Chapter 318: May Your Soul Return To Us
The cloud ascended again. As the two of them stood on the cloud, Zhong Yue felt that the old man's power was way too strong, as if he had returned to his peak form when he was still young.
This was definitely unusual, as a normal person's power would reach their peak form when he or she was still young and their body functioned the best. When a person starts to get old, their power would start to deteriorate.
And if someone's power was constantly at the peak form, it would take a toll on the person's body, as it was just as if the person was burning his life essence as fuel in order to maintain his power at the peak condition!
Right after the battle where the old man slew the elder priest, his power should have returned to a normal level, his psyche should have calmed down, and he should have slowly prepped his Yuan Shen for another battle.
Even a young man like Zhong Yue could not constantly keep his power at peak form, or he would definitely hurt his own body, psyche, and Yuan Shen, let alone an old man who did not have much time left.
But the old man's power was still on his peak for, not because he did not want to calm it down, but because he couldn't! If he allowed his power to go back to a normal level, then he could no longer push it back to peak form anymore because of his old age. This left him with no choice but to use his life essence as fuel to keep his power at peak form for the next battle!
By doing this, there would be only one ending, he would deplete his life essence and die; his body would die first, then his Yuan Shen and soul.
Zhong Yue couldn't do anything, felt extremely low. Feng Shouzhu had substituted for the old man and entered the underground, slain the monsters underneath and used his old body to secure another peaceful period for the underworld of Swords Gate, while the old man was now on the surface, burning his life in order to maintain peace in the land for Swords Gate.
Both of these Feng Clan old man had sacrificed way too much for Swords Gate.
Right now on the cloud, the old man who was at his peak form explained and answered Zhong Yue's questions about the cultivation of[Great Boundless Sword Qi], utilizing every second to the fullest.
Zhong Yue collected his thoughts that were running wild and calmed himself down in order to listen to the old man's teachings carefully.
From the battle between the old man and the Xiao Mang elder priest, Zhong Yue's understanding of the[Great Boundless Sword Qi]deepened, but as he understood more about this art, the more questions and confusion grew within him. He had to clear his mind and try to learn as much as he could in a short period of time from the old man.
He knew what the old man was thinking: The[Great Boundless Sword Qi]was the ultimate art of Swords Gate, but there was not much time left for the old man to teach the art completely to the new headmasters, Jun Sixie and Qiu Jin'er, who were halfway through cultivating the[Great Boundless Sword Qi].
Jun Sixie had no prior knowledge of the[Great Boundless Sword Qi],and although Qiu Jin'er had been taught about this art, her understanding and talent for it were not as good as Zhong Yue.
Thus, the old man tried his best to pour his understandings on the[Great Boundless Sword Qi]into Zhong Yue so that through Zhong Yue, this ultimate art could be taught to Jun Sixie.
Ever since the ancient times, the[Great Boundless Sword Qi]was only taught to the headmasters of Swords Gate. But when it came to the old man, he was very open, as in order to save Qiu Jin'er, he allowed Madame Qiu to steal the sword token, and then allowed Zhong Yue to discover the secrets hidden in the token before he taught the[Great Boundless Sword Qi]to Qiu Jin'er.
This ultimate art was also taught to Feng Wuji, but the old man probably held back when he taught Feng Wuji this art.
But now, what the old man taught Zhong Yue was the true[Great Boundless Sword Qi], an art that required one to jump out of the box. Only Zhong Yue, who possessed such crazy talent, would be able to fully acquire what he taught in such a short time, thus preventing the true[Great Boundless Sword Qi]from disappearing.
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The cloud flew across the skies towards the north of the Savanna Wasteland at uncanny speed. But even the shortest path from the Divine Battlefield to the north of the Savanna Wasteland would require someone on the same level as the old man to travel for at least two to three hours.
Zhong Yue stared at the old man and paid close attention to his condition, as he was worried if the old man could keep this up for another few hours.
Suddenly, the old man's power shook, weakening a little. Zhong Yue immediately looked at the old man, and realized that the old man's face flushed before his power stabilized again and recovered to the peak form.
His eyes twitched and he said, "Headmaster, I have been cultivating the[Monster God Ming King Art], and I know his weakness."
Boom!...
Zhong Yue unleashed his power as the divine third eye on his forehead opened.
