Chapter 42
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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“In that case, please be careful, Alliance Leader Ying. I’ll start the procedure now.” Changsun Chengfeng took the lead and stood in a position above the mysterious ice coffin, saying, “Please, friends, form a circle around the body of Law Flower Immortal. Don’t stay too far from me… Sword Sect Master? Aren’t you done picking up yet?”
Yuchi Rui, who was lying on the ground: “…”
Gong Wei’s whole body was covered in cold sweat again, but his mind was completely blank, unable to speak. Subconsciously, he pointed fiercely at his right eye, making exaggerated expressions, as if suddenly experiencing a muscle spasm.
Yuchi Rui: “??”
“It’s me!” Gong Wei desperately mouthed the words, “It’s me! Gong Zhiyu!”
“Changsheng?” Ying Kai, following Changsun Chengfeng’s instructions, placed his hand lightly half an inch in front of the brow of Law Flower Immortal’s corpse, then turned to ask, “Do you need any help?”
――It’s over.
Gong Wei felt like the world was collapsing. He watched as even Mu Duozhu took a step back, seemingly about to bend over. “Are you alright, Sword Sect Master? Is it… your peanuts?”
At the critical moment, Yuchi Rui reached out and picked up a few peanuts, then moved away from Gong Wei’s horrified gaze.
Facing everyone’s eyes, he stood up, expressionless, and opened his hands, “Done picking up. You can count them.”
Mu Duozhu: “……”
Changsun Chengfeng’s voice came from the coffin, filled with laughter and tears, “Alright, everyone, please follow what I said and form a circle here. Alliance Leader Ying, when I cast the spell, please send all your spiritual essence into Law Flower Immortal’s body, following my instructions…”
Yuchi Rui finally noticed? Did he recognize me?
Gong Wei laid under the coffin, his heart pounding with excitement and anxiety, but he dared not make a sound. In the limited space, he looked around as much as he could, seeing everyone gathered around the coffin. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was an illusion, but Xu Shuangce still stood closer to the coffin than anyone else.
――Is the soldier thread really related to Du Kaixuan, who was exiled seventeen years ago?
Did Xu Shuangce specifically go to the extreme north to kill him, only to fail?
Countless thoughts flooded Gong Wei’s mind. He hadn’t even had time to sort them out when he heard Changsun Chengfeng suddenly chant a spell, “Shape perception follows me, spiritual essence penetrates… Rise!”
Everyone present felt themselves being pulled forward heavily, as their spiritual essence rapidly entered the communication formation. In the center of the formation under the coffin, Gong Wei knew he couldn’t escape. He could only close his eyes and grit his teeth, and the next moment, his consciousness went dark!
…
It felt like countless years had passed, yet it was only a moment. Gong Wei slowly opened his eyes, feeling intense vibrations and thunderous roars coming from all directions.
This was a segment of consciousness that Du Kaixuan forcibly imparted to the puppet through the soldier thread. However, unexpectedly, this consciousness did not reveal his own whereabouts as everyone had expected, nor did it depict any familiar territory on the Central Plains.
It was a plain engulfed in flames of war.
The earth cracked and the sky was obscured by smoke. In the distance, an unfamiliar capital city was shrouded in flames, with collapsed walls and people wailing. Burning bricks fell like rain, crushing the fleeing civilians into minced meat.
Several grandmasters stood in the sky amidst the dark clouds, their robes fluttering in the hurricane. As soon as Ying Kai opened his eyes, he saw this h*llish scene and instinctively reached for his sword, “What’s going on?!”
However, Changsun Chengfeng stopped him, “Brother Ying, don’t be anxious. This is Du Kaixuan’s consciousness, and you and I are just bystanders. Don’t believe it? Watch.”
With a wave of his hand, stones with lingering flames flew from afar and pierced through his palm, as if piercing through an unreal illusion, then flew away in an instant.
“We are just spiritual entities, unable to change what has already happened in the world of consciousness, nor can we save the people who have died here.” Changsun Chengfeng frowned and murmured the question in everyone’s hearts, “But… what place is this? I don’t recognize it at all. What does Du Kaixuan want by controlling Law Flower Immortal’s corpse?”
At the same time, far away, Gong Wei cautiously hid behind a hill, watching as Yuchi Rui repeatedly looked around, as if searching for him, but because of the raging war and thick smoke, he didn’t see Gong Wei waving his hand just a hundred feet away.
