Why the two strongest profound Heavenly Profound Treasures were named Heaven Punishing and Myriad Tribulations was something no one knew, not even the Evil Infant's Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, Hei Xiaolian herself, nor the Creation Gods or Devil Emperors.
However, that was not entirely true. Mo E actually knew the reason, but he kept it as a secret he intended to take to his grave, until this moment.
The Ancestral Goddess was born of nothingness. Over countless years, she created profound energy, the laws, the framework of the world, and the first forms of living beings, until the very concept of creation itself was complete.
But if she wished to create the world, she first had to destroy herself. The Ancestral Goddess, born of nothingness, had no reference for her creation, and it was impossible to foresee its direction or future. If it became twisted, collapsed, or destroyed, she would be powerless to intervene or alter it once she had perished.
Therefore, before returning to nothingness, the Ancestral Goddess left behind two instruments of 'repair' and 'correction'.
The first instrument of correction was endowed by the Ancestral Goddess with the power of extreme yang and the profound, wise spirit of an elder, and she named it the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword.
The second instrument of correction was given the power of extreme yin and the pure, innocent spirit of a child, and she named it the Evil Infant's Wheel of Myriad Tribulations.
The mission of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword was to oversee the stability and balance of the world's laws, which is what the world refers to as the 'Heaven's way'. If the Heaven's way were to fall into chaos, the laws would crumble, and the universe would face endless calamities until its final collapse.
The term 'Heaven Punishing' in the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword never meant 'a power capable of destroying heaven and earth' as the world believed, but rather 'to destroy the Heaven's way' itself.
If the Heaven's way fell into chaos, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword would unleash its ultimate power and annihilate the Heaven's way, allowing the world to reconstruct the Heaven's way, restore the laws, and halt the collapse of the universe.
However, the catastrophe lies in the fact that if the Heaven's way is destroyed and the laws collapse, it may not harm the Creation Gods, the Devil Emperors, or even the True Gods and Devil Gods, but it will inevitably bring endless disasters to all other living beings in the world. When the Heaven's way and the laws are reshaped, the world will no longer be the world it once was.
The reason Mo E neither dared nor could take the risk of allowing the Devils and Gods to coexist is that the greatest maintainers, supporters, and stabilizers of the Heaven's way are the Gods and Devils themselves.
Any change affecting them carried the risk of altering the Heaven's way.
The reason Mo E came to know all of this was that after existing in this world for billions of years, the spirit of the Heaven Punishing Sword had developed feelings for the world and its living beings. Still, these feelings were destined never to outweigh the mission entrusted to it by the Ancestral Goddess.
The spirit of the Heaven Punishing Sword was both a teacher and a friend to Mo E. It had taught him countless things, and Mo E spent 99% of his time with it. One could easily imagine how deep their bond had grown.
One day, it revealed to Mo E the reason for its existence and the mission it carried. It taught him that even a being as powerful as the Ancestral Goddess could not foresee the course of the world. It told him that, faced with a world it had come to love, even if the Heaven's way fell into chaos, it would be unwilling to destroy and rebuild it.
The spirit of the Heaven Punishing Sword feared that if one day the Heaven's way truly fell into chaos, its mission would inevitably override its will, and it would wield the sword to destroy the Heaven's way.
So, after revealing everything to Mo E, it chose self-destruction. Before carrying out its decision, it made only one request. It wanted Mo E to swear that for as long as he lived, he would never disrupt the balance between the Gods and Devils. As long as that foundation remained, the laws of nature would never be broken.
That is because the Gods and Devils are like the two ends of a cosmic scale. They repel, restrain, and balance each other. The sword's spirit had observed the changes of countless eras and concluded that it was precisely the mutual hostility and balance between these two giants that allowed them to maintain a fragile alliance, uniting the hearts of their respective races to oppose the other and eliminating internal strife.
If the two races were to merge, it would be as if both lost their only constraint.
What would follow from this is impossible to predict. Still, there is no denying the possibility that the balance would be broken and the laws of nature disrupted. This possibility was too great, so immense that the sword's spirit could not accept it.
Mo E carried this promise with him after the death of the sword's spirit. 'Heaven Punishing' was not just the sword's name but also Mo E's divine title. His mission from the day he was created was to punish the Heavens, a mission engraved deeply into his soul and woven into his very bones.
As for the Evil Infant's Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, its mission was the purification of living beings.
The Evil Infant's spirit existed somewhere between good and evil, leaning neither way. Its origin lay in a young infant, so pure and untainted that it could directly receive and perceive both good and evil from the world.
If she finds love and kindness in the world, she will cling to it, protect it, and become the Wheel of Protection.
Conversely, if she encounters evil and violence, the world she perceives will appear full of filth and corruption, and she will unleash the 'Myriad Tribulations' to cleanse the living beings of that corrupted world.
The Evil Infant's uncontrollable childish temper, combined with her terrifying power, had caused her to unintentionally bring about disasters many times. If given patience, guidance, and care over a long period, she would gradually merge with the Devils and become their Wheel of Protection.
However, to the Devils, someone possessing power surpassing even the Devil Emperors and being completely uncontrollable inspired great fear. In the end, they exploited her childish mind, luring her into a formation, lulling her into a deep sleep, and then, using the combined might of all the Devil Emperors and Devil Gods, they sealed her.
