Luo Luo found it incredibly novel to be a mosquito for the first time.
Perched on the Sage’s shoulder, she lowered her head to examine herself—lifting and lowering her spindly legs one by one, shaking her wings, and fiddling with her proboscis.
Once she had grown accustomed to her new body, she tilted her head to look at the Sage.
He had grown much thinner, appearing far more exhausted than the last time she saw him. As he walked, he would unconsciously pause, his gaze completely vacant.
A colossal shadow loomed over the earth.
The Sealed Divine Hall was no longer the "sun"—it was slowly descending toward the ground, so imperceptibly slow that the naked eye could barely detect its movement.
If such a massive object were to crash down directly, it would pierce through the earth’s layers, turning the surface into a sea of molten fire.
The world hadn’t been destroyed yet only because the Sage was holding it up, delaying its fall.
Luo Luo knew he must be exhausted.
She greeted him with a buzz: "Bzzz bzzz bzzz."
The Sage slightly turned his head, his demeanor as serene as ever—so faint it was like the moon and breeze, seemingly without presence. But in truth, the moon and breeze could never be unnoticed, just like the Sage, whose power was unparalleled in the world.
As he passed through a large city, someone hurled vegetable leaves at him again.
"The sky is about to collapse!" A middle-aged couple wailed on the ground. "It’s all your fault! Who told you to drag those demons into the heavens? Now look, you’ve made the sky fall! What do ancient demons have to do with us? You’re just trying to kill us all!"
"Whoosh—"
A stalk of vegetable came flying, nearly flattening Luo Luo.
She fluttered away in panic, dodging left and right to avoid the barrage of makeshift projectiles, narrowly escaping disaster.
The Sage raised his hand.
His wide sleeve billowed, sweeping Luo Luo the tiny mosquito into its folds, where she landed safely on the inner fabric.
This incarnation of his wore coarse white linen.
Luo Luo settled between two thick threads of the fabric like ruts in a road. With a slight turn of her head, she could see his enormous, bony wrist and the blue veins beneath his pale skin.
It looked delicious.
Luo Luo: "..."
She swallowed hard and guiltily averted her gaze—she was getting hungry.
She was a mosquito, after all. She was supposed to bite people.
But this was the Sage. She couldn’t just bite him recklessly.
Hidden in his sleeve, she was safe from the storm of vegetables and eggs outside, but the waves of shouting still seeped through the coarse fabric.
Her delicate wings trembled when the noise grew too loud, sending an uncomfortable itch through her entire body.
The voices became even more grating.
Everyone was blaming the Sage.
Their whining and clamoring were more annoying than a mosquito’s buzz.
Someone timidly spoke up in the Sage’s defense: "Zhang Jing may be a traitor, but he wasn’t entirely wrong. The Sage did build many dams and levees for us..."
Before they could finish, the furious crowd cut them off.
"Shut up! Our area hasn’t flooded—who asked him to build dams?"
"Exactly! No floods, no need for dams. He’s just making trouble for nothing!"
"If he had time to build useless dams, why couldn’t he give us gold and silver instead?"
"He’s just obsessed with his own glory!"
Luo Luo: "Bzzz?!"
Wasn’t the lack of floods precisely because the Sage built those dams? Did these people have no brains? Their brains were probably smaller than hers, a mosquito’s.
Angrily, she shook her head and vigorously rubbed her proboscis against the Sage’s sleeve.
Sharpening her "weapon," preparing to bite.
"Bzzz..."
Luo Luo charged out of the sleeve, murderous intent in her tiny form.
She had helped the Sage argue with people many times before, with mixed results—win or lose, she always ended up with a basketful of vegetables and eggs thrown at her.
Now that she was a mosquito, things were much easier.
She dive-bombed toward the man’s eyes.
"Ow!"
Left eye, then right—her attacks weren’t painful, but they were humiliating. Combined with the infuriating buzzing, the victim lost control, swatting wildly at her.
Luo Luo swiftly dodged, wings a blur as she zipped to the side.
"Bzzz—bzzz—"
"Smack!"
