Looking Back Ten Thousand Miles, Old Friends Forever Severed, Part 3

Yun Yao was momentarily dazed.

If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes and heard it with her own ears, she would have almost confused whether the Mu Hanyuan before her was the benevolent aspect or the malevolent one.

Could it be… that merging with the memories of the malevolent aspect had some kind of influence on him?

While pondering, Yun Yao softened her tone and spoke tentatively:

“I am not planning to leave; rather, I remembered several peculiarities from before I descended to the lower realm.”

“I was just about to go to the Ninth Heaven to find the person who set the trap to frame me—will you stop me?”

Mu Hanyuan lowered his long eyelashes, his expression carrying a hint of the pale lethargy that follows drinking.

He idly toyed with his sleeve, seemingly weighing something in his mind.

Yun Yao’s heart sank bit by bit along with his silence.

Just as she was about to heave a sigh and mourn her constitution—one apparently destined to only take on traitorous disciples who scourge the world, leaving her to be a solitary soul for ten thousand years—

“How would this disciple dare to offend Master?”

As Mu Hanyuan spoke, he took a step forward.

When he raised his hand, Yun Yao instinctively tilted her head away, but immediately felt she was being too guarded and forced herself to stop.

Thus, at such close proximity, she saw clearly that Mu Hanyuan’s thin lips hooked up slightly, as if he were laughing at her self-contradictory behavior.

Yun Yao’s cheeks heated up slightly; pretending she hadn’t seen it, she lowered her gaze.

Regardless, with a crowd of fallen immortals watching behind them, Yun Yao did not believe that someone with Mu Hanyuan’s benevolent nature could do anything truly outrageous.

In fact, Mu Hanyuan indeed did nothing; he merely reached out with a gentle motion to tuck the hair ribbon that had fallen forward back over her shoulder.

He then used his knuckles to hook a lock of soft silken hair, meticulously smoothing the last rebellious strand behind her ear.

Afterward, he withdrew his hand, lowered his sleeve, and smiled warmly:

“I shall remain in the Fate Palace, quietly awaiting Master’s return.”

Having tested him and received a result, Yun Yao found herself feeling quite curious instead:

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll just walk away, and once I’ve recovered, I’ll simply lead the immortals from the Ninth Heaven down here to wipe you out?”

“This disciple has committed no evil, why would Master want to punish me?”

Mu Hanyuan’s voice was gentle, his question sounding utterly innocent.

Yun Yao turned her head to look behind her at the crowd of fallen immortals—led by the Green Wood Divine Lord—who were all shrouded in demonic aura.

“This doesn’t count as committing evil?”

“They sought refuge of their own accord; Hanyuan did not coerce them in the slightest.”

Mu Hanyuan lowered his eyes and said, “If Master insists on counting this as my sin, then Hanyuan shall simply bow his head and accept execution.”

Yun Yao: “…”

Fine, fine, fine.

Now it was her who was being unreasonable.

Yun Yao held her breath, exhaled, and flashed a smile:

“Very well, then wait here properly in the Fate Palace.”

“When I return tonight, I will be sure to visit your room immediately; I certainly won’t neglect you.”

Among the fallen immortals behind them, led by the Green Wood Divine Lord, a field of faces instantly turned green.

The kind of green that even a body full of demonic aura couldn’t hide.

Catching this in her peripheral vision, Yun Yao frowned inwardly.

–They actually retained their full intellect and weren’t puppets, yet they were still stained by demonic aura and became fallen immortals?

The power of the End could actually seduce an immortal’s heart without obscuring their wisdom…

It was truly unheard of.

Under Yun Yao’s almost flirtatious tone, even Mu Hanyuan, the party involved, was momentarily stunned.

After a few breaths, he smiled faintly and lowered his eyes:

“Yes, Master. This disciple shall respectfully await you in the hall tonight.”

Yun Yao, who had just turned around: “…”

Influenced by the memories of the malevolent aspect, Mu Hanyuan had definitely learned some bad habits.

Not daring to delay or test him further, Yun Yao turned back, and with a flash of her silhouette, she vanished beyond the restricted area of the Fate Palace.

After her figure disappeared.

The Green Wood Divine Lord took a step forward, frowning as he advised:

“Demon Lord, the Saint Origin is the head of the Three Saints; even if she has not yet returned to her position, she is no small matter.”

“Moreover, this is practically releasing the tiger back to the mountain. If Saint Calamity helps her regain her status…”

“He won’t.”

Mu Hanyuan interrupted in a quiet voice.

Ever since Yun Yao left, his expression had turned cold and indifferent, like a gold and jade statue atop a divine pedestal—shrouded in frost, untouched by a speck of dust.

