The Realm War, as well as the Realm Barrier, had surprised Tianming twice. For the first time, the sea waters had suddenly disappeared, forcing him to fight Yueling Long. The second time, the barrier was removed less than half an hour after he had obtained the sword, before the ten day countdown was up.
That meant the Realm War was officially over! Of course, it was equivalent to announcing that he had won the Grand-Orient Sword for ten years. However, because of the sudden withdrawal of the Realm Barrier, many had yet to react. When they appeared in the Elysium Battlefield, Tianming heard a deafening furor.
"Kill him!!”
Hundreds of thousands of voices pierced his ears like swords. The older generation would have felt the pressure, much less these youths. It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Tianming subconsciously looked up. In that moment, he saw countless angry faces and frenzied eyes. The previous pin-drop silence and looks of disbelief were unknown to him. Now, the silence had turned into outraged cries. The humiliation and fury of the audience could only be expressed by shouting.
Before he could see where Ye Shaoqing was, a dazzling white light penetrated a distance of thousands of meters, instantly reaching Tianming's eyes. The moment the light reached him, it would bore right into his head. This was no ordinary attack, but a power that transcended Heavenly Will—Saint stage.
Once more, Tianming got a taste of death. Someone had taken advantage of the opportunity to kill Tianming. Perhaps Ye Shaoqing and the other elders had never expected the Realm Barrier to be broken so soon.
Fortunately, they reacted quickly. In an instant, a sheet of water appeared in front of Tianming, into which the white light plunged. Like sinking into the sea, it disappeared instantly. Tianming was safe and sound.
Tianming knew that a sudden attack couldn’t stumble the elders, especially in such a critical moment. His eyes fell upon the man who was going to kill him.
In the crowd, a young man clad in white, with hair flowing free and bloodshot eyes, glared at him like a beast. He didn't speak, but his teeth were gritted and his veins were throbbing, coiling around his face like poisonous worms. Once an elegant man, he now resembled a god of death with blood trickling from his eyes.
Before the Realm Wars, this man had walked hand in hand with Yueling Long, his eyes filled with love. He was the youngest son of the Elysian Emperor, an elysian child of the previous generation named Jun Niancang.
If it weren’t for Jun Dongyao holding Jun Niancang back, Tianming would have been killed the moment he stepped into the Elysium Battlefield. His eyes were the most ferocious Tianming had ever seen. They contained a murderous intent brought about by deep enmity. It reminded him of the night Mu Qingqing and Lin Xiaoting had killed Midas before his own eyes—extreme hate and fury! In the tumultuous Elysium Battlefield, Jun Niancang almost bit off his tongue as he stared daggers at Tianming.
"I swear I will send you to hell!”
This sentence sounded rather familiar, as if he had said it before. In fact, this scene was similar, except those words were directed at him. Tianming understood him very well. This was the reaction of a man who loved. The seed of hatred was planted in a refined and free man’s heart. However, Tianming was no sinner. Everything that transpired today was different from that night.
Back then, he had been framed. Just because he had obtained a treasure, he’d aroused the envy of others. Lin Xiaoting’s crimes were worthy of the death penalty. But this time, he was forced to fight Yueling Long’s killing intent, narrowly escaping death and slaughtering her instead.
"You can think or say whatever you like, but my conscience is clear!" Tianming’s heart was spotless. The other man’s hatred wouldn’t disturb him or cause self-doubt. He was innocent! He didn’t deny that Jun Niancang had the right to revenge; it was his freedom to rid himself of his demons and avenge Yueling Long.
However, his answer remained the same: I'm not guilty!
He had a clear conscience. If someone came after him nine times, why couldn’t he respond in kind just once? She didn’t die because she was kind, but because Tianming had overcome death by a small margin.
"Li Tianming, I’ll use the lives of the entire Grand-Orient Sect to bury Long’er.”
Jun Niancang stopped struggling and merely stood there, surrounded by three hundred thousand people. He stared maliciously at Tianming; in that moment, he seemed to have changed from a carefree wanderer on his path to immortality into Yueling Long. It was as if Yueling Long was attached to him.
"I will heap millions of your people above the Grand-Orient Mountains and wash the earth with their blood. The peak of your sacred mountain is where I’ll erect Long’er’s tombstone. Every year, I’ll step over a million bodies just to pay my respects to her. If I fail to do this, I shall be pierced by a million swords and come to a tragic end.” There were no ripples in his voice. He sounded slow and steady, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.
