The ending is expected to be released tomorrow or the day after, so I have a busy night ahead. I've been writing since early this morning,~ Pouring all my effort into creating a complete, compelling, and somewhat profound ending. I'm exhausted. I hope my brothers and sisters will also support the new book, Dragon Dance of the Nine Heavens, which launches at midnight on New Year's Day. Please cast your monthly votes for the new book then... Sincerely." Lei Dong's voice trembled as he spoke: "I will not let you die, nor will I let your consciousness vanish. You are knowledgeable; tell me, is there any way at all for you to continue living? Without you, what good is being the Supreme Being? What does ruling the universe matter?"

Ding Wanyan slowly shook her head and said, "My husband, life always has an end. Even a Supreme Being can endure one or two cycles of reincarnation, but they will eventually fall. The power of the cosmos is not as simple as you imagine. In short, I am happy now. I have become a perfect person, with a husband who deeply loves me, and a child who is about to be truly nurtured and born. Perhaps you don't know, but two cycles ago, I was a being conceived by Chaos, without parents, naturally born. I was lonely and often lost. I traversed every corner of the universe, yet I could never find my own kind. That is why I desperately tried to comprehend the laws of life—I just wanted to create some companions to be with me."

Lei Dong embraced her tightly and said in a deep voice, "You are not lonely now. Wanyan, I will definitely find a way. The Heart of Chaos—that’s right, can the Heart of Chaos help you?"

Ding Wanyan fell silent for a moment, then slowly shook her head: "Perhaps it can, perhaps it cannot. But Lei Dong, I don't want you to take such a risk."

"Rest assured, Wanyan," Lei Dong gently stroked the hair on her forehead and said softly, "I absolutely will not get hurt. Your consciousness is about to dissipate and cannot withstand intense battle. Wait for me here peacefully; I'll be right back."

"No, Lei Dong. I cannot let you take the risk." Ding Wanyan, her face deathly pale, grasped his hand: "The Cosmic Consciousness is incredibly powerful; if you go, you’ll just be throwing your life away. I forbid it. I told you, all life must eventually die. Rest assured, I will hold on until the child is born. Once you have our child, it will be as if you still have me."

"No, that's not the same." Lei Dong turned, took a step, and flashed into the void. His voice echoed down: "Wanyan, although the child is important, and I cherish her dearly, what matters more to me is you. Senior Sister, wait here obediently for me; I promise I will return to save you."

In a faint shimmer, Lei Dong flickered and vanished from sight. Clearly, he had utilized his Supreme power, soaring into the boundless void. To obtain the complete Heart of Chaos, the only way was to slay the Azure Dragon Emperor, annihilate his soul with the Eye of Chaos, and condense it.

The most critical step was that the remaining half-piece needed to be extracted from his own body. This, Lei Dong could manage. After all, his cultivation level was not what it once was, and he knew his life factors inside and out. The Heart of Chaos was not a consumable; it was an indestructible existence.

The half-piece used for tempering his body had merely integrated into every single one of his life factors. Extracting it would be an extremely painful process, carrying a high probability of severely diminishing his cultivation.

But Lei Dong didn't care; he owed his Senior Sister too much. They loved each other deeply, and for her sake, he wouldn't hesitate to pay with his very life.

Just as Lei Dong transformed into a brilliant, star-like streak of light, leaping forward through the void, each leap covering an unknown distance.

...

Almost simultaneously, Ding Wanyan, whose face had been filled with sorrow and worry, slowly grew cold. Her expression became devoid of joy or grief, lacking any sign of vital emotion.

"I promised you that you would see Lei Dong one more time. I kept my word," her voice was icy, devoid of any human feeling.

The space rippled slightly, and a figure bound by spatial power slowly materialized before the "Ding Wanyan." As the distorted space settled, the figure’s appearance was revealed: it was another Ding Wanyan.

But the latter Ding Wanyan was furious, utterly heartbroken, and her ruby mouth opened to curse: "Despicable and shameless! How dare you, the so-called Mother Goddess of Ten Thousand Spirits, use such a method to deceive my husband! Disgusting, hideous."

"Curse me as you wish, child." The Ding Wanyan’s form slowly warped, transforming into a cold, supremely noble, and unreachable mysterious woman. Her appearance bore little resemblance to Ding Wanyan; instead, it was rather similar to the previous avatar of the Mother of All Spirits.

Evidently, this was the true Mother of All Spirits. She stated coldly, "You will never understand my loneliness, my solitude. But I must walk this path to transcend reincarnation and become the true Sovereign. Only then can I truly control all the universal laws and make heaven and earth act according to my will."

"You are nothing but a lunatic, a power-hungry madwoman!" Ding Wanyan cried out in grief and despair, "You impersonated me and tricked my husband simply to obtain the Heart of Chaos, extend your lifespan, and achieve your dream of being the Sovereign. You are selfish, a deviant."