“If she returns to her position at this time, the first one to suffer would be him.”

The Ninth Heaven, the Imperial Decree Divine Palace.

Even before Yun Yao had descended to the lower realm, she disliked coming here the most, finding it too high; although immortal bones are unaffected by heat or cold, there was an inexplicable sense of “it’s lonely at the top.”

Thinking back now, it was likely because she felt it was too far removed from the mortal world even then.

“Halt! Who goes there!”

Still immersed in her memories, Yun Yao was snapped back to reality by the shouting voice in front of her.

She composed herself and focused her gaze on the source of the voice.

Two immortal lords on duty at the Reception Platform were holding long halberd immortal weapons, looking at her with wary and unfriendly expressions as she rose from the pitch-black “mist” below.

Looking at the layered palaces and halls amidst the golden neon glow, Yun Yao retracted her gaze:

“Is Calamity in the Divine Palace?”

“Audacious fallen immortal! How dare you call the Saint Lord by his name!”

“Fallen immortal?”

Thinking of the Green Wood Divine Lord and the others whose immortal bodies were polluted by the power of the End, Yun Yao felt helpless.

“I am no fallen immortal. Why don’t you come closer and look again?”

The one who had spoken was fuming with rage and about to say something when he was pulled back by the other immortal lord on duty:

“Immortal Lord Zong Que, did you stay up late brewing immortal medicine again and smoke out your eyes?”

“This fairy indeed lacks any trace of the power of a fallen immortal.”

“…Ah? Really?” Immortal Lord Zong Que whispered, “But didn’t she come up from below?”

“That, I wouldn’t know.” The little immortal lord who had spoken up for her looked at Yun Yao hesitantly.

“Might I ask how to address this fairy, and what business do you have seeking the Saint Lord?”

Yun Yao thought for a moment, touched her fingertip to her brow and then dropped it; a phantom image of a golden butterfly fluttered down.

“Please take this into the Divine Palace to announce me; say an old friend has come to visit.”

“Old… old friend?”

The two immortal lords on duty looked horrified and uncertain; after some hesitation, they finally decided to let the little immortal lord go inside to announce her, while the one with poor eyesight stayed behind to “supervise” Yun Yao.

Perhaps because the power of the End beneath the Ninth Heaven was too rampant, the entire immortal mountain now seemed shrouded in a layer of twilight, dim and difficult to perceive.

The Divine Palace above was still bathed in holy light, but the Reception Platform was near the edge of the mountain, closest to the color of dusk.

Yun Yao waited for a moment, only to see the immortal lord who had been staring at her rub his eyes and proceed to light candles in all eight directions on the Reception Platform.

The five senses of an immortal are naturally sensitive, and the brightness made Yun Yao’s eyes ache; she almost suspected the other party was setting up an array against her.

“…This Immortal Lord?”

“Hmm?” The other looked over alertly.

“Why light so many candles?” Yun Yao asked, caught between tears and laughter, “With the five senses of an immortal, why is there a need for illumination?”

After asking, Yun Yao herself was momentarily stunned.

In that instant, a familiar scene flashed through her mind.

The immortal lord was currently grumbling in a muffled voice:

“Didn’t you hear what I said to Immortal Lord Zong Heng? I’ve been obsessed with brewing immortal medicine lately and the smoke injured my eyes; it’s hard to see things.”

“Even with all these candles lit, I can only see a blurred outline…”

Yun Yao listened, slightly dazed.

For some reason, she suddenly recalled Mu Hanyuan, who had been lighting candles throughout the entire hall these past few days.

But after only two breaths of thought, Yun Yao immediately dismissed her ridiculous notion.

Now that the power of the End pervaded every corner of the immortal realm, for every inch it grew, that man’s demonic aura became more potent.

Even if she returned to her status as a Saint, she might not necessarily be a match for the current Mu Hanyuan.

Otherwise, Calamity—who was most famous in the immortal realm for his combat prowess—would not have been forced into this corner of the immortal mountain, not daring to make a reckless move.

Even if the entire immortal realm went blind, he was the least likely person to have a sensory loss.

As Yun Yao was thinking, she saw the little immortal lord who had left earlier running back down the long jade stairs of the palace in a panicked stumble.

Upon reaching her, he took a deep breath and bowed to the ground:

“This minor immortal did not know it was the Saint Lord’s carriage; I beg the Saint Lord for forgiveness—!”

Yun Yao’s eyes flickered slightly.

Without looking at the two terrified immortal lords, she raised her gaze, looking toward the highest divine palace pavilion with a complex expression.

