Thirteenth month of death

Chapter 266 The Final Appearance
The interior of the Black Pyramid seemed to freeze.

Li Daosheng and Wudao stared at each other, their identical faces revealing completely different expressions—one of fading vicissitudes, the other of a struggling transformation.

"Time is running out." Wudao's voice was like sandpaper rubbing. He slowly raised his hand and pointed to the lens on his chest. "This is His fragment, and also my prison."

Su Moshi stood warily beside Li Daosheng, the bronze mirror gleaming with a bluish light.

She noticed that the golden threads connecting Wudao were dimming at a visible speed, like a lamp wick about to go out.

"The Thirteenth Month and the Fifth Season are not real entities..." Wu Dao suddenly said, a trace of golden liquid seeping from the corner of his mouth, "They are tools, projections of an Outer God."

Li Daosheng felt the five magical treasures within his body tremble simultaneously, as Wudao's memories washed over his consciousness like a flood.

He knelt on one knee, his petrified hand supporting him on the ground, cracks spreading outward from the point of contact.

"You created me just for this day?" Li Daosheng asked through gritted teeth.

Wu Dao shook his head slightly, his movements as slow as a rusty machine: "I created you because the stone man has no heart."

Violent tremors came from outside the pyramid as the black-robed figure attacked the barrier.

The body on the floating stone platform began to writhe restlessly, the golden threads taut like strings.

“A stone spirit taking human form is a once-in-ten-thousand-year event.” Wudao’s voice suddenly became clear. “But I am not human after all. Yunweizi is right, I do not understand human nature.”

He raised his hand with difficulty, pointing to Li Daosheng's heart: "You have a heart, but I don't. That's why I can see through the essence of Thirteen Months, but I can't truly defeat it."

Su Moshi suddenly realized something: "The Outer God is heartless and emotionless, so you, who are equally heartless and emotionless, cannot defeat it?"

Wu Dao's lips curled into an almost imperceptible smile: "Intelligent. The thirteenth month, the fifth season, the eighth day of the week are all His incarnations. He stole the origin of the world, only to reshape his own form."

An even more violent tremor followed, and cracks appeared at the top of the pyramid, with black fragments falling like rain.

Suddenly, the lens on Wudao's chest lit up with a blinding white light.

“He is about to wake up.” Wu Dao’s voice became urgent. “Li Daosheng, come here.”

Li Daosheng staggered forward; the petrification had already spread to his neck.

As he approached the throne, Wudao suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist—a hand as cold as stone, yet carrying astonishing strength.

"Listen, the key... lies within these five magical artifacts. The key... is this."

With his other hand, Wu Dao yanked the lens out of his chest, and a blood-like golden liquid gushed out.

He pressed the lens against the long mark between Li Daosheng's eyebrows, and a dazzling golden light burst forth the moment they made contact.

Li Daosheng let out a painful roar, his body trembling violently.

Su Moshi tried to step forward but was bounced back by an invisible barrier, and could only watch helplessly as the golden light engulfed the two of them.

"I glimpsed the Heavenly Dao in my Stone Spirit form, yet I was always separated by a veil." Wudao's voice echoed in the golden light. "You are a human I created using the qualities of the twelve realms, with a heart and a soul, capable of feeling everything that I cannot."

As the golden light faded, Su Moshi was shocked to see that the petrification on Li Daosheng's body was reversing, while Wudao on the throne was rapidly disintegrating, turning into ashes starting from his fingertips.

"Your turn..."

Wu Dao's last words were drowned out by a deafening cracking sound.

The top of the pyramid completely collapsed, and the light of the twelve moons poured down through the gap, illuminating the interior as if it were daytime.

The black-robed figures surged in like a tide, but suddenly froze midway, then turned into black sand and dissipated.

One by one, the suspended stone platforms collapsed, and the gold threads wrapped around them broke inch by inch.

Li Daosheng stood there, the lens between his brows now blended seamlessly with the long scar, forming a dazzling golden line. He looked down at his fully healed hand, then turned to Su Moshi.

"Leave first." His voice sounded like Li Daosheng's, but also carried a hint of Wudao's characteristics.

Before Su Moshi could respond, the entire space suddenly twisted and deformed.

The ground undulated like waves, and the distant scenery folded and unfolded, as if the world was being kneaded and reshaped by an invisible hand.

“He has come,” Li Daosheng said, grabbing Su Moshi’s hand. “Hold on tight to me.”

In a dizzying spin, the two were thrown into the void.

Fragments of countless worlds swept past him—the streams of Qingxi Town, the ruins of Taishang Lihentian, the snow-capped peaks of Xuanbing Palace… finally settling on a pure white space.

There was nothing there except a blurry human-shaped silhouette suspended in the center.

Twelve different colored light bands extended from the void, winding around the outline like the strings of a marionette.

“Come forth,” the silhouette spoke, not through the air, but directly into people’s minds, “my apostles.”

Suddenly, a series of figures appeared.

Everyone in [Thirteen Months], and... everyone in [The Fifth Season]!

Su Moshi felt a wave of dizziness, and the bronze mirror trembled violently in his hand.

She had never felt such pure oppression, as if the weight of the entire universe was pressing down on her soul.

Li Daosheng clearly felt a force controlling him, making him want to kneel down, but the golden mark between his eyebrows shone brightly, immediately clearing the force from his body.

As for the rest of the people, strangely enough... none of them reacted at all, as if they hadn't been summoned by this figure.

But the members of [Thirteen Months] couldn't help but slowly bend their knees, almost kneeling down.

Judging from their expressions, they were unwilling and didn't know what had happened.

Only Gu Xi, at this moment, his face was full of resentment and hatred, yet he was helpless, his contradictions reaching their peak.

Upon seeing this, Li Daosheng released the Book of Fate from his body.

At the same time, he formed a hand seal, and five magical treasures flew out of his body and swirled around him.

The Blood Jade Bead, the Frost Marrow Needle, the Rose Sword Hairpin, the Lifeless Seal, and the Mysterious Heaven Mirror each shone with light, forming a complex array in the air.

"Everyone, this thing... is the essence of [Thirteen Months] and [Fifth Season]." Li Daosheng's voice echoed in the space. "It is not a god at all, but just a lost shadow in the dimensional rift, surviving by stealing the origin of the world."

The light bands in the outline suddenly straightened, and the spatial pressure increased sharply.

Su Moshi felt difficulty breathing, and cracks appeared on the bronze mirror.

Beams of light shot towards Li Daosheng simultaneously, seemingly intent on instantly obliterating him.

Just as the light band was about to touch Li Daosheng, the golden pattern between his eyebrows suddenly projected a mirror-like image—it was the magnified image of the fragment that Wudao had pulled from his chest.

The light streak struck the mirror, but instead of a spectacular explosion, it was silently swallowed up, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

The silhouette emitted a nagging groan, and the humanoid form began to twist and deform.

"Go...kill him."

The command appeared directly in the minds of everyone in [Thirteen Months].

(End of this chapter)