Chapter 534: Back from Antiquity (part 1)
The hundreds of thousands of cultivators beneath the altar reeled in response to the lieutenant governor’s words. The mortals in the city were mostly confused, as not many of them were familiar with the history involved.
Xu Qing himself had only learned about the history of the human species after becoming a swordsage and attending a class taught by the lieutenant governor. That was also his first time learning of the role played by the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan in human history.
Marquis Yao, who hovered in midair, the three deputy palace lords, and all the other important people present were looking at the lieutenant governor with complicated expressions that seemed mostly dazed.
Although the lieutenant governor’s true identity was unexpected, it also made sense. The services he had performed over the years, and also the way he kept the county going during the war, hinted at past experience with government affairs. In fact, if you looked at what he did during the war, and ignored the fake exhaustion he’d employed to enhance his cover story, then the reality was that he had handled everything with skill and ease.
And that wasn’t even to mention how smoothly the reconstruction work had gone after the war was over. Every single government decree issued by the lieutenant governor had been the perfect order to give at the time. He really was good at his job. Perhaps that was why, in the past, many people had believed him to be a bit more skilled than the governor himself. Talent like that wasn’t something everyone possessed. Not only did someone in that position need to be very familiar with how to issue government decrees, but also, they needed to be able to view Sea-Sealing County as a whole.
Because of all that, Xu Qing believed the lieutenant governor’s story. However, there were other things he was suspicious about. For example, why had he been reincarnated? What did he sacrifice to make it happen?
Regardless, none of the unrevealed information could possibly erase the crimes he had committed as the lieutenant governor. Whether it was murdering the governor, throwing Sea-Sealing County into chaos, colluding with the Holytides, orchestrating Palace Lord Kong’s death, his every single action was soaked with blood.
In the briefest of moments, the killing intent in the county capital surged to an even higher level.
“Xu Qing,” the lieutenant governor said. He ignored all of the murderous gazes. He didn’t pay attention to Marquis Yao and the others. It was as if the only person who was worthy of his attention in all of Sea-Sealing County was Xu Qing.
The Captain, who had been standing right next to Xu Qing, eased a few steps backward. He knew that on this day, Xu Qing was the focus of attention.
“I gave you the answer you were looking for,” the lieutenant governor said tranquilly. “Now I have a question that I want to ask you. This place belongs to me. It’s my territory. Isn’t it reasonable for me to take it back?”
Xu Qing shook his head. “Your territory was destroyed along with the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan.” He looked out at the hundreds of thousands of people gathered below the altar, and also, the rest of the capital city. “To all these people, Sea-Sealing County is home.”
As his words drifted out, the eyes of those present glittered, and their hearts surged with approval.
The lieutenant governor smiled. “Then why are you the only person who stepped forward to object? As I recall, you’re not from Sea-Sealing County. You’re from the continent of South Phoenix.”
Xu Qing didn’t answer the question. No one in the county capital answered the question. No one in heaven and earth answered the question. The words struck Xu Qing’s heart and mind like a lightning bolt, creating great waves that threatened to overwhelm him. But they couldn’t possibly overwhelm a certain blood-soaked figure in his memories.
“There’s an old man I respect very much,” Xu Qing said quietly. “He died in battle. But in my heart, he’s still alive.”
Grief simmered in the hearts of the war veterans. They knew who Xu Qing was talking about. None of them would ever forget the image of Palace Lord Kong dying in defense of Sea-Sealing County. The image of him fusing with the net of taboo treasures, and the way he slowly froze before shattering, was something every cultivator from the western front would grieve over for the rest of their life. The words he had spoken, ‘I will defend my home,’ had been branded into the hearts of all swordsages. [1]
“That’s it?” The lieutenant governor seemed surprised.
“What else did you expect?” Xu Qing said calmly. “Some big speech?”
The lieutenant governor chuckled.
Xu Qing said nothing further. He just looked up into the sky. It was as if he could clearly see Palace Lord Kong. There was actually something else that remained unsaid, in his heart. And that was the fact that Palace Lord Kong, through both words and actions, had taught Xu Qing what it really meant to be a swordsage. Therefore, Xu Qing took a deep breath and spoke in a grim voice that spread through all heaven and earth.
