Far off, tens of millions of li away, Purple Star (Calamity Supreme) suddenly blanched. She heard screams rolling in from every direction—as if the entire world were howling. The realm-remnant shuddered without end; even the Divine Lotus beneath her wasn't spared. She poured herself into keeping the Divine Lotus battle formation steady, but with each wail the array shook harder—then, all at once, it slipped from her control and shot off in one direction. No amount of force helped. She felt the brands she had refined into the Divine Lotus over the years vanishing at speed—the formation was no longer hers.
"What are you two doing?" Purple Star's face turned ugly.
With soft gasps, Ning Yiyi and the others woke. Years of fighting had honed instinct: they drew their swords and stood guard. "Master, what's happening?" they asked. All eight had been taken by Purple Star as disciples; in truth she hadn't treated them badly.
Purple Star said gravely, "Ask your husband what he's doing."
Eyes lit up all around. "Has Husband come?" Ning Yiyi asked.
A heavy snort. "Yes. Happy now?" Purple Star said.
Joy overflowed. After so many years, they missed Lin Moyu terribly. Outside cultivation and battle, they spoke of him most—how he was doing, what realm he'd reached, when he would come to take them home. He'd come sooner than they'd dared hope.
"If Husband's here, what's he doing now?" Ning Yiyi wondered.
"Big Sis isn't here either," Gu Hanyu added.
"They went to do another death-run," Purple Star huffed.
An Yuyan suddenly looked to the horizon. "What's that?"
Endless radiance was pouring in from all quarters, converging on a single place—and they themselves were part of that radiance. The screams came again, setting hearts on edge. Faces paled; their souls trembled. The entire world was mutating—violently, abnormally. Only something momentous could trigger such a convulsion.
Soon they made out the "radiance": all kinds of artifacts and divine weapons, countless blades and soldiers' arms—damaged, yes, but still truly potent—streaming as glow toward one point. The Divine Lotus carried them the same way.
Purple Star's expression tightened still further. Before long they sighted undead servants locked in vicious combat with the monsters.
"Those are Husband's undead servants," An Yuyan said.
Purple Star's face changed hard; a surge of dread welled up in her soul. She barked, "Form up—now!"
The eight, long drilled, moved as one; in an instant the battle formation was set, their auras fused, their power spiking. Less than a breath later—boom—terrible force burst from the Divine Lotus beneath them and hurled them all clear. Flung off the lotus—Purple Star as well—they watched it turn to auroral glow and streak away even faster, completely abandoning them.
A dangerous aura rushed in; monsters were already upon them. The eight struck back at once; the array roared, turning into a storm of swords that shredded the creatures. One monster fell and more leapt in. Distant black specks thickened—the sky filled with swarms. Several auras were especially strong—beast kings.
Purple Star's face was ashen. In the past they needed the Divine Lotus battle formation just to stalemate a beast king. Without it, taking one on would be deadly. She ground her teeth. "What have those two done?"
She wheeled to retreat along the radiance's line. "We're heading there as well." But monsters were flooding in from all sides; fighting while withdrawing, they made poor speed. Purple Star swung her treasure and showed a Calamity Supreme's might, but here her strength was shackled—less than a tenth of what it would be in the Chaotic Ancient Wilds. Otherwise mere beast kings would never trouble her.
The monsters thickened; their pace slowed. At this rate they'd soon be surrounded. Then a keen whistling rose behind them, followed by the familiar, reassuring rattle of bone—the undead army had arrived, their numbers rivaling the horde. Cohorts of undead slammed in and intercepted the monsters for Ning Yiyi and the rest.
"Husband knows we're here—go!" Ning Yiyi cried, and they flew along the path the undead had opened.
---
The World-Burning Flame was scouring the Divine Lotus Lord's consciousness. Even a Supreme screamed endlessly before that fire. The consciousness he had labored to gather was burning to tatters; against Lin Mohan he was forced back step by step. Lin Moyu reined the flame carefully; he wasn't trying to kill the Lord, only to burn him half-dead so Lin Mohan could win. The final harvest had to be hers. In Lin Moyu's eyes, this duck was already cooked; it wasn't flying anywhere.
A pulse from the undead reported they'd found Ning Yiyi and the others; for some reason the Divine Lotus battle formation had thrown them off, and they were close to being surrounded—no matter; the undead army would pull them out.
He looked up. Radiant streams from all directions—divine weapons within the glow—hurtled in. They were relics of this world; when it collapsed they hadn't shattered completely. Their might was greatly reduced but still usable. And when the Divine Lotus Lord disassembled himself, he had seeded fragments of consciousness into them. Now, at death's door, instinct drove him to recall those fragments to resist Lin Mohan and Lin Moyu. The weapons themselves could also harry and disrupt them. Purple Star's "refined" Divine Lotus battle formation was the same: a piece the Divine Lotus Lord had painstakingly forged, heavy with his awareness and data. Purple Star had never truly refined it; from start to finish it belonged to the Divine Lotus Lord.
"Do you want these, or shall I?" Lin Moyu asked the Primal Chaos Gem.
"You took the big head; leave me the small head," it replied.
The "big head" was the consciousness accumulated over countless years—what Lin Mohan was refining. The "small head" was the incoming weapon-minds.
"All yours," Lin Moyu said, smiling.
"Thanks, Master! Little Soul-soul, dinner time!" The Soul Gem hummed and spun up a vortex in the void. The minds riding those divine weapons were sucked away; the blades froze in midair—then fell like rain.
"You eat the meat; I'll take the soup." Lin Moyu swept his sleeve and stored every fallen weapon—feed for cultivating his domains.
