Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 924: Drunken Amidst the Starry River

While Zhao Changhe was blocking Luo Chuan’s escape, the three Sovereigns had gathered once again.

Sovereign Sunny Sky was covered in wounds, grimacing as he swallowed a rare immortal pill. His injuries rapidly healed, and he glared at Sovereign Withered Wood. “You were already here, weren’t you?”

Sovereign Withered Wood shrugged and replied calmly, “With two Other Shore cultivators lurking in the shadows, how could I dare act rashly?”

Sovereign Innocence stomped his foot. “You’re overestimating yourself!”

Sovereign Withered Wood blinked in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“What do you think I mean?! Do you really think that those two would simply sit by the side and watch as their entire world gets attacked, all just to wait for you? Who the hell do you think you are?” Sovereign Sunny Sky erupted in fury. “If they really had been lying in ambush, then why didn’t they strike me down when I was at my most vulnerable? With me dead, what could the two of you possibly do?”

Sovereign Withered Wood opened his mouth to retort, but a moment later, he closed it again. He was at a loss.

That... actually makes sense.

So that couple really wasn’t hiding to ambush me? They were simply not there at all?

Realizing this, regret hit him like a hammer. If he had acted just now, then they truly might have had an opportunity.

No, wait—

A sudden chill ran through Sovereign Withered Wood.

What opportunity? There might have been an opportunity to kill those women, perhaps, but not to seize the tome. Just because I kill a few people doesn’t guarantee that I can claim the spoils. And with that pair still out there, I’d be in deep trouble when they inevitably sought revenge afterward.

No, no, no. No way. Not attacking earlier was definitely the right call.

As long as I don’t launch a surprise attack, then even if conflict does break out later, then I could still claim to be honorable. There wouldn’t be a deep grudge between us, so there would still be room for me to maneuver. The ones who had truly crossed the lines are these two idiots. I’ve managed to stay clean.

This realization calmed Sovereign Withered Wood. His expression evened out as he said coolly, “That’s all just speculation on your part. What if they really were lying in wait for me? Am I supposed to gamble my life just because you two fools want to charge ahead?”

“You—!”

“You what? Aren’t you two idiots?” Sovereign Withered Wood flipped the script, pointing a finger at Sovereign Sunny Sky’s face. “And you, Sunny Sky, don’t pretend as if you weren’t the biggest moron of all! We agreed to act together once we located them, so what the hell were you thinking charging in alone like that? It was because of what you did that we ended up getting picked off one by one. So tell me, are you angry because I didn’t help you, or because you screwed it all up?”

Sovereign Sunny Sky went silent, unable to refute it.

Sovereign Innocence cleared his throat and quickly tried to smooth things over. “What we know now is that the other side consists of the top powers of an entire world. They’re strong enough to stand against our whole segmentum. Whether or not we want that artifact, we can’t afford to be divided. This concerns our own survival; we can’t afford to act selfishly anymore. We must work together. Among our forces, we have many strong followers. We can summon them for support. At the very least, we can avoid being overwhelmed by their formation. After that, it’ll be Other Shore versus Other Shore. It will come down to personal skill.”

Sovereign Sunny Sky nodded.

In that earlier fight, he had realized that in a one-on-one, he still had a slight edge over that woman. He was confident he could win if they fought again. The key difference was that she did not seem to be using any magical treasures, and instead relied almost entirely on personal cultivation. That put her at a disadvantage against equally matched opponents.

A top-tier artifact or magical treasure could completely shift the tides of battle—like that tome, for instance.

Zhao Changhe’s side had already begun experimenting with magical treasures beyond the Heavenly Tome, but it would take time for them to truly learn to use them. Everyone knew that cultivating a treasure suited to oneself took years, decades maybe, of refining and bonding. This was how it was even for Zhao Changhe and Dragon Bird. Their bond was not something that happened overnight.

In other words, if the Myriad Manifestation Segmentum wanted to invade the Heavenly Tome’s world, now was the time. They had to invade before the other party grew stronger and before it was too late.

Sovereign Withered Wood said, “So it’s settled. It’s very likely those two are off somewhere recovering. While they’re gone, let’s each summon our most capable subordinates and crack the book before they return.”

For them, summoning followers was effortless. Even Ye Wuming had been able to call for help across worlds. Compared to her, these Sovereigns were even more proficient in summoning helpers. In no time at all, glimmers of light flashed all around them as powerful reinforcements appeared one after another.

