nycdaug Chapter 1552 Reunion of Yin and Yang
Chapter 1552 Reunion of Yin and Yang
Suddenly realizing what was happening, Gu Tingyuan slowly released Yang Jing.
The mirror floated in mid-air, its blood-red light trembling violently, as if struggling and crying.
Lu Chen stepped forward, his left hand forming a mudra, his right hand holding the Yin Mirror, which was as blue as the sea.
"Come back," he whispered, "not to surrender, but to come home."
The blood-red light in the mirror was extinguished in an instant.
It was not suppressed, nor purified, but rather it chose to extinguish itself.
The next moment, a blazing white light shone from the deepest part of the mirror, like the dawn breaking, like the first ray of light at the end of a long night.
The bloodstains dispersed, the cracks healed, and the mirror shed all impurities, restoring its original, pure and flawless appearance.
It took flight gently, tracing a graceful arc, and met the Yin Mirror in Lu Chen's hand in mid-air.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no energy storm sweeping across the land.
Only a soft, clear sound, as if it had traveled through countless ages, rang out.
hum-
When the two mirrors are joined together, yin and yang reunite.
A brand-new mirror floated in mid-air. It was neither the deep blue of the Yin Mirror nor the blazing white of the Yang Mirror, but a profound and warm chaotic color that encompassed Yin and Yang and harmonized life and death.
In the mirror, one can vaguely see the rotation of the sun and moon, the birth and death of stars, the changing of the seasons, and the flourishing and withering of all things.
That is reincarnation, balance, the most fundamental law of heaven and earth. The Yin-Yang Mirror of the Netherworld is finally complete.
At this moment, Hades' heart suddenly stopped beating.
"No—" it roared angrily, fear showing for the first time in its dark eyes, "No! You destroyed it! You destroyed the key to my return!"
It frantically urged the death energy, trying to corrupt the Yang Mirror again. But the chaotic mirror simply turned slightly, and wherever its light passed, the death energy melted away like ice and snow, and the corrupted ground patterns were completely restored to their original state.
Gu Tingyuan slumped to the ground, watching all this, but a relieved, liberated smile appeared on his face.
“So that’s why…” he murmured, “that when a treasure chooses its master, it never selects the one with the strongest power, but the one that is most worthy.”
He raised his head and looked at Lu Chen.
"Do it," he said calmly. "My sins are too great to be regretted."
Lu Chen looked at him but did not answer immediately.
After a moment, he said softly, "Yang Jing forgave you in the end, but that doesn't mean your sins can be erased. Death is the simplest relief."
Lu Chen then turned away, no longer looking at Gu Tingyuan.
“Live to atone for your sins,” Lu Chen said. “Use the rest of your life to save those who have suffered because of you.”
Gu Tingyuan was stunned. He stared at Lu Chen's back, his throat felt like it was blocked, and he couldn't utter a single word.
Finally, he slowly lowered his head and kowtowed deeply.
For the first time, that hunched figure bent at a ninety-degree angle.
The heart of the underworld let out a final, unwilling scream. Having lost the blood sacrifice supply from the Yang Mirror and the blessing of the blood sacrifice formation, its true form, which had just begun to coalesce, began to disintegrate.
"I will return!" it hissed. "As long as the negative emotions of all the heavens and myriad realms remain, I will be eternally immortal! You destroyed my true form today, but in the next epoch of calamity, I will surely—"
Before he could finish speaking, the Netherworld Yin-Yang Mirror gently turned, its light sweeping across the area. The Heart of the Netherworld exploded into a cloud of black mist, dissipating into the Sea of Laws.
Only a reluctant, fading echo remained:
"...This revenge will be taken..."
Everything has finally calmed down.
Lu Chen stood still, holding the complete Netherworld Yin-Yang Mirror. He looked down at the mirror.
His face was reflected in the mirror, and behind him, Fang Xinyi was supporting the heavily injured Nezha. The three of them were covered in blood but were all laughing.
He smiled too, and the nine-colored flames of the Nirvana Array stopped their frenzied surge the moment the Netherworld Yin-Yang Mirror took shape.
They began to become docile and gentle, like nine loyal hounds, gently circling around Lu Chen.
Lu Chen could sense that deep within the great formation, even more dormant power was slowly awakening.
Lu Chen looked up towards the deeper part of the Sea of Laws, where a dazzling light was faintly shining.
"What is that?" Fang Xinyi asked softly.
