Chapter 346

However, he was unsure if the message had actually been delivered. Fearing that Chang Yi might not have received his message and was only intending to defect due to anger, he had specifically emphasized it.

This could be considered his own goodwill.

Among the six Immortal Kings and six Demon Lords, Chang Yi could be considered the one with the least stain. Although she had obeyed Taiyi's orders in the past to suppress many people, causing them significant losses.

But at this moment, the conditions for cooperation still existed. He had no need to be hostile towards Her because of past events, which would cause the battlefield situation to tilt heavily towards the Immortal Kings.

As for what happens afterwards… that is for Your Majesty and the Emperor to consider. How to act, how to punish, whether to forgive—those are all matters for Your Majesty and the Emperor to contemplate.

He only needed to think about how to stall until the Emperor and Your Majesty arrived.

"I understand."

Chang Yi transmitted back.

At this moment, She was already fighting against the three Immortal Kings. With a wave of Her brilliant wings, the Phoenix flames transformed into a sea of fire, scorching the Void Realm and sweeping towards Taiyi and the others.

Si Zhong's figure darted up, and divine light erupted from behind him like a dying sun. The endless light and heat clashed with the scorching Phoenix flames, splitting the sky in two as they eroded and canceled each other out.

Immediately after, under the control of both, the materialized Essence of Reason became entangled, seeking to wear each other down.

"Chang Yi, do you really intend to be our enemy?"

Taiyi sighed.

"Heh, it is you who have decided to be my enemy!"

Chang Yi sneered, her cold yet melodious female voice laced with the cry of a Phoenix.

With a shift of her figure, she transformed once again into a giant colorful Phoenix. Her tail feathers tore through the Void Realm, wreathed in endless Dao rhymes.

"Afterwards, please, trouble yourselves to treat her a little kindly."

Chang Yi transmitted to General Xianhe, her voice devoid of its former coldness, replaced by a touch of weariness and softness.

"I will help you hold off Taiyi, but it won't be for long. He has not yet used his full strength; even if we work together, it won't be long before He suppresses us."

"Therefore, if you have any other hidden cards, you need to use them as soon as possible."

As Chang Yi said this, she raised her head to gather Phoenix flames. After charging for a moment, a light cannon wreathed in the Essence of Reason descended from her Phoenix beak, slashing towards Taiyi.

Si Ming's figure moved, the jade artifact in his hand chiming. With a slight wave, a curtain appeared before the light cannon.

The two collided with a boom. The faint shockwaves tore through the earth and sky, causing the entire battlefield to fall silent.

Those closer were already swept into it, completely becoming part of the Void Realm.

Those further away were enveloped by the ensuing gale and in an instant, were swept tens of thousands of miles away.

Having blocked this strike, both Si Zhong and Si Ming fixed their gazes on Taiyi. Had his tone not still carried a sense of negotiation and persuasion, they would have already retaliated.

"Sigh…"

Taiyi slightly closed his eyes, and when he opened them, his elderly figure seemed to finally stand up straight.

The entire Immortal Realm brightened slightly, as if witnessing an ancient god awakening from slumber.

Si Zhong and Si Ming also understood Taiyi's decision. Si Zhong, his body wreathed in divine light, raised his hand, and countless Essences of Reason gathered in his palm to form a sphere of light.

Si Ming stepped across the Void Realm, removing pieces of jade from his jade artifact.

These jade pieces floated beside him. With a flick of his finger, the Immortal Realm seemed to shake in time with this silent rhythm, causing the earth to tremble and the mountains to sway.

"Chang Yi, you will understand. Everything is within the expectations of that Lord."

Taiyi spoke calmly, sitting in mid-air, his horsetail whisk swirling the clouds.

Although he was not as dazzling as Si Zhong and Si Ming, he could not be ignored, carrying a unique charm of the Great Dao being simple.

Since Chang Yi had already mentioned that Lord, they no longer needed to hide it.

