Chapter 290: A Martial Saint Guards the Dao, A Divine Bird Follows, and the Heavenly Official Bestows Blessings (End of Book Two)

'It's over. It's completely over.'

Standing before the golden doors, Tiger stared at the rising black light, panic setting in.

Didn't that woman say there would only be one heavenly punishment?

How could there be a second?!

"Fuck."

Tiger watched the eye drift toward the rift in the mountains, remembering what that priestess-like woman had told him:

"The power we grant you grows stronger only for those favored by the power of Fate. So if you ultimately fail to find a substitute for your life, you can use this power to save yourself. It will preserve your life, with strength to spare."

"But remember: if you lend this power to someone else..."

"...and that person lacks your strong affinity for Fate, the only way to ensure they survive the heavenly punishment is to use the Life Substitution Method and give them your own destiny."

He hadn't understood her words at the time.

Only later did it dawn on him.

That woman had played him for a fool.

If he used the Life Substitution Method to pass his destiny to someone else, he wouldn't have to face the heavenly punishment himself. But if he merely lent the power, it wouldn't be enough to save them.

'But that doesn't make sense,' he thought. 'I already used the Life Substitution Method on Young Master Luo. Why is this happening?'

His mind was a tangled mess; he couldn't think straight.

But one thing was absolutely clear.

If Luo Sheng wanted to survive right now, he had to use the Life Substitution Method to borrow the destiny of someone important to him!

His first thought was Mr. Yi Ji.

Yet, whether because Mr. Yi Ji was too far away or for some other reason, his destiny couldn't be borrowed.

It was as if Mr. Yi Ji and Young Master Luo shared the exact same source of destiny.

He immediately thought of Advisor Xiao Yan next.

The two had worked together for a long time and should have formed some sort of bond, but he found that destiny couldn't be borrowed either!

With no time left to ponder, he activated the technique again, this time directing it at the Old Man.

'The Old Man is blessed with vast fortune and is a natural at Martial Cultivation. His power of Fate shouldn't be weak.'

With that thought, Tiger closed his eyes. Following the line of destiny connecting him to the Old Man, he located the Stone Door.

At that moment, the Old Man was in secluded meditation within the Stone Door, sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes shut.

Sensing Tiger's presence, his eyebrows twitched, and he allowed his power of Fate to follow Tiger away.

'It worked, it worked. Hurry and patch it up,' Tiger rejoiced.

He guided that power of Fate to descend upon Yan Jing.

'May Fate protect Young Master Luo.'

His nerves were stretched taut.

But unexpectedly, a sudden Mutation occurred!

Clusters of golden orbs surged out from the golden doors. As if drawn by an irresistible force, they streaked toward Yan Jing in the distance.

Within each orb flickered countless fragmented images—spring, summer, autumn, winter, years flowing like water—as if containing a person's entire, complete life.

"Fuck, what is going on?"

Tiger swallowed hard, vaguely feeling like he had just caused a catastrophe.

Meanwhile, inside the Path of Destiny.

The priestess-like woman, holding a sacrificial staff, leaned against a golden door to rest.

The thought of having tricked that lord amused her.

She never imagined there would come a day when she could play a prank on him.

"This was the only window of opportunity," she murmured with a soft chuckle.

Once that lord regained his memories, let alone tricking him, the number of people in the entire world who could defeat him wouldn't even break a hundred.

But just then, her eyes widened as she stared in shock at a distant golden palace.

In her line of sight, golden orbs flew one after another toward the golden doors beside her.

"Impossible! How could anyone draw upon the power of the Path of Destiny?!"

Panic gripped her. She waved her staff, erupting with blasts of weird energy to force the orbs back, but it was useless. The spheres acted as if they had gone mad, impossible to stop as they rushed headlong into the golden doors.

"I'm doomed."

Her heart skipped a beat. This was the power of destiny discarded by others, accumulated by the Path of Destiny over countless years. In a single instant, nearly a century's worth of accumulation vanished, making her heart bleed.

It had to be that lord.

Only he could possibly pull this off.

But even for him, such a massive surge of the power of Fate required a vessel.

Who could it be? Who could possibly withstand so much power of Fate?!

Ninth Lake Prefecture.

Atop a high tower.

