Swing the sword at the future female devil

Chapter 474 Epilogue 1: Origin and End
At the same time, the grass that was forcibly inserted into the core of the altar and used as a bridge to the heavens was flashing with a gray-green light, conveying a chaotic and intense will to resist!

Duan Huaige's previous nurturing of her made the will of the Tree of Life more inclined to help him. Moreover, Taiqing's will to forcibly extract power and try to destroy everything also aroused her resistance! Its roots, which were deeply embedded in the altar, began to violently draw the source power of Kunlun Ruins in reverse, no longer supplying the Heavenly Road smoothly, but instead causing the passage to shake violently!
"You're courting death!!" Taiqing roared, diverting some of his attention to forcibly suppress Acao's agitation.

Just as this double restraint occurred, and the Heavenly Path Light Pillar fluctuated due to the backlash from A Cao and the suppression from the Mountain and River Map!

"Now! Frost's Descent!" Yan Qiuxi seized the fleeting opportunity and shouted at Duan Huaige!
Duan Huaige understood immediately. The Karma Wheel spun wildly in front of him, and the Dao of Cause and Effect burned recklessly! Target—Qin Shuangjiang, who wields the Spring and Autumn Sword Intent, at a certain point in the future!
"The cycle of karma continues! The Sword Immortal of Spring and Autumn... descends upon the world!"

A cold, aloof figure, imbued with the sword intent of endless time, rapidly materialized within the light of the Karma Wheel! It was none other than the future Qin Shuangjiang! Her eyes were as indifferent as an ancient glacier, and sword energy emanated from her body, seemingly capable of slicing through the river of time!
She didn't even need to say a word. Her gaze swept over the dark red pillar of light that stretched from heaven to earth. She didn't have a physical sword in her hand, but simply pointed her fingers like a sword and slashed at the pillar of light from afar!
"Spring and Autumn Period... the flow stopped!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a silent yet powerful force capable of shaking the very essence of time and space! A phantom sword shadow, imbued with the meaning of the annihilation of time and the changing of eras, transcended cause and effect, ignored distance, and precisely struck the pillar of light on the celestial path!
It was as if a red-hot iron had been plunged into ice and snow! The dark red pillar of light, which was originally incredibly condensed and connected the two worlds, instantly became illusory and transparent where it was struck by this illusory sword shadow!

The Heavenly Road passage was forcibly interfered with and interrupted for a moment! Although it was not completely shut down, the stable aura connecting it to the Heavenly Profound Holy Land was forcibly severed!
"It worked?!" Yan Qiuxi exclaimed in surprise. Hope also ignited in Jiang Xiyu's eyes.

After Qin Shuangjiang's projection unleashed a sword strike, her figure quickly dimmed, clearly indicating a significant energy expenditure. However, her icy gaze remained fixed on Taiqing.

"Good! What a magnificent sword intent of the Spring and Autumn Period! What a magnificent reversal of the flow summoning!" Taiqing, suppressed by the Mountain and River Map, suffering backlash from A Cao, and with the Heavenly Road being disrupted, finally showed a noticeable disorder in his aura. His chaotic vortex-like eyes erupted with towering flames of rage. "But you think... you can turn the tide like this?!"

She abruptly abandoned the suppression of the Breath Spirit Wood and temporarily ignored the suppression of the Mountain and River Map. Her eyes, which contained the power of chaotic cause and effect, instantly locked onto the Karma Wheel in front of Duan Huaige, as well as the invisible causal threads that connected the present-day bodies around the projections of the future Yan Qiuxi, the witch Jiang Xiyu, and the future Qin Shuangjiang!
"Playing with time? Tampering with cause and effect? ​​I'll show you... what true severance of cause and effect is!" Taiqing's voice was icy cold. She pointed her fingers like a sword, summoning the magic weapon of seeking cause and effect. Her fingertips were wrapped with chaotic gray light that was enough to sever the trajectory of fate. She slashed fiercely at the void, at those few crucial threads of cause and effect!
"Cause and effect... severed!"

There was no sound, yet it was as if the mournful cries of countless strings of fate being forcibly snapped resounded deep within everyone's souls!

The causal threads surrounding the projections of the future Yan Qiuxi, the witch Jiang Xiyu, and the future Qin Shuangjiang snapped instantly!

"Pfft!" Duan Huaige was struck as if by a heavy blow. His Karma Wheel instantly dimmed and he spat out a mouthful of blood!

The projections of the future Yan Qiuxi, the witch Jiang Xiyu, and the future Qin Shuangjiang, like burst bubbles, flickered and twisted violently, emitting a silent scream, and then... instantly collapsed and dissipated! Along with the powerful force and interference they brought, they vanished into thin air!
Yan Qiuxi, Jiang Xiyu, and Qin Shuangjiang felt as if a piece of their souls had been torn apart, and their cultivation levels plummeted like the receding tide! Their auras weakened, and they swayed precariously!

