Twelve souls of different colors floated above Hongyu’s palm.
Each of them contained a portion of Sui’s consciousness that had been separated from one of the twelve fragments.
At long last, Hongyu had found a way to resolve the enormous problem that Sui represented.
Using his profound understanding of souls, he had forcibly severed the connections between the Sui fragments and Sui’s original consciousness.
And he’d accomplished it without harming the fragments themselves.
It was an extraordinarily dangerous undertaking.
But Hongyu had succeeded.
Whenever the process threatened to damage one of their souls, he had redirected the damage onto himself at the critical moment.
As a result, none of the fragments had suffered any injuries.
Hongyu, however, had endured the spiritual backlash more than a hundred times.
And there was an even more troublesome problem.
The portions of Sui’s consciousness that he had extracted still needed to be sealed away.
Unfortunately, Hongyu’s current condition was like a candle flickering in the wind.
He no longer possessed enough strength to imprison them through conventional means.
If Sui’s malevolent consciousness were allowed to reunite, the consequences would be unimaginable.
It could destroy the trust Hongyu had spent centuries building between the Sui fragments, the people of Great Yan, and the imperial court.
That was something Hongyu absolutely refused to allow.
And so, in the final moments of this life, he decided to help his family one last time.
As the inaugural Grand Warden, he would clear the final obstacle from their path.
To put it simply…
‘IF I’M GOING DOWN, I’M TAKING YOU WITH ME!’
‘Heh.
Sui, you’re actually pretty considerate, aren’t you?’
‘You know how terrible I am at saying goodbye.’
‘Especially when I’d have to say goodbye to twelve people, one after another.’
‘So you’ve conveniently given me a way to leave without having to go through all that, huh?’
Truthfully, Hongyu wasn’t particularly optimistic about his final battle as Grand Warden.
To be safe, he had even chosen his own spiritual domain as the battlefield.
After all, Sui currently existed only as a collection of spiritual fragments.
Hongyu could send that consciousness wherever he pleased.
By drawing Sui into his own spiritual domain, he could prevent the battle from affecting the outside world.
And even if he failed…
He had another possibility in mind.
‘Since I’ll probably travel through time and return to the future after this body dies, Sui’s consciousness should come along with me.’
‘And once I’m back in my body at its full strength…’
‘Heh.’
‘We’ll see who’s suppressing whom then.’
‘Haaah…’
‘Well, that’s the plan, anyway.’
‘But I should still give this everything I’ve got.’
Hongyu slowly brought the twelve wisps of spiritual energy together.
They merged into a single entity.
Then he pressed the united consciousness against his forehead.
His vision vanished instantly.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in an endless expanse of pure white.
There was no visible horizon.
No sky or ground that could be clearly distinguished.
Only an immense, empty space stretching beyond sight.
And not far away stood an old acquaintance.
An enormous, pitch-black beast, occasionally letting out thunderous roars as arcs of electricity crackled around its body.
Sui.
“Yo!
Sui!”
Hongyu grinned.
“Long time no see!”
Without another word, he raised his hand.
A thousand bolts of lightning immediately descended toward Sui’s head.
The sight was almost identical to their first encounter centuries earlier.
“ROOOOOOAR!”
Sui unleashed a deafening roar.
The sound sent powerful ripples through the surrounding spiritual space.
Refusing to be outdone, the giant beast summoned several enormous bolts of lightning and hurled them toward Hongyu.
Tens of thousands of electrical currents collided and intertwined across the sky.
Blinding flashes of light erupted between the man and the beast.
Hongyu endured the pain spreading through his damaged consciousness and wiped his mouth.
“FREEZE…!”
He extended one hand toward Sui.
Then he clenched it tightly.
In an instant, thousands of icy chains appeared around the enormous creature, wrapping around its colossal body.
Freezing mist poured from the chains as they tightened.
Hongyu immediately followed up with another thousand bolts of lightning.
But Sui was already preparing its next attack.
Countless enormous rocks surged toward Hongyu, carrying enough force to make the entire world seem as though it were collapsing.
The battle resembled their first confrontation.
But this time…
It would be their last.
Inside Hongyu’s spiritual domain, the clash was so tremendous that the heavens seemed to shake and the earth appeared ready to split apart.
Yet in the outside world, there was no such spectacle.
