Chapter 122.2 The Grand Finale (End)
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Just a few words were enough to push Ji Wuyou into uncontrollable rage.
However, in the end, that sword did not strike.
Suddenly, the sky began to snow. It was cold and pure white, falling onto his brow.
Ji Wuyou raised his head like a trapped beast, but when he saw the person walking through the vast expanse of falling snow, the madness and brutality in his heart strangely calmed down.
His teeth trembled, and he let out a laugh.
The mist around him gradually solidified, once again transforming into the Lord of Celestial Demons.
The world after the snowfall seemed even emptier and more distant.
At the peak of the Institute of Celestial Ascension, before the Heavenly Ladder, the mortal realm became a crimson hell.
However, this place seemed to exist beyond the five elements.
His attire outshone the pale snow—the young man with a jade crown and black hair, his eyes indifferent like the icy depths of the sea for a thousand years.
Ji Wuyou laughed sinisterly, “Are you here to die with your master? I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
Supported by the ground, Xuhan stared blankly at him but remained silent.
Glistening snowflakes landed on Pei Jing’s hair, turning into frost.
In the realm of the Execution Sword, Pei Jing had once thought that if he were to see Ji Wuyou again, he would hate him to death and immediately crush the beast into ashes. But now, his heart was filled with indifference.
Looking at him was like seeing a self-deluded fool, a laughable joke.
Ji Wuyou had never seen Pei Jing in such a state. A sense of humiliated anger arose from the depths of his heart, but he quickly suppressed it. He was now the Lord of Celestial Demons, and what qualifications did a mere ant like Pei Yuzhi have to challenge him? He wore the same face as Pei Yuzhi and smiled meaningfully, “The gods themselves were defeated under my command countless millennia ago. Are you here to meet your doom?”
Xuhan glanced backward and saw that the Heavenly Ladder had not fully formed. His heart tightened, and he shouted, “Yuzhi…”
Pei Jing had a rough idea of what his master was about to say. He halted his steps and smiled at him.
“Master, rest assured. Today I will twist his head off.”
Bright and clear were his brows and eyes, without a trace of gloom.
Xuhan was taken aback. He stared at him intently, hoping to discern a hint of anger or seriousness from his face. But the young man’s features were lightly drawn, devoid of any fighting spirit.
Within the overwhelming black mist, Ji Wuyou exuded a heavy aura, his gaze chilling. In his previous life, he was killed by the hands of Pei Yuzhi himself, the white-haired youth returned from hell, radiating an air of devastating malevolence. The feeling now was completely different from back then, but the pressure remained the same.
Pei Jing locked his gaze on him and spoke calmly, “When the Heavenly Dao created you, she assigned you the mission to sever the Heavenly Ladder. That’s why she granted you immense power, but apart from that, she gave you nothing. Not even the seven emotions and six desires, nor a functioning brain. Perhaps she only saw you as a vessel for the Execution Sword, but ironically, you became self-taught, gained consciousness, and harbored that filthy heart.
“I was truly foolish. You are nothing more than a tool nurtured by the world’s evil, conceived in a pool of blood. But for a ridiculous reason, I tried to believe that I could reform you. A myriad of years ago, you were nothing but a numb tool, capable only of killing. And after countless millennia, it’s probably because of me that you developed the seven emotions and six desires. Oh, no, not the seven emotions and six desires, but rather jealousy and inferiority.
“There’s no such thing as awakening. You don’t need to pretend to be the Lord of Celestial Demons anymore, Ji Wuyou. You are just yourself, saved by me in two lifetimes, only to become envious of me, as lowly as a maggot.”
Pei Jing remained calm and casual.
However, each word fell upon Ji Wuyou’s ears like sharp blades, piercing through his soul, tearing apart the facade he tried to conceal, revealing the deepest and most shameful truths.
“Aaaargh, shut up!!!”
The demonic bones hidden within the black mist emitted a white light.
