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Chapter 322 - The Setting Sun Under the Moonlight
Chapter 322 - The Setting Sun Under the Moonlight
Chapter 322 The Setting Sun Under the Moonlight
The night turned into the deepest black, covering the moonlight and all the light.
Everything on Lonely Mountain seemed to have disappeared entirely.
Within sight, swords were all over the place.
Swords were thickly dotted.
The sword shadow was short and exquisite, but it was indescribably sharp. Countless sword shadows were suspending over Lonely Mountain in rows, without end in sight.
Li Tianlan felt as if he were gazing at the sea.
The sword intents everywhere were like the sea breeze on the sea.
The wind was fierce but it seemed to blow softly, which was a little chilly and gloomy.
Sword intents were everywhere, between Li Tianlan’s breaths.
The sword intents went into his internal organs through his breathing, puncturing his blood vessels. All of a sudden, Li Tianlan’s body was already covered with internal and external injuries.
The sword sea was still suspended around every corner within sight.
It was like a calm sea.
But even if it was calm, it was a sea. It could always trigger a crazy wave and overthrow everything.
Li Tianlan stared at the endless sword sea in front of him.
He could feel that it was a sword stroke, but it was completely beyond his understanding.
...
He had high attainments in Martial Arts. Even if he wasn’t that powerful, he could see that easily.
He could see that the world was quiet.
He could see that the world was in a void.
He could see some tracks of the sword stroke.
However, he could not understand how powerful it was, being able to form abundant sword intents.
Even if he reached the Invincible Realm in the Heaven Capital, he might not have the strength to resist against the sword stroke, not to mention him right then.
At that moment, Li Tianlan thought he was like an ant, an ant under the Sword Emperor’s sword.
...
The others of the Li family on top of that mountain remained quiet, as if in meditation.
But in the midst of silence, some pained and rapid breathing became obvious.
They stopped meditating as the sword intents appeared.
However, all the people of the Li family were blocked by that sword stroke.
Sword shadows and Sword Qi were together as if they pervaded the world. Everyone was suppressed in place and could not move.
Only Li Honghe remained calm.
Continuous sword intents spread all over him and protected the surrounding area within a distance of 10 meters.
As sword intents went through, sword shadows suspending in front of him fell apart.
Sword shadows broke into Sword Qi.
Sword Qi surrounded Lonely Mountain and formed new sword shadows.
It ran in cycles over and over again, like the wheel of life.
Li Honghe stood still and allowed for sword shadows to break and reunite again. His sword intents were always released to break sword shadows in the surrounding area. At that moment, Li Honghe’s place was the only pure land of Lonely Mountain.
The pure land was within a distance of 10 meters.
However, the whole Lonely Mountain was far beyond a distance of a thousand feet.
Li Honghe looked at the sword sea all over the horizon and even occupied the whole consciousness.
He saw a large piece of sword shadow breaking and reuniting.
“It’s an amazing martial skill—Break of Reincarnation.”
Li Honghe sighed gently, “Was the move deduced by yourself?”
Wang Tianzong kept silent.
There was only sword sea and no Sword Emperor on Lonely Mountain.
An idea flashed through Li Tianlan’s mind.
Break of Reincarnation!
It was the last one of the 24 Moves of Sword—Absolute Sword.
Or, it was the last half move.
Three years before that, Li Tianlan had gotten the sword manual of the half move from Lin Fengting.
But prior to it, such a half move had not existed, even in the Li family’s 24 Moves of Sword.
But in recent days, Wang Tianzong had performed the Break of Reincarnation completely!
If that move was deduced by himself, how familiar would he be with the first 23 moves of the 24 Moves of Sword?
“Tianzong, can you come out and talk to me?”
Li Honghe laughed and said, “Anyway, I’m happy today because you could come to Lonely Mountain.”
The sword sea seemed to fluctuate with Wang Tianzong’s emotions.
So, the world was turbulent in front of Li Tianlan.
The huge vortex of endless sword intent rotating in the sky paused for a moment. Silently, Wang Tianzong’s figure appeared in front of Li Honghe and Li Tianlan.
