CHAPTER 84: DON’T LET HIM GO BACK

The entire landscape was illuminated by the streak of dazzling swordlight, and all those who witnessed it were stunned beyond words.

"Master Ning has drawn his sword! What opponent could possibly be worthy of facing Master Ning's sword?"

Gao Qingyu's trio was astonished, but they quickly composed themselves before cleaning up the room they were in.

Given that even Ning Xuejian had gotten involved, this was clearly a crisis far too severe for them to handle.

There was a forlorn mood hanging in the air as they cleaned up Wei Zihao's remains.

They were unable to save him in the end.

Never had they anticipated that he would succumb to the darkness so quickly.

***

In the forest, Jiang Wuwang was locked in a fierce battle against Yang Luoyu, while the dried corpse was laying feebly on the former's back, looking as if it were barely clinging onto life, and that wasn't far from the truth.

Its resurrection had only just commenced before being interrupted, causing unimaginable harm to the dried corpse. It was only thanks to all of the power that it had accumulated over the years that it hadn't been reduced to powder in the course of such an ordeal.

Yang Luoyu was doing everything in his power to prevent Jiang Wuwang from leaving with the dried corpse, and the two of them were locked in battle high up in the sky, with their clashes releasing such immense destructive power that all of the nearby clouds had been eradicated.

Even though Yang Luoyu's cultivation base was slightly inferior to Jiang Wuwang's, he had no trouble keeping the latter occupied.

The mountains below appeared completely deserted, but both of them knew that there were definitely powerful warriors from both sides lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

As the battle raged on, the two of them slowly drew closer and closer to a nearby mountain.

"Yang Luoyu! Are you trying to take me down with you?" Jiang Wuwang roared.

"So what if I am? You're not exactly someone I would want to keep me company on my way to the afterlife, but not a bad trade!"

"You're insane!" Jiang Wuwang snapped in a furious voice.

Yang Luoyu was no match for him, but nor was he an opponent that he could easily crush, particularly not while having to protect the dried corpse on his back.

While he was superior to Yang Luoyu in combat prowess, Yang Luoyu had the upper hand in speed.

In light of this, Jiang Wuwang had no choice but to use the Blood Incineration Technique to increase his speed by tenfold in an attempt to flee the scene.

In the past, Yang Luoyu wouldn't have bothered to give chase, knowing that it would be futile anyway, but this time, he set off in hot pursuit, even at the expense of burning through the power of his own soul.

After the effects of the Blood Incineration Technique wore off, Yang Luoyu was able to catch back up to Jiang Wuwang, and their battle continued.

Jiang Wuwang could only continue to flee while warding off Yang Luoyu's attacks and letting loose a string of profanities.

He didn't dare to use the Blood Incineration Technique multiple times in succession as that would be taxing, leaving him too debilitated to protect the dried corpse on his back.

Right at this moment, a streak of swordlight came hurtling toward the two combatants from the east.

Yang Luoyu's eyes instantly lit up as he redoubled his efforts, dedicating himself solely to preventing Jiang Wuwang's escape while paying no heed to his own safety.

Jiang Wuwang let loose a desperate roar as he lashed out with all his might.

He knew what the approaching streak of swordlight entailed, and he also knew that if he couldn't get away, then these would be his final moments.

Right at this moment, a streak of black light rose up from the forest down below to meet the streak of swordlight.

"Ning Xuejian! How about you pick on someone your own size?"

A thunderous roar rang out as a polearm saber appeared in the path of the streak of swordlight.

The shaft of the weapon was around four meters in length, while its blade measured roughly a meter and a half.

This was the weapon of Enforcer Bai Zhandao of the Church of the Self-Righteous, the sixth-ranked warrior on the Cloud Weapon Archive.

"Bold of you to place yourself on the same level as me!" Ning Xuejian harrumphed coldly, and a fierce clash ensued between the two, with one daring to venture within even several hundred kilometers of where the two pairs of combatants were locked in battle.

***

The warriors of the Church of the Self-Righteous continued to retreat as they fought, while more and more reinforcements arrived on the scene.

The Guardians remained in hot pursuit while constantly deploying reinforcements of their own.

Before long, the battle had devolved into a Cloud Weapon Archive melee!

At the most critical juncture, Ning Xuejian was able to force back Bai Zhandao before piercing Jiang Wuwang's shoulder with his sword.

Right as he raised his sword in preparation to cut down Jiang Wuwang and the dried corpse on his back, the corpse abruptly raised its head, and its eyes were seething with intense resentment and indignation.

A burst of black light shot out of one of its withered hands, and in that instant, it was as if the entire world had been robbed of color.

A pillar of swordlight erupted out of Ning Xuejian's sword to clash against the burst of black light, but he was knocked back by the force of the clash.

