Chapter 3070: The Change of Mind (4)
A cold, triumphant smile stretched across the face that had once belonged to Yun Lintian. Nian Shi took a single step forward.
Boom!
An aura unlike any that had ever been felt in the Land of Beyond Heaven erupted from him. It was not just the heavy, silvery-grey power of time’s end that belonged to Nian Shi. Interwoven with it, responding to the new master’s will, was the vibrant, life-giving energy of Creation and the silent, absolute nullity of Uncreation.
Two opposing supreme laws, which Yun Lintian had struggled so hard to unify, now coexisted perfectly within the vessel, both utterly subservient to the dominating will of the God of Time.
Above his head, space shimmered, and an ancient, majestic crown materialized. It was wrought from an unknown material, seeming to be formed from starlight and void simultaneously—the Beyond Heaven King’s Crown, the symbol of authority over this land. It settled onto his brow, its presence amplifying his aura to a terrifying degree.
"Hah... haha... AHAHAHAHA!"
Nian Shi threw his head back and laughed, a raw, unrestrained sound of pure, ecstatic power. The laughter was tinged with madness, the euphoria of a dream pursued across countless timelines finally realized.
"How foolish! How utterly, pathetically foolish!" he roared to the heavens, his voice echoing across the desolate plains. "To have such power nestled within his grasp and to fumble with it like a child with a divine artifact! He sought balance? He sought understanding? Power is not to be understood; it is to be wielded!"
To demonstrate, he casually flicked his wrist towards a vast, scorched battlefield where countless spirits had fallen.
A wave of emerald-green light, thick with the essence of life itself, swept out from him. Where it passed, the blackened, cracked earth instantly healed. Lush, vibrant grass sprouted and grew to knee-height in a heartbeat.
Flowers of every color bloomed in explosive profusion, their fragrance filling the air. Withered trees straightened, their branches bursting with new leaves and ripe, glowing fruit.
In moments, a wasteland of death had been transformed into a paradise overflowing with vitality and profound energy.
The sheer, effortless display of creative power was breathtaking.
Then, with a cruel smirk, Nian Shi flicked his wrist again.
A second wave, this one a silent, grey mist, washed over the newfound paradise. The result was instantaneous and horrifying. The lush grass withered and turned to dust. The vibrant flowers crumbled into nothingness. The fruitful trees rotted away, collapsing into piles of fetid decay.
The vibrant paradise was not just killed; it was unmade, its very essence erased, returning to a state of barren, silent death that was even more absolute than before.
A wave of life. A wave of death. Both executed with the casual ease of a master painter flicking brushes.
"This is true power!" Nian Shi declared, his mismatched eyes gleaming with insane satisfaction. "The power to give and to take away on a whim! The power of the Creator! No—it’s my power now!"
From a short distance away, a figure struggled to her feet. Tantai Lanling, the God of Order, her robes stained with blood from the earlier backlash, looked upon the scene with wide eyes. There was no horror on her face, only awe and fervent delight.
She stumbled forward and dropped to one knee, bowing her head deeply. "Master! Congratulations on your supreme victory! This lowly one offers her most sincere greetings! The new era is upon us, and you are its master!"
Nian Shi glanced down at her, his expression one of mild approval, as one would look at a useful tool. He gave a slight, dismissive nod. "Rise. Your service will be remembered." His attention, however, was already elsewhere.
His silver eye locked onto Yin, who had observed the entire display with that same, infuriatingly unreadable smile.
"Well, Uncreation?" Nian Shi’s voice was a challenge, thrumming with newfound, overwhelming power. "The vessel is mine. Its power is mine to command. Do you still dare to stand before me? Do you still dare to fight?"
The air crackled with the promise of an imminent, cataclysmic clash. The two primordials, one now housed in the ultimate vessel, the other still shrouded in mystery, faced each other.
Yin, instead of showing fear or tension, merely chuckled. The sound was light, almost amused.
"Fight? Why would I fight you now, Timekeeper?" he said, his tone conversational. "Have you forgotten so quickly? Your goal was to seize this body. And my goal..."
He spread his arms wide. As he did, the ambient energy in the Land of Beyond Heaven twisted. The lingering auras of devastation, the residues of countless sacrifices, the echoes of shattered techniques, and even the faint traces of Uncreation released during his earlier clash with Nian Shi—all of it began to swirl towards him.
It was a torrent of negative energy, of endings, of chaos and void. It funneled into Yin, causing his form to shimmer and his aura to swell dramatically. The power was not Creation or a copy of it; it was pure, undiluted Uncreation, and it was answering the call of its source.
"Like I said before... My goal," Yin continued, his voice growing deeper, more resonant as power flooded into him, "was always to see the new Creator appear."
He took a deep, theatrical breath, and his power skyrocketed, becoming denser, more absolute. "With this," Yin smiled, a truly terrifying sight, "my recovery is assured. It will not be long before I return to my complete form. I should be thanking you, Nian Shi. You have provided the perfect catalyst."
"Right..." Nian Shi’s eyes narrowed slightly. He simply pointed a finger at Yin, and a beam of concentrated grey-silver energy, woven with threads of both Creation and Uncreation, lanced out. It was an attack that could erase concepts, a testament to his newfound control.
But Yin didn’t move to block it.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two figures materialized in front of him in a blur of motion—Number One and Number Two. The void hunters moved with their last ounce of strength, crossing their Guqin and void swords before them to form a desperate defense.
The beam struck them.
BOOM!
There was no prolonged struggle. The power was too absolute. Number One’s Guqin strings snapped silently, and the instrument itself shattered. Number Two’s void swords dissolved into motes of darkness. The beam tore through their defenses and obliterated their bodies completely, unmade them from existence in a fraction of a second.
They had sacrificed themselves without hesitation, their final act buying their master a single, crucial moment.
And that was all Yin needed.
As the blast from their dissolution faded, Nian Shi saw that the space where Yin had been standing was now empty. A lingering, darkness, deeper than any shadow, was already dissipating.
A faint, echoing laugh carried on the wind, the sound seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. "Until we meet again, Timekeeper... Don’t forget the check and balance..."