His power then started to peak as totem carvings of the[Monster God Ming King Art]surfaced on his body. As his blood flowed through his body, the totem carvings changed.
"The[Monster God Ming King Art]is an incredible art with immense power, but the crucial part of this art relies heavily on the eye on the forehead. The eye on the forehead is the centralized point where the energy and power of the user pass through, but Shi Buyi lacks the totem carvings of the divine eye. Let me show you!"
The Monster God Ming King Yuan Shen appeared behind Zhong Yue's body, with eight weapons in its eight hands.
The old man's eyes brightened and he examined the Yuan Shen closely, he replied in disappointment, "This was the art's weakness, not Shi Buyi's weakness. He managed to achieve whatever he achieved right now because he had another art to cultivate the divine eye, which he used to replace the lack of a divine eye, or he wouldn't reach such a high level by now. He does have his own weakness, but not on the divine eye."
Zhong Yue remained performing the[Monster God Ming King Art]so that the old man could understand everything he needed to know while he said, "Because Shi Buyi's divine eye was obtained through an art other than the[Monster God Ming King Art], his eye is not that compatible with the[Monster God Ming King Art]. The movements and flows of my[Monster God Ming King Art]are definitely different from Shi Buyi's, and these differences will be his weakness!"
The old man's eyes brightened up again as he quickly observed and memorized Zhong Yue's[Monster God Ming King Art]patterns.
Although arts, skills and techniques were all very mysterious if one had not cultivated them, after entering the level of the old man, they would no longer be a mystery. People like the old man could easily read and understand the patterns of the ever-changing totem carvings of those arts.
He might not be able to learn the[Monster God Ming King Art]just like that, but by observing Zhong Yue's[Monster God Ming King Art], he could easily identify the differences between Zhong Yue and Shi Buyi's[Monster God Ming King Art].
Shi Buyi was incredibly strong, to the point that even magnate Qi Practitioners could not see through his[Monster God Ming King Art],but at the level of the old man, he could easily identify the patterns of Shi Buyi's[Monster God Ming King Art], thus, getting a grasp on Shi Buyi's weaknesses easily!
After some moments, the old man told Zhong Yue, "You can stop now, I memorized them all now."
ZHong Yue immediately stopped and asked, "Has headmaster gotten a hold on Shi Buyi's weaknesses?"
"Nope."
The old man shook his head and said, "It is basically impossible to find out his weaknesses just by observing your[Monster God Ming King Art]. I would have to see for myself Shi Buyi's[Monster God Ming King Art], sense his totem carvings' patterns to find out his weaknesses. If...." he sighed sadly, "If that stupid son of mine was here, he could easily identify Shi Buyi's weaknesses..."
The old man then shook his head and turned completely silent.
Feng Xiaozhong was absolutely an unparalleled genius and an expert on researching on the mysteries behind arts and techniques. With that terrific talent of his, he would definitely be able to find out Shi Buyi's weaknesses and kill him in one shot.
At the moment he spoke, the Savanna Wasteland appeared in their vision and the old man said as he got up, "Don't become Feng Xiaozhong or Feng Shang, become Zhong Yue, be yourself."
Zhong Yue then looked at Shi Buyi, who was awaiting them on the Savanna Wasteland in the distance!
He felt worried again as the old man's power deteriorated again, but soon returned to the peak form, which was really not good...
The cloud then descended onto the ground, with Zhong Yue staying behind the old man as he looked at Shi Buyi.
He was shocked when he saw Shi Buyi with his nine heads as that meant that Shi Buyi possessed nine divine eyes on his foreheads!
And with nine divine eyes, the patterns of Shi Buyi's[Monster God Ming King Art]would become even more complicated. With that, things would be much different than what the old man observed from his[Monster God Ming King Art]. Zhong Yue then thought, Will headmaster figure out Shi Buyi's weakness?
"Old Feng Shang, you are indeed very cunning," Shi Buyi said calmly, his hands behind his back, "Forcing me to the state I am in right now, you are the first and you shall be the last. In some ways, it really saddens me, for I have no idea if I will encounter someone as tough as you in the future."
He talked in a manner that was so calm, as if he was not worried about the imminent battle as he said, "You must have suffered injuries from the battle with Xiao Chucang, and it must have taken a deadly toll on you. On your journey here, I could feel your power deteriorate twice, and after you burnt your life to maintain your peak form, you must have depleted your life essence to a very alarming state. The next time you do it, you will die for sure. To be honest, I don't feel like fighting you now, as this is not a fair fight."
