Gu Zun spoke with sincerity without the slightest intention of flattery. He didn’t wish to run or beg for his life.
Gu Zun had been taught by Li Qiye in the past so he understood the guy well. No one could ever change Li Qiye’s mind once it is made up. He knew that he couldn’t escape forever. Thus, he could remain calm in face of death.
“You do know me well.” Li Qiye said with a tinge of emotion: “It’s fun talking to a smart person. It’s a shame that you’re not my disciple.”
Gu Zun chuckled in response: “I would have ruined your reputation if I was your disciple, unable to learn even a tenth of your ability. Even if you don’t think I’m an embarra.s.sment, I wouldn"t dare to accept the role.”
He wasn’t being humble with this response. All of Li Qiye’s disciples were as strong as him. Immortal Emperor Min Ren and Empress Hong Tian were top emperors, capable of doing what they please in the world. Despite being one of the ten eonic geniuses with incredible innate talents and a strong mind for strategy, he wasn’t Li Qiye’s disciple.
“What a shame about your talents.” Li Qiye said with regrets.
“The world doesn’t always happen the way one wants it to, right?” Gu Zun smiled: “I don’t regret my choice of opposing you. Even if I could redo everything again, I still stand strong by my penchant for treachery. If I had become your disciple, I would have become an emperor. How boring would that be? You have no lack of emperors under your banner and I wouldn’t be as amazing as Empress Hongtian nor as immovable as Immortal Emperor Min Ren.”
“Thus, opposing you is my joy in life. Without a challenge of your level, how lonely would this path be? Of course, I am not a match for you, in your mind since if you wanted to kill me, you wouldn’t have needed to wait until now. I’m only a child in comparison in terms of scheming.” Gu Zun happily said what was on his mind.
Li Qiye slowly nodded: “That’s true. But it is because you lack time. You have both talents and determination, your weakness comes from a lack of years to acc.u.mulate more knowledge.”
Gu Zun cupped his fist and said: “Right, Your Excellency. I’m not the only one though. If you had several more generations, I’m sure you would be able to handle everything. Everything else would be insignificant and swept away by you!”
“No need to talk about things that have pa.s.sed. How do you want to die? A swift or a little painful death?” Li Qiye asked.
At this time, the two didn’t look like enemies at all. Unaware spectators would never expect the that two smiling men were just trying to kill each other earlier.
Gu Zun calmly faced death. In his mind, he had lost completely the moment Li Qiye showed his four Immortal Physiques at grand completion. All of his other ace cards were useless, unable to reverse the tide.
Others might not know the significance of four physiques but he was as clear as day. His brother-in-law had two physiques and the world learned of his invincibility. Thus, Li Qiye’s four physiques were unimaginable. Moreover, he had other ace cards.
For Gu Zun, even if Li Qiye and his brother-in-law didn’t kill him, life has become meaningless anyway. His pursuit in life was to defeat or even kill the Dark Crow. Now, he knew that the gap was too large. Thus, why fear death?
“You have taught me before and I am ashamed of myself for haven’t being able to repay you all this time.” Gu Zun smiled.
“I’m not worthy of being your teacher. Li Qiye smiled and said: “If you think I have taught you something, I have failed in not being able to pull you back on the right path during all this time.”
“It’s not your fault.” Gu Zun replied: “Even if you have tried your best, our antagonistic relations.h.i.+p was ultimately inevitable. It was a way to make the world less boring thus I would have decided to test myself against you eventually.”
“That’s fine. Everyone makes different choices in life. All right, three generations are still a long time. It is time to end this today.”
“Indeed.” Gu Zun gently nodded: “Even though you lured me with that empty treasury, I’m sure you do have some supreme artifacts in the Grand Sea. You surely came back for them this time around. I don’t have any other wishes, but if you can let me die a grand death, I’ll be satisfied.”
“Go on.” Li Qiye looked at him with an amusing grin.
Gu Zun went on: “Back then, you talked about the blood chain method. So if I have to die, send me on this path. If I can end in this manner, it will be my glory. It will be a merciful gift from you.”
“I shall entertain your wish then.” Li Qiye smiled and took out his Netherlord Hexagear Launcher. Of course, killing Gu Zun didn’t require such a weapon.
“The Machine World’s art, such a strange way of refinement. This is the highest technology of an epoch. The treasure from the matriarch’s clan must have come from the same art. In the contemporary, only you would be able to create such a magical artifact.” Gu Zun was in awe at the sight of this weapon. He was able to recognize and understand the origin of the item. In terms of knowledge, even if he wasn’t a match for Li Qiye, few in the world could be on his level.
“Yes.” Li Qiye nodded: “This is enough to turn everything into ashes, regardless of the enemy’s hiding and defensive capabilities. It’s only useless struggle.”
“I’m sure. Back during the Immortal Slaying War, you killed countless Ancient Ming and obtained their blood and corpses, even some from emperors and their Heaven’s Will from the nine worlds. This combined with the best materials in the world would result in this supreme weapon. It must be the best one in terms of forbidden weapon, and the cruelest.” Gu Zun elaborated in a very pleasant manner: “You’re granting me your grace by sending me off with this weapon. I am truly grateful.”
Gu Zun’s att.i.tude was indeed admirable. Even the matriarch was nodding approvingly. Gu Zun was a worthy eonic genius.
Li Qiye held the launcher and smiled: “Then let us end what we have started.”
Having said that, he had aimed his weapon to the target that only he knew about.
“Time to end this.” Gu Zun said. At this point, he couldn’t help but stare towards Heaven Suppression in the distant. Regardless of his own characters and morality, the sect was still his family. Whether it gave him pain or warmth, he still sent his last thoughts towards this place.
He slowly closed his eyes and murmured: “Goodbye.”
The corners of his eyes became slightly wet. Fear of death was nowhere to be found, only some regrets.
“Pluff!” Before Li Qiye could fire, Gu Zun instantly turned himself into a mist of blood. One could hear clanking noises as the mist turned into chain-like laws. They acted like a lock and instantly fixated on a particular moving spatial sphere in the nine worlds!
“Boom!” At the same time, Li Qiye fired the first shot of the launcher. A terrible dark flame rushed out from the barrel.
The flame struck the coordinates fixated on by the chains made out of Gu Zun’s blood and turned into a strange, explosive serum.
“Boom” The entire nine worlds quaked. This serum pierced through s.p.a.ce in an instant.
It didn’t matter where this mystery realm was located or its defensive capabilities. With loud blasts, the serum continued to infiltrate this lair in an unknown location. It shattered through more than one thousand s.h.i.+ny defensive barriers and began to explode.
“Ah!” Screams echoed continuously. Dark flame engulfed the entire location. Shadows appeared and rushed to the sky, wanting to escape.
However, the serum drowned the entire lair instantly before exploding and destroying the place in its entirety. The Ancient Ming within had no opportunity to escape and their lair couldn’t change its coordinates in time!