Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 783 (2): Who Is Fiddling With the Strings?

She had not expected that the queen of the Spirit Tribe would have the means to resist Underworld Guide.

That was a Profound Control Realm corpse puppet, and not just an ordinary one. Because Underworld Guide had specialized in the power of yin corpses, the transformation of his body into a corpse puppet was far more potent than most. Unlike other corpse puppets, he could even retain a significant portion of his thoughts from when he was still alive.

By all logic, even if Sisi was well-prepared, even if she had her young Blood Ao, she should not have been able to stand against him.

And yet, in reality, Underworld Guide was being utterly suppressed, barely able to fight back.

The key lay in a bizarre Beast Spirit Fusion Art. By using this secret art, the tribespeople of the Spirit Tribe essentially became human-shaped Blood Ao. Sisi’s personal cultivation alone would not have allowed her to last a single exchange against Underworld Guide, but after employing this secret technique, she was able to hold her ground without faltering. With the assistance of other exotic beasts and the elders launching a relentless barrage of secret techniques, Underworld Guide was actually losing.

The techniques that they were using were ones that defied conventional cultivation logic... Perhaps this was why the Spirit Tribe had to be cut away from the land. They simply never belonged.

And on top of that, there was Zhao Changhe’s influence. During his time in the Spirit Tribe, he had deliberately studied the power of life and death. Now, the weapons of the tribespeople of the Spirit Tribe weapons had been specially treated, coated with substances that specifically countered undead beings, severing the cycle of death and rebirth.

The once-unstoppable corpse puppets, which should have been nearly impossible to kill, were now falling with the simplest of strikes from those of the Spirit Tribe.

Ye Jiuyou longed to intervene in this battlefield. This was where her expertise lay, and she could have easily turned the tide. Unfortunately, Ye Wuming stood firmly in her path, leaving her with no way to break free. Even the mere act of observing the battle was likely a privilege granted by Ye Wuming herself as if she were deliberately flaunting her strategic prowess like a child showing off their toys.

Underworld Guide’s undead legion was utterly incapable of withstanding the well-prepared Spirit Tribe. Their forces were on the verge of complete annihilation, and even Underworld Guide himself was now besieged, struggling desperately against overwhelming odds.

Whoosh!

Sisi’s dagger flashed, slashing across Underworld Guide’s arm. At the same time, a blade of wind, silent and swift, sliced toward her back.

An ambush!

Yet Sisi, who should not have possessed such keen instincts, seemed to have anticipated it long before it came. Her graceful figure twisted in the twilight, evading the wind blade with an effortless turn. The attack slipped past her and vanished into the void.

It was none other than Hidden Wind, the very same who had fled south like a beaten dog. He was now trying to redeem himself through this battle.

“The wind... The moment it stirred, I knew.” Sisi cast a backward glance, her alluring lips curling into a sultry smile. “Is this fate? I searched high and low, only to have you deliver yourself right to me.”

Hidden Wind: “?”

Sisi paid no mind to Underworld Guide who was still roaring as he fought against the encirclement of the Spirit Tribe’s elders and Blood Ao. Instead, her bare, crystalline feet stepped lightly across the moonlit void as if she were walking on grass. “The greatest doctor of my tribe told me that my master has no more than seven days left to live. I set out with my forces, and today... Today is the seventh day.”

Hidden Wind was thoroughly baffled. What the hell does your master dying have to do with me? Do I even know the guy?

“He never accepted the fact that you existed. He wanted to prove who was truly worthy of representing the wind. He even suspected that his inability to break through the Profound Control Realm was because of you, that the world had already acknowledged you first, leaving no room for him,” Sisi said softly. “Perhaps there’s some truth to that... Maybe, once you’re dead, he’ll finally be able to break through to the Profound Control Realm.”

“Are you out of your damned mind?” Hidden Wind snapped. “Anyone’s breakthrough requires their essence, energy, and spirit to be at their absolute peak! Who the hell told you an old man on his deathbed has any chance of reaching the next realm? What does that have to do with me?!”

Yet, despite his outrage, he did not refute the underlying premise—that there might indeed be a precedence issue among those who wielded the same elemental authority. A single avatar per force of nature; once one had been chosen, there would not be a second.

“What you think is irrelevant. I have inherited the will of the wind, and the one I seek is you. Originally, I’d planned to hunt you down once this battle was over. But to think that you actually walked right into my grasp.” Her gaze swept over Hidden Wind from head to toe, and for a fleeting moment, disappointment flashed in her eyes. “Wounded... and quite badly at that. Perhaps killing you now wouldn’t be much fun after all?”

Hidden Wind turned and bolted.

It was bad enough that he had been running into one dead end after another. Now, he had encountered a lunatic.

How the hell is the Spirit Tribe fighting the army of yin corpses without sustaining a single wound? Has Underworld Guide become completely useless?

Just as these thoughts raced through his mind, a delicate fragrance curled around his nose. His heart sank.

This is bad.

Scents traveled with the wind, and only the wind’s speed could carry an aroma to his nose. But if he was fleeing at full speed using his mastery over the wind, how could wind catch up to him?

He turned his head. Sisi’s flawless face was right beside him, keeping pace with ease. She smiled at him, tilting her head slightly. “Is this all there is to your mastery of the wind?”

Whoosh!

Hidden Wind struck out instantly, aiming a palm strike at Sisi’s ribs.

Sisi twirled effortlessly in midair as if she were a celestial maiden dancing in heaven.

