Chapter 960: Chapter 954: The Twenty-Four Imperial Thrones
Li Tianyi reached out his hand, intending to take his sister home.
Tianyue was still clutching her swords, gazing westward—the direction of the Wu Tribe.
Years ago, this younger sister of his had stood guard over the Azure Cloud Region, and later went to the Eastern Border to defend against the Great Army of the Fourth Prince.
Yet this time, she had left her life behind on the battlefield guarding the Western Border.
But when Li Tianyi attempted to remove Li Tianyue’s dual swords, he stood frozen in place.
Although Li Tianyue was already devoid of life, a surge of Spiritual power knocked his hand aside.
It was the Sword Spirits of the dual blades. Unyielding and unwilling to give in, the spirits continued to gaze westward, just like their master.
The dual swords were one red and one silver.
One was the Blood-Drinking Sword gifted by Li Yaozu, and the other was the Spirit-Devouring Sword.
One severed the flesh, the other severed the soul; they had accompanied Li Tianyue for hundreds of years.
“Tianyue.”
Li Tianyi stood bewildered and at a loss.
The Sword Spirits were executing Li Tianyue’s final command.
Together with the lingering will of the thousand Immortal Soldiers kneeling in a circle on the ground, they stubbornly guarded the last sliver of territory in the Western Border.
They were unwilling to return home; even in death, they sought to preserve this final patch of pure land in the West.
The Spiritual power of Heaven and Earth was drawn to them, transforming them into stone statues.
…
In the distance.
Sage Elder Nirvana was collecting the corpse of the massive ancient tree.
This was the Ancient Tree of their Divine Bird Tribe, yet it, too, would remain forever in the Western Border.
As he collected the remains, Sage Elder Nirvana let out a long sigh.
“An old tree that lived for over a hundred thousand years… ultimately, it met its end here in the Shadowfell Prefecture.
From this point on, it shall scatter back into the world, returning to Heaven and Earth.”
He simply placed his hand upon the ancient tree, and it dissolved into motes of light, scattering back into the heavens and earth.
Every member of the Wu Tribe wore a look of grief.
The Ancient Tree had guarded their tribe for over a hundred thousand years, yet in this single battle, it had lost its life at the hands of the Li Clan’s Old Ancestor.
That Old Ancestor of the Li Clan, clad in the Bright Moon Divine Set, was proficient in the laws of Time and Space.
He roamed through the Void, and even though Sage Elder Nirvana possessed Spiritual power that rivaled the heavens, he ultimately failed to catch him.
What was most infuriating was that the Li Clan Old Ancestor was like a nagging fly.
To stall their advance, he attacked no one else; having realized the Old Tree’s importance to their Divine Bird Totem, he focused solely on killing the Old Tree.
Looking back toward the clouds in the sky.
The Old Ancestor of the Li Clan remained concealed within the Void Dimension, standing guard over Li Tianyue.
“Sage Elder, there is something strange.”
Huai Fan pointed toward Li Tianyue and the thousands of soldiers who were gradually turning into stone. His eyes held suspicion, but also fear.
The Sage Elder had said that without using his full strength, he likely could not capture the Li Clan Old Ancestor.
However, the Li Clan Old Ancestor’s combat power had already reached the Peak of the Void Refining Realm; killing people like them (Huai Fan and the lower venerables) would require little effort on his part.
Throughout this battle, neither side had spoken a word, yet they maintained a tacit restraint with a mutual understanding.
Li Tianyue led her subordinates in a bitter struggle against the Wu Tribe army, while the Li Clan Old Ancestor faced them (the Wu leaders) alone.
Both sides maintained a boundary, refraining from overstepping.
Huai Fan had heard rumors about the people of the Li Clan, but today, he had truly witnessed their madness.
Even now, with Li Tianyue’s corpse floating in the clouds and Li Tianyi having arrived, they were unwilling to provoke the Old Ancestor of the Li Clan—especially in a situation where the Li Clan no longer had any scruples holding them back.
However, the fact that Li Tianyue and the thousand soldiers had turned into stone statues filled Huai Fan with suspicion.
They… seemed to be guarding something.
“What is so strange? If the thing we are searching for was truly being guarded by Li Tianyue, she would have long since handed it over to the Old Ancestor.
If the Old Ancestor wanted to flee, none of us could stop him. Besides, that ‘thing’ is not a physical object.”
Sage Elder Nirvana raised his head, watching the Old Tree’s Spiritual power return to the heavens and earth, yet he did not spare a glance for Li Tianyue.
“That General’s lingering will refuses to dissipate. For someone with such natural talent to perish alongside those 320,000 Soldiers… it is truly a pity.”
Was it a pity?
