124: Chapter 125 Regret Crosses to Eternity

Shen Moyan stood high in the sky, gazing at the faint shimmer at the edge of the firmament. Before the desolation stirred by the wind and snow could dissipate, a thought struck his Sea of Consciousness like a flash of lightning.

"Azure... the qingming pearl!"

"Wait, if my thinking is correct..."

He suddenly remembered the pearl he had seized from Yi Shukuang in Feiguang Prefecture, which was later enlightened by 'As I Have Written' into the qingming inkstone.

"Yi Shukuang's memory fragments mentioned that the qingming pearl belonged to the Qing Ming Fate Controller and was buried deep within the ley lines of Feiguang Prefecture. It only emerged because the appearance of the Star River Brightening Fate Controller caused the Dao Rhyme of a Fate Controller to leak out..."

Shen Moyan focused his mind on the qingming inkstone, using the Xuan Ming Azure Flame to burn and purify Yi Shukuang's demonic kernel. He then used the Record of Misfortune and Fortune Karma to deduce and search, precisely locating information regarding the qingming pearl.

"As expected, this qingming pearl was buried in Feiguang Prefecture since ancient times, and no one touched it for over three million years."

This hypothesis sparked an idea in Shen Moyan's mind.

If this were true, then at this moment in the ancient Feiguang Prefecture—before it shattered in the great war—the ley lines would still be intact. That pearl was very likely still buried in its original location, perfectly preserved.

"I must get it before the Mountain and Sea is destroyed!"

If he obtained another qingming pearl, could 'As I Have Written' refine it in the same way?

Shen Moyan felt a surge of excitement.

Since Yi Shukuang had replaced Immortal Master Yin He, he naturally possessed the memory of obtaining the 'qingming pearl.'

Shen Moyan specifically purified and extracted this portion of memory, first determining the location where the qingming pearl would appear in this era.

He took out the Biyang Sword Sect's Mountain and Sea Atlas, and the maps of mountains and rivers flowed into his Sea of Consciousness.

Then, through repeated deduction, he compared the ancient and modern maps.

A million years had passed, and the terrain had changed significantly; they were now two completely different places.

"No, I shouldn't think like this. I should look for those special ley lines, looking at it from the perspective of someone who was actually there..."

Shortly after, Shen Moyan narrowed it down to several special ley lines.

"Good, I have the general direction."

Shen Moyan hurriedly activated a secret technique from the Record of Misfortune and Fortune Karma.

Misfortune and Fortune · Knowing the Result to Seek the Cause and Follow Destiny!

Back then, Immortal Master Xingxiang had relied on this move to find Shen Moyan through the Karma of the death exemption gold plaque.

"It's here!"

A startling light erupted from Shen Moyan's eyes!

His sword light rose again. Heading toward the deduced direction, Shen Moyan tore through the wind and snow at his maximum speed, racing away.

Along the way, he saw the devastation of the mountains and rivers intensify. Occasionally, terrifying fluctuations from high-level battles reached him from the far distance; clearly, the aftershocks of the great war had begun to spread.

The mountains rose and fell like swords, and the ley lines followed a strange path.

According to his deduction, the qingming pearl should be buried within a natural spatial rift where the ley lines converged.

Without hesitation, Shen Moyan slashed the earth with his sword and sank underground.

Following the guidance of the Karma secret technique, he navigated through the complex underground rock layers.

Soon, he found it.

A pearl the size of a pigeon egg was quietly suspended above a ley line spiritual eye, rotating slowly and breathing in pure spiritual essence.

The ancient qingming pearl!

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Shen Moyan reached out. As if possessed of its own spirit, the pearl landed submissively in his palm.

It felt cool to the touch, its Dao Rhyme restrained, yet it produced a mysterious resonance with the qingming inkstone deep within his Divine Soul.

"I've got it!" A weight lifted from his heart.

Another qingming pearl was in his hands.

However, 'As I Have Written' did not move at all.

Instead, the qingming inkstone erupted without warning with an extremely blinding azure light.

Shen Moyan's heart tightened. After a brief hesitation, he made a decision.

The Mountain and Sea was currently fraught with danger, and any variable could contain a chance for life or a death tribulation. Rather than forcibly suppressing it, it was better to go with the flow and investigate.

In any case, his true body was still inside the qingming inkstone, and since the inkstone was refined by 'As I Have Written', it was completely under his control.

With a thought, he released the restrictions on the qingming inkstone and used his Divine Thought as a bridge to guide the newly acquired qingming pearl, letting it sink slowly into his Sea of Consciousness toward that simple stone inkstone.

