Let’s rewind time briefly.
Clear chimes were suddenly heard within the dark underground of the Wraith realm.
An orange cat was carrying a sword on its back as it continuously shook a small bracelet of bells using both of its front paws.
The clear chimes sounded from the bells.
The orange cat continued to ring the bell for a while before asking with a hesitant tone: “Bing Li, do you think that Tianma woman is going to arrive?”
A voice answered it from the sword on its back: “Speaking of which—– how long has it been since Gu Qing Shan met that woman?”
Huh? How long?
Shannu carefully thought for a while and answered: “The last time they met, gongzi was still only at Projection realm”
Luo Bing Li scoffed: “Tsk tsk, he hadn’t met her for 15 whole cultivation realms, no matter how intimate they used to be, they might as well be strangers now”
Shannu continued to ring the bell while hesitantly said: “That’s not necessarily the case, I feel like that Tianma woman treated gongzi quite differently”
Luo Bing Li felt interested and asked: “Oh? Do you mean ‘that’?”
“Yes, I mean ‘that’—— although I feel like she dresses in too much of a revealing manner, unworthy for my gongzi” Shannu replied.
“Does that Tianma have a name?” Luo Bing Li asked.
“I think she was called Li An[1]. ‘Li’ as in parting, and ‘An’ as in ‘darkness’” Shannu said.
“What does she do?”
“She’s the Tianma Empress”
“…Another Empress? Is she a greenhouse flower like Reneedol again?” Luo Bing Li scoffed.
“No, she’s a Devil King who consumes the souls of humans” Shannu replied.
Luo Bing Li’s tone became a bit more serious and said: “Then we have a little bit more hope. The situation this time is so dire that I think it won’t be anything like what we’ve faced before. We need to keep that Tianma woman here no matter what happens!”
“Speaking of which, I believe the Tianma were originally living beings of the Wraith realm” Shannu commented.
Luo Bing Li added: “Hm, the second seal of that Apocalyptic Divine Weapon was—–”
She abruptly stopped.
“She’s here” Shannu whispered.
“Hm, I can sense it too” Luo Bing Li replied.
From within the dark void of space, a gentle flash of sunset light suddenly appeared.
A faint female singing could be heard resounding throughout the void.
Numerous female voices were all singing the same tune:
『 Jiǎojiǎo bái jū, zài bǐ kōnggǔ. Shēng chú yī shù, qí rén rú yù. 』[2]
The recital was profound, the emotions were deep and longing, which continued to linger by one’s ears even after it was done.
After singing that short tune, 12 transparent red flowers appeared in the void of space.
The flowers then bloomed into 12 peerlessly beautiful Tianma women.
All of these Tianma women were gently humming an aria as they gracefully descended from above.
As they landed on the ground, they spread out and prostrated themselves towards the middle:
『 We greet the Tianma Empress 』
A glorious light then manifested in the void of space.
A young girl in black clothing appeared from the light, landing in the middle of all the Tianma women.
Jade-like eyes, sharp eyebrows, and snow-white skin.
Dignified.
Charming.
This girl was unlike the other Tianma women; while she was still beautiful, she did not carry herself with a sense of suggestive allure and instead exuded solemnity.
Behind her, numerous shadows fluttered in the wind.
The shadows were screaming, screeching in agony as if they were going through all the worst tortures of the world.
The shadows weren’t just fluttering, they were writhing, struggling, trying to escape from behind her.
But no matter how much they tried to run, they were still dragged back behind the black-clothed girl by an invisible force in the end.
The black-clothed girl approached the orange cat and slightly curtsied herself.
『 Gu Qing Shan? 』 she asked.
The orange cat shook its head.
The black-clothed girl pondered briefly before appearing delighted and asked: 『 Did you kill him? 』
The orange cat shook its head again.
The black-clothed girl’s delighted expression faded again and sighed in relief as she asked: 『 …Then, you must be his pet cat? 』
Hearing that, the orange cat was displeased.
Pet?
You’re the pet!