At this moment, she had managed to stand up with difficulty. Although the crescent mark on her forehead was still dim, it was much more stable than before. The Azure Wood Longevity Technique had reformed into slender vines, wrapping around her arms and drawing upon the meager life force in the Sea of Laws.
Lu Chen did not answer immediately. He raised the Netherworld Yin-Yang Mirror, its surface facing deeper into the Sea of Laws.
The mirror-like light, like water, penetrated the surging bands of light of laws, reflecting that faint glow.
It's not a mass, but countless dots.
Like fireflies on a summer night, or like the most distant stars in the sky, they floated densely in the solidified darkness at the end of the Sea of Laws.
Nezha leaned against the broken stone pillar, the wound on his chest, corroded by death energy, still slowly healing. He followed Fang Xinyi's gaze and grinned, "Whatever it is, since we're here, we should go and see."
He was about to stand up when he aggravated his wound and gasped.
"Don't move." Fang Xinyi raised her hand, and a wisp of silvery-white life force flowed into his chest. "Your lotus body has seven cracks. If you move around again, it will really shatter."
"It's good that it's broken." Nezha said nonchalantly, "Back then, my master used lotus roots to reshape my body, so maybe this time he can make it even more handsome."
Fang Xinyi couldn't be bothered with him.
Lu Chen put away the Netherworld Yin-Yang Mirror and turned to look at the edge of the platform.
Gu Tingyuan was still kneeling there.
This former patriarch of the Gu family now resembled a stone statue devoid of all power. His white hair was disheveled, his back hunched, his hands braced on the blood-stained ground, his forehead touching the ground, maintaining a kowtow posture.
He had been kneeling for a long time.
So long that Nezha wanted to curse him several times, but swallowed the words back down.
So long that even the surging bands of light in the sea of laws seemed to slow down in front of him.
Lu Chen walked up to him and stopped, but Gu Tingyuan did not look up.
"Yang Jing eventually forgave you." Lu Chen's voice was calm, without pity or sarcasm. "But I was wrong before."
Gu Tingyuan's back trembled slightly.
“Living to atone for your sins is not the lightest punishment,” Lu Chen said. “It is the heaviest.”
Gu Tingyuan remained silent for a long time, so long that Nezha thought he would never speak again.
Then, he looked up.
On that wrinkled face, there was no fear, no resentment, not even relief. There was only a numb calm, like a stagnant pool that had been burned by a raging fire and could no longer be disturbed.
“I made a vow when I was young,” he said hoarsely, like sandpaper rubbing against rock, “to protect my family and this land.”
He looked down at his hands, which were covered in blood.
"Later, the higher his cultivation level, the greater his ambition became. Protecting others became expanding his power, and justice became an excuse."
"My hands trembled for a long time when I first tested the blood sacrifice formation on a living person. He was a rogue cultivator without any sect or faction, so no one would pursue the matter if I killed him."
"The second time, it stopped shaking."
"The third time, the fourth time... later, I can't remember how many I killed."
He paused, his throat bobbing as if swallowing a piece of rusty iron.
“The Yang Mirror always felt cold. I thought it was the price of using forbidden techniques and didn’t pay attention to it.”
"So... that's what it was crying."
Gu Tingyuan kowtowed again.
This time, his forehead slammed heavily against the edge of the stone platform, drawing blood.
"I am unforgivable," his voice muffled against the ground. "I ask for no leniency, no reduction of sentence. I only ask for..."
He paused for a long time.
"I only ask that you give me a chance to atone for my sins."
Lu Chen looked at him.
a long time.
"The Nirvana Array has been awakened, but it is severely damaged," he said slowly. "To repair the array, we need a large number of cultivators who are proficient in array formations."
Gu Tingyuan suddenly looked up.
"The Gu family has been studying formations for generations."
“I know,” Lu Chen said. “Therefore, your atonement begins with the Gu family.”
He turned away, no longer looking at Gu Tingyuan.
"Summon all members of the Gu family who are untainted by the blood of innocent people and await your orders. As for yourself—"
He paused.
"Your life is owed to you for now."
Gu Tingyuan kowtowed deeply.
This time, for the first time, his back straightened up a little.
Nezha watched this scene, wanting to say something, but in the end he just turned his head away and gave a heavy "humph".
Fang Xinyi remained silent, only lowering her eyes and gently tracing the vines on her wrist with her fingers…