Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 923 (2): Resolution of Karma

Ye Jiuyou made a show of chasing, but just as she began to move, the floating blood exploded, transforming the void into a sea of blood.

Luckily, she had never intended to give chase. Her movement was a feint; she had already slipped back into the Heavenly Tome, narrowly avoiding the spreading sea of blood.

In the next moment, Ye Jiuyou reappeared beside Innocence, joining Piaomiao in attacking him. Facing Ye Jiuyou, Piaomiao, and the Four Idols, Innocence found himself the one encircled. Not daring to risk being trapped, he made the smart call and retreated at once before the formation could fully close in.

Far off in the distance, Withered Wood let out a quiet sigh. Things had not gone according to plan. He had expected the other two Sovereigns to pressure Ye Jiuyou’s side into a desperate defense, giving him the perfect window to strike and reap the spoils. But to his surprise, they had cleverly used Luo Chuan’s primordial soul to absorb the fiercest assault, seizing the initiative and turning the tables completely.

And the blame? It lay squarely on the greedy fool Sunny Sky. Instead of coordinating with Sovereign Innocence, and instead of properly gauging their opponents, he had rushed in alone, handing them the opportunity to divide and conquer.

But what could he do now?

Yes, if he struck now, at their most vulnerable moment, his power could likely be the final straw to break their resistance. However, Zhao Changhe and Ye Wuming were still nowhere to be found. There was every possibility they were lying in wait, watching his every move. The moment he made a move, they could almost certainly rush in and take his head.

Not knowing their position, Withered Wood dared not move a muscle.

The three Sovereigns, once aligned in a siege against the Heavenly Tome’s world, were now reduced to one injured, one fleeing, and one frozen in place. The crisis had passed.

A group of women returned victorious. Ye Jiuyou turned to Tang Wanzhuang, admiration in her eyes. “How did you know Withered Wood wouldn’t make a move?”

“That was the easiest part,” Tang Wanzhuang replied calmly, sipping her tea. “Even we don’t know where those two are, so how could he possibly dare to gamble? The better we fight, the less he’ll dare to act. Still, this is only their first clash, where they knew nothing about us. Next time, they’ll come with a clear understanding, and if the three of them truly combine forces and send their top subordinates to counter our formation, we won’t be able to hold them off. We need to discuss whether we retreat from this segmentum now or wait a little longer for Changhe to return.”

Within River of Stars, Luo Chuan burst into manic laughter. “There’s no need to choose... Thanks to those two idiots tying up your strength, I’m already free!”

As his voice echoed, River of Stars trembled. A primordial soul slipped from the sword, and in the blink of an eye, vanished beyond the boundaries of the world.

Everyone’s faces changed.

They had already overestimated his resilience, and even with only a moment’s distraction, he had found the opportunity to escape. Without Zhao Changhe or Ye Wuming here, there was no way any of them could intercept that fleeting soul.

He had no physical body, and that made breaking free even easier. His original confinement had only been possible because Ye Wuming had rewritten the very rules of the Heavenly Dao. But how long could something like that hold back a being of the Other Shore?

Now, things had truly become troublesome...

Letting the tiger return to the mountains would bring endless future peril.

Ye Jiuyou’s expression turned grim. This was her mortal enemy, the one she had finally caught after so much effort. She had not even had the chance to properly torment him, and now he had slipped away.

It’s all because of those worthless Sovereigns. It’s no wonder that even though they’ve ruled over this segmentum for countless years, they haven’t been able to do a damn thing about Luo Chuan even though he was kept in check by Ye Wuming all this time. If Luo Chuan had managed to claim the Heavenly Tome, these three clowns would’ve been flattened long ago.

Just then, Ye Jiuyou’s expression shifted. Her face, dark as charcoal from the strain of battle, suddenly lit with spring-like joy. “They’re back.”

With that, Ye Jiuyou vanished in a flash.

Outside, Luo Chuan’s laughter still echoed through the void until it was suddenly, jarringly cut off.

“Where are you off to, Little Chuan?” As Luo Chuan’s primordial soul was in the middle of escape and hidden in the creases of space, Zhao Changhe’s smiling face inexplicably appeared before him, blocking his way.

Startled, Luo Chuan twisted and turned, attempting to phase into another space and time. But then, he unexpectedly found that space and time had become utterly distorted.

A sweep of his divine sense confirmed what was going on. Ye Wuming hovered quietly behind, her gaze as distant and unreadable as ever. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Even someone like Luo Chuan, who had survived simultaneously fighting a war against Ye Jiuyou and the three Other Shore emperors, felt terror grip his soul at this moment. Similar to Zhao Changhe, he also viewed Ye Wuming as the true threat. The moment she appeared, everything changed.