“Sword Sect Master?” Mu Duozhu wondered, “What are you looking for?”
Yuchi Rui quickly turned around, indifferent, “Nothing.”
Mu Duozhu: “……”
Curious, Ying Kai turned to look, but saw nothing but burning villages and cracked hills on the plain. He was full of doubts when suddenly, from the city ahead came a loud rumble!
Boom!
The earth shook violently, and the footsteps drew closer and closer. Then, a towering figure of a giant humanoid shadow appeared above the capital city. With a heavy wave of its hand, a hurricane swept out of nowhere, dispersing the smoke.
Ying Kai exclaimed, “What is that?” ——After the smoke cleared, the true appearance of the shadow finally emerged. It turned out to be a giant mechanical puppet!
Never before had anyone seen such a huge and terrifying puppet.
It stood over a hundred feet tall, truly towering from head to toe, clad in steel armor, with both hands tightly gripping two flaming long knives. From a distance, it resembled a moving mountain. Although the puppet had all the facial features of a human, its expression was stiff and rigid. Its huge eyeballs were like two suns, overlooking the crowd of fleeing people below, exuding a godlike coldness and majesty.
“Help!” “Run, quickly!” “Mom, mom!”…
The puppet soldier lifted its foot high and ruthlessly stomped down, crushing countless people into a bloody mess!
“…Chengfeng?” Ying Kai trembled.
Changsun Chengfeng’s tone changed even as he uttered the last syllable: “Unheard of, I swear I’ve never seen anything like this!”
Mu Duozhu blurted out, “Is it going to kill everyone?!”
As if in response to his words, the puppet raised its hands and crossed its two swords, then swung them down forcefully. The flames on the blades instantly engulfed most of the city in a sea of fire, and the exploding houses soared into the sky!
The shockwave dispersed the clouds in the sky, and even pushed several grandmasters back several steps. Changsun Chengfeng finally steadied himself and exclaimed in shock, “What year is this? I’ve never seen this in our family history! What about you, Brother Ying?”
Not only in the family history of the Changsun family in Julu City, but the entire Immortal Alliance had never recorded such a horrifying disaster. Ying Kai’s hand holding the sword tightened, and he frowned, “I have never seen this in any records either. What on earth…”
At this moment, Xu Shuangce suddenly said, “Someone is coming.”
Everyone looked around at the same time, only to see the terrifying long knives of the puppet swing out again, and two fire dragons swooped towards the crowd. It seemed that countless people were about to be turned into charred bones —
At this critical moment, a golden-white sword light rose from the crowd, extremely fierce and sharp, slashing the fire dragons in mid-air!
The impact of this sword was enough to shake the entire plain. Even the Sword Sect Master, Yuchi Rui, couldn’t help but change his expression slightly. “Who is it?”
The sword light surged into the sky, dispersing the golden flames. Only at the top of the last city tower in the distance, amidst billowing smoke, appeared a slender figure, fearlessly facing the giant humanoid figure, standing proudly with robes fluttering in the wind.
The newcomer was still very young, with a beautifully serene profile. However, at this moment, his face was soaked in blood from forehead to cheeks, adding a somewhat abrupt fierceness and dignity. His hair ties and belts, dancing in the wind, were embroidered with golden threads. His white clothes were stained with blood everywhere, indicating severe injuries, yet his back remained straight without any bending.
In his right palm, the long sword emitted a dazzling brilliance. The sword’s shape was very familiar, and near the hilt, there were two ancient seal characters engraved —
Changsun Chengfeng read aloud in astonishment, “Buqi!”
Everyone involuntarily looked at the Buqi Sword in Changsun Chengfeng’s hand, and Mu Duozhu pointed at the figure in the distance, “Could it be… Could it be one of the former leaders of the Iron Sect?”
As soon as the words fell, everyone realized one thing: the title of the Iron Sect had been passed down in the Changsun family for three generations, but this young master was obviously not an ancestor of the Changsun family.
How many years ago did Du Kaixuan implant this consciousness into the body of Law Flower Immortal, and where did it come from?
The seemingly unbeatable old opponent appeared again, and the puppet was instantly infuriated. Its huge flaming eyeballs burned even brighter, and it rushed forward on level ground, its hundred-foot-tall body moving so swiftly that it sent chills down everyone’s spine, chopping down with its knives towards the head of the master!
