Chapter 516: 万物绣国

Under the moonlight, a wolf’s eyes subtly shifted, locking onto an elderly figure inside the embroidery room through the floor-to-ceiling window. A stark killing intent, mixed with the pale moonlight, covered the ground like frost.

Xiao Chunping sat quietly, an embroidery needle in one hand, before a messy embroidery piece. Intricate threads intertwined on the fabric, vaguely outlining the silhouette of a museum. Her fingertips subtly lifted, and the embroidery needle gracefully pierced a specific point once more.

A dull thud echoed from beneath the floorboards. Nie Yu’s wolf eyes were fixed on Xiao Chunping, and just as he was about to make a move, the ground beneath his feet violently collapsed! Countless fine embroidery threads intertwined, appearing from a distance like an enormously vast needle. It moved beneath Nie Yu’s feet, instantly piercing a circular abyss several meters wide. The threads wrapped around Nie Yu’s limbs, dragging him furiously deeper into the earth!

As if in an endless abyss, Nie Yu was dragged downward at high speed. The ground where the museum stood grew increasingly distant in his view. The next moment, a dense swarm of embroidered figures leaped into the abyss, overwhelming him with their attack! The confined space and his plummeting body almost completely blocked Nie Yu’s escape routes. Yet, he showed no panic; instead, the killing intent in his wolf eyes grew even fiercer.

“Blade Silk!”

Nie Yu’s hand, gripping his hunting knife, spun beneath him. Invisible blade silks instantly severed the embroidery threads wrapped around his body. He then plunged the knife forcefully into the cave wall, gradually decelerating his descent. Once he stabilized himself against the cave wall, he leveraged it for a powerful push, practically soaring back towards the surface along the wall. But the overwhelming embroidered figures were also surging downwards. Nie Yu, gripping a hunting knife in one hand and a hunting gun in the other, his body enveloped in darkness, rapidly crashed into the surging mass of embroidered figures. Blade silks and exploding bullets unleashed a furious assault, brutally carving a path through them!

“What a powerful Celestial Wolf,” Chen Ling muttered from a distance, having brought his car to a halt in an open space near the museum. His eyes, with their apricot-red corners, watched intently as Nie Yu steadily fought his way up from underground. Within the Aurora Realm, Chen Ling had encountered numerous individuals possessing the Celestial Wolf path, ranging from the mere second-tier Xi Renjie to high-ranking seventh-tier enforcers. Yet, none radiated the raw wildness and ferocity of a wolf from the depths of their eyes like Nie Yu, who truly seemed like a born predator. Chen Ling even suspected that if Nie Yu had been born during the era of the Nine Great Realms and given sufficient time to develop, the position of Celestial Wolf leader in the Aurora Realm might have changed hands. He was, quite simply, born for the Celestial Wolf path.

With a resounding bang, numerous embroidered figures were sent flying back from the abyss. Nie Yu, covered in blood, burst forth from underground. He pushed off the ground, and his figure ghosted through all obstacles, piercing through the first and second-floor ceilings and walls, knife in hand, until he reached the embroidery room’s doorway! The hunting knife’s blade was not stained with blood, as the embroidered figures had no flesh; only a few scattered threads drifted from the blade to the ground. Nie Yu stood in the dim corridor, his wolf eyes piercing through the door, fixed on the elderly figure within the room.

He slowly raised his hand, opened the door, and his blood-stained footprints advanced, one by one, into the embroidery room. The blood was his own, shed during the fierce struggle.

“Your methods are impressive,” Nie Yu stated calmly. “However, in terms of combat, you seem far inferior to me. Without those embroidered figures, your frail, aged body alone is no match for me.”

Xiao Chunping remained seated quietly before the floor-to-ceiling window, still holding an embroidery needle. The frosty moonlight seemed to cast a silver sheen on her aged hair.

“Young man,” she rasped, “it’s not a good habit to judge people by their appearance.”

“This isn’t judging by appearance,” Nie Yu countered, his wolf eyes fixed on Xiao Chunping’s form. “I can see your life is likely nearing its end. You’re too old, and your lungs don’t seem good either. An old woman with one foot in the grave, even if her rank is higher than mine, might not be a better fighter than me.”

“Oh?” Xiao Chunping’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Young man… are you a very good fighter?”

“I’ve encountered one or two individuals with abilities, but none of them could fight as well as I can,” Nie Yu said, gripping his hunting knife, his voice calm and confident. “My ability, it seems, was born for combat.” In this era, the existence of the Fourteen Divine Paths was not common knowledge, especially not to a purely “wild” Divine Path user like Nie Yu. He simply knew he was powerful, and that by following this path, he would only grow stronger.

“Heh heh heh,” Xiao Chunping chuckled softly. “Young man, you still have too little experience. When I was young, I met someone who walked the same Divine Path as you. He was around your age, but even stronger.”

A cold gleam flashed in Nie Yu’s eyes. “Where is he?”

“Oh, him… He’s already dead,” Xiao Chunping shook her head. “He died of old age about five or six years ago. No matter how strong or capable in combat one is, it doesn’t mean they can defeat age and time. Perhaps only a very few paths, a very few individuals in this world, can truly contend with the passage of time. But a ‘soldier’ who knows only slaughter cannot achieve that.”

Nie Yu’s brow furrowed deeper. He gave a cold snort and, gripping his knife, walked directly towards Xiao Chunping. “I might not be able to defeat age… but right now, I can kill you.”

“Pity…” Xiao Chunping said calmly, “You cannot even kill me.”

As her words faded, Xiao Chunping’s fingers, holding the embroidery needle, gently relaxed their grip. The slender needle, trailing a wisp of thread, fell silently. The moment it touched the floorboards, ripples of distorted space began to spread outwards! A terrifying aura surged from around Xiao Chunping. Nie Yu’s wolf eyes constricted slightly, and instinct made the hairs on his entire body stand on end! Without a moment to spare, he gripped his hunting knife with one hand and instantly swung it towards Xiao Chunping’s neck! His intuition screamed that he had to kill Xiao Chunping immediately!

But before his blade silk could even touch Xiao Chunping’s body, the distance between them began to stretch rapidly. The wooden floorboards, previously joined naturally, now appeared to be woven from embroidery threads, extending endlessly. Not only that, the ground beneath the high-backed chair where Xiao Chunping sat suddenly churned, as if all matter surrounding her had transformed into embroidered creations! The floor-to-ceiling window automatically slid open, and the high-backed chair, as if alive, instantly transformed into an embroidered Eastern dragon. It carried Xiao Chunping’s body, soaring rapidly out through the window.

Under the frosty moonlight, a meticulously embroidered Eastern dragon ascended from the museum into the clouds. An elderly figure with white hair sat calmly upon it, their profound gaze steadily fixed on the museum below. In that moment, the entire museum surged like an ocean wave. Corridors, chairs, bedrooms, willow trees, rock gardens—everything began to revert to its original appearance. A colossal “Museum” embroidery slowly revealed its true form around Nie Yu, like bared fangs.

Azure Divine Path, Embroidery Master’s Path Domain:The Embroidered Realm of All Things.