Chapter 893: Is that Jun Mo Xie!?
The three Guardians and the Nine Nether Fourteenth Young Master had already left long ago to god knew where for their battle... He Zhi Qiu only left a written letter for them, and finally, he sent a letter to each Holy Land...
At the end of the letter addressed to the Elusive World of Immortals, Zhan Mu Bai had added a few more words: "For ten thousand years, the honor of the Holy Lands has never been profaned by anyone. This Zhan shall use his death to defend the name of the Holy Lands! Though some may mingle for a thousand years, there must come a time for farewell. Today, Mu Bai shall bid everyone goodbye in advance!
As the makeshift stretcher rocked to and fro, Zhan Mu Bai closed his eyes lightly, allowing his memory to flow. As the ancient people used to say, all men must die. At the end of one's life, people would see fragments of their life flashing before their eyes. From the looks of it, the next stop would most likely be the final station of his long life...
Zhan Mu Bai was not born from the legitimate wife of the Zhan Family. His real mother was a mere concubine, and he was thus abhorred from a young age. Fortunately, his talent was great, and by concealing himself and meekly enduring the humiliations, he finally shocked the entire family at the age of 18 at the family's martial competition, winning first place among the junior generation.
While the startling genius Zhan Mu Bai managed to gain the attention of the elders in the family, he also attracted the unanimous hostility of the Zhan Family's direct line. The repeated persecution resulted in the death of both his parents and greater humiliation for himself. Grieving and insulted, he escaped from the Zhan Family. By chance, he met a famed teacher, and he cultivated painstakingly from that point on. Twenty years later, after reaching the third level of Spirit Xuan, he once again returned to the Zhan Family to carry out his vengeance. All those who'd ever harmed him or wronged him were killed! Not even a single one was spared!
As his thoughts travelled to this point, Zhan Mu Bai who was suffering immense pain from the Yin-Yang Refining Soul actually revealed a gratified smile on his face.
When he thought back to how those people who'd caused so much death and destruction to his family had trembled under his feet, the blood flowing freely from their bodies... That woman that he had cared so much about, groaning and crying as he pressed her under him... those white, tender skin, the beautiful glistening tears on her face... and that look of disbelief as he sliced his blade across her throat...
Oh, the rush he'd felt back then...
In that moment, Zhan Mu Bai had almost forgotten even the agonizing pain that filled every inch of his body!
Back then, that period of time was the proudest and most satisfying point of his life! The entire Zhan Family was all as tame as cicadas in the winter in his presence. He, Zhan Mu Bai, had used his own strength and cruel methods to obtain the highest authority, becoming the youngest patriarch of the Zhan Family in history!
Under his lead, the Zhan Family battled through the pugilistic world, growing stronger and stronger with rapid speed, turning them into a first rate family. And right after that, he'd received the invitation from the Elusive World of Immortals.
After gaining the backing of the three Holy Lands, the Zhan Family's growth became even faster. In these few hundred years, the Zhan Family had already turned into the hegemon of a large territory! And Zhan Mu Bai himself had progressed from a Spirit Xuan expert to a Venerable, Saint, Saint Emperor... From being a mere cultivator in the Elusive World of Immortals, he'd even reached the heights of becoming a member of the Heaven Saint Palace!
The glory of a lifetime, the brilliance of a lifetime, the self confidence and strong headedness of a lifetime!
Perhaps, he'd indeed done wrongly in some matters. But... so what? This was a world where the weak were prey for the strong! There was really nothing much to say about it! In this life, he'd lost some and gained some. To him, it was sufficient!
Zhan Mu Bai grieved and smiled... He half laid on the stretcher, allowing the soft mattress to support his body. Step by step, taking him to the final stop of his life. He did not bother to think about the upcoming fight. Instead, he simply replayed the events of the past in his mind, over and over again...
Take the most recent incident for example, the annihilation of the Chen Family. How was he wrong? He hadn't done anything wrong! If someone must be blamed, one could only blame the Chen Family for being too weak! For such a weak family, to actually have the gall to witness a Saint Emperor like him being humiliated! If that wasn't seeking death... what was?
The only pity is... the War for Seizing the Heavens ah! The War for Seizing the Heavens that I've looked forward to for hundreds of years! This grand war of the humans, this heroic battle where one can leave their names behind in the annals of history! I, Zhan Mu Bai... will not be able to make it...
Perhaps this is the only, and the greatest, regret of my life...
Eighty li from the southern gate, there was a small hill. Even further beyond that was a large mountain.
