Chapter 306 - Demise
The Barrens were in a state of turmoil, with disturbances fermenting beneath the surface; all the major forces had already received the news — East Barren, Xian Kong Saint City, Shi Buyi walked out from his closed-door training. The dragon race of the Eastern Sea; the Xia and Zhurong Clan of the South Barren; the clan masters of the Marital Divine Masters; the celestial races' high priests of the West Barren ... everyone had their eyes fixated on the Great Wilderness.
Moreover, the North Barren's Bai Ze Clan, a race who never intervened in matters unrelated to them, were also paying close attention to the occurrences within the Great Wilderness.
There were three magnates in Swords Gate, among which, Shui Zian was now dead, and the old Sword God was dying. This left only Feng Shouzhu to pick up all of the burdens of Swords Gate. The other major forces were initially waiting to devour the powerless Great Wilderness after the headmaster's death. But all of a sudden, there were three newly ascended young magnates, forcing them to reconsider their course of actions.
The three newly ascended magnates were incredibly young, all of whom had bright futures before them; any one of them would reach the peak to eventually stand on par with the old headmaster!
The old headmaster was venerated as the Sword God, with a sword in hand, he swept across the lands, and no one dared to invade the Great Wilderness for hundreds of years. If a new Sword God were to emerge, it would ensure the next few hundred years of survival for humanity.
Not to mention the fact that there were three young men that had the potential to be the next Sword God, or even Sword Gods!
This alone introduced a whole new risk to the equation; it was enough to force them to throw all their designs on the Swords Gate to the wind.
“However, this is exactly a golden opportunity.”
The high priest of the Xiao Mang Celestial Temple stepped forward. He walked toward one of the palaces in the celestial temple and said leisurely, "The Barrens are worried that the three of them will be the next Sword Gods, and that the Barrens will have to face with the consequences from them. This is why they are afraid to touch the Swords Gate. But little do they know that among the three, one of them is a spy from our Xiang Mang Celestial Race. And the other two are destined to die."
"The fruits of our years of planning will soon ripen ... its time for us to claim the Great Wilderness for ourselves…."
“Feng Shang, my old enemy, you must be in the Devil Soul Forbidden Land now?”
He walked to the front of the palace and went straight in. There were virescent lights that lit up the palace while the hall was empty with a three-headed beauty kneeling before a huge statue. The statue was a three-headed Pan Ao, its heads reached down, and its eyes stared at that three-headed beauty judgingly, as if interrogating her, and torturing her soul.
If Zhong Yue were here, he would have exclaimed in shock — this three-headed beauty was the same as the one he had seen in Swords Gate, the only difference was that she now looked a few years older!
In Swords Gate, the old man sculpted the statue of a goddess-like beauty with his Sword Qi, there, Zhong Yue learned the way to understand the totem patterns through sculpting. This lesson went on to have profound repercussions on his cultivation; it wasn't hyperbole that it was what shaped him to become the person he was now. This was why the image of that woman had left a deep impression on his heart.
The sculpture of that goddess-like lady had a pair of wings with three different beautiful faces. Each of them had their own unique allure – one cute, one solemn, and the final one sweet.
Right now, the three-headed beauty in the palace also had a pair of wings, which suggested that she wasn't a pureblood Xiao Mang Celestial Race. She also had the same three beautiful countenances; however, she seemed to be utterly devoid of any life energy.
She was dead, her lifeless body was eternally stopped by time at the moment she died, her countenances remained the same, and her image was still the same as if she were still living.
“My little sweetheart, my dear daughter….”
The high priest's eyes were filled with the tender affection of a father toward his child. He looked at his daughter who was still tortured by the Xiao Mang ancestor even after her death. He then smiled bitterly and said, "My daughter, you will not die for nothing … if only you hadn't met with Feng Xiaozhong at all, then you wouldn't have brought shame to our Xiao Mang Celestial Race. I wouldn't have been forced to sentence you to death either … But don't you worry, I will crush the Swords Gate and make them atone for your death!"
"The son you had with that man will become the sharpest sword I wield against Swords Gate. He will be the key to Feng Xiaozhong's betrayal to humanity!"
“Hehe, although everything you've done in your life has disappointed me, I'm still grateful that you gave birth to a very good grandson for me…."
….
The sun had set, and darkness fell on the Great Wilderness. It was going to be a long night ....
***
The second day, Swords Gate golden summit.
