Chapter 195 - Tokens
Zhong Yue boarded the lone island in the Divine Battlefield, he placed the elder on the ground softly while he turned and started digging, uttering not a single word at all. When the hole was dug out, he gently placed the old man into the simple and crude grave, facing the direction of Swords Gate.
“Elder Shui, below you is the earth, and around you are the waters. Burial brings peace to the deceased and so I buried you in the ground. Your name is Shui Zian and so I made your final resting place a place surrounded by the water. Elder, please rest in peace.”
Zhong Yue stood up and gazed at the token with the Tai Chi patterns on it. He hesitated for a moment before placing it back in Shui Zian’s hands before covering up the grave.
He cast his gaze onto the other side; Xiao Yin, Xiao Qing, and Xiao Yuan were standing there staring coldly at him, watching as he buried Shui Zian.
The three magnates were wounded, obviously, it wasn’t an enjoyable trip following him all the way here. After all, this was the Divine Battlefield, it would be impossible to safely travel in and out of this place as one pleased.
Although Shui Zian was now dead, opening up the chance for the three magnates to finally kill Zhong Yue, upon seeing that Zhong Yue had suffered no injuries walking in the Divine Battlefield, they realized that he might know of another safe passage that they were previously unaware of. Hence, it would take longer than expected in order to chase up to him.
Zhong Yue mumbled lowly, “Xin Huo, I remembered that the last time, you’ve suggested to make them eat shit?”
Xin Huo startled, unsure of why he brought up the topic.
Zhong Yue then said coldly, “I hereby, accept your suggestion. One day in the future, when I’ve ascended high and powerful, I’ll strip off all of the godly celestial blood in all of the Xiao Mang celestials, and I will turn them into livestocks. They will starve for the entirety of their lifetimes, and if they have to eat, then the excrement of others will be their only sustenance. Let the heaven punish me if I’ve failed to honor the vow that I’ve made today and let the earth obliterate my existence if I were to ever go back on my words!”
He turned and left the lone island, walking deep into the Divine Battlefield. The figure of a lonely young man disappeared in the midst of the hazy mists.
“Even after death, he would still look after at his homeland, he is truly an honorable opponent.”
Xiao Qing’s eyes flashed in rays and she whispered, “However, is Shui Zian really dead? Although we saw his corpse, his death had yet to be confirmed. I’m concerned about the veracity of his death, there may be some other form of trickery going on. After all, it’s not easy to kill a wise man, and it’s even harder especially when the wise man is also a strong and powerful cultivator at the same time.”
Three days and three nights, they had fought tirelessly against Shui Zian. There was never once a single moment of reprieve from the moment the battle commenced. Even though they witnessed Zhong Yue burying Shui Zian, they had sensed the disappearance of Shui Zian’s breath, and they knew very well that they had destroyed his life force. Nevertheless, they just could not believe that a man of Shui Zian’s caliber would just die like this.
“Let’s go to the island and check it out!”
Rays flashed in Xiao Yin’s eyes, he took the first step and approached the island while the two old ladies, Xiao Qing and Xiao Yuan, followed behind. All three Xiao Mang magnates broke off and warded away the spells that barred their paths, trying to board the lone island in which Shui Zian was buried.
All of a sudden, the swamp beneath them bubbled up as surges of a terrifying divine aura emerged. A head slowly rose from the water, half of it seemingly sliced away, but the remaining eye was still glimmering in its absolutely godly aura.
The three magnates were shocked, they quickly stopped and retreated a few steps back, exiting from the detection of that head while they stared at it vigilantly.
“A soul weapon made from the corpse of a god, this is not a good target to mess with.”
The three magnates frowned, Xiao Yin cast his gaze over at Xiao Yuan and whispered, “Use your Bright Moon Mirror and shine on the island, check whether or not he really is dead or if it’s merely a deception he putted up!”
Xiao Yuan nodded, she immediately cast the Bright Moon Mirror and shone onto the island, reflecting the scenes in the grave onto the mirror.
Quickly, they cast their gaze into the mirror — the old man was sitting the grave, the blood stains on his body turned black and his corpse started to turn pale-white. Shui Zian was indeed, dead.
“Since his death is confirmed, then there is no need to engage with this fallen god’s corpse anymore.”
