Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
It was just like his bloodline. He had been imprinted with an unerasable mark since he was born in the Nangong Family.
In that case, how could a single sentence change Nangong Tian’s mind?
Nangong Mu stopped focusing on this question, because he had diverted all his concentration towards the fruit at the treetop.
He was moving so quickly and nimbly even in the snow. However, it would still take some time for him to reach the top of this sky-scraping tree.
10 minutes passed…
An hour passed…
Nangong Mu couldn’t see the figure standing at the root of the tree anymore because the aura around him was getting thicker.
On the other hand, the crystal-clear fruit was getting closer.
Nangong Mu eventually stopped when he was about 10 meters away from the fruit. That was because there was a golden condor-like creature resting on a branch above the fruit. Its jade-green eyes were staring at Nangong Mu fiercely.
It was hard enough to come across a bird in a place that was snowing all year round like this. One should consider himself lucky if he came across a golden, jade-green eyed condor-like this.
However, Nangong Mu wasn’t surprised to see it.
He knew well that beasts sometimes had sharper senses than humans. In that case, it wasn’t uncommon to find a powerful beast near a treasure.
However, he was currently at a disadvantage.
The golden beast could attack him freely at the treetop, but he couldn’t leave stay away from the tree for a long time.
Nonetheless, Nangong Mu wasn’t the slightest bit afraid. He slowly drew his Green and Blue Dual Blade and pointed them towards the beast.
“Get lost, or, die!”
Screech!
The conversation between them was fairly simple, and so was the outcome. Neither of them said another word because they had already started fighting.
Metallic clangs filled the snowy region. A large amount of snow and silvery flowers fell from the gigantic tree.
Nangong Tian was gazing on the treetop from the bottom of the tree.
He saw a glittering light spot at the top of the tree, accompanied by two black dots that were fighting against each other.
He simply watched motionlessly and allowed the snow and flower petals to pile up on his shoulders.
Time went by quickly sometimes, but it moved slowly during other times.
Nangong Tian didn’t calculate how long he had waited. However, the metal clangs became softer and softer, and eventually disappeared.
Snow stopped falling from the tree, and the flower petals disappeared too.
At this moment, a massive figure fell from the sky and crashed into the snow, creating a huge crater.
Then, a person fell down as well.
It was Nangong Mu.
He was covered in blood. There were visible scratches on his face, shoulders, arms, legs, and even his chest.
However, Nangong Mu didn’t even make a sound, much less say a word. He just gazed at the crystal-clear fruit in his right hand quietly.
“Treat your wounds first. Even though the fruit is most effective when it has just been removed, but you are too gravely wounded to take it now. It shouldn’t lose too much of its effectiveness if you take it three days later…” Nangong Tian frowned at Nangong Mu’s injuries. Then, he went agape from surprise just as he was about to continue his sentence.
That was because Nangong Mu had already swallowed the fruit without any hesitation, before Nangong Tian could even finish his words.
“Mu Er!”
“Ah!!!” Nangong Mu’s voice echoed in this mountain range covered in snow. He was roaring due to extreme pain, just like a beast howling from anger.
Nangong Tian felt incredibly conflicted when he saw this. He couldn’t understand why would Nangong Mu do that.
However… That wouldn’t change the reality.
He swallowed the fruit even though he was savagely beaten, but his determination didn’t waver even though he was screaming in pain.
“Ah!” Nangong Mu kept rolling around on the ground. His hair and clothes, and even his arms, were already completely covered by a layer of crystal-clear ice. The ice seemed to have grown from his body, and it was enveloping his entire body.
Nangong Mu stopped moving after just a mere moment. The layer of ice on his body grew thicker and eventually became a human-shaped coffin.
“Mu Er…” Nangong Tian stood frozen at the spot, staring intently at the face that was buried in the ice coffin. His body was trembling, even though that had hardly happened before.
No one knew what Nangong Tian was thinking, or why did he choose to take such a risk. However, at this moment, he was actually tearing up.
The current master of the Nangong Nobles, who was known for his heartlessness, had finally teared up when he saw Nangong Mu’s body in the ice coffin. However, his teardrop was quickly frozen, and it never came down.
Nangong Tian didn’t move, and neither did he try to slash the ice coffin open to rescue Nangong Mu. That was because he clearly knew that after Nangong Mu had eaten the fruit, the ice started growing from inside his body and took over all of his internal organs. Nangong Mu wouldn’t come back to life even if he forcefully rescued him.
He didn’t save Nangong Mu, but he didn’t leave either.
He was just standing there motionlessly and humming in a deep voice. He seemed to be praying, but it also felt like he was venting his emotions.
Snowflakes danced in the cold breeze, and the giant tree was slowly covered by a new layer of snow. However, Nangong Tian stood alone below the tree for a long time.
The sky turned dark eventually, and the reflection of the snow was turning the entire region white. Despite the lack of light, the figure beneath the tree remained clearly visible.
“Ai…” Nangong Tian finally let out a long sigh. Then, he slowly turned around and walked towards the stone tablets standing in the snow.
There were two lines of shallow footprints on the ground.
Nangong Tian was walking quite slowly, and he didn’t even bother wiping his footprints away. In fact, the shallowness of his footprints varied, obviously due to his sorrow.
Just as the old saying went, “You only under its importance after truly losing it.”
However, at this moment, Nangong Tian heard a faint cracking sound.
