Empress Yue's Demise

Shenjie Continent - Arctic Region

Shenhuo Yue's bloodstained white skirt fluttered amid the chilling breeze. The edges of her fine dress were now tattered after fighting with the Gods of War Clan for four days and four nights.

The corners of her pale lips curled up as she descended at the peak of the icy mountain. With her zither before her, her gentle gaze was still fixated on the man standing at the peak of the next mountain.

"You finally came to join the fun, God of War Clan's Emperor. You made me wait for four days and four nights. That is so unlike your gentlemanly demeanor." There was a hint of intimacy in her tone.

Unlike the easygoing countenance of the God of Musician Clan's Empress, Long Shoushan was surrounded with sadness as he held the scabbard of his sacred weapon. "Shenhuo Yue, I beg of you. Please, surrender. Let us avoid this catastrophe for old times' sake."

Yue's chest tightened upon hearing Yueliang's plea.

"You said it, for old time's sake, Yueliang… won't you help me and my brethren?"

Yueliang's shut his tightly before he drew a deep breath. His knuckles were white from gripping his weapon. The sweet aftertaste dripped down his throat as he bit his tongue for the nth time. There were too many words he wished to say, but his sacred oath to heaven stopped him from doing so.

"You have my word, you and your people's lives will not be forsaken. The God of Musician Clan will have a place in my territory." He stretched his hand, offering this choice of survival to the woman standing a few meters before him.

"A place in your territory? Did the Heaven's Council tell you to say this to me, Yueliang?" A mocking smile reflected on her pale yet beautiful face. "Can you guarantee that my people can still roam the continent and practice the Heaven and Earth Dao? You can't, right?"

Yue snorted. "It is because you will abolish all my people, rendering them incapable of using qi. Though alive, my people will have to rot and die inside your territory, never to experience the Dao ever again."

Upon seeing Yueliang's dimming face as he lower his hand, a bitter chuckle escaped from her bleeding lips. "What is the difference between death from that act of mercy? Yueliang, you know me more than those old farts of the Heaven Council. I will rather die than bend my knee to those old hypocrites! I only obey the Dao and the Heaven's Will… nothing else."

Veins bulged around Yueliang's hands and neck. It took every restraint in him to stop himself from choosing what he wanted. He was the Emperor of the God of War Clan and the first pillar of Heaven's Council. Every action he did was for the prosperity and peace of the realms.

An oppressive breath was released the moment Long Yueliang unsheathed his sacred sword.

The choice had been made.

The fingers hovering over the strings of the ancient zither trembled. Yue could only whisper as a self-deprecating smile appeared on her face. Tears blurred her vision. "So this is your choice."

On instinct, Shenhuo Yue rubbed the jade ring around her ring finger. "If only we can be selfish and be ourselves…"

Zing!

Yue closed her eyes as she strummed and plucked the strings of her zither. "Soul Revival Seal Song of Sacrifice activates!"

Runes appeared from the zither. Every melody was accompanied by runes as it encircled the kneeling Shenhuo Yue.

"Yue, no! What are you doing?"

Yueliang's frantic scream was the last thing she heard before she immersed herself in the forbidden song – Soul Revival Seal Song. This was Yue's trump card. For thousands of years, she never imagined that she would one day use this forbidden song until today.

The moment she opened her lips to sing the song, Yue was already at the point of no return.

"The kingdom's scorched wasteland is where the children now stand-

-They're digging graves in the sand, one grave at a time with powerless hands-

-Atop the battlefield are bodies of soldiers with names untold-

-As for the corpses that long turned cold, the earth will keep them ahold."

"Yue! Yue!" Yueliang swayed his sacred sword frantically. He was desperate to shatter the dome of runes that surrounded the kneeling and singing Yue.

Every note and every word that escaped from her voice was a countdown to her death. Yueliang remembered that Yue once told him of this forbidden song… and the price to pay to activate this song.

… Yue's soul. Her soul would scatter, never to enter the river of reincarnation ever again.

"To steal, to be stolen from. What's left is only despair-

-Embracing a body so numb in their death-

-I cry out and gasp for air."

"Yue! No! Please, I'm wrong! Please, let us run away! Away from all of these! Yue!" Blood trickled down his nose as his palms were being torn from the intensity of qi and strength he was using in his every swing.

