Chapter 2903: Karma Will Run Its Course

Boom!

In the void, a thunderous roar echoed, its source untraceable. Only the supreme beings could faintly hear it. Even without looking, they knew it was the tenth peak emperor. He had self-destructed in Ji Ning Shuang's dream, intending to pull the heavens down with him. Yet, not a single person in the heavens was harmed.

Thud!

When Ji Ning Shuang emerged from the dream, her body swayed, almost falling from the ethereal realm. The people of the heavens were unscathed, but she was not. She had borne the brunt of that self-destruction in the dream.

“Ye Chen.”

Her voice was hoarse as she staggered through the stars, her figure swaying, on the verge of collapse.

In this battle against the ten peak emperors, she had slain half of them. Then, facing the last one, she had directly taken a peak-level self-destruction. Throughout, her injuries were so severe that she became the most wounded emperor in history on the day of her ascension. Yet, her achievements were enough to surpass all ages.

After all, she was only a novice emperor, not yet fully merged with the Dao.

In the blood-red starfield, she found her husband and finally lost her footing, collapsing to the ground and embracing Ye Chen.

Tears streamed down her face.

Ye Chen's hair was white, his body devoid of any luster or vitality, aged like dust that could crumble with a touch. He had sacrificed his primordial spirit and fifty thousand years of lifespan. Either alone would have been enough to send his soul to the nine heavens.

He had left no way back for himself.

“I'm sorry.”

Ye Chen leaned against Ji Ning Shuang, his voice raspy and faint, barely audible.

The invincible war god clung to his last breath just to say these three words to his wife.

It was just like in their previous life, outside the Dan City hall, when she had fallen into his arms and uttered the same apology.

He was the one who had killed their child.

“No, it's not your fault.”

Tears poured from Ji Ning Shuang's eyes as she channeled her emperor's divine power and origin into Ye Chen's body, desperately trying to rekindle his primordial spirit flame.

She had already lost their child; she could not bear to lose her husband as well.

But even as the supreme emperor, she was not all-powerful. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how she mobilized her origin, she could not ignite that flame. Instead, it only further shattered Ye Chen's frail, aged body.

He was too old, too fragile now. Even the gentle emperor's origin was too much for him to bear. His life force was depleted, leaving only a shell and a final breath.

“Burn, burn for me.”

Ji Ning Shuang whispered hoarsely, frantic in her efforts, much like Ye Chen had been when saving Ye Fan—willing to pay any price for his survival.

“Don't waste your strength.”

Ye Chen smiled weakly, blood still surging from his mouth, the last flicker in his eyes fading. Though he longed to lift his hand and wipe the tears from his wife's face, he lacked the strength.

“Please, don't leave me.”

“If fate brings us together in the next life, I would rather betray the world than betray you.”

Ye Chen's words were hoarse and aged, growing weaker until they trailed off. His eyes, now devoid of light, slowly closed, and his withered body dissolved inch by inch. Even the tears at his eyes and the blood from his mouth turned to ash, leaving only those tender words to adorn their tragic, tear-filled bond.

“No, no, no.”

Ji Ning Shuang went mad, trying to reshape his body, but all she grasped was scattering ash.

Her Ye Chen was gone.

The war god of the heavens was gone.

Ah!

The female emperor's cry shook the three realms.

In that instant, her hair also turned white.

History often repeats in startling ways.

In the previous cycle, she had fought the heavenly demons to the death to protect his ascension, perishing in the process.

In this cycle, he had battled the nine emperors alone to safeguard her ascension, utterly destroying himself.

One in the past life, one in this.

She had fallen into his arms,

And he had died in hers.

“If there is a next life, would you grant me a lifetime of love?”

“If fate brings us together in the next life, I would rather betray the world than betray you.”

Karma has its own cycle.

The question from her previous life finally received its answer in this one.

But it was too late.

“We bid farewell to the Holy Body.”

The heavens resounded with mournful cries. Whether elders or juniors, human cultivators or demon cultivators, every living being that survived knelt on one knee to see off the invincible war god. He had fought the supreme beings in blood, securing a glimmer of hope for the heavens. He had used his blood and bones to ignite a ray of light for all living things.

The Holy Body lineage was one of fierce resolve.

He was worthy of respect.

His name, his story, his legend would be passed down through generations, etched by all living things into an immortal myth.

Ah!

The two emperors of heaven and the underworld sighed, their eyes filled with tears and sorrow.

The bonds of the supreme might truly be envied by the heavens.

It was the same for Di Huang and Yue Shang.

And for Ye Chen and Yao Chi.

One ascended, the other perished.

This farewell was final.

“Ye Chen.”

The sobbing calls echoed through the ethereal realm.

It was Ruo Xi, or rather, Chu Xuan and Chu Ling within her, yearning to hold their Ye Chen one last time.

But they could not. The more tears flowed, the more unstable Ruo Xi's aura became.

The four had merged as one, with Ruo Xi holding the main consciousness. Their emotions constantly interfered with Ruo Xi and Wu Lei, risking separation at any moment.

In an instant, immortal light flashed in Ruo Xi's eyes, extinguishing the tears.

She was not without emotion.

Wu Lei was not without emotion either. She longed to turn back and help Chu Xuan and Chu Ling say goodbye to Ye Chen, but turning would mean separation.

The living things of the heavens still needed their merged form to stabilize the cosmic order and conceal the human realm's position.

This was their mission, their destiny.

With the star winds drifting through the ethereal realm, the immortal glow surrounding Ruo Xi faded bit by bit, dissipating into nothingness.

She finally fell into the void, splitting back into four individuals, all asleep, all with white hair.

“Take her back to Da Chu.”

This was Wu Lei's faint divine sense, transmitted before she fell into slumber.

No words were needed; someone acted.

It was the Wangchuan Emperor's daughter, who summoned a cloud to carry the three away. Ruo Xi needed to remain in Da Chu to maintain the cosmic balance.

“We won; the heavens have won.”

Those still alive trudged over the mountains of corpses, weeping unsteadily as they gazed at the blood-red world, now reflecting light once more.

But the price of this light was devastating.

In this war, countless from the heavens had fallen—Ye Chen, the emperors, the divine generals, Yan Luo, the sword cultivators, the holy venerables, Di Ji, Di Zi. Over ninety percent of the heavens' peak forces were gone.

Looking around, not a single quasi-emperor stood; not a single starfield remained intact.

Everywhere were piles of bones forming mountains.

Everywhere were rivers flowing with fresh blood.

The blood-soaked battlefield was strewn with tattered war banners, burying countless heroic spirits.

“Child.”

“Father, mother.”

“Ancestor.”

Wails filled the human realm.

Bloody figures embraced their kin, screaming in despair.

Too many factions, sects, and races had been wiped out entirely. Perhaps no one wept for them, but the surviving living things and future generations of the heavens would remember—they were the forebears who, for the sake of posterity, had built that blood-red great wall.

Ah!

The two emperors of heaven and the underworld sighed again, their backs hunched.

Through how many eras of change had they witnessed disasters and ascensions? Yet, an ascension as tragic as this was unprecedented.

The destined fate of the void could not overcome its variables. Without that cross-time-space assassination, and if Ye Chen had ascended earlier, the human realm would not have suffered so terribly.

In the blood-red starfield, the Eastern Wilderness Empress wandered with disheveled hair, one hand clutching Ye Chen's bloodstained robe, the other holding Ye Fan's armor. Like a lost soul, she stumbled along.

On this day, she had finally become an emperor, but she had lost her two closest ones—her husband and her child.

What good was ascension? They would not return.