“Now that the disaster of the immortal realm is imminent, do you finally want me to be a Saint again?”

In the void.

It was as if the voice of an old friend not heard for a long time sighed around her.

Simultaneously, a ribbon of silver-blue light flowed down from the highest hall, like a scroll of brocade saturated with radiance, spreading directly to Yun Yao’s feet.

She looked down at it for two breaths, and eventually stepped onto it.

The brocade rolled back up, carrying Yun Yao’s figure away as she disappeared atop the Ninth Heaven.

The Imperial Decree Divine Palace, Main Hall.

After the silver-blue radiance vanished from before her eyes, the first thing Yun Yao saw was the figure atop the holy throne inside the hall.

There are nine heavens, and within the hall at the very top of the Ninth Heaven, there were also nine steps beneath the holy throne.

Yun Yao stood before the steps and heard that aged and majestic holy voice pouring down from above—

“It has been a thousand years, Origin.”

“A thousand years? How could that be.”

Yun Yao gave a low sneer and tapped her forehead lightly.

A golden butterfly bound by silver-blue chains flew out from her brow, circling the air in dissatisfaction.

Through the golden butterfly, Yun Yao looked at Calamity atop the nine steps:

“If we truly hadn’t met for a thousand years, then who left the Immortal-Locking Curse on my golden butterfly immortal essence?”

the silver-blue spiritual power was exceptionally prominent on the butterfly’s wings.

On the holy throne, Calamity remained silent for a moment, then raised his hand as if to recall that wisp of immortal power.

Except Yun Yao was one step ahead of him.

With a tap of her finger on the golden butterfly’s antennae, the silver-blue chains binding the wings shattered instantly, turning into countless shimmering points of light like stardust, slowly dissipating in the air.

Calamity’s raised arm froze in mid-air.

After a long time, he lowered it, leaning against the throne’s armrest as he shook his head with a sigh:

“A thousand years, and you are still the same.”

Yun Yao ignored his familiar words:

“I only ask you one question. This Immortal-Locking Curse—did you cast it because you intended to sacrifice the sentient beings of Qianyuan to ensure the End does not return to the immortal realm, and because you didn’t want me to stop you after I regained my position?”

“…Just because of this curse, are you going to turn against me?”

“At this stage, why do you still need to deceive yourself?”

Yun Yao’s voice turned cold:

“Or, are you going to tell me that casting the curse on my immortal essence and tricking me into forgetting my past when I returned from the lower realm was just a whim, and not to hide and continue your conspiracy?”

“Conspiracy?” The man on the holy throne frowned, “I am wholly dedicated to the immortal realm and all living beings; when have I ever had a conspiracy?”

“You aren’t worthy of mentioning the common people!”

Yun Yao suddenly shouted in anger, taking a step onto the bottom jade step:

“If you truly cared about the common people, then tell me, what was the truth of the disaster of the three realms that you told me a thousand years ago?”

“Was what you saw in the Heaven-Peering Stone truly the end of the three realms and the slaughter of all life?!”

Calamity gripped the armrest beneath his sleeve.

“Of course. Did you not see the power of the End swallowing the entire immortal realm when you came? If this isn’t a disaster of heaven and earth, what else could it be?”

“No, this is a disaster for the immortal realm.”

Yun Yao walked up another step with resentment:

“Before coming here, I had already gone to the Fate Palace to see the three thousand star lamps; the power of the End has not touched them in the slightest.”

“What you saw in the Heaven-Peering Stone back then—the one suffering the apocalypse—was clearly only the immortals of the immortal realm—”

“Am I right!”

“So what if it is?” Calamity’s voice grew heavy, “As the Three Saints of the immortal realm, is it not your and my duty to ensure the immortal court does not fall?”

“It is our duty as Saints, but you should not have involved innocent people!”

Yun Yao climbed two more steps:

“You actually dared to forge the prophecy, claiming the three thousand star lamps would be extinguished, just to use me to shift the calamity to Qianyuan—”

“To keep your immortal court from falling, you wanted to sacrifice the lives of every sentient being in the Qianyuan Realm to fill the gap!”

“Can a deity like you still talk about the common people?”

“That is clearly because you are foolishly benevolent to an extreme!”

Calamity finally could no longer endure it; he stood up in a rage and waved his sleeve.

Instantly, a vast sea of stars appeared behind him; whether near or far, they were each a star in the boundless Milky Way.

“Do you see? As long as the immortal court exists, never mind a mere Qianyuan Realm—even if the three thousand lesser worlds are all destroyed, as long as the immortal court is preserved, another three thousand can be created.”

“So, what is wrong with sacrificing that one realm of Qianyuan?!”

