On the Pale Gray Plain, Luo Shuangyue met the woman with Butterfly Wings, wearing a lavish dress and a floral crown.
This was the Holy Sovereign of this world, the person who was both familiar and a stranger to her.
By forcibly intruding into the Mindspace of such a powerhouse, Luo Shuangyue was met with the erosion of her own consciousness by the Holy Sovereign’s intent.
Perhaps soon, her consciousness would be completely digested by the Holy Sovereign and become a part of her.
But that was a matter for later.
All Luo Xiangyue had to do now was give the Holy Sovereign what she had come to deliver.
The pain of her soul splitting still tormented Luo Xiangyue, and now, she had to divide her soul once more.
This time, she did not need to split off as much as half. She only needed to separate the portion of her consciousness where the Butterfly of Netherworld resided.
And so, within the embrace of the mercury ball, the pitch-black magic power belonging to Luo Shuangyue began a slow and painful division once again.
After a long time, the split was finally complete.
The small piece of magic power belonging to the Butterfly of Netherworld separated from Luo Shuangyue’s Original Magic Power.
The Holy Sovereign immediately sensed the aura within this magic power, which was nearly identical to her own.
Having merged with the Demon version of herself not long ago, she instantly guessed that this magic power contained a part of her own consciousness.
Thus, she began to actively absorb it.
This portion of magic power did not resist; it cooperatively merged into her consciousness.
A vast amount of memories appeared in the Holy Sovereign’s mind.
They were all the memories of her time in the other world.
Before the other version of her returned to this world, she had stored all these memories within her daughter’s body, hoping that one day, her daughter would bring these memories to her.
And within these memories, the most precious part was undoubtedly the plan she had developed together with that White Night — the only plan capable of changing the current situation.
“What a bold plan. I didn’t expect the day would come where even I would be led astray.”
The Holy Sovereign looked at the girl kneeling on the ground, whose face was as pale as paper, and a flash of genuine heartache crossed her eyes.
To endure two consecutive soul-splitting procedures… she had actually inflicted this torture upon her own daughter. As an elder, she had truly failed in her duties.
“Have a good sleep. Leave the rest to me,” the Holy Sovereign whispered comfortingly, drawing the confused Luo Shuangyue into her embrace.
Threads descended from the sky, forming a small Cocoon that wrapped Luo Shuangyue inside.
Then, the Holy Sovereign turned her gaze toward the Evil Intent surrounding her.
The mercury ball surged. It changed its original strategy and began its counterattack.
After moving out of its passive, defensive state, the clash between the mercury and the Evil Intent quickly shifted back to the mercury having a slight upper hand.
This mass of mercury moved with unwavering determination, inching toward the edge of the Black Cocoon bit by bit.
The Holy Sovereign wanted to leave, and the Evil Intent was clearly unwilling to let her go.
Deep black and red blocked her path, only to be severed by her continuously.
Though her movements were slow, they displayed an unstoppable momentum.
No matter how hard the Evil Intent tried to stop her, she managed to move toward the outside of the Black Cocoon step by step.
Finally, the Evil Intent realized it could no longer stop the Holy Sovereign’s intent from leaving.
In its fury, it made its choice.
It gave up on stopping the Holy Sovereign and instead diverted all its power to strengthen the Little Butterfly it had already seduced. Since its originally chosen host had escaped, it would settle for this slightly weaker host instead.
In the end, it could still capture the escaped host and merge her into its consciousness.
—
“This is…”
The colors on the large Cocoon had turned chaotic quite some time ago. First, the black-red colors began to violently strangle the silver-white, and then the silver-white clustered together, attempting to break away from the black-red. Even without knowing exactly what was happening inside the Black Cocoon, one could indirectly sense how intense the battle within was.
Fifteen days had passed. During these fifteen days, Xia Mo had held her sword and guarded the large Cocoon day and night without sleep.
Now, she felt a sudden throb in her heart. She felt that perhaps the time for her to act had finally come.
All the silver-white within the Black Cocoon had condensed into a man-sized silver sphere, which melted through the surface of the Black Cocoon and squeezed its way out.
However, the Evil Intent within the Black Cocoon transformed into hands of resentment, unwilling to let it go.
They clawed at the silver sphere incessantly, trying to pull it back into their body.
This made the separation between the silver sphere and the Black Cocoon exceptionally difficult.
Seeing this, Xia Mo walked forward with her sword and swung it at the hands of Evil Intent that were preventing the silver sphere from leaving.
The Vine Longsword of White Knight was not actually sharp.