He went mad, gathering the dark aura of heaven and earth within his serpent sword, thrusting it directly at Pei Jing.
Amidst the snow-laden mountains, Pei Jing disregarded his anger and took a step forward. “I have always been curious. Why is it that when the Jade Lotus Goddess and even the Yunxiao Sword Sovereign spoke of events from a myriad of years ago, they only mentioned the wickedness of the Heavenly Dao but never specifically mentioned you? They didn’t mention your appearance, your nature, or anything you did apart from severing the Heavenly Ladder.
“Now I understand. A myriad of years ago, you had no consciousness at all. You were merely a puppet controlled by the Heavenly Dao. All your consciousness arose after countless millennia, emerging during your second reincarnation.”
Ji Wuyou’s eyes were on the verge of bleeding as he yearned to tear Pei Jing’s mouth apart.
He shouted with all his might, “Shut your mouth!”
The eerie and volatile demonic aura formed a low and fierce gust of wind, howling between heaven and earth.
It devoured all things and tore apart mountains and rivers.
Pei Jing coldly gazed at him, with a hint of mockery in his eyes. “So that’s why you hate me so much now, and why you desire to replace me. From a puppet devoid of consciousness to a fool who can only mimic others. I can’t even be bothered to hate you now. I only want to kill the Heavenly Dao behind you. You truly are unworthy. I’m taking action.”
Souls were torn apart, and flesh churned. Suddenly, Ji Wuyou threw his head back and let out a furious roar. The immense power of the Lord of Celestial Demons surged forth from his chest, causing upheaval in the Institute of Celestial Ascension. In an instant, flowers, grass, and trees were shattered, and the once pristine world turned murky and dark, even staining the snow with a grayish-black hue.
After his howl, he propped himself up with his fingers and fell into silence for a long time.
The world fell into a deathly silence.
Eventually, he burst into laughter, a laughter that was wicked and chilling, but carried in it a profound and soul-penetrating hatred.
“You guessed right.”
Pei Jing’s expression remained unchanged, his eyes as deep as the snow, separated by its veil.
“You guessed right.”
The Lord of Celestial Demons was nothing more than a shell, a set of bones. From beginning to end, only Ji Wuyou possessed the soul and memories.
“But what does that matter?”
Half-kneeling on the ground, he cupped the blood in his hands and spoke hoarsely, “My memories became clear only after I met you. All my emotions, the jealousy, the self-doubt, the fear—they all originated from you.”
Ji Wuyou lifted his head, revealing Pei Jing’s familiar face, and softly said, “That’s why I must kill you.”
He stood up once again.
Low, dark gusts of wind began to gather in the world, a force that could tear apart the void emerging from the depths of the earth. The powers of the five elements merged together. The strength of the Lord of Celestial Demons rendered the entire world silent. Thousands of miles away, at the edge of the heavens, in Yunxiao, Yingzhou, Fengqiu Mountain, and Tianyan City, winds stirred and clouds gathered. Mournful cries filled the air as evil spirits roamed. The power surged, ripping through time, and the snow froze in mid-air. Only that set of bones emitted a radiant, blood-stained light. Ji Wuyou wondered what Pei Yuzhi had brought upon him—humiliation, self-doubt, jealousy—just as he had said in his previous life. The Lord of Celestial Demons should not possess emotions… because if he did, they would surely be dark and sinister.
Even though it was these dark emotions that shaped him.
“My greatest regret from the previous life was not extracting your soul and chastising it directly. I will not repeat that mistake in this life.”
Pei Jing lowered his eyes and smiled, his demeanor similar to a gentle breeze in the snow. He softly said, “Ji Wuyou, have you even figured out your true identity? Without the Execution Sword, you are nothing.”
Ji Wuyou’s eyes widened abruptly.
Then, a piercing ice-blue light burst forth from the sword in the young man’s hand, penetrating the heavens.
