Chapter 284: Chapter 270: Return 2
This Sword technique had been practiced by several cultivators in the past, all of whom eventually became terrifying destroyers who shook the world.
In the star system of its origin, these cultivators completely ignored the terrifying distances measured in light-years, traversing the stars at speeds surpassing even spacetime jumps to destroy every civilization that stood in their way.
Any attempt to encircle and annihilate them would be discovered in advance. Any plotted stratagem would be seen through and foiled. The root of it all was their ability to briefly reverse their own state.
Whether gravely injured, killed, controlled, sealed, or even rendered unconscious, they would instantly revert to their prior peak state.
Once strong, forever strong. That was the terror of practicing this Sword technique.
Their condition was perpetually fixed at their moment of greatest strength. To them, any Secret Technique or potion with devastating side effects was merely a stepping stone to greater power.
They reaped all the benefits and discarded the side effects, for the consequences would never have a chance to manifest.
In fact, as memory served, the few cultivators before him all harbored a deep, all-consuming hatred from the start, choosing to sever all ties and become the most terrifying of destroyers.
After destroying their targets, they all followed their original plan: to fall into the rifts of time and be utterly pulverized into primitive particles.
’This is a terrifying Swordsmanship of vengeance that demands an enormous price... If I keep practicing it and lose my emotions and desires, there’d be no point in living...’ Lin Hui was deeply conflicted. Fortunately, he hadn’t yet mastered the Star Breath Sword Manual. There was still time; he didn’t have to worry about this for now.
’No need to rush. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. I should deal with the here and now first.’ Composing himself, Lin Hui shot sideways, dodging a massive, pale gray shadow that lunged from the seawater below.
The colossal shadow retracted, and an instant later, an enormous, pale gray sea serpent arched out of the water.
A crown-like ring of spikes grew naturally from the sea serpent’s head. Within the ring, a silvery, mercury-like light seemed to flow.
"It can keep up with my speed and even launch a predictive attack?" Lin Hui narrowed his eyes, halting mid-air with his hand on Ruyi.
"You are qualified to enter my Nine Eyes."
"Interesting. A pure-blooded member of the Human Race." The giant sea serpent actually spoke, and in perfect Federation Standard.
"Human, how about joining my Divine Race? Remaining in the Federation will only waste your future. Without the Original Blood of the Fog People, you can never become a Blood Ancestor. Your lifespan is far, far too short."
"The Fog Spirit!?" Lin Hui’s eyes narrowed. He had expected powerful pursuers to come after him for leaving alone, but he never thought the first to arrive would bear an invitation from the Fog Spirit.
"I can sense the faint aura of another god on you... The Mother of All Silence? Or perhaps another Highness..." the giant sea serpent rumbled.
"Interesting. You mean if I join you, I’ll gain a lifespan equivalent to that of a Fog People Blood Ancestor?" Lin Hui arched a brow.
"Once granted the divine bloodline, you too will become one of us, with a lifespan that rivals the heavens. It is a grand ascension, a breaking of all limits," the giant sea serpent said with a smile.
The smile of a sea serpent—corners of its mouth turned up, pupils narrowed—was an incredibly eerie, all-too-human sight.
"In fact, many of our brethren were born of ordinary bloodlines, once persecuted by the Fog People. You will learn of this for yourself after you join."
"Longevity is not unattainable for me. Besides that, what else can you offer?" Lin Hui was unconcerned.
"Yes, you are still young. When all your methods of extending life have failed, you will come... you will come to us of your own accord..." The crowned sea serpent slowly sank, soon vanishing into the sea.
Lin Hui did not act. He simply watched it depart, mulled it over for a moment, and then continued on his journey.
He vanished in the blink of an eye.
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「The Ruins of Tuyue.」
The massive Tuyue City was now in ruins.
Vast sections of buildings had been razed, with most of the city destroyed. The few remaining structures still burned fiercely.
Billows of black smoke rose into the sky.
This was the Outer City District. The few remaining houses were devoid of life, save for the occasional crimson figure flitting between the ruins.
In the distant mist, the towering white walls of the Inner City, which once scraped the clouds, now lay mostly in ruins. Huge holes riddled its center, as if it had been pierced by some colossal, rhombus-shaped weapon.
Deep within a massive cavern, beneath the ruins of a pavilion...
Some of the survivors from the former Moon Tower were gathered here. They were the few who had been abandoned by Tuyue as cannon fodder to hold back the enemy, and had miraculously survived.
Back then, when Tuyue saw the tide turning, she ordered all Blood Ancestors except Ning Qianzhi to face the enemy, while she fled with Xie Jun and Ning Qianzhi.
Upon realizing something was amiss, the Blood Ancestors of the Taixu Origin Plate had immediately retreated, using various artifact abilities to escape Tuyue.
The Blood Ancestors of Extreme Desire Heaven, however, had lost several of their number in the battle. Only two remained, their bodies and Heart and Spirit grievously wounded, forced into hiding to cling to life.
After surging through the gates, the forces of Purgatory and Extreme Cold Heaven swiftly cleared away the obstructing Fog People, then immediately clashed with each other as if they were sworn enemies.
Now, their battlefield had moved far from the ruins of Tuyue, and a long-lost quiet had returned to this place.
However, this quiet did not mean safety.
The pervasive contamination from Purgatory and Extreme Cold Heaven would transform any life daring to set foot here into a Purgatory or Extreme Cold creature within a very short time.
Inside the cavern. In a simple cave room.
Hong Ling and Hong Lingxiang stood before their mother, heads bowed in silence. The atmosphere was suffocating.
Their mother, Hong Wuxin, sat enthroned on a stone chair. She wore only a simple, three-point silver armor. Resting on her knees was a slender sword that glowed with a multicolored light.
