Chapter 858: The End of Fate

Even without the Ghost-Eye Bow, the Red General’s tracking arrows could automatically pursue their target.

Perfected Sanshui nearly got bitten twice more by the black serpent that had turned against him. He was so enraged that he actually laughed. He swept his sword in a half-circle in the air, and the falling wind and snow immediately condensed into several que beasts. “Go!”

The que beasts threw themselves in the way and took the two tracking arrows for him.

When the arrows blew them apart, a cloud of powdered snow exploded across the sky.

Snow began swirling over the battlefield as a blizzard descended.

Every snowflake was an ice seed. Once it struck a person, it not only slowed their movements but also grew into ice crystals. The king of the que beasts had used the same method earlier to seal the cenotaph, and back then it had thrown down only two ice seeds.

A rich red glow suddenly blossomed around He Lingchuan. The ice seeds striking his armor were not evaporated by its fierce flames; instead, they simply slid away, like droplets rolling off a lotus leaf.

Origin energy!

The origin energy unique to the commander of the Gale Army finally erupted.

Against the Gale Army’s origin energy, the effects of divine techniques were drastically weakened. And the Red General was the commander of the entire army, the focus of its morale and the one in whom every soldier placed their faith.

The origin energy she was entitled to wield was so dense, profound, and abundant that He Lingchuan could scarcely believe it. Every other general and army whose origin energy he had ever experienced amounted to less than one percent of this!

Even Beijia’s armies fell far, far short.

This was the pinnacle of origin energy attainable only by Panlong’s god of war. This was a level that scarcely anyone throughout history had ever personally experienced.

The power of the Red General’s armor was already violent and overwhelming. Amplified further by this origin energy, it gave He Lingchuan the illusion that he held the true fire of the sun in his hands and could punch straight through to the core of the earth.

Even the raging snowstorm could no longer obstruct his vision under the enhancement of origin energy.

Naluotian’s avatar was genuinely startled by the sight.

Mitian and this brat can wield origin energy even inside the secret realm?

Origin energy was not some vague, intangible force. It always had a source and an origin. In other words, Mitian and its skin-sack had to have a stable power base behind them, along with a formidable army!

What kind of world has the Generous Pot created inside itself?

He Lingchuan was just about to continue pursuing Naluotian’s avatar when the red Xiliu serpent beside him, its tail already severed, suddenly hurled itself backward!

The force was tremendous, knocking him back two steps.

This thing had already been turned by the poisonous toad on the Red General’s armor, so logically it would not harm him.

He Lingchuan was startled, only to see the red serpent that had knocked him back suddenly split cleanly in two, as though an invisible blade had sliced straight through it.

There was no blood inside the serpent; all that came from it was black water, which then spilled across the ground before turning into vapor and disappearing.

What cut it apart? He Lingchuan testingly lifted Fleeting Life and prodded the air. Sure enough, he felt a strange resistance, almost like severing one of Zhu Erniang’s spider threads, only much tougher.

If the red Xiliu serpent had not stopped him, He Lingchuan would have run straight into that invisible filament at full speed, and the result would have been disastrous.

He had no idea whether even the armor could have protected him completely.

However, He Lingchuan was genuinely shocked. He had the Red General’s origin energy supporting him, yet he still had not detected the enemy’s trap. Worse still, he had no way to determine how many invisible threads had been laid across the battlefield, or how far he could move before running into another one.

What he did not know was that this was Naluotian’s technique, called the “Luopan[1] of Fate.” Since it represented “fate,” how could mortal eyes possibly see it?

On the surface, it had always been Perfected Sanshui clashing with He Lingchuan. Naluotian, meanwhile, had secretly taken advantage of Perfected Sanshui’s Rift-Carving Technique during the battle to weave together these so-called “threads of fate.” Only once the arrangement was complete would the luopan truly activate, trapping its victim without warning.

Naluotian’s divine techniques were exactly like its title suggested—treacherous, sinister, and utterly silent.