"Husband! Husband! Husband!" Joyful cries rang out. At the sight of Lin Moyu, Ning Yiyi and the others forgot the array and flew to him like swallows returning to the nest. The years of longing were hard to hide. A smile touched Lin Moyu's lips—at last, reunited. They didn't actually throw themselves into his arms; they knew he was in the middle of something crucial and would not disturb him.
By now Lin Mohan's battle with the Divine Lotus Lord's consciousness had reached its final phase—victory moments away. To Lin Moyu, the outcome had been fixed from the start: the Lord had no chance; defeat was certain, his end already written. The weapons hadn't even arrived before the Soul Gem devoured the awareness inside—served up as side dishes. Lin Mohan took the big head, the Soul Gem took the small head, and he drank the soup. The last essence of this world-remnant was once more neatly partitioned.
With a final, piercing shriek, the Divine Lotus Lord's consciousness collapsed entirely. Schemes of ages vanished in an instant.
"The Supremes are all dead anyway; one more hardly matters. Still, he may be the most aggrieved of the lot," the Primal Chaos Gem said coolly.
Lin Moyu chuckled. "Once there's a precedent, there can be more. Supremes don't want to die; plenty may be clinging on. Even in the Grand World, the Heavenly Lords chased every path to live. The so-called eternal beings in domains all have ways to persist—Supremes all the more so."
The Primal Chaos Gem fell silent. Lin Moyu was likely right; there might be Supremes still "alive," though most half-dead, living poorly.
With the Lord's mind scattered, Lin Mohan's sword-intent speared the core; wherever it passed, the Lord's soul-power became hers. Her aura surged like a dragon ripping through the clouds—unstoppable.
But it still needed control. Lin Moyu swiftly laid a formation filled with World-Burning Flame, leaving only the formation eye open.
"Sis—enter the array."
She slipped to the center and sat. On the Calamity Scepter, the Elemental Gem shone, bathing her in a soft halo. Her sword-intent kept drawing in the Lord's power—but now with two extra steps. First, the formation's World-Burning Flame pre-refined it, burning out impurities and purifying it. Second, the Elemental Gem re-refined the soul-power (soul is one of the elements), making it purer still. That way, any hidden backhands would be smashed. If even that failed, Lin Moyu had no more tricks; he'd simply concede.
He looked to Purple Star. "Interested in this kind of opportunity?"
Purple Star had been watching all along. With her eye she saw what Lin Mohan was doing—and that it was working. She realized Lin Moyu hadn't spoken honestly earlier; Lin Mohan's success rate was far higher than "ten percent." Now she was very likely to break through to Calamity Supreme, stepping from quasi–Calamity Supreme to that unbelievable realm in a single move. Envy flashed in Purple Star's gaze, and a thread of jealousy. But snatching another's fruit? Not a chance. Lin Mohan's sword, Lin Moyu's fist, and that unfathomable Calamity Scepter—none were things she could lightly oppose. Even in the Chaotic Ancient Wilds she'd think twice; here, even more so.
"This is the Sword Sovereign's fortune," Purple Star said softly. "This old body has no blessing to enjoy it."
"All the better," Lin Moyu smiled. "Everyone has their own chance. Besides, my sister's breakthrough benefits you too, doesn't it?"
Purple Star said nothing. It was a good thing, yes—but better to have it herself than see another have it. After Lin Mohan broke through, would she still stand with them? Hard to say. Still, there was no choice now—she could only trust Lin Moyu. Yes—call it a good thing.
"You've looked after my wives for years and trained them with care. I remember that," Lin Moyu said, flicking out a mass of Primordial Dawn Qi—a full hundred threads, far more, and far purer, than Purple Star had gathered in years. Purple Star's gaze turned complicated. This was a weighty gift—too weighty to refuse. She knew that even a hundred thousand years here wouldn't net her so much Primordial Dawn Qi. What Lin Moyu handed over would be enough to let her fight on here for a million years or more.
Lin Mohan's state stabilized. With the Divine Lotus Lord gone, the monsters lost their fighting spirit and withdrew. Lin Moyu passed the follow-up to the Primal Chaos Gem, then, finally free, stepped before Ning Yiyi and the others. Eight beautiful pairs of eyes brimmed with longing. They had been apart too long. Realm growth and firm Dao-hearts helped them hold down the surge, but their eyes were wet; emotion swelled.
"I missed you," Ning Yiyi whispered. Two words carrying far too much—enough that more weren't needed.
"I missed you too," Lin Moyu said. "So I came the first chance I had. Come home with me—to our true home."
Ning Yiyi nodded. "Where my husband is, that's home." The others nodded as well—where Lin Moyu is, that's home.
"Once we're back, we'll talk properly," he smiled. "I have a lot to tell you." He looked at Purple Star. "Senior, are you satisfied with my gift?"
Purple Star said, "When we took your wives then, there was another reason—to protect them."
"I understand," Lin Moyu said. "Otherwise, did you think I'd be this easy? None of us want to be chess pieces—not you, not me."
"But if you don't want to be a chess piece, you need strength. You have the Sword Sovereign as your backer," Purple Star said.
Lin Moyu shook his head. "I've never sought a backer. If anything, I can be the backer for many. My sister has her Dao; I have mine."
In his eyes, even if he was a chess piece, the chessmaster could never have imagined that one day this piece would flip the board—and even slay the player. With the Great Calamity upon them, heaven and earth would be overturned; Calamity Supremes falling would become commonplace.
"Senior, when you return, make your preparations," he went on. "When my sister finishes refining, I'll also refine this world's core. From then on there will be no more Divine Lotus World. You've toiled here for years—you can finally rest. During the refinement there will also be a chance for you; it may help you go a step further, though likely not enough to break into Calamity Supreme—but it will at least lay firm foundations. Consider that my second gift. Well?"
Purple Star sighed, helpless. "So be it."