160. Endless Regret
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Barely an hour later, Zhurong Fen's black dragon let out its first roar, opening its eyes.
But because it was a premature and flawed dragon, its mental state was erratic and it instantly went berserk, killing thousands of flower Immortals.
Zhurong Fen didn't mind, and she let the newly awakened dragon rampage, allowing it feed off the immortals for a while before capturing it.
Then she summoned a few followers, and with a formation, they took the dragon to Jinyu City in the Mortal Realm.
However, the sudden lack of divine air only made the dragon go berserk again...
And with a mighty roar, it unleashed its full powers, escaping their control and completely destroying Jinyu City...
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The Floral Realm had always had numbers in absolute abundance...
After all, hundreds of thousands of flowers were born yearly, sometimes simply because favourable winds carried uncountable pollens about, leading to masses of unwanted flowers who rarely ever amounted to anything great.
These numbers had allowed Zhurong Fen and Qin Yuelian kill thousands for Feng Yuexia every year without drawing any suspicion.
But in the past, Zhurong Fen and Qin Yuelian had been careful to slay those unwanted flowers, or at most, the regular flowers, and they drained their lives right from the fields, before they could reach a thousand years and take on human form.
However, the Black Dragon had just slain thousands of the Divine flower younglings, and thousands of already human flower immortals, a few of which had been high-level divine flowers.
It would surely be noticed!
Yet Zhurong Fen wasn't the slightest bit worried.
It was all part of her plan!
From the previous day, she had burned part of her essence to draw out part of Yu Wang's pure demon aura, and with it, she created the black talisman which would infuse Bailong with the demon aura and force his transformation.
Then she handed Immortal Jin the talisman and instructed him to escalate matters at the hearing, ensuring that as many people as possible must witness Bailong's transformation, but most especially Tianlong.
Then she also ensured that Immortals Bao and Kai Zhen were absent, while sending a few powerful demons to lure the War Immortal away to the outskirts of Sky Realm.
Her plan was to use the deaths of Yuexia and the child to fuel Tianlong's hate, while using her own death to fuel Fei Yun's.
And now, the death of thousands of immortals would also turn all of Sky Realm against her chosen culprit...
Yin Xiaolong!
While Tianlong and Fei Yun mourned, Zhurong Fen would wait at the demon seal for Yin Xiaolong's death.
And then with the child's core and dragon pearl, she would finally resurrect the Demon King!
But before that, she tampered with the memories of the witnesses, implanting her own death in their minds, while leaving a faux body behind for Fei Yun to weep over.
Then she used a technique to plant her star in the Fate Sea region, and as a final step, she hid the true Flower Field event and the entire Jinyu City from the stars...
It all went brilliantly well!
However, Zhurong Fen's hopes were soon dashed....
Despite their hatred, Tianlong had never permitted Yin Xiaolong's death, and Fei Yun hadn't pushed!
And unfortunately, Immortal Jin had been unaware that Zhurong Fen wanted Yin Xiaolong dead and not just out of the way, so Immortal Jin hadn't hesitated to seal Yin Xiaolong beneath Caoyang.
"Those infinite wastes!" Zhurong Fen had thundered after she heard!
But Yin Xiaolong was already under the mountain in a seal too powerful to break without drawing attention.
Especially with Fei Yun determinely monitoring the mountain...
Once Zhurong Fen appeared anywhere near Caoyang, a crazed Fei Yun would manifest in a matter of seconds, somehow sensing her aura despite how much she suppressed it.
And whenever she cloaked her floral aura with her demon powers, she thwarted Fei Yun, but alerted the ever-suspicious War deity, accompanied by countless Sky Soldiers.
If she was discovered alive, all her efforts would go to waste!
The witnesses' memories would be called to question, Yin Xiaolong would be proven innocent, and the Immortals might even investigate the stars and undo her demon technique.
And if her star was ever unsealed, then all the secrets would be revealed!
'No!' Zhurong Fen simply could not risk acting now...
Swallowing yet another bitter failure, Zhurong Fen abandoned Caoyang and vanished for a while.
And armed with Yu Wang's knowledge, she found a way into Shadow Realm to fully conquer it for him...!
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Two thousand years...
After the Demon King's fall in the past, Shadow Realm had become utterly lawless, and it had taken Zhurong Fen two thousand years of near deaths to finally bring all firmly under her control.
But by the time she returned to Sky Realm, Yan Liwei had already rescued Bailong, and the age ban surrounded Caoyang.
There was nothing she did not try to break this barrier, but to no avail!
Between ruling Shadow Realm and acting from the shadows within Sky Realm and the Mortal Realm, countless years went by with no success.
Till she eventually settled on the only beings who could enter Caoyang...
Mortals!
To get the Mortals on Caoyang, she released the black dragon, letting it go on rampages.
