Chapter 45.1 In The End

At this moment, Ming Ye couldn’t understand Sang Jiu’s hatred at all.

His shoulder was pierced by the dagger, but his heart of Dao was so sturdy that it couldn’t cause him much pain. The body of an immortal was so powerful that in a blink of an eye, the mark caused by the dagger was erased with the wave of his hand.

Looking at the Clam Princess’s demonic pupils, he was silent for a long time, then said, “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

He extended his finger and pointed at the arch between her eyebrows.

Clam Princess’s hazy eyes gradually turned clear. He originally thought her emotions would calm down, but the moment she looked at him, her eyes seethed with an even deep-rooted hatred.

She slapped his hand away, her voice was soft and cold, “It’s you.”

The high and mighty Immortal Lord Ming Ye was somewhat at a loss. His fingers trembled and, like he used to educate the younger generation of immortals in the past, he said, “Even if demonic pupils appear, it isn’t irreversible. As long as your heart of Dao is sturdy enough, you can still walk on the right Path.”

At his words, as if she had heard some kind of joke, the Clam Princess loudly laughed.

“Heart of Dao? Heart of Dao! How dare you talk to me about the heart of Dao!” She pushed him away, tears welling up in her eyes as she laughed, “A hundred years ago, my heart of Dao was you, but you didn’t love me and thought of me as lowly. Later, I gave up on you and my heart of Dao was the future of the Clam Clan, but the Clam Clan is gone and my Royal Father is dead.”

She chuckled and said, “I’ve been called a demon sprite by the immortals of Shangqing for a hundred years, and now that I’ve finally fallen into the path of the devil, how dare you talk about the heart of Dao to me!”

Ming Ye’s face paled. His lips moved but he couldn’t say a word.

After the Clam Princess finished laughing, she coldly looked at him and a red devil mark appeared on her forehead.

Su Su turned around and was about to go further inside the secret realm, but she was pulled back by Ming Ye.

The Immortal Lord’s tone was cold, “Who do you want to save?”

Su Su looked back and laughed, “My brother, Sang You. Immortal Lord, it has been a hundred years, I’m afraid you never knew I had a brother, right?”

Ming Ye didn’t say anything. Actually, he knew.

During those few years he’d spent with the little clam sprite, he’d begun to try to slowly get to know her. The little clam sprite loved to laugh and cry, and was bold and daring, but was careful and cautious in front of him, like a child.

She had a sweet tooth, loved to soak in streams, and was so popular that even the butterfly and flower demons liked her.

He knew all these little details about her. Even if he didn’t think too highly of the Clam Clan, later, he still tried to understand them. But under the Devil Execution Order, the Clam Clan was gone.

Ming Ye lowered his eyes and said, “I’ll go in.”

He looked neither happy nor sad. He went in front of the Clam Princess and walked into the secret realm one step ahead of her.

When Su Su still tried to enter, she realised that she was trapped by a barrier.

After who knows how long, Ming Ye came out bringing a bruised and battered river clam.

“Brother!” Su Su carefully caught Sang You, who had transformed into his original form. He was so badly injured that his entire cultivation had almost dissipated.

She hurriedly brought Sang You away without even sparing a glance at Ming Ye who was behind her.

Blood flowed from the corner of Ming Ye’s mouth and all the white divine marks between the arch of his eyebrows turned black.

He watched as she took Sang You further and further away. He followed a few steps and collapsed in the secret realm. Half of Ming Ye’s primordial spirit ¹ 元神 (yuánshén) – A concept in Taoism. It is defined to be a level of existence surpassing that of physical existence, capable of existing independently in the form of a soul. It is viewed to be the center and essence of a human’s existence. Primordial spirits are also referred in other novels as essence souls, immortal souls, or nascent divinities, usually belonging to a higher tier compared to a nascent soul. (Source: Library of Heaven’s Path Wiki) remained in the secret realm forever.

Ming Ye collapsed at the exit of the secret realm, remembering that a long time ago, Sang Jiu only had eyes for him.

He would come back wounded and no one would know. But the next day, there would always be a soul-calming elixir by the window. Naturally, he looked down on those things and coldly instructed the female immortals to take them away and throw them out.

