Chapter 1841: Succession
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Boom boom boom!
As the final duel between the two Sovereigns began, countless lacerations appeared in the sky. Amid the ma.s.sive outpour of energy, one could vaguely see some hints of crimson blood dripping to the ground.
The crowd watched with heavy hearts as Sovereign Chen Yong’s face turned paler and paler by the moment as he pushed his tattered body beyond the limits.
He had yet to recover from the grievous wounds that he had sustained from the encirclement of countless experts back at the Temple of Confucius when he faced many more battles, and it had only been a moment ago when he was struck squarely by the deity. It was no exaggeration to say that he was already dried up on the inside.
It was really on sheer willpower that he was still standing.
“Sigh…” Zhang Xuan shook his head as he averted his gaze, unwilling to watch the duel any longer.
Despite the close fight between the two experts, he was certain that Sovereign Chen Yong would emerge victorious and slay Sovereign Chen Ling with his own hands.
A fight to the death between two equal experts eventually boiled down to a clash of willpower, and Sovereign Chen Yong’s willpower was definitely greater.
At that moment, Zhang Xuan felt deeply conflicted inside. During his time with Sovereign Chen Yong, he had come to respect the latter as a person. Despite the grudges between mankind and the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, there was no question that Sovereign Chen Yong was an amazing figure. To be honest, he could not bear to see Sovereign Chen Yong meeting his end.
However, to mankind, Sovereign Chen Yong’s demise was probably the best outcome for them. Otherwise, as long as this lynchpin holding the entire Otherworldly Demonic Tribe survived, mankind would always remain in a perilous position.
Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan turned his attention to the corpse on the ground.
Just like Vicious’ body, the corpse of the deity was astoundingly resilient, making it nigh impossible to leave any damage on it. Even though life had already receded from it, it continued to emanate a fearsome aura that kept ordinary humans away from it.
Even Zhang Xuan, who wielded powers equivalent to a Blood Reincarnation realm expert, still felt deeply pressured just by coming close to the corpse.
After swiftly scanning the deity’s body, Zhang Xuan shook his head in disappointment.
He had thought that there would be a lot of good items on the deity given that he had come from a higher dimension, but who could have known that the latter would have nothing on him at all?
In fact, there was not even a storage ring to be seen at all.
It’s probably because bringing one’s possessions across dimensions is either impossible or extremely costly, Zhang Xuan thought as he threw the corpse into his storage ring with a wave of his hand.
While it was regrettable that there were no other treasures to be harvested, the body itself could already be considered as a precious treasure. If he could refine it into a Soulless Metal Humanoid, he would be literally unmatched on the Master Teacher Continent!
Boom boom!
Shortly after Zhang Xuan had finished inspected the deity’s body, the battle between the two Sovereigns was also coming to an end. Just as Zhang Xuan had thought, even though Sovereign Chen Ling had recovered significantly from his injuries, he was still no match for the severely wounded Sovereign Chen Yong.
Puhe!
With the flash of a saber, Sovereign Chen Ling’s head was lopped in the air. Even as it fell to the ground, one could see disbelief in his eyes.
“H-how could this… be? You are… stronger…”
Those were Sovereign Chen Ling’s final words before his eyes slowly closed.
In his final moments, he felt as if everything that he had pursued had been nothing but a distant dream. No matter how much he fought and struggled, even till the very end, he had been unable to surpa.s.s the towering figure of Sovereign Chen Yong, not even once.
Putong!
Sovereign Chen Ling’s body collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Seeing that the Young Master was eyeing Sovereign Chen Ling’s corpse with glowing eyes, Sovereign Chen Yong hurriedly moved his wearied body over and said, “Young Master, even though Sovereign Chen Ling has done many misdeeds in his life, he’s still one of the Sovereigns of the Spirit Tribe. I wish to bury him in the royal mausoleum.”
Despite Sovereign Chen Ling’s betrayal, he had still been one of the Sovereigns of the Spirit Tribe. In accordance to the traditions of the Spirit Tribe, he had to be buried in the royal mausoleum.
If he allowed Zhang Xuan to forge a Soulless Metal Humanoid out of Sovereign Chen Ling’s corpse, the dignity of the Spirit Tribe would be completely shattered.
“I guess it can’t be helped!” Zhang Xuan nodded as he turned his head away regretfully.
“Thank you, Young Master!” Sovereign Chen Yong heaved a sigh of relief before sitting weakly on the ground.
As soon as he sat down, he felt every last bit of energy receding from his body, as if water flowing out of a leaking sack. His cultivation rapidly fell, and it seemed as if he was ageing swiftly.
“Yang Liu, come here…” Sovereign Chen Yong beckoned weakly to the successor that he had chosen.
“Your Majesty…” Liu Yang walked up with reddened eyes.
He had not spent much time with Sovereign Chen Yong, but the latter had always treated him earnestly. He was indebted to the latter.
“My end is coming. You are the only successor of the lineage of Sovereign Chen Yong, and I have imparted my complete heritage to you. I shall bestow upon you one final gift!”
