Cannot Smell the Flowers Bloom

You're saying this is your body?

Yun Jingheng's voice was more steady than he had expected, "But you said your body died a thousand years ago. So what does this body I have to do with you?"

Zhao Yunhong's body stiffened slightly.

"The body reshaped by time reversal is only 'from the same source' as your original body, but not the same one; the blood in our veins is different."

Yun Jingheng stared into his eyes. "You say I've usurped your place, but the nest was originally empty. I just moved in."

"Empty nest?"

Zhao Yunhong's voice suddenly lowered, like a rumble of thunder before a storm, "The blessing from another dimension is attached to my body, which means 'the nest will never be empty'! As long as I return, the blessing will recognize me!"

"But it doesn't recognize you."

Yun Jingheng said, slowly and deliberately, "It recognized me."

The sea of blood suddenly boiled.

Zhao Yunhong's red eyes blazed with fury, but he did not make a move.

Because Yun Jingheng hit the nail on the head.

The authority never refused Yun Jingheng's request to use Moonlight.

This is true.

You don't understand.

Zhao Yunhong's voice suddenly turned cold, losing its previous sharpness, "You think you're using 'your power'? Every wisp of Moonlight you used was something I had, taken when I wasn't around!"

He raised his hand, his five fingers spread wide.

A ray of silvery-white light shone in his palm; it was Moonlight, yet it was purer and more profound than anything Yun Jingheng had ever released.

"The power over the moon is in my hands."

Zhao Yunhong clenched his fist, crushing the sliver of Moonlight in his grasp. "What you used was just the fragments that leaked out."

"So what?"

Yun Jingheng's question stunned Zhao Yunhong.

"The debris was also something I created."

Yun Jingheng's voice was unnaturally calm. "Twelve years. I used this Moonlight to protect those I wanted to protect. Can you do that?"

The sea of blood fell silent at that moment, a silence that felt like someone had been choked.

Zhao Yunhong looked at Yun Jingheng.

Yun Jingheng looked at Zhao Yunhong.

Two identical faces confront each other in the blood-red Abyss.

"You..."

Zhao Yunhong's voice was a little hoarse, "You think you've won?"

"I didn't win. You didn't lose either."

Yun Jingheng said, "We're just standing here, and neither of us can touch the other, because you can't kill me. If you kill me, your authority will lose its vessel."

Zhao Yunhong did not deny it.

Yes, authority without a container is prone to dissipation, although it may be temporarily stabilized by other authorities until it re-emerges.

But the moon is different; no authority can temporarily replace its existence.

When the vessel that holds the authority dissipates, the moon's authority will inevitably collapse, the moon will Destruction, and the plane will be severely damaged.

"I won't let you devour me either."

Yun Jingheng continued, "Because someone is still waiting for me."

Another silence fell.

So we're just going to waste our time here?

Zhao Yunhong sneered, "Wait until the end of time?"

"No, it won't."

Yun Jingheng said, "The power will be chosen."

Zhao Yunhong's pupils suddenly contracted.

What are you talking about?

You know better than I do.

Yun Jingheng looked into his eyes, "The Moon Authority isn't inanimate; it possesses a vague will. It hesitates between you and me, which is why we are both alive. Until the day it stops hesitating—"

"Shut up!"

Zhao Yunhong's voice was almost a shout.

The sea of blood boiled once more, and countless scarlet chains shot out from the Abyss, coiling towards Yun Jingheng like venomous snakes.

But Yun Jingheng did not dodge.

He just stood there, looking at Zhao Yunhong.

The chains stopped in front of him.

It was only an inch from his throat.

You don't dare.

Yun Jingheng said, "Power is watching. If you resort to violence, it will lean more towards me."

Zhao Yunhong's arms were trembling.

The chain hung there, like a taut string.

"How... how do you know all this?"

Zhao Yunhong's voice lowered, no longer filled with anger, but with a sense of... weariness.

"That moon has hung in the Sea of Spirit for twelve years, how could I not know anything about it? I just never tell anyone."

A sea of blood surged.

The confrontation between the two was like two swords pressed against each other's throats.

Whoever moves first loses.

Whoever retreats first dies.

This was a stalemate that lasted for an unknown period of time.

Time seemed to freeze in the sea of blood; there was no alternation of day and night, only endless dark red and two people.

Yun Jingheng didn't know how much longer he could hold on.

His consciousness began to blur, and the space itself was eroding him.

Zhao Yunhong wasn't much better off.

His figure began to become unstable, with fragments of light appearing at the edges.

It wasn't due to the depletion of his strength, but rather because his soul was slowly dissipating due to the prolonged lack of physical "suspension."

Both of them were waiting.

The choice of equal authority.

And then it arrived.

The first ray of light rose from the deepest part of the sea of blood.

It wasn't the silvery Moonlight, but a kind of... extremely pale white, like the last moments of the sky before dawn.

Yun Jingheng sensed its arrival.

That ray of light pierced his soul, carrying a cold, bone-chilling tenderness.

"New Moon?"

Zhao Yunhong's voice came from the other side, carrying an indescribable bitterness.

"The New Moon was given to you."

Before Yun Jingheng could react, a second ray of light rose from the sea of blood.

This time it was silvery-white, brighter than New Moon, with a slight curve.

"Crescent Moon..."

The third strand.

Full Moon.

Round, full, like a complete pearl, it slowly rose from the depths of the sea of blood and hovered above Yun Jingheng.

Three rays of moonlight.

Three chains.