"My power is fading... The bloodline is fading..." she said softly. "You should both understand what this means."
"Yes... The City Lord... has most likely fallen..." Hong Ling’s face darkened as he replied grimly.
"We are of the Original Blood. Without the power of our bloodline, we have no way to resist the contamination from Purgatory and Extreme Cold Heaven. Soon, perhaps, we will all lose our senses and become savage Purgatory creatures or cold, unfeeling beings of Extreme Cold..." Hong Wuxin said softly, taking out a small compact mirror to gently study her own exquisite face.
Before long, as her Original Blood degraded, she too would rapidly decay, becoming one of the mindless monsters outside.
They had long suspected the City Lord might fall; now, their fears were finally confirmed.
"The day before yesterday, I saw Fifth One lead a group to break out," Hong Lingxiang said softly. "Mother, shouldn’t we try to make a run for it, too?"
"The outskirts are teeming with wandering corrupted and Purgatory creatures. It’s useless," Hong Wuxin said, gently shaking her head.
She turned to look at her beloved son and daughter.
"You still have hope. Find Master Yunxia... She can get you out."
"Mother! Your strength hasn’t completely faded yet! We still have hope..." Hong Ling said, growing anxious.
"No... it’s gone... The Super Adaptables are currently besieged. The only one with any strength left to spare is the fastest among us, Master Yunxia... Go and plead with her." Hong Wuxin extended a finger, drew it across her own abdomen to slice open a bloody gash, and then reached inside to pull out a delicate small sphere that shimmered with a faint silver light and bizarre patterns.
"With this, she will agree to help you..."
She released her hand, and the small sphere flew up on its own, landing precisely in her son Hong Ling’s grasp.
"Go. Just let me stay here alone. Don’t come back..." She turned, presenting her back to them.
"I’ve lived for so many years, enjoyed so much... It’s been enough."
"Mother!" Hong Ling and his sister’s voices were choked with emotion.
At the final moment, if their mother hadn’t unleashed her ultimate power and, along with Han Xiaoyue and the others, blocked the shockwaves from the battle between the Purgatory Duke and the Extreme Cold Queen, they would have died that afternoon over ten days ago.
The price for saving hundreds of evacuees from the Inner City was that Hong Wuxin had been tainted by Purgatory’s corruption, forcing her to hide underground and struggle to resist it.
Now that the degeneration of her Original Blood had begun, that resistance was hopeless. The balance was broken. If they didn’t leave, they would be torn to pieces and devoured by their mother, twisted by the corruption.
"Go. Join the remnants of the Rain Palace and find Master Yunxia. Go while Han Xiaoyue and the others can still hold them back, however barely..." Hong Wuxin said softly. "You have a good relationship with the Clear Wind Dao. With that, and the gift you carry, they won’t refuse you..."
Suddenly, an invisible force pushed the two of them out of the room.
A stone door crashed down, blocking their line of sight.
With reddened eyes, Hong Ling and Hong Lingxiang stood there, lips trembling. They knelt and kowtowed to the stone door, then rose, turned, and departed.
Hong Wuxin was left alone in the cave.
She stood up, gently caressing the near-perfect curves of her body.
"Death... I have never feared it. I only feel regret..."
"The Mother is dead. The era of Tuyue must end."
In an instant, her body transformed into a streak of purple light, bursting through the roof of the cavern and out into the open.
The moment she burst from the ground, the earth nearby began to tremble. Countless crimson flames gathered from all directions, coalescing into a dark-red, ram-horned humanoid figure over ten meters tall.
The humanoid’s eyes were black voids, and it was clad in a ferocious, crude suit of black-and-red full-plate armor.
"ROAR!!" The dark-red humanoid roared like a savage beast, swiping a clawed hand toward her.
"KILL!!!"
Hong Wuxin’s power surged in response. A dazzling, multicolored light flared from between her brows, freezing her opponent for an instant. She used the opportunity to fly sideways, heading away from her son and daughter.
The dark-red humanoid gave chase, and the two vanished over the horizon in the blink of an eye.
「A few minutes later.」
Hong Wuxin’s speed began to falter. The power coursing through her grew unstable, flickering.
By luring away this powerful Lord of Purgatory, she had given the other survivors a chance to escape.
This was the last favor she could grant her children...
Hong Wuxin looked back one last time, in the direction her children had fled. A flicker of longing, almost too faint to see, crossed her eyes.
KABOOM!!
The next moment, her body exploded.
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"Faster, faster, faster!"
In the distance, a group seized the opportunity to burst from the ground and race toward the city’s edge.
Master Yunxia led the charge, followed by several Palace Masters and Vice Palace Masters of the Rain Palace whom she had personally rescued. Among them was Jiang Zhixia, the master of Liu Wu Jun and Xia Si.
Hong Ling and his sister trailed at the rear, struggling to keep pace.
With their Original Blood receding, their strength and speed had greatly diminished.
Besides them were several disciples of the Clear Wind Dao, including Huang Shan and Chen Xiangzhi.
All of them had been priority targets for Master Yunxia’s rescue mission.
Their destination was the Clear Wind Herb Garden outside the city. It was Lin Hui’s secret base, which Master Yunxia had been managing since Tao Xuehai’s death. The place could seal off the night fog and contained natural, labyrinthine ruins that could fend off pursuing monsters.
Master Yunxia was incredibly fast, and her power had grown significantly thanks to Lin Hui’s help. Unfortunately, she had too many people to protect.
As the group fled, the slowest members dragged down the entire party’s speed, immediately drawing the attention of the remaining monsters.
"I’ve found that person’s aura..."
In the distant sky, the mist churned. Suddenly, two dark-red, ram-horned humanoids with black wings burst through the fog and hovered in the air.
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