Sage Elder Nirvana remained expressionless, yet in truth, he did find it a pity.
He had witnessed Li Tianyue’s Spiritual power. With those dual swords in hand and her cultivation at the Divinity Transformation Realm, a general who had spent years fighting on the battlefield had likely already gained insight into the Dao of Slaughter.
She was revered by a million Immortal Soldiers—such reverence was equivalent to “Faith.”
Coupled with the resources and grooming from the Imperial Dynasty and the Li Clan, she likely would have broken through to the Void Refining Realm within another two or three hundred years.
In this Great Era, had she lived, it would not have been impossible for her to become a Body Integration cultivator, or even a Mahayana cultivator, granting her the opportunity to vie for one of the Twenty-Four Imperial Thrones.
Huai Fan thought for a moment, then gave a bitter smile.
“What the Sage Elder says is true. If the item we are searching for was truly in Li Tianyue’s possession, the Li Clan would likely have already taken it away.”
As they spoke, Huai Fan hesitated for a moment before asking,
“Sage Elder, we have invaded the Human Race this time, yet you do not engage in battle with them. What exactly are you looking for?”
But Sage Elder Nirvana remained silent.
Huai Fan clearly sensed a surge of killing intent around him.
The Sage Elder was angered; he had been asked about something that could not be spoken of to others.
He hurriedly said, “This lowly one spoke out of turn; I beg the Sage Elder’s forgiveness. I will go keep an eye on Li Tianyi to ensure that he does not take anything away.”
Not long after, Huai Fan, accompanied by several Venerables, floated into the air, gazing from afar at the place where Li Tianyue and the Immortal Soldiers had turned to stone.
They remained silent.
In this battle, they had besieged and killed Li Tianyue—who had been abandoned by the Azure Dynasty’s Great Army—but they had also suffered disastrous casualties.
Li Tianyue had forcibly exhausted every ounce of her Spiritual power.
Surrounded by a thousand Soldiers, even after her soul had dissipated, the Wu Tribe soldiers dared not approach her.
This was what had created the empty void in the center of the battlefield.
The last thousand soldiers of the Blood-Robed Army, realizing that all hope was lost and their General had fallen, ultimately severed their own lifelines, determined never to surrender.
“Alas, are we not also but ants and pawns within this vast world?”
Huai Fan lowered his gaze.
Having lived for eighty thousand years, though he held the status of Elder, he had no love for war.
The vast expanse of the Endless Forest was sufficient for the Wu Race to recuperate and thrive, and his tribesmen were accustomed to their way of life.
Yet, in recent centuries, the destiny of the Human Emperor and the Azure Dynasty had neared its end, and thus the fires of war were ignited.
Especially two years ago, when the tribe fought its way into the Azure Dynasty, internal strife also erupted within the clan.
At their level of cultivation, their only pursuit was to break through to the Body Integration realm; why would they care about waging wars or entangling themselves in worldly grudges?
Yet, despite this, Body Integration mighty figures—who were rarely seen even once in ten thousand years—had emerged in the world, showing an unexpected enthusiasm for this war.
But they were not doing it to expand territory.
These ancient existences, possessing nearly eternal lifespans, simply did not regard human life as anything of value.
“Breakthroughs and the legendary Imperial Throne.”
Huai Fan muttered to himself.
Only these two things could compel Body Integration cultivators and the old monsters of the clan to take action.
For a Void Refining cultivator to break through to Body Integration, they needed to Merge with the Dao.
They had to fuse their own laws into their bodies, making their very flesh a vessel of the Dao.
This process involved three distinct stages: Peering at the Dao, Comprehending the Dao, and Merging with the Dao.
However, for a Void Refining cultivator to achieve Body Integration required immense fortune.
How could a mere body of flesh and blood easily withstand the rules of Heaven and Earth?
The Body Integration realm was also known as the “Spirit of Heaven and Earth,” capable of controlling the laws of the world.
When breaking through from Body Integration to the Mahayana realm, one gains the Dao Transformation ability, becoming no different from the Immortals and Gods.
Yet, this is merely considered the “Second Grade.”
The true “First Grade” of this world is to seek the Imperial Throne’s position.
There is a fixed number of Imperial Throne’s positions ordained by the Heavens—precisely twenty-four.
Those who attain this status possess souls that remain immortal even if their physical bodies crumble, allowing them to enter Reincarnation of their own accord.
Gazing at this mountain of corpses and sea of blood, sorrow filled Huai Fan’s eyes.
Sage Elder Nirvana had come here precisely for this purpose.
The millions of lives lost—both Human and Wu—and Li Tianyue, who died gazing toward the west, had all perished because of this pursuit.