The three people were less than 10 meters apart.
Wang Tianzong looked at Li Honghe calmly.
Li Honghe was also watching Wang Tianzong with complicated, self-mocking, and somewhat guilt-laden eyes.
Seeing that, Li Tianlan felt like he was witnessing history.
Years of bitterness clearly appeared in front of him.
It appeared in the sea of swords and in front of him.
Wang Tianzong hesitated and bowed deeply to Li Honghe, whispering, “Uncle Li.”
Li Honghe laughed.
The past grievances seemed to have become clear with the words.
“You hate me,” Li Honghe said.
...
“Hate is meaningless.”
Wang Tianzong shook his head. He looked at Li Honghe’s aging face, and his eyes were no longer calm.
To some extent, Li Honghe was one of his closest elders over the years.
Even then, Wang Tianzong still remembered the days when he was studying swordsmanship with Li Honghe.
The four men learned the Li family’s 24 Moves of Sword, the Lin Clan’s 24 Moves of Sword, and the Wang family of Beihai’s Six Paths of Reincarnation...
At that time, everyone was defenseless. Children took effort to study while elders spared no effort to teach...
Wang Tianzong was confused and dazed.
In the face of Li Tianlan, his mind settled as still water, because he was the leader of the Wang family of Beihai and the Sword Emperor of the Zhongzhou State.
In the face of Li Honghe...
He thought he could be calm and indifferent.
But until he stood in front of him, Wang Tianzong knew that he was still the child of that year.
Right then, he was neither the Sword Emperor nor the clan leader.
He was just Wang Tianzong.
“You should hate me.”
Li Honghe whispered, “I owed to the Wang family of Beihai too much. Today, you come to kill me. That’s what you should do.”
“I don’t hate you.”
Wang Tianzong looked at Li Honghe’s eyes and said, “I know well that when the Heroes’ Club, the Fantasy World, and the Polar Ground Alliance joined hands to invade the Zhongzhou State, my father’s serious injury and death after some years had nothing to do with you.”
Li Honghe stayed silent.
In the war of that year, he had a clear conscience.
The old patriarch of the Wang family of Beihai was seriously injured, and so was him.
Wang Tianzong would not hate him because of that.
The grievances between the Li family and the Wang family came after the war.
“It’s my fault. Everything happened because of me. I thought that you would come to me several years ago.”
Li Honghe laughed at himself.
“The Li family and the Wang family walked side by side for hundreds of years. It wasn’t fake.”
Wang Tianzong said in a low voice with sincerity, “If the Li family had never entered the secular world... I don’t want to judge things from those days. But it’s different now.”
Li Honghe nodded and asked straightforwardly, “Will I die today?”
“I will.”
Wang Tianzong said with a respectful and resolute tone.
“How about Tianlan and the Li family?” Li Honghe asked again.
...
“I would only kill you today,” Wang Tianzong said indifferently.
...
He made it clear.
He would only kill Li Honghe.
He did not care whether the others would kill Li Tianlan or not.
Li Honghe said nothing but looked at Wang Tianzong quietly.
Wang Tianzong said calmly and gently, “If you made a mistake, you can’t turn back. Senior Li, your biggest mistake in your life is that you educated a good grandson but not a good son.”
“If you were Kuangtu of that year, what would you have done?” Li Honghe suddenly asked.
...
“I don’t know.”
Wang Tianzong stayed calm, “I never thought about it.”
Li Honghe chuckled, “Ambition... can accomplish everything and destroy everything.”
Wang Tianzong was silent.
The sword sea in heaven and earth began to shake gently.
Sword Qi was rampant and swept through the sky.
“Whether you believe it or not, I want to say that I didn’t know what happened then.”
Li Honghe said lightly, “Kuangtu was ambitious since childhood, and he inherited the Li family’s stubbornness. You reached the Invincible Realm a few years after him. And during that time, your father was in poor health, so he thought he saw the opportunity...
“He wanted to seek change and become authoritative in the Zhongzhou State... He thought the Li family’s power was irresistible, so they didn’t need allies.”
“So?”