But since the Red General had already guided the Xiliu serpent into exposing the trap, He Lingchuan could not simply wait for death. A “Luopan of Fate” belonging to the god of fate sounded terrifying enough all by itself.

At that moment, Perfected Sanshui happened to throw out a treasured seal. It rose into the air, transformed into something the size of a small mountain, and came crashing down toward He Lingchuan.

This suppression-type divine technique was commonly used by ancient immortals, and the magical artifacts used for such techniques came in endless varieties. This particular one was called the Heavenly King Seal, forged from the heart and blood of a mountain range together with refined metal essence. No matter where its target fled, the seal could chase them down and smash them beneath it—no, suppress them beneath it!

It was effective and convenient, and Perfected Sanshui had used it so often that he instinctively threw it out. Then he immediately realized his mistake...

Damn it! The luopan hasn’t finished forming yet.

But before he could form a hand seal and recall it, He Lingchuan had already crouched down and reached toward the ground.

During the battle, he had already sensed the ground beneath his feet pulsing continuously, as though something below was desperate to emerge, while simultaneously resonating with Fleeting Life.

Fine, I’ll grant its wish.

Both shoulder beasts had already returned to the armor, while Naluotian’s avatar was also directing numerous que beasts to surround and attack him. If He Lingchuan wanted to reverse this many-against-one situation, he needed even greater power.

The ground was covered in dirt and ash, yet when He Lingchuan plunged one hand into it and pulled upward, what emerged was not a fistful of soil but a spear as black as night.

Its spearhead gleamed coldly. He Lingchuan gripped the shaft and gave it a light shake, faintly hearing the rumble of wind and thunder.

No, that was not an illusion. Several serpentine bolts of lightning also streaked across the firmament overhead.

This seemed to be one of the Red General’s divine weapons. He Lingchuan had only seen her use it twice on the battlefield, but both occasions had been overwhelmingly impressive and left a deep impression on friend and foe alike.

This time, he followed her example. He hefted the black spear in his hands, poured strength through both arms, and hurled it viciously at the descending Heavenly King Seal.

Yes, he threw it exactly like a javelin.

The Red General’s dense origin energy suffused the entire spear until its red glow deepened almost to violet.

Another bolt of thunder split the sky, illuminating the darkness.

He Lingchuan looked up and saw what appeared to be a phantom emerging across the surface of the black spear under the glare of lightning.

It had bulging eyes, a horse-like mouth, an alligator’s snout, ox ears, and two slightly raised horns on its head.

The black flood dragon!

He Lingchuan recognized it instantly. This was the massive beast carved onto the inner wall of the southern gate, very similar to the black dragon Zhong Shengguang had once transformed into, only smaller, with a body merely about three meters long.

It clung to the black spear, but the moment the lightning faded, the figure vanished as well.

What was that, the spear’s soul?

The spear struck the Heavenly King Seal with a tremendous clang.

The mountain-like seal was actually blasted backward. It spun twice through the air, shrinking smaller and smaller as it flew.

The black spear was knocked back as well, spinning toward He Lingchuan. He took two running steps and leaped, catching it in midair with one hand. Pointing the spearhead toward the sky, he shouted, “Come!”

A bolt of lightning crashed down from the firmament and struck the spear dead-on.

In addition to the origin energy already coating it, the weapon was immediately wrapped in a layer of dazzling lightning, crackling and snapping with an overwhelming display of sound and light.

Holding lightning in his hands felt very strange.

How could he describe it?

It felt like pinning down a gigantic crocodile that was thrashing madly beneath him, constantly resisting and constantly trying to twist around and bite its handler.

Before it could turn on him, he had to throw it at the enemy.

He Lingchuan had practiced the Flashing Lightning Spear Technique for more than a year, yet only now did the technique truly deserve that name.

Man and spear became one as he charged straight toward Perfected Sanshui with unstoppable momentum, like a comet about to smash into the earth.

