Wei Qing said their sea of consciousness had fallen into chaos five hundred years ago, only beginning to improve gradually after the great calamity.
This meant Yun Nishang had awakened using Hongxiu's identity five hundred years ago. During the great calamity, she might have used her bloodline to feign death once more. After the calamity, could she have awakened again using yet another identity?
If so, could she still be within the Yunxia Sect?
"Among the female disciples of Yunxia Sect, is there..." Gu Qingfeng was about to ask Huode if there were any female disciples similar to Hongxiu, but he stopped mid-thought, as if suddenly realizing something. He chuckled wryly, "How foolish of me. One of Yun Nishang's soul fragments is currently sealed within the Lunar Seed, requiring her Blood Spirit to unlock it. And doesn't this Yang Sun Seed contain precisely a drop of her Blood Spirit?" Without hesitation.
Gu Qingfeng took out the Lunar Seed that sealed Yun Nishang's soul fragment. Reaching out, he grasped the Yang Sun Seed in his other palm. Several spiritual incantations flew from his fingers. With a series of crisp cracking sounds, the Yang Sun Seed instantly shattered, and a drop of Yun Nishang's Blood Spirit floated in mid-air.
He placed the Lunar Seed on his palm and slowly pushed it forward. When the drop of Blood Spirit made contact with the Lunar Seed, it was instantly sucked inside with a *whoosh*. The Lunar Seed then turned blood-red, emitting layers of crimson mist.
"What the hell is this thing!"
Huode scrambled to his feet, eyes wide, having no idea what Gu Qingfeng was doing. He only felt it was extremely bizarre.
"Step back."
Gu Qingfeng stared at the Lunar Seed emitting crimson mist. Not only did he push Huode outside, but he himself also retreated beyond the stone chamber. If all his deductions were correct, the soul fragment sealed within the Lunar Seed would break free, and Yun Nishang's soul would appear.
Although he didn't know exactly who Yun Nishang was, judging by the things she had orchestrated, even a fool could tell she was no ordinary figure.
Gu Qingfeng had spent time in the Celestial Realm and had once ascended to become the Nine Nethers Emperor. He deeply understood the profound mysteries and endless strangeness of this world, knowing it held many terrifying existences. Therefore, caution was paramount.
Soon.
The crimson mist filled the entire stone chamber. This mist was vast and majestic, imbued with the Great Dao, as if staining the heavens themselves, permeating with an aura of ancient antiquity.
As it spread, every wisp of crimson mist seemed to contain infinite mysteries and endless principles of law, truly terrifying.
An expert!
Definitely an expert!
Most likely one of those legendary Great Dao Practitioners.
Only a drop of Blood Spirit from a Great Dao Practitioner could possess such vastness, containing such myriad mysterious principles.
The Lunar Seed floated in mid-air, trembling violently. Within it, winds rose and clouds surged, countless mysteries condensed and manifested layer upon layer. The Great Derivation Blood Coagulation Seal grew indistinct and distorted. As time passed, the seal became increasingly blurred, increasingly twisted, flickering in and out of sight.
With a *snap*, it vanished completely.
Suddenly!
A *crack* sounded as the Lunar Seed split open with a fissure.
One fissure, two fissures...
Three fissures, four fissures...
In another instant, the Lunar Seed shattered into countless fragments of starlight. Simultaneously, a faint, blurry crimson shadow materialized.
That crimson shadow was ethereal to the extreme, resembling a human silhouette, its outline exceptionally indistinct and impossible to discern clearly, for the shadow was constantly condensing, constantly changing, infinite and endless.
"Endless Karma, infinite Karma, cannot be severed, cannot be exhausted, no beginning, no end, no...
no..." "A road of no return...
This is a road of no return..." "Once again..." "How many times has it been..." "Why..." "Reincarnation?
Heh heh..." The soul fragment manifested, murmuring words. Its voice was also extremely ethereal, as if containing boundless confusion and boundless helplessness...
