understated beauty.

Had his master been revived?

Her face was full of tears. When she looked at Lou Yujing, she did so with disappointment and fear.

"M-Master?" Lou Yujing blanched.

The woman's cries gradually grew louder and louder. "Why did you kill my father? Why did you kill my senior brothers and sisters? What do you want from me?!"

Lou Yujing's face turned pale. "I..."

Though he might be aloof to others, he always, always wanted to please his master.

"Wench, look at what you've done! Your disciple has killed us all!" one of the dead howled.

"My daughter, why did you end up accepting someone like him as your disciple?" the woman's father asked in disappointment.

"Junior Sister, your disciple killed me. Junior Sister, it's all your fault!"

"I won't recognize you as my junior sister. Your disciple betrayed the Taiqing Immortal Sect and ruined us all. You'll be an enemy of the sect forevermore!"

Countless corpses began to criticize the woman, insulting and blaming her for all that had been done to them.

"Lou'er wasn't like this in the past. It's all my fault," the young woman sobbed. She knelt down and began to beg for mercy, but none of the corpses were willing to forgive her.

"You killed us all. We'll kill you, too!"

"I'm going to eat your flesh and drink your blood. I'll take your life just as you've taken mine!"

"Junior Sister, return my life to me!"

"Devour her!"

The corpses, seemingly knowing that Lou Yujing didn't care about their insults, focused all their attention on his master. Flesh was torn from her prone body in a gruesome sight.

"Scram! I'm the one who killed you. How dare you blame her?!" Lou Yujing suddenly shouted. He rushed over intending to save his master, but he wasn't able to do so at all. The corpses continued to torture her.

"No, no. This is fake! Shatter!" Lou Yujing howled in fear.

This time, however, the dream realm didn't shatter.

Lou Yujing watched as his master was tortured cruelly: maligned, criticized, then beaten. Even so, she continued to protect Lou Yujing, though she looked at him with disappointment and sadness. Lou Yujing's heart felt as if it were being torn apart.

"Torture me if you must. Don't torture my master!" Lou Yujing bellowed.

Unfortunately for him, the dream realm wasn't under his control. His master continued to protect him, though her disappointed gaze caused his emotions to plummet, for despair to overwhelm him.

Standing outside the dream realm, Xiao Nanfeng witnessed everything that had happened. His scalp prickled.

"Is this what it means to attack the heart?" Xiao Nanfeng shuddered.

Yu Fuli had told him about the potency of attacking one's heart and how it was even more frightening and dangerous than mastery over natural or heavenly law. It was only now, upon seeing what was befalling Lou Yujing, that he truly understood the power of the heart.

The Taiqing Grandmaster's energy had shattered Lou Yujing's defenses and penetrated him to the core. This sort of attack was frightening to the extreme. Everyone would be stricken by despair and unable to defend themselves from the attack.

Lou Yujing couldn't deal with what he was facing; could Xiao Nanfeng?

Xiao Nanfeng watched on as Lou Yujing was subdued by despair, by self-criticism, by sorrow. In the end, he descended into the abyss. After an indeterminate amount of time, a flash of red light cut Lou Yujing's body like a sword.

Lou Yujing didn't defend, and neither did he resist. He allowed the strike to land as if he were seeking death.

Lou Yujing's body shattered before his eyes as the dream realm shattered. Shockingly, what appeared on Lou Yujing's face moments before the attack landed was relief.

With the dream realm shattered, both cultivators awakened and returned to reality.

The Taiqing Grandmaster's eidolon and Lou Yujing were repelled from each other. Neither seemed inclined to fight.

Lou Yujing's body began to crack, as if the wounds he had incurred in the dream realm were replicated in reality.

He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood as he collapsed. The pillar of vitality behind him shuddered and shook as if it too would crack at any moment.

Lou Yujing awoke and eyed the Taiqing Grandmaster's giant eidolon. He smiled bitterly. "You've won, Xiao Nanfeng."

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. "Lou Yujing, the one who beat you was Lou'er, not me."

He could tell that Lou Yujing was in dire straits. Not only had he incurred wounds to his physical body, but also his soul. His soul had shattered—was he going to die?

"Lou'er died that year. I cared not at all for anyone else in the Taiqing Immortal Sect, but my master did. She gave her life for the sect, but I destroyed it all. Ha, ha, haha! What a fool I've been!" Lou Yujing looked up at the heavens and began to laugh piteously.

"Haven't you recovered from the dream?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

He continued to examine Lou Yujing. He knew how frightening the visions of the heart could be, but didn't realize that their influence would pervade Xiao Nanfeng to such an extent.

"So what if I have, and so what if I haven't? Do you remember what I told you, Xiao Nanfeng? We're the only two cultivators of any value in the world. Everyone else is chaff."

"How arrogant you are."

"I simply speak the truth that I see. Mark my words. We're very similar. We both came from the Taiqing Immortal Sect. But you've been lucky, and your choices have been antipodal to mine. You can head all the way to the peak."

Xiao Nanfeng fell silent, not understanding the point of Lou Yujing's final proclamation.

Suddenly, Lou Yujing rushed toward Xiao Nanfeng. "Of the legends under heaven, there are only two: you and me."

With the last of his energy, Lou Yujing threw a punch at Xiao Nanfeng. He invoked heavenly law, causing the attack to grow stronger and stronger.

"Perhaps so," Xiao Nanfeng said coldly.

The Taiqing Grandmaster's eidolon punched Lou Yujing.

The two cultivators' fists clashed in the void in an earth-shattering explosion.

Lou Yujing's physical body, strained to the utmost, cracked and scattered.

Even so, he was calm. His face harbored no fear, no pain, no desperation; only calmness, absolution, and peace.

"Thank you, Xiao Nanfeng." Lou Yujing suddenly smiled.

"For what?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned.

"For avenging the Taiqing Immortal Sect. For all that you've done."

Then, his physical body scattered in a cloud of dust. The pillar of red light vanished, as did the waning moon in the air—or it was about to, before a strange, mysterious charm appeared within the waning moon, vibrating as if it were attempting to flee.

"The charm of heavenly law?" the Divine Emperor exclaimed in excitement.

Her bell shot into the air as she attempted to trap the charm within it.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't bother looking at the commotion in the heavens; he turned to Lou Yujing, who remained before him. His physical body had scattered, leaving only his cracked soul, which was poised to dissipate as well. There would be no saving him now.

"I have one final request. Can you allow me to return to Hongyue's capital once more?"

Xiao Nanfeng considered it before nodding. "Very well."

Just then, an ice-cold voice could be heard from high above. "You dare steal my Loss Diagram? How dare you!"