Chapter 1939: Green Residence

“Sword... I...?”

“This, is this your ultimate trump card?”

Hua Changdeng looked down from above, his eyes blood-red and filled with a mocking madness.

He had hesitated for so long.

He had preemptively unleashed Wugen Guiyu and Tianjie Shouru.

He had considered Ba Zun'an his greatest opponent, ignoring all other enemies inside and outside the Shengshen Continent.

But, after waiting for so long, Ba Zun'an told him that his final trump card was the Ba Zun'an from thirty years ago, whom he had already defeated?

“Ah ha ha ha ha!”

Hua Changdeng didn't know if he was amused or infuriated by his own foolishness.

With the opening of the Siling Lunhui, his time was running out; every breath was a self-immolation.

The Wugen Guiyu had been set up, but the power drawn from the San Cai of Heaven, Earth, and Man was insufficient to combat his fading life force.

And this extreme exertion, this fighting power squeezed out, enough to contend with the Mozu, Yaozu, and Chongsui, was to be pitted against a former subordinate whom he had vanquished?

How then could he gain enlightenment from Ba Zun'an's Dao, absorb his Jianwo into one, and halt the negative effects of the Siling Lunhui?

He would die!

But not by being killed.

Rather, because Ba Zun'an was too weak to provide him with sufficient pressure?

“Damn it!!!”

Hua Changdeng let out a long howl, his entire body exploding into soul energy, merging with the world.

Within the Five Domains, misty, eerie blue-green fog arose in the void, and everyone's hearts pounded, their faces filled with panic.

“My power is draining?”

Those who cultivated the Dao of the soul immediately noticed.

Every Soul Refiner locked by Wugen Guiyu, from Xiantian to Shengdi, had their soul power siphoned away.

The lost portion, accumulating little by little, converged in the void of the Five Domains, providing energy for the maintenance of Wugen Guiyu and prolonging Hua Changdeng's life!

Ancestral Hua, had he gone mad?

Did he want to destroy the entire Shengshen Continent?

High above Lingyu, Ba Zun'an's Jianwo was illusory and ethereal, also noticing the madman's actions, his eyes growing colder:

“Hua Changdeng, obsession has blinded your eyes.”

Before he finished speaking, a grotesque, eerie blue-green face materialized above the Central Domain, roaring hysterically:

“Shut up!”

With a boom, the Wugen Guiyu, established by the Sword Ghost's three swords and the San Cai positions of Heaven, Earth, and Man, instantly surged with three torrents of soul power.

Converging into one, it transformed into a hundred-zhang long sword in the sky, resembling Shouru, with a pitted blade, yet subtly different.

Space twisted under the force; it no longer looked like a sword.

The long weapon, with its straight hilt and slanted blade, looked more like a long saber, with dark green flames burning fiercely on its blade, filled with malevolent energy.

Shouru!

Shouru after Tianjie!

“Die—”

Heaven and Earth erupted with a thunderous roar of hatred.

Shouru, after Tianjie, had undergone an astonishing transformation in its form, nurtured by Wugen Guiyu.

Hua Changdeng, positioned within the Divine Court, merged with Shouru.

Under this augmentation, the hundred-zhang Shouru streaked across the sky as a black line, its speed reaching an extreme.

In an instant, it severed countless Dao techniques, directly slashing down towards where Ba Zun'an's Jianwo was located.

“Hua Changdeng, you can't kill me.”

Ba Zun'an's Jianwo scoffed, facing the hundred-zhang Shouru without fear.

He merely pointed with two fingers, pushing forward, and the Dao chains and shackles around his body vibrated, emitting a magnificent power.

It was as if a spell seed's confinement was being unleashed, and the boundless might suppressed and hidden within his body was about to erupt.

But...

Shouru was too fast!

“Bang!”

The hundred-zhang flame sword brutally struck the Dao chains around Ba Zun'an's Jianwo, its inner power not yet released.

Crack—

The crisp cracking sound was clearly audible throughout the Five Domains.

Without even a half-breath's delay, to everyone's horror, the Dao chains around Ba Zun'an's Jianwo were instantly severed.

“Can't withstand it?!”

Not only that, Shouru's momentum remained unchecked.

The sword, charged with Hua Changdeng's lifelong hatred, then brutally sliced through Ba Zun'an's Jianwo's chest and neck, sweeping a dazzling sword wave into the sky behind him.

