A man clad in Buddhist robes stood in the sky above the Nine-tail fox clan. Lady Providence barred his way forward.
“Lady Benefactor, you’ve already kept me here for an hour. When, pray tell, will you let me leave?”
“Wait until the time is right. Then I will naturally allow you to descend. However, now isn’t the right time.”
Lady Providence’s expression was cool. From their location they could see the situation unfolding on the Nine-tail fox clan’s back mountain.
"I obeyed the orders of the Buddha and came to provide a.s.sistance to Lady Nuwa, but you"ve stopped me here. This defies both reason and emotion," frowned the monk.
The Buddha had sent him here an hour ago, but as soon as he"d arrived this woman had blocked his path; he could only look on helplessly.
The situation below was already extremely worrying, and he was desperate to go down and lend a hand. However, before he left, the Buddha warned him that should someone on the way block his path, he shouldn"t offend them lightly.
Could it be that the Buddha had predicted that someone would stop him?
The monk didn"t understand.
"I naturally have my reasons for not letting you go down there. There is a lucky chance waiting for them. If you go down there and ruin their it, it"ll be more responsibility than you can bear," the Lady Providence said calmly.
Then she raised her eyebrows in curiosity. "I still don"t know your Buddhist t.i.tle.”
“Aryasura,” said the monk.
"Oh, so you’re Great Strength Bodhisattva. I apologize for my earlier rudeness," said Lady Providence with a broad smile. “The Buddha of the Western Buddhist Domain was truly thoughtful to have sent you, but please sit tight just a little longer. Once the time is ripe, I will of course allow you to descend.”
"May the Buddha have mercy, do you want to make this humble monk sit and watch them die?"
"You"ll keep on watching, and that"s that"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Gu Li closed his wings and blocked Ye Zichen"s twin swords of ice and fire, then his face distorted into a sinister grin. "Did you think I"d fall for that again?"
He reached forward and grasped at the air. A giant hand manifested in front of him and crushed all of the Myriad Mysterious Concealed Swords" illusory blades into pieces.
“Hah……”
Ye Zichen naturally didn"t believe Gu Li would fall for the same trick twice. Everything was simply intended to buy time.
Lady Nuwa had said that the Buddhist Domain would send someone over. Ye Zichen didn"t doubt her words at all.
It was just that an hour had already pa.s.sed, so why hadn"t he seen even a trace of the Buddha? Could it be that the Western Buddhist Domain was just too far away, and he needed more time to fly over?
Bang.
A loud bang drew Ye Zichen’s attention. He turned and saw Su Liu’er plummet to the ground.
The instant she hit the ground, Hanba dashed forward to meet her.
Rip.
Her arm was torn directly off.
“Ah……”
Unable to bear the pain, Su Liu’er cried out. Ye Zichen’s eyes reddened as we watched her fall.
"Beast."
He shouted in fury and was about to rush to her aid, but Gu Li blocked his path.
"Get out of my way! Sword Slash Maelstrom!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sword Energy slammed into Gu Li’s wings, but didn’t leave a single mark. Ye Zichen grit his teeth, but then his heart....
“Xuan-Yuan……”
Thump.
As he prepared his hand seals, his chest suddenly clenched.
“Ungh……”
He took a few deep, ragged breaths as his body started to sweat uncontrollably. Before long his entire body was drenched in sweat, as if he"d just emerged from the water.
Bam.
He fell to the ground.
He tightly knit his brow and pressed his hands to his chest. His heart felt as if someone were squeezing it; it was sheer agony.
He writhed back and forth in intense pain. Seeing this, Xuan-Yuan Xiang emerged from the sword and rushed to his side.
"Kid."
“Sis...Sister Xiang,” said Ye Zichen, eyes bloodshot. He struggled to reach out to her, but the blood vessels in his wrists burst. “It hurts.”
“You were fine just a moment ago, how did….”
Before she finished her sentence, she came to an abrupt stop. “Could it be that since you burnt your natal fire, your life force has already run out?”
Having thought of this, she reached out and hugged Ye Zichen, then called out to him. "Ye Zichen, you have to hold on. You"re the Yellow Emperor, you can"t just die like this."
"It hurts so much."
Ye Zichen’s voice was hoa.r.s.e. He felt as if his heart were being squished into a pulp, as if he were already on the verge of death.
His breathing grew rapid. Xuan-Yuan Xiang, who was still embracing him, was overcome with worry but didn’t know what to do.
"You mustn"t die, you absolutely musn"t die.
"Tch, looks like you"ve already hit your limit." Gu Li snorted and laughed. He"d witnessed Ye Zichen burn his natal flame earlier.
"You burnt your natal flame in order to kill me. Who would"ve guessed that in the end you"d be the one to die? How pathetic."
"You shut up," shouted Xuan-Yuan Xiang, but she was in her sword spirit form. Gu Li couldn"t see her at all, much less hear her.
"You"ve hit your limit. In the name of our former friends.h.i.+p, I can"t let you die in this much pain. How about this? I"ll kill you quickly and painlessly, no need to thank me."
Woosh……
As Gu Li stepped forward, the Xuan-Yuan sword lying by Ye Zichen’s side suddenly flew up into the air.
Now the sword was controlled entirely by Xuan-Yuan Xiang. She wouldn’t permit Gu Li to hurt Ye Zichen.
"Quite loyal, huh."
Gu Li curled his lips in contempt, then reached out and grasped the blade.
“Without a master, you can only use a tiny fraction of your strength. In my eyes, the current you is nothing but a hunk of sc.r.a.p metal, yet you dare get in my way? And hey, your master is about to die. You, his sword, are useless now, so you might as well die with him.”
Crunch.
The sword snapped. Gu Li had forcefully broken it in half.
"Just a lump of sc.r.a.p-iron."
Gu Li casually tossed the broken sword pieces onto the ground before Ye Zichen"s very eyes.....
“Sister Xiang……”
"Lady Benefactor, this humble monk can wait no longer."
The Great Strength Bodhisattva moved to descend, but Lady Providence reached out with a finger and a wall instantly blocked his way.
“The key moment has almost arrived. I can’t possibly let you go and ruin it."
Then she looked back at Ye Zichen and frowned. “Kid, this is your opportunity. You have to grasp it.”
Having witnessed firsthand the Xuan-Yuan Sword being snapped in half, Ye Zichen"s heart ignited with fury. As the flames of rage burned inside him, the pain in his heart grew steadily more intense.
Squeeze.
That pair of invisible hands grasped his heart tighter and tighter until…..
Pop.
It was crushed into pieces. As his heart burst, his agony disappeared. His hands fell lifelessly to the ground, and his eyes grew dim.
“Lady Benefactor!” shouted the Great Strength Bodhisattva furiously.
“You just sit tight and wait, " she shouted in response, but her gaze was fixed on the distant sky......
"It"s here, it should be here.
“Did you die? How pitiful,” said Gu Li smirking condescendingly at Ye Zichen’s lifeless body, mouth twisting into a mocking grin. “But do you really think I can let you die so easily? How about…. I chop you into pieces?”
As he said this, he reached forward, but….
A hand suddenly grasped his arm. Ye Zichen, who had been lying on the floor dead, opened his eyes.
“You….. What are you doing?”