“Swordsages. We have conclusive evidence. And we have the right to execute anyone but the emperor.”
In response to his words, heaven and earth rumbled. Lighting crashed in the sky, and countless streams of killing intent rose from the veteran swordsages, all of whom had bloodshot eyes. They were all familiar with the words Xu Qing had spoken.
The cultivators from the Justice Palace and the Administration Palace, despite not being swordages, were all familiar with the authority and responsibilities of the swordsages. They weren’t the only ones who knew. All the mortals in the county capital also knew.
A screaming wind sprang up. Through the county capital, people from all households stepped out into the open, and their garments flapped in the wind. As they did, destiny aura rose from them and swirled in Xu Qing’s direction.
As of this moment, the people all felt the same thing!
As of this moment, heaven and earth trembled in unison!
As of this moment, all the destiny aura was converging above Xu Qing, creating a resplendent crown so incomparably distinct that even the mortals could see it!
The weight of the crown and the blessing of the destiny aura caused Xu Qing’s bluegreen dragon to roar as it directly transformed into a nascent soul. That nascent soul was an embodiment of destiny aura, and it caused heaven to shake and the earth to tremble. Up above, the vortex grew in size. This was Xu Qing’s ninth nascent soul!
Daybreak light erupted within Xu Qing, spreading out resplendently in all directions and transforming into a seven-colored nascent soul! The daybreak soul shone with such brilliance that all light dimmed in heaven and earth. This was his tenth nascent soul!
Things weren’t over yet. As the destiny aura continued to converge, D-132 trembled. The destiny aura eventually became a tiny figure. It looked very much like the young boy from the early days of D-132, except his facial features were those of Xu Qing. With his arrival, D-132 was complete. The head, the stone lion, and Sir Inkwell all shivered as they kowtowed to the eleventh nascent soul!
Finally, the river of time outside of Xu Qing became so clear that a figure could be seen emerging from it. At first, the figure’s features were indiscernible. It did not seem elegant and magnificent, but instead wore shabby clothing, and had a face caked with filth. It almost looked like a child who had climbed out of the grave. But there was a tenacity and determination in the child’s face, as if none of the bitterness of life could force him to bow his head. He would continue onward, no matter what. He would keep on living! This was Xu Qing’s twelfth nascent soul.
The arrival of this nascent soul seemed to cause the entire county to resonate. Among the crowd of hundreds of thousands was Qing Qiu, who shivered from head to toe. The mere sight of that nascent soul left her stupefied.
“Big Bro Kid....”
Although Xu Qing was hardly aware of it, the fact that he had suddenly added four nascent souls to his cultivation base created a sudden increase that pushed him to the twelve-soul level.
High in the dome of heaven, lightning began to gather, which was none other than the power of tribulation. Because of the arrival of a twelfth nascent soul, the heavenfate tribulation was forming. Though it wasn’t a convenient time, it was still there. Within the darkness of the sky above, lightning flowed like millions upon millions of silver snakes.
The hundreds of thousands of cultivators below the altar were shaken, and the countless mortals in the county capital trembled in fear.
It seemed like heavenly tribulation was about to strike. However, just before it finished forming, something happened with the crown of Sea-Sealing County that hovered above Xu Qing’s head. Within the crown was a young boy who looked up.
“Begone!” he shouted.
As the word rang out, Xu Qing’s twelve nascent souls flew up into midair, looked at the heavenly tribulation, and also let loose a shout.
“Begone!”
As those two shouts harmonized, the hundreds of thousands of cultivators below the altar all thought the same thing in their hearts.
“Begone!”
The destiny aura had offered approval. The people had given their blessing. The heavenly tribulation crumbled and retreated. As a result, boundless heavenfate had no obstruction as it surrounded all twelve of his nascent souls and baptized them. The heavenfate blessed Xu Qing, who reached over his shoulder to grab an invisible sword.
“I have a sword!”
Upon hearing those four words, the more than 100,000 swordsages below the altar thought back to the blood-soaked figure in their memories. Right now, it was almost as if that figure was superimposed over Xu Qing. Thus, one voice after another spoke, their voices dripping with blood and death.
