Chapter 200: Teasing Heng Ren

Chapter 200: Teasing Heng Ren

"Ha ha ha"

Shaohua couldn't help but mock herself as she recalled how she had lived a second life to save her parents, achieving enlightenment amidst sorrow and grief.

This was definitely not the outcome she had wanted. She could have avoided it, but the love of her parents was too heavy, and she didn't want her child to suffer even a bit.

Could they be blamed for that?

So, others could mock her for playing a good hand poorly, but she couldn't really believe it herself.

That wasn't some dark history; it was her journey!

"I have a heart of immortality, long locked away by the dust of the world. Today, the dust is gone, and the light shines, illuminating ten thousand mountains and rivers!"

Back then, she had little to no exuberance, carrying sorrow and sighs, savoring the loneliness and bitterness in the brilliance of enlightenment.

Fortunately, she ultimately made up for the regrets, altering the fates of some people and thus hoping for more changes, wishing for people and things to develop in a better direction.

After enlightenment, she honed her immortal sword, stormed the underworld, traversed forbidden zones, and angrily slew Supreme Sovereigns, meeting a certain cold and tragic young woman.

Well, she wasn't much better herself.

"An ailing mother, a deceased father, a sealed brother, and a short-lived self. Shaohua's days are numbered."

Shaohua's eyes bent into a smile, but she ultimately fell silent.

Those warm, moving, sad, and regretful moments had all become the past.

Later, she lured the Immortal Heaven Sovereign into action, seizing the Immortal Bell, witnessing the rise of the Eternal Universe, the Void, the Chaos Era, and several ancient holy bodies. She pacified all the forbidden zones, ensuring there would be no more Dark Turmoil in the mortal world.

She then let Wu Shi and Wan Qing coexist, sending the Ancient Emperors to the Bizarre World, establishing the Huanggu Heavenly Court, and facing the Dark Sovereign alone.

After much hardship, she finally reached the Zenith of Immortality, breaking through to become an Immortal King, striking the Red King in the River of Time, and witnessing the Immortal Ancient through the changing of the ages.

Second-life enlightenment, Mundane Ascension, creating laws and doctrines, ascending to the realm of kings, and breaking through to become an emperor.

One by one, the past events unfolded before Shaohua's eyes.

Looking back on her journey, she felt both sorrow and joy, with endless reflections.

"The path lies ahead, the road is underfoot. Walked, sighed, laughed, it's all the same."

In the end, Shaohua returned to the present, with no more confusion in her heart, her resolve becoming even more resolute and unshakeable.

Only by becoming strong, incredibly strong, could she sweep away the anomalies and protect everything she wanted to protect!

In the present world, the mortal realm was flourishing, with various geniuses and talents emerging, achieving enlightenment and immortality, writing their own glorious chapters.

Occasionally, those who had experienced the great battle of fifty thousand years ago finally broke their shackles, achieving the rank of Immortal King, causing the heavens to tremble.

The world was vibrant and increasingly prosperous, a truly great era.

In the Celestial Court Era, 2.7 million years had passed since Shaohua came to this world, over 3 million years ago.

After her return, she felt that the end of the path was near, both Dao Fruits having reached the pinnacle, the road thoroughly exhausted.

Thus, she merged her two bodies, briefly standing at that realm, but ultimately withdrew at the last moment.

This time, it wasn't due to any lack of readiness; she truly crossed that threshold.

The reason for her withdrawal was twofold: first, she sensed an impending crisis. Once she reached the end of the path and became an emperor, the commotion would be impossible to hide, inevitably drawing the crisis ahead of time!

Secondly, while the dual Dao Fruits were excellent, merging them would inevitably cause unimaginable conflicts, potentially harming herself.

In fact, Shaohua had already noticed this during her brief ascension to emperor, even in that instant, the clash of Dao Fruits had injured her.

Unless she abandoned the goal of merging, truly splitting into two, each body acting as two individuals, becoming two single Dao Fruit Immortal Emperors.

This was one choice, and another was to discard one, completing one Dao Fruit, like engaging in a Dao Fruit Clash with Heng Ren.

However, while two people could mutually reinforce each other, merging her two bodies left no turning back, leaving only one Dao Fruit.

"It seems I can't follow the path of the Celestial Emperor. The dual Dao Fruits Sacrificial Dao, truly..." Shaohua muttered, unable to help but shake her head and laugh bitterly.

Clearly, she had already made her decision.

Reflecting on it, she had subconsciously followed Ye Fan's path in her first life, only to end up in a pit.

At the peak of Immortal King, she had tried to borrow external forces to break through to emperor like Shi Hao, but it failed again.

