Chapter 73: The Battle’s End

In his battered state after the previous fight, another enemy was already closing in. Gu Yuan clenched his teeth and forced his body to prepare a defense.

Before he could move, a soft arm slipped around him from the side and drew his head firmly against a warm chest. The motion was smooth, almost natural, as if she had simply stepped into place and gathered him in.

With her free hand, now transformed into a translucent, crystalline blue, Ji Yue swept outward. The remaining Cangming elder was cleaved into two uneven halves before he could complete his attack.

"Even if it was to help you gain more experience, I shouldn’t have allowed you to be injured to this extent."

Ji Yue’s soft voice sounded beside Gu Yuan’s ear, carrying a faint trace of guilt.

"That’s fine..."

It was not fine. Gu Yuan hated pain. He hated accumulating injuries. If given the choice, he would have preferred a long, healthy life free of wounds entirely. But was such a thing possible when his two Dao Companions were reincarnated empresses?

Gu Yuan sighed as he allowed his exhausted body to lean against the Myriad Fate Empress.

How powerful had she been in her previous life?

Simply because she had divined that he was her fated Dao Companion, was she really willing to accept everything about him so easily?

For the first time, Gu Yuan seriously wondered about it.

Before he could dwell on the thought any further, a tremendous shockwave swept across the battlefield.

The battle between the other reincarnated Empress and the peak Void Realm cultivator had reached its end.

Gu Yuan pulled himself away from Ji Yue and turned his gaze toward the battlefield.

Indeed, it was almost over.

Ji Yan’s figure flashed through the air, her sword moving with terrifying speed. Zhao Tianshu blocked one strike after another, but the difference between them had become increasingly obvious. Although he stood at the peak of the Void Realm, and Ji Yan had just broken through into the Embryo Realm. She fought him without giving him the slightest chance to gain the upper hand.

Their weapons collided again.

Boom!

The shockwave spread across the sky, sending clouds scattering in every direction.

Zhao Tianshu’s expression had become grim. He suddenly changed his approach, abandoning defense and striking directly toward Ji Yan’s chest.

Ji Yan tilted her body to avoid the attack, the sword in her hand sweeping upward immediately afterward.

Clang!

Zhao Tianshu barely blocked it.

The force drove him backward several steps, and blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Ji Yan looked at him with an amused smile.

"To get revenge, you came all this way, yet in the end, you’re the one who’s going to die."

She raised her sword again.

"Will your Sect Master come the next time? Or will the entire Cangming Sect come? Which do you think?"

"Gloat as much as you want while you still can." Zhao Tianshu snorted, though his expression had already become solemn. "The next time someone from the Cangming Sect comes, it will be your end."

Ji Yan laughed.

"That’s the wrong answer."

She suddenly put away the sword she had been using.

Her hands clenched into fists.

"After I kill you, I’ll go deal with your sect next. And if it has someone else backing it, I’ll deal with them too!"

Her figure flashed forward.

Zhao Tianshu’s expression changed as he gathered all his remaining strength and threw out a punch of his own.

The two fists collided.

For a brief moment, the entire battlefield seemed to fall silent.

Then the power behind Ji Yan’s punch erupted.

Boom!

Zhao Tianshu’s protective treasures shattered. His body was sent flying through the air before Ji Yan appeared directly above him.

Her fist descended.

The final strike landed with overwhelming force.

Zhao Tianshu’s body was crushed into the ground, and his aura disappeared completely.

The peak Void Realm cultivator had fallen.

For a moment, the entire Black Desolation Sect was silent.

Then cheers erupted.

"Ji Yan!"

"Ji Yue!"

"The Heavenly Twin Stars!"

The voices of the disciples and elders echoed throughout the Inner Sect. Some raised their weapons in excitement, while others simply stared at the two sisters with undisguised awe.

They had thought the sect was doomed when the invasion began.

They had watched enemies pour into their home, watched their protective formation crack, and watched powerful cultivators arrive one after another.

Yet the Heavenly Twin Stars had returned.

And in a single day, the entire situation had been overturned.

Ji Yue merely smiled at the cheers, while Ji Yan didn’t seem to care about them at all.

She descended from the sky and landed beside Gu Yuan and her sister.

Her first words were not congratulations or anything about the battle.

"You’re badly injured..."

Ji Yan frowned as she looked at Gu Yuan.

She had agreed with Ji Yue’s idea that he needed to experience actual battles rather than remain protected forever. He couldn’t become a flower raised inside a greenhouse and expect to survive in the cultivation world.

Yet seeing him covered in injuries still left her displeased.

Knowing that it had been necessary, however, she didn’t dwell on it for long. Instead, her expression quickly turned playful.

"Are these injuries you received because of those two bitches?"

Bitch? Again? Gu Yuan felt troubled. Ji Yan, however, didn’t seem to care about his troubles at all.

"Ah, you don’t know? Apparently, it’s the latest title we sisters got."

"No way!" Gu Yuan shook his head. "Who would dare to call the two most beautiful and elegant women in the world by such a name? You probably heard wrong, Senior Sister."

"Is that so? But what if someone really called us by that name?"

"Then it was probably a slip of the tongue. With your big heart, you naturally wouldn’t hold it against him... right?" Gu Yuan asked in a calm voice that barely managed to hide his desperation.

"I don’t know if I should forgive him, so... how about you give me a little bribe?"

What kind of bribe? The thought of the choker crossed his mind, yet he immediately questioned whether the timing was appropriate. Then he noticed the faint blush spreading across her cheeks, and understanding clicked into place.

Gu Yuan stepped toward her with a smoothness that surprised even himself. He gently lifted her chin, intending to give her a quick kiss, but Ji Yan stopped him with her palm.

"Undo your disguise first."

It was the same soul, the same body, the same eyes, the same hands, the same voice, and even the same lips. Only his facial features had shifted slightly under the effect of the Thousand Forms Ring.

Ji Yue hadn’t commented on it. To her, no matter how Gu Yuan changed his outward appearance, his essence remained the same.

Ji Yan, however, wanted him to return to his original appearance before accepting his affection.

Gu Yuan naturally had no objection. He immediately dismissed the disguise and returned to his original appearance before giving her the promised kiss.

Getting to kiss a reincarnated Empress and somehow having that count as a bribe... Gu Yuan couldn’t help feeling that he had come a long way.

"Is this enough, Senior Sister?" Gu Yuan asked as he pulled back slightly.

"Maybe a few more times?"

She avoided his gaze as she answered.

One kiss became many. What began as something relatively proper grew steadily more intimate. Both of them lost themselves in it.

"That’s enough..." Ji Yan murmured between uneven breaths. "If we continue like this, I feel like I will want to do more."

The red-haired woman was honest about her desire, but regardless of what she wanted, now was not the time for it.

She turned her gaze toward her sister.

"I’ll go and deal with all the sects that attacked us."

A gleam that promised destruction and retribution shone in her golden eyes.

Seeing it, Ji Yue shook her head.

"You can deal with everyone, but for now, delay Cangming Sect. Leave them for later."

Her gaze shifted toward Gu Yuan as she added, "Also, you should already know this, but there’s no need to kill everyone."

Ji Yan nodded casually before flying away.