Chapter 2763 - 61: Heavenly Demons Face Off, Alone on the Flying Eaves

Under the moonlight, Lu Ximing stepped upon the sea of blossoms, and the supreme existences of the Divine Fragrance Flower Sea, the Purple Wu Hills, and The Sky Sloth Wilderness, these three domains, all gathered here at this moment.

All together in Mo Yun City.

Heaven and earth fell abruptly silent; different Laws were beginning to stir. Chan Fayuan and Ji Xingkong also, by tacit accord, lowered the ferocity of their struggle, gradually smoothing out the ripples.

Only when the Shenxiao Secret Cache completely bared its true face, revealing a gaping breach large enough to draw peak powerhouses near, would the grand play of this night perhaps truly begin!

"Indeed, tonight is especially lively!" Tiger Taisui turned his eyes aside, the sea of flowers hidden in his amber gaze. "Lu girl, what brings you here?"

Lu Ximing smiled, yet it was anything but gentle; her delicate brows were like willow-leaf blades. "For the same reason you came, I came."

Tiger Taisui said, "Back then, to what height the Shenxiao King truly climbed remains unsettled to this day. I wish to trace back the Past and, in the depths of time, seek the Dao... Lu girl, would you walk this path with me?"

Lu Ximing’s tone was light. "But it seems you are not welcome."

Tiger Taisui cast a glance in the direction where Zhu Xuan had fled. "I am in the midst of finding a way."

Lu Ximing only smiled, saying nothing.

They spoke here and laughed as though no Demon stood about them.

Zhu Yi, however, could endure no longer. She stared straight at these two peak powerhouses, her eyes filled with cold. "It seems this night cannot end peacefully. The weak are meat for the strong; this is the law of nature. To be wounded, one can only blame one’s own carelessness. But do not forget, these wounds on my body were taken for the Demon clan. It was in resisting experts of the Human Race that I was left so frail. Even the Human Race understands the principle of joining hands against the outside. Are we of the Demon clan instead inferior? I fought a blood war for our Race upon the battlefield, life and death hanging by a thread, and now, in the end, I must bear calamity from my own?"

Tiger Taisui frowned. "Which of the Heavenly Demons present has not fought blood battles a few times over? Which of them has not risked life and limb for the Monster Realm? Even that bald head of Ancient Nan Mountain is no stranger to bloodshed. Spouting such trivial complaints—whom do you expect to relent?"

He said coldly, "I have schemed for many years over the secrets of this realm; I must question the Shenxiao King. Whether you are injured or not, I will press on regardless. Since when did the wounds you bear become your protective Armor? Because you are wounded, you believe you have the right to sway my resolve? How childishly naive! Zhu Yi, let me spell it out for you: if you retreat now, I shall not pursue. If you insist on standing in my way, do not blame me for being merciless!"

His resolve was laid utterly bare, and his cruelty was known throughout the world.

This was already the final ultimatum.

The final chance he chose to grant.

Zhu Yi, as a Heavenly Demon wounded upon the racial battlefield, could freely withdraw and seek another trove to nurse her injuries...

But what of Zhu Xuan?

What of Zhu Lanruo and Zhu Zheng, who were within the Land of Shenxiao?

If she left, those children would be flayed and torn apart in an instant.

It was true that, in the Demon clan, kinship was not held as heavily as among the Human Race; bloodline kin were, at times, merely more trusted subordinates. Just like Tiger Taisui, who did not consider killing a few offspring of the Spider Family any great matter, and did not think Zhu Yi had sufficient cause to risk herself to block him.

It was also said that for a Heavenly Demon expert, nothing beyond their own body should matter...

Yet when carried down to each and every particular being, each heart held its own feelings.

In the end, they were still her descendants.

A Demon is no blade of grass or tree; who could truly be without feeling?

Zhu Yi looked at Tiger Taisui, then at Lu Ximing, then at Chan Fayuan, who seemed deaf to it all, and at Ji Xingkong, hidden within the night... Suddenly, she smiled.

In this chill night, she smiled with serene, regal composure, and said thus: "When Yuan Xianting left, he left me a single sentence. I am wondering whether it is worth letting you hear it."

Lu Ximing watched this scene with considerable interest.

"Ha!" Tiger Taisui also laughed. "Do you lack awareness of your own condition, or do you not understand me well enough? You want both face and advantage, and would even try to use Yuan Xianting to press me down?"

That one was wild and self-willed, walking the world alone; how could he be so easily moved?

Zhu Yi said no more. She merely plucked a single golden hair, and lightly blew it past her red lips.

The golden hair drifted feather-light, lonely as it swayed down through the night sky.

A figure clad in Battle Armor, a red cloak tied behind his back, descended upon the highest point of the city—the rooftop of Feiyun Tower, upon those eaves like the outstretched wings of an eagle.

He sat upon the flying eaves, facing the vast sky.

Xue Yue hung just behind him, his red cloak unfurling in the wind.

"Listen." His eyes were half closed, a bit of drowsy haze still clinging to them, as if he had not yet fully awakened. "I don’t know who it is that’s coming, nor who it is fortunate enough to see me. But listen!"

"Zhu Yi fought shoulder to shoulder with me, and that was not long ago. Normally I don’t meddle; but now that she’s been wounded..."

He opened those eyes rimmed with scarlet, slowly turning them toward this tense battlefield where blades were nearly drawn, and casually bared his teeth in a light, careless grin. "Whoever dares lay a hand on Zhu Yi—I’ll slaughter his whole family!"

His voice was not particularly vicious, yet the wear upon his Armor and the color of his cloak already painted more than enough.

Tiger Taisui said nothing.

Chan Fayuan said nothing.

Ji Xingkong said nothing.

At last, it was Lu Ximing who spoke softly: "If you ask me, why must we stand here with blades bared? To injure harmony for nothing is beneath our station. Whether it be the secrets of Shenxiao, or the possibility of surpassing the Absolute Summit, all this hovers between existence and nonexistence, insubstantial and vague—what is it truly worth? Do not all present have juniors within? Opportunity is allotted by heaven; let the younger generation fight for it themselves. What say you all?"

Before he appeared in Mo Yun City, Tiger Taisui had indeed not expected Zhu Yi to be hiding within this city nursing her wounds. To forcibly slay Zhu Yi, who had been injured upon the battlefield of the Race War, after that war’s end, would be difficult to account for before the Ancient Imperial City. Thus he had always aimed only to drive her away.

To win over Lu Ximing to join him in questioning the Past through time was already his final attempt.