But the young master’s figure was even faster, as if his severe injuries didn’t affect his speed at all. In the blink of an eye, he retreated to the plain outside the city. He seemed to want to use himself as bait to buy time for the people to escape. Sure enough, the puppet abandoned the city without hesitation and instantly chased after him. The two long knives wildly hacked and slashed, and the surging flames erupted like countless volcanoes.
This apocalyptic h*llish scene was enough to chill anyone’s heart, but the young master remained steadfast and unwavering. In an instant, he endured over a thousand moves, his qi permeating the heavens and the earth, tearing apart even the high-altitude clouds!
Changsun Chengfeng was deeply impressed and murmured, “It seems I have underestimated the Buqi Sword. It possesses such unparalleled sharpness…”
Ying Kai also kept his eyes fixed on the battlefield and couldn’t look away. “Chengfeng, there’s no need to feel ashamed. This senior is already in the very late stages of the Immortalization Realm.”
“The very late stages?”
“I’m afraid he’s not inferior — no.” Ying Kai paused and corrected himself, “I’m afraid he can match Xu Shuangce’s prowess.”
Several people couldn’t help but look at Xu Shuangce, only to see the Lord of Cangyang Sect furrow his brows slightly and whisper a few words softly, “Such a pity.”
“What a pity?” asked Changsun Chengfeng.
“…”
Neither Ying Kai nor Xu Shuangce said anything more. At that moment, the double blades of the mechanical puppet split the sky and descended. The young master gritted his teeth, holding his sword horizontally to block. The earth-shattering impact surged in all directions, and the plain beneath his feet instantly cracked open!
“Do you know why he didn’t summon the soul of the Buqi Sword?” Ying Kai sighed heavily and said, “Because his injuries are too severe, and his golden core has long been destroyed.”
The destruction of the golden core is the most desperate nightmare for all cultivators, even for grandmasters. But at the late stage of the Immortalization Realm, the golden core is incredibly powerful and sturdy, unparalleled in the world. Even if the person dies, the core might not necessarily be destroyed. How terrifying must the blows this master endured be to destroy his golden core?
And what kind of astonishing perseverance allowed him to survive the destruction of his core, continue fighting with his last breath, and stand up to block this giant puppet?
Everyone was stunned for a moment. Ying Kai suddenly frowned, “This is bad.”
They saw the mechanical puppet lift both blades into the air, its fury reaching its peak. It suddenly opened its mouth wide and sucked in all the black clouds within a radius of a hundred miles.
Then it lowered its head and spat out a sky-obscuring golden flame!
At that moment, it was as if h*ll had opened its gates, and the fire dragons descended from the sky, terrifying and indescribable. The master had nowhere to hide. In an instant, he was blasted away by the explosive impact, like an arrow crashing into the distant hills tens of miles away, causing cliffs to collapse!
Thousands of tons of giant rocks poured down, completely burying him.
The violent shockwave shook the surroundings, and vast stretches of forests fell like building blocks. The mechanical puppet raised its blades high into the sky and let out a roar that overwhelmed everything: “All beings are like grass, and the puppet soldier shall end the world!”
“All beings are like grass, and the puppet soldier shall end the world!!”
This time, no one could stop it anymore. It slowly turned its body towards the city at the end of the plain, and once again sucked in a breath of air, hundreds of sharp teeth interlocking in its gaping maw.
The people in the city suddenly realized that doomsday had come. In despair, they fell to their knees like a landslide, watching as the terrifying golden flames flashed once again in the giant puppet’s throat.
Mu Duozhu exclaimed, “This city is finished!”
“…No.” Ying Kai’s voice was slightly hoarse, and it was unclear whether it was due to horror or admiration. “It’s not over yet.”
Following his gaze towards the mechanical puppet, everyone saw that the collapsed mountain wall in the distance suddenly moved, and giant rocks shattered one after another.
The young master laid in the pit, bathed in blood, with broken limbs and shattered bones all over his body. But his beautiful eyes were still open, reflecting the vast sky. Despite his pale face, his expression remained calm.
Then, his only unbroken left hand rose, and a thread of blood-red light flicked up in the air, extending and elongating, before swiftly disappearing into his body.
