NOVPUBAh!
Ah!
Ahhh!
The Divine Realm, the Yao Realm, the Demon Realm, the Spirit Realm, the Ghost Realm...
Wails of agony echoed across the heavens.
In this moment, all beings parasitized by the Myriad Spirit Demon Emperor had their souls invaded by the force of obsession.
Every obsession, every pain suffered in their former lives, at this moment, transformed into the agony of these demons and monsters.
It was as though they themselves had personally experienced all that those obsessions had endured. As though, in this boundless red dust, they had been battered and broken by fate, by the world, by resentment and hatred.
Agony.
It enveloped all the demon and foreign races.
The entire world was filled with nothing but those shrill, tormented screams. And yet, this was only the beginning of the obsession.
Cycle of Obsession...
There was far, far too much of it.
Why did Lu Ye always cry? Because it was too bitter. Even with the Dao Heart of a Heavenly Lord, he couldn’t suppress that overwhelming sense of suffering. If he tried to forcibly suppress it, even his Dao Heart, will, and soul would fall into ruin.
He could only relieve some of the pain in his heart, could only ease the pressure on himself, by crying.
Tears were the outward expression of pain.
“What the hell is going on? Didn’t you self-destruct?”
Vermilion Bird’s eyes were wide with fury, locked onto Shen Xitong.
Shen Xitong’s gaze remained calm—calm, but cold.
“I did. I self-destructed. All of my family died. I carried boundless hatred, refused reincarnation, and turned into a force of obsession... just so I could wait for this moment to come!”
“What you should be concerned with right now isn’t why I’m here—you should be worried about the demons and monsters you’ve been protecting. Look at what kind of suffering they’re experiencing!”
Shen Xitong turned into a stream of light and surged into Vermilion Bird’s soul.
In that instant, Vermilion Bird’s consciousness became incomparably clear.
Her connection with the Myriad Spirit Demon Emperor became even more intimate, and the obsessions continued to pour ceaselessly from the Demon Emperor’s soul into her own.
But, just as Shen Xitong had said—she was a Great Emperor!
One of the Four Spirits of Heaven, the Vermilion Bird!
This level of obsession—at most, it might make her furrow her brow. Even if the obsessions of every living being in existence were concentrated onto her alone, she could endure it.
However, right now, through the perspective of the Myriad Spirit Demon Emperor, she was witnessing the wails of countless demons and monsters.
Countless!
Far too many!
Vast lands, endless mountains and forests.
Everywhere, living beings were writhing on the ground, crying out in pain.
Their souls were under terrifying assault. The obsessions clung to them like the vilest parasites, tightly wrapped around their very spirits, subjecting them to the most violent emotional attacks in the world.
Some of the weaker demons and monsters were shattered in an instant—their minds completely broken.
They collapsed to the ground without moving, their souls rapidly dissipating.
Tragic...
Vermilion Bird gasped violently for breath.
To kill someone with a single blow is one thing.
But why torment them like this?
The Cycle of Obsession—it was that madwoman’s poison!
Vermilion Bird knew exactly who. When she first heard the name of the technique, she thought it was something like the Slaughter Lotus Heart—just something to provoke emotional fluctuation in Lu Ye.
But now, it was clearly something far more.
The Slaughter Lotus Heart caused Lu Ye to fall under the control of slaughter.
But the Cycle of Obsession dragged Lu Ye into endless, boundless pain.
Scene after scene continued to flood into Vermilion Bird’s mind.
Scenes too tragic, too devastating.
At every moment, there were demons and monsters dying in unbearable agony. Their faces twisted, distorted, eyes wide with unrelieved torment.
These visions were a tremendous torment for Vermilion Bird.
If she alone were to die, could all the other demons survive?
Among these demons, there were those who had done no evil!
The Cycle of Obsession grew even more vast.
Shen Xitong’s words lingered in her mind.
She was a Great Emperor—her Dao Heart was firm. She could endure the Cycle of Obsession.
As long as all that obsession was gathered upon her alone, the rest of these living beings might be able to survive!
If she chose to ignore it, then all of them... would die.
Vermilion Bird suddenly let out a clear, piercing cry.
The cry of the Vermilion Bird echoed through the Nine Heavens.
Very well—if that’s how it must be, then let me die!
It’s only death. If one life—hers—could save thousands upon thousands...
Then her death would be worth it!
Boom!
With a thunderous roar—
In that moment, the connection between Vermilion Bird and the Myriad Spirit Demon Emperor reached its peak. All obsessions directed at other living beings were severed and surged toward her alone.
In just an instant, Vermilion Bird let out a cry of anguish.
Her body crashed heavily to the ground, curling into itself. Every Vermilion feather on her body trembled uncontrollably.
Wails...
Wave after wave of pained wails rang out.
Vermilion Bird saw it.
If what Lu Ye had done earlier—transferring the Cycle of Obsession to the hundreds of millions of foreign beings in those small worlds—was already a scene of cruelty,
Then this moment—when obsessions as countless as the stars, accumulated across endless epochs, filled with unmeasurable sorrow—was an overwhelming performance, a reenactment of all the world’s most tragic miseries.
She followed each obsession, endured their torment, as though she were reincarnating through billions of lifetimes.
More and more. Endlessly more.
Vermilion Bird coughed up great mouthfuls of blood—each drop was her essence blood, the blood from her very heart.
Even the Dao Heart of a Great Emperor, under such torment, had been reduced to this.
Shen Xitong, watching from up close, nibbled on melon seeds as she savored Vermilion Bird’s agony.
Tsk tsk tsk... and this is only the beginning?
Not even a tenth of the Cycle of Obsession lingering on Lu Ye’s soul had been released yet.
And you’re already writhing in this much pain?
If it’s really for the sake of those millions of foreign beings... then you’d better hold out!
“Aaahhhhhh—!”
Vermilion Bird let out the most soul-rending scream.
She was weeping blood.
At this moment, Lu Ye’s face bore a look of relief.
So comfortable—
The Cycle of Obsession was like a murky swamp. Ever since its eruption, it had been clinging to him every moment of every day. He always felt endlessly exhausted, endlessly sorrowful and tormented.
But now, the mire... the shackles... they were being cast off, broken apart.
It felt incredible!
As for the fact that he could sense all the Cycle of Obsession flowing into one person—
Lu Ye had already guessed. Most likely, it was Vermilion Bird.
So what if it was Vermilion Bird?
If not for her divine fate ability to be reborn in fire, he would have killed her long ago.
Since she’d {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} always resented him for killing the demon races, and now even betrayed him, then her choosing to bear the obsessions on their behalf—allowing the demons to survive—wasn’t that perfectly in line with her ideals?
But the question was... could Vermilion Bird truly endure until death?
Lu Ye was very much looking forward to the answer.
One-tenth of the obsessions dissipated.
Two-tenths of the obsessions dissipated.
The Myriad Spirit Demon Emperor’s soul had been completely shackled, unable to move in the slightest.
Three-tenths of the obsessions dissipated.
“Ah!”
Vermilion Bird’s true flame erupted, burning sky and earth alike. With just three-tenths of the obsessions transferred, she was already at the brink of collapse.
Pain.
Unbearable pain!
What could Vermilion Bird possibly do?
She could only grit her teeth and endure it with her Dao Heart.
I am one of the Four Spirits of Heaven!
I am the Vermilion Bird Demon Empress!
I am Lu Ye’s wife!
No... not... not that...
Vermilion Bird’s thoughts were beginning to unravel. At this moment, she was endlessly cycling through reincarnations, experiencing all the suffering of the mortal world.
She could hold on!
She could!
