The Final Request

"He... isn't Bai Heng." Jingliu's dark red pupils sank as she tightened her grip on the Zhilí Sword, which had nearly shattered.

The Ancient Dragon seemed to have heard her as well. He tilted his head slightly and glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"Of course I'm not him. But you should be glad for it. After all, symbiosis with me will keep this body from sinking beneath the weight of time, from rotting away with the years. It may even let him ascend to a higher dimension. The lives of those short-lived species are nothing more than waves breaking against black reefs—fragile and laughable. Don't you agree, Luofu's Sword Champion? Or should I call you... Master Jingliu?"

Jingliu was instantly engulfed by a bone-chilling cold. She bit through her thin lips, her blood-red eyes trembling with rage.

"You have no right to call me that."

She lowered her stance, forcing her heavy body to relax as she swung the Zhilí Sword. Countless icy gleams, wrapped around blade light, descended upon the Ancient Dragon.

At that moment, her body was like a taut bowstring, ready to snap at any instant.

Yet her sword showed no reduction in speed. Icy blossoms bloomed amid the sword light, their frozen petals spreading like blades.

The Ancient Dragon merely casually swung his weapon to meet her strikes.

"I inherited his memories and devoured his emotions. Why would I not have the right?" the Ancient Dragon asked, his face still carrying a mocking smile.

Jingliu's swordplay was like a sudden storm of ice rain. Though fierce in momentum, it could barely harm him at all.

He raised a hand. A black sun like a black hole roared, and a torrent of black flames surged forth, swallowing the frost.

In the distance, Bai Heng raised the curved bow in his hand and drew an arrow. Wild winds wrapped around violent air currents, gathering upon the bow.

But the several streaming arrows turned to ash the instant they touched the black flames.

The Ancient Dragon had no interest in continuing this meaningless game. He lightly pinched the seed of Shuhu, Emanator of Abundance, between two fingers and placed it into his mouth.

After successfully swallowing the seed, a rush of heat rose from his lungs, like boiling magma being poured into his mouth—brutal and domineering.

The Ancient Dragon could feel it. The strength worn away in his earlier battle with Shuhu was gradually returning.

The deathly aura of Destruction intertwined with Abundance's golden branches.

This was the intertwining of life and death.

The Ancient Dragon's crimson-gold pupils seemed to deepen further. Holding the Soul Severance Sword in one hand, he dragged it forward from where it had been embedded.

The blade easily sliced through the scorched earth. Wherever it passed, grass and trees withered, and blood dried up.

Before Jingliu could react, the Ancient Dragon vanished.

She spun around sharply, only to feel an immense force strike her abdomen.

Jingliu brought the Zhilí Sword before herself as quickly as possible, but that force still left her body with a powerful sense of weightlessness.

Her body smashed through an unknown number of broken ice pillars before she finally dropped to one knee, one hand braced against the Zhilí Sword embedded in the ice.

Her fragile body had been struck by the Ancient Dragon's kick. Blood spilled from her pale lips, staining that cold, beautiful face that had not lost even a trace of color.

Jingliu gritted her teeth and tried to stand again, but she felt as though every muscle and bone in her body had shattered. She had no strength left to rise. It seemed that the final taut string within her had snapped as well.

Her face was painted red with blood as she looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar figure before her. In the end, she slowly released her five fingers from the sword hilt.

The Ancient Dragon's footsteps grew clear beside her ears. Every step drowned out the turmoil in her heart.

The black sun churned above Jingliu's head. The Ancient Dragon stopped, and there was only indifference in his crimson-gold eyes.

"Lady Sword Champion, allow me to repay your kindness in teaching me with this move."

He raised his hand.

The light of the black sun became increasingly blinding, impossible to look at directly. Transparent ice released white mist and gradually melted into liquid. Jingliu could feel her organs boiling as the scorching heat pressed against her nerves.

Was it finally going to end...?

Jingliu instinctively closed her eyes. A suffocating heat wave rushed toward her, but what followed was the sound of bones breaking, along with that all-too-familiar tone.

"Old bastard... have you had enough... cough..."

In her daze, a crisp snap of fingers sounded beside Jingliu's ear. The composite mass of energy wrapped in deathly aura vanished instantly.

She slowly opened her eyes, only to discover Bai Heng gripping a dark-gold dragon horn in his hand.

Bai Heng's slender fingers gripped the broken dragon horn. At the same time, a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips and fell onto the snow that had yet to melt.

