flstandardbreds Chapter 813 Mysterious Fishing Village
Chapter 813 Mysterious Fishing Village
A bloody mist swirled across the sky. Yun Yao, clutching Chu Mochen, darted through the air, leaving a dark crimson trail. The aftermath of the Void Realm cultivator's pursuit still raged behind her. She suppressed the fishy, sweet taste in her throat, her consciousness spreading like a spiderweb, trying to find a safe haven in the vast sea. Just as her consciousness reached a reef, a strange surge of spiritual energy suddenly stopped her in her tracks. It was a blend of age and vitality, like an ancient jade sealed by time, or a candle burning stubbornly in the darkness.
"It's right down there!" Yun Yao spun and swooped down. The moment the Jinghong Sword sliced through the sea, an invisible barrier rippled out like water. Deep within the dark green seaweed forest, a fishing village with smoke rising from its chimneys lurked. Gray tiles and white walls loomed against the coral reefs. At the entrance, the branches of the old locust tree were draped with faded red prayer silks, swaying gently in the wind, creating a subtle rustling sound, like the whispers of countless people.
"Something's wrong." Chu Mochen's grip on his sword tightened, and the frost on Hanyuan's blade instantly froze. Though the spiritual energy here was dense, it felt strangely stagnant. The spiritual particles floating in the air flowed in unison, like puppets controlled by invisible threads. Yun Yao's fingertips lightly touched the shattered system spirit ring at her waist. The remaining red light suddenly flickered violently, and a blood-red warning popped up on the task panel: [Resonance of the Remnant of the Heavenly Dao Detected! Danger Level: SSS]
The moment they entered the fishing village, the villagers drying their nets turned their heads in unison. Deep within their cloudy eyes, a faint blue light, not of a mortal, shone. The old village chief, leading the group, slowly approached, leaning on a coral cane. His back was bent into an eerie arc, but a smile, almost devout, graced his wrinkled face. "Fairy Yunhua... you've finally arrived."
Yun Yao's hair stood on end, and her Jinghong Sword was unsheathed. This name was all too familiar to her—in the fragments of memories from the Taixu Ancient Palace, countless cultivators had called her past self that same name. But these people were clearly only at the Jindan realm, so how could they recognize her identity? Even more bizarre, Chu Mochen stood motionless, his eyes as empty as a puppet whose soul had been drained.
"Chu Mochen!" Yun Yao's cry echoed through the fishing village, but like a stone dropped into a deep pool, it caused not a single ripple. The old village chief's withered fingers suddenly grew longer, his nails transforming into pitch-black claws that pierced her brow. He uttered a sinister laugh, a stark contrast to his earlier one: "Yun Hua, reincarnation, hand over the fragments of the Guixu Chapter!" In the nick of time, Yun Yao forcibly activated the Taixu Nine Transformations Technique. The chaotic energy surging from her body shattered the claws into dust. But when she turned back, she found the entire fishing village had gathered around her, each with the same golden chain pattern appearing on their chests.
"This is the Heavenly Secret Soul-Locking Curse!" The System Lord's hoarse voice exploded through the sea of consciousness. "Their souls have been imprisoned by the power of the Heavenly Dao, reduced to the walking corpse... Wait! Deep within the old village chief's spiritual consciousness, there are fragments of vibrations!" Yun Yao suddenly summoned the causal reversal spell, and her vision was instantly engulfed in a blood-red mist. When the mist dissipated, she revealed the Ten Thousand Swords Immortal Sect's meeting hall. The young old village chief knelt on one knee, his forehead pressed to the ground. The shadowy figure of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion Master hovered in the air: "Remember, as long as you defend Guixu Fishing Village, when the task is accomplished, I will return you to freedom."
"I see." Yun Yao gripped the Jinghong Sword tightly, the broken patterns on the blade and the chains on the old village chief's chest lighting up simultaneously. She finally understood why the Tianji Pavilion's pursuit was so precise—this seemingly ordinary fishing village was simply a decoy! But just as she was about to attack, the old village chief suddenly trembled violently, and tears of blood welled up in his cloudy eyes: "Fairy Lady... save us... they want to use our souls to feed the chessboard..."
Deep within the fishing village, the ancestral hall exploded with a bang. From the pitch-black mist, a massive chessboard, woven from countless chains, slowly rose. Yun Yao's pupils constricted. Within the densely packed squares of the chessboard, tens of thousands of cultivators' souls were sealed. The chess pieces representing her and Chu Mochen were now slowly moving toward the vortex at the center. Even more terrifying, Chu Mochen had unknowingly reached the edge of the chessboard. With a vacant look in his eyes, he reached out to touch the chains. Blood dripped from his fingertips, creating a strange pattern on the chessboard.
