Chapter 78#
Illusory Dream#
There was no one in the world who did not know Yin Yuheng.
Yin Yuheng was the protagonist of a dog-blood angst novel, but in his eyes, he never focused only on those melodramatic plots and tragic romances.
The plot trapped him in a cage built of betrayal, humiliation, and torture, but Yin Yuheng never forgot that he was the young Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty, the next Sovereign of the human race, with responsibilities that could not be shirked.
Although his life was not good, he actually loved this mortal world.
Fraternal affection, the lights of ten thousand homes, and the joys of the human world were all things Yin Yuheng cherished deep in his heart. Even when he was pushed nearly to the point of collapse by the irresistible plot, he never gave up hope. Later, in this carefully cherished emotion, Lu Yan was added.
Clearly not very old, Yin Yuheng had accomplished many great things sufficient to change history. The Li Dynasty was no longer the Li Dynasty of sects and aristocratic families; the pattern that had lasted for hundreds and thousands of years began to undergo earth-shattering changes. The future of the human race would be different from then on.
He was the morning star that changed the fates of countless people.
Standing on the Star-Plucking Platform, holding the succession edict, Yin Yuheng suddenly felt a extremely mysterious sensation. Yin Yuheng looked up and saw golden-purple light appearing at the edge of the heavy tribulation clouds above.
That was the gathered Human Sovereign Purple Qi and Merit Golden Light, a direction of the people’s hearts that even the Heavenly Dao had to acknowledge and could not conceal.
The tribulation clouds churned like waves, bringing rumbling thunder like the unwilling roar of the Heavenly Dao, but in the end, they did not strike. Instead, the sound grew smaller and the clouds thinner.
The Heavenly Dao, or rather the plot—that existence that shackled his fate—had no choice but to retreat.
Yin Yuheng was clearly standing on the Star-Plucking Platform in Chaoge, but in this instant, he seemed to be able to see very far, as far as the mountains and rivers of the Li Dynasty, the alleys and prefectures of the human world. All things living and dying, rising and falling, the withering and flourishing of the four seasons, the reincarnation of time—all seemed to be within his single thought.
Yin Yuheng seemed to have reached a realization.
Legend has it that Spirit Transformation stage cultivators can calculate heavenly secrets and observe heaven and earth. Was this how a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator felt when observing all things with their divine sense? Although he was not yet at the Spirit Transformation stage, he was already the Emperor of the Li Dynasty, the Sovereign of the human race. Under the effect of the Star-Plucking Platform formation connecting heaven and earth, Yin Yuheng faintly felt that he could mobilize the power of the Spirit Transformation stage.
Just as Lu Yan had accepted the Golden Crow’s inheritance, what Yin Yuheng felt was the authority and power of the “Human Sovereign.”
He carried the national fortune and the hearts of the people, gathering the power of vows, faith, and the Human Race Fortune.
This massive power surged in, and the purest spiritual energy gathered, flowing and washing through his damaged spiritual veins and spiritual platform.
The world’s rare medicines could not heal the damage to his spiritual platform and spiritual veins.
But this power could.
For the first time, Yin Yuheng felt a warm current surge from his spiritual veins and spiritual platform. It was very comfortable, unlike the heart-tearing pain of the past. That hard-to-shake coldness that rose from his very bones finally disappeared.
Since the age of seven, when Yin Yuheng was injured in an assassination attempt, sent to Fengliang to recover, and then injured his heart vessels to save Li Guanghan, he had been plagued by illness and pain, weak and coughing up blood. The shadow-like pain had tortured him until today.
The Golden Crow feather Yin Yuheng wore swayed in the wind, his hem fluttering up and down, his long hair slightly raised, and he gently broke into a smile.
In the spotlight, before the eyes of all Chaoge and witnessed by everyone, he took over the supreme authority of the human race.
From then on, the new Emperor of the Li Dynasty ascended the throne.
————
In the snowy plain tens of thousands of miles away.
With Lu Yan’s cultivation, he could reach thousands of miles away in an instant. At this intersection of the human, demon, and monster realms, Lu Yan saw the spatial rift the Demon Lord mentioned in his letter.
The snowy plain stretched as far as the eye could see, the frost like knives and swords. Few would set foot in this desperate land; if someone with lower cultivation came, they would find it hard to bear the extreme cold.
But for Lu Yan’s cultivation level, it was no problem. Moreover, the Golden Crow was a born divine bird, immune to heat and cold. The young monarch stood in the boundless white, his black clothes dusted with gold, wearing a golden crown, the wind and snow not touching his clothes.
The legendary spatial rift could not be seen or touched but could be perceived with divine sense. Lu Yan raised his hand before the rift and could vaguely feel an invisible barrier.
Throughout history, no book had recorded the existence of this spatial rift. Why did the Demon Lord know there was a fragment of the Kunlun Mirror here? And why did he specifically write to tell Yuheng?
And why was A-Heng so intent on finding the Kunlun Mirror fragments?
Lu Yan knew Yin Yuheng had some things he hadn’t told him. Since the other party didn’t say, he didn’t ask.
Since A-Heng wanted it, he would do it.
He only feared he wasn’t doing enough for the other party. His A-Heng had already suffered too much. Every time he thought of it, Lu Yan’s heart ached, ached so much he wanted to shed tears.
Bitterness should finally turn to sweetness, right?
Lu Yan only wanted to give everything he could get to Yin Yuheng, holding the other party at the tip of his heart, so his beloved person wouldn’t have to experience those tragedies and hardships again.
Lu Yan was about to use his divine sense to locate the Kunlun Mirror fragment in the spatial rift when his movements suddenly paused, and he frowned.