At the foot of the mountain stood a lush bamboo grove. Right in front of the bamboo grove, there was a specially cleared out empty space.
A huge stone plaque stood in the middle of the empty field, with the words: "Burial place of the 35 experts of the three Holy Lands! May their illustrious names stand forever in memory of their great deeds!"
Everyone practically stopped their feet at the same time, their eyes blazing with fierce rage!
The number of people who'd come out this time numbered exactly 35. Not a single person more or less!
From the looks of it, the opponent knew everything about them and all their movements, to even know that Zhan Mu Bai had come!
The bamboo grove was silent and lonely, without a single person in sight.
Why wasn't the enemy here!?
He Zhi Qiu scoffed coldly. "This stone plaque is simply too laughable!" Laughing aloud, he jumped out. He didn't touch the words on the front, but on the other side of the stone plaque, he carved the words: Grave of the Evil Monarch!
After thinking about the matter for a moment, he continued writing: "Evil Monarch, shameless beyond compare; does not know his own limits, stupidly audacious, challenging the magnificent Holy Lands; knows only tricks, but has no real strength; ultimately defeated and killed, becoming the laughing stock of the world and mocked for ten thousand years."
After he finished writing, He Zhi Qiu roared and revolved his Xuan Qi. With a great push, the huge stone plaque actually turned around, and the words he'd written became the front side of the plaque!
"HAHA... not bad, laughing stock of the world, mocked for ten thousand years, the legendary Evil Monarch! Brother He, those words you wrote are too satisfying! Only, why didn't you wipe away those original words, instead of wasting your strength to turn the plague around?" Hai Wu Ya laughed aloud. He and other experts of the three Holy Lands also felt their spirits being greatly lifted, and they all clapped and cheered.
He Zhi Qiu chuckled softly. "The battle today is going to be a fierce one of life and death. After the battle ends, there's only one side that will be leaving alive. Me doing that is to declare that the side who wins gets to wipe their name off that plaque! If we wipe our names off the plaque now, it would instead make us look as if we have no confidence... thus, I kept it like that so for now. After we win the battle, it won't be too late to erase our names from it."
"Not bad, not bad! Brother He's words makes sense!" Hai Wu Ya laughed aloud. "We don't have a reason to lose this battle! Let's make this Evil Monarch fellow enjoy the bitter fruits of his own sowing!"
The experts of the three Holy Lands cheered as their morale shot upwards!
The last shred of darkness in the sky finally vanished completely!
In the East, the sky was completely filled with white. The first rays of the sun had completely landed!
Right now was the stipulated time.
This was the timing that the Evil Monarch had set himself. But the experts of the three Holy Lands were also anticipating this moment. After this instant, all their doubts would be resolved!
The mysterious enemy that had all along been hidden would finally reveal themself!
Whether the mysterious enemy's strength was really high enough to shock the world, or whether it was another person, everything would be revealed!
Thus, everyone waited silently. Any of these people were all experts who'd experienced hundreds of bitter battles. All of them were old dough sticks that couldn't be any older! There wasn't any impatience at all, and their faces were calm and casual! As for life and death, these people had already seen through such matters long ago!
Even Zhan Mu Bai who was enduring immense pain turned focused and serene in the instant the sun appeared! Although that look of serenity looked so comical on his half red, half blue face! However, it still displayed his unyielding determination!
35 pairs of hawk-like eyes stared intently at the bamboo grove before them.
As for the other three directions, nobody even bothered to look in that direction.
Because there wasn't a need to!
The sun's rays illuminated the great earth, and the east was finally bright!
Neat footsteps rang out orderly and quick.
On the left and right side, two groups of people came into view at the same time. Their movements were light and fast, like two strands of smoke, passing over the lands and arriving before the bamboo grove in an instant.
Each troop had 36 people, making up 72 in total!
All of them walked over in an orderly manner, their eyes staring straight in front. It was obvious that these troops had extremely strict discipline standards!
Hai Wu Ya and He Zhi Qiu's faces sunk bit by bit as they looked at the 72 soldiers. Even without looking at each other, they could tell the shock in each others' hearts!
It turned out that their opponent was not a single person. But the power of that person's forces was also quite spectacular...
Because every single one of these soldiers was an expert! A top tier expert!
Among these 72 people, even the weakest was at the third level of the Venerable realm! There were 19 fourth level Venerables, 31 first level Saints, and a full 20 second level Saints!
As for the two commanders of each troop, they were actually formidable existences at the third level of the Saint realm!
Just these 72 people alone formed an exceedingly scary force!
