Chapter 68: Sleep Forever, Goodnight~

Was Great Ning really going to fall?

Everyone looked up toward Taiji Mountain in the northernmost part of the Imperial City.

With a piercing screech that shattered the heavens and the earth, the mountain body blasted open!

A mass of ink-black clouds slowly rose from the bottom of the mountain.

“It came faster than expected.”

Meng Jingyang swallowed the Bodhi Pill in one gulp. “Little An’an is still in the Frigid Spirit Pool; I’m going to save her.”

“Cousin, I’ll go with you.”

Ning Xuan moved to follow.

But he was pushed back by Meng Jingyang. The man who usually never acted seriously now had a calm gaze. “Pei Yuan, watch His Majesty. Great Ning cannot be without its ruler.”

“Alright.”

Pei Yuan and Nangong Jinghong nodded solemnly.

The two of them held onto Ning Xuan’s arms tightly.

The crowd below, transmitting spiritual power, watched Meng Jingyang swallow the Bodhi Pill and fly toward Taiji Mountain.

They knew.

They had a glimmer of hope.

But this hope was bought with the life of the Marquis Fenghuang.

In the dim sky.

Meng Jingyang snapped open his white-gold folding fan with a swish, standing alone before thousands of people.

Bang—

The black mist exploded, revealing the bizarre human figure within.

The monster had scarlet eyes.

Below the head, there was only half a body; from the waist down, it was still a mass of dense, wriggling dark red tubes.

“Boy, seeing that you aren’t a member of the Ning clan, why wade into these muddy waters?”

The Evil-Devouring Lord shouldn’t have come out right now.

Its body hadn’t fully formed yet.

But it was afraid that the wretched girl with no heart demon would really refine the Fire Essence—the Earth Core Fire Essence was its nemesis.

It had no choice but to break the formation early.

“I am the Marquis Fenghuang of Great Ning.”

“Having eaten the monarch’s salary, naturally, I must do the monarch’s work. You, evil demon, have frequently caused disturbances, worrying my cousin. Today, this Marquis will take you in for the sake of my cousin and the people.”

Meng Jingyang fanned himself lightly, his smile reckless and undisciplined.

“You few are much stronger than the Ning ancestors.”

The Evil-Devouring Lord narrowed its eyes. The blood vessels at its waist swelled, expanding like a giant net to cover Meng Jingyang.

Meng Jingyang turned sideways to dodge.

He glanced behind him; the commoners had all been evacuated.

He let out a sigh of relief. Forming seals with both hands, the spiritual power around his body surged.

Suddenly.

He went from the Half-step Spirit Transformation realm to the late stage of the Spirit Transformation Aperture.

“Monster, prepare to die!”

“Cra—zy?”

The Evil-Devouring Lord’s bizarre face cracked into a grotesque grin. “Is everyone in your Ning clan sick in the head these days?”

First, there was a girl with no heart demon, and that was bad enough.

Now there was another cultivator who wouldn’t let it go even if it meant self-destructing. What kind of grudge was this?

“You’re the one who’s sick.”

Meng Jingyang retorted right before detonating his spiritual aperture.

“If you hadn’t harmed the people, would I have needed to self-destruct? Do you think I don’t want to live a carefree life as a marquis, eating and drinking well every day?”

The Evil-Devouring Lord: …

As they spoke.

The spiritual aperture was about to explode.

A surge of rage was ignited within the Evil-Devouring Lord.

A purple-black thin tube shot out from between its brows—a Soul-Devouring Tube. It attacked Meng Jingyang at extreme speed.

It attempted to kill him before his spiritual aperture detonated.

At this moment of imminent peril!

A girl’s crisp voice came from the top of Taiji Mountain.

“Starting the good show without waiting for me?”

The tense crowd revealed expressions of overjoyed surprise upon seeing Ning Shengsheng emerge from seclusion.

Ning Jin wiped away her tears and said fiercely, “Ning An, if you really save Great Ning, this princess swears never to oppose you again.”

“An’an!” Ning Xuan waved excitedly, his unruly brows relaxing. “Zhen knew it! My sister can be counted on at the critical moment.”

“My sister refined the Earth Core Fire Essence, did you see that? That is the most poisonous fire in the cultivation world!”

Before the crowd could even relax, seeing Ning Xuan showing off like this, they didn’t know what expression to make.

The girl in the goose-yellow ruqun stood in mid-air.

