Chapter 1298: Chapter 1296: I’m Sorry
Outside East Victory City, one East Victory Supreme Lord after another met their tragic demise.
Inside East Victory City, the Holy Empress, with the power of one person, desperately maintained the "Seal Heaven Array," guarding the last line of defense. However, the cost was that her life force diminished with every passing moment.
A large hand was placed on her back.
Shi Xiaole exerted full effort to stimulate the martial dao of life and death, injecting the breath of life into the Holy Empress’s body. Soon, the life force of the Holy Empress, which had plummeted to the lowest depths, began to slowly rise again.
"Thank you for your efforts."
The Holy Empress was astonished, then smiled radiantly.
She knew the martial dao of life and death was defyingly effective but never imagined it to be so astoundingly potent.
"Two pieces of trash getting in the way. Knowing death is certain, yet still wasting time. Once the array is broken, I will nail you to the walls of East Victory City and flog your corpses for a century!"
Seeing this, the Absolute Gun Supreme Lord bellowed furiously, his eyes filled with blazing murderous intent.
The torrent formed by the powers of more than two hundred supreme lords repeatedly struck the "Seal Heaven Array," causing the array’s protective light screen to violently quake.
The numerous warriors of East Victory even sensed the walls of the city were trembling.
Streams of fresh blood spilled from the mouth of the Holy Empress. With one person against more than two hundred, no matter how strong her prowess in arrays, she still found herself in a desperate predicament.
What was worse, cracks again appeared in the array, and threads of Supreme Lord power flowed in. Even the smallest amounts caused parts of the city wall to collapse, blasting many warriors to their demise on the spot and causing panic among those nearby.
The Holy Empress smiled wryly, gathering the origin spiritual force of her soul that had just recovered somewhat, and without hesitation infused it into the great array. This time, her life force plummeted even more rapidly.
Shi Xiaole gritted his teeth, the martial dao of life and death already pushed to its limit, and even beginning to deteriorate. Given the Holy Empress’s disregard for the consequences of her expenditure, he could hardly replenish fast enough.
In just a short moment, Shi Xiaole’s face turned pale, and a thin layer of sweat formed on his forehead. But compared to his physical weakness, the anxiety and powerlessness in his heart pained him a hundred times more.
"Don’t do this, Mother. We can’t hold out. We need to preserve our lives for there to be a chance to fight back in the future!"
Shi Xiaole shouted loudly.
If not for the fear that his reckless actions could disrupt the connection between the Holy Empress and the array, inadvertently harming her, Shi Xiaole would have forcefully taken her away.
What of East Victory’s safety, what of the great justice for the common people? If he could, Shi Xiaole wouldn’t mind caring for both, but if forced to choose between the Holy Empress and the world of East Victory, he would choose the Holy Empress!
"I cannot leave."
The Holy Empress said.
"Why be recklessly brave? As long as the green hills last, there will be wood to burn. If even our lives are lost, what’s the point of struggle? Do you think you are being tragic? In reality, it is merely foolishness!"
Shi Xiaole roared.
The Holy Empress froze. From the moment of her birth, with her exceptional talent and temperament, let alone being scolded to her face, she had never even heard a harsh word.
Yet now, for the first time in her life, she was being reproached by her own son, and even labeled foolish. The Holy Empress couldn’t help but laugh and say, "My child, you scold very well. Your mother wishes she could see you like this every day. The you from before was too placid."
Shi Xiaole’s eyes were slightly blurred as he said, "Leave, and I swear I’ll curse you every day."
The Holy Empress chuckled, her voice gentle, "Your father is fighting ahead, his life and death uncertain. I can’t possibly leave. Child, what is the purpose of learning martial arts in one’s lifetime? I’ve asked many people and received many answers. Can you tell me?"
Shi Xiaole said, "To become strong, to explore this universe, to live freely and unfettered."
The Holy Empress said helplessly, "You really are nothing like your father! Faced with the same question, your father said that it is this world that has made him so strong. He wants to give back to this world, to make it better with his own strength."
Shi Xiaole was silent.
"Child, do you have a lover, friends? If you leave, what will become of them? Perhaps in their hearts, you are their guardian deity. Your departure, what despair and pain would that bring them?"