Spiritual light scattered, and the Five Domains instantly erupted in an uproar.

This sword was too magnificent, but after the brilliance came decay.

After being struck by the sword, Ba Zun'an's Jianwo dimmed by more than seven parts, as if most of his power had been taken away.

The divine light in his eyes faded.

The power sealed within the Jianwo leaked out, and he seemed to become much lighter, slowly drifting upwards, as if about to vanish.

“This?”

Below Fusang City, Wuji's black feathers ruffled slightly.

He had thought Ba Zun'an was about to make a grand display, but unexpectedly, he had made the foulest mistake!

After this sword slash, would Old Ba still have the strength to fight again?

Thirty years of sealed swords, yet in the end, not only did the sword not leave its sheath, but the person himself was going to die a humiliating death?

His crossed eyes darted.

Beside him, Yue Gongnu's entire face was utterly devoid of color.

This one sword not only severed all of Ba Zun'an's momentum but also completely nullified the dwindling hopes of his relatives and allies outside the battlefield.

“Ah ha ha ha ha...”

Hua Changdeng laughed uncontrollably.

Shouru's sword had truly severed Ba Zun'an's Dao foundation.

Finally, he was no longer powerless or unable to retaliate; this visceral pleasure stimulated his spiritual will to boil.

Not enough!

Far from enough!

“Ba Zun'an, is this all your capability?”

Ancestral Hua was frenzied. The soaring Shouru vanished at the end of the sky, reappearing above the clouds, split into two.

Two hundred-zhang “long sabers,” feeding on the expectations of the ancient sword cultivators of the Five Domains, ignited with spiritual flames, slashing in a cross!

“No...”

Someone gasped, covering their mouth.

One sword had already caused Ba Zun'an's Jianwo to lose seventy percent of its power.

With these two swords approaching, how could the Eighth Sword Immortal turn the tide with only his meager remaining strength?

But the anticipated "turning point" simply did not appear.

Or rather, there was none at all!

Ba Zun'an's Jianwo was still in a state of loss of control after the previous strike, his body involuntarily drifting upwards.

He merely managed to extend his right hand again...

And brought two fingers together, attempting to resist...

“Ten-segment Sword Finger?”

Everyone's eyes almost popped out.

At this moment, what use could a Ten-segment Sword Finger possibly have?

He couldn't even block the previous sword; how would he block the next two—with Ba Zun'an's indomitable will, to play such a grand, absurd joke on the Five Domains?

Bang! Bang!

Dao chains surged.

Dao chains collapsed.

Two Shouru swords, one slicing past Ba Zun'an's head, the other severing his lower limbs, crisscrossed to create a beautiful, ethereal cross-shaped spiritual wave in the void.

But...

What use was beauty?

Ancient sword cultivators never lacked the romance of creating beauty; every sword strike could be a work of art.

Now, a “cross,” shaped like a declaration of death, was positioned over the last fading afterimage of Ba Zun'an's Jianwo.

A capitalized cage!

The deepest shackles!

It not only shattered the last vestiges of Ba Zun'an's Jianwo's power but also extinguished the sword-flame that had just begun to ignite in the hearts of everyone in the Five Domains, doused with cold water.

Above and below the Wugen Guiyu, Hua Changdeng's unrestrained mockery echoed:

“Grand Dream of a Thousand Autumns?”

“World-shattering Sword Bone?”

Everyone seemed to once again see that dashing white-robed figure who summoned thousands of ancient sword cultivators, that golden spine inheriting the indomitable spirit of the ancient sword Dao...

“Ba Zun'an, I can declare right here... Your destiny has run out!”

Yes, it had run out.

All hope was utterly severed.

“Hiss...”

A faint wisp of green smoke rose into the sky.

After the three Shouru swords, Ba Zun'an's Jianwo could no longer maintain a human form, transforming into smoke and clouds, vanishing to the east.

Not enough!

Still not enough to satisfy his hatred!

Hua Changdeng did not stop.

His plan, his Great Dao, his persistent pursuit...

From the very beginning of his union with the Dao, to the interruption of his two-in-one state, to being forced into a desperate battle in the Siling Lunhui...

The “hatred” accumulated within him could not be appeased by just three Shouru swords!

“Die die die die die!”

The soul power of Wugen Guiyu cascaded down like a waterfall.