Standing at the entrance, Gu Qingfeng's expression was cold, his eyes calm. He tentatively asked, "Hongxiu?"
No one paid him any heed.
The soul fragment seemed not to hear him, continuing to murmur: "Probe Karma...
Mend Karma...
Sever Karma...
Heh heh...
Time and again, endless and infinite...
Heh heh..." "Yun Nishang?"
Gu Qingfeng tried calling out again.
Unfortunately, the soul fragment still ignored him, murmuring: "A road of no return...
You were right, this truly is a road of no return...
Heh heh...
Once you set foot on this path, you can never turn back, never again...
Heh heh" "But...
How did you manage it..." "Why!"
"You were not born!
You have not died!
Nor are you dead!"
"I have searched through the three thousand Great Daos, I have searched through all the cycles of Reincarnation in this world, I have searched through all the laws of heaven and earth, yet in the end, I could not find you..." "You...
are still alive."
"I know you are still alive..." "In that lifetime, that life, I turned all the prayer wheels, not for salvation, but to touch your fingertips."
"In that lifetime, that life, I crawled along the mountain path, not for an audience, but to feel your warmth."
"Those cycles of Reincarnation, not to cultivate a future life, but to reunite with you along the journey..." "You said you would wait for me..." "You said it..." "You said you would wait for me...
You said it...
said it..." The shadow of the soul fragment grew increasingly faint, increasingly ethereal.
Outside the stone chamber, Gu Qingfeng looked puzzled, somewhat bewildered. Pondering Yun Nishang's words, he simply couldn't make sense of them. He didn't know to whom these words were directed, nor what they meant—all this talk of Karma and roads of no return, of Reincarnation...
What was all this nonsense.
"Is she...
Is she Hongxiu?"
Huode stood there dumbfounded. After a long while, he stammered in astonishment, "Kid Gu, is she Hongxiu?
I remember back then, after Hongxiu fused with the Yang Sun Heart, she said these same inexplicable things, something about Reincarnation and Karma. Just now..." With a *whoosh*.
Yun Nishang's soul fragment vanished.
Seeing this, Gu Qingfeng also flashed away in pursuit.
He left behind only Huode, utterly bewildered, utterly horrified, utterly terrified, standing there alone. He looked left and right, wanting to leave, but found his legs completely disobedient, unable to move at all.
The sun set in the west.
The sky was somewhat gloomy and cold.
For some reason, ever since the spiritual transformation of nature, the weather had grown increasingly colder. Even on bright, sunny days, a chilling cold permeated the air.
First-Class Manor.
Inside a pavilion.
Ouyang Feiyue sat on a chair, drinking sullenly.
The manor had been closed for many days, ceasing operations ever since the spiritual transformation of nature. Firstly, everyone was busy treasure hunting, so there were few guests. Secondly, because the frequency of Ouyang Ye's strange bloodline flare-ups was increasing, her mood was poor.
Originally, she had planned to wait for Su Hua to arrive and have her examine what was going on.
But Su Hua wouldn't arrive until the end of the year, still several months away. She didn't know if the little girl could hold on until then.
"Should I ask him to come..." Ouyang Feiyue had been considering this problem because she had heard Ouyang Ye say that the bloodline flare-ups might be related to Gu Qingfeng.
"But that guy..." Although Ouyang Feiyue hadn't been present at the events at Crimson-Letter Manor a few days prior, she had heard about them.
That man acted without restraint, bold and audacious. Not only had he annihilated the Spirit-Capital Sect, he had also killed many elders of the Bingxuan Sect. Even the Murong family of the Nine-Hua Alliance had been wiped out by him, and he had done the killing right under the nose of the Crimson-Letter Head.
This person's identity was unclear, his background mysterious, his strength bizarre!
Ouyang Feiyue thought it over and decided to forget it. She certainly didn't want the little girl to get involved with that man.
Suddenly!
She seemed to sense something and looked over, startling her. A person had appeared in the courtyard at some unknown time.