She swirled her body and transformed into an aloof palace maid dressed in blue.
“My gongzi had ordered me to wait for you here” Shannu replied.
The sword on her back also flew into the air and transformed into a female human cultivator.
——Luo Bing Li.
“That’s right, the situation is very urgent, so we’re here to meet you” Luo Bing Li replied.
The black-clothed girl carefully observed the two girls’ features and beauty, then finally turned her gaze towards the Tianma bell bracelet in Shannu’s hand.
Her expression slowly became grim and said with a displeased tone: 『 After not seeing one another for a few years, instead of coming to personally meet me, he instead gave our token to the two of you. It seems there no longer exists a place in his heart for me 』
She lightly waved her long sleeves.
The Tianma bell bracelet immediately flew back into her hand.
『 Farewell! 』
Right after saying that, the girl turned around and prepared herself to leave.
Shannu was panicking.
——–if this woman leaves, wouldn’t gongzi lose a powerful ally?
She immediately called out: “Wait! We’re only the spirits of Gu Qing Shan’s swords. He had his own hardship that he couldn’t help but have us wait here for you”
『 Hardship? What kind of hardship would that fraud actually have? 』the black-clothed girl scoffed and slowed down her steps, but didn’t stop completely.
She then swung her long sleeves in a grand manner before flying into the air without turning back: 『 Next time, tell him to come and personally see me, otherwise, I won’t ever meet him again 』
Seeing her attitude, Luo Bing Li knew that the other party was serious about leaving——
This is no time to be acting high and mighty!
She loudly called out: “Wait! Our gongzi actually missed you a lot!”
The black-clothed girl paused in mid-air.
A vertical halo of light had manifested in front of her, displaying a world filled with cherry blossoms on the other side.
But the girl did not enter.
『 You said that—– he misses me? 』the black-clothed girl turned around and asked.
Shannu glanced at Luo Bing Li.
“How could you say such an arbitrary thing? How do you expect gongzi to act from now on?” Shannu silently scolded her.
“From now on? There would be no ‘from now on’ if Gu Qing Shan dies at this occasion, we need to keep her here as an ally first, then take care of the other issues later” Luo Bing Li also silently sent her voice.
After that, she took out a small rock from behind her and tossed it over: “Take a look, every time gongzi remembers you, he would carve your name upon a rock”
Shannu was surprised and glared at Luo Bing Li.
“I just carved that” Luo Bing Li sent her voice.
The black-clothed girl caught and examined it to find that the rock was indeed carved full of the characters for ‘Li An’.
『 They are beautiful carvings, however… this looks a lot like it had just been carved… 』
The girl doubtfully asked.
Luo Bing Li’s expression remained completely the same and answered her with a solemn face: “He carved it today when he was missing you, so he gave it to me to show you”
It was now that the black-clothed girl finally flashed a faint smile and scoffed: 『 How naïve 』
While saying that, she carefully put the rock away.
Seeing how she put the rock away, Shannu was a bit irritated, but after thinking it through and confirming that gongzi’s life was more important than anything else, she slowly calmed down.
Thanks to her [Living’s Wisdom] Thaumaturgy, she quickly thought it through and spoke in a different tone from before:
“Yes, my gongzi misses you very much. It was because he saw that this place might be related to you, so he ordered the two of us to wait here in hope that you’d benefit from this opportunity”
『 This place might be related to me? 』
The black-clothed girl was a bit surprised and finally observed her surroundings.
This is a dark underground place
So dark that one couldn’t see one’s own fingers, it was desolate and silent, even with inner sight, one couldn’t notice any traces of life.
—–however, Gu Qing Shan had always been someone who put his thought behind every action, so there’s no need for him to deceive me when it comes to this.
The girl silently thought and put her hands together to form a hand seal.
Rays of light appeared from her hand to illuminate their surroundings.
『 Your majesty! 』
『 Take a look at this 』
『 Sire, this place is——』
The Tianma girls all exclaimed in surprise.
Even the black-clothed girl’s expression had turned completely solemn.
