The same night covered the entire majestic Spirit City.
Outside the city, in the dense forest, the night wind howled. Tang San was deeply caught in a game of chess, glimpsing the truth of destiny, but was forcibly silenced by the Asura God, drowning in ignorance and confusion.
The moonlight in the Tranquil Mind Hall was cool and gentle. Xiao Wu broke free from the illusion of love she had been trapped in for years, stripped away her attachments, returned to her true self, and finally awoke from her dream, taking control of her own life.
Throughout the entire city, all living beings break free from confusion, question fate, and rediscover themselves tonight.
Only the Pope's Palace at the highest point is isolated from the gentle moonlight, leaving only a perpetual chill and deathly silence.
Bibi Dong sat alone on the empty, cold Pope throne, her crown robes solemn and dignified.
His face was calm and expressionless, his eyes showed no emotion whatsoever, only an extreme indifference.
The flickering candlelight inside the hall made her solitary figure appear even more aloof, creating a stark contrast with the changing moods of the two halls below.
She spread her divine sense and easily detected all the remaining traces of life within the city.
The lingering warmth of the chaotic Angel Holy Light in the air was still present, a trace of Qian Renxue's torn mind and her questioning of the divine oracle.
The gentle, pure pink Soul Power flowed smoothly through the Tranquil Mind Hall, without any lingering attachments or dependence. This was proof that the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit had completely awakened and severed its obsessions.
A deep, dark red aura of malevolence lingered in the woods outside the city, carrying with it the boy's unsolvable confusion—the predicament of the Asura successor, imprisoned by divinity and trapped in a game of chess.
Overnight, all three were defeated.
Some were suspicious, some were trying to save themselves, and some were trying to peek into the situation.
All living beings have the opportunity to break free from their shackles and embrace a new life.
Only she was trapped in the bloodshed and darkness of the past, with nowhere to retreat and never thinking of turning back.
People lament her ruthlessness and brutality, and spit on her bloody hands that wreaked havoc on the continent.
Bibi Dong knew better than anyone that she was never innocent.
Her suffering was real; the humiliation of being crushed by fate, manipulated by the gods, and wantonly trampled on by others for half her life was unforgettable. But her sins were also real.
Over the years, she has slaughtered sects, hunted countless innocent Soul Beast, stirred up wars on the continent, and left mountains of corpses. No one has ever forced her to go to such lengths.
Fate gave her many scars, but never forced her to drag the entire continent down with her.
She could have remained silent and indifferent, she could have kept to herself, she could have focused on her own grudges and spared the world.
But she didn't.
All the violence, all the madness, all the evil that harmed the innocent were choices she made step by step while fully conscious.
She is pitiful, but definitely not innocent.
She was not in control of her own destiny, yet she chose the darkest path for herself.
My thoughts surged and churned, traversing the long years, returning to the initial nightmare.
The world believes that Qian Xunji was driven by rampant selfishness and moral depravity, which led her to commit despicable acts and ruin her life.
Bibi Dong was in the thick of it all and saw through all the rules, saw things far more clearly than anyone else.
As the legitimate Pope of the Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji inherited the legacy of the Angel God. Throughout his life, he upheld the principles of light, devoutly served the gods, and strictly disciplined himself.
He dedicated his entire life to maintaining order within the Spirit Hall and protecting the so-called light of the continent.
His faith was pure and unwavering, and he was never swayed by worldly desires.
But the truth of the world is that the stronger the light, the more endlessly darkness is born.
Ultimate light has no capacity for tolerance, only absolute order and control.
Ultimate justice tolerates no change; it will only forcibly imprison, crush, and possess anything that is out of control.
Bibi Dong, however, was born to be the greatest variable in this angelic chess game.
Innate Full Soul Power, twin dark Martial Soul, and talent that surpasses all others throughout history, yet she wants to leave the Spirit Hall that nurtured her for the sake of a useless person.
This was what Qian Xunji found most intolerable, and the Pope, who was the most devoted to light, thus gave rise to the most extreme dark obsession.
He wasn't lusting after beautiful women, but rather afraid of losing control.
He cannot squander this once-in-a-lifetime talent, nor waste this divinely bestowed piece.
We must not allow her to grow up freely and break away from the Spirit Hall.
So he chose the most obsessive and darkest method: forced confinement in a locked room.
Using the most twisted methods, they locked her life away within the Spirit Hall.
Light gives rise to darkness; good and evil share the same origin.
It was never the depravity of one person, but rather the inherent distortion within the Angel God and divine heart.