The moment the qingming pearl touched the qingming inkstone, a torrent of obsession and memory that had been suppressed for eons flowed out through the Seal runes of 'As I Have Written'.

"Hmm?"

Shen Moyan was somewhat surprised.

An azure light flashed, and the scene before his eyes spun wildly.

In the next moment, Shen Moyan found himself floating in an indescribable space.

Around him was eternal darkness and silence.

"The place of... the ultimate subtle..." Shen Moyan was startled.

The feeling of this place was ninety percent similar to when he had seen the place of the ultimate subtle.

No, it wasn't complete nothingness.

Shen Moyan looked up.

In the highest reaches of this void, a deathly silent black sun was hanging!

"Xuanhuang Emperor Lord..."

Shen Moyan gasped, feeling an urge to bow his head in worship.

But beneath this suffocating dark firmament, there was a faint but incredibly persistent speck of light, shining tenaciously.

Shen Moyan's gaze was involuntarily drawn to that speck of light.

The light came from a lamp.

A lamp he was intimately familiar with, one he had seen in the small room within the qingming inkstone... the Ever-Burning Lamp!

Only now, this lamp was not burning quietly in a cozy room, but was placed all alone upon a scorched wasteland of ruins that looked as if they had endured an apocalyptic catastrophe.

The lamp was covered in cracks and seemed ready to shatter at any moment. At the wick, a tiny, flickering azure flame was doing its utmost to emit its final light and heat.

And beside the Ever-Burning Lamp, a person was kneeling.

It was a man dressed in a long azure robe, which was torn in many places and covered in dust.

His back was to Shen Moyan; his posture was upright yet... filled with an indescribable slouch and despair.

In his arms, he held a woman in purple clothing.

The purple was vibrant, clashing with the grey and defeated world around it, yet it was also devoid of life.

The woman's face was as pale as snow, her eyes were unfocused, and a complex curve remained at the corner of her lips—half-smile, half-sigh.

She leaned quietly in the azure-robed man's arms, as if she were merely asleep.

In these despairing ruins shrouded by the black sun, a vast, bone-deep regret capable of distorting time and space rushed toward Shen Moyan like a tidal wave.

[Gone... everything is gone...]

[The entire Mountain and Sea... has become Its plaything... nothing has meaning anymore...]

[It's all... my fault...]

[Everything returns to nothingness; this is the fate of the Mountain and Sea...]

At that moment, a familiar voice sounded in his ear, neither male nor female, like the collective cry of all things:

"You, why do you feel regret?"

The owner of the voice inquired.

"To have fallen to such a state, could it be that you were not diligent enough?"

Hearing this, the azure-robed man trembled and replied.

[My true origin is but a common bird. To have cultivated to the unprecedented Realm of Great Fate Controller, I have worked harder than any other being.]

"Could it be that you were not powerful enough?"

[If I took back all my power, I would likely be stronger than any being in the ancient or modern Mountain and Sea. Even if those twenty-one Immortal Venerables from the Shore of the Immortal Realm came at me together, they could do nothing to me.]

[Even against It, at my peak, I would not be without a chance of victory.]

"Then why..."

[Because...]

[To have caused such a great mistake, I am more foolish than anyone else...]

The azure-robed man looked up at the black sun in the sky and spoke with unforgettable intensity.

Just then, another change occurred.

Around Qing Ming, within the void, four clusters of light in different colors quietly emerged, each containing supreme Dao Rhyme.

One cluster was as deep blue as the sea, containing the aura of flowing wisdom: "Mistake? No, Qing Ming, you were not wrong. This was the general trend, the mandate of heaven. If I were you, I would have done exactly as you did..."

One cluster was as crimson as blood, emitting the intent of war and slaughter: "Forget it, death is also a kind of destination. Qing Ming! Carry this guilt with you until the end of time!"

One cluster was as pure white as snow, containing the majesty of judgment: "What can prove that we ever existed in this Mountain and Sea? Only you, Qing Ming!"

The final cluster was a deep purple like a flower, permeating with unimaginable mystery: "Revered Master, although I could not see as far as you or understand your thoughts, at least this time... did I help you?"

...After a long silence, the azure-robed man slowly lowered his head:

[Everyone, I know how to make up for the mistake I committed.]

He took a dark azure mask from the purple-clothed woman's hand and placed it on his face.

Just as he completed this action.

Around the black sun, the stars began to shine.