331: Chapter 67: The Regicide 331: Chapter 67: The Regicide Ao Ying had never seen a freak like Xie Zhen before.
If anyone called him a kind person, it would be a great joke.
With a single sword strike, he had killed fourteen Great Demons of Resentful Ghost Ridge, fought until he had to sacrifice his own blood, and activated a Secret Treasure to escape for his life.
If anyone called him a bad person,
Ao Ying had wandered the Demon Domain for many years and encountered countless scoundrels, yet he had never “kicked someone when they were down.”
A righteous gentleman?
Previously during the stand at Dragon Array, he paid no heed to the so-called “greater good” and, in front of the Demon Race’s eyes, wanted to kill the elite of the Human Race.
A vile scoundrel?
That was still not fitting; his actions had always been upright and open.
“You stepped into this place…
for what reason?”
Ao Ying cleared all the miscellaneous thoughts from her mind and looked at the youth before her with a complex expression.
She fled to this place.
First, to evade Prince Jiu’s pursuit and second, to refine “Feng Mou.”
Those from the Human Race fled to this place.
Merely to escape for their lives.
But Xie Zhen, carefully reflecting from the first encounter, this guy had not been within the range of “Northern Hunt”…
Ao Ying knew from the time she was Devouring Soul that the incident during the Northern Hunt was unexpected, the cloud ship that Xie Zhen was on had unfortunately crashed, and logically speaking, he should not have come here.
However, upon meeting at Resentful Ghost Ridge, it seemed as if Xie Zhen already had an “end point.”
Xie Xuanyi said softly, “A single fruit.”
“A… single fruit?”
This response was unexpected for Ao Ying.
What kind of fruit was this, a Tao fruit, a Spiritual Treasure, or?
She fell silent for a long while, then spoke earnestly, “What if there are only dead people here, and no fruit?”
All roads in this world eventually come to an end.
The two of them walked along a long, narrow mountain crevice, and light faintly shone ahead.
They would soon reach the end of Corpse Mountain.
“Then there is none.”
Xie Xuanyi’s tone was very light.
Ao Ying felt even more perplexed.
She could feel an unrivaled sharpness from the young man’s Sword Intent…
Regardless of what identity Xie Zhen actually had, it seemed he had been certain before the Northern Hunt that this place held a great opportunity, a great fortune; thus, he came here alone.
But if he returned empty-handed, was it possible that Xie Zhen also did not care?
“…”
Xie Xuanyi silently proceeded.
Of course, he cared.
He wanted that Divine Fruit more than anyone else.
But the relationship between him and the Divine Fruit was not as simple as Ao Ying thought; ordinary cultivators sought fortune simply to ascend to the heavens in a single step.
But Xie Xuanyi was different.
Instead of saying the lure of the “Divine Fruit” spurred him to advance to this place…
It was his desire to prove his own obsession.
Or perhaps, his craving to cultivate a second Sword Dao…
In his previous life, a natural deficiency had led him to leave regrets in the cultivation of the Sword Dao.
If he could obtain a Divine Fruit, he could mend this inherent flaw left behind.
For Xie Xuanyi,
The significance of the Divine Fruit was just this.
“When you jumped into the well, did you look down?”
Xie Xuanyi suddenly turned back and asked this question.
Ao Ying was slightly taken aback.
Along the way, it had always been her probing for information about Xie Zhen, trying to extract some details from the young man.
This was the first time Xie Zhen asked her.
“Of course I did.”
Ao Ying looked somewhat puzzled and said, “Why, is there something in the well?”
Xie Xuanyi raised an eyebrow, “What did you see?”
“Just a well.”
Ao Ying calmly said, “I didn’t see anything.”
“…”
Xie Xuanyi fell into a brief silence.
He gazed at Ao Ying’s cheek, examining the demoness more closely than ever before.
The jade scroll left by Shan Man mentioned that the Great Yue Well could reflect one’s deepest desires; each person could confront their innermost “desires” when looking into it.
If she saw nothing,
It meant she had no desires, no demands.
This was the highest state in Buddhism, which Xie Xuanyi heard only a few eminent monks could reach the state of “desirelessness.” But during his travels around Nanli, visiting countless Buddhist temples, he had not met a true saint who was “without desires.”
All these years,
The only people without desires that Xie Xuanyi had seen were “dead people”!
This demoness who stole the Secret Treasure of Chi Ling City and fled south didn’t show the slightest sign of being without desires.
“Why… are you staring at me like that?”
Ao Ying felt somewhat uncomfortable under Xie Zhen’s gaze, her cheeks slightly flushed, and she involuntarily took a small step back.
The young man’s Sword Intent was too strong.
Even just being looked at, there was a feeling of needles on the back.
“It’s nothing.”
Xie Xuanyi’s expression remained normal, but fleeting thoughts flashed through his Heart Lake.
He shifted his gaze from Ao Ying, picked up his pace, and walked out of Corpse Mountain.
Ao Ying followed closely behind.
The two stood silently at the exit of Corpse Mountain, looking up at a grand and splendid scene that seemed somewhat surreal.
Sword Qi swirled above their heads, transforming into a sun that tore open the pitch-black canopy ahead, revealing mountain-high tiers and a majestic throne atop the mountain peaks.
After leaving Corpse Mountain, the oppressive feeling of the Tao Rules became even stronger.