"The Emperor has finished clearing things up over there and is already on the way. Just hold on a little longer."

General Xianhe dodged Si Zhong's light stream and slashed down with his halberd, tearing through the strange, inexplicable jade curtains. Each of his strikes consumed the power of the Mingguang Army's battle formation.

"As fast as possible."

Chang Yi did not ask who the "Emperor" that General Xianhe kept mentioning was. It was likely the fellow who had given them confidence, or perhaps another title for Immortal Emperor Qiming.

"Who is this Lord you speak of?"

General Xianhe asked.

Chang Yi had previously said that Your Majesty knew exactly who "that Lord" was, so all of this should be within the considerations of Your Majesty and the Emperor; they just hadn't told them.

And for Taiyi and the others to be so tight-lipped about such a fellow… General Xianhe recalled something from the distant past.

He had some guesses about those matters. After all, as a close minister who had accompanied Immortal Emperor Qiming from the Human Realm to fight all the way to the Immortal Palace and the Underworld, he had seen it all along the way.

"Cannot be spoken of."

Chang Yi replied, her figure shifting as she flew up into the Nine Heavens, dodging the three thousand strands of Taiyi's horsetail whisk.

She condensed Phoenix flames onto her wings. With a movement of her wings, the Phoenix flames scorched the sky, burning away those white horsetail whisk strands one by one.

But there were too many; as soon as some were burned away, others filled the gaps.

Dongfang Lan.jpg.

General Xianhe swung his halberd and cast a Daoist Magic, blocking Si Ming who was attempting a sneak attack.

However, a piece of jade broke through his defense, penetrating from a weak point and shattering half of his body.

He remained expressionless. With a thought, his figure restored itself, though his Essence of Reason had been significantly worn down by Si Ming's attack.

Everyone was a veteran Dao Harmonizer, and every move and style contained Dao and reason.

Once one was not careful, their cultivation would be damaged. If the cultivation was weak, they would be suppressed. Once suppressed, they would be slowly ground down by time, leaving them with no power to recover.

Of course, everyone had plenty of methods; perhaps there was a hidden card somewhere that could catch you or me off guard.

"Truly cannot be spoken of?"

General Xianhe asked in confusion, casually slashing out to help Chang Yi out of her predicament.

Behind him, he saw Taiyi quietly reach out. In his palm, a pure white Dao sphere carried a pulling force that felt terrifying.

Seeing this, Chang Yi raised a clear light above her head, as if the Taiyin had descended, and the sky suddenly turned black.

A black curtain shrouded millions of miles around. An illusion of the Taiyin, following her thought, smashed towards Taiyi.

"Taiyi!"

Si Zhong frowned.

Behind him, divine light suddenly moved, extinguishing for an instant. After shrinking slightly, it abruptly expanded, transforming into a massive barrier that fell before the Taiyin illusion.

However, in a fleeting moment, the barrier had already been breached.

After all, one was going all out, while the other was not only holding back but also providing sudden support.

Si Ming threw out all the jade pieces surrounding him, layer upon layer, forming a blockade to prevent General Xianhe from escaping.

He had no intention of facing Chang Yi's move directly. Besides, wouldn't it be a win-win if both Taiyi and General Xianhe were injured?

He would win twice.

General Xianhe's halberd flew from his hand, striking directly at Taiyi, while his figure fled outwards. Before the halberd could hit Taiyi, it was attracted by the pure white Dao sphere in his hand and melted in an instant.

Even he himself was slightly grazed, losing more than half of his body, and the Essence of Reason used for defense had been completely dissolved.

If Taiyi hadn't paused slightly just now, he would have likely been severely injured this time… though now, it couldn't be said to be good either.

Taiyi glanced at Si Zhong and Si Ming, the Dao sphere in his hand following through to meet the Taiyin illusion, while his own figure dissipated from where he stood.

The pure white Dao sphere collided with the Taiyin illusion, silently, and everything turned into nothingness in the quiet.