Wang Tianzong suddenly interrupted Li Honghe’s words, “So, he wanted to annex, and even destroy and replace the Wang family of Beihai. Then, he wanted to conquer the entire Southeast Group and the Zhongzhou State.”
Li Honghe stiffened slightly.
Li Tianlan, who had been watching silently, was shocked and looked at Li Honghe and Wang Tianzong in disbelief.
“He did a lot of things in the past. In the Southeast Group, the balance of power between the Li family and the Wang family of Beihai had begun to tilt. The Li family was even faintly suppressing the Wang family of Beihai. During that time, you were concerned about your father’s health and ignored the control over the outside world. I was in charge of the Southeast Group, but most of the time I was staring at the Prince Group...
“When I noticed Kuangtu’s actions, it was too late. He finished his layout, waited for your father to die; then he could control everything.”
Wang Tianzong listened quietly and said as he nodded, “So, you made the best of a mistake... Right, your relationship with the Wang family of Beihai is not as important as your son and the Li family, is it?”
“I tried to stop it.”
Li Honghe laughed a little sadly, “You should understand Kuangtu’s character. He was ambitious, skillful, rebellious, and even extreme. When he thought he could let me know, the general trend had taken form. I wanted to stop, but it wasn’t easy for me. I’ve been mediocre in my life. I’m not strong enough. When your father was in danger, Kuangtu reached the Invincible Realm at an earlier time. Countless people of the Southeast Group had placed their hopes in him. During that time, he was powerful enough to go against my will in the Southeast Group. I did not want to break with the Wang family of Beihai. However, as it reached that point, it seemed that everyone was forcing me to break with the Wang family of Beihai and having it annexed.”
“Be draped with the imperial yellow robe?”
Wang Tianzong’s tone was full of sarcasm.
“We haven’t gotten to that stage yet.”
Li Honghe shook his head and said, “In my opinion, there was still a chance to quell the situation. I talked with Kuangtu several times and did something secretively. He’s my son, so I knew him very well. With his temperament, the consequence would have been extreme. If the Wang family of Beihai was annexed successfully, the Wang family of Beihai would have been brilliant or doomed. However, I didn’t want a risky future. I tried to turn it around, and I even wanted to go to Mount Dibing to communicate with your father...”
Li Honghe said with a wry smile, “You acted so fast. Before I got well prepared, you had cooperated with Gu Xingyun and created a case of treason on the border of the Annan State. When I heard the news, everything was too late.”
“Did I do wrong?” Wang Tianzong asked.
...
He had asked many people about that question.
Just a few hours ago, he had asked Gu Xingyun.
Gu Xingyun said that he had no choice.
Li Honghe could only remain silent.
The case of treason directly overturned the Li family.
As the patriarch of the Li family, Li Honghe could not say that Wang Tianzong had done right.
He chose to be silent about it.
“I don’t know if I can believe you. Even so, Uncle Li, you tell me if I dare to believe. The Wang family of Beihai’s centuries of inheritance, trillions of assets or even more, the safety of tens of millions of people, the future of hundreds of thousands of troops, and even the stability of the entire Zhongzhou State.”
Wang Tianzong patted himself on the chest, “My father was in imminent danger, so all those things pressed down upon me. If you were me, would you have dared to use those things to gamble on our trust in you?”
He felt a little excited when it came to the topic, by which he had been suppressed for many years.
He took a step forward and went straight into the zone of Li Honghe’s Sword Qi, “Answer me. If you were me, would you have dared to gamble?”
“I wouldn’t have,” Li Honghe finally uttered a sound.
...
His voice was dry and hoarse.
“I wouldn’t have, either.”
Wang Tianzong breathed deeply and calmed down, “Even if I had dared, you wouldn’t have been able to turn all things around.”
“Centuries of love between our families may be as heavy as a mountain, but I have a clear conscience. If I hadn’t started, everything that the Li family has today would have included the things owned by the Wang family of Beihai, or the Wang family of Beihai would be far worse than the Li family of today.”
