The Calamity Instance began to collapse.
Space collapsed, chaotic force ravaged.
But Tai Xuanzi watched her dissipate expressionlessly, saying coldly, “Simple, then kill them all.”
Boom——!
Tai Xuanzi immediately manifested her Yinglong True Form, blotting out the sky and covering the sun, divine might vast.
Dragon claws tore through chaos, dragon tail swept away calamity, forcibly stabilizing the collapsing instance.
In just a few breaths, heaven and earth returned to silence.
She used her own ridiculously powerful strength to suppress the calamity by force.
Su Fu was completely dumbfounded.
She looked up at the sky-covering Yinglong True Form—dragon scales like black jade, dragon eyes like sun and moon.
So awe-inspiring.
Was this her master’s true power?
It was countless times more formidable and domineering than the Divine Dragon Great Wall she had summoned before.
The next second, the dragon’s light converged, and Tai Xuanzi transformed back into human form and landed.
Her sleeves were stained with blood, but she still stood tall as a pine.
“Master!” Su Fu rushed over. “Are you injured? Let me check…”
“No need. No need for treatment.”
Tai Xuanzi gently stopped her, pressing a finger to Su Fu’s forehead. She chuckled. “I’m fine.”
Hearing this, Su Fu carefully examined Tai Xuanzi and found that although her aura was slightly fluctuating, it indeed wasn’t as severely injured as Vivienne had claimed.
A flash of inspiration struck her, and she immediately understood, overjoyed.
“Master, you were just… putting on an act, weren’t you? You weren’t actually that seriously injured, right? I get it. You deliberately said that to lure Vivienne, and then using her plan against her, draw out the Five Gods Dawn behind her and wipe them all out? You scared me to death.”
Su Fu felt a wave of lingering fear.
Just now, she truly thought her master had forced her way out of some deadly place to save her and ended up heavily injured. Maybe even… she didn’t dare think further.
Thank goodness, her master was still that infallible, unreasonably powerful master.
“So…” Su Fu asked excitedly, “all the false gods hidden in the instances were really all killed by you, Master?!”
Tai Xuanzi didn’t answer directly. She just raised her hand and gently rubbed her head, the gesture tender and careful.
“Well done, worthy of being my disciple. Even without me saying it, you already guessed. You guessed correctly. All the false gods that reached the level of gods hidden in the instances—I killed them all.”
Su Fu’s heart surged with excitement, blood boiling.
This is too strong!
She always knew her master was strong, but didn’t expect her to be this strong.
Single-handedly sweeping through all the false gods across the heavens.
Even if they were false gods, they had successfully replicated gods and possessed terrifying divine authority.
But her master just killed them as she pleased, and… killed them all.
This is simply…
Wait, she suddenly sensed something wrong.
Master… Master didn’t seem to have directly answered her question after all.
Su Fu stiffened slightly, and she looked up at her master.
But she found that the way Tai Xuanzi was looking at her right now…
Was too gentle.
So gentle it made her heart flutter with unease.
A very ominous premonition instantly seized her heart.
She inexplicably grew uneasy, her voice trembling uncontrollably. “M… Master?”
Tai Xuanzi looked at her seriously and softly called her name.
“Su Fu. I’m leaving.”
Boom!
Su Fu felt a buzz in her head, and tears fell instantly.
Before she could ask any questions, she was already sobbing uncontrollably.
Tai Xuanzi’s gaze was gentle. She reached out and lightly wiped away Su Fu’s tears with her thumb.
“Actually, I considered whether to fake my death. Let you think I was dead. But… I couldn’t do it…”
“…..”
Her voice carried a hint of an almost imperceptible sigh, her eyes seemingly helpless yet incredibly soft.
“I still couldn’t bear to let you grieve and cry for me. So, I came to see you in person, to… properly say goodbye.”
Su Fu’s tears hit the ground. She had so many questions to ask, but she couldn’t speak clearly through her sobs, incoherent.
“Why… do you have to go? Where… are you going? Is it because of your injuries… serious injuries… isn’t it? Master, I can… I can save you! I’ve learned so many powerful… powerful divine powers… Bianque. And, and the Tree of Life… it’s so strong…”
“Su Fu.”
Tai Xuanzi shook her head, wiped away her tears, cupped her face, and looked at her seriously.
“I am going to return to my position.”
Her voice was as soft as a dream, yet it reached Su Fu’s ears clearly.
“I am Ying Long. In the past, I conspired with the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan. He, as the Human Emperor, guarded the destiny of China, leaving the Guizang Clan to preserve China’s torch.”
“I, in the form of Ying Long, entered this vast mortal game, laying down this long chessboard spanning several epochs.”
“Now… the era of great contention has begun, the flame has been rekindled, my task is complete.”
“This mortal body, which has carried my divine will and karma across several epochs, has long since burned out from bearing too much power it was never meant to hold. It can no longer sustain itself.”
“Master… cannot stay.”