The ascendance of the three young men to the True Spirit stage to become Swords Gate's new magnate experts had awakened the old headmaster from his deep slumber. He ordered the elder council to recall all of the disciples back to Swords Gate, stating that he had news to announce.
The elder council did as he bid, and they relayed the orders to all of the disciples, including the elders that were hunting for Zuo Xiangsheng and Tian Yanzhong, recalling them to Swords Gate.
It wasn't hard for the whole of Swords Gate to infer the upcoming news; when the disciples return, the old headmaster will reveal the inheritor of his mantle. The only question is, who will it be among the three young magnates – Feng Wuji, Fang Jiange, or Jun Sixie?
The three of them carried the hopes of Swords gate, regardless of who would be the next headmaster, the Swords Gate was definitely bound to flourish.
After selecting the next headmaster, the old headmaster will then fulfill the last and final duty as a Swords Gate headmaster — to the enter the Devil Soul Forbidden Land and fight to secure another 500 years of peace for the Swords Gate.
This was the headmaster's
destiny, every headmaster of Swords Gate would bring what was left of their dying lives. They would strive for the peace of Swords Gate by neutralizing the threats of the Devil Soul Forbidden Land until the last second of their lives.
Half a month later, most of the disciples had returned to Swords Gate, and the elders that were in pursuit of Zuo Xiangsheng and Tian Yanzhong had also returned. Even Zuo Xiangsheng and Tian Yanzhong were also back in the Great Wilderness, but they didn't return to Swords Gate and instead, hid in a decent place.
The sky was bright, and the sun was blazing. The winds were gentle; a series of bell rang from the golden summit, and all of the Qi Practitioners gathered there. The old headmaster looked spirited, seemingly sparkling with life as he led the elders, hall masters, and other Qi Practitioners to worship the godly spirit of Swords Gate – the first headmaster. They then proceeded to pay obeisance to the rest of the headmasters; it was truly a grand scene.
Then they beseeched for the Sword Spirit of Swords Gate to show its appearance.
The first headmaster's godly spirit and the Swords Gate's Sword Spirit both emerged before the whole of Swords Gate. They were suffused in their godly auras, spreading all over the Great Wilderness, every living being could clearly perceive their existence.
In the tribes within the Great Wilderness, the totem patterns and totem spirits linked themselves with the godly spirit and Sword Spirit. Specters emerged above the tribes; there was a fish-dragon that swam in the river, a towering ancient tree, a Hebo that stood above the waters, the monster god that sat in the lotus flower, the mountain god with four arms, and the rain god that sat in the clouds.
Countless totem spirits emerged and embellished the Great Wilderness. It was truly a scene that could only be seen once in a lifetime.
This was the true strength of the Great Wilderness!
Today was a grand day. Thus, the totem spirits had emerged to bear witness to this moment.
Zhong Yue stood in the clouds and looked at Swords Gate from afar, and his thoughts ran wild. He didn't head over to Swords Gate and instead, decided to witness this moment from afar.
***
Swords Gate Golden Summit – the legendary creatures that lived in Swords Gate all walked out, such as the Shen Dragon and the Four Ken Beast — it was truly a spectacular scene to behold.
After the old headmaster prayed to the heavens, a divine sword slowly rose from the bottom of the mountain, Sword Qi suffused the sky above, and the divine sword rays dazzled the eyes of the Qi Practitioners, piercing through the clouds and spreading the Sword Qi through the lands.
His voice was old and hoarse, and yet, seemed to resonate with vitality as it reverberated through the mountains.
"I am Feng Shang, an old man who is no longer fit to carry out his duty as headmaster. Today, I plead the godly spirit, the Sword spirit, and all the other spirits to stand witness. I will now pass down my duty as the headmaster to disciple Feng Wuji; he will now be bestowed with the cloak of the headmaster, the divine sword, and the headmaster's jade seal…."
Feng Wuji was stunned, and so were the other two young magnates. After being startled for a few seconds, Feng Wuji quickly stepped forward and knelt down. The old headmaster removed the headmaster's cloak and placed it on Feng Wuji's shoulders, and he passed the divine sword over with the headmaster's jade seal hanging to the sword's hilt.
Shocked by the results, Feng Shouzhu couldn't help but voice out, "Big brother, why did you choose Feng Wuji? Why not let the three of them have a duel and choose the strongest out of…."
But the old headmaster smiled and interrupted him, "Shouzhu, you may voice your suggestions after my death. But right now, Feng Wuji, you will follow me, and I'll teach you the【Great Boundless Sword Qi】."