Even in his current battered state, Luo Chuan still retained the might of the Other Shore. To suppress his movement through time and space required overwhelming power, the intermediate stage of the Other Shore at the very least.

When did this couple reach such a level?

Whoosh!

Ye Jiuyou arrived, forming a perfect triangle with the other two.

Luo Chuan moved to break out, but then Zhao Changhe brought out Dragon Bird.

As Dragon Bird emerged, there was no roar that followed, only eerie silence.

There was no wind nor saber light. The strike was soundless and formless.

This saber strike returned to the origin of all things. It was as if it were cleaving into the initial singularity of the universe.

To his horror, Luo Chuan found that even the thought of evading had been suppressed. He could only watch helplessly with inner sight as the saber sliced into his primordial soul.

This strike separated heaven from earth.

“This strike is Lie’s Restarting Creation, as well as the Sword Emperor’s vertical and horizontal strokes that split the sky.” Zhao Changhe’s voice echoed from within his primordial soul. “The Other Shore does not mean indestructibility. It only means no one has found how to destroy such beings. That is, until now. To treat your essence as the seed of a new world, to separate heaven and earth with your obliteration, is that not the perfect destruction?”

As his voice faded, the Ye sisters struck in unison, their palms landing on Luo Chuan.

For the first time, Luo Chuan felt the shadow of death creeping in. He roared, struggling violently, “Even if I have to blow myself up, I won’t let you win!”

“Oh? You want to self-destruct? Did you ask for my permission?” Zhao Changhe smiled, baring his teeth. He flicked his saber gently.

Crack...

A strange sound echoed, like the halt of some cosmic pendulum. Luo Chuan’s eyes widened in horror as he realized that he could not detonate himself.

The power of creation blossomed from within him, disassembling and dispersing everything. The force of his self-destruction unraveled into meaningless dust, unable to form even a ripple.

Ye Wuming’s eyes flickered with something complex.

She had once tried to detonate herself, dragging Luo Chuan down with her, only to discover he could not be killed that way. Now it was his turn, and his self-destruction could not even scratch anyone.

“No!” Luo Chuan howled in rage and disbelief. He could not comprehend how or why. How is Zhao Changhe capable of this?

Even injured, even under siege from this family of three... He should not have been this helpless. He should not have been unable to even let out a final desperate strike.

As it turned out, once the chasm of power became vast enough, even destruction and creation followed different rules.

Ye Jiuyou finally let go of her caution. Hatred surged in her eyes as she summoned the power of annihilation once more. Even in the great battle earlier, she had never unleashed her full strength, at least not like this. It was as if all the loneliness and hatred of her existence, forged over eternity, had been poured into this single blow.

“AAAAHHHH!!!” A scream filled with agony reverberated across the universe. Luo Chuan’s primordial soul was twisted and shredded, and it was unable to even maintain the shape of a human face.

It spiraled and unraveled into scattered motes of light, drifting weightlessly through the void.

Thus perished the “original Heavenly Dao” Luo Chuan, whose karma had entangled the Heavenly Tome’s world for countless years. His body and soul were utterly annihilated, his presence erased from past and future alike. Not a single mark of him remained in any world, in any timeline.

Ye Jiuyou nearly collapsed from exhaustion, gasping for breath.

“Hey, about your betrothal gift.... Should we let him fill the missing essence of the world?” Zhao Changhe’s voice murmured beside her.

Ye Wuming smiled softly. “I’ll leave it to you.”

She raised a finger. The scattered motes of light seemed to find their path, gathering like a comet, streaking into some unknown space hidden beyond a veil.

Ye Jiuyou said nothing at Ye Wuming’s gentle tone. Her gaze was equally complex.

She had been born in the primordial chaos of the Heavenly Tome’s world. She had still been muddled when she was split apart by Luo Chuan. And now, he too had been split apart by her own hands, his essence sent drifting at Ye Wuming’s command to become nourishment for another world.

Every bite and every sip is preordained. This is karma.

This was the best possible ending.

Zhao Changhe asked gently, “Does this satisfy you?”

Ye Jiuyou stirred as if waking from a dream. She looked around at the residual spirit qi in a daze, and then she gave a dazzling smile. “With karma all resolved, there’s a strange emptiness... It just all feels unreal.”

“Emptiness, huh?” Zhao Changhe blinked. “Want me to help fill that up?”

Ye Jiuyou was not fazed by the innuendo. Instead, she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and tilted her head up. “Changhe... Kiss me hard. Let me feel that I’m still alive.”

Zhao Changhe obliged, holding her tightly and kissing her with all his might.

All around them, the stars shimmered like wedding lanterns.

Ye Wuming floated to the side, arms crossed, hesitating to speak.

For the first time, she felt a strange, sour tightness in her chest.

So this is what jealousy feels like...