As he said those words, he lifted his palm and grasped at Liu Yang.
Hula!
Liu Yang immediately felt the surrounding s.p.a.ce freezing on him, leaving him unable to move at all.
As if knowing what Sovereign Chen Yong was going to do, Liu Yang exclaimed in panic, “Your Majesty!”
After trapping Liu Yang in place, Sovereign Chen Yong turned to Zhang Xuan and asked, “Young Master, may I borrow your Aeon of Ancient Sage?”
Without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan took out the Canvas of Four Seasons and tossed it over.
Sovereign Chen Yong slowly unrolled the painting and drew out a surge of energy from within. After which, he inched forward a little and placed his palm on Liu Yang’s forehead.
Hong long!
All of the energy within his body began pouring into the body of the immobilized young man.
“It’s Cultivation Impartation! He knows that his end is coming, and he doesn’t wish for the cultivation that he has built up over the span of his life to disappear into nothing, Thus, he wishes to impart everything to his successor!” Ancient Sage Allfire exclaimed.
Cultivation Impartation was the process in which an expert pa.s.sed on their cultivation to someone else. As convenient as it sounded, the process was extremely complicated and came with major risks.
Firstly, the two people involved in the Cultivation Impartation had to be from the same lineage in order to ensure that there was no clash in their energies. Secondly, the person conducting the Cultivation Impartation had to carry the resolve to die, or else a half-a.s.sed attempt would only bring irreversible damage to both parties. Thirdly, the control of energy had to be extremely precise as the slightest degree of error could result in severe consequences.
The cultivation technique that Liu Yang practiced was a simplified version of the Heaven’s Path Divine Art. Even though he was unable to change the nature of his energy as freely as Zhang Xuan, he was indeed able to imitate the zhenqi of Sovereign Chen Yong’s lineage very closely. This was also the main reason for Sovereign Chen Yong choosing him as his successor in the first place.
If not for that, Sovereign Chen Yong would never have dared conduct a Cultivation Impartation with Liu Yang.
Boom!
Under the humongous influx of energy, Liu Yang’s Sempiternal realm consummation cultivation began to loosen. As the Aeon of Ancient Sage flowed into his body, the bottleneck that limited him burst open.
Boom!
Ancient Sage, reached!
Knowing that the Ancient Sage Ordeal would arrive at any moment, Sovereign Chen Yong did not dare waste any time. He continued infusing more and more energy frenziedly into Liu Yang’s body, causing the latter’s cultivation to soar.
With his cultivation reaching Ancient Sage, Liu Yang’s meridians had become significantly wider, allowing him to absorb energy at a faster rate.
Roughly ten minutes later, Sovereign Chen Yong was finally done imparting every last droplet of his energy into Liu Yang’s body, leaving him completely dry inside.
Kacha!
At that moment, the lightning tribulation arrived.
Liu Yang swiftly rose into the air to fend off the lightning tribulation.
The process lasted nearly an hour before Liu Yang descended from the sky. Even though he looked a bit ragged, he had managed to overcome his cultivation ordeal without much trouble, thus becoming a full-fledged Ancient Sage.
“I have given you all my power. Slowly a.s.similate it, and you should be able to easily achieve a breakthrough to the Blood Reincarnation realm within a single month…”
After losing all of his energy, Sovereign Chen Yong looked as if he had aged several decades. His previous regal appearance had been reduced to that of a frail old man who would have trouble lifting even a single hand.
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Liu Yang kneeled on the floor and kowtowed deeply.
Even though the other party was an Otherworldly Demon, at that very moment, he felt as if tears would pour from his eyes.
While it was probably impossible for Sovereign Chen Yong to recover, with his teacher’s miraculous medical skills, it should not be too difficult for the other party to live at least a few more years. However, Sovereign Chen Yong’s very act of infusing the very last droplet of his energy into him meant that such a hope was dashed as well. Most likely, he would not even survive the day.
“I’ll be leaving the Spirit Tribe in your hands… Please, take care of it well in my stead!” Sovereign Chen Yong smiled softly. “From today onward, you will take my place as Sovereign Chen Yong!”
As he said those words, he lifted his wrinkled hand and placed it atop Liu Yang’s head. A crown materialized under his touch, emanating a might that none would dare disregard.
This was the symbol of authority for the highest leader of the Spirit Tribe.
Sovereign Chen Yong was not a name but a t.i.tle. Anyone who inherited the crown would be respected as the great Sovereign Chen Yong.
“I…” Liu Yang’s body trembled in agitation.
There were so many things that he wanted to say, but it felt as if something was clogging up his throat, rendering him mute.
“I made up my mind from the moment I challenged Sovereign Chen Ling to a duel…” Sovereign Chen Yong shook his head.
But halfway through his words, a gale of wind suddenly sounded from afar. A figure was flitting swiftly in their direction.
“Sovereign Chen Xing?”
Upon recognizing the figure, a deep frown appeared on everyone’s face as their body tensed up warily.