Jing Feize, who was patrolling in the South Region, heard the unusual noise and immediately led his troops to the Northern Region. When he looked up, he saw the crying baby on the seal. He shouted in astonishment, “Fifth Brother?!”
“The Heavenly Emperor cares about the people, and he is worthy of being the Lord of the Six Realms.” Yu Linyun said calmly, “It’s just that this choice should not be made by Yanchuan.”
The Heavenly Emperor’s face was frozen. Just as he was about to speak, Yu Linyun said, “It’s a pity that my soul was damaged a long time ago, and my skills are not enough to support it for a long time.” He looked at the little dragon in the cradle and said in a lighter voice, “When Feirong grows up, he can do it.”
Chu Yanchuan already knew what he was going to do, and his expression suddenly changed: “Linyun!”
“Ah Yun…” The Heavenly Emperor said in a hoarse voice, “You knew it long ago.”
That’s why he held the two-month-old Jing Feirong in his arms, hoping that he would call him father, because he knew that he might not live to see the day when his youngest son would call him father.
Yu Linyun said nothing, which was considered a tacit agreement, and then he said, “I have also already made my choice.”
“You choose the beings of the six realms, and I choose Feirong. You can firmly sit on your Heavenly Emperor’s throne, and I will be a good father. We can have the best of both worlds.”
The Withered Swamp was still shaking. Yu Linyun did not hesitate at all. He flew up and transformed into a divine phoenix in midair. His feathers were like brocade, and his purple pupils were shining. He flapped his wings and flew towards the seal. The divine phoenix cut off the dragon vein, separated the little dragon from the seal, and gently held him in his wings, with his head lowered, as if he wanted to take one last look at him.
Then the little dragon was carried down from the seal by a circle of purple halo, and Jing Feize reached out and hugged his fifth brother.
The dome suddenly lit up, and the divine phoenix used its body to suppress the evil, and his satin-like feathers burned with flames, illuminating the Heavenly Emperor’s pale face. Jing Feize suddenly opened his eyes wide and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Father——!”
Chu Yanchuan’s eyes were bloodshot. He suddenly flew up and pressed two fingers on his Jiangong acupoint, wanting to take out his own spiritual essence, but the Divine Phoenix just stared at him deeply in the red flames and then drew a barrier. When Chu Yanchuan touched it, he was pushed back and fell to the ground, suddenly spitting out blood.
He looked at the flames that illuminated the entire Northern Region and said in a hoarse voice, “Linyun…”
In an instant, heaven and earth collapsed, the phoenix’s body overflowed with flames, and the fire broke through the barrier and burned straight into the sky. The divine phoenix could not bear the pain of burning god and finally burst into a shrill wail that echoed throughout the six realms—the four seas surged, Kunlun Mountain collapsed, Penglai collapsed, and Buzhou tilted. The ancient primordial spirit god died in the Demon Realm, sacrificed himself to the seal, reversed the way of heaven, and started again.
For the first time, the Demon Realm was so bright—so bright that it seemed to bleed. All the demons who witnessed the burning flames howled and died. Amid the roar of Chi Tuo and the lingering sound of the phoenix in the seal, Jing Feize knelt on the ground with tears in his eyes. The little dragon in his arms was almost hoarse from crying. The divine vein between him and Yu Linyun was severed. No one heard him vaguely cry out, “Father…”
Yu Linyun didn’t hear it and would never hear it again. He just stared at the Heavenly Emperor before his soul dissipated—being here, there was no question of right or wrong, they just made different choices.
Yu Cang helped Chu Yanchuan stand up. He made a seal to extinguish the burning flames, while Chu Yanchuan drew a talisman and sacrificed his ten thousand years of cultivation to seal it. Then he raised his hand to summon the evil-suppressing totem, which spread over the seal and suppressed the shaking Demon Seal firmly, making it unable to move. Under the suppression of the divine phoenix’s spirit and Chu Yanchuan’s cultivation, Chi Tuo’s demon spirit, who had already taken human form, dispersed and turned into a ball of chaos.
The wind and sand gradually subsided, and the six realms returned to peace.