Like him, they were merely drifting along with the current of this overwhelming, glorious tide of destiny.
Amidst these thoughts.
Huai Fan narrowed his eyes slightly.
He saw Li Tianyi sluggishly attempting to pick up Li Tianyue. Yet, Li Tianyue’s dual swords erupted with power; she refused to leave.
The thousand Soldiers and Li Tianyue had transformed into stone statues, yet they still attracted the Spiritual power of Heaven and Earth, causing a radiant light to glow around them.
It was the Blood-Drinking Sword and the Soul-Devouring Sword in Li Tianyue’s hands that floated into the air.
The Soul-Devouring Sword hummed loudly before shattering inch by inch, undergoing Weapon Disintegration. It broke into fragments, which then attached themselves to the blade of the Blood-Drinking Sword.
A great formation emerged on the ground—this was the final Inheritance left behind by Li Tianyue.
Seemingly sensing the connected bloodline of Li Tianyi, it finally released the inheritance, transforming it into a stream of flowing light that entered the body of the sword.
These two swords had accompanied Li Tianyue in slaughtering enemies on the battlefield for hundreds of years.
They were stained with the blood of countless Wu and Human beings, and had severed the souls of who knows how many people.
Amidst the shrill cries of the two Artifact Spirits, the fragments of the Soul-Devouring Sword summoned Spiritual power to fuse with the other blade.
Brilliant light scattered in all directions, causing every Wu tribesman on the battlefield to look sideways in astonishment.
The long sword finally fell into Li Tianyi’s hands.
The Leader of the Three Thieves, who had come to visit his younger sister, held her legacy with a vacant stare, standing frozen just like the stone statue before him.
“So, he is guarding her legacy.”
Huai Fan sighed, then addressed the Elders to his left and right in a solemn voice.
“Li Tianyue was our great enemy, but she died defending her territory. We should follow such a spirit.
Under no circumstances is her corpse to be disturbed. Anyone who violates this order will be considered my enemy.”
“Understood!”
The Wu Race Elders all agreed without hesitation.
In the distance.
Li Tianyi held Tianyue’s legacy in his hands.
The sword was still warm, just as Tianyue’s blood had run hot when she joined the army all those years ago.
Back then, Tianyue had said that she wanted the world to know that the Li Clan had a daughter named Li Tianyue, and that she was no weaker than any man.
That aspiration… had now come true.
“What am I to do… what am I to do…”
Li Tianyi gazed blankly at the stone statue his younger sister had become.
Her final will refused to depart, just as the thousand Immortal Soldiers refused to leave.
Li Tianyi was completely at a loss.
Tianyue was a general who lived and died alongside her soldiers; this was the fate of the military.
She had died from sheer exhaustion.
Looking around him, he couldn’t even find a specific enemy to take revenge on.
When he was young, with no one around to look after his younger siblings, he was constantly terrified that they would be bullied.
In their eyes, he became the “nagging” eldest brother.
But when Tian Xing arrived, he had been away at the Tian Xing Cave Abode.
And now, Tianyue had lost her life, yet she still insisted on remaining here on this battlefield, gazing westward at the Wu Race.
“I have robbed tombs my entire life. My brothers and sisters have lost their lives, yet I cannot even grant them a proper burial or guide their souls back home.”
Li Tianyi let out a long sigh.
He sat cross-legged in front of Tianyue and the multitude of Soldiers.
He smiled gently at Li Tianyue, yet that smile was bitter to the extreme.
“Tianyue, don’t be afraid. If you won’t go home, Big Brother will stay here by your side to keep you company.”
It was late autumn, and the sun was setting in the west.
Outside the border pass of Shadowfell City in the Western Border, the Wu Race had finished cleaning up the battlefield, kicking up clouds of dust and sand.
One by one, the Wu tribesmen stepped over the ruins.
As they passed the thousand statues, the floating stone statue of Tianyue, and the cross-legged Li Tianyi, every single one of them cast a sidelong glance, yet none dared to transgress.
The Wu soldiers were innumerable, yet Li Tianyi turned a blind eye to them all.
The long sword, currently in the midst of slowly fusing together, lay across his legs, radiating a flowing light.
This tomb raider, who in ordinary times was often playful and mischievous, now kept his eyes cast down.
He let the wind blow his long hair, the strands brushing across his face.
Gently, he stroked the glistening silver long sword, feeling the warmth of the blade, and pondered for a moment.
“I shall name you the Wu-Slaughtering Sword. On the day your form is complete, you shall slaughter the Wu Race without mercy.”
The Wu-Slaughtering Sword hummed softly in response.
Li Tianyue’s statue continued to stare coldly toward the Endless Forest, as if there were something there she insisted on confronting, even in death.
—
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