Chapter 700: Years of Victory and Defeat

"Too slow..."

Brand, in the center of the alchemy array, furrowed his brow slightly.

The soul collection rate had been continuously slowing down since a moment ago. The last few tens of thousands of souls hadn't fully returned yet. Brand could probably guess the reason: the previous explosive growth in souls was due to the recent start of the war, particularly the large-scale deaths of town residents who didn't have time to escape.

Now, almost all refugees had fled into the main city and were hidden away, and the main army had been unable to break through the defensive line. This resulted in the soul collection process becoming increasingly slow.

Brand's gaze fell below the clouds, seeing the chaotic battlefield by the city wall and the numerous calamities moving through it. He suddenly froze.

"What is this..."

Boom—!!!

A loud bang broke Brand's thoughts.

He abruptly looked up to see the surging, colossal embroidery above the sky collapsing at a visible rate. The dense embroidery threads turned into grains of sand, like a vast desert being swept by the wind!

A blood-stained figure was sent flying backward from the crumbling embroidery, followed closely by a figure in white.

"It seems your body has reached its limit."

Lord Wuji said calmly.

With a wave of his hand, the sand particles swirling in the sky instantly transformed into metallic-like spheres. As they danced wildly in the wind, a large amount of electrical charge adhered to them.

The surging lightning flashes within the clouds were drawn to this silver storm, all flowing and clinging to it, like a colossal rotating thunder vortex!

The thunder vortex brewed behind Lord Wuji. As he pointed a finger, thick bolts of lightning, like surging dragons, struck Yao Qing's blood-stained body!

Crackle, crackle, crackle—

Several lightning strikes engulfed Yao Qing, knocking him directly from the air to the ground, sending clouds of dust swirling up.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough..."

Scarlet blood gushed from Yao Qing's mouth, splattering in large pools on the ground. If Chen Ling were here, he would see how strikingly similar Yao Qing was to the dying Lord Aurora, Yang Xiao.

Yao Qing had been out of the hibernation pod for too long; his body was irreversibly heading towards demise.

"Have I reached my limit...?"

Yao Qing looked at his blood-stained hands, muttering to himself.

He was silent for a moment. His weak hands clenched again. Extremely fine embroidery threads wildly moved through his blood vessels, repairing the aging damage to his organs as much as possible, buying him time.

When Lord Aurora left the hibernation pod, he didn't survive for three hours. Without the Human Embroidery, Yao Qing would never have been able to last this long. However, no matter how powerful the Human Embroidery was, it couldn't reverse fate.

"Just a little bit more, the very last bit... it's almost complete." Yao Qing turned his head, looking in the direction of Willow Town.

Thud—!

Lord Wuji descended from the sky like a superhuman, crashing into the ground in front of Yao Qing.

The white research robe emerged from the dust. As Lord Wuji walked, the ground beneath his feet gradually disintegrated, transforming into longswords glowing with silver light. They hovered in the air, like a forest of falling swords.

"Do you have any last words?"

Yao Qing felt the terrifying oppressive aura emanating from Lord Wuji. His face grew paler, and trickles of blood involuntarily seeped from the corners of his mouth. Yet, his spine remained unbent, straight as a spear.

"It's too early to discuss last words," Yao Qing replied hoarsely.

"It's not too early, because you have already lost."

Lord Wuji paused for a moment, then said calmly:

"Objectively speaking... you didn't lose to me, but to time."

Yao Qing's eyebrows rose slightly.

"But even if you recovered to your peak, you would still not be my opponent," Lord Wuji added.

"It's hard to say who would be the winner at my peak... But on one point, you are wrong."

"Where am I wrong?"

"I haven't lost to time."

Lord Wuji looked at Yao Qing's aged body, the profusely vomited blood beneath him, and his gradually fading vitality. He shook his head.

"You have lost."

"On this battlefield, I have indeed lost..."

A slight smile touched Yao Qing's lips. He seemed to perceive something, and a never-before-seen joy flickered in his cloudy eyes, like a vibrant red flower blooming in a desolate ice plain.

"But on another battlefield, I haven't lost."

Willow Town.

"The Chief's domain has been breached."

Bai Ye lay on the ground in the courtyard, tilting the brim of his baseball cap up slightly. His eyes fixed on the distant sky. "It seems the outcome of the domain battle is decided... What a shame."

"Get ready; it's time for us to work," Clubs J said calmly.

Jian Changsheng, Chu Muyun, and Diamonds 10 slowly stood up from the ground, about to change into their funeral attire. Then, Diamonds 10 seemed to recall something and suddenly spoke:

"So, no one from the higher-ups is really coming this time? What about the Requiem?"

"No one?" Bai Ye pointed to the four Kings still stuck in the ground. "Then what are these?"

"All four of them came? But if so, why haven't they shown themselves yet?"

"The higher-ups' thoughts... How would I know?"

Diamonds 10 shook his head. Just as he was about to leave, a strange aura suddenly spread through the void.

At the same time, Bai Ye and Clubs J's pupils contracted slightly. They abruptly stood up from the ground, their expressions extremely solemn.

"This is..."

The next moment,

the entire Willow Town began to tremble violently.

Outside the courtyard, from the withered willow trees and flower bushes, extremely fine embroidery threads shot up into the sky, emitting a faint glow in the air. A demigod-level aura surged forth.

Since entering Willow Town, everyone had sensed the presence of those fine embroidery threads. These were contingencies hidden by Yao Qing when Willow Town was first established. Now, for some unknown reason, they were all activated, rapidly moving towards the center of Willow Town as if possessing their own will!

"The painting! The painting!!"

Immediately after, Little Jian's exclamation rang out. The painting he kept hidden in his embrace floated up automatically. The myriad embroidery threads delineating Lord Hongchen's figure within it now vibrated as if in jubilant excitement, darting towards the sky like lightning!!

Thousands of threads intertwined right before their eyes. Under the demigod's oppressive aura, no one dared to make a move. They could only watch as the painting spun, enveloped by countless threads, before finally falling into a certain spot.

The air fell into a dead silence.

Su Residence.

In the quiet residence, adorned with embroidery threads, a graceful figure lay in the center of flower petals. Her breathing was steady, her clothes neat, and her hands rested gently on her abdomen, as if she were peacefully asleep.

Time seemed to have been weakened on her. Even after three hundred years, her dark hair remained full of vitality, and her face was still serene and beautiful, like a picturesque and timeless painting.

Just then, in the void above her head, the outline of a painting suddenly appeared, as if connecting to a passage beyond the world. The moment it opened, thousands upon thousands of fine embroidery threads surged out!

The graceful figure's eyelashes fluttered slightly.