Chapter 1918: Swallowed

Bai Ye’s figure slowly passed through the streets, crossed the edge of the realm, and a gray, hazy world came into view.

The Calamities were extinct, and the Gray Realm was completely empty, with only endless lead-gray clouds flowing, telling of an eternal, unchanging loneliness.

Bai Ye could feel his own Thief Divine Path resonating with a certain power; it was the source of all "theft-based techniques" and the existence that had stood at the pinnacle of this path from ancient times to the present... and now, that existence was gradually approaching.

Just then, he seemed to see something out of the corner of his eye and turned to look the other way.

A figure in black, leaning on a cane, was also walking slowly toward this place...

The Fire-Tamper Thief Saint, Mo Lian.

Behind Mo Lian was a Heart Python stretched to the limit, just like Bai Ye’s, as if he were carrying a mountain as he walked here. Every time his cane struck the ground, it left a mark.

Mo Lian himself was not of the [Borrowing the Moon] path, but he had stolen the [Borrowing the Moon] technique from a low-ranking member of the Fire-Tampers. After all, in this era, every additional high-ranking [Borrowing the Moon] user could save that person a great deal of time and energy...

As Bai Ye noticed Mo Lian approaching, Mo Lian also saw him.

"Is the Fire-Tamper side finished swallowing?" Bai Ye took the initiative to speak.

Mo Lian nodded slightly. "What about the Twilight Society?"

"Except for those two, it's all done."

"Oh."

The two figures, one white and one black, stood on the earth like statues, falling into silence.

The two were not familiar with each other; although they had both been swallowing memories in the Tianxue Realm for the past year, they had almost no interaction...

In fact, swallowing memories was not difficult for them as Eighth Ranks; what truly consumed time and energy was repeatedly checking to ensure that not a single "fish that slipped through the net" remained among the millions of people.

Fortunately, with Ying Fu pushing for it, all major realms were closed, all citizens were prohibited from cross-realm circulation, and combined with the fact that all communication technology had basically failed, it created excellent conditions for them...

Using a year to make a realm forget a person.

"He's here."

Bai Ye said suddenly.

The two looked over at the same time, only to see a figure walking slowly from the end of the desolate land.

He wore a black top hat, but perhaps due to overuse, the hat was now damaged and old. His dust-covered British-style coat fluttered in the wind. There was no longer the pride and sharpness of a king on his person, but rather a sense of fatigue and depth honed by the frost of time.

Behind him, a super-giant Heart Python, like a skyscraper, was crawling along the desolate land at an extremely slow speed!

Bai Ye and Mo Lian had spent a year swallowing the memories of the Tianxue Realm... while Li Laide had spent a year walking through six realms.

Jiguang, Hongchen, Nanhai, Xuanyu, Cangyun, Lingxu...

This was his second-to-last stop.

Li Laide had been walking for a year, and he had also been missing for a year. Even the Thief Saints, including Mo Lian, hadn't seen him for a long time... Seeing this "King" who was completely different from their memories, their eyes were filled with astonishment.

What... had the King experienced?

Bai Ye’s gaze toward him was also incredibly complex.

The members of the Twilight Society basically all knew that Li Laide had snatched the [JOKER] card from the Gray Monarch, becoming the Seventh Generation Red King who was not recognized by anyone.

To be honest, most members despised this guy, but Bai Ye could see something different in his eyes.

The King of the Fire-Tampers, the unrecognized Seventh Generation Red King, the ultimate Thief God who surpassed all time...

Bai Ye didn't know how to judge Li Laide’s black and white, but at least in this era, he deserved the word "legend."

Li Laide scanned the grand Tianxue Realm without approaching it, speaking calmly:

"Is it done?"

"In the Tianxue Realm, all memories regarding the Red Star and that person are here," Bai Ye nodded slightly, his gaze glancing at the Heart Python that was a hundred times larger than his and Mo Lian’s. "However... can you really still swallow them?"

Li Laide didn't answer. He seemed to have grown tired of communicating with people. The super-giant Heart Python opened its terrifying, blood-red maw and swallowed Bai Ye and Mo Lian’s Heart Pythons whole!

These two Heart Pythons, several stories high, were as small as chicks in front of Li Laide’s Heart Python.

At the same time,

Bai Ye and Mo Lian’s bodies shook, and a flash of confusion crossed their eyes... as if some memories had disappeared along with them.

——「6」。

After swallowing the two Heart Pythons, Li Laide’s Heart Python expanded by another circle, like a deformed and obese monster, lying lazily on Li Laide’s body...

A trace of scarlet blood flowed from Li Laide’s nose. He frowned, took a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped it away.

He didn't look at the Tianxue Realm or the two of them again, silently taking a step forward.

Every step he took left a deep pit in the ground. Even so, his figure remained straight. He left a string of lonely footprints on the gray land, extending bit by bit toward a certain direction...

That was the last place in the world where memories of Chen Ling still remained.

The Chengtian Realm.

……

The Chengtian Realm.

The Imperial Palace.

Wreaths of smoke rose from the incense burner. A figure with green hair slowly walked out from behind the screen, looking at the figure lying on the bed, and sighed softly.

"...Why must you do this?"

"Your old wounds keep recurring. If you were in your prime, it would be fine, but now that you are at the end of your rope, dragging it out like this only makes you suffer unnecessary pain..."

"Haven't you already chosen a successor? The new demigod has ascended, and the order of the Chengtian Dynasty, which has operated for hundreds of years, will not easily collapse. Even without you, the world will not fall into chaos."

"Your lifespan is exhausted; why be so persistent, insisting on holding onto this last breath?"

The palace fell into silence.

I don't know how much time passed before the aged figure on the bed spoke hoarsely:

"The Red Star... is not yet destroyed... My... heart... cannot be at peace..."

Chu Changqing looked at him with a complex expression, and after a long time, shook his head helplessly.

Just as he was about to leave, Ying Fu’s voice sounded again:

"Wait..."

"He... is here."

Chu Changqing’s footsteps stopped abruptly.

He looked toward a certain direction in the void and could feel an aura that was almost already transcending this world, like a vast mountain, slowly approaching this realm...

Ying Fu on the bed turned his head slowly. Those tired eyes seemed to be able to pierce the void and see that figure directly.

The aura contained in that figure was simply too strong. Ying Fu even knew that even in his prime... he might not be a match for that person at this moment.

And his arrival also meant that everything was finally about to settle.

Chu Changqing spoke in a deep voice:

"...I will go call Lu Xun over."

……

……

Countdown to the finale: 2 days