Nightfall

As the dragon’s breath approached, a holy and pure majestic aura reverberated in the Wilderness.

Ning Que’s bow broke and as the sound rang gently, his perception was thrown into chaos. His Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow also seemed to show signs of collapse.

What was even more frightening was that the liquid bead that was condensed Great Spirit in his lower abdomen seemed to feel the call of the dragon’s breath. It started to whirl violently, releasing threads of gas that poured into his body.

It would not have been an issue if that was just it. However, the problem was that the Great Spirit that poured into all parts of his body seemed to show signs of escaping through his skin!

The Golden Dragon’s head moved forward slowly in the sky. Its slender body emerging from behind the burning white cloud. Its scales were fine, bright and mirror-like. They rubbed against the wisps of clouds and the air, causing golden flames to burst forth.

As the Giant Golden Dragon gradually appeared fully, the pressure that enveloped the whole Wilderness grew heavier and more terrifying. It began to feel as if the space in the Wilderness was growing unstable.

The dragon’s breath that descended unto the Wilderness was made up of countless tiny pieces of gold-colored gravel. What was strange was that these pieces of gold-colored gravel contained infinite pressure, but when they fell to the ground, instead of burning up with divine light; it was like sand and was scattered in the wind.

However, the absence of burning does not mean that there was no power. The golden sand-like dragon’s breath landed on the Wilderness and on the bodies of the Desolate warriors. Fissures suddenly appeared on their bodies.

Dozens of dragon’s breath sand grains fell on Tang’s body. His fur clothes tore open instantly and several fine bloody holes appeared on his body which was as hard as stone.

Ning Que was not any better off. He waved his hand, trying to disperse the dragon’s breath sand floating in front of him. However, not only did he not manage to get rid of them, they stuck to the edge of his palms.

A very thin hole appeared on the side of his palm and the majestic and awe-inspiring Great Spirit flowed out of his body through the bloody hole, dissipating into the air instantly.

Ning Que understood what was happening.

He cultivated in the Great Spirit and had long joined the Devil. Tang and the Desolate warriors also cultivated in the arts of the Devil’s Doctrine. They each had a world in their bodies where they stored plenty of Qi of Heaven and Earth.

According to Haotian Taoism, the Devil’s Doctrine is of the devil because those who cultivated in it created their own world. This was disrespectful to Haotian. And the root of it was that cultivators in the Devil’s Doctrine would continue to take in the Qi of Heaven and Earth in nature. If this situation was allowed to continue, the Qi of Heaven and Earth would dry up eventually.

The Giant Golden Dragon represented Haotian’s will. To it, Ning Que and The Desolate were shameless thieves who had been stealing Haotian’s wealth. It would of course want to retrieve the wealth that they had stolen.

The dragon’s breath, which was like gold sand, fluttered across the Wilderness and landed on Ning Que and the others. It wanted to take away the Qi of Heaven and Earth in their bodies and purify the world, returning it to its original light state.

This process was Haotian’s divine punishment.

And it was also salvation.

In Helan City in the distance, His Majesty looked at the shimmering sky of Divine Light and at the Golden Dragon’s head. He was silent and grave.

The Golden Dragon’s head spat dragon’s breath onto the Wilderness. It was like golden sand and a rainstorm. Somehow, when the Emperor saw this, he suddenly paled and appeared to be in pain.

Master Huang Yang’s expression was very serious. His right wrist emerged from his monk robe’s sleeves and he held the Emperor’s left hand. There was a string of sandalwood prayer beads winded around his wrists. The beads slid down like running water and onto the emperor’s wrist.

A compassionate Buddhist aura sprang forth as the beads were slipped on. The Emperor felt the aura within his body that had been tormenting him for years calm slightly, and his complexion partially improved.

Master Huang Yang, however, was still worried. No longer willing to allow the Emperor to watch the battle on the tower, he forcibly helped the Emperor in.

In the deepest room of the rock-built tower, the Empress was holding the young prince. She was very pale and traces of blood coated her lips.

The young prince cried at the Emperor, “Father, quick, take a look at mother. What’s wrong with her?”

The Empress smiled at the Emperor wanly and shook her head, signaling that she was fine.

The Emperor stopped in front of her and took the prayer beads off his right wrist, slipping them on hers without hesitating.

Master Huang Yang watched the scene and sighed heavily to himself.

Deep in the extreme Western Wilderness.

All the monks of the Xuankong Temple had already sequestered themselves into various yellow temples, large and small. Mists swirled around, enveloping the entire mountain peak. Only the faint sounds of scripture chanting could be heard, but nothing could be seen.

At the highest point of the peak, above the mists and the earth’s surface, one could see a distant image and see that the skies of the east were growing increasingly bright.

The Chief Preaching Monk of the Xuankong Temple looked to the east, holding his monk’s staff. His eyes had long been dried up by the light, unable to find any vapor to moisten them. However, he did not suffer any harm.

The light in the east grew and the dark night was eclipsed by it. However, it did not disappear but was completely covered. The chief monk did not look joyful, only weary and grave.

