Chapter 961: The Setting Sun Illuminates the Hearts of Humankind; the Setting Sun Shines Upon All Revered Ancient
“Yu Liuchen!” said a cold voice. It was solemn and filled with killing intent, and it came from the god of the Northfate Kings. But that was it.
Without the sword stuck in hīs chest, Yu Liuchen’s cultivation base now had nothing impeding it. And countless years in the past, hē had reached Altar God. Although a species as powerful as the Northfate Kings wouldn’t necessarily fear an Altar God, they wouldn’t want to offend one unless there were absolutely no other options. That was especially true of an Altar God who hadn’t yet decided which species in Revered Ancient to accept faith from.
Therefore, all Tempest could do was accept what had just happened. That was very thought-provoking to all the other parties involved.
The Grand Emperor hovered in midair, holding the sword projection as he looked around. Wherever he looked, the air vibrated, and the gods retreated, not daring to face him. The powerful streams of divine will from various species backed away.
Everyone thought that Grand Emperor Swordsage was on his last legs. But what had just played out turned that around. And now, no one wanted to risk their life to get more information. After all, no one had any idea if Grand Emperor Swordsage currently... had another trump card, or... if he was still on a fishing expedition.
Time ticked by. After a few dozen breaths of time passed, the empress’ godfire was raging. Heaven and earth were now golden as boundless godfire pulsed with majestic force. As of this moment, she was only about ten breaths of time away from total success!
All eyes were focused on her.
Grand Emperor Swordsage looked at the empress and smiled. And yet, deep within that smile there was exhaustion. As of this moment, he really was on his last legs. Although he wished the sword in his hand would continue to shine brightly, the weakness hidden within him was spreading. Before long, he wouldn’t even be able to hold the sword in his hand. His soul shadow was now starting to fade away. Yet he held strong, ensuring that to any observer, he looked as powerful as ever. He would hold on until the empress was finished.
After that, in the last moments of his life, he wanted to take a final look at the lands of mortals, at humankind, and at the world of sorrow. In contrast to the Grand Emperor’s weakness, the empress’ godfire was radiant. The heaven and earth that existed inside the Grand Emperor grew dim. The heaven and earth that existed outside of the empress was increasingly golden. The aura of a god was becoming more apparent on the empress. The sound of boundless heavenly thunder echoed out, shattering magical laws and dao foundations. Her life force was changing! It was a scene to make anyone sigh. One party’s longevity was ending. The other’s life force was climbing.
Just like reincarnation , the Grand Emperor thought. Unbounded exhaustion and weakness swept through him like a tide, inundating him, causing his eyes, which had been bright and shining throughout his life, to cloud over. A heart full of wisdom was crumbling into dust.
Things blurred. At some point, the cloudiness turned red. And the dust somehow turned into paper. The red and the paper mixed, turning into... five red paper people. They seemed to be laughing and crying at the same time.
Four of them appeared around Grand Emperor Swordsage’s soul. One of them appeared within it.
Then a peal of thunder rang out, along with a cry of grief. Then the expressions on the five paper people turned into that of pure greed. They pounced! The paper person inside of the Grand Emperor’s soul body melted, turning into pure red that spread out to fill his soul and merge with the four paper people on the outside!
All of this happened very suddenly. And the timing was very precise.
The five paper people had been hiding within time itself like vipers. Like expert hunters with extreme patience, they waited until the empress was just about to succeed, which was the same moment that Grand Emperor Swordsage was at his absolute weakest and couldn’t hold on much longer.
Then they bared their teeth. Then they launched a deadly attack!
The paper people descended on the Grand Emperor’s soul shadow. They fused into it.
Intense rumbling sounds echoed out as the Grand Emperor’s aura was erased. The sword within Xu Qing let loose an extreme cry of grief.
Up in midair was a single paper person that now had Grand Emperor’s soul shadow inside of it. It cackled.
“I finally got the light of a perished Quasi-Immortal!”
As of this moment, all powerful experts were shaken to the core. As of this instant, all gods were stricken in their god souls. As of this second, all living beings in Revered Ancient were astonished.
Intense rumbling sounds echoed out. The lands quaked and the destiny aura of humankind cried out in anguish. Humans, be they government officials or commoners, all gnashed their teeth in fury. Heaven was collapsing! The Grand Emperor was perishing!
“Grand Emperor!!”
Numerous figures instinctively shot up into the sky, howling in grief and rage.
Humans, no matter how weak or strong they were, were hardly able to watch what was happening. Intense anger and shocking madness caused the blood of all humans to boil.
Xu Qing’s eyes were crimson as he stood there quietly. That was just his personality. The stronger his killing intent, the less he spoke. And then he burst into motion, The Emperor’s Sword thrumming, bright light shining off him.
Up in the dome of heaven, the cackling red paper person licked hīs lips and then turned in the direction of the raging godfire. Hē shivered as if hē were planning to make a move on the empress. Cackling again, hē prepared to make a move. Hē wasn’t content to just get the light of a perished Quasi-Immortal.
