Dai Gang was sitting motionlessly in a lotus flower. One could not tell he was in danger, as there was a calm and peaceful look on his face
The [Yin Furnace] was devouring the sunlight continuously. The area that was affected by it looked as though it was isolated from the rest of the world. Dai Gang's elemental energy regeneration was completely cut off and the black flames were still corroding his vitality. If this carried on, he would die soon.
Pop.
Inside the lotus seed head beneath him, a lotus seed transformed into a wisp of smoke and disappeared, leaving behind a hole.
Every lotus seed contained pure and vigorous vitality. He spent a large amount of time and effort to cultivate them. Every one of them was extremely precious. In a situation whereby he was isolated from the world, he had no choice but to use these Revival Lotus Seeds.
Unbelievable! He couldn't believe he had to resort to this drastic measure.
Le Buleng, who had been challenging him for nearly a lifetime, finally cultivated a skill that could restrain his [Revival Lotus Seeds]. Was this destined?
Dai Gang's lips curled into a smile, feeling somewhat amused.
If the eighteen lotus seeds were expended, he would die. However, one couldn't tell that he was anxious about it.
That was because he knew that the sun would not shine upon the earth forever. Nothing in this world could last forever.
When the sun set and the moon rose into the sky, the power of [Yin Furnace] would decrease drastically. That was when he would retaliate.
He would definitely take good care of Le Buleng.
The smiling Dai Gang was filled with confidence.
Suddenly, a long and continuous sword chime rang across his ears. The sword chime wasn't loud or clear and it sounded almost like a sigh. It had passed through countless pieces of clouds, mountains, valleys, and rivers before arriving here. At the same time, violent and boundless energy waves were rising through the sky in an extremely distant place.
The energy waves were filled with provocation.
The smile on Dai Gang's face froze. Since the start of this battle, he had been calm and collected. However, now he was stunned. For a moment, he furrowed his eyebrows and an incredulous look appeared upon his face.
A Grandmaster? Who could it be?
The first person he thought of was the Holy Emperor. However, he turned down this notion very soon. He was no stranger to the Holy Emperor's aura. In the past, the Holy Emperor's aura was frenzied and domineering in nature. Nowadays, his aura was purely magnificent in nature, alike to that of a king.
Was it possible that there was a new Grandmaster?
This was what made him feel incredulous. For so many years, the only people who had attained the level of Grandmaster were himself and the Holy Emperor. Facing Le Buleng, who had just become a Grandmaster, he was already battered and exhausted. Now one more Grandmaster was born in a distant place?
It was really...
Dai Gang did not know how to describe what he was feeling. He felt an indescribable excitement, just like how he felt when he saw Le Buleng becoming a Grandmaster.
It felt as though… there was one more person that was of the same kind as him in this world.
Upon taking a closer look at this powerful yet unfamiliar aura, he realized that this person was at a… war-torn area...
And from the sword chime just now, Dai Gang reckoned that this person must be a swordsman. He could only think of one name.
The Lightning Blade, Ai Hui!
If it was really Ai Hui, that would be amazing.
Dai Gang somewhat couldn't believe it as Ai Hui was far too young.
Unlike Dai Gang, Le Buleng knew it was Ai Hui instantly. After all, he had met Ai Hui before. Other than Ai Hui, he couldn't think of anyone that possessed such powerful sword consciousness.
At the same time, he was feeling the same amount of shock as Dai Gang.
The speed at which this lad progressed… was terrifying!
For a moment, Le Buleng had mixed feelings. All along, he had a lot of admiration for Ai Hui, but he certainly did not expect him to reach this universally shocking level in such a short period of time.
However, very soon, Le Buleng furrowed his eyebrows. Something wasn't right!
Le Buleng had a deep impression of Ai Hui's sword consciousness. Like what his nickname, "Lightning Blade", suggested, his sword consciousness was pure, boundless, and majestic. His sword consciousness was formed by the purest sword aura and the majestic and domineering lightning.
Even though the power of lightning was domineering in nature, its dominance exuded a callousness that followed the law of nature, not a frenzied bloodlust.
Even though the sword chime was long and continuous, the energy waves that rose into the sky contained an aura of bloodlust, resembling a wild beast that had been hungry for a very long time.
There was such a strong bloody smell!
There was definitely something wrong with Ai Hui!
Was it possible that he was infected with blood poison?
Countless doubts ran through Le Buleng's mind. However, he soon threw them to the back of his mind.
So what if Ai Hui was infected with the blood poison? Le Buleng had tried many different cultivation paths and he never viewed any of them as orthodox or unorthodox. From the ancient times until now, the world had never been fair. One had to pay a price for anything he or she wanted. If it was him, he wouldn't care about the blood poison infecting him as long as it could elevate him to the level of Grandmaster.
Perhaps this was the price.
Le Buleng returned to his senses. He no longer had any distracting thought in his mind. There was only one person in this world that he cared about. This person had been his arch-enemy for his entire life, Dai Gang.
Battle fervor surged through Le Buleng's heart when he saw the tightly shut [Revival Lotus] below him. Right now, he did not care whether or not Ai Hui was infected with the blood poison. The sword chime was filled with provocation and he loved it! It felt as though another person had entered this cold and desolate world. This realm was no longer exclusive to only two or three people.
This suited Le Buleng's temperament perfectly!
The long and continuous sword chime sounded like a bugle horn to Le Buleng, making his blood race with battle fervor.
He clearly knew Dai Gang's intention. So what?
