Shui Hua lifted her head from Tantai Jingyue’s arms.
With only one glance, her face turned deathly pale.
“Sister.”
She reached out in panic, yet did not dare touch the wound.
“You’re bleeding.”
Tantai Jingyue’s breathing grew slightly heavier.
But she only said softly, “I’m fine.”
How could she possibly be fine?
Tears welled up in Shui Hua’s eyes at once.
She wanted to cover her sister’s wound, but saw that the power of the Black Tide was still entwined within the flesh.
Whenever the moon-pale divine light flared, the wound tore open again.
“You’re lying to me.”
Shui Hua’s voice trembled.
“You’re hurt this badly. How could you possibly be fine?”
Tantai Jingyue did not answer.
She merely raised a hand and shielded Shui Hua farther behind her.
At the outer edge of the sacrificial altar, the Ten Divisions were still doing everything they could to maintain the formation.
The Grand Priest Cang Xuanzi’s hands continued forming seals. One sacrificial rune after another rose from the surface of the sea, attempting to mend the cracks in the main formation.
Yet no matter how the sacrificial formation changed, the two portions of Hairuo’s divine essence could never truly merge.
The three-tenths and seven-tenths clearly came from the same source.
Whenever they drew near, they could unleash power far beyond that of an ordinary Hairuo.
But the moment they entered the core of the Sea Eye, the two fated essences would separate once more.
Cang Xuanzi’s expression grew increasingly grim.
He changed the sacrificial seal again.
But the instant the new runes lit up, they were forcibly torn apart by the power surging from the depths of the Sea Eye.
Yun Zhuo stood at the outer edge of the altar, watching the formation’s changes from beginning to end.
After a long while, he finally spoke in an even voice:
“There is nothing wrong with the sacrificial method.”
Everyone around him turned to look.
Yun Zhuo’s gaze fell upon the sisters at the center of the altar.
“No matter what formation we use, the result will not change.”
“As long as they remain two separate people, this formation will never succeed.”
The sea wind suddenly turned cold.
Cang Xuanzi’s expression darkened, but he did not refute him.
Because the truth was already plainly before them all.
Old Jiang gripped the Tide-Calming Staff, his knuckles white.
Xie Bugui frowned. Zhu Changli lowered his eyes, and the priests of the Ten Divisions sank into utter silence.
Yet it was precisely that silence that made Old Jiang understand everything.
The color drained from his face little by little.
“You mean…”
He could not bring himself to say the rest.
Shui Hua understood as well.
She raised her head and looked at Tantai Jingyue.
“If the divine essence is placed in only one person, will that be enough?”
Tantai Jingyue’s expression changed drastically.
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
But Shui Hua’s gaze had already passed beyond her, toward the depths of the Sea Eye.
She possessed seven-tenths of the divine essence.
Her sister possessed three-tenths.
If her sister took her seven-tenths, she would become a complete Hairuo.
If Shui Hua received her sister’s three-tenths, the same would be true.
The so-called twin Hairuo had never been a blessing meant to let both of them live.
From the very beginning, it had been a fate that required one of them to become the missing half of the other.
Shui Hua fell silent for a moment.
Then she suddenly reached out and seized Tantai Jingyue’s sleeve.
“Sister.”
Tantai Jingyue already knew what she wanted to say.
“Shut up.”
Shui Hua’s eyes reddened.
“But one of us has to—”
“I said, shut up!”
It was the first time Tantai Jingyue had ever rebuked her so harshly.
Shui Hua froze.
Tantai Jingyue’s chest rose and fell.
Her wound was still bleeding without end.
But as she looked at her sister, her voice gradually softened.
“When I left back then, it wasn’t so that I could return more than a decade later and kill you.”
“I will not take your divine essence, and I will not let you die.”
“But, Sister…”
“There are no buts.”
Tantai Jingyue cut her off.
“This is not a choice you need to make.”
The Black Tide slammed into the altar once more.
Boom!
The entire main altar shook violently.
Shui Hua suddenly remembered the almost transparent figure in the Hall of Listening to the Tides.
After hesitating for a moment, she said softly, “Doesn’t Lord Hai Ruo still possess divine essence?”
Tantai Jingyue abruptly raised her eyes.
She understood Shui Hua’s meaning at once.
If the current Hairuo surrendered her divine essence, perhaps it could make up for the complete fated essence missing from the Sea-Calming Sacrifice.
Perhaps neither of the sisters would have to die.
But what would that mean?
It would mean asking her master to die.
Tantai Jingyue’s grip tightened slowly around her sword.
The current Hairuo had brought her back to the Divine Palace.
She had taught her how to cultivate.
She had raised her.
Even though she had sealed away Tantai Jingyue’s memories of Shui Hua, she had indeed concealed the sisters’ existence for more than a decade.
If not for Hairuo, the six-year-old sisters would have been placed upon the Selection Altar by the Divine Palace long ago.
Hairuo had used the final decade of her own life to delay this day for them.
Tantai Jingyue could not force her master to surrender her life just to save Shui Hua.
Nor could she kill her own sister in order to save her master.
Tantai Jingyue suddenly realized that fate had come full circle, placing the same choice before her once more.
More than a decade later, she still refused to let anyone die for her.
Yet the expression on her face suddenly became calm.
Shui Hua saw her eyes, and a powerful sense of unease rose in her heart.
“Sister.”
Shui Hua clutched her hand tightly.
“What are you planning to do?”
Tantai Jingyue did not answer.
She merely raised a hand and wiped the blood from the corner of Shui Hua’s lips.
Then she lowered her head and straightened the collar that the Black Tide had torn into disarray.