Thunderclouds swiftly shifted, time no longer stood still, and the snowfall grew heavier. And then, the space began to warp!
Boom!
A purple thunderbolt shattered the hazy atmosphere.
Ji Wuyou suddenly felt a dull pain in his chest, and his vision blurred.
Before him stretched a vast expanse of boundless snowy peaks—Wentian Peak.
In this small clearing, which seemed out of place in the world, light and shadows played. The surroundings were veiled in ethereal clouds, with white waves floating in the air.
Ji Wuyou leaned back and felt something icy cold behind him. He turned around and saw the unyielding Wentian Stone, standing tall for thousands of years. Engraved on its surface, at the very top, were three distinct characters: “Pei Yuzhi.”
His eyes gradually widened.
Since the moment Pei Jing made his move, Ji Wuyou had sensed that something was amiss. The power emanating from Pei Jing was definitely not ordinary spiritual energy, and even his cultivation level was undoubtedly beyond the Nascent Soul stage.
“You…” he murmured, tilting his head back.
Pei Jing looked down at him, smiling gently, like a pure and serene breeze under the moonlight.
“Ji Wuyou, I truly want to kill you. But that’s not enough. The pain you caused to my beloved warrants a thousand cuts and slashes.”
Ji Wuyou knelt on the ground, utterly disheveled.
Pei Jing’s expression turned cold.
“The Execution Sword never belonged to you in the first place.”
He reached out his hand and severed Ji Wuyou’s hand.
Ji Wuyou’s gaze became vacant, no longer pondering why Pei Jing was able to kill him.
The sound of snow whistled in his ears, stirring up memories like a surging river.
It was still Wentian Peak, and it was still this snow, but the roles had reversed, and the disheveled man had become him.
“I don’t even need to cripple your cultivation. You were already a cripple. In fact, you weren’t even human.”
Pei Jing’s sword pierced directly through the skull of the demonic bone, his voice indifferent.
He severed its spiritual roots.
“You were born in hell, and I don’t need to send you back.”
He destroyed its elixir field.
“I wanted to shatter your pride, but it seems that you have been foolish and insignificant your whole life.”
With that, Pei Jing laughed aloud.
In this world, only the Execution Sword could break open the bone of the Celestial Demon.
Pei Jing remembered his final words. “There is no more Pei Yuzhi in this world, only you? Ji Wuyou, how pitiful you are.”
The demonic bone, nurtured in the blood pool for thousands of years, began to disintegrate.
Ji Wuyou curled up on the ground like an insignificant ant.
The dark mist slowly dissipated with a faint cracking sound, so light, yet it shattered the bone into ashes.
A faint thread in his mind snapped.
After being stripped of his bones, he became a mortal.
His form shrank, returning to his original appearance. Clad in blood-stained brown garments, his gaze, after the pain, revealed a sense of confusion. Snowflakes fell upon him, causing a stinging sensation, like large drops of rain.
Rain…
Yinghui Peak.
From his memories, he heard the voice of a young boy, clear and cheerful. The fragrance was light and delicate, like vibrant frangipani flowers. In his heart, the snow and moonlight couldn’t compare to the radiance of the boy’s brows and eyes. That young boy extended his hand towards him, smiling as he said, “Ji Wuyou?” Past life… present life.
The same rain, during a time of falling dusk, when his younger, timid self timidly spoke up, “Can I have a fight with you?” Standing on the high platform, the young man who drew everyone’s attention smiled freely, his eyes and brows shining. “No, I’m too powerful. It wouldn’t be fun to bully you. Continue competing with my subpar subordinates.”
Stiffly, he lifted his head, attempting to see clearly the features of the person in the wind and snow, the person he once yearned for.
Hatred became inconsequential, and jealousy turned to emptiness. He recalled the hundred years of scorn he endured at Tianqian Peak.
He, too, had once… wanted to become Pei Yuzhi’s source of pride.