From the outside, this area looked quite normal, but it was as if a snow-capped mountain was collapsing, turning into pure white.

And if one were to be swept into it… the consequences went without saying; at the very least, there would be no chance for Reincarnation.

"It concerns the Dao Master."

After regulating her breathing, Chang Yi replied to General Xianhe.

General Xianhe was slightly stunned, and then his breath quietly hitched when he chewed over those two words.

But Taiyi and the others were attacking again, and he had no time to think, so he continued to meet them.

We are fighting a Dao Master?

Can we win?

…

In the Void Realm, the inverted tree of time grew in silence. Countless branches and leaves sprouted, yet countless others withered and died. The trunk grew thicker, and the roots grew longer, taking root in the past.

For normal Life, one's Life should be to follow from the roots to the branches, step by step from the past towards the future.

But there are always some great cultivators who transcend time, capable of spanning the past and present, looking towards tomorrow from a higher dimension.

A figure with blurred features hung upside down, head down and feet up, with strange colors overflowing only where the eyes should be.

Beside Him, two figures sat, head up and feet down, just right, their gazes meeting the upside-down figure.

"How is it?"

A calm voice came from the figure on the left.

"It should be possible, right? What are you still waiting for?"

The figure on the right's voice was slightly cold and hard.

The upside-down one did not speak immediately, only continuing to look at the tree of time. His gaze seemed to look towards an unknown place, filled with a hint of lack of focus.

After a long time, he seemed to come back to his senses, his voice distant. "Let the future be the future, let the possible be possible. What we seek is at this very moment."

"He has already acted. Over in the Yueming Domain, those Immortal Kings and Demon Lords won't last many moves against that Immortal Emperor who has returned with a flawed Dao position. It is time for us to start acting too."

The figure on the left reminded him.

"If we wait until they have truly achieved victory, it might be too late, and we will have no chance."

The figure on the right was quite irritable.

"I understand. I know the difference between the protection of a true Dao Master and the protection of a half-step Dao Master."

The upside-down one nodded. Although his features were blurred, one could still feel that he was smiling.

He did not continue to be a riddle-maker.

"But it is precisely this moment, when we are closest to success, that we can obtain that tiny sliver of hope from him, isn't it? Sword, Emperor, you are too impatient."

The irritable man named Sword frowned. "This is a plan spanning hundreds of millions of years. What do you think we are seeking? Xi, it is precisely for this that we were determined to help you, even…"

"This is freedom, this is transcendence."

The calm man named Emperor also had a fluctuation in his expression.

"This is the only chance, isn't it? We cannot bear this failure, and this world cannot die."

"I understand, I understand…"

The upside-down one named Xi spoke softly, his words carrying the power to soothe hearts, calming Sword and Emperor's emotions.

"So, the time is now. Let us bring back that tiny sliver of hope…"

"Sword, Emperor, the world is dying, and we will reverse this despair, letting the grains of sand in the hourglass flow again…"

"I have seen it. I saw this sliver of hope hundreds of millions of years ago."

"For this, my dear friend abandoned His Dao position, seizing this sliver of heavenly opportunity from the fire for us… We shall fulfill His wish today."

"Isn't the establishment of the Time Holy Court for this reason?"

"For this, we can sacrifice anything: the favored of the realms, the offspring of the world… even we are not unable to abandon our Dao positions and lives…"

"This magnificent plan is not for our selfish desires. From the very beginning, this plan has been stained with the blood of the Dao Master…"

"This is for the future… a journey to chase the fire… we are those moths flying into the flame…"

"Burning ourselves, picking up firewood to drive away the cold night… or, simply letting ourselves become the firewood…"

"Thank you for being able to believe in me, my friends…"

Xi's voice faded, his ethereal words drifting throughout the space. Only in the distant Void Realm, the tree of time continued to grow silently.

Time is its scale, and years are its sap.