I alone am the Honoured One!

Standing atop the grand balcony of her palace, Qian Shi lifted her head toward the vast, moonlit sky.

Her slender fingers curled into fists at her sides, trembling ever so slightly.

Her vision blurred as a single tear, warm and full of regret, slipped down her cheek, tracing a glistening path along her skin before vanishing into the night.

"Please forgive me, Darling..."

Her eyelashes fluttered with unshed tears before she closed her eyes, pressing her lips together to suppress the sob threatening to escape.

"I cannot change the fate... and forgive me for not being beside you when you are suffering like this."

She powerlessly stood there, unable to reach the man she held so dearly in her heart.

"Please forgive me..."

Her fingers gripped the railing as the weight of her choices bore down on her.

The night air was cool against her skin, yet it did nothing to numb the fire of guilt burning within her.

...

Zhao Tian hurriedly turned his gaze to look at the dead body of Yao Jing and saw her soul diminishing.

'Jing'er...'

*flick* In the very next instant, without hesitation, he teleported from his spot, reappearing beside her fallen body in a blur of golden-black energy.

He kneeled on the cold, blood-soaked ground, and his fingers trembled as he reached out to her head.

With great care, he cradled her head as his hands gently brushed against her bloodstained hair.

A shuddering breath left his lips as his fingers traced the contours of her face 'Jing'er...'

His blindfolded eyes quivered, and his grip on her only tightened as though holding her closer could somehow undo the cruel fate that had stolen her away.

"Jing'er..."

He slightly raised his gaze to look at the soul that was slowly diminishing.

A translucent wisp of light, faint and flickering, drifting ever so slowly toward oblivion.

He helplessly looked at it.

A desperate thought clawed at his mind.

What could he do?

It's not like he can catch her soul and store it within him.

He only has the power to absorb them, not to store them.

For the first time in a long time, Zhao Tian felt truly afraid.

He has never felt like this...

He has never lost someone very close to him.

However, amidst this.. amidst the memories of his time with Yao Jing, he remembered something.

His hands moved instinctively, reaching into his storage ring and he retrieved a lantern.

It looked like a simple artifact, glowing faintly with an ominous purple light.

Lantern of Eternal Rest—a one-time-use artifact that can instantly kill anyone and trap their soul inside it.
Find adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

It was the same lantern he retrieved from Calista after Yao Jing killed her. (A/n: Ch 549)

He never expected that it would help him in any way.

Yet now, fate had twisted in a cruel irony, presenting him with a chance he had never considered.

With a flicker of hope clashing against the crushing grief in his heart, he activated the artifact.

A gentle force rippled through the air and the remnants of Yao Jing's soul wavered, as if resisting, before it finally drifted toward the lantern, sinking into the artifact's depths.

The purple glow pulsed and its light dimmed as it accepted the soul within.

For a long moment, Zhao Tian simply stared at it.

He had saved her... but only in the cruelest sense of the word.

She was not truly here, not truly alive.

He could not speak to her, could not hold her, could not hear her voice.

She was trapped within the lantern's cold embrace, forever suspended between life and death.

A shaky breath escaped him as he carefully stored the lantern back within his ring, his fingers lingering over it for just a second longer.

Then, his gaze fell upon her body once more.

Gently, as if handling the most fragile piece of treasure, he took her corpse into his arms, holding her close to his chest.

His throat tightened, his fingers digging into the fabric of her robes.

"Jing'er..."

"I will surely avenge you... I will kill them all."

And in that moment—

The very air around him shattered.

A suffocating killing intent erupted from his body, spreading like a tidal wave through the battlefield.

The ground beneath him cracked, unable to withstand the sheer force of his killing intent.

Selena's body tensed and her gaze narrowed as a cold sweat trailed down her spine.

'Something awakened within him... Is it the power of the Honoured One?'

Her gaze flickered toward Rhudamanth, and saw that he was calm amidst the chaos 'He is dangerous,' she thought, biting her lip.

'But we cannot afford to kill him. His blood is far too valuable to us. I will try to knock him up and tie him again.'

Selena's sharp eyes glowed with an eerie crimson hue as she lunged forward and her twin lances materialized in her grip.

The moment she moved, the air around her twisted, and with inhuman precision, she thrust one lance straight toward Zhao Tian's chest while the other arced in a vicious downward strike, aiming to pin him into submission before he could escape.

But Zhao Tian's senses were sharp and in a single instant, he stored Yao Jing's lifeless body in his storage ring, securing her away from harm.

*CLANG* A metallic clang shattered through the air as he raised his sword, catching the deadly thrust of Selena's first lance.

Sparks erupted between them, illuminating their faces in a flash of brilliance.

The force behind her attack was monstrous, sending tremors up his arm, but he held firm.

Zhao Tian's blindfolded eyes trembled slightly and his grip tightened around his sword's hilt.

He felt the second lance coming down toward his left shoulder.

Without hesitation, he twisted his momentum.

His body spun to the right and his weight shifted as he adjusted in an instant.

THUD!

His foot slammed into Selena's chest with bone-crushing force.

The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward, distorting the air around them.

"Guh..." A muffled gasp left her lips as she was blasted away, her body rocketing backward like a meteor.

BOOM!

She crashed into the outer walls of the citadel with a thunderous explosion.

Dust and debris erupted into the air, momentarily obscuring her from view.

Then, from within the dust cloud, Selena staggered to her feet and wiped the corner of her mouth where a thin trickle of blood had appeared.

Her eyes narrowed as she cast her gaze toward the vampires surrounding the citadel "What are you all standing around for?! Catch him!"

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I hope you guys liked this chapter!