There was only a quiet house.
An empty house.
And inside it sat a lone mortal whose life was gradually slipping away.
The light in his eyes slowly faded.
In the end, despite everything he had accomplished, he remained a mortal.
His lifespan was finite.
And like all mortals, he could not escape the boundaries of life and death.
…
…
“Mmm…”
‘What’s going on?’
‘I feel so refreshed!’
Ling stretched lazily and smacked her lips.
For some inexplicable reason, she felt incredibly comfortable.
It was as though an enormous boulder that had been pressing down on her for years had suddenly disappeared.
“Old geezer?”
Ling called out automatically, expecting the familiar response.
“Over here.
Stop making such a racket.”
But this time…
No answer came.
After waking up, Ling couldn’t find Hongyu anywhere.
“Old geezer?”
“Where’d you go?”
Ling frowned.
‘Did that guy sneak off to buy tanghulu without me again?’
Feeling slightly annoyed, she headed toward the nearest town.
‘If he really went out to buy tanghulu on his own, he’s definitely going to forget to buy me wine!’
‘No way!’
‘I’d better go remind him.’
‘He absolutely can’t forget my wine!’
‘Hmph…’
‘And if he refuses…’
‘Maybe I’ll kiss his cheek again.’
‘Hehe.
I’d really love to see him desperately pretending to remain calm one more time~’
…
…
“A-Yao, where do you think he’s gone?”
Dusk held A-Yao in her arms as she gazed around the empty painting studio.
“Gawuu—!”
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.
I’m just an A-Yao.’
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
“You probably wouldn’t know anything.”
Dusk couldn’t help laughing at herself for asking the little creature such a question.
“He’s probably just gone out to buy tanghulu or something.”
“He’ll be back soon.”
She tilted her head and looked toward Gouwu City, which lay nestled among the mist-covered mountains beneath Mount Huiqi.
“Hey, A-Yao…”
“Do you think I should tell him how I feel when he comes back this time?”
“Do you think he’ll accept it?”
“He probably will, right?”
“After all, I don’t think he’s ever really refused anything I’ve asked him…”
“Gawuu…
Gawuu…”
‘I told you, I’m just an A-Yao.’
‘If you want to confess your feelings, go tell the master yourself.’
“That’s it!
I’ve decided!”
Dusk suddenly looked determined.
“A-Yao, help me practice what I’ll say when Yu comes back!”
“Gaw?”
A-Yao froze.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Me?
Help you practice?’
“Of course!”
“Besides, it’ll give us something to do while we wait for him!”
…
…
“Where’d that old geezer go?”
Nian scratched her messy white hair.
She’d already searched practically every place Hongyu liked to visit throughout Shangshu.
She was even carrying a particularly effective tool for luring him out.
A skewer of tanghulu.
For some reason, she’d woken up feeling unusually energetic today.
But Hongyu’s sudden disappearance had left her exhausted from searching.
‘Seriously, where the hell did he run off to?’
After failing to find him anywhere, Nian finally gave up.
She began eating the tanghulu she’d brought with her, taking one bite after another as she leisurely made her way home.
‘It’s not like I bought this because I wanted to eat it myself.’
‘You’re the one who didn’t show up.’
‘Whatever.’
‘It’s not like anything bad could happen to that old geezer.’
‘I’ll just wait for him to come back.’
…
…
“Sir!
The seeds you brought have produced an amazing harvest!”
Shu excitedly pushed open the closed door.
But the room beyond was empty.
She tilted her head in confusion.
After searching the room, a slight frown appeared on her beautiful face.
“Sir?”
She called out tentatively.
Then she quickly turned around.
Nobody was there.
‘Huh?’
‘Has Sir finally stopped playing that silly game where he sneaks up behind people?’
“Sir?”
Shu raised her voice slightly.
But once again, there was no response from Hongyu.
‘Did he sneak out on his own?’
‘Don’t tell me he’s craving something again…’
‘Did he go out to buy tanghulu?’
Thinking this, Shu sighed softly.
‘Honestly…’
‘It’s almost time to eat, and he’s gone wandering off again.’
‘When he comes back, I’m definitely going to give him a proper lecture.’
He was gone.
Yet the Sui fragments, completely unaware of what had happened, continued waiting with hopeful hearts.
Waiting for someone who would never return.