Chapter 218: 217. The Collapse of the Pillar
Translator: 549690339
From a certain perspective, to the martial artists of the Central Plains, although the destruction of the Grand Xia Empire and the transformation of Yujing into Luoyang had dealt a blow to their morale, it had not reached the point where it could change the heavens.
To be precise, the Demon Emperor had killed the Saber Emperor and displayed a strength that far exceeded his previous strength. Then, he led the Demon Cult to sweep through the Divine Prefecture. This might have affected everyone more than the destruction of the Xia Dynasty.
But even so, the hope of those who were unwilling to submit to the Demonic Sect was not extinguished.
This last hope was in the Sword Pavilion, in the Sword Emperor Tao WangJi.
He had been famous for decades and had always been the number one expert of the righteous path.
That small pavilion in the remote mountains of the Ba Prefecture had been the number one holy land of martial arts in the Central Plains for many years, the pillar of support in everyone’s hearts.
It seemed that as long as the Sword Pavilion was still there, there was still hope.
Even though the demonic aura was overwhelming, there was still an opportunity to set things right.
The reason why it was said that the Demon Emperor’s killing of the Saber
Emperor was a greater blow to the people’s confidence than the Demon Emperor’s destruction of the Xia Dynasty was because the Demon Emperor had displayed even greater strength than when he fought the Sword Emperor.
However, as the last candle in their hearts, everyone was more willing to preserve a sliver of hope. They hoped that after the final battle on the plateau, Sword Emperor Tao WangJi would also make great progress like the Demon Emperor.
In this way, there would still be a chance to determine who was stronger and who was the winner.
Therefore, even though the Divine Lands was in a state of silence, everyone was trembling in fear under the rule of the Demonic Sect.
However, many people still had hope in their hearts.
The higher-ups of the Demonic Sect were clear about this mentality.
Chen Luoyang’s view on this was…
Emperor Xia, Li Yuanlong, was indeed a little awkward. No wonder he had deliberately schemed to suppress himself to that extent.
If one had to find a person in the Divine Lands who had the most complicated impression of the Sword Emperor Tao WangJi, it would probably be Li
Yuanlong.
On the one hand, he could borrow the other party’s strength to help him resist the foreign races in the north and the demonic sect in the south.
On the other hand, as long as the other party was around, his words would not be the most reliable.
This feeling, perhaps only Li Yuanlong himself knew best.
Strictly speaking, the Sword Emperor Tao WangJi and the Sword Pavilion were actually very low-key in their way of doing things compared to their prestige. They even showed great respect to the Xia Dynasty and Li Yuanlong.
To a certain extent, it created a situation where Emperor Xia was the ruler of the Divine Prefecture and the Sword Emperor was the spiritual pillar.
Unfortunately, the emperor was broad-minded and only applied to those who submitted to them.
The more ambitious an emperor was, the more so.
Of course, there were some differences between people.
Unfortunately, Li Yuanlong’s ambition and desire to rule in this area was particularly strong.
Perhaps, Sword Emperor Tao WangJi died first and Li Yuanlong died later, so he would have a different feeling before he died.
However, that was destined to be an untestable hypothesis.
To the Divine Lands, the Great Xia Dynasty had been destroyed and the Sword Emperor was still alive. The situation was not as bad as it seemed.
Many people still had hope in their hearts.
But this time, his confidence seemed to have been shaken.
The Sword Pavilion’s signboard was directly torn down by the Demonic Sect.
Although Old Shou didn’t know the true purpose of his Sect Master looking for the Sword Emperor, he had accurately grasped the intention of Sect Master Chen to let the world know about this matter.
Therefore, whether he went to the Sword Pavilion to remove his plaque or left the Sword Pavilion with the plaque to the East Sea, he was extremely high-profile along the way.
From Ba Shu to Penglai, they traversed the Central Plains.
The matter was in an uproar and almost everyone knew about it.
Not to mention martial artists, even some secular people who liked to be lively knew about this matter.
As a result, the entire Divine Lands was in an uproar.
Although no one dared to object to the Demon Cult’s prestige, it was inevitable that there would be a lot of discussion.
Everyone was guessing what the Demon Cult’s intention was.
Did this action mean that the Sword Emperor was going to return to the Central Plains?
Was the Demon Emperor’s action a challenge to the Sword Emperor?
After a month, was there going to be another decisive battle between the Sword Emperor and the Demon Emperor?
While everyone had different opinions, some people had extremely complicated feelings.
The return of the Sword Emperor to the Central Plains was naturally a great thing. He had been looking forward to this day for a long time.
However, the Demon Empress ‘reaction of issuing a challenge showed that she was confident. This made everyone feel uncertain about the outcome of this battle and worried about their gains and losses.
Many people were feeling mixed emotions.
At this moment, in the center of the Divine Great Land, outside Luoyang City in Yuzhou, a middle-aged man was looking at the east.
There, Lao Shou had just left in a high-profile manner.
The middle-aged man’s gaze was calm, and he remained silent.
His left hand touched his right arm.
There was no right hand there, only a broken wound on the wrist.
The wound had already healed, but the middle-aged man felt as if it was constantly twitching, and a sharp pain came from it.
This pain made him recall the time when his wrist was snapped by the sealed void door.
