Upon reaching the territory of the Eastern Monster Clan, looking at the magnificent palace and Lou Qingzhuo tied up in front of it for public display, Zhaozhao felt unexpectedly calm, without a single ripple in her heart.
With a wave of her hand, she easily cut the vines binding Lou Qingzhuo. She told him, "Leave here. I'll handle everything."
Lou Qingzhuo gasped weakly, propping himself up. Seeing Zhaozhao here, there was not much surprise in his eyes.
As the young master of the Eastern Monster Clan, how could he be unaware of what his ancestors had done? Even by guessing, he could figure out many important clues.
At this point, all grudges would come to an end here. Before leaving, he only said one thing to Zhaozhao, "Be careful."
Zhaozhao smiled but didn't reply. She just touched the small cloth bag on her back and silently thought, "Senior Sister, I've come to avenge you."
Step by step, she climbed the long steps in front of the palace. Behind her was the lonely and cold moon. She was coming to embrace her own destiny.
The Heavenly Dao said that she was a mistake from birth and was doomed to perish. She refused to accept her fate. In the end, she died to protect her loved one.
Later, she was fortunate enough to be reborn, but still couldn't escape the fate of death. However, she was never the mistake the Heavenly Dao had spoken of. She was just making sacrifices for the people she cared about.
She didn't accept her fate but was defeated by love.
On the high seats in the palace, Taowu sat on one side, and Chongming, who shouldn't have been here, sat on the other.
Taowu felt the approaching aura and took a deep breath, intoxicated, "The smell of power, supreme power!"
Then he turned to Chongming and said, "My Lord Divine Monarch, your little disciple is here."
Chongming never said a single word from beginning to end. With his eyes closed, no one knew what he was thinking.
Lu Chukong guarded beside them. His expression was hidden in the darkness. He asked Taowu, "You've achieved your goal. When will you let me see my master?"
Taowu paused and glanced at him. The calculating light in his eyes flickered, "Don't worry. You've made great contributions. Of course, I won't go back on my word."
With a wave of his hand, a mirror suddenly appeared in the air. In the mirror was a tree. The trunk had been hollowed out, and in its place was an old man with white hair and a white beard, wearing a tattered Taoist robe.
"Master!" Lu Chukong, who had always been expressionless, was extremely excited at this moment. He wished he could pass through the mirror to rescue his master.
That was the master who had raised him since childhood and was later captured by Taowu to protect him.
"Alright, you don't need to worry too much," Taowu put away the mirror. "After I succeed, I'll release him. Then I'll grant him immortality. Your master won't have lived in vain in this life. Hahaha..."
He laughed maniacally, while hatred flashed across Lu Chukong's eyes.
"Go and invite our important guest of the day up."
Lu Chukong went down silently without saying a word.
The palace door was slowly pushed open. Zhaozhao saw Chongming here and her eyes paused for a moment.
But soon, she shifted her gaze and looked at Taowu on the main seat.
This face finally matched the monster she remembered from the battle with Su Yuan a thousand years ago.
Taowu was obviously stunned for a moment when he saw her coming alone. "I thought that Yinglong would never let you come."
"You're not worthy of mentioning him," Zhaozhao said coldly. She unsheathed the Soul Severing Sword in her hand and pointed it directly at Taowu. "Taowu, today is your day of death. You've lived for so many years in vain. It's time to end it."
Chongming looked at the Soul Severing Sword in Zhaozhao's hand and clenched his fists tightly.
"Humph, you're so righteous. You were unjustly killed by the Heavenly Dao once back then, but now you're still willing to maintain peace between humans and monsters for it without any grudges," Taowu snorted and clapped his hands. Lu Chukong brought out another Zhaozhao.
Zhaozhao didn't know why he remembered when everyone else's memories had been erased back then, but it didn't matter anymore.
A person like Taowu would never understand why she had come alone today.
"Go, Shadow. Absorb her. Then you'll be the only Resurrection Tree in the world. From now on, you'll be the real Zhaozhao, no longer a shadow born under someone else's shadow," Taowu said, looking at them with great interest and urging the other Zhaozhao, who was called "Shadow," word by word.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew in the hall, and black mist filled the air. Shadow rushed up like a gust of wind and grabbed Zhaozhao's neck. She laughed maniacally, "Die! I'm the real one. I'm the only one."
Zhaozhao's expression didn't change from beginning to end. She just looked at her calmly. The next second, she grabbed Shadow's wrist.
"I've never said that you're fake," Zhaozhao exerted force with her hand, pulled Shadow away, and the Soul Severing Sword brushed past Shadow's chest.
"I've never denied your existence. I know all your pain. You're me, and I'm you. We should have been one."
"Shut up!" Shadow seemed to be irritated by these words. She screamed and wanted Zhaozhao to stop talking. "Who cares about your fake recognition now? As long as I eat you, I don't need anyone's recognition!"
"Come to your senses," vines with white flowers grew out from Zhaozhao's wrist and tied up Shadow. "What did Taowu tell you? Do you really believe it? Do you really think you can become a complete and independent person by eating me? No, you won't."
