It was the man who shared a conversation with Yun Yang earlier — Mr. Nian!
Before Ji Lingxi could utter a single word, Mr. Nian had already vanished with the corpse in hand.
Not giving the slightest care to his three other subordinates who had been caught in a fierce and precarious battle — one where the slightest misstep would lead to total annihilation.
As Yun Yang"s saber sprang forward, Spring was forced to retreat thirty feet away. "Mr. Nian, there are so many men here — are you just going to observe as a mere guest? The stances of both sides are pretty clear, and this fatal exchange is bound to happen sooner or later anyway, so why not come forward and relish in this fight?" He called out with a chuckle.
Mr. Nian"s voice could be heard from afar. "No matter what, we should give you a form of respect you deserve as Supreme Cloud in this final battle. It is known that true justice is hard to attain in feuds of the martial world; however, in this ultimate battle where Lord Supreme Cloud himself had personally invited us to, not only have my forces cast the spiritual restraining formation around this area to gain the upper hand, we have more men on our side. There is no honor in bullying a lone man with our ma.s.ses, so, see this as a way to create a fairer, more well-balanced environment for the fight. Perhaps this is something we can offer in return."
"Fair? Hoho, no matter how fair it is, this is still simply bullying a lone man like me with your ma.s.ses — why is there a need to deceive yourselves? All this pretending will only invoke scorn." Yun Yang smiled slightly.
There was a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt in Mr. Nian"s voice. "Whether or not we"re lying to ourselves — that"s up to you to decide. In this battle, it is true that our grand strategy was to swarm you with our numbers and finish this up as quickly as possible. However, Spring had volunteered to weigh your worth first, Lord Supreme Cloud, so as the chief of the Tower, of course, I would have to fulfill the wishes of my dear minister — by letting him use his own strategies to fight you."
"To live or to die — there will be no regrets."
"Why would one be afraid, even if he dies from this? The dead will be gone. Those who were lucky enough to survive — the whole lot of you — will you just stand by idly and watch this unfold before your eyes?" said Yun Yang with no small amount of emotion.
Mr. Nian"s voice sounded calm and composed. "That is how it is, be it to live or die. Even if they die here and now, that is the choice of Spring and his minions. This is the decision of our entire stronghold — not only it is a form of respect to you, but it is also a form of respect to our own life and death."
"One should be responsible for their own choices after entering the battlefield, regardless of what had transpired in the past. Even though we might be anxious to the deepest parts of our beings right now, any further discussion must wait until a true victor emerges from this battle."
"I understand. If that is so, let me send these three on their way. I can"t stand seeing you lot feeling troubled like this — allow me to relieve you of your miseries!" Yun Yang declared.
His saber technique encountered a swift change before his voice could grow fainter. The glow of the saber permeated the s.p.a.ce around it, rippling outwards like waves of light, bathing the entire scene in no time at all.
The saber was unforgiving and the Dao showed no mercy; one form two styles, appearing like torrential waters!
A low hum broke the silence, followed by a resplendent display of the saber"s glow.
A strange feeling suddenly dawned within the three men before him. In this time and moment, the being before them was not a man at all, but the magnificent power of the Dao that they had been seeking their entire lives!
Without exception, the pract.i.tioners that had chosen to embark on this path could only depend on their own efforts to go against the natural order and swim against the currents!
They could not afford the slightest misstep.
Any mistake made would not be granted with even the slightest mercy.
This had always been the maxim of the practice — a maxim not unfamiliar to all top pract.i.tioners!
However, at this exact moment, the three other men were struck by a sudden epiphany. The path they had embarked on was wrong from the very start!
Even if they had persevered until this moment, there was no longer any motivation to go on — there was no future ahead for them!
The Spring Bearer had a sudden look of despair upon his face. "Wrong? This path I walk, is wrong? Have I sinned so much?" He howled towards the skies.
In the midst of his shrieks, he suddenly lapsed into a daze, momentarily entranced.
A waterfall-like flash had already grazed his body during this slight instance of inattentiveness.