After a long while, the Heavenly Emperor’s body swayed slightly, his eyes slowly moved downward, and he leaned over absentmindedly to pick up a phoenix feather at his feet. Before he could fully stand up, a white hand attacked his chest, five fingers piercing into his flesh, pinching the Heavenly Emperor’s spiritual essence in his hot chest, and a single squeeze could kill him.
Chu Yanchuan’s hair was in disarray, and the corners of his lips were bloody. He stared at the Heavenly Emperor’s face with an almost sinister look and dug his five fingers into his chest a few more centimeters. The Heavenly Emperor groaned, stepped back, and was finally nailed to a huge rock by Chu Yanchuan’s fingers. He lowered his head and spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Are you still regretting that you were not able to completely eliminate Chi Tuo?” Chu Yanchuan’s eyes were bloodshot, and he asked in a hoarse voice, “Since you failed to get what you wanted, who will the Heavenly Emperor punish this time?”
The Heavenly Emperor just held the phoenix feather and looked at Chu Yanchuan blankly without saying a word.
Chu Yanchuan frowned in pain and pulled his hand out suddenly, his palm was covered with blood. The Heavenly Emperor vomited blood and knelt down. Chu Yanchuan walked to the other side in a daze, stumbling a few steps, and then he staggered to a stop, lowered his head, and remained silent for a while, his shoulders trembling slightly, and a suppressed sob sounded.
Jing Feirong didn’t come back to his senses until he heard Dijun crying. He raised his hand and touched his face, only to feel tears all over it.
He finally understood why the Heavenly Emperor had erased this past from the Heavenly Book, why he was unwilling to mention his father to him, why he always lost his composure when he asked about his father, and why he had to let him take over the Withered Swamp.
Because some people cannot face it, some people cannot forgive, and some people cannot let go.
Jing Feirong slowly walked to Chu Yanchuan’s side. His Dijun was in a disheveled state, his white clothes were stained, no longer as beautiful and clean as before, and he was shaky, as if he would break if touched. It was the first time Jing Feirong had seen him cry.
He really wanted to hug Chu Yanchuan. He couldn’t bear to see Dijun crying so sadly, but the hand he stretched out just passed through Chu Yanchuan’s shoulders. It was useless—he, who lived more than seven thousand years later, could not comfort Chu Yanchuan, who lived more than seven thousand years ago.
“Dijun….” Jing Feirong lowered his head and kissed the bloody corner of Chu Yanchuan’s mouth. Although there was no physical contact, he choked and said, “It makes me sad to see you cry.”
Chu Yanchuan naturally couldn’t hear it.
The ground began to shake violently again, but Jing Feirong was the only one who could not stand steadily. He realized that the scene was collapsing and that everyone was gradually turning into chaos. Jing Feirong fell into darkness. Nothing happened in front of his eyes, but many images suddenly appeared in his mind.
He saw Jing Feize standing in the Heavenly Emperor’s study, resigning from his post as a general, and leaving heaven for the Immortal Realm.
He saw his second sister, Jing Feihan, kneeling on the God-Slaying Platform, crying, tearing up the divine book with her own hands, and devoting herself to Buddhism.
He saw the Heavenly Emperor order people to erase his third brother and fourth sister’s memory and bring them back to heaven from the East China Sea.
He saw Chu Yanchuan standing outside the Withered Swamp day and night, staring at the Demon Seal motionlessly.
He saw Chu Yanchuan standing opposite the Heavenly Emperor not long before their wedding. Chu Yanchuan asked, “In the past seven thousand years, have you ever thought of such a tragic situation in your dreams at midnight? Have you ever regretted it?”
The Heavenly Emperor replied, “If he has no regrets, then I have no regrets.”
……
Jing Feirong slowly closed his eyes and let himself be swallowed by the torrent of illusion. In his hand, he tightly grasped a Bodhi seed—that was what Yu Linyun asked Yuanshi Tianzun for him before his death. It fell beside the seal and was buried by the wind and sand. Jing Feirong brought it out.
Perhaps back in this moment, there is still a Bodhi seed buried next to the Demon Seal in the Withered Swamp for over 7000 years.
