Chapter 46: Heartbroken

"Senior Brother, how did you manage to fight your way out back then?"

This thought surfaced in Yue Hongling’s mind.

A scene from the previous life emerged — Lu Ye pushing open the sealed door. He stood against the light, backlit and hard to see.

But in that moment, in Yue Hongling’s mind, that once-indistinct figure of her senior brother suddenly became clear.

His body was covered in wounds.

Nothing but wounds.

There wasn’t a single patch of unharmed skin.

Agonizing pain constantly gnawed at his senses — not just physical pain, but also the pain rooted deep within his heart.

Senior Brother was clever. With a single glance, he could see that it was a trap.

A trap laid just for him.

But he still went.

Without hesitation.

At that time, Senior Brother’s strength was nowhere near what hers was now.

And yet, even with all her current power, here she was, feeling the crushing weight of despair inside this same kind of trap. Senior Brother, how did you do it?

A single tear, mixed with blood, slid down from the corner of Yue Hongling’s eye.

"Kill!"

The dragon claw clenched into a fist, glowing with a bloody red light, and slammed straight into Yue Hongling’s abdomen.

"Boom!"

Her body was sent flying, smashing hard into a stone wall, blood gushing from her mouth.

Yin Sha Ghost let out a piercing shriek, his soul power transforming into a heavenly blade, slashing into Yue Hongling’s spiritual sea, making her body convulse in agony.

The demonic sword flashed with a dark gleam, bursting forth with terrifying speed, its blade of light aimed straight for Yue Hongling’s heart.

The sword light drew closer and closer.

Duan Jianmo’s heart pounded wildly — he was about to kill a supreme prodigy!

"Splurt!"

The sword light came to an abrupt halt.

A blood-covered, yet still remarkably beautiful hand had gripped the demon sword barehanded.

Yue Hongling’s face twisted with fury.

"You think you’re worthy of killing me?"

"Shattering Star Seal!"

Duan Jianmo’s expression changed wildly. He twisted the demon sword forcefully, trying to sever Yue Hongling’s hand and stop her attack.

"Splurt!"

A severed hand fell to the ground.

Duan Jianmo’s...

"Boom!"

Duan Jianmo was blown to bits on the spot.

"Die!"

The Little Dragon King roared in fury, slamming a fist brimming with terrifying force into Yue Hongling’s temple.

Her body was knocked into the air, liquid spraying — it was unclear whether it was blood or sweat.

Seeing Duan Jianmo’s miserable end, Yin Sha Ghost no longer dared approach. He stayed at a distance, bombarding her with waves of soul attacks.

That punch from the Little Dragon King was brutal.

Yue Hongling’s eyes had lost their luster, her expression turning completely blank.

She slumped against the stone wall, gently shaking her head.

The Little Dragon King let out a deep, resonating dragon’s roar. He opened his mouth, and a golden divine dragon spiraled out. Intent on killing Yue Hongling himself, he unleashed one of his deadliest techniques.

The others didn't intervene.

Since the Little Dragon King wanted the kill, they let him have it.

In the end, Yue Hongling just needed to die — didn’t matter who delivered the final blow.

The golden dragon expanded rapidly, coiling through the void before suddenly accelerating and crashing violently into Yue Hongling’s body, erupting in a deafening blast.

Golden light exploded outward.

A bolt of heavenly lightning struck down as well, joining the dragon in delivering the most devastating attack.

Yue Hongling lay face-down on the ground, her body charred black, smoke rising, the scent of roasted flesh filling the air.

Her aura was now incredibly faint.

She was finally going to die.

The expression on the Little Dragon King’s face turned strange. He strode toward Yue Hongling with heavy steps.

"In your next life, don’t believe in something as stupid as love again."

He raised his hand, the dragon claw slamming down viciously toward Yue Hongling’s back.

But just then, the charred Yue Hongling suddenly twisted around. The dragon claw pierced straight through her stomach, yet she pulled herself in closer, forcing his claw deeper as their bodies closed the distance.

