Chapter 1300: Chapter 1298: Enlightenment of One’s Heart
"Father, Mother, where are you?"
The little girl had fled with her parents but got separated by the flow of people in the street and looked around, bewildered. She was knocked to the ground and trampled by countless heavy feet as she cried out in terror.
But no one paid her any attention because her cries were just an insignificant ripple in the overwhelming noise of the scene, and she was trampled to death without anyone noticing.
Many other elderly, women, and children were helplessly knocked down or kicked over in the chaotic surge of people. Various cries, screams, and roars mixed together, composing a bleak symphony of flight.
Beams of light from the sky fell, leaving no place for the bodies of the dead.
To the Absolute Gun Supreme Lord, who released those light beams, the towns below were no different from flies in the air, easily swatted away.
From the abyss to the South Sea continent, the Supreme Lords were more terrifying than the grim reaper, leaving behind nothing but desolation and silence in their wake.
In many places, thick blood mist rose, the ground littered with countless severed limbs. The stench of blood overwhelmed the smell of the sea, continuously spreading inland across the South Sea.
The East Victory world faced an unprecedented crisis.
Not only ordinary people but also martial warriors and imperial officials felt as if the sky and earth were collapsing.
It wasn’t that no one organized a force to fight back. Alas, their attacks couldn’t even reach the Supreme Lords and were easily quelled with a single shock wave. In the face of catastrophe, no one could find any way to restrain the Supreme Lords.
"I’ll fight you with all I’ve got!"
This was an elder from the Yun Family, among the South Sea’s ten great families, brandishing his sword at the Absolute Gun Supreme Lord.
"Seeking death,"
the Absolute Gun Supreme Lord flicked lightly with his hand.
The Yun Family elder burst into pieces. The force of the blow didn’t stop there but crashed towards Wangya Island where the Yun Family resided, reducing the entire island to splinters. Not a single one of the women and children who had yet to evacuate survived.
"No!"
Experts from the Yun Family afar burned with fury.
"Hurry, the Yun Family must preserve its lineage to take revenge. Leave this demon to us old monsters who have lived long enough."
Some of the Yun elders shouted loudly as they left, forming the family’s strongest battle formation in the hope of buying some time for the younger generation.
Bang!
Blood blossomed like fireworks, and those elders were reduced to ashes and smoke.
To those who were not Supreme Lords, the Supreme Lords were too powerful, especially as the Absolute Gun Supreme Lord had absorbed the essence and blood of numerous East Victory martial artists along his path, greatly restoring his power.
"Grandfather!"
"Father!"
Many descendants of the Yun Family wept bitterly, and before they could escape, the Absolute Gun Supreme Lord waved his hand and they followed in their ancestors’ footsteps.
The Yun Family, which had stood for ten thousand years in the South Sea Martial World, was thus annihilated.
"A bunch of weak ants daring to show off, it’s laughable,"
said the Absolute Gun Supreme Lord as he continued to advance, killing and searching for Shi Xiaole’s whereabouts.
No one in the Outer Heaven Army didn’t want to eliminate the exceptional talent who had killed the Shattered Space Blade Ancestor.
Not to mention, this person was the Demon Ruler’s son. Once captured, he would surely deter the Demon Ruler, and imagine the joy of flaying this son a thousand times over in front of the Demon Ruler!
With every town he passed, the Absolute Gun Supreme Lord left behind a trail of sinister laughter.
"Don’t kill me, I am willing to serve the Outer Heaven Army, please spare me!"
Looking at the figure in the sky, the Black White Master went pale with fear, trembling in terror.
Ever since escaping from the abyss, the Black White Master had been hiding in the deep forests and mountains, but how could he hide from the Divine Thought Supreme Lord? He was eventually found.
Behind the Black White Master, many martial artists showed looks of disdain, but some also wore hopeful expressions, pondering the possibility of surrender.
"You can, but first you need to kill the people behind you to show your pledge."
the Divine Thought Supreme Lord said indifferently.
The Black White Master was stunned, but then a vicious look crossed his face. It was better to let others die at his hand than to have a wealth of casualties, he reasoned.
In the midst of everyone’s shocked and fearful curses, the Black White Master swung his halberd. His murderous aura was so intense, it was as if he had encountered the killers of his own father and he attacked with extreme fervor.
"My Lord,"
after doing everything, the Black White Master, fearful that the Divine Thought Supreme Lord might not believe him, immediately swore an oath, vowing never to betray him.
"To encounter such a shameless dog as you in all my years, I have never seen before. I hardly have the heart to kill you now. Very well, you shall be my vanguard. Kill for me, wipe out every East Victory person you see. Once the Outer Heaven Army takes control of East Victory, I might consider making you a commander."
The Divine Thought Supreme Lord’s face was full of mockery and disdain.
Ordinary slaughter was too boring; it would be more entertaining to watch the people of East Victory turn on each other, he thought, looking forward to the show.
"Thank you, my Lord, serving before and after you is beyond my greatest honor!"
The Black White Master bowed respectfully, but as soon as he turned around, he became a killing god again, swinging his blade mercilessly at his East Victory compatriots.
Like the Absolute Gun Supreme Lord, the Divine Thought Supreme Lord was also looking for Shi Xiaole.
When he learned from the Black White Master that Shi Xiaole was intricately related to the Ling Family of the South Sea and Nine Heavens Mountain, he immediately asked the Black White Master to lead the way, grabbing him and rushing towards the Ling Family first.
"Wuyou, can you protect yourself?"
Atop a mountain peak, Shi Xiaole squatted down, looking at his nearly five-year-old son.