It was so soft and almost negligible.
However, Nangong Tian suddenly stopped moving when he heard the sound. His lips twitched uncontrollably, and his eyes turned red.
His emotions had suddenly surged just like a volcano eruption. Even the chilly night couldn’t stop it.
Nangong Tian slowly turned his head around and looked towards the ice coffin that was already covered by a thick layer of snow, and he saw a tiny crack.
“Mu Er, You… You’ve made it!” Nangong Tian clenched his fists tightly and exclaimed. His silvery hair was swaying freely in the wind.
More cracks appeared on the ice coffin, until it eventually shattered.
Boom!
A terrifying cold air burst out of the broken ice coffin. It turned into a snow-white air blast that blew all the surrounding snow away.
That was nothing left on the ground except a thin layer of crystal-clear ice.
The air blast eventually dissipated, revealing a young man in a turquoise shirt. His injuries had completely disappeared and were seemingly replaced by a layer of newly-grown skin. It was radiating a silvery-white light under the reflection of the snow.
“Father, I’m ready.” The young man spoke flatly. His eyes were glowing as if he had gone through metamorphosis.
“Ok, good….Good, very good!” Nangong Tian couldn’t help but say it thrice. Then, he looked towards the sky and said, “Our great ancestors, the day that Nangong Family had waited tens of thousands of years for, has finally arrived!”
…
Holy Region, Heaven Dao Pavilion, Heaven Academic Altar.
It was so quiet. There were no sounds, no yelling, and no reprimanding.
Nangong Hao, who was wearing a white scholar’s robe, was standing in front of the Sixth elder and a bunch of Heaven Dao Pavilion’s disciples. However, all of them seemed to be in a daze, or rather, their eyes looked lifeless.
Their pupils slowly became dilated. They couldn’t see anything except darkness.
Blood flowed out of their mouth and onto the ground, then, they converged towards the Blood Offering Illustration.
This was a creepy scene, but there was something worse…
There were streams of bloody aura rising from the Sixth elder’s and the disciples’ bodies, and they were gathering towards Nangong Hao’s body.
The red symbol on his face was also flickering. This was a scene that would send a chill down anyone’s spine.
This was actually happening. Furthermore, the Blood Offering Illustration in Nangong Hao’s right eye was rotating rapidly as if it was absorbing the bloody aura.
The streams of bloody aura finally disappeared after a long time.
The red symbol on Nangong Hao’s face also disappeared at the same time, together with the Blood Offering Illustration in his right eye. Everything seemed to have returned the normal state of calmness.
However, there was a scent of death amidst the calmness.
This was because the Sixth elder’s body had collapsed onto the ground with a heavy thud, following which, all the disciples’ bodies dropped to the ground as well.
Nangong Hao was watching this calmly as if he was heartless. However, for some reason, there was a hint of sadness and sorrow in his expression.
The sky was slowly turning black.
Nangong Hao didn’t say a word as he glanced over the several dozen dead bodies on the ground. However, he slowly started moving towards the sword mountain peak.
He knew that there were more guards in Heaven Dao Pavilion. There were still several dozen disciples guarding the sword mountain peak at the moment.
The wind slowly blew the scent of blood away, but there was still a faint scent remaining thanks to the summer heat.
“Nangong Hao, stop right there!”
“How dare you murder your master! Do you know how heinous is the crime that you’ve just committed?”
“Are you really not afraid that…”
The third disciples didn’t finish his sentence, because he couldn’t say a word anymore. He was engulfed by a horrifying aura that rendered him immobile, and he was losing his strength rapidly.
“Ah… He’s a demon. Kill him!”
“Die!”
The battle cries didn’t last exceptionally long, and peace was soon restored to the sword mountain peak.
Several dozen corpses were lying on the ground. All of their eyes were wide open, filled with regrets, horror, and despair.
Everything had ended, and it didn’t take long. The only thing that remained was a white figure carrying a sword on his back. The sword’s hilt was white as snow and its blade and crystal-clear.
…
Heaven Zen Mountain.
It was located at the border of Heaven Dao Pavilion and Fu Xi Valley, amongst a mountain range that was covered by clouds. However, the peak of the mountain was a naturally occurring flat land, which was known as ‘Heaven’s Peak’.
There was a white jade platform on the ‘Heaven’s Peak’, and there were five towering human-shaped stone statues built around the platform. Each statue was wearing different clothes and accessories.
The center of the platform was built in the form of ‘Round Sky and Squarish Earth’. A circle was in the center while a square was on the outside, forming a tall altar.
This was where the ‘Heaven Alliance Meeting’ initiated by Heaven Dao Pavilion would be hosted at.
However, it wasn’t as easy as before to get to the Heaven’s Peak. This was because Heaven Zen Mountain had grown over three times taller than before. One could hear the spring water flowing in the mountain and smell its calming fragrance.
There was a seven-colored ray of light flickering amidst the thick, white fog at the top of the mountain. It looked just like a rainbow in the sky.
However, there were many hidden dangers amongst this incredibly beautiful scenery.
There were beasts roaring constantly, and one could often see a gigantic creature with a thick scale-armor and sharp fangs appearing in the mountain. Its eyes were equally nerve-wracking.
Apart from beasts, there were birds flying around the mountain too. These gigantic birds could almost block the sun and moon. Whenever they flapped their wings and flew, it would produce a strong gust that could shake the ancient, sky-scraping trees.
