Chapter 141: The River Beckons, Yet He Crosses — The Will to Win

Chapter 141: The River Beckons, Yet He Crosses — The Will to Win

"Divine—what?!"

The mutually wounded Yun Shan Luan and Wu Lihen’s expressions shifted drastically.

Shocked, they raised their eyes, following Qiu Qianyue’s gaze to the inconspicuous Pretty Boy in the corner.

"He Yingkong… him? The Divine Shaman?!"

The two were filled with doubt and alarm.

Fu Yu looked up in astonishment, then smiled bitterly and waved a hand. "Supreme God, please don’t jest with me. This bloodline power has many limitations—it only lets me claim a fraction of the deceased’s strength. It’s not as if killing the Divine Shaman makes me the Divine Shaman. If I were that formidable, would I still be in this state?"

Her brows were weary, her eyes aged, and the bitter smile lines at the corners of her mouth were deep. Her entire demeanor radiated the air of a middle-aged man down on his luck.

If Qiu Qianyue had merely been testing her, Fu Yu’s instant reaction and response were flawless.

Their eyes met, and the desolate, defeated aura of the middle-aged man washed over Qiu Qianyue.

Qiu Qianyue’s eyelid twitched, momentarily speechless. "…"

She neither confirmed nor denied belief. Turning the massive face of her Dharma Form, she gazed warmly at Yun Shan Luan and Wu Lihen.

"No rush." The smile at the corners of Qiu Qianyue’s lips grew gentler. "One thing at a time, one bite at a meal."

Her radiant Dharma Form had grown to an inhuman level of power—sacred, solemn, and holy. Thus, when she uttered the word "eat," it was eerily indescribable, like a heretical scripture.

The two men felt a chill run down their spines.

At this moment, Qiu Qianyue was clearly more dangerous than any Divine Shaman.

"Qiu Qianyue, let’s talk this out." Wu Lihen raised a mangled hand. "The three of us haven’t had an easy journey to get here. Over the years, we’ve cooperated and elevated each other—though we each had our own goals, there’s still some bond between us. You can’t just burn the bridge after crossing it!"

"We haven’t crossed the river yet." Yun Shan Luan’s cold voice reminded Qiu Qianyue, "Don’t forget—without Wu Lihen’s ‘Creation of Heaven’ and my ‘Creation of Man,’ you alone wouldn’t have the power to create a world."

Destruction wasn’t the ultimate goal; creation was.

"Qiu Qianyue." Yun Shan Luan took a half-step back, his tone earnest. "The game isn’t half over yet. I advise you not to act rashly, lest you end up with nothing."

The colossal, radiant Dharma Form let out a tinkling laugh.

She sang: "The river beckons, yet he crosses! He falls into the river and dies—what can be done about him!"

A bone-chilling intuition struck. Yun Shan Luan and Wu Lihen reacted instinctively—one leaped back, summoning a golden needle to shield himself; the other tore through space, scattering his faces everywhere.

In the distance, fragments of the shattered False God statue shifted in large and small pieces, crashing into Qiu Qianyue’s Dharma Form like falling meteors, igniting countless burning trails.

Then, Yun Shan Luan and the golden needle in his hand suddenly vanished from their spot.

The next instant, his figure appeared behind Qiu Qianyue, the flaming golden needle in his palm aimed straight at her back—in that moment of upheaval, Yun Shan Luan and Wu Lihen set aside their grudges and joined forces decisively.

"Pangu’s Slash!"

"Flowing Light, Break!"

Fu Yu watched silently as the golden needle hurtled toward Qiu Qianyue.

In that fleeting instant, it felt as if the world had shifted. Qiu Qianyue’s massive Dharma Form seemed to stand at the bottom of an abyss, facing a single thread of killing light condensed from the entire world.

This strike—Fu Yu had witnessed it not long ago beneath the ruins of the Daoist Sect.

Millennia later, when facing a deadly foe, Yun Duoer’s elder brother had finally used the killing move the siblings had once created together.

‘Back then, you personally broke Yun Duoer’s move, catching her off guard and shattering her body and soul.’ Fu Yu lowered her eyes and smiled. ‘Today, you’ll taste the bitter fruit.’