The glimmer of hope that had just appeared was instantly shattered by Taiqing's peerless sword strike that severed all ties of cause and effect, bringing everything back to square one! Even worse! Everyone was now truly trapped in a desperate situation! Taiqing's terrifying aura once again enveloped the entire area without any obstruction!
"It's over, you ants." Taiqing's voice carried an indifferent air of complete control. Her Chaotic Eyes locked onto the weakened Duan Huaige, and a destructive gray light gathered at her fingertips.

The title of the Ancient Witch, the number one saintess of the Tianxuan Holy Land for 30,000 years, is too prestigious. Perhaps the only way to defeat her is in a dream.

Despair surged like a tide, threatening to engulf Duan Huaige. He stared at Taiqing's cold, ruthless, chaotic eyes, at the dissipating projection of the future, at his severely injured and weakened companions beside him... A wildly insane yet seemingly the only possible thought flashed through his nearly depleted sea of ​​consciousness like lightning!
Duan Huaige suddenly raised his head, a crazed smile appearing on his blood-stained face!

The Wheel of Karma groaned under its own weight, yet Duan Huaige relentlessly pushed it to its limit! This time, it wasn't locking onto the future, but onto the past! It was locking onto that long-sealed memory belonging to the Landscape Painting itself! It was the being it had once sealed away!
On the scroll, a clear, weakened mark belonging to the period when "Taiqing" was sealed was illuminated! The light of the Karma Wheel followed this mark, ignoring the barriers of time and space, and forcibly reversed the flow! Target—Taiqing's past self before being sealed, before being sacrificed, and before being devoured by resentment!

Heavenly Mysterious Saintess, Bai Taiqing!

A pure, holy, crimson lotus light suddenly shone in the center of the chaotic battlefield! Within the light, a figure slowly materialized!
She was dressed in simple, elegant clothes, her face was exquisitely beautiful, but her eyes were like newly born stars, pure and untouched by worldly dust, carrying a hint of shock and deep worry at the scene of destruction around her. It was none other than… the Heavenly Profound Saintess before she turned to the dark side—Taiqing.

She looked at the devastating scene before her, at the "self" who resembled her but exuded an aura of destruction and resentment. Finally, her gaze fell on Duan Huaige, who was covered in blood, weak but with unwavering eyes. Her pure eyes were filled with confusion and a strange sense of familiarity.
Without hesitation, Duan Huaige directly used a thread of cause and effect to connect himself with the Holy Maiden Taiqing, transmitting everything that happened in the Secret Realm of Inquiry into the Mortal World to the Holy Maiden Taiqing.

Scenes flashed by, and Saintess Taiqing frowned slightly. In that instant, she seemed to understand something and whispered to Duan Huaige:

"You called me here so you'd help me beat myself up?"

"Isn't this idea a little strange?"

Duan Huaige said in a deep voice, "It's not surprising, because I believe you would never allow your future to turn out like this!"

"Help me, and I will help you change this future!"

Bai Taiqing fell silent, while Hei Taiqing, seeing this, sneered, "Duan Huaige, you've got some nerve. What makes you think I'll listen to you?"

"Alright, it's settled then," Bai Taiqing replied calmly.

"."

"You actually chose to fight alongside him!" Hei Taiqing said angrily, "It seems you were also drugged by him in the secret realm!" "The dignified Heavenly Profound Saintess has actually become this guy's little wife! Having such a stupid past self as you is an utter disgrace to me!"

Saintess Taiqing remained indifferent. Her personality was not like the violent and easily angered Taiqing of today. This little provocation could not shake her mind.

Of course, the Holy Maiden Taiqing's mindset remained unshaken, but the mindsset of her other confidantes was severely shaken.

?

Duan Huaige, you're really something! You dared not touch Hei Taiqing, so you went and flirted with her before she turned evil!
Duan Huaige kept his eyes straight ahead, pretending not to see the dagger-like gaze behind him.

"Ha, there's no point in saying more. Do you think you can resist me just because you've summoned my past self?"

"cut!"

She raised her hand again, the chaotic gray light reappearing at her fingertips, ready to use the same trick again to sever the causal thread connecting Duan Huaige and the past self of the Holy Maiden Taiqing!

However, when her mind locked onto that thread of cause and effect, a chilling backlash originating from the very source of her soul instantly swept over her!

To sever this cause... is to sever the very foundation of one's own existence!

One of the most fundamental reasons why she can exist in this timeline is that Duan Huaige released her from the seal of the Mountain and River Map in this timeline!

This thread of cause and effect not only connects Duan Huaige and the Saintess Taiqing's past lives, but also, more profoundly... connects to the origin of her present existence!
Once severed... her own logic of existence will instantly collapse! Like a rootless duckweed or water without a source, she will inevitably be rejected and annihilated by the laws of space and time!
Duan Huaige breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this; he had won his gamble! By using himself as an anchor, he had summoned not just a simple source of assistance, but... an "origin" that Taiqing could not sever!
Taiqing raised her fingertip, but the chaotic gray light that could have severed fate could no longer fall! She looked at the pure saintess Taiqing, and at Duan Huaige, her chaotic vortex-like eyes filled with indifference!
"You think you can defeat me by taking action on your own? I'm not the same person I was back then!"

