Chapter 2001
For Tianming, Li Wudi’s life and death was the subject of the irreconcilable conflict between him and the sun emperor. But for the sun emperor, the core of the Flameyellow Fusion Formation was the real battle of life and death. He had created such an enormous sun, so it was impossible for him to allow Tianming to enjoy the benefits. The clash between their two different wills seemed predestined. It was a contradiction that could only be solved by life and death, as well as the reason behind the sun emperor’s crazed killing intent.
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"Looks like there’s no way out." Qingyu lowered her head.
"Yes. Only one of us can live." Theirs was no ordinary enmity. Who would this dazzling sun belong to? The conclusion to that drama was far greater than any personal grudge. Right now, the sun emperor had received the impetus of the sun and forced Tianming into a corner. Behind him, raging flames surged.
"Your Solar Majesty, why don"t we work together to kill the three billion Skywolf specters first, give the people a chance to live. When everything is over, we’ll have a fight to the death." Tianming turned around, his gold and black eyes meeting the sun emperor"s fiery gaze like stars colliding.
"Don’t worry! If you’re so compa.s.sionate and want to save those people, then it’s all the more reason not to waste time. With the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, I’ll be able to slaughter the specters more easily. The more time you waste, the more people will die. That’s on you!" The sun emperor stared him down.
"With your blatant disregard for human life and selfishness, even if the Flameyellow Imperial Star is controlled by you, it’ll eventually come to an end." It was hard to imagine that the sun emperor was only concerned with killing Tianming despite the celestial orderians’ dire straits. Not only had they suffered countless casualties, they were also being ma.s.sacred by the specters. Not even their plight was enough to make him turn around.
"Human life? Are you joking? As long as the world is big and prosperous enough, there’ll be several times the current population in a thousand years. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll make sure to encourage more births. I promise to make up as many as ten times the lives lost today,” said the sun emperor.
"So, to you, even the lives of your celestial orderians are just a number," Tianming retorted.
"What else could it be? We’re all divided into different cla.s.ses. You and I belong to the highest cla.s.s. One of us is comparable to trillions of the lowest cla.s.s. You don’t even understand that, yet you still want to be the ruler of the sun?"
Realization dawned upon Tianming. There was no point in talking to someone with different principles—he and the sun emperor were incompatible. Although they were both on the path of an emperor, he couldn"t agree with anything the sun emperor preached.
Maybe it was because he had risen from nothing, so he understood that a young man from the Vermillion Bird kingdom had the same emotions and desires as a sovereign. There were ups and downs no matter how short one’s life was. No one could decide where, or to whom they were born. Why was it that some people belonged to the upper cla.s.s from birth, and how did that give them the right to control the fate of the weak? Although ordinary people were weak, they still possessed the ability to think and strive for the better. Didn’t that make them human?
Tianming had started on the path of an emperor with every belief. Through his Omnisentient Threads, he could feel everyone"s emotions, their joys and sufferings. But to the sun emperor, they were just a number so it didn’t matter how many died today since new births could make up for the population loss. Did the sun emperor consider the celestial orderians as livestock under his rule?
Because Skywolf was the enemy, Tianming couldn’t judge whether or not what the sun emperor did was right. But between the celestial orderians and the Myriad Solar Sects, as well as his actions on the sun, Tianming had begun seeing this man more and more clearly. And now that he did, he didn"t have the slightest hope of coexistence.
"One last fight!" He no longer looked behind him, but kept his gaze straight ahead. They were in the place where the ashes of the Sky Palace Formation lay.
"Primordial G.o.d-Emperor, I doubted you before, but I hope this time, you can give me an answer!" The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb continued whizzing toward the formation. What was Tianming going to do? Amidst their despair, more than twenty billion people stared at the tomb.
"Myriad Solar Sects, hear my command!" From the loud rumble of the tomb came Tianming"s firm and heroic voice, sweeping across the people.
"Yes!" His resolute voice gave them the hope they longed for at this moment.
“Leave here at once. Go south and listen to Yin Chen for the target location. Kill the specters and protect our people.... We must save every life!"
They could no longer stay there. Gathering together there only meant a quicker death. However, none of them expected Tianming to have them defend and protect every ordinary person’s life while the real ruler of the sun, the sun emperor, was now chasing him, heedless of the life and death of his people. That was the difference in their beliefs.
Tianming wouldn’t dare claim that he was right; he was merely following his heart and the principles his parents had taught him. Once an ordinary man, he couldn’t give up on any ordinary person.
