Chapter 827: Chapter 48: All Hope Lost
"Pfft—"
Suddenly, the Fire Dragon’s body shattered into pieces, transforming into endless fire runes, dispersing into the void, disappearing from this realm.
The void was still filled with a faint acrid sulfur smell; besides this, there was nothing left to prove the Fire Dragon’s existence.
Zhou Yan suddenly regained consciousness at this moment. He gently cast a Green Water Sword Dao aura on himself to cleanse the Blood Qi off his body.
Upon awakening, Zhou Yan discovered that during his brief interaction with those purple eyes from the Dark Land, blood was uncontrollably oozing from his mouth, ears, nostrils, and eyes.
"Master, what’s wrong with you?"
Liu Haoxin asked with great concern.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou Yan, you’ve defeated the Fire Dragon, but are you injured as well?" Hua Qiudao asked with some worry.
Zhou Yan shook his head and said, "It’s fine, no need to worry. These pursuits will not happen again."
Zhou Yan didn’t explain the reason in detail, but Hua Qiudao and Liu Haoxin had already completely believed Zhou Yan’s words by then.
Because at that moment, Zhou Yan’s demeanor and gaze carried an indomitable conviction.
Zhou Yan noticed that Hua Qiudao and Liu Haoxin hadn’t heard what the Fire Dragon said, even though the dragon’s words were quite comprehensible to Zhou Yan, without any shielding techniques.
However, these things were no longer important, as Zhou Yan was filled with anxiety over the words spoken by those unknown mystical purple eyes.
A warning? To make everything in the past disappear? What could that mean?
Zhou Yan felt an inexplicable heaviness in his heart. The information obtained from the Evil Dragon was extremely vague and scant, not even forming coherent memory scenes, abruptly interrupted by those mysterious purple eyes, leaving Zhou Yan with virtually no insights.
More importantly, in these nine years at the Ancestor Land, plus the two years in the starry sky slumber, a total of eleven years have passed!
What kind of changes would occur in eleven years is truly unimaginable.
Zhou Yan urgently wished to return immediately since he possessed such a capability, yet recalling his promise to the Xuanyuan Ancestor, he managed to suppress this impulse.
"I sensed Zhao Xiaoxiao’s presence earlier; perhaps she’s the only one left alive. I’ll take you to find her."
Zhou Yan gently manipulated the void with his hand, making a bubble gradually shrink until it became a dot, located in the palm of Zhou Yan’s hand.
A dot, yet an internal world; with Zhou Yan’s current accomplishment in the Void Sword Body, achieving this was very simple, though for a cultivator like him, it’s quite an impressive technique.
Zhou Yan brought Hua Qiudao and Liu Haoxin back once again to the Forbidden Land of the Pure Yang Sect; there, the power of the Tai Chu Rune Ancient Guardian still existed, with the Shennong Tripod quietly floating within, not taken away.
This Tai Chu Rune Ancient Array is akin to a Heaven-Earth Paradise, making it quite difficult to decipher. In other words, the preservation of the Shennong Tripod is closely related to this powerful Tai Chu Rune Ancient Array.
Upon arriving there, Zhou Yan did not immediately release Hua Qiudao and Liu Haoxin from the light circle. Instead, he first concealed them into the void, carrying them along, and then directly approached the Shennong Tripod.
Within the Shennong Tripod, a faint trace of Zhao Xiaoxiao’s presence was transmitted, though it was so faint that it seemed about to dissipate.
Sensing this soul power, Zhou Yan’s figure turned into a light, suddenly merging into the world within the tripod.
...
The space within the giant tripod was not large, and after its internal secrets vanished, it had become a very ordinary small world.
The condition of this small world only served as a reflection of Zhao Xiaoxiao’s strength and abilities. The stronger she was, the more stable this small world became, and conversely, the worse her condition, the lower the stability of this small world.
Upon entering this world, Zhou Yan found it reminiscent of a ruined land, with cracks appearing all around the collapsing space, as if it could shatter at any moment.
Zhao Xiaoxiao seemed not only wounded but had also absorbed part of the Shennong Tripod’s energy, rendering the Shennong Tripod even more dilapidated and frail than before.
Although the Shennong Tripod is merely a broken object, to make such a ruined ancient treasure even more dilapidated and decayed would necessitate unimaginable strength. The fact that the adversaries could injure Zhao Xiaoxiao so severely that only with the Shennong Tripod could she manage to breathe reveals the incredible power of those involved.
From just a trace of evidence, Zhou Yan could already observe numerous clues and deduce the fierce perils Zhao Xiaoxiao must have faced.
In this shattered small space, Zhou Yan found Zhao Xiaoxiao, but only a remnant of her body was left, with most of her physical form nearly destroyed, her previously most proud and sacred aspects now wholly lost, her body pierced in several places, exposing her internal blood, bones, and entrails.
She was almost unrecognizable as human, her situation exceedingly tragic.
When Zhou Yan arrived, she lacked even the strength to open her eyes, weakly lifting her heavy eyelids to take a glimpse at Zhou Yan, before letting them fall again.
That gaze, though not exactly heartbroken or devoid of hope, was nonetheless unforgettable and piercingly glaring.