Around him was only the whistling wind; it was as if Lu Yan was alone between heaven and earth. But Lu Yan keenly felt the arrival of another person. He slightly turned his head and said in a low voice, “Demon Lord.”
The sound of footsteps lightly treading on the accumulated snow sounded behind him, followed by a lazy laugh: “Emperor Lu, we meet again.”
The legendary Demon Lord, who never left the Demon Realm, walked out of the wind and snow step by step.
After the old Emperor of the Li Dynasty went into seclusion and the previous Demon Emperor of the Demon Tribe died, the Demon Lord was the being with the highest cultivation in this world.
Lu Yan was very strong after accepting the Golden Crow’s inheritance; given time, he would even be stronger than the Demon Lord. But he was still too young, lacking experience and history, and still needed some time to truly refine the power of the Golden Crow’s inheritance.
The human, demon, and monster tribes stood in a tripod; in recent years, there had been no war, and the tribes generally tended toward peace and stability. Lu Yan had also had several exchanges with the Demon Lord, who was a low-key and mysterious figure who rarely appeared before others.
The Demon Lord looked like a middle-aged man, his skin showing a cold, ghastly white, as if he hadn’t seen daylight for a long time.
Lu Yan was looking at him, and he was also looking at Lu Yan.
After a long time, he suddenly sighed: “A young monarch. Every generation of the land has its talents. I’m getting old. The Human Sovereign and the Demon Emperor are both gone; should it be my turn?”
The Demon Lord paused and didn’t continue the topic. He looked toward the position of the spatial rift: “The Kunlun Mirror fragment is inside.”
The Kunlun Mirror, the legendary divine object that perceives heavenly secrets, knows the past and present, and reverses time. Even a single fragment could block the perception of a Spirit Transformation stage Li Guanghan.
“The spatial rift here was born because of the Kunlun Mirror fragment. The Kunlun Mirror shattered here, and the divine power contained within poured out, tearing through space and forming the rift,” the Demon Lord said indifferently.
Seemingly knowing what Lu Yan wanted to ask, he continued.
“The Kunlun Mirror is indestructible unless there is one reason—”
The Demon Lord looked into Lu Yan’s eyes: “Someone used the Kunlun Mirror to reverse time. Only a great supernatural power involving the reincarnation of time would cause the Kunlun Mirror to shatter.”
Lu Yan was stunned for a moment.
Reverse time?
Lu Yan opened his mouth to say something, but the space in front of him suddenly produced a subtle fluctuation of spiritual energy.
The spatial rift was vibrating!
Lu Yan and the Demon Lord turned their heads toward the place where the spiritual energy fluctuated.
A fragment emitting a faint white glow appeared from the void, as if receiving some sort of call, and fell straight into Lu Yan’s hand.
It was the Kunlun Mirror fragment he was looking for!
Lu Yan instinctively caught it. At the moment he touched the fragment, his mind suddenly became trance-like, and the scene before his eyes began to change rapidly.
He seemed to fall into an illusory dream.
————
It was still the snowy plain, still a vast white. But there were many people around, some Lu Yan was familiar with, some he wasn’t.
Li Guanghan? Zhu Anning? Why were these people here too?
Is it a dream? Or an illusion caused by the Kunlun Mirror fragment?
Lu Yan’s consciousness was somewhat groggy until the north wind on the snowy plain blew, clearing his mind a bit.
Whispered conversations reached his ears. The speakers’ voices weren’t loud, but with Lu Yan’s cultivation, he could hear even the most subtle sounds.
“Destroying the spiritual platform, extracting the immortal bones, breaking the hands and feet. It’s truly not easy for him to have lasted until now.”
“Next is gouging out the heart and refining the soul. Isn’t that worse than death?”
“He was fed the Silk-Tethered Lotus; he can’t die.”
“Just living to endure torture.”
What were they talking about? Is someone being punished? Lu Yan tried to control his body but found he couldn’t move.
It seemed he couldn’t control this illusory dream; he could only be a bystander, quietly watching the events unfold.
Someone beside him bowed respectfully: “My Lord, the time has come.”
Lu Yan knew this person; it was Huang Li, his subordinate.
It seemed in this illusion, he was still himself, the monarch of the Demon Tribe.
After Huang Li spoke, Lu Yan didn’t move; instead, his hand gripping the sword tightened.
Only then did Lu Yan realize he had a sword in his hand.
Was he going to kill someone? But why was he hesitating? A hint of doubt flashed through Lu Yan’s mind.
“I want to see Lu Yan…”
Just then, Lu Yan heard a weak, subtle voice.
That voice was so familiar—so familiar that the moment he heard it, Lu Yan felt the blood all over his body go cold, and an indescribable fear gripped his heart.
…A-Heng?
Why was it A-Heng’s voice?
Lu Yan took an uncontrollable step forward, and the people blocking him immediately moved aside to make a path for him.
Thus, Lu Yan finally saw clearly, without obstruction, the person being surrounded by the crowd not far away.
In the midst of the boundless silver snow of the wasteland, there was a heart-stopping red.
Lu Yan’s heart began to pound wildly. Clearly unable to control the development of this illusory dream or influence the movements of his current body, Lu Yan felt his entire being was trembling.
His cherished A-Heng was collapsed in the snow, his dark hair scattered, his face pale, his clothes thin, his body trembling slightly, whether from cold or pain. The other’s beautiful eyes had lost their former radiance, and blood covered the ground, still gushing out incessantly, like large patches of red plum blossoms blooming in the snow.
“My Lord, the time is up. It’s time for the execution.” Seeing Lu Yan not moving, Huang Li softly urged again.