A surge of divine power exploded through the air.
Xie Buyu looked up and saw Old Dog Gou Langtu standing before her, bone blade in hand.
His speed was like lightning.
Had this been earlier, Xie Buyu could easily have evaded with her Ancient God Realm cultivation. But after two bouts with Du Yu, her injuries prevented her qi from flowing properly.
There was almost no chance to dodge this strike.
Xie Buyu closed her eyes slowly.
Perhaps death wasn’t so unbearable.
To die alongside Ye Yu in the same place... it wouldn’t be a bad ending.
If there is a next life, we’ll speak of eternal love then.
Several breaths passed, and the imagined pain never came.
Xie Buyu opened her eyes to find that Old Dog Gou Langtu had not slain her but had instead driven his bone blade into the ground. He looked around in terror, as if he had witnessed something unspeakably horrifying.
Curious, Xie Buyu scanned her surroundings but saw nothing. She furrowed her brow and asked, “Why didn’t you strike?”
“Strike? What strike? You wanted to kill me? No—no, please don’t kill me!” Old Dog Gou Langtu’s face shifted through a thousand expressions before he dropped to his knees and begged for mercy on the spot.
Xie Buyu’s frown deepened. What was he playing at? Had he gone mad?
Pa! Old Dog Gou Langtu suddenly pressed his palms together and produced the Xuanba Sky-Devouring Axe, placing it before Xie Buyu.
“This belongs to its rightful owner,” he stammered. “I have more treasures—I can give them all to you—just please spare my life and let Ye Yu live!”
“I was so wrong... I truly was,” he babbled. “And you... you are blessed. To be with someone of Ye Yu’s caliber, a Divine Lord—how fortunate you are!”
Xie Buyu took the Xuanba Sky-Devouring Axe in hand. A familiar divine power surged through her, untangling the chaos in her qi.
At that moment she knew for certain: Old Dog Gou Langtu had truly lost his mind. Otherwise he would never have passed up the chance to kill her, nor handed over the axe. What had he seen? Why did he call Ye Yu a Divine Lord?
Without hesitation, Xie Buyu swung the Xuanba Sky-Devouring Axe in a single, decisive arc. Gou Langtu was cleaved through, his soul preserved, and she immediately employed the Soul Search Technique to pull forth his memories.
In moments, she’d absorbed them all.
It turned out Old Dog Gou Langtu had been driven insane by fear of Ye Yu. The might Ye Yu displayed was so terrifying that Gou Langtu’s will broke utterly under pressure, and he had fainted instead of watching Ye Yu’s fall.
He’d never actually seen Ye Yu perish.
Xie Buyu’s brow tightened. Something was wrong. Had Ye Yu truly died? According to Gou Langtu’s memories, Ye Yu should have been invincible. Why then had Hanyue Xi told her that Ye Yu had fallen?
Could Hanyue Xi have lied—hoping to monopolize Ye Yu by deceiving Xie Buyu? The thought lit Xie Buyu’s eyes. Even if it felt like a slender hope, it was her last straw—and she refused to let it slip away.
She raced off toward the direction Hanyue Xi had departed.
No. I must find her and get the truth. Maybe she’s deceiving me.
Xie Buyu’s form streaked through the sky like a brilliant flash of light.
Days later, Xie Buyu still had not found Hanyue Xi, but she encountered Zhu Xincheng instead. The latter’s face was deathly pale and clearly still nursing grave wounds.
Zhu Xincheng asked cautiously, “Are you alone?”
Xie Buyu smiled. “I am now, but not for long. A woman told me Ye Yu was dead, but I believe she only said that to drive me away and claim Ye Yu for herself. I won’t fall for it.”
Xie Buyu produced a sketch of Hanyue Xi. “Here—if you or your divine alliance see her, let me know.”
Zhu Xincheng nodded earnestly, though her eyes shone with a strange emotion. After Xie Buyu departed, she clenched her fists.
The Divine Race truly has its true-hearted ones—not everyone is as cold as that old bastard or Hanyue Xi. Ye Yu... I hope you’re alive.
She gazed skyward and sighed.
That day, while leading the deities of Drunken Heart Valley toward the Divine Ore Fields, they were ambushed by the ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Jiuyue Pavilion’s Divine Race. Zhu Xincheng survived by sheer luck and only regained consciousness on the third day.
Upon returning to the Scorching Sun Gate, from the divine alliance’s reports she learned that Ye Yu had stayed behind alone, blocking two Jiuyue Pavilion elders and over a hundred Divine Race cultivators so that everyone else escaped. There was no further sign of Ye Yu the next day. Investigators went to the site but found nothing but deep chasms.
It seemed likely Ye Yu was no longer there. Zhu Xincheng had already feared this—she had tried contacting Ye Yu after waking but had received no response. That, she thought, was the best proof.
Zhu Xincheng regretted that, if she had known, she would have offered the Divine Ore outright—perhaps Ye Yu would still be alive. But it was too late for regrets.
Eight hundred years passed.
Xie Buyu finally found Hanyue Xi—only to learn that Hanyue Xi had since perished. Her burial site was in Hanyue Xi’s Divine City.
Xie Buyu felt a profound sadness. There were so many questions she wished to ask—but Hanyue Xi was gone. In these circumstances, how could she find Ye Yu?
Standing before Hanyue Xi’s tomb, Xie Buyu allowed herself a bitter, self-deprecating laugh.
