Chapter 437 – Dreamland
Nie Li felt as though he’d sunk deep into a dreamland.
Something kept calling out to him.
It was a girl’s voice, so familiar to his ears.
It’s Master!
“Master, where are you?” Nie Li yelled. These past few days, he’d been doing his best to raise his strength, never slacking for even the briefest moment. Because he knew that if he didn’t grow strong enough, fast enough, then his Master would fall to the plot of someone inside the Divine Feathers Sect.
Even though Long Yuyin had changed and was no longer a threat to his Master, there were still others inside the Divine Feathers Sect who harboured ill intents!
Nie Li wanted to become the Sect Master so that he could protect his own Master.
“Nie Li, I’m using the Magic Note of Heaven and Earth to communicate with you through my intent. Your destiny to reverse the heaven and earth and it is too powerful. If I do nothing, then the Sage Emperor will detect you, once you reach the Heavenly Axis Realm. Before long, he’ll send his Deity-servants after you. I’m using the Heavenly Path technique to shift your fate to mine!”
“How could this be? What about you, Master?”
“Nie Li, by the time your cultivation reached the Heavenly Axis Realm, I was already gone from the Divine Feathers Sect. I’ve given some guidance to your friends in the other major sects so that they can aid you in the future. As for myself, I am already being pursued by the Deity-servants. I’ve used the Illusionary Secret Array to conceal my own aura, but I can’t hold on for much longer.”
“Master, I’ve done all this so that you could be safe. As long as you’re safe, I can do anything…”
“Silly boy. All good things must come to an end… You have things you must do. Go do them. Don’t think about anything else. If killing the Sage Emperor will save all lives, then I’ll lay down my own life without hesitation. In the endless eras, countless people have wielded the Heaven’s Divination technique. Each powerful genius who has become aware of fate has helplessly fallen, one after another, in a confrontation against the Sage Emperor. It was the same with my Master. Since my death is of value, why wouldn’t I give it?”
Nie Li felt scenes being transmitted into his brain.
He felt his Master kiss him on the forehead. The affectionate warmth and care of a mother.
Ying Yueru stood in the sky, surrounded by rolling clouds of seven colours. Countless illusions formed around her, giving her the air of a proud goddess. Her fair and beautiful cheeks brimmed with endless charm. She looked at Nie Li and smiled. Her complexion glowed so beautifully that she seemed not to be of the mortal world.
Ying Yueru had always been a fairy in Nie Li’s heart. That was how transcendent her beauty was. Each gesture, from the slight knit of the brows to her smile, was deeply imprinted on Nie Li’s mind.
However, Nie Li had never entertained even the slightest profane thought regarding his Master. He was filled only with respect towards Ying Yueru; he only wanted her to be safe.
Nie Li wanted to charge forward, but his body was locked, unable to move the slightest bit.
This was still a dreamland!
In this dreamland, there was nothing Nie Li could do!
Suddenly, a huge figure appeared within the seven coloured clouds, a shape several hundred meters tall with silvery-black armour and wielded a huge spear in his hand. He looked as vicious as an Asura from the underworld.
He was a Deity-servant of the Sage Emperor!
Aside from Deity-ranked beasts, the Sage Emperor also kept many powerful Deity-servants at his side. They were responsible for overseeing the matters of the worlds, the dogs of the Sage Emperor. The strength of those Deity-servants was inferior only to the Deity-ranked beasts.
“Ying Yueru, the Lord Emperor has called upon me to take your life. Your fate has reached its limit!” The Deity-servant boomed, dignified and vast, like roaring thunder through Nie Li’s head.
Nie Li mournfully howled and his eyes turned misty. He saw the vague outline of a massive hand grasp towards the seven-coloured clouds.
“No! Master! Run!” Nie Li urgently cried.
Ying Yueru looked in his direction with a calm smile on her face, an expression as content as it had always been. It was as though the concepts of life and death were unrelated to her.
Ying Yueru had displayed astonishing intellect since she was young. As a child, she gained understanding of heaven and earth long before any of her peers. When faced with life and death, she was far more peaceful than any other.
“The Heaven’s Divination is everlasting. The Sage Emperor can kill me, but he can only fantasise about cutting the fate that runs between heaven and earth. The Sage Emperor is incomparably proud. He can freely underestimate all the heroes under the sky, but he should not underestimate the Heavenly Dao. Once the Heavenly Dao senses that the Sage Emperor threatens all lives, someone will come to deliver heaven’s justice!”
The deity-servant only laughed at Ying Yueru’s words. “Hahaha! ‘Deliver heaven’s justice?’ Ying Yueru, you should be calculating your own fate instead. The Sage Emperor once said, ‘If the Heavenly Dao goes against me, then I shall destroy it.’ The Sage Emperor has sealed the once endless space and time. In another two hundred years, the Heavenly Dao will be thoroughly refined. What vast Heavenly Dao? What supreme sovereign? Those are nothing but empty words that you cultivators use to deceive yourselves and others!”
“Heaven and earth are deep and profound, nurturing tens of thousands of lifeforms. Not only are you unable to return the favor, but you want to extinguish the very heaven and earth that has given us life. Doesn’t the Sage Emperor feel any guilt?” Ying Yueru accused.
“How could the soaring heart of the Sage Emperor be understood by a mere colony of ants, such as yourself? Ying Yueru, it’s time you head for the road1!”
The massive hand clutched down and the seven-coloured clouds broke open.
Nie Li saw the palm grab Ying Yueru. Fresh blood splattered in all directions.
“NOOO…” Nie Li painfully wailed. Scenes flashed through his mind. Times with his Master. After returning to this life, he thought he had the power to protect her. But even still, his Master had died.
A faintly discernible voice resounded in Nie Li’s mind. It was Ying Yueru’s long sigh.
“Who can understand the reason for human life? Creation and destruction, there’s no need for sorrow. Nie Li, you should do what you must. And I will head for the place where I should be going.”
The voice carried a trace of melancholy, tearing Nie Li’s heart apart.
Sage Emperor, I will definitely won’t let you go. This is a grudge over two lifetimes! Nie Li’s heart was filled with hatred. His body felt like it’d explode with frightening energy.
The dreamland quickly dissipated and Nie Li sank into endless sleep once again.
His soul realm circulated.
Long Yuyin and the rest were all gathered at Nie Li’s side. Nie Li’s painful wailing had shocked them earlier. They didn’t know what’d happened, but they could feel Nie Li’s sorrow. Long Yuyin felt her heart ache in a vague way. She didn’t know what’d happened to Nie Li.
However, Nie Li only struggled in pain for a brief moment before the calm returned to his face and he sank back into sleep.
Perhaps it was all just a dream…
1. The “road” to the afterlife. A common euphemism in Chinese.