The fear in Shui Hua’s eyes grew heavier and heavier.
“Sister.”
“We can think of another way.”
“Sister Jiang is here. The Grand Priest is here too, along with so many priests.”
“They’ll surely think of something else.”
Tantai Jingyue raised her head.
She looked at Shui Hua.
At last, the faintest trace of a smile appeared in her eyes.
“Huahua.”
Since recovering her memories, this was the first time she had called her by that name so clearly.
Tears immediately spilled from Shui Hua’s eyes.
“I’m here.”
Tantai Jingyue looked at her for a long time.
As if she wanted to carve her sister’s present appearance into the deepest part of her memory once more.
In the next moment, she suddenly raised her hand.
A beam of moon-pale divine light fell upon Shui Hua without warning.
Before Shui Hua could react, her body was pushed toward the outer edge of the altar by a gentle yet irresistible force.
“Sister!”
She reached out, trying to seize Tantai Jingyue.
But her fingertips touched only a strand of moonlight slipping away through her palm.
Thud!
Shui Hua landed at the edge of the altar.
A Mirror-Moon Seal rose with her, completely blocking her from the outside.
The moon-pale barrier was like a transparent water mirror, separating the two sisters.
Shui Hua immediately scrambled to her feet and threw herself against the sacrificial seal.
“Sister!”
At the center of the altar, Tantai Jingyue stood alone beneath the Black Tide.
She raised her hand and voluntarily released the restraints binding her divine essence to the sacrificial formation.
One.
Then another.
The sacrificial runes entwined around her fated essence snapped apart in succession.
With the three-tenths of Hairuo’s divine essence freed from the formation’s suppression, a damaged moon shadow slowly condensed behind her.
Cang Xuanzi’s expression changed drastically.
“Her Highness the Divine Maiden!”
“Stop!”
Zhu Changli also realized her intentions in an instant.
“She’s trying to strip away her divine essence!”
Tantai Jingyue was not trying to continue suppressing the sea.
She intended to strip the three-tenths of divine essence from her fated essence completely.
The divine essence was connected to her flesh and soul.
Once it was forcibly removed, she could not possibly survive.
But once she died, the three-tenths of divine essence would lose its vessel and return to Hairuo’s fated path.
And Shui Hua, whose essence shared the same origin and who possessed seven-tenths of the divine essence, would become its sole vessel.
The seven-tenths and three-tenths would merge into one.
Shui Hua would become the complete Hairuo.
Jiang Qingwan also sensed her intentions.
The Violet Lightning Sword leapt from its sheath in an instant.
A bolt of lightning pierced through the sacrificial formation from the outer edge and struck the Mirror-Moon Seal.
Boom!
The seal shook violently.
But Tantai Jingyue had clearly prepared for this long ago.
This sacrificial seal was directly connected to the three-tenths of divinity behind her. Even Jiang Qingwan’s sword had failed to break through it at once.
“Tantai Jingyue!”
Jiang Qingwan’s gaze was icy.
“Do you think everything will be over just because you’re dead?”
Through the sacrificial seal, Tantai Jingyue looked at her.
Her face was already deathly pale, yet her voice remained unnaturally calm.
“At least Shui Hua will live.”
“Many people in the coastal cities will survive as well.”
Jiang Qingwan said coldly, “She won’t accept it.”
A faint tremor passed through Tantai Jingyue’s eyes.
Of course she knew.
Shui Hua would never agree.
If she had been willing, she would not have told Tantai Jingyue to take the seven-tenths of divinity just now.
But precisely because she knew that, she could not ask.
Tantai Jingyue said quietly, “That’s why I’m the elder sister.”
“I’ll choose for her.”
Perhaps she really was running away.
Running from the thought of how much Shui Hua would suffer in the days to come.
Running from the question of whether her younger sister would be willing to bear the burden of her death and go on living.
She did not dare ask—and there was no time left to ask.
As long as Shui Hua lived, that was enough.
Even if Shui Hua hated her.
Even if she could never forgive her for the rest of her life.
Outside the sacrificial seal, Shui Hua battered against it in a frenzy.
The seven-tenths of Hairuo’s divinity slammed into the moon-white barrier again and again.
“Tantai Jingyue!”
Her voice was already hoarse from crying.
“Let me out!”
Tantai Jingyue’s body trembled faintly.
It had only been half a day.
And now she was about to break her promise again.
Tantai Jingyue said softly, “I’m sorry.”
Shui Hua shook her head desperately.
“No!”
“Sister, come back!”
“I don’t want your divinity!”
“I don’t want to become some complete Hairuo, either!”
“I only want you!”
Those final four words pierced Tantai Jingyue’s heart like a blunt knife.
At last, she turned around.
Through the constantly shuddering moon-white sacrificial seal, she took a long, deep look at Shui Hua.
Her sister’s eyes were bloodshot.
Tears covered her face.
Her sacrificial robes were disheveled, and the sea wind had whipped her long hair loose.
But the black tide in the eye of the sea had risen once more.
Cracks were spreading rapidly through the core of the sacrificial formation.
There was no time left.
Tantai Jingyue slowly lowered her sword.
She no longer resisted the terrifying force of suction rising from the depths of the sea’s eye.
Her moon-white sacrificial robes billowed in the black tide.
The three-tenths of divinity behind her transformed into a waning moon, illuminating her pale profile.
She turned away.
Shui Hua watched helplessly as that white-robed figure stepped away from the sacrificial altar.
“Sister—!”
Her heart-rending cry echoed throughout the divine palace.
Tantai Jingyue leapt toward the sea’s eye below.
The waning moon fell with her.
The white-robed figure was swiftly swallowed by the surging black tide.
