The clouds in the night sky had all dispersed, and at the edge, the stars were incomparably bright. Countless streams of water rose from the ground, transforming into a mist several dozen li long that encircled the Mausoleum of Books. It was like a belt, green lotus branches and pink lotus blossoms faintly discernible within, a scene of incomparable beauty.
Compared to this seemingly otherworldly spectacle, the real human world was incomparably miserable. The houses in the southern part of the capital had either collapsed or been washed away by the waters. Countless people had died, cries for help and cries of pain rising and falling. Although they could not be heard clearly due to the distance, they still caused one's heart to palpitate with fear.
Those cultivating experts that had borrowed the darkness of the night to sneak around the Mausoleum of Books were even more affected by the shockwaves from the clash between the Green Leaf World and the Heavenly Tome Monoliths. The priests with slightly weaker cultivations were directly jolted to death, while the elders and Guardians of the various noble clans and sects were all injured. The girl called Mu Jiushi had a snow-white face, a trickle of blood hanging from the corner of her lips. She was no longer as bright as before, her expression very gloomy. Only Mao Qiuyu, Wuqiong Bi, and Bie Yanghong, because they were within the lotus sea and were protected by the calm and gentle water, were not affected.
The Green Leaf slowly floated back into the night sky, stirring up yet another massive gust of wind.
The gazes of the crowd returned from the Green Leaf to the peak. As they gazed at the Tianhai Divine Empress's figure, fear and reverence mingled, they were simply unable to speak.
The Heavenly Tome Monoliths were very large, very square. Logically speaking, it was impossible for a single hand to hold them.
But she had just casually held the Heavenly Tome Monoliths in her hand, or perhaps carried them in her hand.
The Pope's Green Leaf was the real world, possessing an almost limitless weight that could crush all things. Even the Frost God Spear and the Halving Blade were incapable of directly resisting it. But ever since the Heavenly Tome Monoliths had descended into the world, whether it was buffeted by the wind or battered by the rain, the shifting of space, or the passage of time, none of them could change their appearance. From this, the Heavenly Tome Monoliths were almost eternal existences, existences that could not be destroyed. It was just like the famous fable in the Daoist canon's Turtle Origin Theory. When a spear that could pierce through anything encountered a shield that could not pierce through anything, what would happen?
A fable was just a fable. It did not give a true answer, and the first encounter between the Green Leaf and the Heavenly Tome Monoliths also did not give a conclusion. From this perspective, the Heavenly Tome Monoliths were the most suitable and most powerful weapon against the Green Leaf World. The problem was, besides the Tianhai Divine Empress, who else had the terrifying ability to wield a Heavenly Tome Monolith as a weapon? Who had such a grand spirit, daring to think of using the Heavenly Tome Monoliths as weapons?
This world-shaking battle had not yet ended. It had just begun when the starlight refracted once more and space distorted once more. The green leaf once more floated towards the peak of the Mausoleum of Books.
The rivers and mountains were all within. Countless sounds rang out one after another. That was earth splitting, that was moving mountains, that was breaking rivers, that was the world descending again.
The Tianhai Divine Empress raised the stone monolith and once more smashed it at the green leaf.
Unlike the previous time, there was no sound this time. Not to mention all the thunder since ancient times, there wasn't even the chirping of dying insects in the autumn rain. There was only silence.
That was because all of the weight, power, and aura were perfectly circulating back and forth between the green leaf and the stone tablet. None of it was released into the world.
The ground at the peak of the Mausoleum of Books suddenly sank half a foot.
The Tianhai Divine Empress's complexion paled. A trickle of blood flowed from her finger and dyed a corner of the stone monolith red.
The Pope's complexion paled even more. His Divine Crown seemed to be covered in dust and the wrinkles on his face were so deep that they seemed like a loess plateau that had not seen rain for a thousand years.
The several dozen li of water in the middle of the Mausoleum of Books fell to the ground like a torrential rain.
The green leaf was like wet paper, sticking to the Heavenly Tome Monolith. It incessantly trembled, the surface of the leaf gradually tearing.
It was obvious that in this clash of extreme strength, the Tianhai Divine Empress already held the advantage!
The two most powerful masters of the Dao in the Orthodoxy's thousand-year history and the mysterious monk from the other continent were both supreme experts of the Saint level.
The Tianhai Divine Empress held the Heavenly Tome Monolith and fought separately with her body and soul. She was not at a disadvantage, and even seemed to be on the verge of obtaining victory in these three battles!
So tyrannical, so powerful. Regardless of the final result, everyone was forced to admit that she was the strongest expert beneath the starry sky!
