GBP Chapter 782 Xiao Cui's Hidden Identity
Chapter 782 Xiao Cui's Hidden Identity
Torrential rain poured down, and the glazed tiles of the Canglan Imperial Palace gleamed coldly in the lightning. Yun Yao was covered in blood, and the pressure of the Void Realm was like a physical force, tearing apart the last batch of blood sacrifice monks. Her eyes fell on the familiar figure at the center of the altar, and her throat tightened instantly—Xiao Cui had been chained through her scapula, her pale face covered in blood, but the moment she saw her, she forced a weak smile.
"Miss..." Xiao Cui's voice was shattered by thunder. Yun Yao flashed, and the golden light emanating from the Heaven-Defying Fate Disk severed the chains. The body in her arms was terrifyingly light. When her fingertips touched the back of Xiao Cui's neck, her pupils constricted—there was a half-mark of the Heavenly Dao Sect, identical to the pattern on the Heavenly Dao Saint's jade pendant in the Netherworld.
"This is..." Yun Yao's voice trembled. The Heaven-Defying Fate Plate suddenly vibrated violently, and countless fragments of memory exploded in her sea of consciousness. On the first night of her time travel, the floating residue in the calming soup Xiao Cui had brought her was unexpectedly a match for the Tiandao Sect's secret heart-protecting formation. Every time she practiced in the palace's backyard, the subtle fluctuations of spiritual energy in the corner now connected together.
"I'm sorry for keeping it a secret from you for so long." Xiao Cui coughed up a mouthful of blood and stuffed a jade slip into Yun Yao's palm. "The old sect leader said that when the Heaven-Defying Fate Disk is fully awakened, it will be the time for me to complete my mission..." Before she finished speaking, her breath suddenly became extremely weak.
Yun Yao trembled as she poured spiritual energy into the jade slip, but upon contact with her blood, it instantly erupted in a blinding golden light. Images emerged in the rain: in the secret realm of the Tiandao Sect ten thousand years ago, a white-haired elder gazed at a star map, pressing half a seal against the back of a girl's neck; late one night a hundred years ago, the young Xiao Cui knelt before the inheritance stele and vowed, "If the Destiny Disk were to reveal itself, I would protect it with my life"; and on the day of the time travel, Xiao Cui stood at the gate of the palace, gazing at the dark clouded sky and muttering to herself, "Seventeen reincarnations, the wait is finally here..."
"So, it was all a setup from the beginning." Yun Yao dug her nails into her palm. Chu Mochen had arrived at her side without her noticing. The Candle Dragon bloodline transformed into a golden shield that enveloped them both, but it heated slightly when it touched the jade slip's light—which surprisingly contained a secret about the War Halberd Divine Lord.
Xiao Cui's eyelashes trembled, and she forced her eyes open. "Miss, the Heaven-Defying Fate Disk around your neck was actually forged by the old sect master using fragments of his own godhead..." Her voice gradually faded. "And Liu Yan'er, her puppet body can tamper with cause and effect because it devoured the residual soul of the Tiandao Sect's traitor..."
The moment the thunder roared, Xiao Cui's aura completely dissipated. Yun Yao cradled the gradually cooling body, her eyes bloodshot—she finally understood why, every time she escaped death, an inexplicable spiritual power always protected her heart; why Liu Yan'er's schemes, seemingly flawless, always revealed flaws at the crucial moment. It turned out that in the invisible corner, there had always been a small figure, paving the way for her with his life.
"Yao'er." Chu Mochen's voice was filled with suppressed anger, and the shadow of Zhulong was looming behind him. "Since Tiandao Sect knows so much, why does it let you bear this alone?" The residual soul of the halberd in his palm resonated, burning all the remaining chaotic aura around.
Yun Yao slowly stood up and gently placed Xiao Cui's body on the altar. The light of the Heaven-Defying Fate Disk suddenly surged, piercing the rain and reaching the sky. She gazed into the depths of the palace, where the turbulent flow of cause and effect grew increasingly turbulent. Further away, a familiar aura was gathering—it was Liu Yan'er, no, now more accurately, the leader of the Chaos Demon Sect, absorbing the remaining primordial power from the blood sacrifice.
"Because they need a 'variable'." Yun Yao's voice was as cold as ice. "The Tiandao Sect may have foreseen the Chaos Demon Sect's conspiracy a long time ago, but they were unable to take action personally. They chose me, not because I am capable, but because I am not bound by the established cause and effect." She clenched the jade slip, and the Tiandao Sect emblem on it suddenly turned into a stream of light and sank into the anti-heaven destiny disk. A never-before-seen cause and effect line emerged on the disk, pointing directly to the direction of the Tiandao Sect ruins.
Chu Mochen frowned. "In other words, Xiao Cui's sacrifice was part of their plan from the very beginning?" The dragon scales around him radiated murderous intent. "I want to see what this so-called Tiandao Sect is planning!"
"No." Yun Yao stopped him, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes. "Xiao Cui is not a pawn." She thought of the stubborn young man kneeling before the inheritance monument in the jade slip. "She is protecting her faith in her own way, just like you and me. Even though we know the road ahead is full of thorns, we never think of retreating."
Before she finished her words, the palace suddenly shook violently. A dark figure burst through the wall. Liu Yan'er's puppet body had been completely demonized, and Xiao Cui's karmic fragments were entwined around its twelve pairs of bony wings. "Yun Yao, do you think saving an ant will change anything?" Her voice was laced with chaotic demonic energy. "We've already refined those old bastards of the Tiandao Sect into fuel for the karmic furnace!"
Yun Yao's pupils suddenly contracted, and a burning pain emanated from the Heaven-Defying Fate Disk. She then discovered that the jade slip Xiao Cui had left behind contained a self-destruct program—when she learned the truth about the Tiandao Sect's demise, the jade slip would automatically detonate, destroying some of her memories.
"I see..." Yun Yao suddenly laughed, a laugh filled with relief and resoluteness. "They were afraid that if I knew too much, the forces of chaos would target me. But Xiao Cui took a gamble." She raised her hand and summoned the Purifying Lotus. The lotus's heart reflected Xiao Cui's final memory: that rainy night, the girl pressed the jade slip to her chest and whispered, "If we don't even have the courage to speak the truth, what's the point of everything we protect?"
Liu Yan'er's attack was already approaching, and Chu Mochen was about to block it when Yun Yao's fingertips swiped across the Heaven-Defying Fate Disk, and Xiao Cui's causal line suddenly illuminated. All the devoured fragments transformed into blades of light, not only severing Liu Yan'er's bony wings but also piecing together the final secret message of the Heavenly Dao Sect in the void: "Yun Yao, when you see this, it means we have failed. But remember, the true Heavenly Dao lies not on the throne, but in the hearts of people."
The chaotic demonic energy dissipated in the blades of light, and Liu Yan'er's puppet body began to disintegrate. Yun Yao looked at the dancing lights in the sky and whispered, "Don't worry, I will let the faith of the Tiandao Sect bloom again in the Three Thousand Worlds." She carefully put Xiao Cui's body away and turned to look at Chu Mochen. "Let's go to the Tiandao Sect ruins. This time, I want to uncover the truth myself."
The torrential rain gradually subsided, and the two figures disappeared into the blood-red sunset. Behind them, the fragments of the jade slip left by Xiao Cui quietly transformed into seeds, falling into the pool of blood on the altar. No one noticed that a young sprout was breaking through the soil in the darkness, and the dewdrops condensed on the leaf tips reflected a rainbow of light.