A hand swung at her but missed, instead hitting a teenager who was spitting at the Sage.
The slap landed right on the boy’s mouth, smearing his own saliva back onto his face.
"Ugh—bleh!"
Seeing their precious son struck for no reason, the boy’s parents flew into a rage, rolling up their sleeves and lunging at the offender.
"You dare hit my baby? I’ll kill you!"
"Wait, no—I was swatting a mosquito—ow! Hit me again and you’re dead!"
Luo Luo retreated, her mission accomplished: "Bzzz."
She happily flew toward the opposite street.
No one could stand a mosquito buzzing in their ear. She flapped her wings deliberately loudly, sowing chaos wherever she went.
Straight flight, diagonal dives, sideways glides—she weaved through the crowd, igniting fights left and right.
The wind whipped against her face as she darted through the turmoil.
Glancing back, she saw dozens of furious people chasing after her.
Suddenly, she remembered Li Zhaoye’s lazy, world-weary expression.
Once, at sunset, he had said to her with a resigned sigh, "If you ever get the chance to be a mosquito, try it. It’s fun being chased by dozens of people."
Luo Luo’s eyes curved with amusement: "Bzzz bzzz."
She was indeed being chased by dozens now!
She’d definitely grab Li Zhaoye later and swap mosquito stories for a whole day and night.
With a flick of her wings, she escaped the mob and stole a glance back.
The Sage was watching her.
Just like when he observed ants battling, he seemed thoroughly entertained.
After causing enough mayhem, Luo Luo happily flew back, circling his ear with proud buzzes.
She could tell the Sage was in a better mood now.
"Bzzz... bzzz... bzzz..."
She decided to show off—performing a one-winged glide.
Well? Impressive, right?
Bzzz bzzz bzzz?
For the first time, the Sage let out a soft laugh.
Luo Luo was thrilled. She flipped upside down, flying backward, then sideways.
She wasn’t good with people, so she could only express her goodwill toward this burdened Sage in the clumsiest way.
The Sage smiled, the corners of his lips and eyes lifting slightly.
Luo Luo: "Bzzz!"
Truly, humans were inferior to mosquitoes. As a tiny insect, she had actually made the great Sage laugh.
"Smack!"
A rotten egg came flying, only to be casually flicked away by the Sage.
The yolk and egg white splattered messily on the cobblestones, and the street fell silent.
Luo Luo was used to this.
Every time the Sage lifted a finger, these people would instantly cower, kneeling in fear.
‘Petty men fear power, not virtue.’
"Bzzz."
Mid-flight, Luo Luo’s wings suddenly grew heavy.
As a mosquito, her senses were heightened. She immediately detected an unusual ripple in the air.
Narrowing her eyes, she looked ahead.
A sudden, inexplicable chill of desolation swept in from afar, directly targeting the Sage.
She was close to him and felt it keenly.
An enemy approached.
Luo Luo swiftly flew to his ear: "Buzz, buzz buzz!"
He didn’t even glance at her, nor did he offer his sleeve—but relying on years of one-sided familiarity, Luo Luo confidently perched atop his head.
Time to follow the ancestor into battle.
The Sage strode leisurely out of the city.
The moment he passed through the gates, darkness abruptly swallowed his vision, followed by an overwhelming flood of crimson light, blinding and piercing.
Luo Luo: "Buzz?!"
Outside the city lay a scene straight from a hellish slaughterhouse.
As far as the eye could see, mountains of corpses and rivers of blood stretched to the horizon, littered with severed limbs and echoing with the moans of the dying.
Filthy blood stained the plains and hills, even seeping into the sky itself.
A terrifying sight, but...
The instincts of a mosquito made Luo Luo’s abdomen growl with ravenous hunger. The scent of blood was like sweet, intoxicating wine.
She~ was~ so~ hungry~
The crimson hellscape looked like a gourmet feast to her.
Her six slender legs trembled faintly as she struggled against the lure of instinct.
The Sage spoke suddenly: "Illusions are not edible."
Luo Luo: "Buzz buzz buzz?"
He flicked his sleeve.
A gentle breeze swept across the land, dispelling the thick, cloying stench of blood.
