In the entire world, only that faint, lingering trace of aura remained.
What did this mean?
Jingliu didn't want to think about it, nor did she dare to.
But that answer was like a rusty, dull knife, slowly sawing through her heart.
Master, like countless others in Azure City, had died at Shuhu's hands, their body devoured, their soul unable to escape.
"Ugh..."
A low moan, suppressed to the extreme and bordering on suffocation, escaped Jingliu's throat.
The next moment, she moved.
Like a madwoman, like a vengeful spirit intent on devouring the object of her hatred, she charged straight towards Shuhu.
"Hahahaha!"
Shuhu recognized this woman, the disciple Qi Zhimu was so proud of.
What a touching scene of a benevolent Master and a filial Disciple... "Come, come accompany your Master. I will let him merge with you..."
Countless branches instantly regenerated, forming an impenetrable cage of thorns, about to engulf Jingliu.
Witnessing this scene, everyone's faces turned deathly pale.
"Master! Get out of the way!!" Jing Yuan's anxious voice echoed through the communicator.
Just as the cage was about to close and complete its strangulation, a sudden change occurred—
An indescribable, terrifying impact originating from the depths of its soul caused Shuhu's movements to abruptly freeze.
The horrifying, unstoppable branches filling the sky halted abruptly when they were mere inches from Jingliu.
Immediately afterward, the cage disintegrated piece by piece before everyone's eyes.
"You... how could you..."
Extreme fear and distortion reappeared on Shuhu's arrogant face, letting out a shrill scream.
"This is impossible!! You were clearly dead!!"
"What are you planning to do... No—how could you counter..."
Shuhu screamed wildly, tearing at its head, as if something inside was being consumed in reverse.
In this instant of stagnation—
Pfft!
The muffled sound of a sharp blade piercing a body clearly echoed across this space.
Huaiyan, who had just returned to the Desolate Planet, witnessed this scene and froze in place, just like everyone else.
Jingliu, wielding her longsword, passed through all of Shuhu's defenses without obstruction, the blade plunging straight into its body, sinking to the hilt.
The world stood still at this moment.
Teng Xiao's pupils suddenly constricted to the size of pinpricks.
His eyesight was excellent; even separated by a considerable distance, and even with the face twisted and deformed, he could still see clearly.
Just before the sword point pierced, an extremely familiar expression flashed in the monster's eyes.
Carrying... endless relief.
Teng Xiao could see it, and Jingliu, who was right next to it, certainly could too.
She snapped back from the realization that Shuhu had stopped resisting, seemingly allowing her to pierce its body, and her own body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Her gaze was full of disbelief, locked onto the Shuhu before her.
Why did it actively stop all attacks and give up its defense at the last moment?
Could it be... No... that look wasn't Shuhu's, it wasn't... The monster's huge, grotesque body began to disintegrate.
First the bark, branches, and roots, then the horns, bone blades, sharp claws, and wings... all the non-human parts detached and fell into the churning magma below.
What remained in the end was the figure imprinted deep in her soul.
Countless eyes clearly took in this sight, and many people instinctively covered their mouths.
Qi Zhimu stood quietly in mid-air, his gaze slowly sweeping over the woman's face before him. A moment later, a tenderness capable of making one sink into despair emerged... I'm sorry, Jingliu.
Master is a liar... All luster faded from Qi Zhimu's eyes, leaving only grayness, and his entire body tilted backward, falling downward.
The sound of the longsword leaving the chest rang out, startling Jingliu, who had briefly succumbed to that tenderness.
"Master...!"
Jingliu instinctively swooped down, tightly embracing Qi Zhimu, her body shaking uncontrollably.
Her cheek pressed against his, but she couldn't feel the slightest bit of warmth.
Shuhu hadn't devoured Master at all!
Instead... Master had devoured Shuhu... She realized she had personally killed the monster, killed her Master who had turned into the monster... No wonder all attacks vanished on their own at the last moment.
No wonder he neither dodged nor avoided, allowing the longsword to pierce his body.
How could Shuhu, whom even the General couldn't kill, fail to withstand a single strike from this Zhanhui Sword...?
It must be because Master did something at the very last moment... Jingliu's mind was violently shaken, and the dense, icy True Qi radiating from her quickly enveloped this area, creating a bizarre spectacle.
Magma swallowed the earth, and hot vapor steamed up.
Yet, snowflakes condensed high in the sky, constantly drifting down, slowly melting upon contact with the hot vapor.
The entire process demonstrated the natural truth known as irreversibility.
But even though the surrounding temperature plummeted, it could not freeze Jingliu's tears.
Tear drops slid down her cheeks, continuously falling onto Qi Zhimu's face.
He showed no reaction; his eyes were vacant, and his body grew rigid.
"No... don't..."
Jingliu convulsed all over, in too much pain to speak more, only repeating the same words.
Just as the two were about to fall into the magma sea, a Wind Curtain timely swept in, carrying them back into the air.
Chaotic sounds continuously echoed in her ears, but Jingliu couldn't hear, she couldn't hear anything.
The cruel reality of having personally killed her Master nearly destroyed her entirely.
"Master... please say something..."
"I beg you... Your Disciple begs you..."
Heaven and Earth were silent, leaving only Jingliu's choked sobs.
No one had ever seen her look like this, no one.
But whether it was Jing Yuan, Teng Xiao, or even Dan Feng and the others, they all knew one fact—
The person Jingliu cared about most in this life was Qi Zhimu.
Even when Master severed their relationship with the coldest, most resolute tone back then, her consciousness was never as chaotic and devoid of reason as it was now.
Since that day, from rushing to aid Yueque to defending Luofu, and then pursuing Shuhu, no matter how severe her injuries were, she felt no pain.
But now, every corner of her body ached as if it were about to shatter.
Her hand unconsciously grasped Qi Zhimu's hand, but touched an object with a strange yet exceptionally familiar texture.
She subconsciously looked down, and her entire body instantly froze like a statue.
A tassel, whose color naturally transitioned from deep crimson to light scarlet, was slightly visible in the gap of Qi Zhimu's tightly clenched right hand.
Jingliu slowly opened his hand.
A silver moon jade pendant, covered in cracks and barely held together by countless tiny fragments, came into view.
At this moment, the identical silver moon jade pendant fastened to her sleeve quietly slipped off.
The two pendants were placed side by side, reflecting the twin moons, a perfect pair.
Unfortunately, one of them was no longer whole, covered in countless irreparable cracks.
Even in death, Qi Zhimu had never let go of this jade pendant.
"Aaaah—!!!"
Jingliu suddenly roared up at the sky!
The collapse of heaven and earth would be no different.
Similarly, no one had ever seen her wear such an expression.
Grotesque, distorted, shattered... Her voice was shrill enough to pierce the clouds, utterly heartbreaking, enough to make any listener weep.
Two streams of blood tears spilled from the corners of Jingliu's eyes, continuously dripping onto the shattered silver moon jade pendant.
Fine snow fell on Qi Zhimu's face but never managed to melt.
In this world, extreme cold and extreme heat collided, converging into a downpour.
The blood tears on Jingliu's face were diluted by the rain; it was impossible to tell if it was rain or tears.
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Afterward, she pressed her forehead against Qi Zhimu's palm, and even the heavy rain seemed to wail in sorrow for her crying.