The qi around the Arctic Region surged toward the dome of runes. The land trembled and the skies turned red. It was as if the Heaven and Earth were crying.

This was the reason why the God of Musician Clan was targeted by the clans to the point where Heaven's Council made a move. It would only take one song and the balance of power in the Shenjie Continent could be toppled over.

But musicians were born kind. If one's soul was corrupted, one could not practice the mystery of the musical qi. This was the reason why the Heavens loved the God of Musician Clan and it was because of this blessing from the Heavenly Dao that greed was born from the hearts of the people in the Shenjie Continent.

"To grieve for the souls we lost in the strife-

-What is there I can do but mourn for their lives-

-I only wish for this ongoing war, if we could find a way to end it all one day."

Unbeknownst to every qi practitioner in the Shenjie Continent, runes under the land, where Yue was sitting, started to spread. And it only had one direction, the territory of the God of Musician Clan.

This territory was located atop the sacred tree right at the heart of the Shenjie Continent.

No one detected the runes that climbed to the gigantic tree of life towards the floating island. Even the people guarding the entire territory as hostages did not manage to detect the runes which were being absorbed by the core of the floating island.

"In the depths of our hearts, we've broken apart-

-The war has hurt you and it wounded me too-

-The promise we made from that sacred day-

-I swear that with my own hands that I'll make it come true."

Finally, Shenhuo Yue opened her tear-stricken eyes. Looking up, she watched as Long Yueliang swayed his titan sword against the dome of runes.

"I always kept in my heart my trust in you from those days-

-With tears overflowing out from my eyes-

-What is there I can do but continue to fight?-

-The kingdom I love and the days that are yet to come-

-I demand them returned! Let my wishes be heard!

-If the words that I speak aren't able to reach, I am helpless before every strike of your sword."

Clang!

Yueliang dropped his sword as he knelt on the ground. He groveled before the 'enemy' he was supposed to slay. With only a barrier of runes between them, the once proud son of the Heavens was nowhere in sight.

Instead, a helpless, desperate man appeared. "I will be with you, Yue. Until the end, you will not be alone. Your words are able to reach me; they did… so please, stop hurting already."

Yue smiled. Blood tears trickled down her reddened eyes, nose, lips, and ears yet she continued to sing.

It was at this moment that the people guarding the movement of the God of Musician Clan territory finally noticed something….

"What the! Look at the island!"

"The floating island is turning transparent!"

"Let's go! They're escaping!"

One by one, the experts flew to the floating island only to be met by a barrier midway. Runes appeared from the seemingly invisible barrier, hissing at the intruders. The experts suffered a backlash from hitting the barrier.

"Something is wrong! Inform the Heaven's Council's Headquarters!"

"Quick! Look for the Empress and kill her! I believe this has something to do with her!"

The experts dispersed while only the wounded and the dead remained. When the experts arrived at the Arctic Region, they were met by the scene where Yueliang remained sitting against the growing dome.

"Emperor Long! Something is wrong!" A bald middle-aged elder from Heaven's Council arrived. "The floating island is disappearing!" He drew a whip and condensed his qi around it while still oblivious to the changes of Long Yueliang. "Help me destroy this slut's dome! The song must not be finished or they will escape! The experts from the other clans are coming; let us hold on for a while."

Yueliang opened his eyes. He stood next to the elder, his gaze fixated on the singing woman before them. "It's too late."

"What?"

Yue heard it all. She smiled at the elder whose daughter she once save with a healing song four hundred years ago.

"The promise we made from childhood day is slowly crumbling to dust until it's no more-

-To make sure the future won't disappear-

-I have no choice but to wipe all of my tears-

-In order to see the end of our dreams. I will do what I must to protect what I love."

Yue's gaze was pinned on Yueliang's teary ones. For the last time, before her body started to turn into nothing, she smiled at him.

"Now I feel as my heart starts breaking apart-

-As I point my blade to my beloved dear you-

-The promise we made from simpler days-

-I swear that I'll carry it on 'til the day it comes true…"

A single tear dropped on the jade ring. And a moment before Shenhuo Yue's soul disappear along with the sacred artifact, zither, the jade ring emitted a small red glow.

"Yue!"