Chapter 260 — Hope (Vote Support Welcome!)

Nie Li took out the Soul Mirror and searched everywhere for the remnant soul of Ye Zong. Wisps of luminous energy drifted into the Soul Mirror, but these were nothing more than faint traces of soul intent. With mere traces of soul intent alone, reviving Ye Zong was impossible.

A profound pain pierced through Nie Li's heart as if a knife had been driven into it.

"This enmity can never be forgiven under heaven — Demon Lord, if I don't grind your corpse to dust and scatter your ashes, I, Nie Li, swear I am no man!" Nie Li gripped the Soul Mirror so tightly that veins bulged along his forearm. He thought of Ziyun. From this day forward, she had lost her father. Nie Li was flooded with guilt toward Ye Ziyun — he had returned to life, yet still failed to protect her father.

Dust drifted slowly to the ground.

The terrifying battle had destroyed most of the City Lord's Mansion. Even the Myriad Demon Spirit Grand Formation had been utterly obliterated. At this level of confrontation, the Myriad Demon Spirit Grand Formation was utterly useless.

Ye Ziyun clutched a keepsake of her father's, weeping in anguish. Every small moment spent with her father flashed through her mind, each one a fresh stab of grief.

Ye Mo seemed to have aged a decade in an instant. His son had been killed right before his eyes and he had been powerless to stop it. Hatred for the Demon Lord consumed every fiber of his being.

Yet with their strength, they were nowhere near capable of killing the Demon Lord. Nie Li's attack had annihilated the Demon Lord's limbs and head, and the Demon Lord had still escaped!

Seeing Ye Ziyun's devastated expression, Nie Li pulled her into an embrace and said, his voice heavy with pain, "Ziyun, I'm sorry." Earlier, activating the secret technique of the Heavenly Dao Divine Art had nearly caused his Soul Sea to rupture, and even then he couldn't keep the Demon Lord from fleeing. With his current strength, though Nie Li could match the Demon Lord in combat, he couldn't prevent the Demon Lord from killing.

Thinking of Ye Zong's death, Nie Li clenched his fists. "Father-in-law activated the secret technique of the Wind Snow Family — it even obliterated his soul. But as long as there is any method to revive him, I will never give up! And beyond that..." Nie Li's gaze turned glacially cold. "I swear, when I reach the Dragon Ruins Domain, I will capture the Demon Lord with my own hands and utterly destroy him. He will never find peace — not in eternity!"

"Revive him? Nie Li, is there really a way to revive my father?" A glimmer of hope kindled in Ye Ziyun's eyes.

Though Nie Li had no solution either, seeing the desperate hope in her eyes, he couldn't bear to crush it. He nodded. "As long as we travel to the Dragon Ruins Domain and cultivate to a sufficient level, we will be able to find a way to revive Lord Ye Zong!"

Nie Li thought of the Book of Time-Space Demon Spirit. It had brought him back to life through reincarnation — surely it could revive Ye Zong as well? The problem was, he had no idea where the Book of Time-Space Demon Spirit had gone.

Ye Ziyun wiped her tears. Though the pain still tore at her heart, she spoke with firm resolve. "Nie Li, I will go to the Dragon Ruins Domain. I will become stronger, and then I will revive my father!"

Everywhere the eye could see, the City Lord's Mansion lay in desolate ruin. Every face was etched with deep grief and sorrow. To everyone, Ye Zong had been a man worthy of the utmost respect — the City Lord they all revered.

Ye Zong's death plunged the entire City of Radiance into mourning.

For the City of Radiance, Ye Zong had truly given his all — holding nothing back until his dying breath. Each evening, when people saw that solitary figure standing atop the city wall gazing into the distance, they had felt an overwhelming sense of security and reassurance. But that revered war god had now departed from them forever, and every soul burned with hatred for the Demon Lord.

The wounds of war tormented the City of Radiance again and again.

The sky darkened. A drizzle began to fall, and mixed in with the rain were shards of ice that stung the skin with bone-deep cold.

Nie Li gazed up at the sky, letting the icy rain strike his face. He had returned to life, and many things had unfolded just as he had predicted, step by step. But so many others had spiraled beyond his expectations — the disappearance of the Book of Time-Space Demon Spirit, the death of Ye Zong. Even with the Soul Mirror, it was no use. Ye Zong had died using a forbidden technique that obliterated his very soul. Nothing remained but the faintest wisps of soul intent.

I thought I could control fate. Turns out I'm just trapped deep inside its game. The thought of Ye Zong sent wave after wave of agony through Nie Li's chest.

City Lord's Mansion — Ye Zong's study.

Ye Mo sat there in silence. Scrolls that Ye Zong had once reviewed still lay scattered across the desk. It felt as though Ye Zong's presence still lingered in the room. Ye Mo's eyes blurred with tears. As the guardian deity of the City of Radiance, he had not wept even when his wife passed away. But now — a white-haired father burying his own son — tears streamed from his clouded eyes.

The sound of footsteps approached, and Ye Mo quickly wiped his tears away.