Yun Yao stopped on the fifth step, her breath nearly hitching; she looked at this formerly close friend who had become a stranger with an expression of disbelief and grief.

“In your eyes, the common people of a realm… no, even if it’s just the lives of a city, a pond, a village, or a town, what exactly do they count for?”

Calamity turned his back, his voice cold and raspy:

“Comparing one life to another, they are lives; one life to a realm, a realm to three thousand realms, and three thousand realms to the immortal court—then they are merely ants.”

“If one cannot eradicate demons because they cherish the lives of ants, that is losing the greater for the smaller; that is the height of foolishness.”

Yun Yao froze on the fifth step:

“You say the End is a demon, but you sit high above in the Ninth Heaven, viewing the common people as ants that can be extinguished with a wave of your hand without a shred of pity…”

“How is someone like you any different from a demon?”

“The immortal court is eternal,” Calamity said deeply, “future generations will naturally know my heart.”

Yun Yao took a step back.

After a long while, she gave a tragic laugh:

“Calamity, do you still remember how the positions of the Three Saints were originally divided?”

“Naturally, they were bestowed by the Primordial Father God… that was so many tens of thousands of years ago, why bring it up now?” Calamity looked at her with a frown.

“You’ve forgotten, but I remember.”

Yun Yao said softly:

“Father God once said that among the three of us, I had the most carefree nature, so I was to be the Saint Origin, in charge of all the world’s rules and order, to regulate myself.”

“Transcendence disliked the mortal world the most and wanted to avoid karma, yet Father God insisted he take charge of teaching and salvation to deliver the world’s people.”

“And you…”

Calamity’s eyes darkened slightly: “Enough. Father God has already passed into the void for eons… I don’t want to hear any more.”

Yun Yao insisted:

“And you—you were the most easily swayed by the world’s emotions and burdened by the will of living beings. Father God wanted you to hold sin and punishment to solidify your holy heart.”

Calamity clenched his fists and remained silent, merely staring deeply at Yun Yao.

In his eyes, Yun Yao saw his holy heart, which was as cold as ice.

She laughed and sighed, backing away:

“Before Transcendence descended to undergo the tribulations of a hundred lifetimes of teaching, he once told me that the Ninth Heaven is far from the mortal world, and it is difficult for one’s initial heart to remain firm.”

“I thought he was warning me, but I never expected he was talking about you—the one among us whose Daoist heart was supposed to be the most unchanging.”

“No wonder Heavenly Cold Jade, the coldest substance in the three realms, would grow at the peak of the Ninth Heaven—living in a high position for too long makes the human heart prone to change. It is the same for a holy heart, isn’t it?”

“……I said enough!”

Before any wavering could emerge, Calamity spoke coldly, turning his back to stop meeting Yun Yao’s gaze.

“If you are here today to condemn me, then please return. I admit, after failing to trick you into killing the End in the lower realm, I originally intended to use the Qianyuan realm to seal that Demon Lord of the End.”

“Unfortunately, things did not go as I wished; I can only sigh at fate! But I do not believe I was wrong in planning for the immortal court—even if it happened a thousand or ten thousand times more, I would still make the same choice!”

Good, good.

The last bit of light in Yun Yao’s eyes faded.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to look at that high-and-mighty deity or his holy throne again; she turned around and walked outward.

Before she reached the middle of the hall, Calamity’s deep voice rang out again from the holy throne behind her.

“Do you know what the only way to break the deadlock was in the prophecy of the Heaven-Peering Stone?”

Yun Yao stopped but did not turn back.

She said sarcastically:

“I am different from the Lord of Imperial Decree; I do not believe in fate.”

Yun Yao was about to take a step.

“Perishing together with the Demon Lord of the End!”

Calamity’s voice suddenly shook the heavens.

In the massive immortal court, across the eight directions, every immortal lord and maid heard this voice and looked toward that highest hall in shock from all directions.

Inside the hall.

Yun Yao’s pupils trembled slightly.

And Calamity continued coldly:

“That is your fate, Saint Origin.”

Yun Yao stood in place.

She opened her mouth, about to say something self-deprecating or mocking.

But before that, a demonic flame suddenly pierced through the golden neon radiance surrounding the Divine Mountain, and a demonic voice resounded throughout the immortal court—

“Is that so?”

The figure of the Demon Lord slowly emerged in the center of the hall, right in front of Yun Yao.

He lowered his head, then raised his eyes, his voice clear, cold, and disdainful:

“What if I say the end has not yet arrived, and heaven is determined by me?”

Beneath the pressure of the demonic flame.

The Ninth Heaven and all surrounding realms fell into a dead silence.