Who knew how many threads of fate from the luopan he pierced through along the way? Those painstakingly woven hidden lines snapped soundlessly beneath the combined force of heavenly lightning and origin energy.

Facing the attack head-on, Naluotian’s avatar saw nothing but blinding lightning filling its entire field of vision. It could not even make out where He Lingchuan himself was.

Even genuine heavenly lightning could scarcely have been more overwhelming.

It’s impossible to block. There’s absolutely no way to block this!

Perfected Sanshui’s expression changed dramatically. His body dissolved into water, which then scattered in every direction.

As long as even a single drop escaped, he could reform and continue fighting He Lingchuan.

Then the spear struck the ground. There was no billowing dust, no thunderous explosion. The strike was completely silent. Yet with the impact point as its center, lightning instantly raced through an area hundreds of meters across, creating an enormous cage of lightning in the blink of an eye.

This was the Absolute Heavenly Lightning Prison.

The countless arcs of lightning were so dazzling that even He Lingchuan hurriedly shut his eyes, afraid he would be blinded the next moment.

The lightning thoroughly vaporized every stream and droplet of water that Perfected Sanshui had transformed into.

The other que beasts rushing into the area suffered along with him. Every single one that entered the Absolute Heavenly Lightning Prison was wiped out in a single wave.

Dozens of strands of ghostly light immediately rose into the air and flew into the Red General’s cenotaph—

Only then did He Lingchuan understand that the true entrance to the Generous Pot had indeed remained open there all along. The Red General had simply used a counterfeit pot to create a false impression for everyone before.

Water vapor filled the Absolute Heavenly Lightning Prison, followed by a succession of explosions.

From within the vast white mist, a point of green light was forced out and immediately fled toward the sky.

Naluotian’s avatar still wants to escape?

The longbow on He Lingchuan’s back suddenly began vibrating, its bowstring humming continuously. He understood at once. He swung the bow around, nocked an arrow, and fired at the green light.

The arrow was fast, but the green light still dodged it. However, the arrow continued onward into the dark night sky ahead.

The arc it traced looked like a knife slicing vertically through a black canvas.

He Lingchuan was still wondering whether this counted as some form of the Rift-Carving Technique when the space pierced by the arrow actually tore open, revealing a pale red backdrop—

Beyond it lay the endless ocean.

The green light abruptly stopped and tried to circle around the rupture in space, but two slender chains suddenly reached through the rift in the night sky and wrapped around it.

The green light struggled desperately, but it could not overcome the chains’ strength. Under He Lingchuan’s raised hand of farewell and amid the metallic clinking of the chains, it was forcibly dragged through the opening and into the red ocean.

There, an enormous figure was already waiting for it in silence.

The fish that had escaped the net was finally caught again.

He Lingchuan knew Naluotian’s avatar would not die.

Then the opening in the night sky closed by itself, leaving not even the faintest crack behind.

Several dozen que beasts still remained outside the Absolute Heavenly Lightning Prison. Seeing their leader defeated, they let out furious, unwilling roars, but after taking only a few steps, they collapsed to the ground and slowly stopped breathing.

The king of the que beasts had been subdued. The overall outcome was decided, and the fate of the remaining que beasts was no longer in doubt.

The entire Panlong Secret Realm abruptly fell silent.

The wind stopped, the snow melted, only blood-red water covered the ground.

Corpses lay everywhere, humans and que beasts piled among one another, their dead bodies sprawled across the cratered earth in shapes that seemed to preserve their final unwillingness.

Thunk!

He Lingchuan planted the spear into the ground and drew in one deep, deep breath of the blood-scented air.

He had won!

This great battle had finally come to an end, and victory belonged to him and the Generous Pot.

His plan had also succeeded. There had been twists and setbacks along the way, but from this day forward, Naluotian would no longer pose a threat to him.

Everything before him was the freedom won by the victor, and the price paid by the defeated.

In the end, one still must face one’s own fate; one’s destiny still must be rewritten by one’s own hands.

1. A luopan is a geomantic compass used in fengshui. ☜