Chapter Twenty Eight: Terror
Great waves appeared in Emperor Yuanwu’s mind. He was very shocked. Ding Ning’s perfect sword essence did not feel like it was a copy. In his perception, it was just like the sword that that person had performed back then.
A wave of the strongest feeling was pulled out of the deepest part of his heart. This strongest emotion was great terror.
In these years, between him and Zheng Xiu, he had tolerated everything that Zheng Xiu had done not because of his heated love for her, but out of terror towards the reappearance of the Nine Death Silkworm and the Stone-Grinding Sword.
He knew better than anyone the terror of that person, especially in that last battle when Changling had turned into a sea of blood. He had watched the entire process from afar. Compared to the experts killed by that person back then, he was not very exceptional. He was even certain, if that person had not killed so many top experts, maybe he would not have been the first person in this era to reach realm eight.
So he did not just burn the history books because he worried that the events of that person and the Ba Mountain Sword Field would spread. It was more because of the terror he felt towards that person. He was not even willing to hear that person’s name and think back to that person’s strength.
This person’s strength had accompanied him as he grew from an imperial son who was being oppressed to the strongest emperor in the world. This terror became a part of him, coming from deep in his soul and could not be controlled.
The energies inside his body were shaking. He could not stop the advent of the Donghu monk’s staff blow, but he was still the only realm eight in the world right now, and knew energy rules that realm sevens did not know.
When the power of this blow was about to crush his body through the air, a dot of light appeared in front of his forehead. A unique wave the energy in his body turned into a wave of light, shooting up into the sky, causing a resonance with energies high up in the sky without any time difference.
A vast energy fell from the sky. This energy had been above the vacuum. In the words of the cultivation world, it came from outside this world, from the stars.
Ordinary cultivators could not communicate with the power of the stars, because the consciousness of a cultivator could not clearly sense the energy rules so far away. So ordinary cultivators called the energies outside this world the solitary cold energy, and were unable to use it. Only Zheng Xiu and other rare few people cultivated special methods, and could use some tactics to reflect a bit of the solitary cold energy, sensing some of the energy rules, and use that energy.
But in realm eight, it was different.
In the records of the cultivation words, realm eight could break this limit. While they could not see into the space like one could with some methods, they could absorb terrifying energy from the border of where this world touched space.
This state was like opening a new world. So the realm seven was called Mountain Moving, while realm eight was called Heaven Opening.
When Yuanwu fully used this power at this time, in the eyes of other people, it was like he was opening the sky. An enormous ray of silver light fell from a height that could not be seen with the eye and onto the staff heading for his chest.
In the vast silver ray of light, that staff was so small like it was a cow’s hair. The star energy that was completely different from the energies of the world that the cultivators used restrained this staff. The staff, suspended in the silver light, seemed to be refined, giving off wisps of purple smoke.
Seeming the tip of the staff just feet away from Yuanwu’s body but unable to touch, and the energy of the divine item being ground down and destroyed, the Donghu monk’s expression did not change at all.
This staff only was half of the power of his attack. There was another half of the power in his hand.
The ground sank under him. His figure became transparent in the air. His hand held the transparent sword, and in this moment, he came to Yuanwu’s side, and stabbed towards Yuanwu’s energy sea.
Ye Xiao and Sima Cuo’s expressions changed at the same time. They could not think of how this sword could be fended off. Sometimes, victory was not just determined by cultivation, but also time. Yuanwu’s emotions had changed too violently previously, and now, he had no time to deal with this sword. They did not even dare to think, if Emperor Yuanwu died because of this attack, what the world would become.
But at this time, the Donghu monk who was just weaker than Yuanwu seemed to sense something before them, and looked up slightly. A stream of pale white fire was falling from the sky.
This was a bolt of star fire.
The star fire was filled with a powerful and cold sword essence. With a soft sound, the Donghu monk released this transparent sword, and returned to his original position. A pale white dot appeared on the blade of the transparent sword. Then the sword was penetrated by this star fire, and started to burn.
Then sounded an enormous bang. A fierce explosion occurred in front of Yuanwu again. The ground within a hundred feet was turned to dust.
Yuanwu moved back a hundred feet. He did not sustain any injuries, but his face was paler.