Ji Wuyou felt pain, fear, and helplessness, reminiscent of the time when he was cold and hungry, feeling as if he were on the verge of death.
And this time, it was truly a matter of life and death. The person who had saved him twice would never again extend a hand towards him.
Pei Jing passed by him.
As he walked forward, his feet stumbled upon the Trial of Challenging the Heavens.
Gazing at the name above, the former glory now only left an empty and desolate feeling in his heart. Pei Jing softly said, “I avenged you, although it seems you already took revenge in your previous life. But it doesn’t matter, I feel relieved now.” He blinked, and tears unexpectedly fell from his eyes.
He took a step forward, exiting the realm of transformation.
Xuhan stood in front of the snowy ground, wanting to say something! Suddenly, from the distant sky, a clear sound resounded—like thunder piercing through countless valleys. Following that, a dazzling golden light spread throughout the heavens and the earth.
“Heavenly Ladder—” Xuhan’s eyes widened, then he grew ecstatic. “The Heavenly Ladder is complete! The Heavenly Ladder is complete!”
Pei Jing sheathed his sword, quietly tilting his head back, gazing at the end of the sky, where the magnificent and majestic Great Path traversed heaven and earth, leading all living beings.
The light was too intense, absorbing all other colors, leaving everything glaringly white.
The light from the Heavenly Ladder shone upon the youth’s face, illuminating his determined spirit.
With his black hair fluttering, Pei Jing narrowed his eyes after a long while and softly said, “Chu Junyu, wait for me…”
What awaited him atop the Heavenly Ladder, Pei Jing had pondered countless times. It could be another world or perhaps a realm of darkness. However, as he took each step, treading upon the rocks, he saw a radiant sight. It was called Starry River, yet it wasn’t exactly a starry river. Azure-colored lights extended to the highest heavens, illuminating scattered jade fragments along the way, leading to the azure-colored throne at the end. Profound silence enveloped the space, as if only he and the person at the end remained. That woman, with dark silver eyes, who was sitting on the throne and now rising bit by bit. The elegance and charm she once possessed had faded away, replaced by a false display of gentle pity, frozen at the corners of her lips, forming a cold and grim smile.
Her pure white gown scattered in the void, and the moment she saw Pei Jing, she no longer remained seated. At the moment when the demon bones shattered, she also experienced excruciating pain—this person before her! It was him, the one who ruined all her plans, trampled upon her dignity time and time again!
“Pei Yuzhi, you truly deserve to die.”
Her voice sounded strange and low. She watched him approached step by step.
“Do you think you have defeated me? Dream on!”
“Crush the demon bones, I can recreate them. This world belongs under my control, time can once again flow backward. But in the next cycle, you will no longer be a match for me!”
Pei Jing responded with indifference, “And what about Chu Junyu?”
The Heavenly Dao had been waiting for this very question. The pleasure of revenge surged from the depths of her heart, and her red lips curved into a smile. “Ah, he has finally become a worthless person, obliterated by me in this world!”
She suppressed her crazed laughter between her lips.
With a relaxed tone, she said, “You see, without Chu Junyu, what will you have to contend with in the next cycle? Even if you cultivate the power of primordial chaos to perfection, so what? You will never comprehend Wuhen in this lifetime.”
Poison dripped from the woman’s icy eyes. “From the moment you two fell in love, I knew that this time, I would absolutely not lose! Ahh!”
Her gaze suddenly froze.
She stared intently at the young man before her and the sword lodged in her chest.
Pei Jing spoke softly, “You must have been trapped here by him. Otherwise, you would have descended long before I killed Ji Wuyou.”
The Heavenly Dao’s expression stiffened for only half a second before extending her fair hand and gripping the sword hilt.
“Indeed, I thank you for coming to meet me, for ascending the Heavenly Ladder, giving me a way out,” she sneered. “I don’t want to kill you because it would require too much effort. And you cannot kill me either.”
