C358 Refused

The sun rose, heralding the end of another day.

The conflict at the Forgotten Ruins had been raging for quite some time, though it felt like only moments had passed.

Within the ornate Jade Tower, Tong Laoqian appeared at ease, yet he was, in truth, quite tense.

He had spotted Bai Shang and the white-haired crone, previously elusive, now surreptitiously emerging once more.

The sword's will that had been pursuing and besieging them seemed to have been gradually neutralized by their efforts.

"What should we do now?"

Tong Laoqian spoke with a furrowed brow, casting a glance at Qi Hongyi. The woman in red, cradling her lute, remained lost in her own realm.

Her lute, her garments, and the crystalline skeletal form beneath them all served as her guardians.

Yet, her capabilities were limited to self-preservation alone.

With the return of Bai Shang and the crone, and Shen Feiqing's watchful presence, not to mention the Silvermoon Queen still in play, the odds were overwhelmingly against them.

Victory was out of the question.

"Forget it, forget it."

Tong Laoqian's spirit deflated. Without waiting for Yan Qiling to interject, he conceded, "It seems we're not destined for the Mysterious Realm. As for the Shura in the Dark Realm below, if it awakens and wreaks havoc upon this world, that's beyond our control now."

His words signaled his retreat, indicating he no longer wished to be involved.

Yan Qiling let out a derisive snort, "You, Qi Hongyi, and the Golden Fiend were all deceived by the Silvermoon Queen. Do you really think she'd let you three slip away so easily?"

"If I decide to leave, what can she possibly do to me?" Tong Laoqian retorted, eyes wide with defiance.

Just then!

The empress, hovering above the pit, began to tremble violently!

The Soul Chart she wielded emitted an eerie "huffing" noise. The vengeful spirits and residual souls within seemed to be erased as they rapidly diminished.

Wisps of gray smoke trailed from the corners of her eyes and her forehead, streaming towards the Soul Chart. As they connected, the empress convulsed dramatically.

In the next instant, blood spurted from Lee Yupan's shimmering silver eyes!

The Silvermoon Queen's real body was akin to a delicate piece of porcelain, relentlessly struck by an unseen hammer, fissures spreading and droplets of blood scattering like light!

It was difficult to fathom that a Spirit Walk realm powerhouse like her, when her Lunar Spirit was wounded, would suffer such a severe blow to her physical form.

This indicated an incredibly tight bond between her Lunar Spirit and her flesh.

Conversely, it suggested that her Lunar Spirit must be enduring a horrific injury!

"Your Majesty!"

Bai Shang and the white-haired crone cried out in unison, soaring into the sky.

The commander, perched above the purple silk, displayed a look of horror and urgently inquired, "Yupan, what's happening inside?"

Yan Qiling, who had been conversing with Tong Laoqian, abruptly departed the Jade Tower, floating solitarily overhead, peering down into the pit and employing a mystique to probe the depths.

Seconds later, Yan Qiling's face turned grave as he reported, "Within the brown eye of the Shura in the Dark Realm, and within Yu Yuan himself, there's a remnant soul swiftly reviving! Inside Yu Yuan, it's still subtle, likely just passing through. But within that eye, a soul is growing wildly."

Tong Laoqian exited the Jade Tower and flew to his side, his voice laced with urgency, "Clarify, please."

"Apart from the sword spirit and Yu Yuan's own consciousness, another vast consciousness has joined the fray!" Yan Qiling gestured downwards, "It's as if the sword spirit is using Yu Yuan's arm to manifest the sword spell. This new consciousness is actually leveraging Yu Yuan's heaven soul to materialize within the little world inside the Shura of the Dark Realm!"

He was profoundly shaken by this revelation.

As the artifact soul of the Soul Splitting Staff, forged by the master of the bronze coffin and a member of Boulderdawn, he was privy to certain secrets.

He had an inkling that the creator of the Soul Forging through Enlightenment and his own master were both luminaries of Boulderdawn.

Yet now, what astounded him was the absence of a certain desolate sentiment from Yu Yuan.

The new consciousness and the creator of the Soul Forging through Enlightenment appeared to follow divergent paths, but the emanating aura was unmistakably that of a sage from Boulderdawn.

