Chapter 356: If I Were Here

Inside the small world, Ji Xi lay on the grass, leisurely enjoying the breeze.

She pillowed her hands behind her head, her beautiful eyes half-closed, her long hair spread across the green grass.

Her green robe loosely wrapped around her tall, voluptuous figure.

Sunlight streamed through gaps in the clouds, falling on her face, softening her stunning features.

Five dragons roamed the sky.

Black, white, red, yellow, and blue, they stretched their draconic bodies, weaving through the clouds. Their scales glistened with various hues under the sun.

A small fawn hopped over to Ji Xi’s side.

The deer was pure white, its antlers still tender, just budding into two small points.

It tilted its head, blinking its wet black eyes, curiously staring at Ji Xi.

Ever since the Five Elements became complete, small animals had appeared in this world.

Jiang Huai also found it strange, but upon careful thought—with the Five Elements complete and Yin-Yang in balance, living beings would naturally be conceived between heaven and earth.

However, Ji Xi told him that the inner world of a Yin-Yang Body would not give birth to beings like humans.

Ji Xi lazily raised a hand, casually patted the fawn’s head, and stretched her arms upward, arching her back.

Her tall, full figure traced an enticing curve beneath the green robe.

Broad shoulders, narrow waist, full chest, and a slender yet powerful waist.

She yawned, a hint of tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

“Senior, is this helping your soul recover?” Jiang Huai’s voice came from the sky.

Ji Xi smiled and shook her head. “No.”

Jiang Huai was silent for a moment.

He looked at Ji Xi’s leisurely demeanor.

The inner world was clearly nourishing her soul, yet she claimed it wasn’t.

“Then Senior, why aren’t you worried at all?” Jiang Huai asked helplessly.

Ji Xi said calmly, “Actually, I’ve grown indifferent to life and death.”

“After all, I’ve already died once. Especially knowing you exist, the guilt in my heart has lessened a lot, and I can leave in peace.”

“Being able to see this scene before I leave is also fulfilling a lifelong wish.” She gently picked up a rabbit that had somehow appeared beside her, holding it in her arms.

The rabbit was entirely gray, ears erect, nestled motionless in her embrace.

Jiang Huai sighed.

He really hadn’t expected Ji Xi to be so nonchalant about life and death.

But he couldn’t be. Ji Xi had shown him kindness, helping him through several crises.

If possible, he still wanted to restore her remnant soul.

“Senior, you told me before that the life of a Yin-Yang Body is linked to its inner world.”

“If the world inside your body could be revived, shouldn’t your remnant soul also recover?”

The atmosphere fell silent.

Ji Xi said nothing. Her gaze toward the sky was rather strange, carrying a trace of charm.

Jiang Huai suspected he was seeing things—how could he see charm in the eyes of such a world-saving hero?

“What’s the matter, Senior?” Jiang Huai asked again.

Ji Xi pillowed her hands behind her head, her chest rising and falling slightly under the green robe.

She stretched her waist, crossed her long legs, let out a light laugh, and said with a teasing tone:

“Do you know how to revive my inner world? And by what method?”

Jiang Huai shook his head frankly. “I don’t know. Please enlighten me, Senior.”

It seemed there had never been a case of one Yin-Yang Body reviving another’s remains.

Ji Xi was silent.

She thought for a while, then said with a smile:

“Let’s not rush this. Once you’ve completely eliminated the Extraterrestrial Demons, I’ll tell you.”

“If you haven’t eliminated the Extraterrestrial Demons, saying this is just adding to the delusion. Go back and cultivate well. I’ll stay here for a while.” She pillowed her hands behind her head, squinting slightly as sunlight fell on her face, softening her features, full of contentment.

Jiang Huai had no choice but to agree. His voice faded between heaven and earth.

He slowly opened his eyes and resumed cultivation, seeking only to reach the Great Ascension Stage quickly.

Time flew like a shuttle, a white colt passing through a crack.

A gray light swept over.

Before a group of cultivators could react, their bodies began to stiffen, blacken, and shrink.

Amid screams, they turned into lumps of black charred matter, and from that charred matter, new Heavenly Demons crawled out.

White Dew stood at the entrance of the White Dragon Secret Realm, her gaze icy as she watched the scene before her.

She gripped her longsword tightly.

Her white dress was stained with black blood, her hair disheveled, and her face bore several fresh wounds. Her blue dragon eyes showed no sign of retreat.

“White Dew, you really are formidable.” A voice came from the shadows, deep and distant, tinged with recognition.

“If we let you and that Red Dragon take turns substituting, you might have actually let the Yin-Yang Body break through to the Great Ascension Stage.”

“I imagine that in the Apocalyptic Era, being able to persist to this point is probably a unique case.”

The entrance of the White Dragon Secret Realm was blocked by a large mass of shadows.