Wang Tianzong said coldly, “You’re a threat to the Wang family of Beihai’s survival. What choice do I have? If there were another option, I wouldn’t have let her attack Li Kuangtu! When she reached the Invincible Realm, She worked together with Kunlun City to siege Li Kuangtu. Both you and I should know what that meant!”
“This is the main reason why you hate me?”
Li Honghe said softly, “She was defeated, and her injury has not healed. That’s your worst loss. Without it, you wouldn’t have been so tired after all these years.”
“You can think it so.”
Wang Tianzong looked indifferent, “If the Li family wanted to annex the Wang family of Beihai, I would have never agreed with that. I did everything with a clean conscience. However, in my eyes, the Wang family’s decline and her defeat are all grievances.”
He bowed to Li Honghe again and whispered, “Senior Li, the Li family taught me everything in the world. There is no right or wrong, only success or failure. I don’t hate you. As long as you can walk through this sword sea and appear in front of me, the grievances between the Li family and the Wang family of Beihai can be written off.”
His figure slowly disappeared in front of the sword sea.
However, the sound swept through the sky and echoed in the world.
“This is the 24 Moves of Sword you taught me and my understanding of it. I changed my understanding into the Break of Reincarnation.”
Wang Tianzong said calmly, “It’s perfect to end the Li family’s grievances with their unique skill.”
Li Honghe looked at the sword sea in front of him.
The sword sea was shaking as an actual, fluctuating sea.
Huge waves were imminent.
Raging waves were coming!
It was a dark sea.
Li Honghe was glowing.
The endless sword Qi roared in front of him and became the purest light.
He turned and looked at Li Tianlan.
Li Tianlan was also looking at Li Honghe.
“The Wang family of Beihai did nothing wrong,” Li Honghe whispered.
...
Li Tianlan, who had calmed down, nodded and said slowly, “The Li family did nothing wrong.”
The wrong lay only in ambition.
Was there an absolute right or wrong in the world?
There was only success or failure.
Even if it was a grievance, it should be pure.
“I’ll go to the other side of the sea and have a look.”
Li Honghe pointed at the sword sea in front of him and whispered, “If there is a chance, you’d better get out of here hurriedly. Don’t worry about anything else.”
He took a step forward.
The ultimate and pure light suddenly became rampant as Li Honghe drew himself up.
Above the Lonely Mountain, waves became clamorous.
Vast sword seas suddenly went wild and turbulent. The whole sea rose high into the air and fell rapidly.
Raging swords.
Chaotic swords.
Sword radiance was shuttling in every corner of Lonely Mountain, as a black tide rushing past.
The light was still moving forward, slowly piercing the darkness.
In the light, a bit of blood was ejected.
There was more and more blood.
In the frozen space, blood stained the night.
...
Sword radiance covered Lonely Mountain.
The moon hung over the West Lake.
Broken bridge, ancient tower, vigorous flowers & grass, clear water wave...
When the moonlight shone upon it, the West Lake looked quiet and beautiful in the night, like a picture that should not exist in the world.
Gu Xingyun stood on the broken bridge quietly.
He was sightseeing.
He was feeling the sword intent on Lonely Mountain.
Lonely Mountain had become the only darkness in the night.
The moonlight was completely shattered by the sword intent. The whole Lonely Mountain was pitch black.
It was pitch black, like a void.
The lake was agitated with sword intent. From far to near, the ripples in the water were spreading.
The ripples grew larger and larger and became water waves.
The water waves turned into surging billows.
The surging billows turned into tides.
With Lonely Mountain as the center, violent forces were vibrating in the West Lake. The lake was lifted by absolute power and the ripples were spread on the lake. The sound of water almost suppressed everything.
Gu Xingyun stood on the bridge and looked at Lonely Mountain across the lake.
It was getting dark on Lonely Mountain.
Gu Xingyun gently propped up the corners of his mouth and said to himself, “It’s really busy.”
No one responded to his words.
The sword intent on Lonely Mountain became more and more violent.
A little dazzling light suddenly appeared in absolute darkness.
The light flashed away, and it was immediately suppressed by the darkness.
Gu Xingyun roared with laughter.