But then hīs smile faltered, and an agonized shriek rang out from hīm. An instant later, hē burst into flames. It was fire that seemed immeasurably powerful. It was dao fire, and it was formed from the last bit of Grand Emperor Swordsage’s will and determination. And it was ignited by the rage in the blood of humankind.
“Even now, you still have a trick left, Swordsage? You used your death, your dao, and your will to ignite the fire of humankind.... How ruthless you are!”
The paper person howled in grief as hē began crumbling into ashes. Hē was no longer capable of carrying out hīs conspiracy. The only thing left to do was take what was left of the light of a perished Quasi-Immortal and use it to pierce through the air and flee. It was true that hē had acquired the Grand Emperor’s light. Of all the plotting gods, only hē had succeeded in that. But the dao fire of will and determination was a variable that hē didn’t account for.
The price to pay for that mistake... was immeasurably large. After all, the fire wasn’t just burning hīm. It was also following hīs karma toward his true form, which was in hiding. Hīs howl of agony echoed out far and wide.
The rage of humankind still burned. And humanity’s grief continued to spread in heaven and earth.
The empress’ godfire combined with the fire of humankind, which contained the rage of countless humans. Because of that, the empress’ godly will thrummed with intense human nature. As it filled hēr mind, it surpassed hēr godly nature.
The dome of heaven transformed into an enormous sea of flames visible from everywhere in Revered Ancient.
On Planet Ancient Emperor, the past emperors all stood. An intense godly aura pulsed off all of thēm. Thēy had become gods. Going forward, thēy would be mindless, and thus guided by the destiny aura of humankind. Thēy were... zombie gods!
The will of humankind was thēir will. Thēy would follow the same path that the species followed.
Up in the air, the empress’ aura surged with unprecedented momentum, becoming a will that could surpass many heavens, and radiated brightly in all directions.
The sky dimmed as if to acknowledge allegiance. The lands quaked as if to kowtow in worship. Humans in all territories felt the resonance. Citizens scattered in other regions could sense their blood stirring.
That was because the rage of humankind, and the peak level of human nature, had fully awakened in hēr. Shē was a human god!
Thanks to the magnificent ceremony, as well as the assistance of the god domain talisman, plus the blessing of Grand Emperor Swordsage and the rage of humankind, shē... surpassed the Flawless level. Shē was an Altar God!
Altar Gods were more scintillating than any heavenly body. Their momentum could shake the highest heavens, and their majesty made them revered by all living beings. Their eyes were so profound that they could devour any living thing. When their long hair flowed, every strand pulsed with the most shocking godly aura possible. Even just one such strand that landed on the ground would cause heaven and earth to quake.
The surrounding air seemed to fill with unusual pressure that weighed down on the chests of every living being. Cultivators and gods alike suddenly felt stifling pressure. All of them bowed their heads.
The only one who didn’t was the Grand Emperor. As hē hovered there casting out boundless light, the fire didn’t dissipate. Instead, it raged with more intensity, surrounding hēr with the fire of a god altar. It converged the rage of humankind, burning the dome of heaven, incinerating time, and raging in all directions. Then it turned into words that shook the cosmos.
“Master Righteous Veil, wherever space reaches and wherever time passes, the person to annihilate you in soul and body will be one of my people! That is my Altar God oath.”[1]
The words became a sealing mark that descended into Revered Ancient to join the natural and magical laws. All humans heard the words, and they were branded in their souls and blood, to be passed on from generation to generation.
Killing intent surged in Xu Qing’s eyes. At the same time, grief filled his heart as he slowly turned to look in the direction of Grand Emperor Swordsage’s statue.
In the light of the fire, the Grand Emperor statue still stood tall and majestic. It was as if a message were being sent to later generations, that he had used the last breath in his life to fulfill his desires, to fulfill his wishes, to help the empress succeed. And in the very last moment, he pulled in the flame of humankind. He had done everything he could. And he had no regrets.
Xu Qing lowered his head, clasped hands, and bowed very deeply to the statue. All human beings, filled with sadness, also bowed.
Grief filled the lands. Grand Emperor Swordsage had spent the first half of his life dominating the lands near and far. He followed Dark Serenity on the campaign trail, serving humankind. He had established the Swordsage Division, and had composed the swordsages’ creed.
Sever vile destiny from the commoners, spread light through heaven and earth!
Bring about a golden age of peace; the sword means life. We protect all living beings! [2]
The second half of his life was spent carrying out that creed. On this day, the very last scrap of his aura was extinguished. Sadly, though he wished to catch a glimpse of the final hope of humankind, he would never be able to do so....
Far off in the distance, a sun was rising over the horizon. The long night had passed. The sun had set the previous day, but now it was coming up again.
It was like the line of poetry which read, “The setting sun illuminates the hearts of humankind; the setting sun shines upon all Revered Ancient.” [3]
The sun set. The sun rose.
1. Master Righteous Veil was previously mentioned inchapter 927 . I originally rendered it as Master Deluo, but after consulting with the author, I settled on Righteous Veil. For more details about that, check chapter 927. ☜
2. The swordsage mission statement was previously mentioned inchapter 370 . ☜
3. This line of poetry was invented by the author. ☜