The so-called sacred order is nothing more than exclusion and control; the ultimate light ultimately breeds the ultimate darkness.
The humiliation and despair at that moment were not simply personal grudges, but a predetermined sacrifice under the chessboard of the gods.
The mark of the Rakshasa God Rooting her soul precisely when she was shattered in body and mind and on the verge of despair.
An angel drove her to the brink of despair, Rakshasa was reborn through her hatred.
In the fierce battle between the two supreme deities, she was merely a pawn to be fought over and used from beginning to end.
She saw through this game long ago.
Having seen through Qian Daoliu, he dedicated his life solely to fulfilling the Angel Inheritance.
He saw through Qian Xunji adherence to the light, yet was ultimately consumed by the darkness nurtured by that light.
Having seen through the millennia-long standoff between angels and Rakshasa, the so-called good and evil are merely pretexts for a power struggle among the gods.
She saw through destiny earlier than Tang San, questioned the gods earlier than Qian Renxue, and understood better than anyone else that all living beings are merely pawns in a game of chess.
But she did not choose to break free, nor did she choose to save herself.
The moment fate crushed her gentleness and innocence, she cut off all her escape routes with her own hands.
Since the gods toyed with her suffering, trapped her with a game of chess, and forced her into darkness.
So she followed her heart, embracing evil and using it to punish the world.
The gods desired order, so she disrupted the order of the world.
The gods, desiring peace for all living beings, instigated war and disrupted the universe.
The gods saw her as a pawn, and she dragged the entire game, the entire continent, down with her into decay and corruption.
She never defended her evil deeds, nor did she pity her own plight.
Suffering was imposed by the gods, and sin was her own choice.
One moment of depravity, and there is no escape; yet, there is no regret.
Deep within her mind, the Rakshasa God's cold and sinister whispers slowly echoed, layer upon layer, devouring her soul and amplifying the hatred and resentment in her heart.
"Ascend to the throne of godhood, settle accounts with everything, and crush all the man and god who shackle you."
Familiar seduction, familiar manipulation.
Bibi Dong remained indifferent and unmoved.
She knew Rakshasa God's thoughts all too well.
This dark deity will never truly redeem her; it will only drain her hatred, her talent, and her soul day after day, until the day she succeeds, that will be the day she is completely harvested.
Angels plot for bloodlines, Rakshasa plot for souls.
None of the gods and spirits are pure; they all use sentient beings as pawns and their obsessions as weapons.
She raised her eyes, her gaze piercing through the layers of palace walls, quietly looking in the direction of the Tranquil Mind Hall.
That pink Soul Power was clear and firm, without a trace of the girl's timidity and dependence.
Xiao Wu woke up.
Both are Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast burdened with deep-seated hatred, both have been caught up in the game of chess for half their lives, and both have been held back by human kindness.
But in her desperate situation, she chose to rediscover her true self, to stand alone, and to confront her grievances honestly rather than succumb to darkness and bring ruin upon others.
A faint, fleeting sense of envy quietly crossed my mind.
Being trapped in a game of chess doesn't necessarily mean falling into darkness.
It turns out that carrying hatred doesn't necessarily mean slaughtering the world.
Then I looked again at the lone, solitary figure of the young man in the woods outside the city.
Bearing a soul from another world, he was originally the only variable to transcend the game, but he was trapped by his obsession and firmly locked by his Asura God.
He clearly saw the truth, yet was powerless to break free; he considered himself the one in control, but ultimately became trapped in the game.
Then I thought of my daughter, who was plagued by inner demons within the palace.
Qian Renxue possesses the purest source of light, but has been bound by her family and divine pronouncements throughout her life. Now, she finally begins to have doubts and starts to break free from the shackles of the gods.
She still has purity, a way out, and the possibility of being redeemed.
Overnight, all three were given a new lease on life.
She alone, long ago, personally severed all hope and escape routes.
Darkness was her armor, and also her prison; hatred was her weapon, and also her epitaph.
A night breeze swept through the Pope's Palace, stirring the solemn robes of those inside, and a chill ran through them.
Bibi Dong slowly withdrew her gaze, her eyes remaining indifferent, devoid of sorrow or joy.
She never regretted her own evil deeds, nor did she resent the world's scorn.
But suddenly she wanted to take a look.
Let's see if that Soft Bone Rabbit, who has awakened its true nature, can forge a completely different path.
Let's see if these Soul Beast, also burdened with the scars of destiny, can break free from the game laid out by the gods and live out their true selves.
Everyone else was trying to break free from the impasse, but she chose darkness, imprisoning herself for life.