The Devils had made the most foolish mistake in their existence, a truth proven the moment the Evil Infant escaped. She ended the Era of Gods and exterminated all the Devils and Gods.
Mo E did everything he could to prevent the world from descending into chaos. He banished the innocent Jie Yuan, killed his own son, and kidnapped a young innocent child, even attempting to kill her.
In the end, unable to bear the weight of his guilt and the crushing despair, he allowed himself to die of old age.
Otherwise, if he truly wanted to live, he could have sought the help of Li Suo. She was the owner of the Primordial Seal of Life and Death and also the Creation Goddess of Life. She possessed countless methods to prolong his lifespan.
The tragic truth was that everything he had tried to prevent came to pass. Upon his death, the war between the Gods and Devils erupted, tearing apart the fundamental laws of the world, throwing the Heaven's way into chaos, and nearly destroying everything. Later, the Evil Infant escaped and cleansed the world of the filth that were the Gods and Devils, bringing an end to an era spanning over five billion years.
"No wonder Ni Xuan had been feeling so guilty for Mo E, even after banishing his wife and splitting his daughter in two," Yun Wuji thought, pitying both Creation Gods. They had both wanted to help the two races, but their methods differed, and that had led to this tragedy. "That's why proper communication is so important. If Ni Xuan had known this, he probably wouldn't have gone around messing with Jie Yuan, and he wouldn't have pushed Mo Su's relationship with Pan Xiaodie."
Mo E was far more pitiful than Ni Xuan. At least the latter had his daughter and a wife who loved him, doing everything to return. Mo E, on the other hand, spent the rest of his life drowning in regret, guilt, and despair until his final moment.
This time, the memory fragment showed Ni Xuan going to the Temple of Life, Li Suo's domain. Unfortunately, even in this fragment, Li Suo's image was blurry. Yun Wuji wanted to scream at Ni Xuan, why the fuck censor her appearance?
Was this some form of revenge on him for getting the woman Ni Xuan had simped over for millions of years?
The scene didn't hold much important information. It showed Ni Xuan giving Li Suo Hong'er, who was sleeping in the Coffin of Eternity, a gift from Xi Ke, who had used the Eternal Heaven Pearl to create it.
After asking Li Suo to help him fuse Hong'er's soul into her sword's soul, he went to sleep somewhere no one could disturb him.
The image faded, the fragments dispersed, and Yun Wuji's vision returned to the world of Profound Veins.
"Finally understood the reason for Hei Xiaolian's actions," Yun Wuji thought. When he first met her, he had been extremely wary of her, so much so that he placed 108 master and slave contracts on her just to ensure she would never escape his control. This was because his impression from the novel had painted her as temperamental, evil, and vengeful. But after spending more time with her, he discovered she was just a cute child who wanted some love... and food.
Yun Wuji's original goal in caring for her had been simply to make her dependent on him and to love him. It had worked perfectly as expected. She first became obsessed with his food, and soon after, she became obsessed with him and his double-headed dragon.
Only now did he realize that she was never inherently bad. She simply reacted to how the world treated her. If you were good to her, she would repay it with good. If you were evil, she would become even more ruthless than you.
"To think the truth would be like this... Ni Xuan and Mo E, which of them was correct?" Li Suo quietly appeared beside him, letting out a heavy, complex sigh.
"They were both dumb. They worked so hard, but in the end, they caused exactly what they feared most," Hei Xiaolian appeared right after, snorting with disdain. She despised these two Creation Gods, who had lived for five billion years for nothing.
Seeing Hei Xiaolian beside him, Yun Wuji reached out and caressed her hair, black as midnight. "Xiaolian, I am sorry." He genuinely felt guilty for having thought so badly of her in the past and for being so cautious. In fact, even just before seeing this memory, he had always maintained a level of vigilance toward her, in case one day she lost control and went full Frieza mode on the world.
"Hmm?" Hei Xiaolian tilted her head in confusion, not understanding why her sexy as hell, and good master would apologize to her. But when he explained the reason, a look of realization appeared on her face, soon followed by a pout. "Master, you are so bad. How could you think so low of me?"
"It's my fault. I am ready to do anything to make it up to you," Yun Wuji said, poking her pouting cheek with a light smile. He immediately sensed that she wasn't truly angry at him, which made him feel relieved.
"What you did is a capital crime in any relationship. You not only doubted me but were also so cautious around me. Do you know how hurt I feel right now? My heart might never recover from this," Hei Xiaolian said, slapping his hand and staring at him with sad eyes. Her action made Yun Wuji pause, his eyes widening, and even Li Suo looked on, concerned for both of them.
"But I am a very magnanimous woman. I will forgive you if you prove your love to me right now," Hei Xiaolian said with a perfectly serious expression.
"How should I do that, my lady?" Yun Wuji asked humbly.
"It's easy. I want you right now to give me the most passionate, deepest, sloppiest, wettest, tongue-filled kiss you can, and also whisper to me that you love me at least a million times!" Hei Xiaolian patted her busty chest, making it bounce, the tight black clothes clinging to her demonic figure as if they might split any moment, freeing her heaving breasts.
She startled him for a moment, and Yun Wuji let out a sigh of relief. He had actually panicked when she looked so hurt earlier. Stepping forward without a word, he pulled her into a tight hug and lowered his head, pressing his lips to hers.
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