"If everything he promised is true, why do you still have to rely on that tree to live? He just wants to use you to get the power of the Resurrection Tree. Do you really want to be his puppet?" Zhaozhao held Shadow's shoulder and let her see the ugliness hidden beneath the black mist through it - a tree born from countless blood and the oldest ceremony.
"How do you know..." Shadow trembled her lips, and her mind was in a complete mess.
"Maybe you've forgotten. You said yourself that you're the incarnation of my pain and unwillingness. When all the truth is dissected, how could I not know?"
The scene around them changed. Shadow watched as the little moments of getting to know Su Yuan a thousand years ago flashed before her eyes. She saw "herself" kneeling on the ground, crying and accepting the Heavenly Thunder. She even heard the last words she said.
"Ah—!" Countless memories made her kneel down in great pain, crying. "Don't show me this..."
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have abandoned you," Zhaozhao hugged Shadow and pulled her hand to her chest. "You're a part of me. Love and hatred are equally important in this world. It was me who was on the verge of desperation and couldn't tell the difference. I'm sorry."
"Come back. Feel this beating heart. It's waiting for you to come home."
I'm sorry for making you carry my hatred for so many years and never having a moment of peace day and night. I'm sorry for making you remember but then selfishly choosing to abandon it myself.
So come back, the other me in this world.
"Why are you saying these words now..." Shadow, whose eyes had been blinded by hatred, cried loudly like a child, venting the grievances in her heart.
"You were the one who gave birth to me, but you abandoned me..."
She had been separated from her consciousness but wasn't taken in, leaving her wandering aimlessly.
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again in the future."
Shadow felt the powerful beating heart under her hand, something she had longed for for thousands of years.
But now, she let go of her hand in front of this thing that was so close.
Taowu's face outside the black mist suddenly changed. He snatched the small flower pot that had originally nurtured Shadow from Lu Chukong's hand and recited a few mysterious incantations. Inside the black mist, Shadow suddenly trembled all over. She twitched and turned into a young seedling, leaving Zhaozhao's embrace and returning to the flower pot, being controlled by Taowu again.
"Humph... I still have to thank Divine Monarch Chongming for his foresight. Otherwise, she would have succeeded."
Zhaozhao followed Taowu's gaze and looked at Chongming. She propped herself up with the Soul Severing Sword and stood up.
"Master, this is the last time I'll call you master," she calmly raised the Soul Severing Sword and said to Chongming, "You got this sword for me back then. I used to think that you really loved me. But now, I guess I was wrong..."
Chongming avoided her gaze and still didn't say a word.
"Do you know? Senior Sister is dead."
Chongming's face suddenly changed when he heard this. He looked at Zhaozhao and asked, "What did you say?"
"You don't know?" Zhaozhao sneered. "You should have been the first to know. Didn't you light the life lamps for the disciples of Wutong Mountain?"
The life lamp was a lamp that he would light for each disciple when they entered his sect, in case they encountered any danger and he could know in time and go to rescue them.
But now, Yue Yao was dead, and he didn't know anything about it...
"Master, I'm really tired," Zhaozhao threw the Soul Severing Sword in front of him. "Whether you really cared about me before or not, it all ends today."
She didn't want anything anymore.
Vines grew crazily from the ground and instantly spread throughout the entire palace. Zhaozhao looked at Lu Chukong and said, "You participated in all this to save your master. If I tell you now that your master is actually dead long ago and the old man in the tree is just a tree demon born after sucking the life out of him, would you feel pain?"
"What did you say?" Lu Chukong took a step forward in disbelief and looked at Zhaozhao, wanting to ask for more details.
However, Zhaozhao didn't look at him again. The ground of the palace collapsed. After the dust settled, it was the tree that Lu Chukong had seen in the mirror. And the white - haired old man in the trunk opened his eyes and looked at him. Instead of human eyes, two evil flowers bloomed there.
"Master—!"
Zhaozhao didn't want to explore how painful Lu Chukong was. She controlled the vines to attack Taowu.
Taowu held the small young seedling to block Zhaozhao's attack. He knew that he was no match for Zhaozhao now, so he was extremely cunning. A sudden idea came to his mind.
Thunder roared, and countless lightning bolts split the palace. Su Yuan suddenly appeared here. He blocked all the lightning with his own strength. He was covered in injuries, his dragon horn was broken, and the scales on his dragon tail were peeling off.
"Su Yuan!"
The sudden scene confused Zhaozhao's mind. This scene was so familiar. If she hadn't voluntarily died a thousand years ago, Su Yuan would probably have been like this...
"Zhaozhao..." Su Yuan said her name with difficulty, then spat out a mouthful of blood and fell from the air.
"No!" Zhaozhao no longer cared about anything else. She had to catch him. She must catch him!
Crack!
A pair of hands pressed on Zhaozhao's shoulders. Chongming's body was pierced through by Taowu's sharp claws. He stood in front of Zhaozhao, his expression still calm, "It's an illusion. Don't believe it."