He was a man who loved deeply. Who couldn’t see how incompatible he once was with Heaven’s Elysium? But at this moment, he had completely integrated with Heaven’s Elysium, becoming their sharpest weapon.
"Kill him now!"
"Kill them all. Let none of them leave Heaven’s Elysium!!!”
"KILL!”
Out of the three hundred thousand people, at least a hundred thousand were shouting bloody murder. The Grand-Orient Sect elders rushed to Tianming's side, guarding him in the middle. Otherwise, those people might have attacked at once.
They now waited for the Elysian Emperor’s orders. He sat on the highest seat, still watching. It seemed as if he had never once blinked throughout the entire time. Amidst the chaos, everyone watched for his command.
Then the Elysian Emperor suddenly raised his head. The audience looked up into the sky and saw a colorful ball.
"That’s the Realm Barrier!"
The Realm Barrier had previously expanded from this tiny ball, a mysterious heavenly pattern barrier that couldn’t be created by the Grand-Orient Realm. Under everyone’s attentive gazes, the colorful ball suddenly transformed into words.
"Congratulations to the Li Saint Clan for regaining the Grand-Orient Sword after a thousand years."
The words appeared for less than three breaths, but even that was enough to render the entire battlefield silent. No disciple of Heaven’s Elysium was a fool. They understood why they had to take out the sword and hold the Realm Wars.
For a thousand years, there had been a hundred Realm Wars, yet not one word of congratulations. Obviously, the Theocracy of the Ancients had congratulated the Li Saint Clan after watching the battle. What did it mean?
The words appeared right as tensions were running high, and instead of quelling the crowd’s anger, the congratulatory words were food for thought. Would Heaven’s Elysium try rounding up the Grand-Orient Sect and killing Tianming, who had won the sword? If they dared do such a thing, it would be a slap in the face of the Theocracy of the Ancients. Even before they could slaughter the Grand-Orient Sect, Heaven’s Elysium would cease to exist. The Theocracy of the Ancients was both mysterious and powerful—that was no secret in the Grand-Orient Realm.
The silence in the battlefield illustrated this point exactly.
"Niancang, just wait a little while longer. It’s never too late for revenge." Jun Dongyao’s face turned purple.
Only when they had brought Jun Tianyi and the others back did they realize just how severe their injuries were. Even Jun Dongyao’s heart had been torn to pieces.
"I’m in no hurry. If I’m too anxious, I can't prepare a proper funeral." With that, Jun Niancang silently stepped into the battlefield and picked up Yueling Long’s body. He gently wiped off the blood on her face, his gaze tender, as if he were looking at a wayward child. But no matter how he tried, he couldn’t stop the blood from dyeing his white robe red.
"Didn’t I tell you to be patient? When will you change? Just give me a little more time. I’ll stay with you the rest of my life and never leave you. Don't be afraid." Tears and blood pattered down. For the longest time, he had never shed tears, yet today, he broke that streak.
He tidied her long hair, his hands shaking uncontrollably as he staggered out of the Elysium Battlefield under countless sympathetic gazes. No one knew where he would go.
From this day forth, the carefree son of the Elysian Emperor who didn’t want to interfere with the affairs of Heaven’s Elysium was dead. He wasn’t a bad person, but the guiding hands of fate had placed him in Heaven’s Elysium, while Tianming belonged to the Li Saint Clan of the Grand-Orient Sect.
When his figure had completely disappeared, the audience directed their cold eyes at Tianming once more. It seemed he had become an unforgivable villain.
But in fact, good and evil wasn’t black and white. There were millions of people in this world, and everyone had their own identity and loved ones. They were all intertwined. How could man be clearly distinguished by such simple words as good or bad? No one could stand on the commanding heights of morality.
In the face of such condemnation, Tianming stuck to his resolve. Even if he had sinned, there was no need for guilt. Karma would do its job.
If Yueling Long hadn’t disregarded human life and mercilessly come after Tianming, he wouldn’t have been forced to fight to the death. Even Jun Tianyi had been given a chance to live.
He wasn’t omniscient, but he knew those who disregarded the heavenly laws and slaughtered indiscriminately without the slightest hesitation had their own trials, even if they considered themselves the protagonist of this world.