However, it seemed to be even more ancient and distant—so ancient that it may have existed before Yan Qiling became an artifact soul or even before his birth. That time was likely the golden age of Boulderdawn, an era when Boulderdawn overshadowed the Sword Sect, Ebon Star, and Sunlit Order, commanding respect from both Shadow's Keep and Devil Palace. Could this newfound consciousness have originated from the Boulderdawn of that bygone era?

Shen Feiqing, perched atop the purple silk, glanced down at the ground with an icy gaze and demanded, "Yupan, what exactly is happening?"

Wei Feng, hanging in the air, was depleted of her vitality and teetering on the brink of death. The purple phoenix, conjured from her own blood, had inexplicably vanished, its body significantly reduced in size.

Only Shen Feiqing was privy to the secret that the gracefully soaring purple phoenix, with its pure demonic blood, had utilized a mystique known only to her and the Silvermoon Queen. Through the Soul Orb, it had flowed into the little world within the Dark Realm's Shura, entering the Lunar Spirit of the queen herself.

Lee Yupan's Lunar Spirit was able to materialize only after receiving the lifeblood of the Dark Phoenix. It was no mere illusion. Indeed, it was the Silvermoon Queen's Lunar Spirit, wielding the Soul Orb, that conjured a crescent moon within the little world of the Dark Realm. She harnessed the world's abundant spiritual energy to fill the sky with sharp lunar blades and, with mere gestures, resonated with the Great Way of Heaven.

Moreover, it was the cosmic order of that world that further suppressed Yu Yuan and the sword spirit.

Wei Feng, nearly drained of her demonic blood, lay dying within the little world inside the silk. Her blood had always been confined within the silk, the Soul Orb, and the eye-like world of the Dark Realm's Shura, never daring to fully reveal itself on the Aetherius Continent for fear of alerting the Dark Phoenix.

Now, as Wei Feng neared death, the purple phoenix—born of her blood—had lost its wings and was rapidly diminishing, on the verge of exhausting its demonic blood's power.

After expending so much effort to infuse demonic blood into Lee Yupan's Lunar Spirit, bestowing it with boundless power, and even securing the recognition of the Dark Realm's Shura, shouldn't she be invincible?

Who or what in that little world could possibly stand in her way?

Shen Feiqing was at a loss.

"Feiqing!"

The Silvermoon Queen, the guardian of the Soul Chart, let out a mournful cry. Her delicate figure took flight towards the Silvermoon Empire. "Don't ask for the reasons. We... appear to have been defeated."

Bai Shang and the white-haired crone flanked her, their faces ominously grim.

Shen Feiqing, rooted to the spot on the purple silk, was struck dumb by the queen's declaration. Her eyes brimmed with bewilderment and a deep-seated refusal to accept the truth.

As the queen retreated, leaving the Lunar Spirit behind without a second glance, Bai Shang and the crone encircled her, offering their covert protection. Yet the esteemed commander of the Sunblessed Empire refused to budge.

Her heart simply wouldn't, couldn't, concede to defeat.

"Failure is impossible! It simply cannot be!"

Shen Feiqing's slight figure stamped down hard on the purple silk.

The greatly diminished purple phoenix transformed into a burst of purple radiance, merging into her being.

She ceased channeling any demonic blood into the Soul Orb for the queen's Lunar Spirit to consume. Instead, she took on the remaining power herself.

In the world within the silk, the barely alive Wei Feng was obliterated under her foot, dissolving into a cloud of blood mist.

Wei Feng, carrying the legacy of the Dark Phoenix but not of pure evilkind lineage, was destined to be another prodigy of the Wei family within the Sunblessed Empire. Yet, her life ended there.

Her body and spirit, pulverized within the silk, coalesced into the final surge of energy that flowed into Shen Feiqing.

"Whoosh!"

The purple silk floating in the sky transformed into a vibrant purple cloak that settled around her shoulders.

She now possessed an enchanting allure. "I'm eager to see if those sword's wills have the power to slay me!"

She descended from the heavens, her sights set directly on Yu Yuan within the cavern.

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