Its blade consisted of two flower vines entwined and leaning against each other, lacking even a proper edge.
Yet, a sword like this possessed the power to sever all the evils of the world.
Under the white light, the hands of Evil Intent lasted for only a few seconds before retreating into the Black Cocoon with a howl, giving up their pursuit of the silver sphere.
“Did it… succeed?” Xia Mo looked at the silver sphere that had emerged completely intact, a flicker of excitement crossing her heart.
“It’s not over yet.”
The voice that answered her was one she was very familiar with.
After leaving the Cocoon of Evil Intent, the silver sphere first condensed into a large silver-white butterfly, which then transformed into a human form.
Emerging from the gentle silver glow was a maiden who looked somewhat similar to Luo Shuangyue in her Underworld Centipede Form.
However, her hair was not gray; it was a brilliant, lustrous silver-white, and her eyes were the same.
Her entire being was like a work of art crafted from mercury, filled with a non-human beauty.
“Ah!”
“Holy Sovereign, why have you become smaller?”
The Sanctuary experts behind Xia Mo, who had been blocking the Black Calamity, cried out in surprise and confusion.
Indeed, the Holy Sovereign had become smaller.
The original Holy Sovereign had the build of an adult, but now, she had returned to the form of a maiden.
“In the end, some power was left behind, but it’s no great matter.” The Holy Sovereign smiled calmly, then turned her gaze toward Xia Mo, who had been standing still in front of her.
A flash of surprise crossed her eyes.
Having received those memories, she obviously knew who Xia Mo was.
She was surprised that some of her thoughts from back then could actually become a reality.
Her eldest daughter’s luck and strength were quite good.
She reached out and gently patted Xia Mo’s head twice, then said softly, “You’ve grown up, too.”
The Xia Mo in her memories was still a young girl, but the Xia Mo standing before her now was a maiden capable of standing on her own.
Could just a few years bring about so many changes?
Hearing the Holy Sovereign’s words, Xia Mo’s eyes widened. So this cold-faced but kind-hearted neighborly “uncle” still remembered her.
“I…” She instinctively wanted to ask many questions.
But the Holy Sovereign interrupted her. Now was not the time for casual conversation.
A Resentful Demon Emperor’s Core — half a palm’s size and appearing to be only a small fraction of its original self — materialized and drifted out from the Holy Sovereign’s body. She placed the gem into Xia Mo’s hand and spoke with absolute seriousness. “Take care of her.”
Xia Mo took the shattered gem.
Just as she was about to ask what she meant, the faint fluctuations of consciousness coming from the gem allowed her to guess its true identity.
“I will protect her with my life!” she nodded heavily.
She did not know what Luo Shuangyue had experienced within the Black Cocoon, but looking at the pitiful state of the gem now, she could not stop the heartache she felt.
She wished she could have been the one to endure that pain instead.
Seeing Xia Mo’s reaction, the Holy Sovereign gave a tiny nod.
While thinking to herself that her judgment was indeed quite good, she took the Vine Longsword of White Knight from Xia Mo’s arms.
“I’m taking this sword. You all should leave this place quickly.”
Watching the Black Cocoon become increasingly active after her departure, the smile on the Holy Sovereign’s face vanished without a trace.
Now, it was time for her to settle the score with this mass of Evil Intent.
Xia Mo was stunned for a moment when the sword was taken, but she asked nothing.
She turned and flew toward the others from the Sanctuary, informing them of the Holy Sovereign’s decision.
The upcoming battle was not something they could interfere with.
Staying here would only make them dead weight that would distract the Holy Sovereign.
Although it was a harsh realization, it was the truth.
Their Mission had always been to rescue the Holy Sovereign.
As for what would happen after the rescue, they only needed to listen to her.
Before leaving, Xia Mo did not forget to shout a reminder to the Holy Sovereign, who was confronting the Black Cocoon, that the Demonic Energy within the Black Calamity would greatly empower the Evil Intent.
The Holy Sovereign’s response was direct.
She raised her hand, and as the Sanctuary’s Barrier vanished, she released a pillar of silver-white light toward the Black Calamity in the sky, destroying its core structure in an instant.
The pitch-black vortex stopped its movement, and the nearby Demonic Energy ceased to increase.
The large Cocoon of Evil Intent let out a frustrated, ear-piercing scream, but it was helpless against the Holy Sovereign’s actions.
“Next, it is between you and me.” The Holy Sovereign raised her lover’s sword and pointed it from afar at the large black-red Cocoon.