Haotian’s Giant Golden Dragon had appeared and light shone throughout the world.

Except for a few people, no one in the world could look up to heaven.

Light was not only warm but also dignified. What it needed was not closeness but reverence. That was why light allowed humans to know about its existence but never allowed them to see its directly.

In the chariot on the Wilderness, Ye Hongyu had once attempted to look up at the Giant Golden Dragon. She had instantly felt a stabbing pain and teared up, and the divine light in her eyes melted away. She could only look down expressionlessly once more.

Being unable to look up at the sky did not mean that one couldn’t know of the divine battle in the sky.

Countless cities, countless villages and towns, mountains and rivers, and people knelt beneath the light. They saw the reflections on the ground and watched nervously as the war between the light and darkness progressed.

Countless believers of Haotian gathered in the nearest Taoist temple and chanted scriptures and prayed incessantly. They prayed for blessings to be bestowed upon the allied troops on the Wilderness and showed their piousness to Haotian. They expressed great joy and sorrow and were hysterical.

As the light gradually overwhelmed the darkness, the happy cries of people rushed up into the skies. There were many who fainted from the delirium and some who woke up from it, heading straight into the divine world of Haotian.

In the deep mountains of West-Hill, was a simple Taoist temple. The temple was probably one of the least well-known amongst believers of Haotian Taoism. However, it was also the most important Taoist temple in Haotian Taoism.

Behind the Taoist temple was a red clay mountain covered with green vines. There were countless deep caves in the mountain, and in these caves, resided many powerful and terrifying Haotian Taoism powerhouses.

Those powerful auras seeped out from the green hills. They watched the changes in the sky, enjoying the light that streamed down from the Giant Golden Dragon and were gradually moved. Occasionally, deep and happy laughter could be heard.

Dragon’s breath was the actual breath of the dragon. Inhaling comes after exhaling.

The Golden Dragon’s head in the sky opened its mouth and the dragon’s body suddenly thickened. On the Wilderness, there was a sudden gust of wind, ripping and whirling through the lands, sweeping up the golden grains of sand scattered on the ground.

From a distance, it seemed as if there was a whirlwind between heaven and earth. The thinner end was where the golden dragon’s head was while the thicker portion was on the ground. The wind swept by and where it passed, sand and stone would fly up.

As those golden grains of sand left the ground, the aura of Heaven and Earth in the bodies of The Desolate soldiers on the Wilderness was sucked away by that tornado.

While the naked eye could not make out the process, Ning Que could sense it because the Giant Golden Dragon had sucked up plenty of Great Spirit from him. When he looked up again, the Golden Dragon’s head in his sunglasses was not as dignified or bright but looked bloody, terrifying and greedy.

The night in the north had slowly retreated, the Big Black Umbrella no longer had to spew out aura. The connection between Sangsang and the night had been broken and the aura surrounding her had been purified. Dust and gravel danced in the wind.

Sangsang’s feet had left the surface of the ground, away from the ice and snow that were like white lotuses as she floated up to the sky.

The Giant Golden Dragon looked at her nonchalantly.

Sangsang’s clothes rustled in the whirlwind.

Sangsang flew towards the sky, towards the mouth of the Giant Golden Dragon.

Sangsang turned around and looked at Ning Que. Her eyes were filled with fear and her expression was of helplessness.

Ning Que jumped up and hugged her legs, wanting to pull her back onto earth.

But he could not do so.

Sangsang continued to fly towards the sky, bringing him along with her.

Haotian wanted Sangsang.

Haotian did not want him.

That was why while Sangsang’s body became very light, his body suddenly grew as heavy as a mountain.

There were two cracks, and his arms which were holding onto Sangsang shattered.

But he did not let go.

Since he had caught her, he would never ever let go.

He would not let her go even if his arms broke.

He would not let her go even if he died.

A faint glimmer flashed across his lashes and the earth seemed to no longer hold any attraction. Ning Que hugged on to Sangsang and with the dragon’s breath, they both flew into the sky and towards the mouth of the Giant Golden Dragon.

Their hair and clothes danced in the air, looking like two black flowers. Ning Que began to bleed due to the pressure of light, and blood flowed from the black petal, falling onto the Wilderness.

On the Wilderness, the Big Black Horse ran frantically, pulling the carriage behind it. It seemed to have forgotten its fear as it ran after the two in the sky, neighing in anger and sadness from time to time.

Ning Que looked at it and said hoarsely, “It’s so stupid.”

Then he looked up and saw a patch of light in the sky above his head. There was nothing but light and it seemed so pure, just like death. So, he knew that death was approaching.

He had made many choices in his life. Now, it seemed as if those choices were really meaningless. Just like how he had, at the last moment, chosen to jump into the sky to embrace Sangsang.

However, sometimes, choices were fraught with meaning.

He looked at Sangsang and smiled.

Sangsang looked at him and smiled.

Then, their bodies suddenly stopped, no longer flying towards the light and the sky.

Because a hand had reached up into the sky and caught hold of Ning Que’s leg.