EFB Chapter 117 Heaven itself harbors no hatred, but those who part have their own.
Chapter 117 Heaven itself harbors no hatred, but those who part have their own.
"No." Ning Qingxue shook her head, but there was a hint of a smile in her eyes. "When the True Martial Sect and the Heavenly Palace clash and the scene becomes chaotic, I will lift the restrictions on the side hall, and you can take the opportunity to leave."
Lu Ming looked at her, his heart filled with gratitude, but also with a touch of reluctance.
He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Qingxue, come with me. The Zhenwu Sect will protect you, and the Dao Academy won't make things difficult for you."
"Leaving Litian Cliff, you can do whatever you want, and you don't have to be that cold and aloof young master anymore."
Ning Qingxue's body stiffened abruptly, and the smile on her face vanished instantly.
She slowly shook her head, her eyes filled with helplessness and a hint of despair.
She took a step back, creating some distance, as if the suggestion had terrified her.
"I can't leave." Her voice was very soft. "I am the young master of the Li Tian Palace, and Ning Wuyai's daughter."
"My fate was sealed from the day I was born."
"Whether it's heaven or hell, I have no right to choose, only the fate of being chosen."
She raised her hand, her fingertips touching her brow, where the mark of the young master of the Heavenly Palace lay—a symbol of honor, but also of shackles.
"After my mother died, I knew that I didn't belong to myself."
Her eyes reddened again, but she stubbornly raised her head: "Lu Ming, you don't understand. Some shackles can't be broken off just because you want to."
"You have a Taoist academy, a Zhenwu Sect, and a place to return to. But I only have this Litian Cliff."
Lu Ming looked at her, his heart filled with mixed feelings.
He wanted to argue, to tell her she had the right to choose, but seeing the despair in her eyes, all the words stuck in his throat.
He finally understood that her loneliness stemmed not only from being misunderstood, but also from being unable to control her own destiny.
The loneliness in close relationships stems from our desire to be understood, yet our fear of being seen through.
He understood her helplessness, but he couldn't free her from her shackles.
She saw through his good intentions, but had no choice but to refuse.
As night fell, a faint glimmer of dawn appeared on the eastern horizon, and the smoke began to dissipate, revealing the rolling mountains below the cliff.
Ning Qing suppressed her emotions and regained her usual calm:
"It's almost dawn, I should go. Remember, when you hear the sounds of fighting outside, go through the back door of the side hall. I've tampered with the restrictions there, you can break them with your spiritual power."
She turned around, paused, but didn't look back; her voice was as soft as a sigh.
"Lu Ming, thank you. Thank you for listening to me so much, thank you for letting me know... Take care from now on."
Lu Ming watched her retreating figure, wanting to say so much, but in the end, he only managed to say, "Take care. If one day you want to leave, I will come to pick you up."
Ning Qingxue paused slightly, but did not respond. She simply quickened her pace and her figure quickly disappeared outside the palace gate, leaving only a faint, cool fragrance.
Silence returned to the hall. Lu Ming stood by the window, gazing at the gradually brightening sky, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
He recalled the helplessness in Ning Qingxue's eyes, her words "I have no right to choose," and her frail figure in the mist.
Gradually, sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone on the cliff face, giving the cold cliff walls a warm glow.
The nine ancient seal characters on the cliff face, "Heaven has no hatred, but those who part have hatred," seemed less cold and desolate and more warm under the sunlight.
Lu Ming knew that a major battle was about to begin.
He will leave Litian Cliff and return to the Taoist temple.
Ning Qingxue will remain on this lonely cliff, as the young mistress of the Li Tian Palace.
They were like two intersecting lines, briefly meeting before heading off in different directions.
Perhaps this is fate, with the beauty of meeting and the helplessness of parting.
But Lu Ming always believed that, just like the sunlight breaking through the clouds, no matter how long the night is, there will always be a glimmer of light to look forward to.
