When Nángōng Jǐngtáng opened her eyes again, she was astonished to find herself once more in a vast chaos.
This environment was not unfamiliar to her. She had lingered here for three hundred thousand years before.
Indeed, her state was identical to before her resurrection and rebirth. How could this be? Hadn’t she already died? Why had she returned to this place?
And after Ye Yu used the Futian Rebirth Drum (扶天转生鼓, a sacred artifact for resurrection) to revive her the first time, that holy relic of the Peacock Clan had vanished completely—and had never been recovered even by the time of her fall. So how had she, upon death, ended up back here again?
Could it be that the drum’s power had acted once more to grant her another chance at life? No—something felt off. Before her death she had reached half-step Demon Emperor status; now she found herself regressed to the peak of the Demon King Realm. More tellingly, even her soul sensed one unmistakable presence beneath the surface: the aura of the human-faced spider, Shàng Jǐnléng.
Time had apparently reversed, and she had been reborn!
Overwhelmed with joy, Nángōng Jǐngtáng realized that in this cycle Ye Yu must not yet have fallen. As long as she prevented him from opening that fateful manual named Di (“Emperor”), the tragedy could be averted—and they could remain together forever.
Tears of joy sprang to her eyes. She thought that all she needed to do was wait here for Ye Yu’s arrival.
But as moments ticked by, doubt crept in. Judging by Shàng Jǐnléng’s violent aura below, she should have already emerged by now. Why had Ye Yu not appeared? Had something gone wrong?
Just then, a muffled drumbeat echoed through the chaos. A mysterious force poured into her body—the Futian Rebirth Drum had been struck again. Ye Yu was coming! He truly was the Destiny Great Demon!
Soon, eighty-one drumbeats completed, and Nángōng Jǐngtáng was granted rebirth. When she descended upon Luanyao City, she immediately spotted an unexpected figure.
Yuè Wǎnqiū? How could it be her? Yuè Wǎnqiū held the drum’s mallet in her hand. This made no sense!
Hadn’t only the Destiny Great Demon been able to strike the Futian Rebirth Drum to revive her? Now the Destiny Great Demon was not Ye Yu but Yuè Wǎnqiū?
At that moment, the various demon kings of Luanyao City and the city lord, Yè Jízuì, sensed Nángōng Jǐngtáng’s arrival and hurried to kneel and pay homage. The scene was exactly as she remembered—except for one thing: Ye Yu was nowhere to be seen.
Nángōng Jǐngtáng approached Yuè Wǎnqiū, puzzled. “Why is it you?” she asked.
The drumlight dispersed into starlike motes, but Yuè Wǎnqiū paid it no mind. Her expression was grave. “Something terrible has happened. Ye Yu is gone.”
Nángōng Jǐngtáng’s face drained of color. “What do you mean?”
Yuè Wǎnqiū then recounted her own ordeal. In the previous cycle, she had luckily advanced to Demon Emperor when, suddenly, she had felt a mysterious summons from above the Ninefold Heavens—surely a call from the Divine Realm. Overjoyed, she had prepared to ascend, only to be ambushed by Qín Zhànyù, Lord of the Sacred Sanctum, and had fallen with hatred in her heart.
She had thought it was all over—but then she, too, had been reborn, and time had reversed. Her Demon Emperor cultivation was gone, replaced by the Demon King Realm’s peak. Yet she did not mind, for the reversal meant Ye Yu would reappear—he had not died, after all. She had even briefly contemplated intercepting him before Nángōng Jǐngtáng could.
To her shock, however, Ye Yu seemed to have vanished entirely from this world. No one retained any memory of him. Convinced her recollections were not dreams, Yuè Wǎnqiū had hurried to Nángōng Jǐngtáng—only to find her not yet revived. So she had struck the Futian Rebirth Drum herself, leading to this moment.
After their exchange, both women’s faces had turned deathly pale. Why had Ye Yu disappeared from the Demon Realm? Had their memories all been wrong? Or had some profound change occurred in the realm itself?
...
In the Divine Realm, Ye Yu offered Dongkui an embarrassed smile. Since the use of the Zhǐchǐ Tiānyá Fāngfú , being instantly transported to someone’s side had become commonplace—and this time he had materialized directly atop her. It was somewhat awkward.
Glancing around, he straightened his posture. “Don’t look at me like that. This is your room. You were the one who wanted me here, so if there’s a problem, it’s with you—I was compelled!”
His defiance left Dongkui speechless. Ye Yu’s logic was flawless: the Zhǐchǐ Tiānyá Fāngfú only summoned him when she wished it.
Fuming, Dongkui glowered at him. Ye Yu noticed two new items in his hands: a book and a jade pendant—the Justice Textbook and the Tianniu Heart-Protection Jade. The jade was a memento from Niuerhua; he would keep it for now. The textbook, filled with declarations of righteousness for young demon clans, had unexpectedly accompanied him.
Since it had come, he might as well use it. He tossed the Justice Textbook to Dongkui. “Here—stop glaring and read. Wouldn’t you rather be an aspiring ghost with ideals than just pining for me all day?”
With that, Ye Yu strode out /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ of the room, triumphant. Dongkui trembled with rage as she read the textbook’s righteous slogans—so furious she nearly shook off her exhaustion. Her resentment swelled, and a thick layer of dark clouds gathered above Wuwei Tower, clashing with the once-tranquil Divine Realm sky.