Pei Jing raised his gaze, his eyes resembling peach blossoms in spring, carrying a faint smile of elegance and coolness.
“Do you think I am willing to play this game with you again? To undergo another cycle?”
Black hair cascaded over her body, a stunning girl with a twisted expression like an old crone. Her dark silver eyes exuded a frigid irony. “You are not entitled to say no!
“Aren’t you curious about who sent me to this world?”
The Heavenly Dao’s eyes narrowed.
Pei Jing said, “It’s the recognition of the Execution Sword.”
The atmosphere instantly turned incredibly cold.
The Heavenly Dao’s expression turned frosty. “Oh, so what? The recognition of the Execution Sword brought you here to deal with me. But do you have the right to kill me?”
Pei Jing had no desire to listen, nor did he want to hear every word she spoke. He extended the sword in his hand another inch, but the Heavenly Dao seemed impervious to pain, mocking him with a derisive smile.
“What are you, Heavenly Dao? Just an awakened consciousness of a world that should not exist.”
Along the path of ascending the Heavenly Ladder, every cloud and every beam of light seemed to recount the past.
Pei Jing felt an unusual calmness in his heart, as if everything had become empty and desolate in the end.
“I once thought that it was impossible to achieve Wuhen. When I witnessed your actions in the previous life, I only wanted to see you suffer. I even contemplated erasing those memories. But even if memories disappear, they will not be erased. I thought this was the ultimate predicament. However, it was not until within the divine realm that the recognition of the Execution Sword revealed to me that I never held any grudge.”
The calm expression on the Heavenly Dao finally crumbled. In her dark silver eyes, there was disbelief. She took a step back as if hearing a joke. “How is that possible? Do you think I would believe… Ahhh!”
Suddenly, her eyes seemed about to pop out of their sockets.
Stepping back, she lowered her head and looked at the unhealing black hole on her abdomen, detached from the Execution Sword. It continued to grow and spread slowly, seemingly unstoppable.
The Heavenly Dao finally collapsed, screaming. “What is this? What is happening?”
Pei Jing lowered his gaze and said, “I never held any grudge. For cultivators, hatred is the root cause of inner demons. The recognition of the Execution Sword revealed to me that I never held any grudge, as it perceived through my Dao heart. You see, since the beginning of my cultivation, I have never harbored any inner demons. But I failed to fully comprehend the power of the Execution Sword. Because the final stage of the Executioner Sword’s intent, Wuhen, was never within me.”
The Heavenly Dao leaned in agony against the throne, her fingers attempting to stop the growing black void on her body, but she was powerless. It was devouring her, obliterating her. Finally, she raised her head, and her dark silver eyes were bloodshot! For the first time, she was completely consumed by madness.
Pei Jing suddenly laughed. “Everyone overlooked it, including myself. Chu Junyu and I… are the same person. All things change, only the Execution Sword remains immortal. So, even if you reverse time, the changes made to the Execution Sword are eternal. That includes the division from the very beginning!”
The Heavenly Dao was no longer concerned with herself. Pei Jing’s words had detonated her mind, leaving it blank. After a long while, she murmured and burst into laughter, laughing until the end, in a disheveled state.
“You are the same person, hahaha, you are the same person!”
Pei Jing’s voice was as light as drifting snow, lost in the same trance as the Heavenly Dao.
“Yes, we are the same person.”
“So, the Wuhen required by the Execution Sword was never about me. Instead, it was about Chu Junyu.”
No wonder.
No wonder.
He remembered the gaze Chu Junyu cast when the world was in chaos, as well as his inexplicable waiting.
Did Chu Junyu already know this, which is why he entrusted his life to him?
Pei Jing whispered, “He trapped you in the void, to give me more time.”
The Heavenly Dao’s eyes turned bloodshot, she clenched her silver teeth and burst into laughter. “Yes! He gave you ample time, to kill Ji Wuyou, to ascend the Heavenly Ladder and find me. Wuhen, hahaha, Chu Junyu actually went to such lengths for you! But you’re too late, you’re too late!”