Where his cloth shoes tread, specks of radiant light scattered, revealing the truth—there was no slaughterhouse, just an ordinary dirt road outside the city.
The moment the illusion shattered, a crescent arc of cold moonlight shot toward the Sage.
Silent yet vast.
At this level of mastery, techniques returned to simplicity.
When a Daoist Hedao struck, there were no earth-shattering displays—just something deceptively plain, like a beam of moonlight. No killing intent, only cold austerity.
Yet when that moonlight fell, there would be no opening—no way to evade, no way to block.
Luo Luo didn’t even have time to panic.
Faintly, she glimpsed three figures standing between the crumbling illusion and reality.
The Sage raised his sleeve.
The moonlight remained just moonlight, and his movement was merely a lift of his hand.
Like parting a mirror’s surface, like brushing aside a breeze, like plucking a flower.
The silver radiance gathered at his fingertips.
Like stardust, it shimmered and swirled in his palm.
He observed it for a moment, then flicked it lightly—
"Ting."
The silver light retraced its path. A muffled grunt followed.
The bloody illusion trembled violently, then tore apart like a film of water, vanishing into nothingness in an instant.
Sunlight finally poured down unimpeded.
Luo Luo peered ahead, finally seeing the three figures blocking their way.
At the center stood a woman, noble and ethereal, like a celestial consort.
Flanking her were two cultivators, both exuding an air of transcendent grace.
The man on the left wore silver robes, his expression icy, his left hand half-covering his chest—clearly the one who had launched the crescent strike and now bore the backlash.
The man on the right still held a hand seal, his handsome face flickering with unease—he had been the one controlling the bloody illusion.
With both techniques effortlessly dismantled by the Sage, the trio’s expressions darkened.
Taiyi, Tian Yin, Hong Meng.
The legendary Three Ancient Sovereigns, names that shook the heavens.
Luo Luo cautiously tugged a strand of the Sage’s hair to hide herself.
After a brief silence, Taiyi spoke first.
Her voice brimmed with compassion: "The illusion the Sage just dispelled is the tragedy that will soon unfold across this land. Since you could not bear the illusion, surely you would not wish to see this calamity come to pass."
She glanced toward the elegant Hong Meng.
But Hong Meng didn’t respond. His eyes kept flickering, his eyelids twitching imperceptibly.
When he remained silent, the frosty Tian Yin spoke instead.
Tian Yin’s face hardened: "With the world in peril, the Sage remains indifferent. Fearing your reputation outstrips your merit, we tested you—yet with such power, why do you sit idle, abandoning all living beings?"
Taiyi gently chided: "Ah, Tian Yin, you mustn’t speak to the Sage like that."
She took a graceful step forward.
The Taiyi Sword hung at her waist, its golden light faintly glowing, casting a radiant aura around her.
Dreamlike, dazzling, breathtaking.
"The Sage may have misunderstood me," Taiyi sighed. "By nature, I cannot bear to see the weak suffer, and I meddle where I shouldn’t. Somehow, the world began praising me beyond reason. No matter how I clarify, the rumors never cease."
She drew closer, tilting her face up to gaze at him.
From her perch, Luo Luo had a perfect view of Taiyi’s exquisite features.
She looked deliciously biteable.
Taiyi’s eyes shimmered: "Sage, I seek no false glory, nor do I mean to turn the world against you. This situation pains me deeply—I can hardly face you."
Her voice grew softer, more tender, like a weeping plea.
Luo Luo: "Buzz?"
This had to be a honey trap, right?
Dizzy, she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Whether the Sage was ensnared or not, her own ears tingled, craving more of that voice.
The Sage looked down at Taiyi.
His gaze was focused, his expression gentle, studying her intently.
Taiyi’s brows lifted slightly. Behind her, Tian Yin’s lips curled—a mix of understanding and disdain.
Luo Luo could read that smirk: Before Taiyi, every man is a fool. Even the Sage.
Taiyi held the Sage’s gaze.
Her lips parted, a fragrant breeze carrying her unspoken words.
"Sage..."