To think that in the current mundane world, such a force actually existed! How did they escape the eyes and ears of the three Holy Lands? In fact, they'd even been hidden from the entire world all along!
Such a force was definitely not something that could be made in just a year or two! It would require the accumulation of large amounts of time; at the very least, one would need 200 to 300 years to form such a force!
Just how did they do it?
In that time, all the experts of the three Holy Lands looked at each other, too shocked to say anything. If the opponent was only one person, no matter how great that person's strength, even if it was really superior to even the Nine Nether Fourteenth Young Master, or if it was that peerless expert who had that break through in the Chrysanthemum City, although they would be scared, they would not have been so shocked!
When did this world suddenly have so many top tier experts? Just which power did these people belong to? Why did it seem like they'd just dropped out of the sky to a point where even the three Holy Lands were completely oblivious?!
How could this be possible? Just what was going on!
As they watched, the 72 experts came closer and closer. At a command, they formed into two neat triangular formations. Then, they stopped and stood there silently. A wide passage was left open between them, as if they were waiting for someone... the position that they'd left open also happened to be the most important spot!
Could it be that the boss still isn't here yet?
Hai Wu Ya and He Zhi Qiu looked at each other, feeling their palms growing more and more clammy with sweat! Their hearts were exceedingly heavy and nervous at this point. Even with their hundreds of years of experience, they still couldn't overcome the anxiety in their hearts!
Far away, the sound of more footsteps rang out. At practically the same instant, eight more troops appeared!
Each troop had roughly 30 people, and they were all hurrying towards the same direction!
Although the eight troops were moving at high speeds, they actually maintained a strangely orderly form, with not a single soldier out of place! They were like eight sharp arrows, shooting towards them!
In a short time, they'd arrived.
The commander at the front raised his voice and called out: "Formation!"
Over 300 people instantly changed their formations in an orderly manner. The original two triangular formations integrated perfectly together, joining with the rest into two large triangular formations! This was actually a winged formation!
Two people stood at the front of each wing, one dressed in robes as black as ink and the other in robes as white as snow.
Eagle God of the Savanna, Solitary Eagle; the Hurricane Swordsman, Feng Juan Yun!
Right now, the both of them had actually reached the peak of the fourth level Saint realm! The distance between them and a Saint Emperor was just a single step!
As for the eight troops that they'd brought with them this time, the cultivation of the soldiers were all comparable to the first two troops that had arrived.
Including the commanders, there were a grand total of 308 people!
Hai Wu Ya and He Zhi Qiu were nearly on the brink of a mental breakdown as they examined each soldier. All of them were Venerable realm and above experts! Among them, there were two peak fourth level Saints, six third level Saints, 90 second level Saints, 170 first level Saints, 33 fourth level Venerables, and seven third level Venerables!
This was a completely inconceivable matter!
Could it be that we're all stuck in the same nightmare together?
Even the three Holy Lands did not have this many experts of such high average strength! The shockingly powerful force before them was already sufficient to sweep through the entire Xuan Xuan Continent unrivalled! In fact... If the Heaven Saint Palace didn't interfere, this power would be great enough to sweep through even the three Holy Lands! A threat of this level had even exceeded the dangers that the strange races posed!
After all, all the Saint Emperor experts belonged to the Heaven Saint Palace!
When did such a force appear in this world?
All the experts of the Holy Lands felt their scalps growing more and more numb...
And these people were actually still waiting for their leader to arrive! In other words, all these people were under the control of a single person! This was the military force of a single person!
Such a realization had caused all the Saint Emperors and Saints of the three Holy Lands to feel incredibly frightened! To think that such a powerful force had been hidden for so long... the three Holy Lands... are in danger!
Just who was it that they were waiting for?!
Regardless of who it was, it would definitely be an unparalleled hero!
A soft laughter suddenly rang out, and two people appeared within the green bamboo grove. One man and one woman. They looked like an immortal couple, clad in robes as white as snow. The man was handsome and elegant, like a clear jade tree in the wind. The woman was peerlessly beautiful, like a fairy descended from the heavens!
These two people walked out smoothly from the serene bamboo grove, approaching the crowd step by step.
Casual and graceful, they stepped onto the path that had been deliberately opened by the menacing troop. The two looked like a pair of a golden boy and jade girl, stepping on clouds.
When the over 300 experts saw the two, they immediately revealed looks of respect and reverence, as if they had seen the gods in their hearts!
All of a sudden, Zhan Mu Bai who was sitting on his stretcher suddenly screeched aloud, as if he'd seen a ghost. "JUN MO XIE! THAT'S JUN MO XIE!..."