Xiao Yin heaved a breath of relief, he said, “With our prowess and speed, we can definitely chase up to that little human brat Zhong Yue, but this place is filled with chaotic spells and broken souls, even if we killed him, we would also have to suffer heavy injuries.”
One of the old ladies, Xiao Qing replied laughingly, “Just a little brat of little consequence, just letting our descendants handle him will do. Have them to wait for him at the Lian Yun Mountain Ridge; there is no need for us to take the risk to go after him.”
Xiao Yin nodded, the three magnates join hands and left the Divine Battlefield through the safe passage.
“Celestial messenger of the Swords Gate, you may ease your heart now, we have confirmed that Shui Zian is dead.”
When they arrived at the safe passage, Xiao Yin who was donned in the gray robe said placidly, “We saw him die with our eyes, we witnessed him being buried, there is no mistake regarding his death.”
On the safe passage, the Swords Gate celestial messenger bowed and said smilingly, “I’m thankful to the three great priests. Also, how about Zhong Yue of the Zong Shan Clan?”
Xiao Yin shook his head in reply, “He has a map with another safe passage, you didn’t see that coming, did you? The map you’ve gotten was not the only safe passage, that little brat has left from another safe passage.”
“Another safe passage?”
The messenger was stunned, mumbling, “Impossible, I’ve only seen one map in Swords Gate, how will there be a second safe passage?”
Xiao Yin pondered earnestly and responded, “That is not a question that I have answers to it. But from the way he precariously traipsed through the safe passage, it seemed like it’s filled with dangers and lethal traps, more like a parlous safe passage than a completely safe one. I will order the celestial disciples to wait for him in the Lian Yun Mountain Ridge, as long as he walks out from the Divine Battlefield, he will die for sure. Shui Zian’s death is not a small matter, I suggest that you get back to Swords Gate now.”
The messenger nodded and assented to the suggestion. A thought suddenly crossed the messenger’s mind and he quickly asked, “Shui Zian is dead, but may I ask the three great priests regarding the whereabouts of the tokens he had?”
Xiao Yin was stunned by the question, he turned and looked at Xiao Yin and Xiao Yuan while the two old ladies shook their heads in reply, he then mumbled, “We didn’t see any tokens … Could it be that Shui Zian’s lifetime collection of tokens had fallen into the hands of that Zhong Shan Clan young man? It is very probable!”
The celestial messenger shuddered in shock, exclaiming out, “This is not good, if that brat brings the tokens back to Swords Gate, then it’s nearly useless even if we’ve killed Shui Zian! That young man mustn’t be allowed to return back to Swords Gate!”
The three magnates locked their brows, the strongest card that Shui Zian possessed was not his prowess as a magnate cultivator, but his wide circle of acquaintances. Each and every token was given by an expert cultivator, and with the tokens, he could call upon a one time favor from the owners of the tokens. It would be nice to be able to kill Shui Zian but if the tokens remained in the hands of Swords Gate, then there would be no much difference at all!
Xiao Yin said solemnly, “On the other end of the Lian Yun Mountain Ridge is the Great Wilderness, we can’t recklessly cross the line or the old Sword God will be alerted, and our lives will be at stake. You are the celestial messenger, you will go to the Lian Yun Mountain Ridge and you will take down that brat, snatch over the tokens!”
The figure of the celestial messenger flickered and blurred away.
Xiao Yuan the old lady sighed, “What an unexpectedly troubling issue we have here, who would’ve foreseen that the human brat knew of a second passage, giving him an escape route to run away with the tokens. Let’s go, we shall leave these small matters to the little ones.”
The three magnates then left.
In the depths of the Divine Battlefield, colorful rays illuminated the sky while mists billowed like pythons. From time to time, there would be broken souls of the fallen gods lingering in the swamp and there would be shattered soul weapons clashing with the godly weapons; or the collisions between skills and spells, lunging immense impact forces in the space.
There was an upended vast ocean in the sky, and floating mountains like stamps in mid-air. Oftentimes, there would be huge tidal waves of water gushing over, and volcanoes erupting incessantly underground. Then they would all suddenly disappear in a split second. All the while, there were also beasts and living beings striking marvelous and yet dreadful appearances, galloping all over the places.