Shouru in the sky transformed into one, two, three...

Finally, it condensed into eighty-one swords—not ten thousand, but nine swords, each overlapping, crisscrossing vertically and horizontally.

The number eighty-one, targeting the remnant of Ba Zun'an's Jianwo, tore and shredded it, as if erasing that last wisp of green smoke on the spot.

“Break! Break! Break!”

With each sword slash, the green smoke dimmed by three parts.

But with each pierce, the green smoke deformed, yet remained undying, stubbornly re-coalescing.

Hua Changdeng became more frenzied and more hateful with each attack.

The cultivators of the Five Domains, however, while watching in horror, suddenly noticed something.

“That is...”

“Me?”

At Guizhe's old site, Kuilei Han looked back in surprise.

Hua Changdeng was utterly mad, seeing no one else but Ba Zun'an in his eyes.

Consequently, no one blocked him during his baptism under the lightning tribulation, and his cultivation base steadily solidified amidst the lightning.

Transcending the tribulation?

For Kuilei Han, this was no problem at all.

He was equally focused on the main battlefield, on the battle between Hua and Ba.

After Shouru's first sword, Kuilei Han had almost couldn't help but wanted to charge forward with his hammer, even while enduring the lightning tribulation.

But just as he had asked Ba Zun'an for support then and received a negative reply.

This time, even in such a critical situation, Ba Zun'an remained silent.

Kuilei Han then noticed something strange.

This strangeness became evident after the three Shouru swords...

It was confirmed under Hua Changdeng's subsequent hundreds and thousands of slashes!

“Me!”

“He is cultivating 'Me'!”

From Kuilei Han's perspective, Ba Zun'an's original Jianwo could be described as a rough iron sword blank.

Shouru's first sword stripped away seventy percent of impurities.

Shouru's second and third swords forged the raw iron into refined iron.

That wisp of green smoke was Ba Zun'an's refined iron “Me.”

“Me” has no fixed form, and “Me” is also indestructible; therefore, after thousands of subsequent hammerings, Hua Changdeng could not kill Ba Zun'an's “Me,” only continuing the hammering like a madman.

This no longer caused damage.

Instead, it was a tempering, a cultivation, being used as a tool!

But there was one thing Kuilei Han still couldn't understand...

He understood the principle of forging raw iron, but Ba Zun'an's Jianwo was inherently perfect. What were the impurities that were removed by Shouru as a hammer?

“Me!”

In the starry sky beyond the border, even more fervent than Kuilei Han, than the cultivators of the Five Domains, even more fervent than Hua Changdeng, was the Mozu, who had seen Ba Zun'an's intention earlier!

The coffin imagery under the tower, when Ba Zun'an was struck by the first sword, seemed unable to suppress the coffin lid, the whole thing agitated, almost popping out.

When the second sword, the third sword...

When the hundredth, the thousandth sword, all slashed across Ba Zun'an's Jianwo...

What Mozu saw was not Ba Zun'an on the brink of death, but a brand new, broad path after the clouds had parted!

“Cultivating 'Me' directly, without relying on the decree of an Ancestral God's destiny?”

“Not taking the path of two-in-one, but a return-to-zero path, from mortal to Ancestor, directly achieving perfection?”

This concept, Mozu understood too well.

But concepts remained concepts; in practice, too much was lacking due to the unclear path ahead.

The path Ba Zun'an was currently walking, Mozu saw clearly, yet there was something he couldn't see through: the contradictory point that Ba Zun'an revealed when cultivating Jianwo with external forces:

“Clearly, the Dao he seeks to embody is the four-fold abandonment of the War Ancestor: abandoning the body, abandoning the spirit, abandoning the will, and finally, abandoning the self.”

“However, after the War Ancestor's four abandonments, abandoning the self leads to complete nullification, not a return to zero. Even he dared not abandon everything. Does Ba Zun'an dare?”

“If he dares, he is fearless! If he dares, he must have a reliance! What is his reliance?”

Looking at Jianwo again, though seemingly inferior to Hua Changdeng's San Cai of Heaven, Earth, and Man, it inherently still deeply understood the War Ancestor's method of "Liangyi."

But Ba Zun'an was not proficient in the Dao of ancient martial arts. His Jianwo at this moment clearly possessed only the "Yang" or "Yin" of Liangyi, unable to achieve yin-yang harmony, thus unable to break through from Liangyi to Yizun, and then to Wuji!