"Stop!" Yun Yao's roar shattered the clouds, and the power of chaos swept through the ancestral hall like a raging wave. But as she approached the chessboard, she discovered that the chains were actually devouring her spiritual power. With every step closer, her cultivation rapidly drained away like an hourglass. The old village chief had somehow broken free from the soul-binding curse and tremblingly pulled out a shell engraved with runes: "This is the key to the Guixu Fragment... But there is a price to pay to open the ancient well..."
Before she finished her words, a familiar sneer suddenly echoed from the sky. Yun Yao looked up and saw a bright red figure slowly descending on a blood-red lotus—it was Xiao Cui, the maid she had once saved! Xiao Cui was now dressed in the gorgeous attire of the Lord of the Karma Hall of the Tianji Pavilion. The Karma Mark between her brows glowed with an eerie purple light. "Master, how are you? I still remember the taste of that bowl of life-saving medicine." She flicked her fingertips, and a thread of karma wrapped around the old village chief's neck. "Unfortunately, some people are destined to be mere pawns."
The old village chief was reduced to ash by the thread's stranglehold. The moment the shell in his hand fell to the ground, the ancient well in the center of the fishing village suddenly burst open. From the bottomless well, a fragment of a chapter, emitting a faint blue light, slowly rose. Yun Yao was about to leap and snatch it away when Xiao Cui suddenly pulled Chu Mochen into her arms, pressing the tip of the Hanyuan Sword to his throat. "You want the fragment? Offer me three tears."
Yun Yao froze in place. The Tears of Vitality had merged into her blood, the Tears of Memory lay dormant deep within her sea of consciousness, and the Tears of Choice... She stared into Chu Mochen's hollow eyes, remembering how he had burned his soul for her in the illusion, her nails digging deep into her palms. At this crucial moment, the fragments of the Guixu Chapter in the ancient well suddenly blazed with light, and a familiar figure emerged from the fragments—it was Fairy Yunhua from the Taixu Ancient Palace!
"Yao'er, don't be afraid." The shadow's voice was gentle but firm. "The Remaining Chapter was originally reserved for you." As the fragment transformed into a stream of light and sank into Yun Yao's brow, the system interface suddenly refreshed, and the new ability [Reverse Causation: End] illuminated before her eyes. At the same time, the thread of karma in Xiao Cui's hand suddenly shattered, and Chu Mochen's eyes regained clarity. He then thrust the Hanyuan Sword back into Xiao Cui's heart.
"Impossible!" Xiao Cui retreated in embarrassment, the karmic mark on her chest cracking. "You clearly..." Her words stopped abruptly, as Yun Yao was now entwined in a black and white chain of karmic retribution. Her eyes reflected a scene Xiao Cui had never seen before—a thousand years ago, Xiao Cui had been a spirit beast under the scepter of Fairy Yun Hua, dying to protect her master; a hundred years before, the Pavilion Master of Tianji Pavilion had used the bait of reshaping reincarnation to lure her soul into reincarnation, tampering with her memories...
"I see," Yun Yao's voice was filled with compassion. "You didn't betray me, you were simply being dragged along by fate." She raised her hand and gently touched Xiao Cui's forehead, the power of the Guixu Fragment flowing into her consciousness. "Now, make your true choice." Xiao Cui's pupils constricted violently, and countless fragments of memories exploded before her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, tears streamed down her face. A blood-stained jade pendant suddenly appeared in her hand—it was the heart-protecting jade that Yun Yao had left for her spirit beast in her previous life.
"Master, take the village chief and the others away!" Xiao Cui turned and summoned the Karmic Fire of Karma, trapping the pursuers from the Tianji Pavilion in a sea of flames. "I will repay the favor of saving my life!" Yun Yao clutched the jade pendant tightly and rushed to the ancient well with the awakened villagers. The power of the Remaining Ruins Chapter surged within her, and she finally understood that this fishing village was not only a trap, but also a backup plan left by Fairy Yunhua. Every villager here was the remnant soul of a cultivator who had once rebelled against the Way of Heaven, and the Remaining Ruins Chapter was the key to unlocking the shackles of the Way of Heaven.
The moment they stepped into the ancient well, the roar of the Pavilion Master of Tianji Pavilion resounded across the sky: "Yunhua's reincarnation, do you think that obtaining the fragments can change the world? Just wait, the messengers of the Heavenly Dao from the Three Thousand God Realms will show you what true despair is!" Yun Yao looked back at the gradually closing well mouth and pressed the jade pendant to her heart. She knew that this was not the end, but the beginning of the true battle - for these souls teased by fate, to break the shackles of the Heavenly Dao, she and Chu Mochen would journey towards the vast sea of stars.