Love Travels through Time (My father who traveled through time and space to cultivate immortality came back to pick me up) - Chapter 73
Among them was a black arc of light moving at astonishing speed. Anyone attempting to block it found that before their hands could even stretch out, the arc of light had already grazed past them.
The would-be defender only felt a stream of heat on his face, as though splashed by a warm liquid.
Just as he went to touch it, he realized his entire arm was gone!
“It’s Yin Changli!”
The two secret guards capable of protecting the Celestial Clan Emperor were naturally no ordinary figures.
One of them was Dugu Ning, the adopted son of the Celestial Clan’s top divine swordmaster Dugu He, and he was roughly the same age as Yin Changli.
Knowing they were no match for Yin Changli alone, the two didn’t fight him head-on; instead, they joined forces to cast a barrier, attempting to pin him down.
“Celestial Emperor!”
They simultaneously warned their master that the man he had been waiting for had made his appearance.
“Stop him!”
Jing Ran had no time to deal with Yin Changli right now; he needed to bring Xiang Haikui under control first.
Trapped by barriers on all four sides, Yin Changli revealed his physical form. Just as he prepared to carve a path out, Underworld Lord Jin Ying landed outside the barrier right before him.
“Brother Changli, it has been many years.”
Yin Changli sneered coldly, “Jin Ying, you used to think the Lord looked down on women and gave you no chance to display your talents. After selling out your master to rise to power, it seems this Nether Realm has been governed worse and worse under your watch.”
Breaking the barrier systematically was too time-consuming, so even while speaking, he had already shattered it by sheer brute force.
However, Jin Ying deployed another barrier using Underworld Shackles, clearly intending to drain his strength while he was anxious, remarking coldly.
“Indeed, I admit my capability is lacking, but as a member of the Celestial Clan, my actions against the Lord back then were by no means a betrayal!”
Yin Changli couldn’t be bothered to waste words with her.
Just as he was about to force his way through once more, a dazzling wheel of golden light suddenly shot forth, hovering above his head like a miniature sun.
This was Jing Ran’s Blazing Sun Slash—his most frequently used lethal move aside from his protective golden light.
Under this blazing sun, a person could be instantly incinerated into ashes.
Jing Ran clearly didn’t trust these useless subordinates and had no choice but to divide his attention.
Withstanding the Blazing Sun Slash overhead, Jin Ying’s Nether Shackles, and the joint siege of Dugu Ning and the other secret guard, Yin Changli indeed found it somewhat strenuous.
After resolving those assassins, the high officials of the Twelve Palaces also swarmed in one after another.
Due to the Blazing Sun Slash, the dark red sky was illuminated as bright as day; much like looking directly at the real sun, this extremely close mini-sun was equally blinding.
Looking toward it, the entire midair was a sea of stark white, rendering every shadow and figure blurred and indistinct.
—
Meanwhile, inside the city.
Bai Xingxian and Lu Xiqiao, who were waiting to meet Xiang Haikui, were at a complete loss for what to do.
Staring at the flood dragon that seemed to have gone mad, Lu Xiqiao was too nervous to breathe.
“Should we charge up there to help?”
Bai Xingxian worried for both of them: “Uncle told us to only act as backup.”
The moment the words left his mouth, the tiny black ball in his palm opened its mouth, a voice echoing out: “Young Master, should we make our move?”
Bai Xingxian was startled: “Are you asking me?”
The voice said anxiously: “This incident happened out of nowhere, and we can’t reach the Patriarch at all right now. Of course it’s up to you to make the call, Young Master!”
Bai Xingxian was almost brought to tears. How was he supposed to make a call on such a massive affair?
Besides, why call him Young Master? He was just a servant boy who served tea and poured water.
The voice let out an “Aiya!”, sounding both anxious and exasperated: “Before entering hibernation, the Patriarch instructed that if anything happened to him, you would be the new Patriarch!”
Bai Xingxian froze in shock.
“Hurry up and give the order!” Anxious beyond measure, Lu Xiqiao gave him a push.
“At this point, we definitely have to fight! Your uncle had everything deployed anyway—he’s just waiting for your command!”
“Fight, fight, fight!” Bai Xingxian’s mind was complete mush.
“Proceed however my uncle deployed things earlier! Fight!”
“Understood, Young Master!”
The tiny black ball snapped shut once more.
—
Yin Changli was surrounded by at least a hundred top experts, yet thanks to the mini-sun overhead, their power was suppressed as well, preventing them from drawing close.