He didn't know if he would ever see Ning Qingxue again, nor whether she would be able to break free from the shackles of fate.
But he will remember this night, her story, and the tenderness in her eyes.
Outside the window, the sunlight grew brighter and brighter, shining on Lu Ming's face and illuminating the hope in his heart.
At the other end of the cliff, Ning Qingxue stood in the shadow of the main hall, gazing in the direction of the side hall.
She knew that this parting might be forever.
But she didn't regret it. At least on this night, she shed all her pretenses and became the real Ning Qingxue.
Heaven itself harbors no resentment; it is those who part that feel resentment.
But hidden within this hatred is a subtle warmth, a yearning for freedom, and the mutual solace of two lonely souls.
With a great battle imminent and parting imminent, only this feeling, which blossomed in the darkness of the lonely cliff, shines like a glimmer of light in the mist.
The Litian Palace on Litian Cliff had long sensed the imposing power of the Zhenwu Sect and activated its protective array early on. Now, Litian Cliff is completely shrouded in the silvery-gray Lihen Sha.
However, the temple master was seriously injured, and the great formation could not be fully deployed.
The malevolent aura, like smoke and mist, swirled and transformed into solitary wild geese and forlorn figures, accompanied by the faint, mournful sounds of the sheng and xiao, perfectly conveying the eternal desolation of "Heaven has no hatred, but those who part have hatred."
This place was originally a secluded and aloof sanctuary for spiritual practice, keeping people at arm's length.
However, the peace of this day was completely shattered by the iron-blooded torrent from the East.
At first, it was just a faint golden-red hue on the horizon, like the morning glow, but a hundred times more intense, as if it had the power to burn the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the golden-red color spread like a tide, swallowing up the entire sky above the Litian Cliff.
The fleet, so large it blotted out the sky, abruptly cut off the daylight!
An immense pressure, as heavy as a mountain, carrying the coldness of meteorite iron and the might of martial arts, crashed down from the sky.
The air around Litian Cliff began to stagnate, as if the entire world was about to be crushed by this power, and even the flowing Lihen Sha was momentarily halted.
coming!
Twenty enormous, mountain-like sky-splitting warships crashed directly into the sea of clouds, like twenty floating, black iron behemoths, approaching in a formidable array.
They are forged entirely from a mixture of dark gold meteorite iron and dragon-patterned steel, along with countless other rare and precious materials.
The ships were all over a thousand feet long, with the main ship in the center being three thousand feet long. The ram of the bow resembled an inverted divine spear, and the shadow of the ship alone shrouded most of the Litian Cliff in darkness.
The hull of each warship was covered with densely packed runes, which now lit up. The runic auras of the twenty warships interacted with each other, transforming into a light curtain spanning a hundred miles, radiating terrifying fluctuations.
Each warship is equipped with 360 Immortal-Slaying Cannons, so 20 warships would have 7,200 cannons. The destructive energy condensed inside them flows erratically, even drawing in the surrounding light to form tiny black vortices.
On either side of the warship, each warship carries twelve war beasts of different shapes.
When the giant ape beat its chest, the void roared; when the divine eagle spread its wings, it stirred up a fierce wind; when the qilin trod on fire, the flames burned the sky.
All of them are forged from top-tier energy cores such as Nine Heavens Mystic Iron, Solar Fire Core, and Taiyin Cold Crystal.
These war beasts ranged in size from fifteen zhang to thirty zhang in height. When their joints moved, they emitted a deafening roar like rolling thunder.
On the warships and puppet beasts, thousands of Zhenwu Sect disciples stood solemnly!
The immense blood and energy emanating from their bodies was like a crimson sun hanging behind the formation. The crimson-gold blood and energy smoke soared into the sky, reaching a height of a thousand feet, and even shattered the thick clouds above into dust, forming a stark contrast with the silver-gray Lihen Sha of Litian Cliff.