As if an invisible force was supporting his body, he floated in mid-air, and with several crisp “crack” sounds, his broken spine was pieced back together, his twisted limbs straightened out, and his torso and limbs returned to their original state. He stood up like a broken doll being forcibly repaired. Then, with a loud “crack” sound, his broken neck was also returned to its original state.
The Buqi Sword turned into a meteor and flew into his hand, firmly grasped in his right palm. Then, he raised his head, and for the last time, spiritual power surged from the soles of his feet, enveloping his entire body. In the depths of his pupils, the mechanical giant looming on the distant plain was reflected.
“The… the soldier thread…” Changsun Chengfeng trembled.
“He… he turned himself into the final puppet…”
In the very late stages of the Immortalization realm, it is already the highest peak that worldly cultivators can ascend to. Once reaching this realm, heavenly tribulations could descend at any moment. As long as one withstands the thunder tribulation, they can immediately ascend and transform into immortals.
Among hundreds of years and millions of people, only a true chosen one can reach this realm, just one step away from becoming a deity.
However, this young master burned his golden core, broke his iron bones, and his hundred years of cultivation turned to ashes. His fate as an immortal was erased, and in the end, he didn’t even leave behind a complete corpse for himself, completely becoming an immortal battle puppet.
—-All beings are like grass, and the soldier puppet shall end the world.
The apocalypse has come, what else can he do?
A dazzling light enveloped the entire world, and the devastating golden flame dragon finally spewed out from the mechanical giant’s mouth, roaring towards the earth!
The world-ending scene cannot be described in words. Wherever the golden fire went, mountains and forests crumbled to dust; thousands of miles of plains turned into basins, and vast rivers poured down from the sky, with countless people witnessing the approaching fire dragon.
Time froze at this moment.
A brighter and more dazzling figure turned into a beam of light from afar, swinging a sword heavily, covering the sky and the earth with light.
The fire dragon collided with the sword light, turning into a surging torrent!
“Iron…Iron Sect Master…”
Someone started trembling, and soon the trembling spread across the land. Countless people fell to their knees, tears streaming down their faces, bowing their heads in reverence. “Grandmaster!” “Grandmaster!!”…
“Iron Sect Master!!” The mechanical giant’s roar shook the wilderness. “Iron…Sect Master!!”
The sect master held the sword in both hands, standing in the air, blocking all destructive impacts. Blood gushed from his body like a spring, but even if his bones controlled by the puppet were crushed to dust, they did not bend in the slightest. His eyes, stained with blood, still shone terrifyingly bright.
“…’All beings are like grass,'” he spoke one word at a time.
Despite his harsh demeanor, his voice was strangely soft, each word carrying overwhelming power:
“All beings are like grass, and the grand dao shall end.”
“The path of mortals shall endure.”
Mortals shall endure.
The mechanical giant had never been so completely infuriated before. It suddenly let out a heart-wrenching roar, and its sound waves shook cities and towns. Then, the third cyan-gold flame and a pair of long knives chopped down simultaneously!
—-This unprecedented and majestic power, like the wrath of the gods, was enough to completely shred anything in the world.
The sky and earth turned pure white in the intense light, and everyone lost their sight. Therefore, no one could see the moment when the master turned his head, glanced at the vast land and millions of people behind him.
Then, endless golden light exploded from his body.
It was simply a power beyond mortal comprehension, nothing less than “near godhood.” Space, time, the entire world seemed to reverse, the rushing torrents heading for the city walls were suspended in mid-air, and the falling boulders above people’s heads turned back; the raging fire dragons were forcibly blocked by an invisible force, the two terrifying giant knives melted inch by inch, turning into nothingness.
The mechanical puppet let out an unwilling roar, but at this moment, no one could hear it anymore.
In that divine and world-creating shock, it was finally lifted out by a sword, and millions of mechanical parts in its limbs exploded into the sky. Only the mountain-like body fell from the sky, smashing into the basin created in the plain, splitting a crack hundreds of feet long in the strong quake.
—There was a sword embedded in its steel forehead.
In the end, the sect master did not let go of the sword hilt. He was like a meteor shocking the world, exploding his soul and three souls and seven spirits together. He paid the price of never entering reincarnation, finally perishing together with this world-ending giant, and being buried into the depths of the earth!