Zhou Yan’s steps slightly halted.
That single gaze, like a flash of lightning, suddenly pierced into Zhou Yan’s heart, causing an indescribable ripple in his otherwise calm mind, as if he saw his own past through her eyes.
Loss, bewilderment, helplessness, and wandering.
The feeling of all hope lost fiercely filled Zhou Yan’s heart, causing the unspeakable pride in his bloodline to suddenly shatter, as if he had fallen from a high and mighty state into the mortal world, sinking into the red dust.
Suddenly, Zhou Yan felt that Zhao Xiaoxiao had come this far, and he needed to take great responsibility.
Preaching at the Immortal Pool resulted not in the prosperity of the cultivation world, but in its destruction.
Regardless of the reason, the responsibility must be shouldered.
Zhou Yan looked at Zhao Xiaoxiao, feeling a bit heavy-hearted and very sad inside.
The lively and lovable, serene and spirited young girl, had now become this way.
Zhou Yan’s steps suddenly felt heavy, so heavy that he dared not think about some things.
What was the outcome of the punishment and warning mentioned in that voice? What kind of tragic fate would there be?
What was the clone? Who was it? What kind of person was the Evil Venerate?
Some answers seemed almost clear, but Zhou Yan no longer dared to think about them.
Step by step, he walked towards Zhao Xiaoxiao, only to find that this path seemed endlessly long.
Even though it was actually just a few steps.
Zhou Yan arrived at Zhao Xiaoxiao’s side, as if he had once again experienced a journey through the red dust of the heart along the way, and he crouched down beside Zhao Xiaoxiao.
Zhao Xiaoxiao’s still somewhat clear brows moved slightly, but after struggling to open her eyes, she softly said: "You... still want to seize the Shennong Tripod... right? Actually, I had long prepared to gift... gift it to you, but you, you were too cruel."
Zhao Xiaoxiao spoke with difficulty, her gaze dark and spiritless, without color, a dead gray like that of a corpse.
"Xiaoxiao... I just want to say, since leaving the giant tripod, I’ve only truly come back now. I understand most of what happened before, but it wasn’t me who did it. I’ve never been a truly cruel person."
Zhou Yan murmured to himself, not knowing if Zhao Xiaoxiao could hear him, but it no longer mattered.
Zhou Yan performed the Undying Rebirth Technique and Nirvana Rebirth Technique, yet Zhao Xiaoxiao had no desire for resurrection. Although her body was swiftly healed, even revealing some private areas of her snow-white, flat abdomen, her proud and full bosom, and the two points crystal-like as jade above the bosom, everything appeared so perfect and spiritual.
But Zhao Xiaoxiao, like a dead person, no longer cared about anything.
With a gentle wave of Zhou Yan’s hand, a set of Divine Battle Armor suddenly covered Zhao Xiaoxiao’s body, enveloping her exquisite jade figure like wearing a very soft skin-tight light blue fairy dress, making her appear more charming and extraordinary.
Sensing this scene, Zhao Xiaoxiao’s eyes, filled with a hint of hesitance, gently opened and looked at Zhou Yan.
"Don’t you want revenge?" Zhou Yan suddenly asked.
This question made Zhao Xiaoxiao’s dead gray eyes suddenly shoot out a sharp cold light, like she suddenly came alive, her eyes becoming incomparably sharp and cold.
But this aura lasted only a moment before extinguishing again.
She again became silent.
"Living gives you the chance for revenge; a spirit dead as ashes is nothing but a sign of cowardice."
"Sometimes, living requires more courage than dying."
Zhou Yan’s voice carried an air of age.
These words were quite plain, but they suddenly pierced deep into Zhao Xiaoxiao’s spirit, rendering her completely distracted.
After a while, Zhao Xiaoxiao stood up, looked at Zhou Yan with a complex gaze, and then silently began to recover from her wounds.
Seeing this, Zhou Yan once again performed the Nirvana Rebirth Technique. This time, Zhao Xiaoxiao did not resist at all, nor did she show any unusual reaction to Zhou Yan.
After Zhao Xiaoxiao fully recovered, she directly stood up, looked at Zhou Yan, and said: "In my life, I have never hated anyone, but you are the first. You saved me, you’ll regret it."
"Hm, but I won’t regret it. You should stay with Hua Qiudao and the others. I will complete some tasks, find you a good place to transcend the tribulation, open your Heavenly Pivot Ancient Town, and take you all to the outside domain."
Zhou Yan said.
Zhao Xiaoxiao sneered coldly and did not respond.
Yet Zhou Yan directly enveloped Zhao Xiaoxiao in a light ray, drawing her into one Void Space. Meanwhile, he left this small world with the Shennong Tripod in hand, restored part of its body and traces of divinity before casting it into the body of Zhao Xiaoxiao within the Void Space.
At this moment, although Zhou Yan hadn’t paid much attention, he still felt Zhao Xiaoxiao’s barely believable expression flash across her face.
The Void Space and another Void Space merged into one, and Zhao Xiaoxiao soon met Hua Qiudao and Liu Haoxin.
Zhao Xiaoxiao did not know Liu Haoxin but was familiar with Hua Qiudao and held this person in great respect.