Over the years, the three great forbidden zones had seen no shortage of friction. So when they suddenly encountered each other’s full retinues here, tensions soared. Magical artifacts flared to life across the battlefield, their radiance colliding as killing intent surged toward the heavens.

The three Sovereigns quickly reined in their subordinates. After surveying the situation for a moment, each felt that they had a good chance of victory. Sunny Sky glanced sideways at Withered Wood and said, “You’re relatively familiar with them. Why don’t you take the lead in this battle?”

“No need for that,” came a voice from afar.

The voice was soft, yet it crashed into their ears like thunder. The moment it rang out, the three Sovereign’s soul seas rippled violently.

“Fellow Daoist Zhao?” Sovereign Withered Wood turned sharply and saw Zhao Changhe strolling through the void of the cosmos with casual ease.

The Heavenly Tome was no longer nestled against his chest but floated serenely beside him like a companion star.

The three Sovereigns instinctively took half a step back.

They all sensed it. Zhao Changhe’s power had undergone a breakthrough. If, during his previous clash with Luo Chuan, he had only just stepped into the Other Shore and still fell short of their own standing in terms of raw cultivation, he now emanated a pressure that made them uneasy. At the very least, he was now on equal footing.

And more than that, there was something vaguely elusive about him. While his cultivation realm was still on par with theirs on the surface, it felt as if he were brushing up against the threshold of the next realm. At their level, their suspicions were rarely wrong.

But how is this possible?

The three of them had already reached the Other Shore during the war that had led to the formation of the three great forbidden zones in the Myriad Manifestation Segmentum millions of years ago. Since then, they had only ever deepened their understanding within that realm. Not a single one of them had sensed where the door to the next cultivation realm even lay. Among everyone in the Myriad Manifestation Segmentum, Luo Chuan had advanced the furthest, but even he had only moved a step ahead in depth, not in level.

Yet Zhao Changhe, at this moment, made them feel an entirely different kind of pressure. It was as if he had already glimpsed that hidden doorway.

How is that possible? What none of us have achieved in millions of years, he actually managed in mere days?

Sovereign Withered Wood asked warily, “Fellow Daoist Zhao, were you hiding your strength all along? Playing the pig to eat the tiger?”

“Hah?” Zhao Changhe laughed aloud. “How could I...?”

“Then how do you explain this...?”

Zhao Changhe asked sincerely, “Do you all have wives?”

The three Sovereigns: “?”

Zhao Changhe continued, “You’ve lived this long, so don’t tell me that you still believe in all that ‘one must be emotionless in order to reach the greatest heights’ bullshit. Don’t you know what dual cultivation is?”

Sovereign Withered Wood: “...”

Forget the fact that we don’t practice dual cultivation; even if we do know about it and understand its mysteries, none of us have an Other Shore-level partner to practice it with. Do you seriously think that partners like yours grow like cabbages in the field? Getting one might be harder than acquiring a divine treasure.... Oh, right. For you, those are the same thing. Never mind.

Zhao Changhe went on, “Have your wives personally witnessed the birth of the world? Experienced destroying one with their own hands? And then shared all of it with you, down to the last thread, through dual cultivation?”

Sovereign Withered Wood: “...We don’t have wives.”

“Oh.” Zhao Changhe grinned. “Well, that’s sad. But speaking of that, if you did have a wife, would she give you something as a dowry to guide your cultivation to the next level?”

The three Sovereigns stood in stony silence.

It was obvious to them now that Zhao Changhe had shown up just to flex.

Zhao Changhe added, “Oh, and one more thing. Did any of you happen to run into a nearly broken-down opponent who was brushing up against the next realm and kill him to use as a stepping stone?”

“...”

Sure, they had all encountered formidable foes during their path to ascension. But one at that precise point where they were beginning to glimpse what was beyond the Other Shore? That was even rarer than finding a wife.

Suddenly, Withered Wood’s eyes lit up. “Luo Chuan!”

“Exactly.” Zhao Changhe flashed his signature broad smile and drew Dragon Bird. “Well then, for the sake of old alliances, I’ve answered your questions. Now it’s time to settle the score.”

Before the words even finished leaving his lips, his figure had vanished.

A sudden flash of saber light surged toward the encirclement without warning, striking straight toward Sovereign Innocence.

Even Sovereign Innocence himself had not expected to be the first target. This conflict had been stirred by Sovereign Withered Wood and escalated when Sovereign Sunny Sky launched the first blow. By contrast, he had been the most inconspicuous of the three.