That shadow was thick as ink, as if thousands of Extraterrestrial Demons had gathered, slowly condensing.

They writhed, contracted, and merged, growing smaller and denser.

Finally, from that mass of shadows emerged three figures.

They had no features—identical silhouettes.

Completely pitch-black, only humanoid outlines.

No facial features discernible, no clothes visible—just a mass of dense darkness solidified into human forms.

Ji, Jue, Wu.

They had come to extinguish this world.

They didn’t need appearances or bodies—such things were irrelevant to Extraterrestrial Demons.

White Dew felt the aura of these three Extraterrestrial Demons.

Her breath caught, and despair surged in her heart.

These three auras were far more powerful than hers and Red Rainbow’s combined.

They stood there, doing nothing, yet the surrounding spiritual energy seemed to dissipate.

White Dew’s hand gripping the sword trembled slightly—not from fear, as she would never fear Extraterrestrial Demons—but because her spiritual energy was being suppressed by those three auras, making circulation difficult.

“Mother…” Jianjia stood behind White Dew, calling out softly.

She was no longer the little dragon form from before.

Jianjia wore a small white dress, her hair tied into two small buns, revealing a pair of tiny white dragon horns. Her blue eyes were like her mother’s—clear and bright.

By then, the Five Dragon Mark on her body had been perfected with the help of her various godmothers, allowing her to continue cultivation.

However, her cultivation speed was far slower than Jiang Huai’s, and her realm was still low. Facing these three Heavenly King-level demons, even breathing was difficult.

“Why are you here? Go back!” White Dew turned her head and scolded sharply.

She looked at the White Dragon Saintess, White Sandalwood, and instructed:

“If anything goes wrong, take her to the Jade Ai Realm!”

White Dew said this without confidence.

If all these people in the Five Provinces were gone, how could the Jade Ai Realm still exist? She had indeed set up defenses in the Jade Ai Realm, but before these three powerful Extraterrestrial Demons, those defenses were nothing.

White Sandalwood held Jianjia’s little hand, gritted her teeth, and shouted, “Clan Leader! Why not call Jiang Huai out? Maybe he has some way.”

“Or perhaps his cultivation can withstand these three Extraterrestrial Demons?”

White Dew shook her head, her voice firm:

“Don’t call him out. Until the very last moment, we cannot call him.”

“He might be breaking through to the Great Ascension Stage, at a critical moment.”

Even she was a bit confused now, unsure whether to call Jiang Huai out.

If Jiang Huai came out, could he really change the current situation?

Would it repeat the history of that year? Jiang Huai, as a Yin-Yang Body, would die in battle, and the burden would fall on her own daughter.

The fate of Yin-Yang Bodies, generation after generation.

“Clan Leader…” White Sandalwood said softly.

White Dew spun around sharply and said sternly, “Don’t call him out! No! After I die in battle, after everyone dies in battle, then let him take our daughter and leave.”

“For millennia, only Yin-Yang Bodies have died fighting for living beings. Today, it’s time for living beings to die fighting for a Yin-Yang Body. What’s wrong with that?”

As soon as she finished speaking, a red dragon charged from her side, directly lunging at the three black shadows.

Red Rainbow transformed into her true Red Dragon form.

Her scales were red like flames, her draconic body enormous. She coiled at the secret realm entrance, blocking Ji’s attack.

Flames erupted from the red dragon’s mouth.

The red dragonflame poured out like a waterfall, burning large swaths of demonic qi into nothingness.

Qin Xuange stood not far away, shoulder to shoulder with Chihuang.

They leaned against each other, neither speaking.

They exchanged a glance, their expressions complex.

Behind them, Su Yingman had already been severely wounded in battle.

She lay on a stretcher, her face pale.

Zhu Siyao and Tang Zhaoxue guarded her side—one feeding her medicine, the other channeling spiritual energy to her.

Qin Xuange looked up to the sky, closed her eyes, and murmured, “Honored Master, Senior Qin Qingyue, are you there?”

A massive divine sense descended from the sky, crashing into Qin Xuange’s body.

Her body trembled. Her crimson dragon eyes suddenly lit up, fierce and domineering.

Qin Qingyue asked anxiously:

“What? Wu Zhaohua hasn’t come yet?”

It had been many days since Wu Zhaohua left, yet she still hadn’t returned, causing the dragon worry.

Qin Xuange smiled bitterly. “Still no sign of her. I suppose we don’t know where she went.”

Qin Qingyue, borrowing Qin Xuange’s body, looked toward the secret realm entrance.

The three black shadows stood silently there, their auras like abyssal prisons. Her heart sank.

Qin Qingyue beat her chest and stamped her feet, letting out a long sigh:

“Alas, unless my true body comes here, merely relying on my divine sense, I’m afraid it will be difficult to resist.”

“If my true body were here, I would certainly not let these three demons run wild.”