The arrival of three Immortals made the Blood River Immortals once more fall into despair.
But then, the Lord of the Blood River laughed, “Tang Jie, is this your final move? You really think they will be enough to make you win?”
Tang Jie casually said, “If you have something, hurry up and use it. Humiliate me with your actual ability. Why are you wasting so much time blabbing?”
The Lord of the Blood River angrily said, “The remains of the Immortal Emperor are the strongest card there is! I don’t need anything more! Tang Jie, do you really think you’ve seen all the Immortal Emperor’s remains can do?”
With a wave of his hand, he cast his blood at the Immortal Emperor’s skeleton.
Tang Jie could clearly tell that this was no ordinary blood, but the essence blood of the Lord of the Blood River. With one drop of it, Tang Jie had been able to create the Flesh Millstone, and each additional drop he had gained had greatly increased this Divine Connection’s power.
The Lord of the Blood River could be said to be constituted of this essence blood, yet he was pouring it over the skeleton.
The Lord of the Blood River bowed. “Immortal Emperor, please come forth!”
Everyone turned nervous.
The Blood River was born from the blood of Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng, and this skeleton was Yu Cheng’s, so now that the essence blood was returned, so long as the Immortal Emperor had left behind some method of doing so, there really was a high chance that the Immortal Emperor could return. Even if it wasn’t a true revival, even if it only contained some of his power, considering just how strong the Immortal Emperor was, it was enough to obliterate everyone here.
The Immortals were all stunned.
But there was no reaction when the blood contacted the skeleton.
The skeleton quietly stood there, not absorbing a single drop of the essence blood.
“Wh-what’s going on?”
Confusion reigned.
They looked to the Lord of the Blood River, who was also dumbfounded, staring at the skeleton in disbelief.
“How… how could this be… doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t make sense!” the Blood River Lord muttered.
Everyone stopped fighting and stared at the skeleton.
Everything rested on the skeleton.
If the Immortal Emperor really repossessed this corpse, the Blood River Domain was bound to win, but if not, its defeat was inevitable. And regardless of who won, the two domains would be united, and the domain-merging formation would create a whole planet on which a brand-new terrain would develop.
Yet in this battle that would decide the Fate of all lives of these two domains, a comical scene was taking place.
Everyone was staring at the skeleton.
The skeleton was completely unresponsive.
The Lord of the Blood River shook his head. “No, no, this isn’t possible. Why is it like this?”
He shook his head desperately and threw more essence blood at the skeleton.
But there was still no reaction.
“Hahahaha! My, my, I’m going to laugh to death here. I wondered what sort of trick could turn the tides, but it was nothing more than putting on a show. Old Man Blood River, your blood doesn’t seem that good. The Immortal Emperor doesn’t seem terribly convinced. His venerable self has already gone to his restful slumber, so why do you keep bothering him? Just let him rest in peace.”
It was Xiao Biehan.
Everyone else laughed at his words.
But the Lord of the Blood River continued to shake his head and howl, “No, no, this is impossible! Impossible!”
He spilled more essence blood.
This precious essence blood was being spilled out like water, but the skeleton refused to absorb a single drop.
It just stood there, motionless.
The other Blood River Immortals were also dumbfounded.
The Gold Horn Immortal couldn’t help but ask, “Blood River, are you really sure that this can revive the Immortal Emperor?”
“Of course!” the Lord of the Blood River bellowed. “This was the message inside the Immortal Emperor’s blood when it entered my body! For it to exist from the moment of my birth means that this was all part of the Immortal Emperor’s plan. How could it be fake? How could it be wrong?”
The Immortals silently gazed at each other.
Tang Jie indifferently said, “Did this message tell you that one day in the future, when you were in danger, you could activate it by throwing your essence blood on it, reviving him, perhaps even achieving a greater revival when combined with those fish? But you were clearly unwilling to sacrifice the fish, so you only used your essence blood. Because you knew that if the Immortal Emperor were truly revived, then you would probably cease to exist. But if the Immortal Emperor achieved only a surface-level revival, you might be able to control it, right?”
“How did you know?” Blood River stared at Tang Jie.
Tang Jie chuckled. “It’s not hard to guess. If your essence blood can revive the Immortal Emperor, then so should those fish. As for why you waited until the last moment and used only your essence blood and not the fish, it’s clearly because you want to control the Immortal Emperor. But did you not think of anything else?”
“‘Anything else’? What else is there?”