But there was no time to think. With a sweep of his fly-whisk, he tried to deflect the incoming strike.

At the same time, his subordinates’ magical treasures blazed to life and their power surged toward Zhao Changhe.

Amidst the thousands upon thousands of enemy troops, Zhao Changhe stood unfazed. Dragon Bird quivered slightly in his grip, and the top-tier fly-whisk artifact that had accompanied Sovereign Innocence for countless years seemed like nothing more than a normal fly-whisk as it was sliced clean through by the saber. The saber never even slowed.

Stunned, Sovereign Innocence abandoned the fly-whisk and retreated in a flash. “Impossible!”

“Your Majesty!” cried his subordinates as the barrage of their magical treasures crashed down upon Zhao Changhe. But then, the Heavenly Tome shimmered, and all the power of their attacks was swallowed whole, exhausted entirely by Ye Wuming, who sat cross-legged within the Night Palace.

Dragon Bird’s momentum never wavered. It continued to move onward, cutting through the void in relentless pursuit. Sovereign Innocence’s evasive maneuver proved useless. In the blink of an eye, he was chopped in half.

Withered Wood and Sunny Sky finally leaped in to intervene, but they were a moment too late. They could only watch in horror as Zhao Changhe’s saber cut through Sovereign Innocence. With a sweep of Dragon Bird, he forced the two Sovereigns back, severing their path.

Only then did he speak, his voice cold as ice, “You dare lay your filthy hands on Chichi? If she is harmed, if her pregnancy was disturbed, even dying a thousand times over won’t be enough to atone for your sins!”

Sovereign Innocence’s vision dimmed.

No wonder this man came at me like a mad dog. So that woman was carrying his child!

A hand reached out from within the Heavenly Tome, and with a sharp whoosh, Sovereign Innocence’s broken body was yanked inside. His miserable screams echoed through the void, only to be cut off as the tome snapped shut. Who knew what kind of savage beating awaited him within.

The entire void seemed to tremble. All eyes turned to Zhao Changhe’s lone figure, standing poised with saber in hand.

In the heart of a battlefield, while facing an entire army and three Other Shore Sovereigns, he had charged alone into their ranks and felled one of the Sovereigns in a single strike. Such a feat had never been seen in the history of the Myriad Manifestation Segmentum. At that moment, to its denizens, Zhao Changhe no longer seemed like a man but a demon godgod.

Zhao Changhe turned his head slowly, his voice was flat and devoid of emotion as he addressed Sovereign Withered Wood, “I told you before, didn’t I? Luo Chuan is our only enemy. Other than killing him, I had no interest in your petty internal affairs. But your greed got the better of you. You dared reach for the Heavenly Tome, you dared reach for River of Stars, and now we’ve come to this... Judging by the army you’ve assembled, had I returned a mere half-day later, would you have already launched a full invasion?”

Sovereign Withered Wood opened his mouth, but Zhao Changhe cut him off coldly, “There’s no need for explanations. Karma has been sown. It must be reaped, lest it fester. I, Zhao Changhe, have conquered nations and unified realms my entire life. Adding another patch of land to the list changes nothing.”

Sovereign Sunny Sky roared, “Why waste words with him! His cultivation is barely equal to ours. What’s the worst he can do if we attack together?!”

“Oh?” Zhao Changhe turned a half-smile on him. “You were the first one to sneak attack my wife, weren’t you?”

Sovereign Sunny Sky instinctively floated back. His wounds had not fully healed, and at this moment, he was counting on Withered Wood to recognize the situation and take the brunt of the assault.

But in that split second of hesitation, Zhao Changhe seized the moment. With a flicker, he vanished and reappeared behind Sunny Sky. Both hands gripped Dragon Bird high above his head, and he brought it crashing down in a furious cleave.

Through countless battles across the jianghu, Zhao Changhe had mastered the art of reading the battlefield, of sensing hesitation, fear, and disunity. Even if he was now facing thousands of powerful cultivators across the starry river, it was no different from back when he rode alone through the jianghu.

At the heart of it all, it always came down to a single individual’s stage.

Sovereign Sunny Sky hastily drew his sword to block, but when he turned to face his attacker, his heart seized.

He could not tell if it was his mind being shaken or if Zhao Changhe’s cultivation had truly ascended beyond his comprehension, but in his eyes, Zhao Changhe now loomed impossibly vast. His figure engulfed the entire segmentum, and it was as if the stars formed the cells and the void was the plasma of the blood in his veins.