The floral scent thickened.

For the briefest moment, Hidden Wind’s consciousness wavered. He realized the danger immediately. It was not just that his injuries had slowed him down. The greater problem was that, because of those injuries, he could no longer control the wind. The air around him had stopped responding to his command. The wind had fallen entirely under her dominion.

“Is this all there is to an ancient demon god?” Sisi murmured, almost disappointed. “I’ve heard him lament time and time again, how the so-called ancient demon gods were nothing more than self-serving scavengers, a worthless rabble who could never amount to anything... And now that I’ve seen it for myself, I can only agree.”

A bone dagger, shimmering with a faint metallic blue sheen, had already traced a line across Hidden Wind’s chest and abdomen. It was lighter than the wind, subtler than the scent of flowers.

“You thought you lost control of the wind because of your injuries?” Sisi’s bare feet drifted forward under the moonlight. She did not even spare him another glance as she said, “No... The wind has abandoned you.”

With that, she continued forward, closing in on Underworld Guide, who was still locked in a desperate battle.

Hidden Wind lowered his head, staring at the blood seeping from his chest. Droplets scattered, carried away by the breeze.

And at that moment, he heard it. It was the wind, whispering softly, like a sigh.

Is that what the wind truly sounds like?

Two eras seemed to stretch between him and that memory. He had forgotten the sound of the wind. He had forgotten how he had once attained its power.

Tang Wanzhuang had once said, “One who commands the wind should be the freest of all beings, drifting across the world, riding the clouds, vanishing into the nine skies. That is the meaning of Hidden Wind.”

Yes... he had never been human.

He was the chosen avatar of the wind. He was an innate demon god. In a way, he had never been more than a mere extension of the natural order, a fragment of Heavenly Dao given form. But he had strayed from his purpose.

And now, the wind had forsaken him. His divine essence, his authority, had become nothing more than a rare treasure to be claimed.

With a hollow thud, Hidden Wind plummeted onto the lands of Xiangxi. In the distance, the Xiang River flowed eastward, its waters carrying away all traces of his existence. His form began to dissolve into the breeze, growing fainter and fainter. Through the haze of fading consciousness, he vaguely felt something, he could vaguely sense the glimmering wisps of energy drifting into Sisi’s body. It was the passing of power, a transfer of authority, a new wind rising.

Almost at the same moment, by the tranquil shores of Erhai, Ye Wuzong, who had been quietly fishing, suddenly lifted his head toward the sky and let out a hearty laugh, tossing aside his fishing rod. “I understand now. It’s time to go.”

The guards of the Spirit Tribe on both sides exchanged bewildered glances before cautiously stepping forward. But as they approached, they found that the old man had already closed his eyes with a peaceful smile, his breath forever stilled.

“If this is heaven’s will...” Ye Jiuyou fell into a brief silence before suddenly finishing her question, “... then who is pulling the strings of karma?”

The blind woman, in a rare moment of playfulness, tilted her head slightly, almost as if she were teasing. “The will of heaven follows its own course. Who could possibly manipulate it?”

Ye Jiuyou’s gaze turned icy. “The weight of karma is too great. Don’t let yourself be swallowed by it.”

The blind woman only flashed a radiant smile. “You should focus on your own wager first.”

Their thoughts stretched across mountains and rivers, reaching all the way to the Sacred Mountain of Mobei.

Inside the temple, chaos had already been thoroughly silenced. Li Shentong, in the fashion of the Emperor of Daxi’s brutal efficiency, had slaughtered every last guard in sight. Meanwhile, Zhao Changhe and the others were scouring the area for the entrance to the secret realm.

The entrance had been well concealed. Yet it did not take long before Zhao Changhe found a clue.

“This aura of vicious blood...”

The power of the tngri was undoubtedly one of slaughter, but at its core, it remained closer to the forces of nature. Compared to Daoism’s natural flow, it leaned more toward majesty, vastness, and dominion, rather than harmony or benevolence. But regardless of its nature, it had no relation to vicious blood, nor did its path of ascension align with such forces.

Yet here, in this place steeped in divine authority, Zhao Changhe, who was intimately familiar with vicious blood, could distinctly sense an extremely familiar presence lurking within the grand expanse of the Divine Temple. It was subtle enough that others would never have noticed, but it could not escape his senses.

“There’s no mistake. This is definitely vicious blood qi... And it’s a very particular kind. It belongs to Lie.” Zhao Changhe studied an inconspicuous statue before him, his voice low as he explained, “Xue Canghai once told me that the final missing piece of the Blood God Array is inside Tngri’s Temple. That’s what the array itself revealed. It can’t be wrong. Since the essence of vicious blood is here, then the secret realm of the Divine Temple must be here as well.”

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Changhe raised the massive divine axe.

Lightning crackled. His muscles tensed, surging with power. His garments shredded apart.

He stood like a titan, axe in hand as if poised to cleave heaven and earth apart.

Boom!

The divine axe struck down with a deafening crash, splitting the ground open.

An aura as ancient and boundless as the primordial age itself wafted forth, finally revealing itself before them.

So much for Tngri’s arrogant claim that they would never be able to breach the secret realm. It had taken them less than the time it would take to rummage through one’s own belongings for a misplaced trinket.

Ye Jiuyou’s expression was graver than ever. The blind woman, however, simply murmured, “Now, tell me. Who do you think is truly fiddling with the strings of karma?”