The Taiyi Sword’s glow dimmed, silently rising behind her.
"Clang!"
In an instant, golden light erupted—one sword became two, then three, then countless!
Ten thousand blades encircled the Sage, sealing every escape.
Like scorching sunlight, they aimed to strike him down where he stood, defenseless.
Luo Luo: "..."
She’d expected a honey trap—just not this lethal.
Under a Daoist Hedao’s full strike, her mind couldn’t even conjure a life flashback.
Her six legs clutched the Sage’s hair on instinct.
Soon, he sported a tiny, rebellious cowlick.
"Clink."
A soft chime rang out.
The golden blades merged back into one.
As the glare faded, the scene clarified—the Sage had lifted two fingers, lightly pinching the sword’s edge.
His posture was identical to when he’d caught the moonlight earlier.
The seduction tactic failed to bewitch him, but his habitually tender gaze—the kind that lingered on a passing breeze, a drifting cloud, a solitary tree, or a lone blossom—somehow ensnared Taiyi Jun instead.
In the blink of an eye, her lifebound divine sword fell into the Sage’s grasp.
Taiyi Jun’s pupils constricted sharply as she formed a sword seal. “Clang… clang.”
The Taiyi Sword twitched weakly between the Sage’s fingers, emitting faint, mournful hums.
The Sage let out a soft sound of curiosity, his gaze drifting indifferently to a specific spot on the blade.
When he released his grip, his fingertip brushed against that spot—deliberately or not—with the lightest touch.
“Ting.”
A hairline crack, rippling like water, shimmered beneath his touch.
Taiyi Jun’s expression twisted in horror as she stared at her lifebound sword. Yet the ripple quickly faded, leaving the blade seemingly unharmed.
She retreated hastily behind her two companions.
After inspecting the sword again and finding it intact, her unease only deepened. “What did you do to my sword?”
The Sage rarely answered questions.
His calm eyes shifted to Tian Yin, then Hong Meng.
Wherever his gaze landed, oppressive force surged around the target, forcing them into defensive stances.
Luo Luo fixed her eyes on the Taiyi Sword.
The spot the Sage had tapped was where it would eventually break.
In his nearly expressionless face, she sensed a flicker of mischief.
Li Zhaoye, this ancestral figure, did have emotions—just so faint they might as well not exist.
“Sage!” Taiyi Jun inhaled sharply, swiftly composing herself. With righteous fervor, she declared, “Testing you today wasn’t for our sake, but for all living beings! You’ve seen the Sealed God Palace teetering on collapse, the world hanging by a thread—we three have sworn to stop this calamity at any cost, even our lives!”
She studied his face, undeterred by his lack of reaction.
“For the world, we’ll spare no effort. We’ll charge ahead to the Sealed God Palace and slay the demons within. If you still choose to stand aside and watch… well, then the world’s judgment of you was right all along! Hong Meng, Tian Yin, let’s go. No more words for this man!”
Luo Luo flapped her wings angrily.
She saw through them—these were just overgrown hypocrites.
Mouths full of virtue, hearts brimming with schemes.
If only she were stronger, she’d sting them until their heads swelled.
The trio exchanged glances, then turned to vanish into the void.
Luo Luo beat her wings furiously. These cowards bullied the Sage precisely because they knew his patience—how he’d endure their insults, their thrown vegetables, eggs, and artifacts, letting them come and go as they pleased.
Suddenly, the three figures froze mid-air.
The Sage hadn’t moved, yet each felt an unmistakable weight—a hand pressing down on their shoulders.
Six eyes met, trembling with dread.
The Sage didn’t harm them.
Instead, he raised a finger toward his head. Luo Luo instinctively skittered onto it with her six legs.
He extended his hand, presenting her before the trio.
Luo Luo glanced back at him, blinking. “Buzz?”
Was he thinking what she thought?
A subtle shift in his expression confirmed it: Yes, exactly that.
Luo Luo: “BUZZ!”
Then I’ll sting!
She raised her proboscis, eyes gleaming, and dive-bombed forward.
Sting like hell!
“Tink.”