As he cleaved down with his saber, it appeared as though the blood flowing throughout his entire body had come to embody the starry river.

Ye Wuming understood what this was. It was the result of Zhao Changhe’s path of blood and qi fully fusing with her essence of the stars. His ultimate path had taken shape. Although he had yet to achieve full mastery, he was able to drag others’ minds into an illusion—a projection of his mental realm.

And the very fact that Sovereign Sunny Sky fell for the illusion meant that his mind had already been seized. He was no longer a worthy opponent.

Clang!

His flying sword was cleanly severed by Dragon Bird, and the twin-pigtailed girl within the saber danced with glee. The thrill of cleaving through her enemies and the bliss of overwhelming destruction sent her into pure ecstasy every time.

“Fellow Daoist, please stop!” Sovereign Withered Wood dove in to rescue him, but he was already too late.

For all his divine arts and mysterious techniques, Sovereign Sunny Sky ended up just like Sovereign Innocence. In that moment, he was no different from any ordinary cultivator. He was cut cleanly in two by a single, straightforward slash. He was given no time to resist, nor any room to react.

This was because, though Zhao Changhe appeared to be alone, in truth, he fought as a collective. Their mastery of time and space, of illusion and reality, of reversing karma, every tactic they might have used was rendered null by the Heavenly Tome that circled at his side. Time and space were locked; life and death held still.

In the face of Zhao Changhe’s saber that had returned to simplicity and seized the creation of heaven and earth, their artifacts might as well have been paper. As for their followers? Mere spectators.

Sovereign Sunny Sky’s severed halves floated away while his primordial soul shot out in a panicked escape.

A black sword suddenly streaked out from the Heavenly Tome, cutting across the void with a sharp whistle.

His primordial soul did not even have time to scream. It was erased in a clean, silent, and definitive manner.

From within the sword, a little girl’s voice cried out in anguish, “Why did you throw me out, Aunt?!”

No one answered. The void was deathly still.

Zhao Changhe pointed his saber toward Withered Wood. “Daoist Brother, only you remain.”

Sovereign Withered Wood stared at the place where Sunny Sky’s primordial soul had been erased, then turned to the stunned cultivators around them. Every face was blank with disbelief, every expression frozen in shock.

No one could believe what they had just witnessed.

Two of the three Sovereigns who had ruled the Myriad Manifestation Segmentum for millions of years had been cut down in a flash. One slash for one life; two slashes, and two were gone.

Just now, in that one brief instant, it had felt like the entire segmentum was merely a part of him. His blood flowing like the starry river, suppressing everything beneath it. He had become something more than mortal; he was a true Sovereign.

After a long silence, Sovereign Withered Wood finally sighed. “We’ve lost. Whether you kill me or not, I have no complaints.”

“You never raised a hand,” Zhao Changhe said, his tone much calmer now. “Whether you were hesitating because you didn’t want to be entangled in your segmentum’s mess or because you were scheming to take the treasure, the fact remains that you never harmed any of my wives. That means the alliance we once had isn’t broken.”

Sovereign Withered Wood was stunned. “Daoist Brother, are you saying that you’re not going to kill me?”

Zhao Changhe said, “I know of a way to brand submission. Offer me a portion of your primordial soul, and the matter ends here... Hm, I guess I could indeed claim this entire segmentum. Doing so should help Piaomiao break through.”

Sovereign Withered Wood could not care less how Zhao Changhe’s woman broke through. Fearing he might change his mind, he offered up a portion of his primordial soul on the spot to be branded with a mark of submission. “You’re really not worried that I’ll become a future threat?”

“What threat?” Zhao Changhe said with a dismissive wave. “Like I said, I have no interest in your segmentum’s affairs. You won’t even know where I am most of the time, so what do I have to fear?”

He kept his saber, pulled out the wine gourd from his hip, took a long drink, and turned to leave.

“In the myriad realms and the boundless cosmos, the Myriad Manifestation Segmentum is but a little corner. Who would want to be caged here? That’s small-minded thinking.”

With those final words, he had already moved several light-years away.

Sovereign Withered Wood stood dazed, staring into the space where he had disappeared. A final echo drifted through the void, “Karma’s been resolved and burdens have been lifted. I carry no regrets. From here on, I’ll roam the universe with my wives at my side, drunk amidst the starry river. That is all I’ve ever wished for.”