"Bai Heng?" Jingliu's voice was hoarse, and her dark red pupils contracted.

"Master Jingliu, don't worry... we'll be able to go home soon." Bai Heng gave her a comforting smile. It was still the same smile as before, unchanged in the slightest.

After saying that, he placed his hand on the other dragon horn. Strength surged from his palm, and bone-piercing pain spread throughout his body from the horn.

Yet Bai Heng found joy in the pain—exhilaration in it, utter release in it. He increased his strength. A cracking sound rang out, and the dragon horn, perhaps harder than any metal in the world, was forcibly snapped off.

To him, the dragon horns at that moment were like bones within his body.

Breaking them was no different from tearing out his own flesh and bones. But precisely because of that, Bai Heng could gain a brief moment of clarity.

"I knew an old bastard like you couldn't possibly mean well. Good thing I learned the technique of splitting consciousness from Dan Feng earlier, or you really would've succeeded... Behave yourself... You've been arrogant for so long. It's about time it was my turn, isn't it?"

Bai Heng's voice was weak as a dying breath, and all color had drained from his face.

The Ancient Dragon's voice rang in his ear.

Boy, so what if you have reclaimed control of this body? We are symbiotic. You will never escape my restraints.

"I know."

The universe may be vast, but to us, it is merely a tiny patch of land. Even if you control this body and run to the end of the world, I can return again. Destruction is ultimately the Xianzhou's destiny. I will still make those people who imprisoned me for thousands of years taste the fruits of Destruction.

"I know."

So what do you intend to do with this little time? Say your final farewell to her? Hahaha! I'm looking forward more and more to the wonderful emotions you'll feel when you watch her die by my hand from within the sea of consciousness.

"You probably won't get to see that." Bai Heng lowered his eyes and bent down to pick up the Soul Severance Sword floating before him.

What are you trying to do?

The Ancient Dragon began to feel a sense of foreboding.

And reality truly confirmed his worst fear.

Bai Heng tightened his grip on the Soul Severance Sword's hilt and said,

"You should know that after this sword was tainted by Destruction, it can affect lifeforms in an energy state. And you Suiyang are nothing more than highly advanced masses of energy."

Boy, unless you kill yourself with your own hands, you cannot harm my origin in the slightest.

"I know." Bai Heng's voice was exceptionally calm, but that calmness made the Ancient Dragon tremble for the first time.

Even if you control this body now, I still have ways to stop you from acting!

"Who said I had to do it myself?" Bai Heng suddenly revealed a faint smile, but it looked so sorrowful, so lonely.

The Ancient Dragon seemed to recall something in a daze and roared within the sea of consciousness.

Bastard, you lunatic! Think this through. If you really do that, not only will you die, even your soul may be extinguished. You will suffer the corrosion of karmic sins for all eternity, with no chance of reincarnation ever again!

"I know," Bai Heng replied softly.

Stop now. At most, you'll be imprisoned within the sea of consciousness. Once I break the shackles of this world, you will attain transcendence alongside me! I can promise you that I won't harm the people of the Xianzhou. I can leave this place immediately!

This time, Bai Heng gave no response.

The Ancient Dragon desperately tried to influence his mind, attempting to seize control of the body again.

But Bai Heng had already come to Jingliu's side.

He knelt on one knee, bringing himself nearly level with Jingliu. That carefree smile still hung on his face.

"Master Jingliu, can I ask one final thing of you?"

Jingliu wanted to speak, but from such close proximity, she could sense the emotions in Bai Heng's eyes.

For some reason, it felt as though something had lodged in her throat. She could not make a sound and could only nod silently.

Seeing this, Bai Heng kept smiling as he gently pried open Jingliu's slender fingers.

His movements were slow, because he noticed that her hands were covered in wounds.

Though her hands were wrapped in black silk ribbons soaked with blood, Bai Heng could still feel the coldness at her fingertips.

When that delicate hand slowly opened, Bai Heng placed the Soul Severance Sword in it, his voice dry.

"Kill me, Master Jingliu."

The dark red eyes beneath Jingliu's long lashes trembled continuously. She braced against the sword hilt, trying with all her strength to push Bai Heng away.

But Bai Heng remained completely motionless, quietly watching her.

He seemed to remember many things. Every time he brought her candied hawthorns or secretly made her special meals, he had looked at her like this...

Taking a deep breath, Bai Heng reached out and pinched Jingliu's pale cheek.

"Master Jingliu."

"Please kill me, alright?"