Li Qinghe watched the black light descend and shatter the golden barrier. Red feathers fluttered chaotically, and pitch-black wings withered and fell like autumn leaves. He burst into laughter.

"It is done! Yu'er, I have succeeded!!!"

He roared with laughter at the sky until he gasped for breath and his stomach ached.

It was as if the pent-up frustration of the last two decades was finally venting itself in this single moment.

He didn't care if, after all this, he obtained nothing he sought, or if the people from East Lake Prefecture were guaranteed to come knocking to suppress him.

He felt incredibly happy.

It felt exactly like that day many years ago, when he saw that boy, about his own age, barge into the imperial palace that belonged solely to him.

Listening to that boy speak of experiences he had never had and emotions he had never possessed, he had secretly resolved to ensure that person died in the depths of despair.

How could there be things in this world that others had but he did not?

He was the sole remaining true dragon bloodline of the Imperial Era! That was why he had specifically carved out a portion of the Domain and shaped it to look like Sixth Lake Prefecture. He had gone to great lengths to have the people inside dress like the outsiders, constructing a colossal lie so that when that person finally realized the truth, they would plunge into endless agony.

"Luo Sheng, I never expected you to survive."

He laughed. "But I never said you could live! So how could you?"

"With you gone, the imperial destiny returns to me. The Martial Saint is mine, and the divine bird will be mine as well."

But unexpectedly, Wanyu, who was cowering speechlessly on the ground, suddenly sensed something. Her hollow, unfocused eyes went wide as her body began to tremble.

"No... that's not right... that's not right... Your Majesty... Luo Sheng's destiny has changed again..."

"What?"

Li Qinghe didn't process it at first, looking down at Wanyu.

He saw her kneeling on the ground, shivering violently as she tried to pull the Divination Cylinder from her pocket.

But her hand jerked, and the Divination Cylinder clattered to the floor.

The wooden lots inside scattered everywhere.

She groped blindly to gather them, but after picking up only a few, she abruptly froze and let out a miserable laugh.

"It's too late..."

"What are you talking about?" Li Qinghe still didn't understand, but his heart suddenly sank. Right at that moment, an earth-shattering tremor rumbled from the distance.

In an instant, blinding golden light erupted from the spot where the black light of the giant eye had struck.

The dragon aura rising from the earth seemed to sense something. To Li Qinghe's utter shock, the swirling energies collectively bowed their heads toward the site of the impact.

The once-resounding roars of the dragons gradually quieted down.

It was as if they were submitting to the golden light, even slowly drifting in its direction.

"How is this possible?!"

Li Qinghe's face twisted. He frantically waved the Official Seal in his hand, screaming like a madman, "Come back! What are you doing?! I am here!!! What are you doing?!"

He scrambled upward, trying to climb onto the roof ridge to call the dragon aura back!

"It's too late."

The jade hairpin in Wanyu's hair suddenly snapped. With her hair falling in disarray, she grabbed the Divination Cylinder from the floor and tugged at Li Qinghe's robes.

"Let's go, Holy Emperor. We have to leave. It's already too late."

"What do you mean, too late?!"

Li Qinghe whipped his head around, his eyes flashing with unprecedented malice.

He seized Wanyu's wrist in a vicious grip, making her cry out in pain.

"How is it too late?! That is my dragon aura!!! This is my empire!!!"

Tears streamed down Wanyu's face from the pain, yet she forced herself to speak:

"Holy Emperor, it's too late."

"A sage emerges, a Martial Saint guards the Dao, a divine bird follows, and the heavenly official bestows blessings."

"Luo Sheng has already gathered all the hexagrams of that heavenly divination. It's too late! Let's go, we need to leave now. As long as the green hills remain, we won't fear—"

Smack!!!

Li Qinghe's hand swung down viciously, slapping Wanyu's face hard to the side.

"I am the Saint!!!"

He roared, his entire body shaking with fury.

"What kind of bullshit are you spouting?!"

"Why aren't you calling me Your Majesty anymore?! Why?!"

"Are you trying to run away too?! Speak!!!"

Wanyu was trembling all over, but she mustered the courage to pull at his robes again.

"Let's go, Your Majesty. We can go back and figure something out. One day, you will surely hold the mandate of heaven—"

Before she could finish, right before their shocked eyes...