His abyss-like, black pupils contained nothing but insanity. His [Yin Furnace] was operating at full power. Crack, crack, crack. Black-colored cracks appeared everywhere on Le Buleng's body, making him like a porcelain statue that was covered in cracks. Every crack seemed to be connected to an abyss, exuding intense and pure darkness.
A black-colored liquid began to seep from the cracks. The liquid resembled black-colored blood and molten lava at the same time.
Whoosh.
Wisps of black mist began to rise from the black-colored liquid. The mist gathered and did not dissipate.
Following which, the black mist shrouded Le Buleng, making him look like the demonic god of the darkness.
Opening up his palms, the surrounding black mist gathered at the center of his palms and formed a black-colored axe. The axe was entirely pitch-black in color, simple and unadorned.
Le Buleng raised the axe over his head, leapt into the air, and flung the axe down on the [Revival Lotus]!
High in the sky, where metal winds were blowing incessantly, the Holy Emperor was looking in the direction of Jadeite Forest. He was sitting cross-legged in the air with both his eyes closed. He was watching the battle between the two Grandmasters from their elemental energy undulations.
He was no stranger to Dai Gang's exuberant vitality. On the contrary, he was extremely interested in Le Buleng's cold and gloomy elemental energy undulations.
Grandmasters had always been in scarcity. He felt fortunate that there were individuals that were as powerful as him in this era. And a battle between two Grandmasters like this was extremely rare. Even though he could only watch it from a distance, he still felt glad as it was still an extremely rare opportunity.
Suddenly, a long and continuous sword chime rang across his ears.
The constantly blowing, violent metal winds could not stop it from reaching his ears at all.
The Holy Emperor opened his eyes. His eyes were flickering with a sparkling glow and his indifferent face looked slightly stirred, which was an extremely rare sight,
He stood up and faced the direction of the sword chime.
That was the front line!
Sword chime? The Holy Emperor's facial expression returned to his usual indifferent self. Similarly, he thought of Ai Hui. He had been observing this lad. Even though his strength level was ordinary, he could be considered the most powerful swordsman of this era. It was also this lad that led a bunch of rookies to stop the advancement of his armies.
What an interesting lad!
The Holy Emperor admitted that he overlooked Ai Hui. However, he did not really mind this "mistake" at all. If he wasn't wrong, Ai Hui had just become a Master recently. Therefore, why should a Grandmaster-cum-ruler-of-nation care so much about a lad who had just become a Master recently?
Such pure sword consciousness!
The Holy Emperor had nothing but admiration for Ai Hui. He did not expect to see such pure sword consciousness in an era where swordsmanship was irrelevant. He felt very fortunate to be able to witness it.
Ai Hui truly possessed the style of those ancient swordsmen!
However...
God's Blood? This lad must be quite gifted to be able to absorb the God's Blood without exploding to death.
If there was anyone that understood the God's Blood the best, it would be the Holy Emperor.
It would be very interesting to see what would happen next for someone that obtained absolute power in such a way.
An indescribable smile appeared on the Holy Emperor's face.
When the sword chime rang across Skyheart City, commotion broke out.
"How could it be?"
Madam Ye's face turned pale-white with horror and despair.
The battle between Dai Gang and Le Buleng at Jadeite Forest had terrified her. The horrifying powers of two Grandmasters at their peaks truly overwhelmed her. However, she was still feeling optimistic; she was even secretly overjoyed.
However, the sudden sword chime was able to make her feel despair and fear.
Ai Hui!
After the Sky Leaf Division was born, almost the entire Beyond Avalon was in her hands. Even a powerful aristocratic family like the Gong Residence had bowed down and surrendered to her. The only person that could strike fear into her heart was Ai Hui!
Ai Hui was a thorn in her flesh.
Every day, she was racking her brain on how to deal with Ai Hui while not affecting the situation at the front line.
Ai Hui becoming a Grandmaster was the worst outcome for Skyheart City. After all, the Sky Leaf Division was nothing in the face of a Grandmaster.
Every trump card and advantage she had had disappeared all of a sudden.
Therefore, how could she not be despaired?
Her mind was blank. She stood there blankly like a corpse that was completely devoid of life. All of her schemes were weak and fragile in the face of absolute power.
Every high-ranking official of Skyheart City was thrown into despair. The flourishing and advantageous situation that they were still in yesterday popped like a bubble of fantasy today.
How could it be?
How was it possible that Ai Hui could become a Grandmaster?
He was a swordsman!
And he was so young!
Why...
While everyone was feeling despair, no one noticed that a five elemental lotus in the Lake of Masters was emitting faint, black smoke and losing vitality.
Inside that lotus, Xiaobao could sense his mother's despair and fear.
He wanted to console her, but he couldn't make any sound. He turned anxious and frustrated as he did not know what to do.
Fear and despair engulfed him. He was afraid that he might lose his mother.
No!
The depths of his soul was screaming, like a drowning man that was wailing for the last time while looking at the sky from under the water. Boundless fear flooded him like a tidal wave and he began to lose his consciousness.
The five elemental lotuses on the Laker of Masters were withering. The elementalists inside them had been reduced to nothing but pale-white bones.
The hundreds of lotuses withered and disappeared. Only one lotus was left in the center of the lake. It was flawless and sparkling clean like a piece of high-quality jade.
"Ahhh!"
A man's trembling howl rang across the depths of everyone's minds.
A dazzling, white-colored light pillar shot up the sky and ripped through the layer of the clouds, shocking everyone in the world.