The thought had barely crossed her mind when Qiu Qianyue’s Dharma Form raised a hand, mimicking the exact same motion Yun You’er had made all those years ago—

"Break."

Yun Shan Luan’s pupils contracted sharply!

The way he had once broken Yun Duoer’s weakness—Qiu Qianyue was now using that very method to break his ultimate technique.

"You—"

This woman was far more cunning than he had imagined. Had she been plotting how to deal with him ever since then?!

"Ugh!"

Yun Shan Luan let out a muffled groan.

As the searing pain shot through him, a long-forgotten scene flickered before his eyes.

Back then, when Helan’s entire clan was slaughtered, Qiu Qianyue, as the matriarch, had been so pitiful, weeping like a pear blossom in the rain. She had lowered her posture as much as possible, clinging like a dodder vine, her eyes and heart full of dependence.

Though he knew she was venomous at heart, he had still underestimated her because of her appearance.

Yun Shan Luan couldn’t imagine how many times Qiu Qianyue must have practiced for this countermove—targeting his weakness—to become so instinctive.

His blood froze, and he felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.

In an instant, an overwhelming sense of loss of control and despair engulfed him.

"Yun Shan Luan!" Wu Lihen’s anxious voice came from all directions. "What are you waiting for?!"

Wu Lihen changed his hand gestures, tearing through the void to save Yun Shan Luan, but the other man had faltered, failing to cooperate in the escape.

Yun Shan Luan stared blankly downward.

Qiu Qianyue’s hand blade pierced through the spot three and a half inches beside his navel. She twisted her hand, gripping the vital point in his abdomen, stripping him of his resistance.

Her eyes glimmered with cold, mocking laughter, but her mouth mimicked the trembling voice of Yun Duoer from years past: "Elder… brother?"

"Poisonous… woman."

Yun Shan Luan writhed in agony, his eyes nearly splitting with rage.

Now, he was alone—his countless Saint Asuras legion couldn’t—his eyes suddenly flickered!

He roared hoarsely: "Wu Lihen!"

Wu Lihen instantly grasped his intent. Chanting a spell, he channeled divine power. The massive hand of his Dharma Form treated space like a curtain, tearing it apart with all his might!

Every one of his broken fingers was hundreds of feet long, veins bulging slightly as he fiercely gripped the edges of the tear on either side. With wave after wave of earth-shattering tremors, the rift twisted and expanded wildly.

A pitch-black void opened before them, and behind it, a dense scene unfolded.

It was the boundless Senluo Hall, filled with Saint Asuras.

Yun Shan Luan spat up blood, twisting his head with a roar: "Yaaaaaah!"

The black tide of corpses raised their heads in unison, emitting a hair-raising low response: "Roar—!"

Countless Saint Asuras soared into the air.

Looking out, it was like a locust plague.

Qiu Qianyue let out a soft laugh from her throat: "Naughty kid who loves hide-and-seek—gotcha."

"What—?"

Her Dharma Form's arm shot out like a wild vine, piercing Yun Shan Luan's Dharma Form in an instant, snaking out to grab Wu Lihen's giant hand that had torn through space, bending it back ruthlessly.

The sickening crack of bone echoed through the void.

"Aaaaah!"

Wu Lihen screamed in pain, tried to pull back, but it was too late—their whole coordinated summoning of the Saint Asuras was something Qiu Qianyue had seen coming. She'd been waiting, taking it easy, for him to slip up.

With a squeeze on the broken hand, Wu Lihen was yanked out of the void and slammed down at Qiu Qianyue's feet. The next instant, his midsection was violently pierced!

"Ugh!"

The long arm, like a vine, strung the two of them together, truly making them two grasshoppers stuck on one vine.

In a flash, the battle was over, winner and loser decided.

The torn space slowly closed, and the Saint Asuras in mid-air tumbled back down with a clatter, raining a shower of corpses over the long steps.

The last hope for backup was gone.

Qiu Qianyue started feasting.

The terrifying gurgling and sucking sounds made the whole space rumble.

The two Dharma Forms struggled for their lives, their hands and claws frantically grabbing at the vines piercing them, but they couldn't resist at all.