She tapped lightly with two fingers.

The Soul-Devouring Tube was instantly burned to ashes.

Without the ability to suck souls, the Evil-Devouring Lord was a paper tiger.

Xue Chen poured all his spiritual power into his long sword, the blade humming continuously.

The young man leaped up, pointing straight at the monster’s brow.

The Evil-Devouring Lord let out a howl of unwillingness, “This Venerable One—refuses to accept this—”

Ning Shengsheng waved her small hand. “Refusing won’t help. Sleep forever, goodnight~”

The tip of the sword pierced deeper.

The Evil-Devouring Lord’s bizarre face twisted and deformed.

The blood vessels burst.

The sprayed debris and black blood turned into dust.

“Ah! We won! We won!”

A roar of cheers erupted from below like a tidal wave. The cultivators who had been transmitting spiritual power hugged each other in joy.

Regardless of whether they had an official rank or what their status was.

Even the usually arrogant and domineering Ning Jin happily picked up a little beggar beside her and spun around.

At this moment.

The commoners hiding in the outskirts of the Imperial City flooded in.

They threw the fresh flowers in their arms into the air.

“Long live Princess Ning An! Long live Marquis Fenghuang! Long live Your Majesty! Long live everyone who protected Great Ning—”

“Long live!!!”

The Imperial City returned to its lively state.

Flowers filled the eyes, replacing the gray and white.

The streets were filled with a pleasant fragrance, and the sound of gongs rang out.

Vendors excitedly pushed out their carts.

The streets resounded with the hawking sounds of the past.

The dark clouds on the horizon dispersed, revealing the long-lost sun.

The sunlight fell on the smiling faces of the people, and also on every inch of the land that had been invaded by the monster.

The darkness faded.

Everyone deeply felt how precious the simple days of the past were.

Amidst the celebration filling the streets.

No one noticed.

Xue Chen collected a wisp of the Evil-Devouring Lord’s remnant soul into the Void God Scroll.

After doing all this, the corners of his mouth hooked up into a faint smile. He looked at Ning Shengsheng with innocent eyes.

“Your Highness, you are the hero who saved the world.”

“Hey, it wasn’t just my credit alone.” Ning Shengsheng stepped onto Xue Chen’s flying sword, facing him. Her clear eyes looked straight at him, blinking as she smiled and said, “Our Xue Wuyin also helped a lot~”

He avoided her pure eyes.

In the deepest part of his heart, a thicker darkness bred.

The more open and aboveboard she was.

The more it highlighted how filthy and gloomy he was.

A possessiveness that wanted to erode this purity surged in his eyes. The hand hidden under the wide green sleeve clenched fiercely.

When he raised his eyes again, his black pupils were clear.

His smile was gentle.

“Princess, you are too polite.”

To outsiders, everything seemed normal with him.

Only Xue Chen knew how long he had struggled.

Ning Shengsheng saw the abnormal redness at the corner of his eye and reached out to touch it. “Xue Wuyin, what’s wrong with your eye?”

“Your Highness!”

Unexpectedly, the young man grabbed her wrist tightly as if electrocuted.

He removed her hand.

His wrist bone protruded, and his knuckles turned white.

Ning Shengsheng frowned. “You’re hurting me…”

“Sor… sorry…”

He slowly loosened his fingers, his gaze falling on the red marks on her soft white wrist.

His fingertips moved.

He asked in a hoarse voice, “Does it still hurt?”

“Not anymore.” Ning Shengsheng shook her head.

Wondering in her heart, what’s wrong with Xue Chen?

Xue Chen’s eyelashes trembled. “I was careless just now. It’s good that it doesn’t hurt. Princess, please don’t blame me.”

His state of mind just now was very abnormal.

If she touched him for a moment longer, Xue Chen didn’t know what he would do.

“Sigh, it’s fine, I was the abrupt one.”

Ning Shengsheng pulled her hand back, waving it carelessly. “Look, doesn’t this red mark look like a bracelet?”

The wind blew.

Xue Chen gradually sobered up. He took out spiritual medicine from his bosom, holding her wrist bone very gently.

“Don’t move, I’ll apply the medicine for you.”

The young man’s voice was softer than usual, the ending sound dragging with a sticky breathiness.

Ning Shengsheng’s heart felt like it was being scratched by a kitten, itchy. She said “Oh” and looked around.

“Done.”

She immediately pulled her hand back, covering up her awkwardness just now.