The old man dispersed his cloud and replied, "Such arrogance, too bad your mind is messed up now, I could even hear the arguments going on in your nine heads. The monster army has not returned and along with Xiu Tianchen, Yan Yunsheng must be hiding somewhere around here, right?"
Shi Buyi's eyes twitched and he suddenly shouted, "Yan Yunsheng, Xiu Tianchen! We should team up for the moment, kill this old man, destroy Swords Gate and conquer the Great Wilderness!"
His shout was so loud that it rumbled across the sky.But after a moment, his eyes twitched again after he received no reply save echoes of his shout.
He then swore again, Fucking idiots!
The old man laughed and unsheathed the godly sword, and lit up the entire Savanna Wasteland with the lights reflected by the sword!
As soon as the old man unsheathed his sword, Shi Buyi cried out and unleashed all of the power of the Ba Ji Slaughtering Array.
Zhong Yue immediately backed off to avoid being dragged into the battle between the two magnificent individuals. This time, the fight was different from the fight between the old man and the elder priest. The old man immediately used his full strength and directed all his killing moves against the elder priest directly, trading blows without bothering about getting hurt during the fight with the elder priest.
When it came to the fight with Shi Buyi, however, Shi Buyi just kept on defending himself, fending off the attacks of the old man. His plan was very simple; he was dragging out the battle until the next deterioration of the old man's power! At that time, the old man's power would fade away completely, and it would be Shi Buyi's time to take his life!
Shi Buyi even opened up the Monster God Ming King's divine eyes on the forehead of his nine heads, shooting out beams that clashed with the godly sword, and otherwise hid himself so well that the old man could not figure out Shi Buyi's weakness.
However, even as Shi Buyi focused on defending himself, the[Great Boundless Sword Qi]was very unpredictable in the hands of the old man and Shi Buyi was still injured by him!
The fight lasted not more than fifteen minutes as the old man's power deteriorated, which caused Zhong Yue's heart to beat faster.
"Old man, die at my hands and make me famous!" Shi Buyi shouted and suddenly erupted with all his remaining strength, abandoning his defense and charging towards the old man in an all-out attack!
"Lion, you have fallen for my plans!" The old man too, laughed as the Sword Qi that clashed with the Ba Ji Slaughtering Array suddenly changed rapidly, and as the duo shifted positions, the old man launched a Sword Qi that landed on the throat of one of Shi Buyi's heads.
Peng peng peng...
The divine eyes on Shi Buyi's foreheads immediately exploded, and nine shrieks sounded at the same time as Shi Buyi lost control of his power, causing his body to enlarge and burst open. He then quickly fled into the skies after being inflicted with such heavy injuries.
"Old dog, you tricked me again!" shouted Shi Buyi as he flew away, "But you can't catch me, you can't kill me!"
In the air, two figures appeared suddenly. These two were the other two magnate Qi Practitioners of the East Barren, Yan Yunsheng and Xiu Tianchen. As soon as they appeared, they turned into pale green smoke that chased after the nine-headed lion and clashed with the lion constantly while shouts could be heard, "Damn you, Yan Yunsheng! Curse you, Xiu Tianchen!"
Zhong Yue, who was all tensed up, finally felt relieved after seeing this happen. He saw the old man standing there with the godly sword in his hand, his back to Zhong Yue and his clothes waving along with the wind like the Sword God he was.
He then quickly said, "Headmaster, after being injured by you so heavily, Shi Buyi might not be able to make it back home alive! Your deterioration scared me just now, as I did not think that it was your trap to lure Shi Buyi... Headmaster?"
As Zhong Yue arrived in front of the old man, grief engulfed him, and he knelt down at the old man's feet as he cried loudly.
The old man has died, with a satisfied and happy smile on his face.
"Headmaster, please don't go far away, may your soul return to us for a moment!"
After quite some time, Zhong Yue got up, carrying the old man on his back as he looked at the direction of the Great Wilderness and thought, I will not let you be buried in this foreign place. I will take you back to the Swords Gate, your home, and bury you there, back in the place that you vowed and sacrificed your life to protect... If your soul is still around, please follow me and please don't go far away, please return to your home with me...