One end of them is connected to the core of the authority, an existence that Yun Jingheng cannot see, hidden in the deepest darkness of the Blood Sea; the other end is connected to Yun Jingheng's soul.

Yun Jingheng felt his soul being reshaped, the cracks eroded by the blood mist were healing, but more importantly, he felt the change in his Martial Soul.

It's not the Moonlight Sword anymore.

Or rather, it's not just the Moonlight Sword anymore.

He gazed into the depths of the sea of blood.

The moonlight had not yet risen.

Zhao Yunhong was also watching.

He knew what had happened better than Yun Jingheng.

Three chains extend from the Authority Core.

The dark blue Dark Moon, the purple Calamity Moon, and the red Blood Moon did not fly towards Yun Jingheng, but hovered in mid-air, carrying a heart-palpitating sense of oppression.

They spun slowly in the blood mist, as if searching for something.

Ultimately, Dark Moon and Calamity Moon chose Zhao Yunhong.

And the Blood Moon—

The deepest part, suspended between the two, was like a taut string.

It did not fly towards Yun Jingheng, nor towards Zhao Yunhong.

It is waiting.

"Do you know...?"

"New Moon, Crescent Moon, Full Moon, representing protection."

Zhao Yunhong spoke, his voice extremely hoarse.

He looked at the three beams of moonlight above Yun Jingheng's head, and something seemed to shatter in his red eyes.

"Dark Moon, Calamity Moon, Blood Moon, all represent slaughter."

He looked down at his hands; in the space of authority, his hands had somehow transformed into dark, sharp claws.

"And the Blood Moon..."

He didn't continue.

There was a long silence.

"It chose it."

Zhao Yunhong's voice was very low, "But it chose half for each person, it wants us... to share?"

This is a 3-2 result.

I don't accept it.

Zhao Yunhong's voice was calm.

But that calm was more chilling than any roar.

"I don't accept sharing a heart with anyone," he said.

He raised his head, his red eyes reflecting the three beams of moonlight that had already flown towards Yun Jingheng.

"I don't accept... the moon truly chose you."

The sea of blood began to flow backward.

It wasn't the feeling of fighting, but rather...

Destruction.

Yun Jingheng sensed it.

Zhao Yunhong was not attacking him, but attacking the authority itself.

The power of Dark Moon and Calamity Moon surged from his soul, transforming into two dark torrents that flowed against the direction of the sea of blood, rushing toward the core of authority, that darkest place hidden within.

"You're insane!"

Yun Jingheng roared, "Do you know what you're doing?!"

"If I don't deserve a complete moon to purify the world..."

Zhao Yunhong's voice came from the torrent, carrying a resolute yet heartbreaking calm.

"Then there shouldn't be a moon in this world."

All six chains trembled simultaneously.

The New Moon, Crescent Moon, and Full Moon —the three chains already attached to Yun Jingheng began to tremble violently.

Dark Moon and Calamity Moon, the two chains in Zhao Yunhong's hands, began to rotate in opposite directions.

And the Blood Moon—

The chain hanging between the two began to crack.

Power is in pain.

Yun Jingheng could sense it.

Not through any of his senses, but through the three chains binding him, what he felt was no longer the coolness of the Moonlight, but a burning, tearing pain, like his heart being gripped by a hand.

"Stop!"

Yun Jingheng wanted to rush out, but his legs wouldn't move in the sea of blood. Authority was protecting him, preventing him from getting close to the one who was Destruction it.

"Why should I stop?!"

Zhao Yunhong's voice came from the dark torrent, carrying a crazy, hysterical laugh.

"Power has chosen you! It has chosen a result I cannot accept!"

"If you don't accept it, you're going to destroy it?!"

"It shouldn't have existed in the first place!"

The dark torrent surged even more fiercely.

The darkness at the Authority Core began to tremble, as if it could not withstand the attack.

The three chains binding Yun Jingheng emitted a sharp clang.

It wasn't the sound of metal rubbing together, but rather... a sound like the moon crying.

Yun Jingheng's body began to feel hot.

The power of the New Moon, Crescent Moon, and Full Moon is being poured forth wildly, and authority is being "entrusted"—

It knew it couldn't hold on.

It's giving him everything it can.

"No..."

Yun Jingheng gritted his teeth.

He did not want authority to be "entrusted" to him.

Authority must live, otherwise...

He raised his hand, towards the direction of the dark torrent, and with all his might—not to unleash his power, but...

"Zhao Yunhong!"

He called out that name.

It was a sound that... he didn't know how to describe.

"You say you can't accept the moon choosing someone else—then tell me, what constitutes a fair selection?"

The dark torrent paused for a moment.

"You have had no body for a thousand years, but the moon has not abandoned you; it has always held its authority over you, waiting for you for a thousand years."

"I spent twelve years, and all I got in return was a tiny piece. Is that fair?! Is that fair to me?!"

"It didn't choose anyone! It's waiting! Waiting for us to give it an answer!"

Yun Jingheng's voice echoed through the sea of blood.

"You say you can't accept splitting it in half, but how do you know it will end up being split in half?! How do you know it's not watching?! Let's see if we can turn it into a whole!"

Zhao Yunhong's expression was calm, as if he didn't care about anything anymore. "You don't understand anything at all."

"I can no longer distinguish between 'the killing that needs to be done' and 'the killing that I want to do'."

"All I know is... I can no longer smell the flowers blooming, I can no longer hear the rain, I can only smell blood, and I can only hear wails."

He looked up, something shattering in his red eyes.

"I've become... the kind of thing I was supposed to kill."