The middle-aged man’s expression did not change as he slowly walked into Luoyang City as if nothing had happened.
After Chen Luoyang heard about the commotion caused by Elder Shou, he nodded his head in satisfaction.
This was the effect he wanted to achieve.
On the one hand, it was convenient for Cheng Huyuan to hear the news.
On the other hand, Sword Emperor Tao WangJi couldn’t avoid this battle.
As long as his injuries were not serious, he would not refuse this battle.
No matter how low-key, how righteous, or how peaceful he was, he was still a 14th level Sword Principle expert and the number one swordsman in the Divine Prefecture in decades.
If he didn’t accept the challenge, he would never use a sword in the future.
But would Cheng Huyuan take the bait?
Chen Luoyang wasn’t sure about this.
The other party might wait for another wave.
This time, the Demon Emperor and the Sword Emperor were still not moving.
Anyway, the Devil Buddha was still standing there, and the Black Lotus Buddha Realm was constantly encroaching on the surrounding areas. Sooner or later, the Devil Cult would have a battle with them.
If this Cheng Huyuan was particularly cautious, he might still be observing in secret this time.
Chen Luoyang still had a limited understanding of this person’s personality and style. He could only make some guesses based on his previous actions. If the owner of the severed hand was really Cheng Huyuan, then whether the hatred in his heart toward Chen Luoyang would affect his judgment would depend on the other party’s personality. This might result in the complete opposite.
Based on his current performance, Chen Luoyang was inclined to believe that the other party would act more cautiously.
In this battle with the Sword Emperor, he might not be able to bait the other party into attacking.
However, as long as he could bait him to watch the battle, Chen Luoyang would have achieved his goal.
The more cautious the other party was, the more he wouldn’t let go of this opportunity to personally determine the depth of his strength.
Just as he was thinking, Chen Luoyang received a secret report from Azure Dragon Hall.
Traces of unidentified experts appeared in Luoyang City.
After Chen Luoyang received the news, his expression didn’t change.
Interesting. Was this Cheng Huyuan also trying to alert the enemy? Chen Luoyang guessed that the other party wanted to probe what he cared about and what he didn’t.
So far, the Demon Empress had given the outside world the impression that she was arrogant, arrogant, domineering, and ruthless.
His authority within the Demon Cult was very heavy, and his subordinates did not dare to make any mistakes, or they might suffer severe punishment.
Currently, other than Ying Qingqing, who seemed to arouse suspicion, no one could tell who the Demon Empress cared about or favored.
Yet Ying Qingqing was still missing, her whereabouts unknown.
After Cheng Huyuan understood this situation, he inevitably formed the impression that Chen Luoyang was a lone wolf.
It was obviously unrealistic to expect such a person to pay the price of the “Life” Heavenly Book to exchange for someone’s life.
There was no suitable target for hostage blackmail.
If one had to weigh the “Life” Heavenly Book against something, perhaps the entire demonic sect could be counted?
However, destroying the Demonic Sect was not something that could be done in one or two places.
There was no meaning in slaughtering them as it would be easy for Chen Luoyang to find them and intercept them.
Right now, Cheng Huyuan was deliberately probing. He wanted to see what Chen Luoyang cared about and to what extent he cared about it.
However, if he was really a cautious person, he wouldn’t make a move easily. At most, he would just touch it lightly and leave.
He was also worried that some of these things were traps that Chen Luoyang had deliberately set up to lure the enemy into taking the bait.
In Cheng Huyuan’s heart, his greatest advantage now was that the enemy was in the open while he was in the dark. Chen Luoyang might have already known about the existence of an enemy like him, but he had no way of understanding him.
As long as he was careful, there would be no problem.
If he revealed even the slightest flaw, the Demonic Sect would take action and become nervous, making it easier for him to observe the situation.
Unfortunately, the reality was a little different from what he thought. Chen Luoyang indeed didn’t know much about him, but it wasn’t that little either.
Cheng Huyuan’s small actions made Chen Luoyang’s thoughts more and more Relatively speaking, they had the least understanding of his strength and martial arts…Chen Luoyang pondered in his heart.
The current situation was interesting.
On Cheng Huyuan’s side, he could roughly grasp his opponent’s movements and train of thought, but he knew nothing about the ultimate technique he was good at.
The Devil Buddha’s successor had a rough understanding of their ultimate techniques, but the rest was blank.
There was something strange about the Black Lotus Buddha Realm. The people under the black lotus were absent-minded, and it was difficult for the Demon Cult members to directly interrogate them. They had to be careful not to expose themselves or be bewitched by the demonic voice. Therefore, it was extremely difficult to obtain information in the Black Lotus Buddha Realm.
Chen Luoyang could only wait slowly.
However, the latest news was quite intriguing.
The expansion of the Black Lotus Buddha Realm slowed down.
The black lotus’s power did not weaken, but its footsteps slowed down.
This was more like a change in his decision-making. It was not as urgent and radical as before, but more conservative and stable.
The turning point was the battle with Yan Mingkong.
Did this mean that Yan Mingkong’s victory was beyond their original judgment, or that the Devil Buddha lineage had changed their mind?
Could it be that the news of the battle between the Demon Emperor and the Sword Emperor had also spread, causing the other party to have the same idea of watching the fire from afar?
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