Yan Jing's silhouette walked out from within the black light.

At this moment, boundless auspicious clouds seemed to swirl around him. Radiant golden wings, lush with feathers, stretched out from his back. Beside him floated the illusion of a figure sitting cross-legged with eyes closed. Two massive trees—one pitch-black, the other shining gold—stood on either side of him, their branches heavy with glowing golden orbs.

Black and white threads, now coated in a brilliant golden sheen, endlessly intertwined. In the blink of an eye, they wove themselves into a dark gold robe that draped over Yan Jing's body.

His face, once smeared with blood and grime, was fair again. As his gently shut eyes opened, the roars of dragons shook the heavens in unison.

Truth be told, Yan Jing had no idea why this was happening. But struck by a sudden moment of profound clarity, he raised his right hand and spoke softly:

"A Martial Saint guards the Dao, a divine bird follows, and the heavenly official bestows blessings."

"In my name, let the dragon aura disperse."

Yan Jing's voice fell like a divine edict. Erupting across the entire Minhu Domain, the dragon aura instantly obeyed, burrowing back into the earth and vanishing without a trace.

Yan Jing spoke softly once again:

"In my name, let the dragon aura of the world protect the place my heart points to."

As his words landed, the entire earth began to quake violently.

Like an earth dragon rolling over in its slumber, streams of dragon aura surged beneath the soil, rushing madly toward Bianliu County in the distance.

"Finally, in my name, I punish you, Source of Mutation, with a single finger strike."

Yan Jing extended his hand, lightly pointing a finger at the massive eye in the sky.

The giant eye instantly recoiled in terror, retreating high into the heavens.

It saw the shadows of ancient emperors overlaid upon Yan Jing. It didn't understand why, but instinct drove it to flee.

Yan Jing smiled and lowered his hand. Turning around, he leaped into the Space Rift where his motorcycle was waiting. With a flash, he landed squarely on the seat.

Sensing numerous figures flying toward his Space Rift from every direction, he let out a laugh.

"What bullshit Saint? It hasn't been the pinnacle of the era for a long time. I can only use it to posture."

Then, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Unable to maintain the state any longer, the regal dark gold robes and all the miraculous phenomena swirling around him instantly vanished.

Yes, he was indeed a "Saint" now.

But this was no longer the Imperial Era.

It was glaringly obvious—the remaining dragon aura was pitifully sparse.

Aside from dispersing the dragon aura to weaken the giant eye and scare it off, the things Yan Jing could actually do were few and far between.

At most, he could monitor the movements across Minhu and slightly boost his own strength.

But the side effect was clear: piercing through the layers of clouds, he saw at least three figures streaking toward him with absolute killing intent.

Among them was the Vice Prefecture Lord.

This was no longer the Imperial Era.

As a "Saint," he himself was the heretic.

"Is this what you've been chasing after, Li Qinghe?!"

His gaze seemed to bridge thousands of miles, falling directly upon the pale, trembling Li Qinghe in Ninth Lake Prefecture.

"Take a finger strike from me too!"

Yan Jing threw his head back in laughter, and with every last ounce of his strength, he unleashed one final strike!

And this time, it was real!

Boom—

A burst of Divine Power seemed to shatter space itself, crossing vast distances to crash squarely onto Li Qinghe.

Li Qinghe couldn't dodge. Even as a Sixth Tier powerhouse, his body convulsed under the sheer weight of that Divine Power. He vomited a massive mouthful of blood, and his aura instantly withered into nothing.

Yan Jing wasn't faring any better. This power was strictly bound to Luo Sheng's body, and given its current condition, unleashing such a force had severely overloaded it.

His entire body began to show signs of necrosis. He felt like a cracked glass bottle, with blood continuously oozing out from dozens of fissures.

Gunning the throttle to the max, he glanced back at the entrance of the Space Rift—now so small it was barely visible—where several figures were peering inside.

"When I come back, I'll slaughter every last one of you bastards I can't stand!"

Yan Jing laughed raucously and sped forward.

A few minutes later, he saw the end of the road, exactly the same as the last time.

'This should be Old Chen's hometown. Let's see what's actually going on here.'

With that thought, he plunged directly through the curtain of light blocking his path.