Chapter 144 - 114: Under the Blood Moon

Chapter 144: Chapter 114: Under the Blood Moon

She had brought back the precious Fire Stone. With it, the people of her tribe should have been able to survive the harsh winter.

However, all that awaited her were the mournful faces and trembling words of other passing members of the Human Race. "Don’t go, Nether... Half a month ago, the Ape Race found this place..."

The young woman refused to believe it. Clutching the warm Red Fox and braving the bitter rain, she charged madly toward her tribe.

The ever-thickening stench of blood chipped away at her last sliver of hope.

Finally.

As she stood at the entrance, gazing upon what was once her beautiful home, she could only sink slowly to her knees, her hands falling limp at her sides.

Nothing was left. The empty, desolate village was filled with nothing but the nauseating stench of blood, slowly diffusing in the rain.

Rain beat down on her face. Her tears had long since run dry; all that could flow now was blood.

The Nether Monarch said to the Red Fox, "I will resurrect them."

"You’re insane!" the Red Fox cried in disbelief.

The young woman would build a great kingdom to house all their remaining thoughts, even though she knew that the lives born from decay would no longer be the people she once knew.

She was the last of the Royal Family. Granny Long had died before her very eyes. Now, even the last thing she could call home had been reduced to ashes.

She had nothing left.

The young woman and the Red Fox relied on each other for survival. But when they both reached the Sixth Realm, the Red Fox returned to the Demon Race, and the Nether Monarch was alone once more.

What was left in this world to serve as her anchor?

Her Lifebound Spirit.

’That’s right, my Lifebound Spirit.’

As she returned to the Netherworld, the young woman suddenly remembered: she still had a Lifebound Spirit. It was a privilege of the Royal Family, equivalent to their other half.

’How could I have forgotten?’ Soon after, she used a damaged Array to summon a young man.

He was of the Human Race—and one who shared an inextricable bond with her. The Nether Monarch completely ignored the dense, almost palpable aura of time and the strange Realm emanating from the young man.

’None of that mattered. He was my Lifebound Spirit. That was enough.’

Granny Long had once told her, "Humans are quite envious of birds. They can fly freely in the sky, soaring to ever higher places."

And so, the young woman gave a smile that came from the bottom of her heart. She said, "Yu. From now on, your name will be Yu."

He was the last person she had, the one with the deepest connection. He could become her "Yu"—her wings—to bear the weight of her loneliness.

’How wonderful.’

She was not of the Human Race, but her Lifebound Spirit was.

A brilliant golden light materialized before the Nether Monarch’s eyes, gradually condensing into a solid, golden form.

Majestic, grand, and brilliantly radiant—it was the Celestial Dao. The Celestial Dao had descended into the Nether Monarch’s dream.

The Celestial Dao spoke: "Your Lifebound Spirit has defied the river of time. He must die. Afterward, a venerable title will be bestowed upon you, and you will be granted the Path of Death."

The young woman’s pupils turned ice-cold. "No."

’I have nothing left.’

’And now you want to take my Lifebound Spirit? You’re going to strip away my final refuge as well?’

The Celestial Dao said, "Death is eternal, and eternity is lonely. You have no need for a Lifebound Spirit."

As if she hadn’t heard a word, the young woman rose. In an instant, she was before the golden light, plunging her fair fingers forcefully into its brilliance.

Her voice was firm and left no room for doubt. "Don’t you dare!"

’I will never allow it!’

The golden radiance began to corrode the young woman’s skin, as if trying to force the Nether Monarch to sever her connection with Lu Changyuan.

A warmth pressed against the young woman’s back. One by one, the spirits of the departed slowly manifested, forming into illusory shadows that stood behind her, supporting her.

A brilliant spark exploded in the Nether Monarch’s eyes, then erupted with the force of a wildfire, pushing the radiant Celestial Dao out from her arm. She took a step forward.

The ancient thrum of drums surged forth.

The Netherworld took its final form.

This kingdom, founded by the Nether Monarch initially just to house her thoughts, materialized from concept and illusion at an unbelievable speed, and then proceeded to crown its own master.

Flowing Yao Guang Intent swept across her moon-like, immortal face. The young woman reached out her hand, and suddenly, a dead, silent star appeared in her palm.

"I’ll take it myself!"

BANG!

She crushed the silent star, forcefully wrenching the Path of Death from the heavens. Then, she parted her cherry-pink lips and swallowed the star’s remnants.

The aura of Yao Guang rose from her body. A beam of light formed within her, ascending slowly until it became a new star, hanging in the sky and filling the vacancy left by the old one.

Her Dao Star was formed.

The Monarch opened her eyes.

Time holds no meaning in death, for death exists outside of time. So, when the young woman opened her eyes, the great maw was only just beginning to close.

Bit by bit.

The blood-red maw was pried wide open.

The dark night sky was torn asunder. A jet-black Great Sun appeared in mid-air, tyrannically imposing death upon the blood moon.

What had once been a cage of darkness was now filled with endless Nether Qi. The Nether Qi roiled and converged, constructing a magnificent, colossal kingdom in mid-air. Along the coast, stalks of blood-red Other Shore Flowers burst from the soil, blooming with wild abandon and dancing silently in the night.

The Nether River became the channel connecting the Netherworld to the mortal realm.

The great fog rose once more.

The Nether Monarch tyrannically seized all the death from the Blood Demon’s body, transforming it into Spirits for her Netherworld. A great path of white bone materialized beneath her feet, leading straight to the Netherworld’s gates.

This was the Netherworld’s path of life.

Within the great fog, the spirits of the races slain by Lu Changyuan, and those of the great beasts devoured by the Blood Demon, began to stir. They took slow, heavy steps forward, as if coming to pay homage to their Monarch.

The vast Nether River carried this path of life, flowing onward until it surged into the Netherworld, completing its final Law.