Chapter 137: The Blood Feast

Jing Fei’s body could no longer move. Gazing at the sea of skeletons suspended in midair, he gave a bitter, desolate smile.

There was no turning back.

Jing Dule, held in his arms, had already grown cold. The vast patches of burned skin across his body had lost all color, pale and lifeless, without the slightest trace of vitality.

“Dule…”

Jing Fei raised a trembling hand and gently stroked Jing Dule’s cheek, trying to close his half-open eyes. But halfway through, his movement came to a stop.

Those eyes—even without their eyeballs—still… could not close.

Was he, like himself, unwilling to accept this fate, waiting for this world to hurry and perish?

As he felt his own life force ebbing away, a profound helplessness struck Jing Fei’s heart with merciless force.

Brothers. Blood relatives. Now they would depart this world together, despair together.

It was laughable and… tragic.

“Jing Dule, codename Dawn. All you ever wanted was for your brother to be happy; all you ever hoped for was to see dawn break beyond the horizon. Your first wish has already come true. Your brother is very happy. As for the second, let me fulfill it for you.”

With that, Jing Fei raised both hands and fiercely gouged out his own eyes.

Blood erupted in a torrent!

The sight was so gruesome that everyone nearby gasped. Yet such excruciating pain did not draw even the slightest cry from Jing Fei.

Jing Fei placed his eyes into Jing Dule’s empty sockets.

“I am your eyes. Even if I die, I will leave you the last glimmer of hope. On the road of reincarnation, you can carry your brother’s hope and witness the future, all the way to the very end.”

As he spoke, Jing Fei’s voice began to break with sobs.

“I have never been happy in this life. I never imagined that, at the very end, I would have a beloved family member beside me. I am happy. I have no regrets… The one who stands at the abyss, by the banks of the Yellow Springs, beneath the azure heavens and the waters of the nether sky, drunkenly chants; the image of the celestial spring shatters beneath the moon; one sky, one earth, one pair of people; one grain of sand, one drop of water, leaving not the slightest trace—True Return of Ten Thousand Sands to the Source!”

The sand that filled the heavens fell like rain. At that moment, it froze completely—then erupted into chaos.

Countless glittering grains transformed into an endless sea of sand and surged into the sky with overwhelming force, crashing toward the purple ocean of skeletons.

The Sacred Word!

The entire firmament boiled over. Sand and bone locked in a death struggle; life and death parted forever. Jing Fei poured all the unwillingness and resentment of his life into this Return of Ten Thousand Sands to the Source.

Here would be the final resting place of his life.

“Xuan Yao… An Ruxiang… An Ruohuan…”

Jing Fei spoke in a hoarse voice, blood tears streaming from his eyes.

The three women immediately turned toward him. Having used the Sacred Word themselves, they naturally understood what kind of resolve was required for someone who had only just entered the A rank to invoke it.

“The Flower of the Other Shore, the Brahma Flower, and the Mandala Flower are each among the eight great divine flowers of antiquity. Together, they possess the power to reverse the flow of life. Even if I invoke the Sacred Word, I cannot hold back the Imperial Relic for long. While I still have breath in me, let me transfer my life force to Mu You. I once owed him my life. Now that my younger brother has been found, it is time to repay that debt. I know the price of using the Sacred Word. You can transfer the backlash onto me. In any case, I am already a dying man.”

As Jing Fei spoke, he approached Xuan Yao and the others, who had long since dissolved into tears. He knelt down and placed both hands upon Mu You’s corpse, his expression gradually becoming solemn.

“Come.”

The three women drew a deep breath. Then, softly, they said, “Forgive us.”

Their three delicate hands came to rest upon Jing Fei’s forehead at the same time.

“Half the twin Brahma trees wither, half flourish; when the Brahma Flower blooms, prosperity must fade. When the Brahma Flower flourishes, Heaven’s fortune sinks into ruin. When the Brahma Flower dies, rebirth begins through reincarnation!”

“When the Flower of the Other Shore blooms, the road to the other shore appears. A thousand years of reincarnation, a hundred dreams of sorrow; silken robes vanish, fragrance fades. Flowers and leaves are reborn, yet never meet again. Enter not the cycle of reincarnation—be born beside the Yellow Springs!”

“Life’s calamities are easy to cross, but love’s calamity is hard to resolve. Flowers may fall with intent, while flowing water remains without feeling. Let love and hatred be sealed away; I willingly descend into the mortal dust. In this life, I vow to be bound to the world!”

Three colors of radiant light—pale blue-white, blood red, and demonic violet—began to flicker throughout the endless sea of sand. They grew ever brighter, until their brilliance illuminated everything, dazzling beyond compare.

The Brahma Flower bloomed!

The Flower of the Other Shore bloomed!

The Mandala Flower bloomed!

Three wondrous flowers from antiquity blossomed together above Mu You’s head at that very moment.

Crash!

Even the entire sea of sand and sea of bones began to retreat. All of space and time seemed to take the three-colored radiance as its center. Then, nearly every trace of energy in the air poured into the three divine flowers in one overwhelming surge.

Three Sacred Words!

The Blood Feast… was about to begin!