“I have a sword!”
“I have a sword!”
The words converged, echoing louder than heavenly thunder. One by one, all the swordsages were drawing their swords.
Streams of sword light erupted, sweeping toward Xu Qing and gathering in his hand in the shape of a sword. It was The Emperor’s Sword of the swordsages, which glittered with blinding light.
However, things weren’t over yet. In one particular house in the capital city, a crippled old man limped out into the open. His clothes were neat and tidy, and his eyes shone with the desire to do battle. He was none other than the jailer from Unit C in the Corrections Division, Ghost Hand! Back when the Corrections Division collapsed, he held back from using his sword. And he’d told Xu Qing he was saving it to use on the culprit behind the disaster. This was the day he had been waiting for.
Reaching over his shoulder, he loudly said, “I have a sword!”
As the words left his mouth, an Emperor’s Sword emerged from behind his back that had been powering up for eight hundred years. It became a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering beam of light that shot toward Xu Qing. That was a sword that could devastate Spirit Trove and shake Void Returning. When it merged with Xu Qing’s Emperor’s Sword, that sword erupted with many times more power than before.
Eyes flashing, Xu Qing looked at the lieutenant governor. “I have a sword, and I will defend my home!”
He slashed the sword down. Sword light shone into heaven, and sword energy erupted that could devastate anything and everything. Backed by the oath of the swordsages and the ideals of Palace Lord Kong, it shot toward the lieutenant governor.
Master Seventh shot toward the lieutenant governor. Eyes burning with killing intent, Marquis Yao also burst into motion, pulsing with blood-colored light.
Qingqin let loose a piercing cry as he also launched an attack. The three palace lords, the honor guards, and all the cultivators from the Administration Palace and Justice Palace unleashed the power of their cultivation bases to attack the lieutenant governor.
This was a blow that couldn’t possibly be blocked.
The lieutenant governor lowered his eyes and stood in place.
Things were about to end!
His old servant backed away looking shocked. However, there had been so much power unleashed that he didn’t qualify to evade it.
As the sword light glittered, the old servant’s head flew off his shoulders. His body exploded. And as the head tumbled through the air, the skin dripped off of it like melting ice, revealing the true facial features beneath.
Shockingly, it was Night Dove! [2]
He wasn’t the only one to die. The lieutenant governor’s other forces had no means to escape, and were killed in body and soul. Then the power rumbled toward the lieutenant governor.
The lieutenant governor hovered in midair, making no move to evade. Power which could destroy heaven and extinguish the earth surged toward him. He looked past the sword light at Xu Qing briefly, then closed his eyes. The sword light, which was the gathered power of countless individuals, and was filled with the will of the entire county capital and its destiny, neared.
In the blink of an eye, it landed on the lieutenant governor. He shivered. His expression became pained. His hair turned into ashes, and his clothing and skin melted together. The force weighing down on him caused his body to slowly be crushed. His flesh was quickly wiped out of existence. His chest caved in, and his bones became visible. But not even his bones could stand up to this level of power, and they were scraped away, shattered, to reveal his organs.
It happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint.
That was all the time it took for the lieutenant governor to no longer even resemble a human. The same process happened with his legs. The flesh was wiped out, the bones shattered. His torso was destroyed. His limbs were wiped out. The only things left behind were his spine and his head.
It was a horrendous sight. But not even his spine could last, and it soon vanished, leaving behind only the skull.
Half of his face remained. But then a golden light shone from that half of a face, spreading out to create a broken, golden mask. It glittered indestructibly.
Marquis Yao, Qingqin, and Master Seventh, as well as all the cultivators present, as well as the power of Xu Qing’s sword, slowed to a halt in front of that broken face. No amount of destructive force could do anything against it.
From a distance, that broken, golden face seemed very familiar. Anyone who looked at it would feel shock rippling through them. Then the broken face of the lieutenant governor opened its eyes.
1. Palace Lord Kong spoke the words, “I will defend my home,” in chapter 507.1. ?
2. The chapter in which this ‘servant’ was first introduced was 494.2. Night Dove was last seen on screen in chapter 327. He was introduced in chapter 277. ?
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