Shannu and Luo Bing Li also used the light to observe their surroundings.
However, all that they saw was a barren desolate land without anything interesting, it was a real wonder why these Tianma women were acting up like that.
The black-clothed girl’s attitude towards the two girls was now much different.
She told them: 『 How wonderful, it was an opportunity of this caliber… Gu Qing Shan, you have always been thinking of me after all 』
Luo Bing Li was confused: “But there isn’t anything here at all”
The black-clothed girl gently answered: 『 Only the Tianma would be able to see through the secrets of this place 』
“What did you see?” Shannu asked.
The black-clothed girl smiled and pointed at the darkness all around them: 『 A barren desolate place in your eyes was, to me, actually a site of inheritance of the Tianma Saint Lord 』
…
At another location.
Gu Qing Shan was standing in front of the grand hall and quickly communicating with something invisible:
“Lady Darksea, are you here?”
Lady Darksea responded: [I’m here, what do you need?]
“I remember that during this period of time, Crow had spread the seed of [Order] throughout 1673 worlds. The power of [Order] had grown significantly greater than before, which was why you had told Shroud to save the carriers of those two unique [Order] templates” Gu Qing Shan said.
[Indeed, your excellency, Gu Qing Shan, the Order is growing increasingly stronger] Lady Darksea replied.
“I’ve just remembered something. During the decisive battle between [Order] and [Chaos], according to the information I obtained, both the Awaitings of [Order] and [Chaos] had prepared two mechanisms for awakening them before they fell into slumber”
Gu Qing Shan then stated two unique titles: “They are the [Harbinger of Apocalypse’s End], and [Slumbering Era’s Songster of Night]”
“Once [Chaos] had destroyed all living beings, the Apocalypse would also come to an end, and at that time, a harbinger would emerge to awaken the Awaitings of [Chaos]—– they would gain a new life and their victory”
His voice became more rapid as he continued:
“Similarly, at the moment of the Apocalypse’s rampage, a songster of night would emerge to call upon the slumbering Awaitings, hoping that they would grant power to living beings as well as leading them against the Apocalypse”
Lady Darksea replied: [Indeed, to awaken all the Awaitings of Chaos, the Harbinger of Apocalypse’s End was necessary; and to awaken the Awaitings of Order, the Slumbering Era’s Songster of Night was necessary]
“The Slumbering Era’s Songster of Night has never appeared ever before in history, please tell me how I would be able to reach them” Gu Qing Shan said.
Lady Darksea replied: [Your excellency, the faction of Order is different from the faction of Chaos. There was not a single individual chosen to become the ‘Slumbering Era’s Songster of Night’, as long as the Era of Order had grown powerful to a certain degree, an individual of exceptional contributions would be able to awaken the Awaitings]
Gu Qing Shan asked: “Then has the Era of [Order] grown strong enough?”
[It is still far from that] Lady Darksea confirmed.
Gu Qing Shan briefly thought and asked: “Lady Darksea, if you don’t need to choose anyone in particular, then I suggest that you release [Order] to all living beings in existence, allowing all of them to be reinforced with [Order], would that not be faster?”
[That would indeed be a lot faster, but if those naturally born with a natural disposition for Chaos were to join this Order, that would go against the original intentions of this Order] Lady Darksea answered with a troubled tone.
Gu Qing Shan sincerely said: “There’s a priority to everything. To save all the worlds and prevent the destruction, I believe this is our current priority, what do you think, lady Darksea?”
Lady Darksea asked: [But then, how should we deal with the Chaotic carriers of Order?]
Gu Qing Shan grinned and answered: “How about this, we first resolve the matter at hand and awaken the Awaitings, then you can set up a trial and throw all the degenerates into it to eliminate them all”
Lady Darksea fell silent.
A few moments later.
She answered: [I agree with your decision]
[1] I believe she was called Li Yang the previous time she was mentioned, but the pinyin says otherwise, so I guess she’s Li An from now on
[2] This is the same poem from chapter 283: Temptation, and I still can’t translate it properly after more than a year
