Chapter Twenty Six: Corrosion of Heaven
When the words were said, the world here seemed to abruptly quieten. Even Zhangsun Qianxue stopped breathing for a while.
Demon Consort Zhao is not the only one who will come to the battlefield.
The words echoed in Ding Ning’s mind. Of course he understood the meaning of the words, and his face turned pale. He looked at the people holding the lanterns from the carriages around Sima Cuo. He finally understood why the presence of the train of carriages was so odd. Why, while these carriage drivers and attendants were so far from grandmaster level, they were so unafraid and possessed a calm presence.
Because these people came from the imperial guards of the palace. That presence was the so-called imperial presence they gained from following the emperor. This train of carriages was the imperial train.
A ripple appeared in the Donghu monk’s mind as well. He seemed to sense something, and looked to the side nearby.
There was a desolate hill there. The attendants and carriages of the emperor had come here, but Emperor Yuanwu was not here, but on that hill.
In the forest on that hill, there was an ordinary stone house, but at this time, it was neatly decorated. Emperor Yuanwu, dressed in ordinary cloth robes, was drinking tea. There was a young palace attendant standing in front of him, lifting a teapot from a small red clay stove to power tea for him.
When the Donghu monk was looking towards this hill, he had just lifted the cup. But in the next moment, as he bowed his head to drink, the teacup slowly fell in front of him. Many crystal ripples appeared in the s.p.a.ce between him and the Donghu monk. His figure disappeared from his spot, pa.s.sing through the ripples and appearing at the tail of the train of carriages.
His figure seemed to suddenly add something to a quiet scene. He filled the sight, and gave people the uncomfortable feeling he was not real.
Boom!
When his body stopped, a terrifying roar finally erupted through the air behind him and the hill. It was like a long city wall that collapsed in sections. This was a state that was hard to understand, or at least, this was a state that all of the realm seven cultivators in the world could not understand at this time. Even the primal energies of the universe that flowed off his body were like rays of dazzling light, so much that people could not look straight at him in the face.
Ding Ning narrowed his eyes. He looked deeply at this man who appeared at the tail of the train of carriages, the Emperor of the Qin. Yuanwu’s face had not changed compared to more than a decade ago. Time had not seemed to leave any traces on him.
Ding Ning’s heart sank deeper in his body. But strangely, there was no fury or negative emotions. He did not expect to meet Yuanwu at this time and place.
Zhangsun Qianxue’s hands slowly clenched together. Her body was much colder than the surrounding wind and snow. But her hands could not help but break out in a cold sweat.
She looked at Yuanwu who was on the carriage. His face and figure was very average. Many years ago, she felt that everything about Yuanwu was ordinary, but this seemingly ordinary person made it to the peak of the world.
During the Deer Mountain Conference, when the grandmasters of the world gathered, Yuanwu had been wary of many things, and hid his presence. But when he flattened a mountain with a blow, and revealed his cultivation, it was like the world was under his feet and he was looking down at her, the Donghu monk and Ding Ning.
He glanced at the Donghu monk, and said, “You are not a match for me, how about you work for this Lonely One?”
His voice was very average, but full of authority and very lofty, that people would feel if he said such a thing, the Donghu monk would not object at all and obey. Because he was the strongest and most powerful emperor of the time. Even if he lost this war, and the land of many commanderies, the Qin Dynasty he possessed held twice more land than other dynasties.
On the hill, Ye Xiao’s breathing became slightly disturbed. He had not met Yuanwu officially for a long time. And Yuanwu’s strength right now created indescribable pressure on him.
But the Donghu monk shook his head, looked at Yuanwu and said, “You are injured.”
Sima Cuo was shocked. Many people in the train were shocked.
Starting from the end of the Deer Mountain Conference, the cultivators of many dynasties had speculated many times that Emperor Yuanwu had been injured during the Deer Mountain Conference. But those were just speculations, and it was completely different from this powerful Donghu monk stating it.
Yuanwu’s eyebrows rose slightly. There was no ferocity on his face. He nodded casually. “This cannot be hidden from you, but you are still not a match for this Lonely One.”
The Donghu monk considered and then said, “That may not be the case.”
Emperor Yuanwu did not speak more. He glanced at the Donghu monk and there was a soft sound in the air. His gaze seemed to become two bright swords that stabbed at the Donghu monk’s face.
The Donghu monk remained standing motionlessly, like a tree that had died for a thousand years. Even the wood staff he held did not move. Two bright sword lights suddenly disappeared a foot away from him.
But after the two sword lights disappeared, the Donghu monk raised his foot and took a step forward. He raised the wood staff he was holding. There was a dull bang. In the void in front of him, a terrifying force that collided with the wood staff in his hand creating a deep loud sound like that of an invisible bell.
There was no pause. His wood staff then attacked. More than a hundred feet away, Emperor Yuanwu disappeared from the carriage, turning into an afterimage, while his true body appeared behind the monk.
Emperor Yuanwu’s true body gripped a golden yellow long sword that he thrust at the Donghu monk’s back. The energy at the tip of his sword split apart, forming a crystal flower in the air. The shining bright yellow light did not even have time to bloom. The speed of this sword surpa.s.sed the limits of a realm seven grandmaster’s understanding. This was just as strong as the blow that killed Yan Ying back at the Deer Mountain Conference.
But the wood staff of the Donghu monk still appeared at the perfect position and tapped on the blade.
At this moment, it was like Emperor Yuanwu was split in two. He was thrusting a sword at the Donghu monk from both the front and the back. But this Donghu monk seemed to have finished two things at the same time, first time blocking Emperor Yuanwu’s attack from the front and then fending him off from the back.
Enormous dust waves surged from in front and behind the Donghu monk, accompanied by countless tangible bright yellow lines of light. The figures of Emperor Yuanwu on the carriage and behind the Donghu monk suddenly collapsed, like a dream, but then, Emperor Yuanwu’s true figure returned to the carriage. His brows were furrowed, his eyes flashing. During such a battle, he was thinking deeply about a very important question.
“It was not expected that you are already so strong.” When most people present had yet to recover from their shock, he looked firmly at the Donghu monk and took a deep breath. “You cannot be about as fast as this Lonely One, your speed comes from your directness, that you can turn the surrounding into your world. In such a cramped world, you have the speed to keep up with this Lonely One. But you cannot possess such understanding of the sword… not even this Lonely One. Only one person could use such a sword.”
“Then is it because of you?”
Emperor Yuanwu’s gaze landed on Ding Ning. His eyes were probing and puzzled. “You got his Nine Death Silkworm method, but how did you inherit his understanding of the sword?”
Ding Ning did not answer his questions. He nodded solemnly at the Donghu monk in front of him. Then he pointed with his finger. Countless thin lifebond sword energies shot out of his fingers and left behind multiple light tracks.
Many people could not understand his movements right now, but the several grandmasters present stopped breathing. They sensed a profound and powerful sword path.
This was a sword move.
The Donghu monk’s yellowed eyes grew bright. In his senses, these tracks of light were a sword move only he could comprehend in this moment. This sword move was perfectly fitting with the method he cultivated and his state at this time. It even had a restraining effect on Yuanwu’s sword essence. He knew that because of Emperor Yuanwu coming in person, their opponent was too strong for them. So Ding Ning could not keep anything back, and must do all he could to find a chance to win.
“Corrosion of Heaven!”
Emperor Yuanwu’s pupils contracted. He shouted the name of this sword. But even he only felt a part of this sword essence, and just knew the fame of this move.