But this time, the Clam Princess never looked back.

*****

In the twelfth month, Ming Ye heard that a she-devil had appeared in the mortal realm.

She killed people, demons, and even a few of Shangqing’s immortals to cultivate, devouring their souls alive.

Devil cultivation didn’t require spiritual marrow and the she-devil’s cultivation rapidly grew. After she’d crushed the souls of Shangqing’s female immortals, Tian Huan could no longer sit still.

She came to the mountain dwelling and begged, “Ming Ye, everyone saw that the devil cultivator was Sang Jiu. You said that you would always guard Shangqing.”

Ming Ye opened his eyes.

He walked out of the mountain dwelling and followed her Qi to find her.

Ming Ye saw Sang Jiu killing people with his own eyes. With her ink-coloured hair flying, her demon pupils filled with satisfaction. Seeing him coming, she knew that she was no match for him and wanted to leave with annoyance.

Ming Ye closed his eyes and said, “You’ve killed two hundred and thirty-four people.”

Su Su asked sarcastically, “Now can the Immortal Lord still cleanse me of my sins and let me return to the right path?” The Great War of Gods and Devils was over, but now, she had become a she-devil whose mind was dominated by killing.

Ming Ye remained silent.

A trident appeared in his hand, and as the Clam Princess was trapped in the immortal weapon, Ming Ye said, “I’ll imprison you in the Forsaken ² 忘 (wàng) – forget; 尘 (chén) – dust/dirt; this world(mortal/secular world) Mountain.”

After pausing for a while, he said, “I’ll watch over you myself.”

Whether a hundred years, a thousand years, or ten thousand years.

At his words, she violently struggled in the immortal weapon, trying to destroy it even if it meant her death.

Ming Ye’s hand trembled, almost subconsciously activating the immortal weapon.

She fled without a trace.

He stood under the moon for a long time, and for the first time, he realised that there was no going back. Such as she was, so had he become.

After that, the she-devil grew more and more rampant. She searched around for broken divine weapons and eventually, it was said that she used the green World Toppling Flower.

Besides that, she had also found the Flaming Sun Cauldron. Everyone knew that sooner or later, the she-devil Sang Jiu would die under the heavenly thunderbolt, but she didn’t care as she had long gone mad.

The only god left was Ji Ze who was guarding the Abyss of Desolation. No one could control her, and the person closest to godhood was Ming Ye.

But he’d gone into seclusion, and was indifferent ³ 不闻不问 (bùwén-bùwèn) – not to hear, not to question (idiom); to show no interest in something .

A rumor started in the outside world, saying that Sang Jiu used to be Ming Ye’s wife. The former True Lord, Ming Ye, gradually gained notoriety too.

In the fiftieth year, the thunderbolt tribulation still hadn’t killed the she-devil.

Covered in blood, she ran to Shangqing and killed Saint Tian Huan and Venerable Tian Hao.

The Clam Princess used the Flaming Sun Cauldron right in the air and burned Tian Huan for forty-nine days.

On her last day alive, everyone watched as Tian Huan first angrily scolded and rebuked, then cried and begged for mercy, and finally little by little, burned into ashes. Holding the Flaming Sun Cauldron, Sang Jiu walked through Shangqing, and Shangqing became barren ⁴ 寸草不生 (cùncǎobùshēng) – lit. not even a blade of grass grows (idiom) .

The immortals fled, and since then, the Shangqing Immortal Realm was no more.

The wolf demon, Shao Ju, looked at her pityingly from the top of the hill as she carried on, her eyes filled with the pleasure of killing.

Step by step, she walked until she reached the outside of True Lord Ming Ye’s mountain dwelling.

Shao Ju chased after her, “Sang Jiu, stop, you aren’t such a person. If you go on like this, you’ll be struck by the heavenly thunderbolt, and never be able to reincarnate. You won’t have a next life.”

Sang Jiu waved him away. Her devil mark looked strange, as if she might lose control of herself and kill Shao Ju.

Thunder suddenly rolled in the sky above.

Edited by: Gaze