… …
… …
The highest point was the summit, and the strongest could not be stronger. The Phoenix danced through the Nine Heavens, but in the end, it had to descend.
The battle between the Tianhai Divine Empress and the three Saints had reached its most crucial moment. She had displayed an unimaginable level of strength, as well as all of her strength.
This also meant that it was impossible for her to have an even more inconceivable method.
Bie Yanghong was well aware of this principle. He knew that the moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
He glanced at Wuqiong Bi, and the string binding his fingers suddenly snapped inch by inch.
Wuqiong Bi's face was pale. The horsetail whisk in her hand began to dance at high speeds, collecting the several dozen pieces of the string into it.
The Qi of silent extinction, like the cold waves of the Dead Sea, was suddenly mixed with a fresh Qi of life. These two completely different Qis not only did not clash with each other, but in an extremely short amount of time, they truly fused together, creating an indescribable aura of ancientness.
Life and silent extinction had originally been two sides of the same coin. Only when they fused together could the truth of the world be revealed.
The lotus leaves incessantly swayed and the lotus flowers within churned. This Qi madly surged up the Divine Path, seeming incomparably powerful. The space in front of the Mausoleum of Books was filled with an aura of ancientness.
They were the only husband and wife of the Storms of the Eight Directions, and could also be said to be the strongest couple in the entire world besides the White Emperor couple.
When they truly joined hands and unleashed their strongest attack, even someone as powerful as the Tianhai Divine Empress had to treat it with caution.
But at this moment, the Tianhai Divine Empress's strength was completely in the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, her Daoist techniques were in Luoyang, and her soul was tens of thousands of li away. How could she deal with it?
In the depths of the lotus sea was a ruin. There had once been a pavilion there, beneath the Divine Path. All those who wished to ascend the Mausoleum of Books, whether human or Qi, had to pass through this place.
When the ancientness of Bie Yanghong and Wuqiong Bi swept over, a sigh arose from that place.
This sigh was also brimming with ancientness, seeming very disappointed and frustrated.
A hand gripped the pitch-black metal spear.
A fierce gale stirred in the Mausoleum of Books, causing the lotus sea to ripple. The lotus leaves swayed back and forth, throwing those pearl-like drops of water into the sky.
This spear was not as ordinary as it appeared. It was the strongest spear in the world, perhaps even the strongest divine weapon in the last one thousand years.
Han Qing gripped the spear and pointed it into the darkness.
The bleak autumn wind had arrived once more.
All things in the world withered.
From the depths of the lotus sea, Bie Yanghong and Wuqiong Bi groaned.
Han Qing indifferently gazed in that direction. He did not speak, nor did he look at his feet.
At his feet was a lunchbox.
The rice and preserved meat stir-fried with green peppers within the lunchbox had long since been cleanly eaten. What remained was a few drops of water that swayed about.
Wherever the iron spear pointed, the green leaves in the lotus sea would wither. They looked like starving ghosts that were tied to the yellowing stems.
He gazed at the rapidly withering lotus sea and recalled the many corpses he had seen on his journey from the north many years ago.
His clansmen looked very different from humans, but after starving to death, they strangely became somewhat similar, perhaps because they were all very withered.
He had not starved to death, but he was on the verge of becoming a ghost. His eyes were even greener than those of the wolf cavalry, and he was so thin that only his bones remained.
Just when he believed that he could not walk out of the snowy plains, he met His Majesty.
His Majesty had a very gentle expression, but his brows were very high. His words were concise and forceful.
His Majesty asked Han Qing if he was hungry.
Han Qing nodded.
His Majesty said to Han Qing, then follow me from now on. Wine and meat will be provided to fill your stomach.
Han Qing thought for a very long time, then nodded.
… …
… …
One thousand years later.
As he gazed at the lotus sea, at those withered lotus leaves and lotus flowers that seemed like hanged ghosts, starved ghosts, and drowned ghosts, Han Qing once more nodded.
Then he circulated all the energy in his body and threw the spear!
The spear howled through the air, startling the heavens and earth, making ghosts and gods weep.
Before the spear, the lotus flowers scattered, the entire world withered, and life and death united.
The spear was like a boat, breaking through the water, like a stalk of grass, breaking through shadows, like an arrow, piercing through the clouds, piercing through the heart of the heavens.
Where was it going?
The depths of the lotus sea?
Between the green leaves?
The old monastery in the ancient capital, or that old temple tens of thousands of li away?
… …
… …
(This chapter corresponds to the chapter on whether one can still eat.)
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