"Humph, you really have a deep bond between master and disciple," Taowu retracted his sharp claws ferociously. "I thought you could really do something to your own sister. It seems that after raising you for so many years, you really have developed feelings?"
The one falling was not the illusory Su Yuan but the real Chongming.
"You..." The front of Zhaozhao's clothes was stained red by the blood gushing out of Chongming's body. Taowu's palm not only carried the divine power of the Resurrection Tree he had plundered but also the Weak Water...
Chongming's body was constantly melting. He looked at Zhaozhao, and his eyes became a bit unfocused. "I once firmly believed that you were just a tool... But, but as you grew up day by day and so innocently called me... master... I probably... still couldn't bear it..."
"Master..." She had said it was the last time, but in fact, she still couldn't help but call him again.
"It's true. It's all true," Chongming held the Soul Severing Sword and put it back into Zhaozhao's hand. "I'm sorry to you and your senior sister. I used to have ulterior motives, but... there was also sincerity..."
After saying these last words, Chongming seemed to have no more regrets and closed his eyes forever.
"What a touching bond between master and disciple. But it's a pity. You'll soon go to accompany your master!"
Taowu finally completed the absorption of the young seedling in his hand. He had been determined to find the secret method of the Southern Border back then just for this day.
This evil - filled power really made people feel happy.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from outside the palace. Zhaozhao held the Soul Severing Sword and stood up. She looked at Taowu, her eyes blank.
However, a call of "Zhaozhao" from behind made her pause. She turned around and saw Su Yuan.
Su Yuan was filled with uncontrollable anger all over his body. "Didn't I tell you to stay by my side?"
Behind him were many monsters from the Xuanmen and the Monster Clan, as well as the senior and junior brothers from Wutong Mountain.
Zhaozhao couldn't say a word. Taowu on the seat looked at the large number of people and monsters in the palace and launched the attack first.
"Since you're here, none of you will be able to leave!"
Su Yuan pulled Zhaozhao to avoid the attack. His overwhelming anger turned into a tangible force.
On this day, all the monsters finally witnessed the heroic appearance of the Dragon Lord from a thousand years ago.
The long spear that hadn't appeared for thousands of years stabbed at Taowu's neck. Just one inch more, and Taowu would have died with his neck cut.
Without the inner demon, Su Yuan no longer had any weaknesses. Taowu had been able to take advantage of this to win on the battlefield before, but it was even more impossible now.
"Impossible! Impossible!" Taowu had one of his arms cut off. He shouted frantically, "Even if it's incomplete, this is still the Resurrection Tree. How could you possibly!"
Su Yuan didn't want to waste any more words. He simply and neatly raised his long spear and was about to accurately pierce Taowu's chest.
Unexpectedly, Taowu suddenly jumped up. He used all his last strength to dodge, crawled to a mechanism in the palace, and pressed it. "Hahaha, then all of you will die with me!"
A side door of the palace opened, and a stream of water rushed out. Wherever it passed, both humans and monsters instantly perished.
This was the Weak Water!
Song Yao, who was the closest, didn't have time to avoid it. In an instant, she had already prepared for death. But the next moment, she fell into a warm embrace.
Lu Chukong hugged her, pasted a talisman on her back, and pushed her away with one palm.
His last words in Song Yao's ear were, "I'm sorry, Miss. I wasn't really drunk that night."
Song Yao knew which night he was talking about, but before she could be shocked, Lu Chukong was instantly swallowed by the Weak Water.
Zhaozhao and Su Yuan quickly formed seals to block the surging Weak Water. However, this was the Weak Water. How could it be blocked?
The protective barrier was constantly being eroded. Zhaozhao saw that some of the water was about to touch Su Yuan's feet and slowly lowered her hands.
Su Yuan noticed something was wrong with Zhaozhao. He panicked and threatened her, "Zhaozhao, I don't care what you're going to do. Stop it. I'll find a way. Trust me."
Zhaozhao shook her head. Finally, she left a kiss on Su Yuan's lips and slowly floated into the air.
The heart of the Resurrection Tree, which countless people and monsters had coveted, was taken out by herself. It was crystal - clear and emitted a sacred light.
She was going to sacrifice herself to lead away the Weak Water.
With so much Weak Water, no one but her could do it.
"Stop! I told you to stop! Can't you hear me?" Su Yuan's eyes were blood - red, and he roared helplessly.
"Su Yuan, if there's a next life, will you forgive me? Will you still be willing to be with me?"
Who the hell wants a next life? Su Yuan just wanted to beg her to stop.
"I won't forgive you. Listen carefully. If you die today, I'll never want you again..."
Zhaozhao instantly looked very aggrieved. She asked him blankly, "But if you don't want me, what should I do?"
"So you have to be obedient. Stop now, and I'll love you forever. Don't—"
Suddenly, a loud thunder roared in the sky, and heavy rain poured down, washing everything on the ground.
The rain only lasted for a few minutes. Soon, the rain stopped, and the sky cleared. This scene was almost exactly the same as a thousand years ago.