Three years later, within the secluded tribe of Dayi.
Dayi sat on a flat terrace, gazing distantly at the setting great sun in the west.
The glow of the sunset shone on Dayi, making his already aged face appear even older.
The Sun-Shooting Bow, symbolizing his strength and achievements, lay on the ground, without even a single matching arrow.
"Here to watch the sunset again?"
Heng’e, dressed in simple yet elegant clothing, slowly approached from the path.
At this moment, Heng’e resembled an ordinary woman, with a lunch box for Dayi slung at her waist.
"No, I’m waiting for the moon to rise."
Without turning his head, Dayi’s voice sounded slightly deep.
Before Heng’e could respond, Dayi’s somewhat low voice echoed in her ears again.
"Do you think a new moon will rise tonight?"
The new moon, also known as the waxing moon, is the opposite phase of the full moon.
Although Chang Xi redefined the phases for her daughters, there was no discernible pattern to the changes in lunar phases.
From the first to the fifteenth, from waning to waxing, the common knowledge of later generations simply didn’t exist in this era.
What lunar phase would appear each night depended entirely on how the Moon God arranged it.
However, to Heng’e, Dayi’s question carried an entirely different meaning.
Heng’e was the Full Moon God, while the New Moon God was Chang’e.
"..."
She didn’t immediately answer Dayi’s question.
Heng’e quietly walked to his side, set down the wooden lunch box, and asked in return.
"When did you find out?"
With a forced smile more painful than crying, Dayi tried to speak in a calm tone.
"From the start, your act wasn’t convincing..."
"My wife, though silent and reserved, was kind-hearted."
"Your silence is more like disdainful arrogance, the true majesty befitting the Moon God."
As he spoke, tears suddenly streamed from Dayi’s eyes.
"She’s dead, isn’t she?"
"She wasn’t the real Heng’e, right?"
The two consecutive questions plunged Heng’e into silence.
She suddenly realized she might have underestimated this mortal hero’s perceptiveness.
The past three years of their relationship were more like Dayi’s self-deception, avoiding the truth.
"So that’s why you’ve refused to take the Elixir of Immortality?"
Gently opening the lunch box, Heng’e revealed a cake remarkably resembling a full moon.
Even without considering its essence as the Elixir of Immortality, the cake’s exquisite craftsmanship seemed out of place in this era.
"I was born a mortal, so I should die as one."
Wiping away his tears, Dayi’s voice regained its former depth.
However, Heng’e seemed to hear a foreboding tone in his words, hastily admonishing him.
"I am indeed not Chang’e, but her wish was for you to live."
"Although you’ve lost the power of the Great Celestial God, as long as you consume this Elixir of Immortality, no one in this world can kill you."
"The gods are thus, and so is the Celestial Emperor."
Handing the mooncake to Dayi, Heng’e spoke with exceptional solemnity and authority.
"I may have lost my strength, but I haven’t lost my mind."
"If eating the Elixir of Immortality granted eternal life, why would the Celestial Emperor strive so hard for enlightenment?"
"And if it granted eternal life, why would you be so unsettled?"
Never expecting Dayi to notice her unease, Heng’e momentarily found herself at a loss for words.
"It’s the Celestial Emperor, isn’t it!"
"This whole catastrophe was his doing from the start!"
"I thought shooting down the sun would end it all, but now I realize how naive I was."
Under Heng’e’s astonished gaze, Dayi grasped the nearby Sun-Shooting Bow and slowly stood up.
Throughout this, Heng’e could clearly sense a majestic aura accumulating and forming.
The hero who shot down the sun three years ago seemed to have returned in this moment.
"You haven’t lost your power?"
"You’ve been deceiving the Celestial Emperor and the gods all along?"
In response to Heng’e’s questioning, Dayi silently drew back the Sun-Shooting Bow, holding it taut.
"I’ve never deceived anyone. I’ve merely mastered this power completely now."
With divine light returning to his eyes, Dayi’s voice sounded all the more heroic.
"The Tao Ancestor once said, ’The Divine Gate Celestial Pass’ doesn’t only consist of Essence, Qi, and Spirit..."
"I lack the Tao Ancestor’s wisdom and analytical ability to precisely define the power I possess now."
"All I know is that I wield a power that’s ’mind and self alone’!"
The vast voice echoed in all directions, shaking those focused on Dayi.
Especially when Dayi aimed the Crimson Bow at the western Kunlun Mountain.
The previously clear sky suddenly filled with clouds, and thunder seemed to manifest as the wrath of Heaven and Earth.
"Wait... Your bow has no arrow..."
Realizing what Dayi intended to do, Heng’e hurriedly tried to stop him.
The Sun-Shooting Divine Arrows were limited to ten, all used against the ten Golden Crows.
To Heng’e, Dayi’s act of drawing the bow towards Kunlun seemed more like a challenge and defiance towards the Celestial Emperor.
"Who says you can’t shoot without an arrow?"
With a do-or-die spirit, Dayi ignored the fury of Heaven and Earth and shouted loudly.
"Celestial Emperor! You once showed me great kindness, which is why I’ve always avoided you!"
"But today, I’ve finally sorted it out..."
"Without you, there would’ve been no Xiu Snake commanded to devour humans, no apocalyptic disaster from the Golden Crows; you’ve never been the ruler of all beings!"
"You’re just a madman wishing to remain forever above all creation!"
"Without you, this world would be a better place!"
As if to prove his words, Dayi released the bowstring immediately after speaking.
Shu!
Instantly, an invisible arrow was released.
Though formless and intangible, the arrow successfully stirred the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, stunning myriad ghost gods and shaking the mountains, rivers, sun, and moon.
The amassed clouds and thunder in the sky dissipated in less than a second.
In the blink of an eye, the invisible arrow pierced the sky, swiftly reaching Kunlun’s mountain range.
Boom!
The highest peak of Kunlun Mountain was toppled by this arrow.
The gate representing the Ascension Stairs was shattered.
Thus, the mysterious Kunlun Secret Realm was forced into revelation, appearing faintly in the sky above.
Floating steps of clouds and moon, jade towers and heavenly palaces...
Swirling mists, ethereal immortal aura, dreamlike and fantastical...
In a trance, all beings seemed to hear the exclamations of gods emanating from Tiangong.
☞☞Monthly Ticket☜☜/☞☞Recommendation Ticket☜☜