However, he wasn't bothered by this at all, instead bursting into laughter as he declared, "Mission accomplished! Let's go!"

In the blink of an eye, all of the Guardians retreated into the distance.

The battle had already reached the border of the New Chu Nation, so they were about to enter the territory of the Church of the Self-Righteous.

There were already countless shadowy figures rising up into the air to reinforce Jiang Wuwang and the others.

"You have to force him to attack you once! If you can do that, then you will have completed your mission. If he refuses to make a move, then just kill as many of them as possible and leave it at that."

Those were Dongfang Sansan's instructions to Ning Xuejian, and with that, the mission was complete.

In the wake of the Guardians' retreat, the dried corpse on Jiang Wuwang's back shriveled up even further, as if it had lost what little life force it had, and a faint crack rang out as several fingers detached themselves from its dangling hand.

Immediately thereafter, its arms and legs also began to display signs of coming loose.

Jiang Wuwang hurriedly pulled out a large, black cloth to wrap the dried corpse up in, then swooped down to pick up the fallen fingers before flying into territory of the New Chu Nation.

***

On a distant mountain summit, Xue Fuxiao and Duan Xiyang were locked in a confrontation.

Neither of them were unleashing any attacks, nor were they even releasing their spear and saber intent, and it was as if they were standing there just for show.

Moments later, Xue Fuxiao remarked, "It appears to be over."

"It does," Duan Xiyang agreed.

"You're very patient today," Xue Fuxiao said.

"I'm not being patient, it's just that I don't want to kill you."

Xue Fuxiao was silent for a moment, then said, "Let me reiterate: I didn't spare you in the past out of the kindness of my heart or anything like that. I wanted to kill you more than anyone else, it's just that I couldn't."

"Because of the person in the shadows?"

"Is this person in the shadows Pope Zheng of your church?"

Duan Xiyang was rather taken aback to hear this. "I can't tell you that, but I'm very surprised to hear that you know of Pope Zheng."

"I've always wanted to face Pope Zheng in battle," Xue Fuxiao sighed. "I've heard many grand tales of him, yet I've never been able to put a face to the name."

"No one has ever faced Pope Zheng in battle and lived to tell the tale, so you should be careful what you wish for," Duan Xiyang sneered.

Xue Fuxiao didn't argue with that.

He had no confidence in his chances against the pope of the Church of the Self-Righteous. If they were to face each other in battle someday, he didn't even know if he would be able to escape alive.

There was no point in boasting or putting on an act of bravado as that would only paint him in a negative light.

"If this is your peak, then you'll never have the chance to battle Pope Zheng."

"In that case, I'll work a little harder."

"Even so, you'll have to get through me before you get to battle Pope Zheng, and that's already going to be an insurmountable task for you."

"Someday, Brother Duan. Someday..." Xue Fuxiao mused in a determined voice.

Duan Xiyang merely gave a faint smile, supremely confident in his own abilities.

"Once again, I really am surprised that you didn't do anything this entire time," Xue Fuxiao said.

"I... once suffered a massive loss at his hands, so I don't want him to return," Duan Xiyang admitted in a candid fashion.

"But he still made it back to the New Chu Nation, did he not?"

"Yes, but you forced him to expend his life essence."

"We couldn't just let him go back unscathed. We knew we wouldn't be able to stop him, but we had to force him to expend his life essence. That was always our objective. We weren't able to prevent him from getting away, but we've caused a major setback in his resurrection, and that's a small victory for us."

"You must be very pleased with yourself, right? You and Dongfang Sansan must think that after this expenditure of life essence, he wouldn't be able to resurrect himself for at least a few centuries, perhaps even over a thousand years, right?"

"Is that not the case?"

"No. All of you are far too naive."

Duan Xiyang turned to depart, instantly vanishing into the distance, with only his voice ringing out from afar. "He'll be back in no more than a century! But even after he returns, he'll have to get through me!"

Xue Fuxiao was stunned to hear this.

A century? How is that possible? His soul fragment has been captured and will soon be destroyed, his life essence has been depleted, and his resurrection has been interrupted. How could he possibly return within a century?

However, Duan Xiyang was already gone, and even if he were still present, he wouldn't have answered Xue Fuxiao's questions.

Xue Fuxiao heaved a faint sigh as he sheathed his saber.

His Passion Severing Saber gave off a sharp ringing sound as it was returned to its scabbard, seemingly expressing its displeasure at being denied a battle.

"Settle down, old friend. We'll have plenty of opportunities to fight in the future, but for now, we have to buy some time for the others," Xue Fuxiao consoled.

The Passion Severing Saber fell silent again, and Xue Fuxiao promptly departed.