Zhong Yue arduously traipsed through this forsaken land, his mind was vacant and his thoughts were unfocused. If it weren’t for Xin Huo who has been running the calculations in search of a safe passage, and prompting Zhong Yue on the steps to take, Zhong Yue would long be dead by now.
Huge sadness and sorrow consumed his heart as he was in grief over Shui Zian’s death.
“Strange….”
Xin Huo suddenly said, “Now come to think of it, I realized something very, very strange. Brat Yue, have you seen the tokens of that little geezer Shui Zian?”
Zhong Yue was still stupefied as he shook his head and answered apathetically, “No.”
“This where it gets really strange.“
Xin Huo was baffled, and continued, “He is strong, the secret realms in his Yuan Shen can be forged into spatial soul weapons like the spatial wristlets, but that would require him to extract the secret realms and forge them himself; or otherwise, when he dies, his Yuan Shen secret realms would crumble and spew out everything in the realms. In other words, the tokens will be splattered all over the places the moment he dies as the secret realm crumbles….”
Zhong Yue was stunned, a glimpse of hope emerged in his eyes, “You are saying that….”
“That little geezer might be feigning his death?”
Xin Huo said, “Or he might really be dead, but his prowess is too strong that the Yuan Shen realms did not crumble and the tokens are still hidden in the realms. But that old brat Shui Zian’s surely doesn’t have that kind of strength….”
Zhong Yue inhaled a deep breath, the air of the heroic and valorous young man he once had has returned. He said staunchly, “Xin Huo, turn back, find that lone island, I want to take a look and inspect Elder Shui again!”
Xin Huo was shocked, he quickly replied, “It’d be even harder to return back to the island, it’s very difficult to find it again.”
“No matter how long I have to spend, nothing can stop me from returning to the island!” Zhong Yue said solemnly.
Xin Huo was helpless without any other options, and could only concede to his decision.
....
Tens of days passed, Zhong Yue had finally found the lone island, and he arduously boarded the island. On the island, Shui Zian’s grave remained untouched ever since he left. Zhong Yue bowed to Shui Zian and the next moment, he launched his power and opened the grave, unveiling the scenery below which, tossed him into a state of disbelief.
Shui Zian who was buried in the grave was gone!
The grave was empty!
“This….”
Xin Huo scratched his head, he was baffled and mumbling, “I’ve definitely sensed the disappearance of his breath, he is dead for sure, how is the grave now empty? With his prowess, he can’t possibly deceive me, could the body have been eaten away by wolves? But there aren’t any living beings here … or could it be that he had been reduced to ash by the spells of the gods, but that’s impossible too, the island was unscatched … Ah! I know already!”
The little flame turned stern and solemn as he said to Zhong Yue, “This Elder Shui of yours, he has turned into a zombie!”
However, Zhong Yue heaved a breath of relief and replied, “There is no need to investigate further whether or not he had turned into a zombie or if he was just feigning his death. Probably, when we’ve returned to Swords Gate, we will meet with a living Elder Shui who would be jumping and hopping around.”
While Xin Huo mumbled on the side, “He is dead for sure, even his Yuan Shen was crumbling, let alone his heartbeat, and yet, how can he not die? It must be it, he must have turned into a zombie! Brat Yue, when you see him in Swords Gate, you must chop his head off, or else, he would start to eat people. This kind of expert cultivator will be extremely dangerous if he turns into a zombie….”
Zhong Yue strode away from the lone island and headed towards the Lian Yun Mountain Ridge.
In the deeper rim of the Divine Battlefield, an old man placed his hands on his back as he gazed at Zhong Yue leaving, the air of death wreathed all around him.
“Headmaster, this Zhong Shan Clan member is concealing a large secret in his heart, but he is not an enemy of the Swords Gate.”
Behind the old man was another old man with severe injuries, gasping for breath he said, “He has the pure and innocent heart of a newborn and he risked his life to save mine. I was planning to just die in the swamp and yet, he came forward, putting his life at stake to carry me in hope of saving my life. I had to crush off the last surge of life force in me so that he would leave. If it weren’t for you coming in time and digging me out from the dark abyss, I’d be dead for sure, I even nearly disintegrated my Yuan Shen….”