Jing Ran was practically doing more harm than good, but everyone understood that he was infamous for trusting no one but himself.
Yin Changli closed his eyes, his long hair floating up like river weeds.
As a single black scale surfaced between his brows, the color of the Underworld Realm’s sky unexpectedly dimmed.
This was an innate talent of the Zhulong Clan—the ability to reverse day and night.
Even if the Underworld possessed no day or night, it could still make the turbid qi grow far denser.
The original dark red hue of the Underworld grew increasingly deep and black, as though splashed with heavy ink.
The ball of light overhead that resembled a mini-sun was wrapped layer upon layer by viscous, resin-like dark matter.
It actually went out!
Once that pressure vanished, the people surrounding him retreated a few steps further instead, filled with dread.
Jing Ran, who was still gripping the whip, froze, his gaze turning cold and rigid.
“To think that even after having your scales flayed and losing the power of a Zhulong, you still possess such formidable talent.”
A single white scale surfaced in Yin Changli’s hand, transforming into a blade gleaming entirely white, which he swung toward Jin Ying who was blocking his way.
“My thanks for the Celestial Emperor’s praise.”
“Speaking of which, Yin Changli, in all these years, this is the first time I’ve met you in person. That wretched, pitiful state of yours when you knelt at my feet and submitted back then remains vivid in my mind to this day.”
“I expect my appearance today must have made the Celestial Emperor see me in a new light. Unfortunately, over all these years, the Celestial Emperor hasn’t made a shred of progress, but has grown increasingly despicable instead. I always regarded the Celestial Emperor as the fierce rival of my lifetime, yet now, only disappointment remains.”
“Heh, against despicable people, one naturally uses despicable means. My only regret is that sliver of mercy I showed back then.”
“Failing to pull up the roots when cutting the grass was indeed the Celestial Emperor’s blunder.”
After exchanging a few words, both went completely silent.
Jing Ran was irritable and restless, and Yin Changli was hardly any better.
The focus of both men remained locked on that mad dragon.
Yin Changli used a self-sacrificing technique to detach a clone from the circle of battle, transforming once more into an arc of light that sliced straight between Jing Ran and the flood dragon—with a loud crack, severing the golden whip.
The explosive pop caused everyone’s eardrums to ache with sharp pain.
Jing Ran spat out a mouthful of blood, while the flood dragon was propelled forward by momentum, on the verge of crashing into the pavilion.
Yin Changli manifested his demon form—twice the size of the flood dragon—and entwined himself around her, forcibly wrapping her in his embrace.
The power Jing Ran had condensed over her heart meridians was cut off, replaced by his own.
Yin Changli already knew what had happened.
Before they parted ways earlier, she had known nothing at all.
In the blink of an eye, she was risking her very life against the Celestial Emperor; she must have learned the truth from Luo Yunxiu, which meant Han Qi…
He should have realized it long ago, yet he ended up being the very last to know, leading directly to the current situation.
If only he had possessed a fraction less hesitation and a fraction more impulse, things would never have come to this!
Does your heart ache?
Yin Changli, I ask you: does your heart ache or not?
Ever since you were a child, you have been a weak, incompetent coward who liked to flee whenever trouble arose.
A coward who chose to close his eyes because he couldn’t bear to see slaughter and lacked the ability to stop it.
You always aspired to become a real man like your father—
Gentle yet powerful, wise yet brave.
Accepting and embracing everything in this world, whether good or bad, even a son like you who brought him shame.
You thought that after experiencing all the ups and downs of life, you had grown resilient enough.
You peered into celestial fate, you defied heaven’s will, you considered yourself unrivaled in intellect and strategy, and you believed you had seen through the vicissitudes of the mortal realm.
In truth, you never did.
Why could a single cup of wine intoxicate an entire sea?
Because that sea in your heart was nothing more than a castle in the air to begin with.
You never possessed a heart like your father’s—one that could embrace all things with unyielding fortitude!
So the moment you faltered, that layer of hypocritical ice atop your sea began to shatter bit by bit, laying bare the truth that you are nothing but a weak, incompetent failure!
The dazed and delirious Xiang Haikui regained a sliver of consciousness at this moment.
Sensing that the power over her heart meridians had switched owners, she began to struggle once more.
“Get off me!”
She bit him viciously, tearing through scales and flesh alike.
Only after a long silence did Yin Changli’s pale, powerless voice echo forth.
“If you don’t want to fuse this child, I have a thousand ways…”
“I beg of you, please don’t do this…”