Tang Jie asked, “Since the Immortal Emperor left you this message, did the Immortal Emperor ever tell you why he killed himself? If he was dead, why did he want you to use this method to revive him? Just to let you control him? Were you good friends? Did he owe you a favor?”
Blood River froze.
He stared at Tang Jie and mumbled, “I don’t know… why he left that message.”
Tang Jie smiled. “Of course he wouldn’t tell you any of this. But over the last ten thousand years, did you never consider these problems?”
Blood River blankly shook his head. “I never thought of these problems.”
“Is that so?” Tang Jie nodded. “I understand.”
“‘Understand’ what?”
Tang Jie earnestly replied, “It’s not a question of your ability or intelligence. He just didn’t allow you to think about it.”
He didn’t ‘allow’ him?
Everyone gasped and stared at the Immortal Emperor’s skeleton.
The skeleton just stood there like a dead man.
But the eyes of the Immortals were brimming with fear.
The reputation of the Court of Myriad Domains had resounded for countless years, and Immortal Emperor Yu Cheng’s name had been even more illustrious such that it earned respect from all. Even if he was dead, nobody dared to underestimate his corpse, not even considering the bizarre manner in which he had died.
In the scene shown by Blood River, Yu Cheng had committed suicide.
Of course, based on what they had just learned, it seemed that all of this information had been transmitted to Blood River at the moment of Yu Cheng’s suicide, so it could be fake. Regardless, it was thick with conspiracy.
The destruction of the Court of Myriad Domains and Yu Cheng’s death remained enigmas.
It was even hard to say if this skeleton actually belonged to Yu Cheng.
All of these mysteries and questions had been triggered by one sentence from Tang Jie.
“He didn’t allow you to think about it”!
The meaning behind these words made everyone break out in a cold sweat.
“Tang… Tang Jie, are you saying that Yu Cheng… His Majesty the Immortal Emperor did not truly die?” Huang Wuji asked. “This is all some scheme of his?”
Tang Jie shook his head. “I don’t know, but I do know that even the dead can make arrangements.”
“The dead can?” Everyone was confused.
Ran Qing asked, “How can the dead make arrangements?”
Tang Jie said nothing, staring at the skeleton for a long while.
He finally said, “It’s simple. You simply need to be proficient in the Dao of Fate.”
“‘The Dao of Fate’?” everyone said in unison.
“Yes, one proficient in the Dao of Fate can see into the future. If you know the future, you know what arrangements you can make,” Tang Jie casually said.
The Azure Dragon shouted, “There’s no way Yu Cheng could see ten thousand years into the future! Not even controlling Fate can let him do that!”
“Then what if he also controlled Time?” Tang Jie countered.
The Azure Dragon fell silent.
Tang Jie continued, “What if he doesn’t need to see everything, only a part? And what if he was willing to pay an enormous price?”
The Azure Dragon shuddered.
“H-h-how enormous?”
“What about… the destruction of the Court of Myriad Domains?” Tang Jie replied.
‘The destruction of the Court of Myriad Domains’?
Everyone reeled from these words.
“But… he… he… Why would he do such a thing?” the Lord of the Blood River asked, forgetting momentarily that he was Tang Jie’s enemy.
“Who knows?” Tang Jie answered. “Perhaps he had no choice, or perhaps he had some ten-thousand-year-long conspiracy, or perhaps he had some sort of unrealistic goal…”
Tang Jie cast his gaze toward the Azure Dragon and Lithos Dragon.
The two old dragons seemed to realize something, and they both trembled.
“Regardless, it would never be to your benefit, so that you could control him.”
Blood River despaired.
There was no need to keep talking.
It was time to fight and kill.
The battle restarted.
But this time, the Lord of the Blood River had nothing left to turn the tables.
Maybe it was because he was in despair, or maybe it was a coincidence, but Yun Tianlan also broke out at this time.
He had failed to kill the two giant fish, but he managed to send them far away so that they couldn’t bother him for a bit, during which he broke out of the formation.
Yun Tianlan’s return severed the last hope of the Blood River Immortals.
The five fiend and demon Immortals were not spared, nor were the two human traitors, the Flame Celestial Sovereign and Guang Yuan. No matter how they pleaded, the Rosecloud Immortals hardened their hearts and ended their lives.
The Lord of the Blood River was the last to die.
As he neared death, he crazily howled, “Yu Cheng, you tricked me, you tricked me…”
Suddenly, he heard a sigh.
A familiar yet unfamiliar face appeared before him.
A voice drifted into his ear: “The moment… is not right.”
“It’s… you…” the Lord of the Blood River muttered—his final words.
Death!