"You can call me selfish or deviant; it won't change the facts," the Mother of All Spirits said lightly. "Your husband, driven by the great power of human love and kinship, will erupt with unprecedented fighting strength to kill that troublesome Cosmic Consciousness, retrieve the remaining half of the Heart of Chaos. Furthermore, he will willingly damage his own cultivation to extract the half within him and integrate the whole to give to me. Just as he said, if I wait patiently here, he will settle everything and give the Heart of Chaos to me. Grand, isn't it?"

Ding Wanyan was too overcome with rage to speak. She had clearly witnessed all of this just moments ago but had been sealed by the Mother of All Spirits in an isolated pocket dimension, forced to watch everything unfold. No matter how she shouted or wept until her lungs burst, Lei Dong could not hear a single word. Instead, he was being deceived and manipulated by that vile woman.

"You are very angry now, very helpless, longing to kill me? But you have no power." A hint of emotion finally surfaced on the Mother of All Spirits’ face—it was pain. "During the first great tribulation of heaven and earth's reincarnation, I had only recently ascended to the Supreme rank. To survive the tribulation, the chance was one in nine. But my children protected me with their lives, helping me. After sacrificing all my children, they managed to shield a trace of my soul imprint, allowing me to retain my memories and enter the next reincarnation."

Ding Wanyan watched her quietly.

"Do you understand? When you watched my children throw themselves forward one after another to shield me from the reincarnation tribulation, yet I was powerless to save them—forced to watch them die in droves, pulverized by the cosmic ordeal," the Mother of All Spirits’ peerless face revealed profound sorrow and agony. "That pain was far more intense and profound than what you feel now. At that time, I swore that I absolutely must transcend reincarnation, become the Sovereign of the universe, and never again allow my children to suffer such agony."

Ignoring Ding Wanyan's reaction, the Mother of All Spirits seemed to be venting only to herself, sinking into extreme pain and self-reproach: "But in the second reincarnation tribulation, the same situation occurred. Moreover, I suffered severe damage to my soul and consciousness while fighting for the Heart of Chaos. That damned Cosmic Will—it developed its own soul. It is inherently selfish, using the Heart of Chaos to gestate avatars, attempting to become the true Lord of the Cosmos. That damned thing, I won't let it succeed; I will make it pay a terrible price."

"What is the difference between what you are doing and what the Cosmic Consciousness does?" Ding Wanyan’s expression slowly regained calm, and she mocked with a cold smile.

"It's different, how can it be the same?" The Mother of All Spirits roared like a madwoman! "I want to become the Cosmic Sovereign so I no longer have to let my children suffer the torment of reincarnation. Do you know the Immortal Venerable and the Demon Venerable? They are also my children. But in the previous reincarnation cycle, they sacrificed themselves to protect me, leaving only a faint trace of residual consciousness alive in this world. What's worse is that during reincarnation, almost all their memories were erased; they forgot their origins, they forgot me. Only a sliver of fear regarding the heaven and earth reincarnation tribulation remained."

The Mother of All Spirits burst into a tragic, unwilling laughter: "My two most outstanding children, driven by that residual fear, began to continuously accumulate strength and power. Furthermore, because they forgot me, they even started attacking me. The accursed Cosmic Will, the accursed universe—it’s what ruined me like this. Now, the avatar of that Cosmic Will has also killed two of my children. Therefore, by any means necessary, I must destroy the avatar of the Cosmic Will, I must obtain the Heart of Chaos, and become the true Cosmic Sovereign. I will crush the Cosmic Will, the cosmic laws, and even the entire universe beneath my feet."

Ding Wanyan felt a faint stirring of sympathy for her, but more so, a deep sense of sorrow. While her past certainly evoked pity, her current actions involved deceiving her husband and manipulating him into fighting and sacrificing for her.

Based solely on this, Ding Wanyan could never forgive her.

Of course, the Mother of All Spirits didn't need Ding Wanyan's sympathy. It was just that the suffocation, distortion, and pain in her heart had nowhere to vent, so she simply vented them out through complaints.

As Ding Wanyan pointed out, the Mother of All Spirits had already become twisted and deviant. Otherwise, she wouldn't have forced Ding Wanyan to witness that spectacle, allowing her to feel heart-wrenching agony. The desire to protect her children, which truly motivated her actions in the past, had largely been replaced by venting and revenge.

"Very well, I feel much better after venting," the Mother of All Spirits waved her hand lightly and sneered, "When your husband retrieves the Heart of Chaos, I will thank him properly, and also let him sample what it feels like to be a woman. Heh heh, to truly become you and deceive your cautious and suspicious husband, I copied all your memories. These things are starting to influence my personality and values. I actually began to feel sympathy for you, and I actually developed desire for your husband."

"Shameless," Ding Wanyan managed to curse through her tears of devastation.

...(To be continued)RQ