Chapter 46: No Regret, No Remorse

Ji Ning respectfully accepted the two jade bottles, one white and one black, and the gourd.

"Go," said the Daozu Redbright with a slight nod and a smile.

Only then did Ji Ning, in high spirits and excellent mood, leave the great hall and return to the Northmoon camp, to his own dwelling.

...

"Back so soon?" Yu Wei greeted Ji Ning.

"Haha..." Ji Ning laughed as he entered. "Bring wine."

Yu Wei immediately brought out a jug of immortal wine. She had just set out the cups and utensils when Ji Ning grabbed the jug, tilted his head back, and drank heartily. A surge of spiritual energy spread through his body and rushed to his head, making him exclaim, "Ah, that feels good."

"It seems you're in a good mood, Junior Apprentice Brother," Yu Wei said, sitting down beside him.

"How could I not be?" Ji Ning laughed. "On the battlefield, I have you, Sister, to accompany me. I have a daughter. And now this realm war is about to end in a great victory. Everything is going smoothly. Heaven has been good to me."

Yu Wei smiled too, reached out her left hand, and took Ji Ning's hand.

Ji Ning smiled.

"First, I'll prepare the antidote." Ji Ning flipped his hand and produced the white jade bottle and the gourd. He pulled out the stoppers of both the gourd and the bottle. The gourd was a wine-storage treasure, not particularly precious—merely an immortal-grade artifact, something a Daozu could refine at will. The mouth of the gourd naturally generated a tremendous suction, drawing all the antidote from the jade bottle into it.

"Preparing the antidote?" Yu Wei was puzzled.

"Mm, I'll be giving this antidote to three thousand Celestial Immortals and three hundred thousand loose immortals later," Ji Ning said with a smile. "You'll need to take it too."

"Take the antidote? Why?" Yu Wei asked.

Ji Ning said, "Can't you guess? The Human Sovereign Shennong is skilled in medicine; he is the 'Ancestor of Medicine' of the Three Realms. In terms of medicine, no one in the Three Realms can compare to him. This time, he has developed a new immortal medicine... once released, within ten thousand li, all immortals will be unable to mobilize their magic power, becoming like mortals. What do you think would happen to the Espionage Gate if this were used suddenly on the battlefield?"

"So powerful?" Yu Wei was shocked. She nodded lightly. "Then the Espionage Gate would be utterly defeated. But, Junior Apprentice Brother, the Espionage Gate is said to have excellent intelligence. Could it be that they don't know about this and have no countermeasures?"

"Given their intelligence, they probably already know," Ji Ning shook his head. "But this is an open scheme. If they surround me, I'll release the medicine and sweep them away. If they don't surround me, with the strength of the Northmoon Army under my command, I can defeat them one by one."

Yu Wei nodded gently. "Indeed, it's an open scheme. Knowing there's such a medicine and lacking the antidote, the Espionage Gate is helpless."

"The Human Sovereign is truly formidable," Ji Ning sighed in admiration. "To be able to refine such a powerful immortal medicine."

"Splash, splash."

Ji Ning shook the wine gourd; he could hear the liquid sloshing inside.

"The antidote is ready." Ji Ning looked at Yu Wei with a smile. "Would you like to be the first to take it?"

"No hurry."

Yu Wei asked curiously, "I wonder what that immortal medicine looks like?"

Ji Ning smiled. "The antidote is in the white jade bottle, while the immortal medicine is in the black jade bottle." He flipped his hand, and the black jade bottle appeared in his grasp.

"Oh?" Yu Wei reached out. "Let me see."

Ji Ning was taken aback.

A thought of stopping her crossed his mind, but it was only a fleeting thought; he didn't actually stop her.

"Be careful, Sister," Ji Ning cautioned.

"Mm." Yu Wei held the black jade bottle.

...

In the Purple Haze Pearl World.

Yu Wei's avatar was there.

"Mother." The kneeling little girl, Mingyue, looked at Yu Wei with big eyes. "I know I was wrong. Can you plead with Father? Tell him not to be angry anymore. I truly know I was wrong."

Yu Wei's avatar walked over, knelt beside her daughter, and gently embraced her.

The little girl Mingyue was startled, then happily sniffed her mother's scent. "Mother, you smell so nice. Mingyue likes it very much."

"Mingyue..."

"Mm?"

"You must be obedient. Don't make your father angry anymore, understand?"

"Oh, this time I truly know I was wrong."

"Mm, I know Mingyue is the best-behaved."

Yu Wei's avatar held the little girl Mingyue.

Suddenly...

Tears streamed down her face.

"I'm sorry. Mother is sorry for you." Yu Wei's avatar held her daughter. The still-innocent child Mingyue looked up at her mother in confusion, but Yu Wei gazed at her as if imprinting her daughter in her heart.

Then...

She dissipated like mist.

"Mother?" The little girl Mingyue called out.

...

Within the White Pole Commandery of the Grand Xia World, in the floating Eight Dragons Cloud City.

Ji Ning's dwelling.

Yu Wei's slender, fair fingers gripped the black jade bottle. She looked at Ji Ning.

She still remembered the first time she met her Junior Apprentice Brother... It was when Ji Ning had just entered the Black-White College. That time, in the Debate Hall of the Black-White College, Ji Ning had won battle after battle, dazzling and brilliant. It stirred ripples in Yu Wei's heart. Later, she even personally fought against Ji Ning... Perhaps even then, she instinctively wanted to leave a deeper impression in her Junior Apprentice Brother's heart.