Let me show you what it means to be three parts weaker after being whitewashed and twice as strong after being corrupted!
A chaotic torrent, a mixture of the immense vitality plundered from the Tree of Life and its own destructive origins, burst forth like a flood of destruction, tearing through space and carrying the power to devour everything, hurtling towards Saintess Taiqing and Duan Huaige who stood in front of her!
She will use absolute power to completely erase this mistake and send her past self back into the river of time!
Saintess Taiqing made her move, throwing a punch that caused red lotus shadows to bloom in the void. She said calmly, "Although I don't want to attack myself, he was right about one thing."

"My future... should never be like this!"

"Mountains and Rivers Map! Suppress!" Duan Huaige frantically poured all his power into the complete Jiangshan Sheji Map! The scroll transformed into a solid miniature universe, with mountains and rivers appearing and surging, firmly blocking the annihilating torrent!
An indescribable, terrifying energy erupted completely at the Ruins of Return Altar! The light devoured everything! Space shattered inch by inch! The broken sword energy of the River of Time, under this collision of energy beyond its limits, let out a mournful cry of unbearable strain!
The river section that was almost stagnant before was forcibly cut off by the future Qin Shuangjiang with the "Spring and Autumn Period Interruption", and the fragile balance that maintained the projection of multiple timelines was shattered under this earth-shattering impact!
The river of time has begun to flow anew! The sole law has returned!
Xie Cangling, Qin Shuangjiang, Yan Qiuxi, and Jiang Xiyu all trembled violently at the same time! They clearly felt that their future selves, who had just been fighting side by side and providing powerful strength, disintegrated and vanished instantly, like a reflection scattered by a rushing river!
But the dissipation was not nothingness; instead, it transformed into an immense torrent containing future memories, insights, combat experience, and even a portion of their cultivation origins, surging back into their present-day sea of ​​consciousness!

Only a static river of time can have multiple different timelines. Once the flow resumes, all the chaotic timelines will be annihilated, leaving only the current, unique one!
The four women groaned, their eyes instantly becoming incredibly complex and profound. Their auras, after the initial chaos, quickly settled and sublimated, becoming more restrained yet powerful.

Yan Qiuxi manipulated the remaining power of the Mortal Realm of All Beings and the Wheel of Karma, countless illusory threads of cause and effect coiling around the corrupted Taiqing, interfering with her control over the Tree of Life and her own power. Jiang Xiyu activated her full witch form, a crimson sea of ​​blood seemingly unfolding behind her, the Emperor's Banner obscuring the sky. Xie Cangling's Divine Soul Azure Lotus Dharma Image emitted a shimmering glow, protecting everyone from Taiqing's demonic influence.

Qin Shuangjiang merged with her sword, her Spring and Autumn Sword Intent transforming into a stunning streak that pierced through the river of time, directly striking the weakness in the core of the corrupted Taiqing's power. Duan Huaige, on the other hand, used her last strength to transform the crumbling power of the Mountain and River Map into countless dark golden chains of law, binding the corrupted Taiqing's limbs and torso, performing the most direct sealing of its origin!
The combined power of six people unleashed a devastating attack, finally shattering the last defenses of the corrupted Taiqing! The gray-green light of the Tree of Life was forcibly suppressed and stripped away.
"No—!!!" The corrupted Taiqing let out a desperate and unwilling scream, her body like shattered porcelain, struck hard by the six great forces! Terrifying annihilation power raged wildly within her body!

Her body flew backward and crashed heavily onto the dark altar crystal, cracking the incredibly hard crystal with spiderweb-like fissures!

She struggled to get up, but her body was bound by dark gold sealing chains, her internal power was completely disrupted and sealed, her aura was extremely weak, and her chaotic eyes were filled with shock and a trace of...unbelievable defeat.

The battle... is over!

Yan Qiuxi wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, walked to the edge of the altar, and looked down at the disheveled and imprisoned Taiqing, who was bound tightly by the sealing chains. A sly smile appeared on her face:

"Taiqing, do you understand now?" Her voice was clear and crisp, yet it carried an all-knowing confidence. "He who laughs last laughs best. You think you can turn the tables by relying on the Tree of Life you plundered? Too bad, I've already factored your 'past' and your doomed 'future' into this karmic game!"

She pointed at the Holy Maiden Taiqing, then at herself, and said, "From the moment 'you' were summoned, you had already lost this round. Because your 'origin' is on our side. This causal game that transcends time..."

Yan Qiuxi's smile grew even brighter as she spoke, word by word:

"I won after all!"

(End of this chapter)