Zhangsun Qianxue took a deep breath. That star fire naturally came from Zheng Xiu. Each time she saw the star fire, she could not control her anger. At this moment, she secretly hoped that the star fire would land on Yuanwu. But while this couple had the same thoughts, this blow blocked the Donghu monk’s fatal blow.
A bitter grimace appeared at the corners of Ding Ning’s lips.
A hair’s length was a thousand miles. Regardless of how much Emperor Yuanwu retreated, no matter what wounds he had, as long as he was still alive, he was still the strongest in this battle, and they could not escape the shadow of death.
He also knew, starting this moment, their situation would grow more difficult. Yuanwu could misstep, but if they misstepped, death would face them. Because at this time, Sima Cuo, Ye Xiao and the others were certain that Yuanwu alone could not deal with this battle.
The wind roared, accompanied by clean ice and snow. The grandmaster who had appeared with Ye Xiao together attacked first.
This grandmaster had no fame in Changling. Ding Ning did not even know his origins, but he cultivated an Arctic sword essence, and Ding Ning sensed that this was similar to the sword snow of the Min Mountain. That coldness could not compare to the great cold of the Nine Hell King Sword but it was just as sharp.
When this grandmaster solemnly attacked, when the pure white long sword swung in his hand, thousands of white ice swords appeared in the world in front of him. These ice swords released the same great power as his lifebond sword, forming a great snowy white sword dragon that coiled through the air and leapt at Zhangsun Qianxue.
In the sky above the snowy white dragon, there was a pitch black shadow. Ye Xiao’s shadow disappeared, but a black crescent moon was falling from the sky with a kind of terrifying killing intent.
Sima Cuo naturally would not miss such a good chance to attack. He gave a low shout, and his energy exploded with an iron and wild power from his seemingly soft body. A wide and broken gray sword appeared in his hand. An ocean of primal energies of the universe gathered and formed a crystal wall of blades that swept at Zhangsun Qianxue.
There was no realm seven that could endure three such experts working together like this. Maybe even the Donghu monk could not. Zhangsun Qianxue knew that she could not. Her body unconsciously moved towards Ding Ning, just wanting to be closer in this moment.
“Dretch!”
“Kill this Min Mountain Sword Snow first.”
But Ding Ning’s cold voice reached the Donghu monk and her ears.
The “Dretch” was a killing move that the Donghu monk had cultivated. Without needing more words, the Donghu monk sensed this, and his hands reached into the sky.
The staff that had been trembling in the silver pillar of light wildly spun, immediately creating rays of golden light, breaking free of the silver light and crashing towards Emperor Yuanwu.
Ding Ning did not know the name of the cultivator who had created the snowy white sword dragon, so when he spoke to Zhangsun Qianxue, he used “Min Mountain Sword Snow”. Zhangsun Qianxue did not need to even think. The Nine Hell King Sword disappeared from her hand, turning into countless gray and black pieces of grains of crystal.
Zhangsun Qianxue and Ding Ning had lived in hiding for many years. At many times, she did not want to think, and she had absolute trust in Ding Ning.
At this time, she ignored Ye Xiao and Sima Cuo’s killing moves, and channeled all her power towards that cultivator. The gray and black crystal grains moved through the air and collided with the thousands of snow white swords.
In this moment, countless snowy white flowers bloomed. This unnamed cultivator changed expression. The enormous snowy white flowers seemed to form a enormous flowering tree in front of him, but those gray black crystals had passed through and reformed back into a sword.
Endless terror inundated this cultivator’s eyes. He could not believe that while they both had cold sword essence, he could not stop the other’s attack at all. Even more importantly, Zhangsun Qianxue ignored the other two killing attacks, and put all her power into this attack.
With a pop, the Nine Hell King Sword stabbed into his chest. In this moment, the Nine Hell King Sword turned back into wantless gray black grains of ice that sprayed out of his body. His body immediately broke apart, spraying out in shards of ice.
A powerful grandmaster disappeared from the world like this.
But at this same time, a black crescent and the wall of crystal blades were falling at Zhangsun Qianxue. This was a time when she could not counterattack or defend. She waited there quietly and looked at Ding Ning.
Ding Ning stood there silently and drew his sword.