She remembered the time at the Wujiang Immortal Estate... watching Ji Ning part ways with Jiulian, watching Ji Ning wander the world alone...

In the Brightmoon Landscape Painting... sharing life and death with her Junior Apprentice Brother time and again, guarding him as he guarded her, their hearts drawing closer, until that time when she faced danger and her Junior Apprentice Brother finally rushed out and embraced her. At that moment, she could no longer hold back. Even though she was of the Espionage Gate camp, she swore that she would never harm her Junior Apprentice Brother, even if it meant death.

She returned from her master, Patriarch Lu, and her Junior Apprentice Brother also returned.

Finally, they were together.

This was the happiest time of her life, whether in her past life or this one. She and her Junior Apprentice Brother enjoyed romantic moments under the moon and flowers, their hearts in perfect harmony...

...She caressed her belly, watching her Junior Apprentice Brother practice his sword...

...She prepared meals, waiting for her Junior Apprentice Brother to return...

...Her daughter was born. At last, at last, she had given birth to her daughter safely. Although the Godking had issued orders, at least she had been together with her Junior Apprentice Brother for so long, and they even had a child...

...It was enough. This period of happiness was the happiest in her past and present lives...

...But she was sorry to her Junior Apprentice Brother, sorry to her daughter...

...

A thousand thoughts, countless feelings, flashed through her mind.

And at this moment, in the Purple Haze Pearl World, Yu Wei's avatar tightly embraced her daughter, tears streaming down.

"Bang!"

Those slender, fair fingers crushed the black jade bottle.

The sound of the bottle shattering made Ji Ning, who had been in such a good mood, feel as if his soul were roaring. He stared in disbelief at the shattered black jade bottle. How... how could this be...

"Whoosh~~~"

Silently, the medicine of Shennong from the black jade bottle instantly spread in all directions.

Ji Ning and Yu Wei were the first to be affected. The immortal power within their bodies instantly became heavy and impossible to mobilize.

"What's happening?"

"This..."

"Heavens."

In the first instant, all the loose immortals and Celestial Immortals in the Northmoon camp felt their bodies go limp, their immortal power completely immobilized. The light, ethereal sensation they once had was gone; they had become nearly mortal.

The medicine of Shennong spread rapidly in all directions.

It could spread over a range of ten thousand li, and the entire Eight Dragons Cloud City was just over ten thousand li in size.

"Damn it!"

A furious roar echoed throughout the Eight Dragons Cloud City.

It was the voice of Daozu Redbright.

Instantly, a surge of mighty magic power swept across heaven and earth, immediately halting the spreading medicine of Shennong, preventing it from spreading further. Although Daozu Redbright acted quickly, the number of Celestial Immortals and loose immortals who had already fallen was astonishingly large, far more than just the Northmoon camp.

...

Ji Ning stared at his Sister in disbelief.

His soul roared.

His heart trembled.

His Dao-heart was strong, but no matter how strong, Ji Ning fell into an indescribable fear.

Even the most terrifying tribulation of the heart could not compare to this scene before him, which filled Ji Ning with despair. The moment the black jade bottle was crushed, Ji Ning understood in his heart, but the truth he understood... terrified him.

Yu Wei looked at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning looked at Yu Wei.

Their eyes met.

At this moment...

It seemed to become eternity.

Ji Ning sensed the boundless love, endless attachment, and infinite concern in his Sister's eyes. He could strongly feel that love, which had penetrated to the bone, to the soul. At the same time, he also sensed the guilt in her eyes...

"I'm sorry," Yu Wei said softly. She just looked at Ji Ning, as if she wanted to carve his image deep into her soul.

Whoosh~~~

The wind blew, sand drifted.

And Yu Wei's body, like countless grains of sand, began to collapse directly, like a wisp of smoke, beginning to dissipate. After crushing the black jade bottle, she unhesitatingly chose to end herself; her Celestial Immortal golden core had completely disintegrated.

Like a gust of wind passing by.

His Sister, like drifting smoke, completely vanished from the world.

Ji Ning reached out his hand, trying to grasp something, but grasped nothing.

He stood there, stunned, his hand outstretched.

Unable to mobilize magic power?

The crushing of the medicine of Shennong affected the overall war situation?

The realm war was about to be lost?

All of this... Ji Ning did not think about...

He just looked at the place where his Sister had been sitting. Just moments ago, his Sister had been sitting beside him, had prepared immortal wine for him, and had been smiling at him. Just like every time he returned from battle in the past, his Sister had smiled at him like that.

But—

She was gone!

That chair was empty, as if Yu Wei had never existed in this world.

"Obliterated?"

"Gone."

Ji Ning murmured to himself, "She's not here. Sister is not here. Forever gone."

"How could this be."

"How could this happen."

"Father and mother are gone. Sister is gone too." Ji Ning sat there, woodenly, as if his soul had left him. He stared blankly at the place where his Sister had been sitting. Just before, his Sister had been sitting there, smiling at him. His Sister's smile had once made Ji Ning feel the warmest and happiest.

"Boom."

A figure appeared out of nowhere—it was Daozu Redbright, his face filled with anger.

But Ji Ning just sat there, staring at the place where his Sister had been, staring at that spot.

...