Blood gushed like a river, their screams like wounded beasts. They watched helplessly as Qiu Qianyue drained huge amounts of their spiritual energy and blood, the pulsing arm like a blood-sucking leech's sucker.

Overwhelming despair and fear crashed over them.

"I'm still... useful... I'm useful!" Wu Lihen struggled and begged for mercy. "Only I can prove myself as 'Pangu,' to split heaven and earth for you... only I... ugh... I won't fight you for the throne. You need me, Qiu Qianyue, when creating the world, you still need my power..."

Yun Shan Luan, too proud in life to beg for mercy, opened his mouth again and again, attacking that radiant, towering Dharma Form.

A cold, howling wind crashed wave after wave against Qiu Qianyue's Dharma Form.

"Yaaaah... yaaaah!"

Qiu Qianyue glanced down, like she was looking at a pitiful worm.

"Wu Lihen's example is still fresh in my mind. You think I'd make the same mistake?"

She devoured the essence and spiritual energy of these two guys, while all that dark, cold aura was funneled into the vortex.

Yun Shan Luan let out a weak roar.

He'd first provoked the lingering will of Jun Bu Du, only to get slaughtered, then fought a huge battle with Wu Lihen. Now, his strength was less than a tenth of what it was at its peak, no threat to Qiu Qianyue at all.

The cold fear of death settled over him.

His eyes trembled, and he spoke in a hoarse voice, forcing his pride to awkwardly admit defeat: "Only I can prove myself as 'Nüwa.' Without life in the new world, your 'Immortality Elixir' means nothing. You won't be the Savior."

Qiu Qianyue lowered her gaze, her eyes like a physical weight, slowly sweeping over the two of them.

She suddenly laughed, her divine form shaking with laughter.

"Oh, you two," she sighed, slowly shaking her head. "It's my fault. I filled this world with short-sighted fools, so much so that... you actually thought I was like you."

Their pupils shrank, confused.

"How should I put it to you?" Qiu Qianyue laughed with a sigh. "How... adorable. Why did you think that throwing out benefits as bait could lure a powerful enemy? At the moment of decisive battle, you still fantasize that tossing out gold and jewels will make your opponent obediently listen to you?"

Even as she spoke, her actions never ceased.

The two Dharma Forms visibly withered and weakened.

Yun Shan Luan and Wu Lihen struggled and writhed desperately, their eyes flickering with panic, grasping at any straw before them: "Is it... not?"

She needed them!

She needed them!

Qiu Qianyue laughed, her body shaking uncontrollably: "How can you be so naive and stupid? Ha... hahaha, if I kill you all, these things are still mine!"

In an instant, the two felt as if struck by lightning.

Qiu Qianyue's smile vanished abruptly: "After eating so many of my Immortality Elixirs, it's time to pay the price."

The "vines" piercing the two suddenly thrust and withdrew.

A piercing, agonized scream erupted briefly and then vanished.

In a mere moment, the two Dharma Forms were drained dry, their faces withered like two sun-dried, tattered cloth sacks.

Their features twisted in grotesque pain, shapeless.

Qiu Qianyue's Dharma Form nearly filled the entire void.

She slowly turned her head, her gaze landing on Fu Yu.

"I was waiting for them to die. What was the Divine Shaman waiting for?" Qiu Qianyue covered her mouth with a light laugh. "You don't actually think... you could fool me by luck, do you?"

Fu Yu counted on her fingers, looked up at the sky, and wore a displeased expression.

"I understand priorities," Fu Yu said. "But why did you put me after them? Do you even know who's the real king here?"

Qiu Qianyue: "..."

What kind of damn competitive drive is this?

Fu Yu shrugged nonchalantly: "Immortality Elixir, huh. The Longevity Elixir is your Immortality Elixir. I've never taken it, so you know I'm not He Yingkong."

Qiu Qianyue's smile faded.

Having her own lines stolen before she could reveal them was really annoying.

Her gaze fell on Fu Yu's hand forming a seal, and she sneered: "Are you calculating your last divination? Did you foresee your end?"

Fu Yu replied with a perfunctory "Mm."

"Oh?"

Fu Yu lazily lifted her eyelids, utterly disinterested: "Today is not a good day to die."

Qiu Qianyue laughed in exasperation.