Hongyun's Fall, The One that Escaped

"Since you insist on hounding me so relentlessly, I will never let you have your way!"

"Since you want the Primordial Purple Qi, then go fight over it!"

Hongyun, his entire body tainted by Solar True Fire, felt both his True Spirit and cultivation constantly dissipating. In this situation, he had already understood his fate.

Watching Zhen Yuanzi cough blood as Donghuang Taiyi battered him without cease, Hongyun finally made up his mind.

This was his karma. He could not allow his only close friend, Zhen Yuanzi, to be dragged into it.

Since he could not keep the Primordial Purple Qi, he might as well let it return to heaven and earth, becoming The One that Escaped once more!

"What are you trying to do?!"

Seeing the resolute look on Hongyun's face, Dijun's expression changed at once, and a dreadful premonition rose in his heart.

Then his eyes split wide with fury. Hongyun had actually drawn that strand of Primordial Purple Qi from his Primordial Spirit.

This Primordial Purple Qi was bathed in Dao radiance, brimming with dense power of the Heavenly Dao.

As the foundation for attaining the Dao, this Primordial Purple Qi had been nurtured by the Heavenly Dao with utmost effort. The instant Hongyun took it out, it drew the eyes of everyone present.

Whether it was Dijun, Taiyi, or even Kunpeng, who was currently trapped within the red sand, all revealed fervent expressions.

Kunpeng erupted with all his strength, repeatedly assaulting Hongyun's Soul-Scattering Sand.

He wanted the Primordial Purple Qi far too badly.

He wanted to improve far too badly!

"Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Then go fight over it!"

Feeling his True Spirit continuously being seared away, a fierce glint flashed through Hongyun's eyes. He then abruptly shattered space.

Endless torrents of void turbulence poured forth. In the shocked and furious gazes of Dijun, Donghuang Taiyi, and Kunpeng, he casually threw that strand of Primordial Purple Qi into the spatial rift leading to an unknown destination.

The moment the Primordial Purple Qi left Hongyun's control, it shot into the spatial vortex and vanished without a trace!

"Damn it!"

"Hongyun, I want you dead!"

Dijun's face twisted hideously. Terrifying Solar True Fire surged continuously from his body, laws roiling around him as the River Chart and Luo Script burst forth with boundless divine light, finally striking Hongyun's body head-on.

Boom!

The tremendous blast resounded across countless billions of miles. Heaven and earth lost their color, as though mourning the fall of an Innate Divine Being.

After killing Hongyun, Dijun immediately began repeatedly using the River Chart and Luo Script for divination, praying to obtain news of the Primordial Purple Qi.

He tore through space and vanished.

Donghuang Taiyi no longer lingered either. He cast Zhen Yuanzi a cold glance before following Dijun away.

With Hongyun dead, the Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul-Dispelling Gourd was damaged as well, flying off at random.

With no one controlling it, the Soul-Scattering Sand trapping Kunpeng naturally lost its hold, allowing him to escape with ease.

Kunpeng, who did not possess a Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, naturally coveted Hongyun's gourd immensely, but this was clearly not the right time.

The grief-stricken Zhen Yuanzi had completely lost his reason.

The Earth Book in his hand continuously poured out terrifying energy fluctuations.

The earth trembled, and the power of the earth veins endlessly enveloped Zhen Yuanzi's body.

His strength, already at the mid-stage of the Quasi-Sage realm, faintly showed signs of rising further through the earth veins.

Kunpeng's cultivation had never matched Zhen Yuanzi's. How could he dare remain any longer?

He cast an unwilling glance at the Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul-Dispelling Gourd flying into the distance.

In the end, following the lingering auras of Dijun and Taiyi, he also tore through space and fled at top speed!

"Hongyun!"

Zhen Yuanzi's aura erupted wildly. He was incomparably furious—his close friend had actually been slain by Dijun before his very eyes!

He clenched his fists, intending to fight to the death.

Just as he tore open space and was about to step inside, his expression suddenly froze, and he looked into the distance with surprised delight in his eyes.

He sensed a familiar aura. Though weak, he could feel it clearly and truly.

The aura of his close friend.

Had Hongyun not fallen?

At Five Villages Temple, Jing Chu was flying through the air when his expression suddenly changed. A red divine light shot straight toward him.

Treasure radiance emanated from the divine light. It was unmistakably a spiritual treasure.

Thinking of the great battle that had just taken place between heaven and earth, Jing Chu seemed to understand something. He immediately reached out toward the incoming divine light.

Although the Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul-Dispelling Gourd was a Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure that Patriarch Hongyun had refined for many years, with no one controlling it, Jing Chu naturally seized it with ease.

"A red gourd... is it truly Senior Hongyun's spiritual treasure?"

The divine light faded in his hand, revealing a red gourd measuring three feet and three inches.

Looking at the Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure in his hand, Jing Chu did not have any particularly strong designs on it. He merely felt somewhat wistful.

In the Primordial World, the greater tide could not be changed, but lesser currents could. He did not know whether Patriarch Hongyun's death counted as a greater tide or a lesser current within the boundless calamity.

However, it was said that this Senior Hongyun had not truly died completely.

It seemed that he would be reincarnated in the future and eventually enter the sect of Jing Chu's Second Martial Uncle.

If that was truly the case, Jing Chu spread out his Primordial Spirit, his divine sense directly enveloping the Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul-Dispelling Gourd.

Sure enough, just as he had guessed, the instant his divine sense entered the Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul-Dispelling Gourd, it was blocked by an obviously weakened Primordial Spirit.

"I never expected to be discovered by you, little friend."

Hongyun, who had stripped off a wisp of his own Primordial Spirit before his fall and hidden inside the gourd, was now incomparably weak.

After being discovered by Jing Chu, he could only reveal a helpless smile.

Hongyun, now exposed, did not say much. He immediately floated out of the gourd and landed directly before Jing Chu.

"It was only an accident. I never expected Senior to be hiding within the Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul-Dispelling Gourd."

"Jing Chu of Shangqing's lineage greets Senior!"

Although Hongyun was severely wounded now, left with only this weak wisp of Primordial Spirit, Jing Chu harbored no ill intentions toward him.

Though the Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul-Dispelling Gourd was a Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure and an exceedingly rare one at that, it held little temptation for Jing Chu.

Besides, this was near Five Villages Temple. If he extinguished this wisp of Hongyun's Primordial Spirit here, setting aside everything else, even the arriving Zhen Yuanzi would tear him to pieces.

"So you are Fellow Daoist Tongtian's disciple. You were the one who informed Zhen Yuanzi to seek me out, weren't you? What a pity that we had to meet under such circumstances."

"The Demon Court acted too swiftly. Donghuang Taiyi wielded the Chaos Bell, which also restrained Brother Zhen Yuanzi."

"I have failed your good intentions. I am truly sorry."

"It seems I will have to make you wait for some time before I can repay this karma."

Hongyun felt deeply helpless about his current predicament. He had clearly received the warning and had even been together with Zhen Yuanzi.

Yet he still failed to escape the fate of falling.

Alas, it was all because of the Chaos Bell's power.

To affect time and reverse the River of Time—it was truly terrifying, wholly worthy of the might of an Innate Supreme Treasure!