Chapter 1720 — The Heavenly Gate's Divine Fire Burns My Soul
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
The moment Meng Yungui died, his primal spirit collapsed and his soul shattered, streaming out of his corpse as ribbons of black sand.
His wounds had been too grievous; both the spirit and the soul within his primal spirit were already broken, and by rights he should have died long ago—only the sheer depth of his cultivation had kept him upright by main force. "Heavenly Master Bai, at last you have set my mind at ease.
" Watching the black sand of the soul drift from Meng Yungui's body, Yiluo Heavenly King let out a long breath and strode over, smiling.
"Before we set out, His Majesty instructed me: the Third Heavenly Master, Bai Yuqiong, is of the human race and is on close terms with Meng Yungui—she must be guarded against. All along this journey I have been wary of you, Heavenly Master, suspicious and testing you again and again. But you, Heavenly Master Bai, understand the greater cause; with your own hand you slew the traitor Meng Yungui. It fills me with admiration, and I can finally set my heart wholly at rest.
" Bai Yuqiong lowered her head and looked at the sword in her hand, her voice steeped in coldness: "The traitor Meng knew nothing of the times, nothing of what the times demanded. He had no loyalty to his sovereign, and though he received the Heavenly Court's grace, he never once thought of repaying it. He was lower than the beasts.
Of course I had to kill him, and cut myself clean of him.
" Tears slid down from her eyes—but strangely, the instant they fell they turned to flame, drifting beside her cheeks.
Cold as her voice was, within her body a soul burned with blazing holy fire, struggling, howling! Her heart brimmed with endless desolation and grief and fury, and that unyielding soul grew hotter and hotter, more and more scalding, as though it would break free of the shackles of her flesh, unsheathe its savage claws, tear her body open, and release its boundless fire! Bai Yuqiong raised her other hand and clutched hard at the jade pendant hanging at her throat.
That pendant was the one Shen Mu had given her to break the Yin Tianzi's reincarnation divine power; once, it had carried her through ninety-eight rebirths and kept her spirit and soul from perishing.
That pendant was her inner demon, and the knot in her heart. I am myself!
The one and only me!
In all this world there is only one Bai Yuqiong!
I am not the Southern Emperor!
She had once said this to Shen Mu, with absolute certainty, full of confidence.
And yet.
.
.
Bai Yuqiong looked at Meng Yungui's corpse before her, then at the frightened, restless people of Southern Heaven all around, and thought: the Southern Emperor, Vermilion Bird, is not only the emperor of the Southern Pole Heaven, but the emperor of Southern Heaven as well. As the Southern Emperor, Vermilion Bird, she had failed to protect the Southern Pole Heaven, failed to protect its people—that was a dereliction of duty, a failure of responsibility, a fault committed by the Southern Emperor; and none of it should have been borne by the people of Southern Heaven, none of it should have been borne by Meng Yungui!
The people of Southern Heaven had never done anything wrong; they merely lived in Southern Heaven. Meng Yungui had never done anything wrong either; he had merely happened to come to Southern Heaven!
Bai Yuqiong's hand trembled as it gripped the pendant: "I do not want to become the Southern Emperor, I do not want to become a part of the Southern Emperor. I am myself.
.
.
" Drop by drop, the holy fire born of her tears drifted toward the pendant and burrowed into it. Yiluo Heavenly King came over and said with a smile: "His Majesty handed me command of the Southern Heavenly Gate precisely to guard against you. But you have done well; you have not disappointed His Majesty. Heavenly Master Bai, in the future you are to become a Heavenly Venerable, just like the Fire Heavenly Venerable.