All that filled her heart now was a strong desire for revenge! She wanted Pei Jing to suffer just like her!
“I knew he couldn’t lose his power so quickly. Hahaha! So he forced himself to be free from resentment. Unfortunately, you didn’t find me before he became a complete wreck!”
Pei Jing’s eyes turned red as he raised his sword, aiming it directly at her forehead.
Hoarsely, he said, “Shut up!”
The bluish-green lamps along the steps gradually extinguished, leaving the Heavenly Dao’s heart filled with endless irony and regret.
She had forgotten when she gained consciousness. Countless eons ago, she suddenly opened her eyes to a vast world of mountains and rivers. She possessed the power to control everything in the world, including the sun, moon, stars, time, life, and death. She was revered by all beings, and she enjoyed that honor. However, the rise of cultivators changed everything. Immortality was no longer her privilege, and overturning mountains and seas was no longer her divine power.
As one person after another ascended through the Heavenly Ladder and transcended to another vast world, ignoring her dignity, the admiration of the world now belonged to those lowly cultivators. She became a legend, a concept of nothingness. She could no longer bear it.
The Heavenly Dao spoke intermittently, “Rules are not meant to possess consciousness. I believe I owe my existence to you cultivators.”
The Heavenly Dao smiled faintly. “Because all of you believed in a Heavenly Dao—every single one of you “The cultivators’ thoughts are incredibly powerful, just like the belief in gods. Hahaha! It is you who created me. Didn’t expect that, did you?”
The Heavenly Dao coughed up blood, her strands of hair scattered in the void, and her body turned into stardust. The pure white robe woven by stars and moons finally returned to the universe. She knew she was dying, or perhaps not dying, but being erased.
Her smile was mocking. “It’s just that you created me… and now, let me be the one to kill you all.”
Pei Jing said, “You are an existence born of error.”
The Heavenly Dao’s eyes filled with intense hatred, and as her last pair of eyes faded into eternal night, she whispered softly, “As long as the illusory Heavenly Dao in your hearts remains alive, as long as the guide who desires your eternal life remains alive, I will return.”
Pei Jing sneered, “You overestimate yourself. That was the cultivation world from ages ago. Following the heavens? Who does that now? Who still seeks you out and hopes for your favor?”
Pei Jing said softly, “You won’t come back.”
With a faint sound reverberating through the empty universe, the bluish-green lamps extinguished completely. In the boundless darkness, Pei Jing turned calmly.
In Chu Junyu’s life, Ji Wuyou died, and the heavens and earth shattered. If the Heavenly Dao dies, what would happen?
Suddenly, he heard thunder echoing in the depths of darkness.
Pei Jing froze in place.
There was no sky or earth here, but rain began to fall, and the source of the thunder remained unknown.
He took a step forward.
Pei Jing bumped into a piece of glass. The world distorted, and heavy rain fell like a curtain. The light of the sky was swallowed, and time twisted.
He stared blankly at the glass, which reflected the image of a young man wearing a shirt.
His features appeared bright and gentle amidst the mist of tea.
His eyes were clear as well. As he looked over, Pei Jing blinked. Unable to restrain himself, tears streamed down his face.
So handsome that even the heavens struck him by lightning, thus he transmigrated.
Indescribable grief surged up in his heart.
The person on the other side of the mirror suddenly smiled and reached out, interlocking his fingers with his.
Pei Jing was taken aback.
The young man on the other side of the glass, with his black short hair, transformed into long silver locks, and his features changed as well.
A thunderous roar illuminated the surroundings.
The silver-haired young man walked through the endless passage of time, returning to his side with a smile. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Pei Jing wanted to say something.
But he was silenced by a kiss, familiar and cold, accompanied by a sentence that seemed teasing, “Stop staring. I know I’m really handsome.”
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