Shi Wuyou was very intelligent. Hearing this, he fell silent for a moment, then tremulously asked, "Dad, are you planning to stop those two people?"
"Yes."
Shi Xiaole nodded. He had seen the direction in which the Divine Thought Supreme Lord and Black White Master had left and roughly guessed their purpose.
"Is it absolutely necessary for you to go?"
"I’m sorry."
Shi Xiaole smiled bitterly.
This conversation, how similar it was, only that it had shifted from the Holy Empress to Shi Wuyou. It was only now that Shi Xiaole truly understood what the Holy Empress had felt back then.
The moment he resolutely left East Victory City and his parents, even though he told himself it was the right thing to do, deep down in his heart, was he not condemning himself, hating himself?
Human beings are emotional creatures after all.
Now, seeing countless ordinary people dying at the hands of two butchers, and knowing that countless more ordinary people would be slaughtered, Shi Xiaole’s self-reproach and hatred almost reached the limits of his endurance.
Especially when some dying martial artists saw him and exhibited a glimmer of joy and anticipation in their eyes, it made Shi Xiaole feel even more choked up.
Perhaps, as the Holy Empress had said, he had already become the great hero and savior in the hearts of countless people in the East Victory world.
Whether he acknowledged it or not, when they were in trouble, the first person they thought of was the towering figure standing at the center of Hero Mountain, holding a long sword.
If even that figure chose to avoid battle at the last moment, how desperate would they be?
For the sake of a hope, a responsibility, to cast aside everything—perhaps, this was the belief that dad and mom had clung to.
Shi Xiaole thought of his father whose life or death was unknown, his mother who had sacrificed her life to ambush the Supreme Lord from Outer Heaven, the countless people who had died tragically, and those from Ling Family and Nine Heavens Mountain who would soon face calamity; his fists gradually clenched.
Gauging the strength displayed by those from Outer Heaven, when hundreds of Supreme Lords would be seeking him, even if he wanted to hide, how long could he actually evade? It was nothing but a hawk preying on a weak rabbit—a path leading to inevitable death.
Instead of that, why not take advantage of the current situation where the two Supreme Lords were seriously injured and with his own methods, perhaps he still had a fighting chance!
"Mother, Shi Xiaole is incompetent, I might disappoint you. I should not leave! That decision was not wrong, but in your heart, you probably resent me for my cold-blooded ruthlessness."
Shi Xiaole murmured in his heart.
The sagacious Holy Empress might have figured out that he had no chance of survival, but she did not point it out, just to leave him a sliver of elusive hope!
Suddenly feeling a warm little hand touch his face, Shi Xiaole looked up to see Shi Wuyou, his eyes red, begging, "Dad, please don’t go."
Shi Xiaole forced a smile, "If Dad doesn’t go, your great-grandfather and uncle’s family will be in trouble. Your mother, second mother, Auntie Su, your Uncle Zhang, Uncle Gui, Uncle Mu, Aunt Duanmu, they will all be in danger. Do you want to see them hurt?"
Shi Wuyou shook his head, pouting his lips, "But I... I also don’t want to see Dad in trouble."
He was much smarter than his peers, and having spent most of his life in East Victory City, he was precocious, but he was still a child after all. Seeing his father about to confront a powerful enemy, he finally couldn’t hold back his tears.
In his memory, his father wasn’t too stern, but he certainly wasn’t easy-going either, and they didn’t spend much time communicating.
But in Shi Wuyou’s heart, he had always idolized his father. Following his Uncle Sorcerer Lord, he practiced martial arts diligently, so that he could be like his father one day, to show him that he had an excellent son.
Shi Xiaole reached out to wipe the tears from his son’s eyes and said, "Huer, there are many unavoidable situations in life. Dad hopes that in your life to come, you can be strong enough, strong enough to eliminate all helplessness."
"Practicing martial arts is not about bullying the weak but about protecting yourself, protecting the ones who love you and those you love. It is only today that Dad understands how blessed it is to be needed."
Shi Xiaole gently stroked his son’s head and asked, "Next, Dad will hide you away. When you come out, if East Victory has perished, then let’s not speak of it. But if East Victory is still standing, you will have to make your own way back to Nine Heavens Mountain. Are you afraid?"
Shi Wuyou allowed tears to flow freely, his voice choked, sobbing, "I’m not afraid, Wuyou is not afraid. I’ve learned a lot of martial arts from Uncle Sorcerer Lord, I can handle everything."
"You’re really amazing!"
This was the first time in his life that Shi Wuyou had received praise from his father. Even many years later, he would never forget today’s scene. It was his father’s words that showed him the meaning of learning martial arts.
Shi Xiaole used his power to dig a deep hole and settled his son in it, then planted several spiritual seeds. These seeds, each possessing one-tenth of his combat power, could save his life at a critical moment.
After doing all this, Shi Xiaole stepped away, covering the entrance to the hole, and buried the repeated calls of ’father’ with it.
Then, he leapt toward the Ling Family of the South Sea, ready to confront everything in his own way.
...
Lingtian City.
The Sky Origin realm formation that Ling Yujie had laid down in the past was now easily shattered by the Divine Thought Supreme Lord, like it was made of paper, leaving the entire Ling Family exposed to the butcher’s knife.
"They left?"
Seeing the deserted Lingtian City, the Black White Master furrowed his brows.
The Divine Thought Supreme Lord huffed coldly, countless tentacles flying out from his head and stretching towards all directions. Soon after, strands of aura began to transmit from various locations.
"They’ve gone southeast!"
Feeling the familiar auras, the Black White Master exclaimed with joy.