Now, she wanted to take a page from Chu Luoli's playbook, but there was no opportunity.

It seemed that whatever she learned, it just didn't work, and she had to stumble along on her own.

One must learn to console oneself. Changing her perspective, she saw things differently, her eyes shining brightly as she smiled and said to herself, "I, Shaohua, have come this far all by my own efforts!"

Of course, self-consolation was a form of finding joy in hardship. Facing the crisis, she still had to take it seriously.

She bestowed the Donghuang Bell and Taiyi Wheel to protect the young girls Ye Qingxian and Ying Wu'an, and also refined a batch of secret treasures to give to her loved ones.

She also placed the Emperor-Killing Bow and Quasi-Immortal Emperor Annihilating Arrows in the Heavenly Court.

These powerful weapons, though capable of automatically targeting enemies and ensuring a kill when fired, carried too much malevolent, murderous, and dark energy. Even a Quasi-Immortal Emperor dared not touch them lightly.

For beings below the Dao Ancestor level, using them almost certainly meant death.

If possible, she hoped no one would use these forbidden weapons.

"Sister, why have you called us here?" Wu Shi asked.

"I need your help to refine a magical artifact." After much consideration, Shaohua decided to have them re-refine the Golden Scripture Jade Tablets that could support the Great Curtain of the heavens.

Wu Shi, Heng Ren, and Ye Fan had no objections. The five Dao Ancestors worked together, using various precious materials to refine 3,000 pages of the Golden Scripture Jade Tablets, symbolizing the 3,000 great paths.

To be precise, only five pages were jade, the rest were gold.

The jade pages refined by Shaohua's two bodies served as the front and back covers, with the jade pages refined by Heng Ren, Wu Shi, and Ye Fan sandwiched in between.

"If the heavens ever collapse, this book can carry all beings, becoming a vessel of salvation." Shaohua said.

"Time is running out, isn't it?" Ye Fan sighed, his usually composed demeanor showing a hint of melancholy.

He wouldn't question Shaohua, thinking there was still time or that the crisis wouldn't come. That would be self-deception.

He then said, "If we work together, we might still be able to create a clear and bright world!"

"I will stand with you." Heng Ren looked at Shaohua and said succinctly.

Only Wu Shi remained silent, her eyes fixed on her two sisters. "Sis, are you still not merging?"

"Not yet. If I merge now, it might alert the anomaly race, and we would lose our last bit of time." The two Shaohuas spoke in unison.

Wu Shi and Ye Fan felt a heavy weight in their hearts and said no more, bidding farewell and leaving to make their final preparations.

Heng Ren, however, stayed behind. Being a solitary figure with no descendants to worry about, leaving would only mean finding another place to seclude herself.

"Ren Ren, aren't you going?" Shaohua raised an eyebrow and asked with a light smile.

"I'll leave if you want me to", Heng Ren frowned slightly, her flawless, icy beauty adding a touch of indifference as she stood up to leave.

"Just a joke, why would I want you to leave?"

Shaohua wouldn't let Heng Ren go. The two of them shared a silent understanding, and with a glance, they quickly grabbed Heng Ren's hands, pulling her back down.

One of them wrapped an arm around her waist, the other around her shoulder, making it hard for Heng Ren to move.

"Let go", Heng Ren said coolly.

"Not a chance!" the left Shaohua said.

"Ask me nicely!" the right Shaohua said.

Heng Ren closed her eyes and sat cross-legged, falling into a meditative silence, completely ignoring them.

This left Shaohua feeling bored.

The infuriating Ren Ren, so cold and indifferent.

Don't think that her icy demeanor would stop her.

The left Shaohua's eyes twinkled, and she leaned down, lying sideways on Heng Ren's lap, her graceful form and gentle voice adding to the allure. "Sister, such a beautiful day, why don't you just give in to me?"

By age, Heng Ren was indeed older, so calling her "sister" was appropriate.

But Heng Ren remained completely unmoved, sitting calmly without a flicker of her eyelashes.

"Dumb, are you sure this isn't you giving in to her?" the right Shaohua teased.

"Sniff, you cold-hearted woman~"

The left Shaohua, acting like a drama queen, pretended to sob but didn't get up. Instead, she found a more comfortable position and lay directly in Heng Ren's arms.

"..."

The right Shaohua was speechless. She wasn't that indiscreet, and it was really unbecoming. She wished she could replace the other Shaohua!