"Yes!"
What else could they do before death? Many of them didn’t have an answer, but Tianming"s words had enlightened them. No one wanted to wait to die in fear, even though death was everyone"s eventual destiny. The most important thing was to contribute to this world while they were alive, to have a clear conscience, and to be fully deserving of their life. Now that they had a goal, a direction, their eyes filled with tears and they looked up at the sky. The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb flew above their heads, turned around, and soared into the sky.
"Leave the sun emperor to me!" Those were his last words for them.
As soon as the tomb made for the Flameyellow Guard Formation, the sun emperor went after it without even glancing at the people below. Tianming had lured him away so that they would have the opportunity to leave the broken Sky Palace Formation and save the others. The Flameyellow Coffin sank into the fiery clouds and disappeared with a loud boom and light glimmered in the eyes of the twenty billion cultivators. Their belief had been reignited. At that moment, the Omnisentient Threads between Tianming and them resonated even stronger than before and their hearts beat as one.
"Let’s go!"
"Hurry up! Let’s save them!"
"Let’s go!"
They knew that even if they killed the specters and saved everyone, the Myriad Solar Sects would still be destroyed if Tianming was defeated. But at least they would have tried. That was the only thing they could do now—try. Under the Flameyellow Guard Formation, there was nowhere to hide; no one could escape.
"Why not put whatever remains of this life to good use? Even if I die, I must die in my home."
There were people from all over—Azurecloud Continent, Land of Three Skies, Fushen Valley, etc....
"Let’s go home!"
"Go back, back to our home...."
Fallen leaves returned to their roots. The three billion specters were like vermin of the new world. If they weren’t wiped out as soon as possible, more people would die. Among the cultivators of the Myriad Solar Sects, many came from the mountains and fields and had eventually become G.o.ds. Their home was where their souls would return. No one would refuse Tianming’s command to return and protect their homes regardless of life or death. In fact, he would gain more respect. As they left, the cultivators looked up at the sky and prayed for Tianming.
"You must live on. Only then will we have a future and a prosperous world that belongs to us."
"You must live!"
At that moment, an emperor and his countless believers flew in two different directions. They were risking their lives for a new world that truly belonged to them. The flames of the new sun burned brightly and, smoldering with the spirit of battle, they roared and rushed to the final battlefield. They were going home, a home that belonged to everyone. The new sun belonged to the people, not the sun emperor alone.
......
The Ninedragon Imperial Tomb emerged from the thick fiery clouds and into the cosmos. Stars twinkled in front of the tomb. For the first time, Tianming looked down and saw the new sun which was five times its original size, overcome with shock. It was enormous and majestic. A new sun had been formed from the lives of Skywolf specters. Its expansion had taken too many lives, so it was impossible to conclude if it was right or wrong. Dazzling and vast, the sun was covered in a billowing sea of white and gold flames. It reminded Tianming of the Flameyellow Imperial Star in the painting.
"It’s beautiful…." He couldn"t hold back from speaking out his true thoughts.
It was the sun emperor who had forged the new world with the sun’s spears. Tianming couldn"t deny the beauty of this new sun. As for the deaths of the Skywolf specters, Tianming wasn’t able to accuse the sun emperor of a crime either. He had also been a partic.i.p.ant in the two destructions. If the sun emperor was guilty, then so was he. Therefore, the point of conflict between the two was never the destruction of Skywolf. It wasn’t something he could prevent. There were countless unpredictable things under the heavens and he had yet to comprehend them. His believers were also limited to the Myriad Solar Sects; the specters weren’t part of them. However, Tianming’s thoughts were clearer than ever. At least he knew where the difference lay in his and the sun emperor’s beliefs.
"Li Tianming!" As soon as he emerged from the fiery clouds, the sun emperor tried to subdue him with a loud roar. "If you dare to flee from the sun, I’ll return at once and kill every last one of the beastmasters of the Myriad Solar Sects. None of the twenty billion you just left behind will survive." It seemed the sun emperor feared that he would leave like he had before.
Stopping above the sun, the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb turned around. Tianming appeared on the head of the dragon, face to face with the sun emperor. It never occurred to him to escape.
“Once you’ve fallen in love with this star, there’s no escape." All he wanted was to change the battlefield to hurt as few innocent people as he possibly could. Although the universe was boundless, there was no way out. This time, Tianming chose to face him.
It was all fated. Above the scorching, white and gold sun, alone in the universe, a coffin and tomb stood on opposite sides.