The suspended sword energy light fire, like a slowly setting sun, sprinkled its afterglow on the throne where one could vaguely see a lean figure ensnared within, draped in a broad dragon robe and wearing a red gold crown.
But what was truly horrifying was…
A long spear, piercing through this throne, nailed the man “dead” atop it.
Beneath the throne.
Stood four massive silver statues.
These four statues, holding a knife, sword, spear, and bow, should have looked dignified and guarded this place, but as the years passed, they had rusted, decayed, their bases stained with fresh blood, appearing as though they had just been through a bloodbath…
Some statues had arms broken off, others had lost their heads.
“This…”
Ao Ying’s expression was shocked, taking in the massive visual impact of the scene.
Xie Xuanyi squinted his eyes.
He knew…
under the Great Yue Kingdom’s sovereign, there were four valiant and skilled generals!
Now, standing beneath the throne, the silver-white statues were exactly four in number!
Knife, sword, spear, bow!
This perfectly corresponded to the weapons used in the Ancient Battlefield illusion, where the chiliarchs galloped across the battlefield and hunted demon dragons!
The Great Yue Kingdom’s cavalry were all trained by these four generals, who were Emperor Qi’s right-hand and left-hand men, the most powerful force of this ancient country…
But now.
Their weapons were pointed toward the sovereign above the throne.
What was happening was clear at a glance…
Under the oppression of the ancient Tao Rules, the sword energy light fire extinguished bit by bit.
The resplendent and dazzling throne still stood atop hundreds of steps, on the peak of a mountain, but the frenzied scene gradually darkened.
After the light fire extinguished, the grand hall at the end of Corpse Mountain seemed even more manic and bleak, with gray fog re-encapsulating the area.
Standing at the foot of the four static silver statues, looking up at the high throne, one could still feel inexpressible oppression and despair even after a thousand years and the silent annihilation of everything.
Ao Ying’s voice was somewhat hoarse, “So they wanted to…
commit regicide?”
“Regicide…”
These two words.
Fell on Xie Xuanyi’s ears with a peculiar sense of absurdity.
Xie Xuanyi looked at the four massive silver statues, emotions swirling in his Heart Lake.
“Are all these people dead?”
Ao Ying turned slightly, and in another part of the dark hall, she saw a towering head as large as a small mountain…
that should be the head of the sword-bearing general.
That statue charged to the front, closest to the throne.
Thus, he died the most terribly, his head shorn off, his entire body riddled with dense cracks, as if it might collapse and shatter at any moment.
The other three statues.
Were not much different.
Only the spear-wielder, at the very back of the grand hall, posed as if throwing.
That long spear crossed thousands of steps and also the distance between monarch and servant, pierced through the void, and impaled Emperor Qi onto it…
Ao Ying silently absorbed the murderous aura emanating from this Silent Annihilation throne and murmured, “The outcome of this war seems very bleak…”
The sword energy light fire completely extinguished.
In the pitch darkness, the base of a distant silver-white statue seemed to shimmer with a faint luster.
Just then.
A very soft voice suddenly arose.
“This war is indeed bleak, but the outcome was good…
‘He who follows the path will have aid; he who loses it will have little.’ When a person is driven to a dead end, with nowhere to retreat, they will receive the grace of the heavens.”
This voice, gentle as a spring breeze, directly brushed across Heart Lake.
Ao Ying’s pupils constricted.
It was a silver-white light fire, flickering beneath the great base of the spear-wielding general, gradually forming into a wavering figure.
“Step back.”
Xie Xuanyi put down Qing Li, shielded her behind him, took a step forward, and unleashed Sword Qi to cover a three-meter radius.
The golden light twinkled between his eyebrows, and Chen Ke burst forth with Sword Sound!
He observed the silver-white figure expressionlessly…
This wasn’t Li Mei.
It was a residual Divine Thought that retained a consciousness.
Like those Divine Thoughts left by the saints in Xuanshui Cave Heaven, such residual images, depending on the strength of their masters before death, retained different degrees of will and thought.
Even could manipulate Tao Rules.
“Don’t worry, I can’t leave this casting seat…”
The silver-white Divine Thought gradually solidified.
He was clad in bloodstained armor, his entire countenance blurry.
Long years had eroded the Divine Thought, showing signs of dispersion, but one could still vaguely see his face bearing a smile, his whole being exuding a gentle and peaceful aura.
He took a few steps forward, as if to prove, he was bound by some kind of shackles…
This wisp of silver-white brilliance wafted within a few meters around the casting seat.
This wisp of light.
Once it left the casting seat, quickly dimmed.
The next moment, the Divine Thought projection that had stepped a few paces was pulled back under the casting seat.
This strand of residual thought no longer moved forward but simply sat so casually on the steps of the grand hall, facing Xie Xuanyi and Ao Ying.
“My name is Zhong Wu, the sole survivor of the four generals of the Great Yue Kingdom.”
He stretched out his finger, pointing above his own casting seat.
The long steps.
The regal authority.
Pierced by this long spear.
The silver-armored man looked at the shattered throne and the dried royal blood flowing down from it.
His smile broadened a bit.
His voice at this moment carried a trace of madness and a bit of pride.
“You…
can also call me ‘The Regicide’.”
…
…
(Two more updates today.)