His torso could be seen splitting into two halves. The top half of the body arced diagonally through the air and landed on the ground, yet he did not feel the pain at all, but merely raised his head, directing his woes towards the skies, "Was I really wrong? Then, what is right?"
Before he could finish, the slain torso toppled to the ground, never to utter a sound again.
The imaginary path of Dao suddenly divided in a flash. In two hits — clang— clang — the two envoys first suffered the force of the blow before the blood began to run down their bodies. The injuries they suffered were quite severe, but because of the bones of G.o.d they wore upon themselves, they did not perish instantly, for their bodies were more resistant than that of a normal man"s.
However, they still looked lost. "Wrong? How can it be wrong?" They murmured, perplexed.
Yun Yang snorted disdainfully. "The presence of the Nine Supremes was driven by Dao and prompted by destiny. You, the Four Seasons Tower, went against the natural order of things — how can this be the right way?"
For a brief moment, their gazes were clouded with confusion, but they were quickly replaced with an extraordinarily sharp and vicious glare. "A man"s body that undergoes practice will inevitably be nurtured from mere mortal flesh until the state of immortality— is there truly any that didn"t go against the natural course of events? Why are we wrong, of all people?"
Although they lamented pitifully, the path of Dao hovering in the skies still clearly displayed a clear message; Wrong — you are all wrong!
Were we wrong? The two men were hit by a sudden sense of despair.
The s.h.i.+mmering destiny hovering in midair was clearly indicating all of this.
Your paths are wrong!
There is no path even if you venture further.
"We have the bones of G.o.d upon us — we will be G.o.ds upon a.s.sembling the complete set! What have we done wrong? What went wrong?" They shrieked.
They howled relentlessly as they attacked, defending themselves from the rays that descended from the skies from the midst of Dao.
The saber light underwent a myriad of changes in the air; the gates of Dao experienced an unending series of transformations as well as if it was narrating something.
You installed the bones of G.o.d in your bodies — they were not honed on your own! Hence, that is where you are wrong!
Why are they merely just a bunch of white bones, if they are truly G.o.ds in your eyes? They were not real G.o.ds eventually — that"s why.
If that is the case, they were wrong since the very beginning. You — you who embarked on an even more incorrect path — are you not sinning even more?
A sin above another — how will there be another way out for you?
They resisted feverishly as they listened to the voice of Dao, suddenly feeling every hope crumbling to dust!
"A sin above another!"
"A sin above another!"
In the midsts of their shrieks, their eyes that initially reflected their determination to fight for their survival suddenly turned into a look of despair. "Since we are wrong, what more a sin above another, what is the point of living?"
They plunged forward as they laughed maniacally, facing the blade of destiny. They did not run or hide, no longer fearing death.
"The saber beyond the mortal realm!"
A thin, red fog suddenly appeared, descending from the skies. It appeared to be a nebulous combination of light and shadow, seeming like it came from another mortal realm.
Facing such an extraordinary sight, both of them were stunned into shock. Their saber and sword were still flailing around relentlessly, but they delivered no significant impact. As light as mist, the saber light gently grazed their necks in a flash, and their fates were sealed.
Two heads were sent flying in a spinning motion.
Yet, the expressions etched upon them were extraordinarily at peace.
As if they had finally attained a form of release — as if they had finally found the path of Dao.
Where the saber light graced its presence, blood erupted, raining onto the ground, capsizing the mortal world!
"So… this is the real… Saber Truth; Destiny Blade…" Yun Yang murmured as he retracted his weapon.
"Every slash… is by the will of G.o.d."
In the past, whenever he activated Saber Truth; Destiny Blade, victory was always attained by brandis.h.i.+ng the saber with his hands, complete with the appropriate technique. This time, however, Emmie was fully focused, giving the maximum capacity of its power to Yun Yang — Emmie"s deific consciousness had even merged together with Yun Yang"s, allowing him to discover the deeper, profound essence of Saber Truth; Destiny Blade for the first time ever!
The true power of Saber Truth; Destiny Blade was — whatever he unleashed in the past was barely sc.r.a.ping the surface of its true essence. It was as if he had not been grasping the actual content at all — he had yet to fathom the real deal!