"Die!"

Her last strength, her final act of slaughter.

The Little Dragon King watched as a sealing rune slammed toward his head.

This... she could still do that?

"Boom!"

His head exploded like a watermelon.

Dead.

With the last of her strength, Yue Hongling killed the Little Dragon King — the strongest among the demon race up to this point.

A wave of cold dread surged in the hearts of all the powerful beings from the various races.

She... she... even in that state, after sustaining such devastating injuries, she still had enough power to strike back and kill the Little Dragon King?

For a moment, the seven figures encircling Yue Hongling didn’t dare to move forward.

“Senior Brother...”

“Senior Brother...”

The sound of sobbing escaped from deep within Yue Hongling’s throat.

She was in pain.

So much pain.

Now that the battle had momentarily ceased, the excruciating pain engulfed her entire body, stabbing straight through to her soul.

But even so, it wasn’t the wounds that hurt the most.

What hurt most was her heart.

A pain that tore through her chest, that ripped her soul apart.

Back then, how did her senior brother manage to escape?

After clawing his way out of that abyss of despair, he must have had a thousand things he wanted to tell her. He would’ve wanted to describe the dangers he’d faced... to tell her the truth about Feng Wuxie... to explain that his suspicions had all been right... he must have—

But what did she do?

She went mad.

She forced every word her Senior Brother wanted to say back down his throat.

She pushed him so hard, all he could manage to say in the end... were just three words.

“I’m sorry.”

Pain.

Unbearable pain.

Yue Hongling sobbed in utter grief, her whole body trembling. If she had even an ounce of strength left, she would’ve already broken into uncontrollable wails — but now, she didn’t even have the energy to cry out loud.

The many alien cultivators watching her were silent.

Why was she crying?

Was it because of Feng Wuxie?

No.

It couldn’t be — not once during all this had Yue Hongling looked at Feng Wuxie.

Then who was she crying for?

Elsewhere...

Inside the glowing screen, the current scene of Yue Hongling was playing.

Lu Ye looked at her — and at last, a smile broke across his face.

He felt like he’d become even more twisted.

Yue Hongling was sobbing so miserably, yet in that very moment, Lu Ye couldn’t help but feel a rush of joy.

So now she knows how to cry?

Didn’t she already get the ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) love she’d been dreaming about day and night?

So what the hell is she crying for?

"Ding ding ding..."

The system buzzed excitedly in Lu Ye’s mind, ringing like mad.

It was thrilled too.

Absolutely ecstatic.

...

The alien cultivators all glanced up at the sky.

Whatever. Who cared why she was crying. Enough of this — just kill her.

"Boom!"

Another bolt of heavenly lightning formed, searing white thunder crashing down from the heavens, targeting Yue Hongling mid-sob.

This strike — Yue Hongling was sure to die!

But just then, a firebird hidden among the demon crowd let out a helpless sigh as it watched the scene unfold.

Its form twisted — the ordinary firebird transformed into a blazing Vermilion Bird, its flames rising sky-high.

A torrent of fire surged upward, colliding with the heavenly lightning.

Boom!

Flames and lightning erupted together in a blinding explosion.

A sharp cry of a vermilion bird echoed across the heavens and earth. The massive firebird split into six blazing clones and charged at the six alien warriors surrounding Yue Hongling.

The intensity of the flames was terrifying beyond words.

All six attackers cried out in shock, throwing out every defensive technique they had.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions roared without pause, a rain of fire scattering across the sky.

A figure, fast as a falling star, streaked through the blaze — scooping Yue Hongling into his arms and rushing out of the formation at full speed.

"I didn’t want to get involved... but goddamn, your crying is just too damn ugly!"

Watching this scene unfold, Lu Ye nearly smashed the glowing screen with a stone.

Fuck! Yue Hongling survived — doesn’t this mean she’s going to start hounding him with apologies again?

Is this never going to end?!

"Trap the Vermilion Bird! Kill both of them together! Give it everything you’ve got!"