The sound of a sealing thread severing vertebrae was chillingly crisp.
Elders of the Divine Palace channeled golden seals, trying to suppress Li Zhaoye.
Blood spilled from his lips, his body shrouded in malevolent energy, yet he showed no weakness—only grew more ruthless.
“Does he… not feel pain?”
An elder muttered in disbelief.
Li Zhaoye seemed impervious, but the elder suddenly gasped—a bloody sealing thread had pierced his own heart without warning.
A bone-deep “screech” echoed, freezing his marrow.
“Wu Xie…” The elder’s eyes widened. “Did you… let him out on purpose?”
Back in the Divine Palace, had the elders united to activate the grand formation, they might’ve subdued this monster.
But the two priestesses had arrogantly believed they alone could capture the Divine Lord.
Not only had they lost allies, they’d only made Li Zhaoye stronger.
Now, regret was useless.
The last elder’s head toppled, his unblinking eyes filled with despair.
“The Divine Palace… standing for millennia… will… fall…”
The disembodied head whispered its epitaph.
Beneath the towering monument, Li Zhaoye tilted his head slightly, locking eyes with Wu Xie.
“Your turn.”
A killing thread shot straight for her forehead.
“We’re family.” Wu Xie’s face remained blank. “Is such lethal intent appropriate?”
“Pfft.”
The thread pierced through.
Wu Xie’s features melted away, leaving only a corpse-pale mask—she’d long since replaced herself with the puppet Wu Ya.
Under the monument’s eerie glow,
mother and son faced each other across the chasm of life and death.
Far to the north, the earth trembled with ominous portent.
“Wu Xie.”
A mosquito that’s stung a Daoist Hedao must be the cockiest mosquito alive.
Luo Luo flapped her wings, convinced her buzz could shake the heavens.
The Sealed God Palace loomed ever closer in the sky.
Guided by the Sage’s will, the colossal structure slowly descended onto a remote mountain range.
The Three Sovereigns had proclaimed their heroic intent to lead the charge against the demons within.
Their departure had been spectacular—three radiant streaks hanging dramatically in the sky.
Luo Luo suddenly recalled a memory: “three men, one woman, a dark room.”
She buzzed up to the Sage, sketching a “kill” character with her wing.
Those three—they’re plotting against you in the Sealed God Palace!
He nudged her aside, crouched by the roadside, and plucked a fledgling from the grass—a victim kicked from its nest by a cuckoo.
Luo Luo: “Buzz?”
Cuckoos always lay eggs in other birds’ nests. Once hatched, their chicks shove the rightful heirs out to die.
The Sage returned the fallen chick to its nest.
The brawny cuckoo chick immediately rammed it out again.
So he stood by the tree, catching and replacing the chick. Shoved out, returned. Again and again.
Luo Luo stung the vile cuckoo, then perched on his head to watch.
After enough time with this ancestral enigma, she felt almost enlightened herself.
Eventually, the parents returned, feeding their own chick before begrudgingly sharing scraps with the cuckoo.
Luo Luo: Buzz buzz.
She half-understood something profound. Or maybe nothing at all.
Finally, the Sage’s gaze left the nest, lifting toward the Sealed God Palace on the horizon.
He raised his hand, and a vivid, crystal-clear scene unfolded before Luo Luo’s eyes.
[Within the Sealed Divine Hall, the three lords—Taiyi, Hong Meng, and Tian Yin—paced cautiously at the periphery.
Lord Taiyi’s eyes gleamed faintly. "If my guess is correct, he is not far from the legendary ascension!"
Lord Tian Yin’s voice turned icy. "We must never let him ascend."
"Indeed," Lord Taiyi said gravely. "His cultivation is far too terrifying. Out there, none of our actions could escape his notice. But now, under the pretense of eradicating demons, we can lay a fatal trap for him right here."
Lord Tian Yin smirked. "He’d never expect that we held back during our last ‘test’."]
"Buzz…"
Luo Luo flapped her wings vigorously.
She glanced at the sage, whose expression remained serene, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to react.
So all this time, those three had been…
Scheming! Loudly! Inside his very body!