She spoke so calmly, as if it were only natural.
As if stating a law of nature as inevitable as flowers blooming and withering, as the cycle of seasons.
Su Fu’s vision blurred with tears. Her voice trembled, but she could not utter a single word.
Ying Long.
Ying Long.
Her master was a god!
A thousand-year scheme, divine power exhausted, her physical form on the verge of collapse.
Like the turning of the sun and moon, an inescapable calamity—she had to return, to reclaim her divine throne.
Tai Xuanzi could only sigh helplessly, brushing away her tears.
“I once worried that as my soul prepared to return to its rightful place and this game came to its end, how would the succeeding plans proceed smoothly?”
“Until I saw you.”
“Your appearance may very well be the thread of life that the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan left behind when he set this game in motion.”
“It is the Heavenly Dao’s… final blessing upon Chinese Civilization.”
“Be at ease, my disciple.”
“You bear the supreme blessing of Nuwa herself, free and unbound.”
“No one can truly calculate your future.”
“Heaven’s numbers are fifty, but only forty-nine are used.”
“I have already calculated those forty-nine for you, paving the road ahead.”
“But this final stretch—the most critical one—you must walk yourself.”
“No! No way!” Su Fu shook her head violently, tears streaming down her face.
“Master, don’t go!”
“No!”
Tai Xuanzi sighed softly, as if she had no way to deal with this stubborn disciple.
Just then, a thunderous roar erupted.
Boom!
The space twisted violently. The Disaster Channel was forcibly torn open, and a suffocating pressure descended.
Four figures slowly stepped out from the dark rift.
They were members of the Five Gods Dawn!
Amunhotep, whose principal gods were the Egyptian pantheon’s Sun God Ra and the Chaos Serpent Apep.
Ilva, a divine hybrid, whose principal gods were the Norse pantheon’s Primordial Giant Ymir and War God Tyr.
Vipur Tianlu, whose principal gods were the Indian pantheon’s Thunder God Indra and Law God Varuna.
And Tsukishiro Kaguya, whose principal gods were the Amaterasu pantheon’s Sun Goddess Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi.
These four were at their peak strength, far surpassing the restricted Vivienne.
They had clearly discovered Vivienne’s death and tracked the connections between Calamity Instances to hunt her down.
Their target was obvious.
Tai Xuanzi paused for a moment.
She looked deeply, lovingly, one last time at Su Fu’s tear-filled eyes.
Then, for the final time, she brushed her hand through Su Fu’s hair.
Her gaze was infinitely tender, and infinitely… reluctant.
“Master never taught you much. I really… have been an unworthy master.”
“This time, let this be the first lesson I give you—and the last.”
She waved her hand, conjuring a barrier imbued with the absolute law of space, shielding Su Fu within.
It completely isolated her from the terrifying battlefield about to erupt.
Then Tai Xuanzi turned and faced the four figures radiating dreadful divine might alone.
Boom!
The battle erupted.
Amunhotep’s black sun, Ilva’s ice-fire axe, Vipur’s myriad thunderbolts, Tsukishiro Kaguya’s sun-moon radiance.
All at once, they came crashing down upon Tai Xuanzi!
Four killing blows, surrounding her.
Su Fu desperately tried to break through the spatial barrier, but it was impossible.
This was set by a true god.
The mightiest of Chinese Civilization, the protective barrier laid by Ying Long herself.
“Master!”
All she could do was watch helplessly as her master was about to be engulfed by those four world-ending attacks.
But then—
Roar!
A soaring dragon’s roar resounded through the entire space.
Tai Xuanzi transformed directly into the primordial Ying Long.
Its wings were like clouds covering the sky, its scales dense and imposing.
With a single casual flick of its dragon tail, that massive Ying Long true form easily scattered all four terrifying attacks that could have destroyed anything.
One against four, but it was a complete one-sided massacre.
Before Tai Xuanzi, the four were nothing more than arrogant ants.
Ying Long has wings, soaring through the nine heavens.
It is the ultimate destination of all dragon cultivation: a serpent becomes a flood dragon in five hundred years, a flood dragon becomes a dragon in a thousand, a dragon becomes a horned dragon in five hundred more, and a horned dragon becomes Ying Long after another thousand.
It once fought alongside the Yellow Emperor in the epic Battle of Zhuolu, destroying Chi You and Kua Fu!
When Yu the Great tamed the floods, it drew a line with its tail, dividing the land into the Nine Provinces!
It once drove the chariot for Nuwa, aiding in mending the sky and saving the world!
It governs wind, rain, thunder, and lightning; controls the cycle of seasons; and guards the mountains, rivers, and the nation.
The dragon is the totem of the Chinese people, intimately connected to all of human civilization.
Su Fu thought she should have realized it long ago.
Her master had never hidden her true form, nor had she ever displayed any so-called divine techniques in front of her.
Because she herself was a god.
One of the most supreme, ancient, and powerful beings in the Chinese pantheon.