“…”
It’s unknown how long it took, but the thick smoke gradually dispersed, and the clouds in the sky finally resumed their flow.
No one spoke, not even moved. After a long silence for a stick of incense, Changsun Chengfeng finally exhaled a long breath as if exhausted, hoarsely saying, “I am speechless…”
Ying Kai slightly tilted his head towards Xu Shuangce and asked, “Can you do it?”
Xu Shuangce shook his head, “I can’t do it.”
Ying Kai sighed deeply, “I actually don’t know if I can do it, or if I can bring myself to do it.”
He looked at the huge basin that had completely changed beneath his feet, and then at the distant steep rift valley, saying, “I don’t know which era this senior of the Iron Sect Master was from, such a lofty realm of cultivation, if even he cannot ascend, perhaps no one in history has the qualifications to ascend. It’s a pity that such a revered senior did not live to…”
Ying Kai’s words suddenly stopped.
He and Xu Shuangce simultaneously looked up at the sky, their expressions suddenly changing. Changsun Chengfeng exclaimed in surprise, “What’s wrong?”
Immediately, he got the answer.
—–Black clouds surged and thunder faintly flashed. The vast sky gradually began to rotate on its own without wind, and the heavenly tribulation was about to strike.
This master indeed had the qualifications to ascend.
So, after his death, the ninefold heavenly tribulation descended!
Changsun Chengfeng exclaimed, “Could it be that he’s not completely dead yet? How is this possible? This…”
Ying Kai suddenly opened his eyes, “Not good, his final soul hasn’t completely dispersed.”
Before he could finish his words, he dashed out like lightning, but his steps were still slower than the heavenly tribulation. Before everyone could reach the edge of the rift valley, they saw a mighty thunderbolt descending from the sky. The first tribulation thunder, like a venomous dragon, plunged into the abyss, its momentum fierce and ruthless, causing the entire basin to explode like a pot of boiling oil!
“How is this possible?!” Even Ying Kai was forced to block his face with one hand, shouting in disbelief, “For such a grandmaster, how could he encounter such—such—”
Xu Shuangce looked up at the sky, his pupils shrinking slightly, “Extreme Evil Tribulation.”
The person crossing the tribulation was left with only a trace of soul, but what descended from the heavens was an unprecedented and unheard-of extreme evil calamity.
Even if this sect master were alive, he would not be able to ascend smoothly. Clearly, this was meant to completely annihilate his soul, to never be reincarnated again, and even his body after death would be whipped into dust!
Ying Kai angrily drew his sword, but it was completely futile. In this realm of consciousness, they were only spirits, immune to heavenly thunder, and had no power to change external objects. They could only watch helplessly as the second tribulation thunder descended from the sky, seemingly carrying boundless hatred and rage, like a giant whip lashing towards the battered body at the bottom of the abyss—
This time, not only did it tear apart the remaining soul, but it also severed the body into pieces, dismembering the limbs.
But just before that tragic scene unfolded, a vortex-shaped cloud suddenly flashed with a crimson light at its center, growing closer and clearer.
Ying Kai was astonished, “What is that…?”
It turned out to be a clear and bright pair of mirrors.
It instantly hovered above the abyss, and as the second tribulation thunder came crashing down, it collided with this indomitable guardian. Electric currents splashed in all directions like a magnificent waterfall, but none of it leaked into the abyss below!
“What’s going on?” Mu Duozhu shielded his eyes and shouted, “Is there something coming down from the sky to protect him? What is it?”
It is said that if a person crossing the tribulation has immense merits, immortals will descend to protect them, but that’s just a legend, and there has never been any historical record of it. Moreover, if heaven truly believed that this grandmaster could ascend, why would it bring down an extreme evil tribulation?
What exactly is the thing that tore through the tribulation clouds to protect him?
Suddenly, Xu Shuangce’s expression changed.
It was just a moment, almost like an illusion— he saw a flicker of a figure in the mirror, but couldn’t see the features clearly, only feeling that it was a young man in a deep red robe, fearlessly wielding a sword against the ninefold evil thunder.
A majestic sword light surged from the mirror, shattering the second giant thunderbolt, and the magnificent light even tore apart the countless layers of tribulation clouds!
—At this point on the battlefield, it finally transcended the realm of humans and became a true battle between “heaven” and “heaven.”
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