Feng Shouzhu's face changed drastically, and he said, "Big Brother, please reconsider your choice! Only the strongest can be the Swords Gate headmaster, or otherwise, how will he be able to lead the others? Wuji and you and I are from the same clan, choosing him straight up will make others think of this as an act of nepotism! You yourself have gone through the same thing. You defeated me, Shui Zian and Yu Da, to become headmaster, and yet, you now rob the others of that opportunity. I'm afraid they will be dissatisfied with such a decision. Fang Jiange and Jun Sixie will not accept this willingly; this will endanger the unity of Swords Gate!"
However, the old headmaster only locked his brows and said sternly, “Leave!”
“Big Brother, you are violating the rules of Swords Gate!” Feng Shouzhu refuted in his stentorian voice.
Old headmaster's face turned sickly pale, and he began coughing blood. He chided Feng Shouzhu, "Leave! Do me a favor, and seal yourself away in the Heart Questioning Palace and never leave until I say so! If you dare to speak a word of this again, you can spend the rest of your life in there to die of old age. I will not let you out even after my death in the Devil Soul Forbidden Land. Just go ahead and try patience!"
Feng Shouzhu was furious. He swung his sleeves and left angrily. All the other Qi Practitioners and elders were dumbfounded at the development, and Grand Elder Yu quickly said, "Headmaster, Shouzhu's words weren't unreasonable…."
"There is no need to say anymore. I'm not that muddle-headed yet!"
The old headmaster refuted, "If you also question the validity of the new headmaster, you are more than welcome to join Shouzhu in the Heart Questioning Palace! If you have no other questions, you may proceed to the next step, go and ready yourselves, once I've finished imparting Wuji with the【Great Boundless Sword Qi】, all of you will have to send me off before I enter the Devil Soul Forbidden Land!"
Grand Elder Yu quickly kept his mouth shut and dared not to say anything more.
The night fell, and on the foothill of the Zhong Mountain, Zhong Yue sat quietly before the bonfire while all the other tribesmen of the Zhong Shan tribe danced merrily in their native dance. He was the only odd one who kept silent all this while, whereas Qiu Jin'er was sitting beside him, looking at him with deep concern.
“My dear sister-in-law, come and join us!” One of the young wives said smilingly.
Qiu Jin’er shook her head and declined the offer apologetically, “Thank you, but I want to keep my senior martial brother accompanied….”
However, all the other ladies ignored her wishes and pulled her over to join them. Qiu Jin'er was afraid that she would hurt them if she exerted too much strength and could only comply as she danced the native dance that was raw and natural. It felt barbaric and yet close to nature.
She was still restraining herself in the start, but soon, she slowly released inhibition and lost herself in the flow of the dance. Her movements exuded a paradoxically elegant and untamed air — she felt like a graceful dancing fairy and an uncultured demon god that pranced about barbarically. Unbeknownst to them, the dancers around her slowly lessened, and eventually, Qiu Jin'er was the only one dancing on the bonfire, waltzing to the beat of the blazing fire. She was so beautiful that at this moment that everyone felt ashamed to stand before her grace, as she was soon left to dance alone at the center.
The whole tribe was dead silent; the only sound came from nature and the crackle of the bonfire. All the tribesmen were enthralled by the dancing lady by the fire.
The fire lit up Zhong Yue's face, and suddenly, he laughed aloud. Light wheels emerged behind him, and five different musical instruments soon appeared from the five light wheels.
The young man sat beside the bonfire, he played the musical instruments and sang his stentorian voice loudly in concert with the young girl.
“In this land of mortals, the evils overtook our powers, while they enjoyed the palaces we’ve built,”
"Carved their evil figures, were the walls and pillars, while they trampled the Fuxi and Sui Sovereign beneath their feet,"
"The evils danced in our lands, they devoured the gods' flesh, while the corpses of our ancestors paved the ground,"
"Today, right here and right now, the young one will rise, and he will drink wine and fill the heart with his homeland,"
"He will make things right with his words and swords. A great event will take place as the evils will be slain under his swords!"
"My race is still here, my soul is still living, my blood has yet to turn cold, and I will prove to this heaven and earth, that we are the rightful owner of this land!"
The Zhong Shan Clan's tribesmen were roused, and their blood boiled in excitement. As the song concluded, Zhong Yue stood up and looked over at Qiu Jin'er with a gentle smile on his face, "Junior martial sister, I'm going back to Swords Gate. You…."
Qiu Jin'er leaped down from the fire and returned the most beautiful smile he had ever seen, "I'll always be by your side."