She huffed and slowly moved her hand from Heng Ren's shoulder, lightly touching the delicate collarbone, tracing the long, fair neck, and caressing the flawless cheek, lifting the smooth chin with a delicate finger. She said playfully, "You say all is empty, yet you keep your eyes closed. If you open your eyes and look at me, I bet they won't be empty."

Heng Ren's long, arched lashes fluttered, her eyes like starry depths, clear and bright. Her fair neck tilted, and her red lips parted. "When did I ever say all is empty?"

"Right now, you did", the right Shaohua chuckled.

Despite her cold beauty, Heng Ren felt a bit helpless. Her dear friend was wonderful in every way, except for her occasional flights of fancy, where poise and gentleness were forgotten.

Only with Shaohua did she often lose her composure.

If the myriad spirits knew that their revered Tai Yi Tian Di had such a hidden side, they would be stunned.

"Are you sure?" Heng Ren thought for a moment and finally asked.

She brushed away the right Shaohua's wandering hand and pinched the left Shaohua's cheek.

After all, she wasn't one to be taken advantage of. If she was, she would take her due.

"The Sinister Race is far more terrifying than you can imagine. There's no guarantee of success", the left Shaohua said with a hint of resentment.

"But I'll protect you, okay? How about that? Aren't you moved? Shouldn't you give yourself to me?" the right Shaohua said with a bright smile.

"We must all stay alive", Heng Ren looked at them and said.

The two Shaohua fell silent and finally replied, "We will!"

Shaohua put aside her playful mood and began to share some secrets about the Sinister Race with Heng Ren.

"The Sinister Race isn't just a single race but a vast group of beings from countless races that have been corrupted by darkness."

"Their ancestral land is a desolate plateau, where over countless eons, they have accumulated unimaginable power. Immortal Kings are countless, and Quasi-Immortal Emperors are also numerous."

"They have ten Immortal Emperors who have roamed the vast universe, holding grand sacrifices time and again. The next grand sacrifice is likely approaching, and there's no avoiding it."

"Above the ten Sinister Immortal Emperors are even more terrifying Sinister Ancestors. I didn't want to mention this at first, but I think it's best to say it. You'll find out eventually."

"The Nine Dragon Coffin, the bronze coffin being pulled, has a significant origin. It was originally the Three Lifetimes Bronze Coffin, but the smallest inner coffin is missing."

"The original owner of the Three Lifetimes Bronze Coffin is likely the entity of the Sinister Race's grand sacrifices, immensely powerful and the source of their dark power."

Shaohua shared what she could, avoiding details about the ancestors and the plateau to prevent any unwanted attention from those sinister beings.

Heng Ren lowered her eyes and sat quietly, not speaking for a long time.

No wonder they said there was no guarantee of success; the enemy was so powerful.

"Don't lose hope. The road ahead is rocky, but the future is bright", the left Shaohua said.

"Let's have another Dao Fruit collision", Heng Ren pursed her lips and requested.

"Too much of a good thing can be bad. Relying solely on Dao Fruit collisions can affect your own path", the right Shaohua said seriously.

"Time is running out!" Heng Ren stared into her eyes.

With the enemy almost at their doorstep, who had time to think about the distant future?

Besides, Heng Ren believed in herself. As long as she didn't die, she would eventually find her own path and become an Empress.

In the end, Shaohua agreed. She was always too soft-hearted. Who could refuse such a request from Heng Ren?

To get Shaohua to agree, Heng Ren made many sacrifices.

First, the experienced 'Supreme Unity Dao Fruit - Left Shaohua' and Heng Ren had another Dao Fruit collision, followed by the 'Eastern Sovereign Dao Fruit - Right Shaohua' also colliding with Heng Ren.

Two Shaohua, two Dao Fruits, double the pleasure!

With previous experience, no time was wasted in adjusting their state, and the efficiency was greatly improved.

Given their deep understanding of each other's Dao and techniques, the collision was highly synchronized. After just a few collisions, which took a few thousand years, the Dao Fruit collision was complete.

Shaohua's gains were minimal, but for Heng Ren, the improvement was significant, helping her become a supreme Dao Ancestor.

As for the instability in her Dao, there was no choice but to rely on time to solidify it. For now, the focus was on enhancing her strength, and there was no time to worry about much else.

"Walk with me", Shaohua invited Heng Ren, who naturally agreed.

The two walked side by side, traversing mountains and rivers, visiting countless worlds and leaving their footprints and beautiful figures in many places.

The other Shaohua wasn't idle either, returning to her homeland to be with her family and friends.

Many people sensed the impending danger, feeling deeply uneasy. Perhaps a world-shaking upheaval was about to begin!

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(End of Chapter)

Chapter end