"You might say that not leaving would only lead to dying together, without even a hope for revenge. I admit, perhaps to your eyes, I am a fool who cannot bear to watch my loved ones die before me!"
Shi Xiaole took a deep breath, "Must it be this way?"
The Holy Empress said, "I’m sorry."
Shi Xiaole closed his eyes. The martial path of life and death had reached the verge of collapse, no longer able to supplement the life essence of the Holy Empress.
When he opened his eyes again, he was startled to find that many strands of the Holy Empress’s black hair had turned white. A painful twinge struck his heart.
"Child, take Wuyou and go. With your talent, you might be able to save the situation in East Victory in the future. Do not let our last glimmer of hope be extinguished."
The Holy Empress’s tone had returned to calm.
Shi Xiaole smiled silently, raised his head to see his father, Shi Xuanzhong, retreating under the frantic assaults of three Supreme Lords, reaching the most perilous point.
And there were powerful figures like the Immortal Scholar, the Sorcerer Lord, the Saintly Love Young Master, all besieged from all directions, the situation on the verge of danger.
Looking once more at the Holy Empress before him, her hair half-white, her frail body bearing the last defense of the world of East Victory, willing to give her life rather than take a single step away.
I am so useless!
Shi Xiaole cried inwardly, how he wished Heaven would grant him a hundred years! Just a hundred years, and he would boldly go alone with his sword to the lands beyond the sky!
But reality is so cruel. Right now, he can’t even defeat the most ordinary Supreme Lord, let alone help his parents in their life and death crisis.
The surging emotions made Shi Xiaole want to stay at all costs.
But he is after all Shi Xiaole.
No matter how much humiliation, rage, or sorrow he felt, he still firmly believed that seeking revenge is a better choice than dying in vain. He would not allow any enemy to gloat over their demise!
Even though, he must constantly endure the torture of pain.
"Mother, take good care of yourself!"
As he said these words, Shi Xiaole’s heart seemed to be slashed into pieces, bleeding and aching. He forcibly held back tears, withdrew his hand, looked for a long, long time, and finally with gritted teeth, he dashed off into the distance, never looking back.
The Holy Empress, at this moment, turned back, her face streaming with tears, "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I, as a mother, have never fulfilled my duty for a single day. I have to let you walk the world alone, bearing the brunt of the elements. The world knows your brilliance but not how lonely and desolate you feel inside, I’m sorry..."
Staring blankly in the direction Shi Xiaole had left until he was no longer in sight, the Holy Empress then turned her head away, burying that guilt and tenderness deep within, her eyes filled with resolve.
Crack, crack!
Soon after, the light screen of the Array System suddenly split open, revealing a massive rift. Supreme power surged in, reducing countless warriors of East Victory to blood mist. The city walls too exploded into large sections, leaving a gap ten thousand meters long.
"Hahaha, the formation has broken! Attack, we will occupy the world of East Victory today, slaughter all the people of East Victory!"
The Absolute Gun Supreme Lord raised his long spear, trembling with excitement, and turned into a beam of terrifying spear light that dashed out. While still in midair, his cruel eyes had already locked onto the weakening Holy Empress and he thrust his spear towards her with force.
"Kill!"
Behind him, over two hundred Outer Supreme Lords, like unleashed ferocious tigers, carrying the incomparable power of supremes, charged towards the rift in the formation, ready to go on a killing spree.
For the Supreme Lords, annihilating the living beings of a world was a challenge, but once they killed all the elites of the world of East Victory, the rest of the people were at their mercy, to be enslaved and oppressed forever.
Countless warriors of East Victory felt as if the sky and the earth were collapsing, as if they had arrived at the end of the world. There wasn’t even enough time for fear to rise in their minds, only a blank white.
The attack of the Supreme Lords had already fallen.
"Today, I will bury you with Heaven and Earth Evil Array."
The Holy Empress, who was motionless just a moment earlier, had her aura increasing at a terrifying rate. The spear light of Absolute Gun Supreme Lord was only thirty meters away from her, while the more than two hundred Supreme Lords were also nearing the formation.
Just at that moment!
The breached ’Seal Heaven Array’ suddenly closed up. It was like a piece of thin paper suddenly split into two, the inner layer beginning to contract and eventually forming a sphere that enveloped both the Holy Empress and the two hundred plus Outer Supreme Lords.