He knew that Li Honghe had launched an attack.
The sword intent on Lonely Mountain was at the zenith in the Dark World, having exerted such an irresistible realm for decades.
Even if he was at his peak, Li Honghe would not be able to handle the sword stroke.
At the moment, his power might break through the peak, but his body was much worse.
How could he block off the sword stroke?
“The Li family is destined to be destroyed tonight,” Gu Xingyun muttered to himself again.
...
“That is definitely something to be happy about for you.”
A cold and soft voice was suddenly perceived close to his ear, “Is it really going to happen?”
Gu Xingyun suddenly turned around and looked at the sky behind him.
A white figure appeared silently, less than 20 meters behind him.
The woman wore a long white dress, with a golden mask covering most of her gorgeous face.
She stood in the air.
Her graceful figure seemed to block the full moon.
Gu Xingyun’s vision darkened, with only a white shadow in his eyes.
“Situ Cangyue?!”
Gu Xingyun raised his eyebrows and sneered, “Do you dare to intervene in this matter?”
“Why wouldn’t I dare?” Situ Cangyue said quietly.
...
“Do you think it’s useful if you come?”
Gu Xingyun laughed grimly. His elegant face looked ferocious and distorted in the darkness. “Tonight, the Li family will be destroyed, and no one can stop it! After the Li family, it will be your Sigh City. None of them will escape!”
“The Li family will not die,” Situ Cangyue whispered.
...
“Even if Wang Tianzong can’t kill him, I’ll launch an attack.”
Gu Xingyun withdrew his smile and said in a cold tone, “Do you think you can stop Wang Tianzong or me?”
“I can handle you,” Situ Cangyue said unhurriedly.
...
Gu Xingyun completely calmed down and said lightly, “How... can you stop! F**k, you madman!”
Gu Xingyun, who had calmed down for less than one second, suddenly roared. Then, his figure soared into the air without hesitation.
The moonlight was clear and bright.
The pale white moonlight was wholly darkened.
Heaven and earth were disappearing, and they were gone.
Situ Cangyue’s figure instantly became clear in Gu Xingyun’s sight.
The long white dress was fluttering in the void.
Gu Xingyun could see all the lines on the golden mask.
Situ Cangyue tightened the rosy and beautiful corners of her lips. Her cold eyes suddenly became determined and wild.
The moonlight grew dim.
It disappeared completely.
Sound, water waves, sword intent, and brilliance...
Everything had utterly disappeared.
In the pitch-dark void, only Gu Xingyun and Situ Cangyue were left.
Useless Heaven and Earth!
That was the strongest unique skills of Sigh City.
When Gu Xingyun’s body was slightly unbalanced in Situ Cangyue’s domain, the Tenth Unique Domain of Kunlun City was completely opened.
Situ Cangyue raised her hand.
His arm lit up with a purple light that was enough to shatter the void.
The purple light turned into a small but ferocious hand cannon.
Gu Xingyun’s face was distorted and wholly deformed.
They were less than 50 meters apart.
The famous murderous weapon “Setting Sun” was dozens of meters away!
There was no hesitation.
Situ Cangyue did not even think about it.
She never wasted time at all.
When the purple hand cannon formed, the gun was pointed at Gu Xingyun.
He pulled the trigger.
Boom!
The silent void was broken.
The Useless Heaven and Earth and the Tenth Unique Domain were broken.
...
The whole quiet world was occupied by the absolute roar.
The violent voices covered all ears.
A touch of purple light across heaven and earth suddenly shone over the West Lake.
The purple light was rising, which further ruptured the broken bridge and evaporated the lake.
Gu Xingyun’s body was blown by the murderous weapon the into the bottom of the lake.
The entire West Lake was violently shaking. At one stroke, all the lakes in a radius of a few kilometers had suddenly burst. Aside from that fact, a towering tide soared thousands of meters into the sky. The violent purple light blocked the moonlight and covered everything.
The Purple Qi went forward with great strength and vigor.
...
...
Under the moonlight, the surging water on the West Lake was wrapped by purple light, like a purple sun rising from the water.