Or perhaps, from the moment the Guizang Clan appeared, she should have known.
The Yellow Emperor left a flame for China; what about Ying Long?
To deal with a calamity facing humanity, they had long joined hands to set up a vast game spanning countless epochs, calculating all the mysteries of heaven and earth.
Now, she finally understood what those images from the Flame Trial truly meant—Principal Murphis standing shoulder to shoulder with her master atop the Tianqiong Path Academy.
They were gods.
Chinese gods.
And so, the true meaning of those four historical projections became clear.
The erosion of the Dark Realm, the rampage of Anomalies, the struggle of the Mortal World, and… the guardianship of the Divine Realm.
In this protracted war sweeping across the four realms, humanity had always been involved.
Who says China has no gods?
Her master had always been there, as the true god Ying Long, incarnated as a mortal, protecting China, never leaving.
A thousand-year plan, ending today.
At the very end, she saw that the four were like fireflies trying to outshine the bright moon before her master.
Amunhotep’s sun was melted by the dragon’s breath.
Ilva’s ice-fire axe was crushed by the dragon’s claws.
Vipur Tianlu’s myriad thunderbolts and law chains were shattered by the dragon’s roar.
Tsukishiro Kaguya’s sun-moon radiance was utterly crushed by the dragon’s body.
In just a few breaths, the so-called Five Gods Dawn were completely crushed and obliterated.
Soul and spirit annihilated, not even a trace of residue remained!
Tai Xuanzi retracted her dragon form and returned to human form.
Her dark robes stained with blood, she stood in the void.
Beneath her feet was a shattered battlefield; countless broken divine artifacts fell like meteors, burning out in the void.
She looked deeply at Su Fu, her eyes filled with indescribable reluctance.
“Master destroyed them all, so that my disciple’s path might be smoother.”
Su Fu pounded the barrier frantically, tears blurring her vision:
“Master!”
Tai Xuanzi wanted to reach out, but in the end, she stood still, not taking a single step forward.
“Disciple, the road ahead will be hard.”
“Behind the Five Gods Dawn are false gods, and even the God of Fate is secretly working with them.”
“Their ambitions are vast—never take them lightly, and never let a single one escape.”
She paused, her eyes warm and proud:
“But my disciple… so clever, so resolute.”
“You will, you will definitely make it to the end.”
“Don’t be afraid.”
“I have already placed many people behind you.”
She smiled.
“The Guizang Clan are our Chinese compatriots. You can trust them completely.”
“As for some remnants of ancient civilizations, just show them that dragon scale. I believe I have done them favors, and they will protect my disciple on her journey.”
“Oh, right,” she remembered, “there’s also the Paradise Pantheon. That boy is called Houchu, isn’t he?”
“You can use him without worry. I once saved him, and because of that, I reached some cooperation with the Paradise Pope.”
“That Empress… well, she can be a bit… off at times, but she is capable.”
“In critical moments, you can trust her.”
She seemed to want to say so much more—to explain all her experience, her schemes, all her reluctance and hopes.
But time was running out.
Tai Xuanzi’s form was visibly dissipating.
Golden light streamed from her body like dandelion seeds blown by the evening wind.
Slowly, they drifted into the endless void.
“No… no! Master, don’t go!”
Su Fu sobbed uncontrollably, “I don’t want any of it! I don’t want any of it!”
“Master! I only want you!”
She didn’t want any schemes, any patience, any future.
She only wanted to keep her master!
“Disciple…” Tai Xuanzi’s voice had become ethereal.
“This game, I have finished.”
“Now it’s your turn to hold the pieces.”
“Don’t cry. Don’t grieve.”
“When you reopen the Heavenly Gate, when the Divine Realm opens wide, you and I, master and disciple, will… meet again.”
“Then, you will see your master’s Ying Long true form, how magnificent it is.”
“Master promises you, I will take you to tour the nine heavens, overlook the five seas and four lakes, and enjoy countless sights…”
“Would that be good?”
That gentle promise, that vow of a god, finally faded into the endless golden light.
Tai Xuanzi’s form vanished completely.
“Master!”
The spatial barrier finally dissolved.
Su Fu rushed madly toward the spot where her master had stood.
She tried to grasp something, but there was nothing there.
Only a faint glimmer of golden light in her hand.
Nothing was left.
She could no longer hold on.
She closed her eyes, tears silently falling.
The golden light faded. The divine might dissipated.
From now on, she would have no master to walk with her, no one behind her.
A long, long time passed.
Su Fu slowly opened her eyes, gazing at the direction where her master had disappeared, her voice choked.
“Vi…”
“A thousand, ten thousand times…”
“I am grateful that it was me.”
She swore, word by word:
“One day, I will—”
“Slaughter every Hereditary House, destroy every false god!”
“Reopen the Heavenly Gate, and welcome China’s return!”
God’s protection had ended.
Now, it was a human’s turn to run toward the divine.
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