The Holy Empress formed seals with her hands, and her soul power began to dissolve at high speed. Inside the sphere, a killing intent that made the stars tremble burst forth, annihilating everything within.
This was the ’Heaven and Earth Evil Array.’!
Long ago, the Holy Empress had hidden the ’Heaven and Earth Evil Array’ within the ’Seal Heaven Array’ as a contingency plan. It was her ultimate choice and a choice made out of desperation.
To think that in the end, it was activated.
Xuanzhong, I’m going ahead of you.
Lele, don’t resent me, your useless mother.
With one last look towards Shi Xuanzhong, who was caught up in the distant battle, the Holy Empress’s eyes were filled with tenderness like water, and the sweet memories of their first encounter flashed before her eyes, making her smile sweetly.
Bang, bang, bang!
The ’Heaven and Earth Evil Array,’ being a supreme Array System of the limit of Sky Origin realm, could not actively attack others; however, the array’s core was the Holy Empress’s life soul. As she actively detonated her life soul, the entire array suddenly exploded.
The world turned upside down!
The sound of explosions occurred every few moments, and after a total of one hundred and eight times, all was obliterated.
"Mother, how could you be so heartless..."
Shi Xiaole watched the light in the sky, and the tears he had been holding back finally began to fall. This was the first time in his life that he had cried.
"Daddy, where is Grandma?"
Shi Wuyou, almost five years old, looked like a porcelain doll yet more composed than his peers, with red-rimmed eyes, asked.
"Grandma is holding back the people from the Outer World. You must diligently practice your cultivation. One day, we will reunite with Grandpa and Grandma; it will happen."
Shi Xiaole picked up Shi Wuyou and sped away. The sounds from behind were like a thorny whip, lashing his heart continuously.
Shi Wuyou nodded fiercely, tears streaming down his face.
The resplendent light that blossomed in the sky fortified his lifelong resilience and belief.
"Master, no!"
Fairy Xinluo cried out in anguish, with blood-tears streaming down her eyes.
Red Jade Saint bit her lip until it bled, an abnormal flush appearing on her face, and then she spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Junior Sister."
The Giant Demon Heavenly King was momentarily at a loss.
He detested Shi Xuanzhong, and to see him brought low, he even went so far as to betray the East Victory world. His only desire was to let his junior sister realize the man she loved was not that strong.
But witnessing the Holy Empress die alongside her enemy, all jealousy and resentment vanished, leaving only an indescribable pain.
"Hahaha!"
The Giant Demon Heavenly King, who had originally been attacking the Sorcerer Lord, suddenly burst forth with intense soul light, and in a turn, he charged towards the Limitless Sword Sovereign.
Caught off guard, the sword strike of the Limitless Sword Sovereign, which was originally aimed at Shi Xuanzhong, went wildly off course, forcing him to turn back to defend. He was also blasted until he bled profusely, looking a sorry state.
"Shi Xuanzhong, you must not die. I’ll go down to accompany Junior Sister. Don’t you dare die, hahaha..."
A long laugh echoed in the sky, and the once peerlessly stunning Giant Demon Heavenly King was reduced to ashes.
"Yu Ji, how could you? Just leaving me alone? I am the Holy Monarch, the omnipotent Holy Monarch. Even if the heavens want your death, I would pull you back!"
Shi Xuanzhong howled, his wife’s blood truly awakened his unparalleled talent. This seemingly tranquil Holy Monarch revealed a side unknown to others for the first time.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Time slowed down—first the punch of the Blood Sea Old Demon, then the mysterious attack of Mirror Ancestor, and finally the retreat of the Limitless Sword Sovereign. The three strongest beings seemed to become characters in a painting, approaching a standstill.
But this power continued to spread until it finally reached the ’Heaven and Earth Evil Array’ ten thousand meters away, forcefully stopping the final outburst of the formation.
Shi Xuanzhong flashed into the formation, embracing his blood-soaked wife, and then flew out.
With a loud crash!
The formation collapsed, the Holy Empress’s spirit body did not burst completely, and at the last moment, the Holy Monarch, with his supreme methods, personally severed the formation!