Then she mimicked Yin Xiaolong's rain technique to create the blood rain, knowing the immortals would link it back to him
And finally, like they had done in the past, her followers began the rumours that Yin Xiaolong somehow descended from Caoyang to slay mortals.
This was how Bailong became the infamous 'Black Dragon', and how the Immortals were forced to act, organizing the Caoyang Mission among the Mortals.
Yet, over endless years, not one mortal successfully came close to Yin Xiaolong.
Until Xu Weiyan...
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Present...
Back at Yu Shui City, Yin Xing ended the second trance-like state after all had witnessed the events from Zhurong Fen's and Feng Yuexia's stars.
Most of the mortals were in shock...
Shocked that such an evil being could exist!
And an Immortal, at that...
It was clear that Zhurong Fen was one bad seed, but that did not relieve present worries.
What if she had long succeeded... Wouldn't she have cast all the three realms into darkness already?!
And what if the Demon King had planted other such seeds amongst the immortals?!
Or even mortals?!!
Who then could be trusted amongst the races?!!!
Yin Xing simply shook his head.
There would be no end to the heartbreak, doubt, and distrust over these revelations.
The Mortals had lost faith in the Immortals, and rightfully couldn't trust them anymore.
On Sky Realm, the Immortals themselves were heartbroken over how they had so easily fallen for Zhurong Fen's manipulations, helping her destroy Bailong- the only one presently standing between them and the Demon King.
They had called the shining light a devil, while helping the devils douse the shining light!
And now?
They could no longer trust the Sky Emperor, the other deities, or even their own eyes.
Both Mortals and Immortal were filled with regret.
But the most regretful one Yin Xing knew was the Sky Emperor himself...
Tianlong was the first person Yin Xing had shown the star, during which Tianlong had vomitted a worrying amount of blood, especially upon witnessing the horrifying details of what had really happened to his late wife and child.
Not to mention all his late wife herself had done...
...and all she had led him to do...!
Tianlong had been regretful before he saw the stars' events.
But now he was beyond shattered, and the last time Yin Xing saw him, he had been crying endless tears over the dear friend he had lost...
Yin Xing neither pitied nor consoled him. "You're the Sky Emperor, so I'll respect you, but some things need to be said..." Yin Xing began with not the slightest worry.
Tianlong had vomited a flood of blood by now and looked on the verge of collapse, but Yin Xing ignored him.
"I won't go as far as saying you would have been nothing without my brother, but from what I know, you would never have been healed, nor would you have become the Sky Emperor.
"Without my brother's help, your title as Crown Prince would have remained empty, and even if you dear sister didn't kill you, you wouldn't have survived Immortal Jin!
"If my brother wanted the throne, would he have gone so far? Couldn't he have forcefully seized it at any time?! Yet you let your pride and fragile inferiority push away your so-called dear friend!"
Yin Xing turned away. "Back then, I always envied you and Fate Immortal Fei...
"I had my brother's early years, but after he left the Mortal realm, he turned most of that brotherly love and affection to you ungrateful snakes!
"And what did he get in return...? The loss of his dear ones, a thousand years bearing the weight of a mountain, and thirty thousand years of imprisonment and grief, unable to recall the face of his beloved!"
Yin Xing walked away after that, ignoring the sad pathetic sobs behind him, and he vanished the instant his feet crossed the Throne room doorway.
He didn't need to say more, and he had hurried to the Mortal Realm to reveal the truth...
Now, as he watched the mortals in their own varying states of doubt and regret, his mind couldn't help but settle on another fool who must surely be regretful by now.
'Hmph! I wonder what our dear Fate Immortal is doing with himself!'
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At the edges of Yu Shui City, Fei Yun had indeed emerged from the trance after witnessing all there was to witness and he raised reddened eyes to meet a calm Zhurong Fen.
Far from being repentant, a pissed expression had settled on her face.
"Hmph. It appears the three realms now realize my identity...!" She observed looking skyward, her expression immensely cold.
'She's not the least bit remorseful ...?!' Fei Yun thought in disbelief as he realized how well he had been played through the years.
He bent over, his body wracking as he hacked out a spray of blood, but Zhurong Fen coldly stepped away.
"My robes are black, but that does not mean you can soil them with your filthy blood!" She scolded, shaking out the hem of her robes. "All that effort poured into you, and you were ultimately useless...
"You couldn't even defeat a mere mortal? And you're here wearing this defeated expression for whom?"
Hearing her cold words sent blood rising to Fei Yun's chest and he spattered it out again.
"W- Why...?" Words finally escaped his mouth. "Why did you do this to me...?!!"
"Hmm? 'Why'?" Zhurong Fen simply scoffed. "You know why. Those who are used often know why, but they hide it in their deepest of hearts for whatever reason.
"In your case, you were such an easy tool because you yourself surely realized your own worthlessness...!"
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