“He still dares?”

“If he dares, he is fearless! If he dares, he must have a reliance!”

“If 'Me' is completely abandoned, then his only self-salvation method should lie in the 'reliance' of his cultivated ancient sword Dao?”

“Or can he use 'what' as 'Yin', as 'reliance', to stabilize the 'Yang' of the four abandonments, of 'body, spirit, will, and self'?”

“Through this, achieve perfect balance and reach the 'return to zero' state?”

Mozu understood the concepts.

But he couldn't see through what Ba Zun'an could use as a reliance, how he would find his “Yin,” and save his "Yang" of body, spirit, will, and self, which were about to vanish.

It doesn't matter...

It doesn't matter at all...

Having raised a pig to this extent, there's no need to think for himself; the pig, for self-preservation, can only provide the answer itself.

“Come on!”

“Ba Zun'an!”

“Probe the path, give me more, more!”

“Ah ah ah ah ah—”

Thousands of Shouru swords, unable to sever the last wisp of Ba Zun'an's Jianwo, Hua Changdeng completely sank into the bitter sea of obsession.

He realized something.

Even in this state of madness, as long as his opponent was Ba Zun'an, he could regain a sliver of clarity.

What Kuilei Han saw, what Mozu saw, he finally awakened to after thousands of sword strikes.

“Me?”

The eighty-one Shouru were instantly halted in the void. Hua Changdeng, after a moment of愣, let out a mournful, tragic laugh:

“Ba Zun'an, you're still struggling?”

“You have no chance!”

The Five Domains were silent, trembling under the terrifying might of the frenzied Ancestral Hua.

That wisp of green smoke, floating in the sky, seeming to transcend the mundane, at the last moment, showed no pain, no hatred, and once again transformed into an extremely ethereal white-robed figure.

Ba Zun'an!

Still Ba Zun'an!

The immortal and indestructible Ba Zun'an!

That hazy figure in the sky, stepping on Wugen Guiyu, the Jianwo that could not be killed or severed, gently took a step forward...

Hua Changdeng seemed to be stimulated by something, roaring hysterically:

“Shut up!”

“I didn't let you read!”

The eighty-one Shouru, forming a ninety-nine sword array, moved to suppress the center.

Ba Zun'an's Jianwo afterimage shattered.

That unkillable, unseverable green smoke, transformed into a cage-like, ethereal green shackles, finally exploded, vanishing into thin air high above the Central Domain.

“Ah ha ha ha...”

Hua Changdeng laughed loudly.

His laughter contained madness and liberation.

He had succeeded; he had successfully killed Ba Zun'an. This Jianwo's final stubbornness could not withstand the power of Siling Lunhui!

But just then...

From the billions of Soul Refiners and from the thoughts of flowers, plants, wood, and stones within the Five Domains covered by Wugen Guiyu, wisps of purple qi ascended.

The purple qi came from the east, drifting up into the sky, forming auspicious clouds, radiating mysterious auspicious light.

In a trance, people looked up and saw a figure of ethereal grace on the clouds, seemingly having shed all worldly worries and shackles after various trials, about to ascend to the celestial realm.

That was not an illusion!

In an instant, it had condensed into a... Divine Husk!

Between Heaven and Earth, a Daoist sound drifted, echoing in all directions at that moment:

“Three thousand threads of worries, weave a prison lock.”

“Please sever my shackles, pluck the Dao fruit from the clouds.”

Kuilei Han's eyes lit up.

Red dust, mundane world, worries, desires...

“Unparalleled Sword!”

He completely understood what Ba Zun'an's Jianwo was severing with Shouru!

It was all the “mental disturbances” that trapped him in this world and body, all the factors that could interfere with the steadfastness of “Me.”

And when these “disturbances,” after “Me” was clearly perceived and thoroughly cut away by external Ancestral Godly power...

Severing karma, naturally transcendent!

Ba Zun'an, his Dao was perfected!

Boom—

Beyond the border in the starry sky, the Ancestral God Extinction Tribulation gathered.

Wugen Guiyu violently vibrated, torn open by the lightning tribulation, and Hua Changdeng almost coughed up blood and collapsed.

All of his utmost self-exertion had actually served Ba Zun'an, helping him perfect his Dao?

“Ba! Zun! An!”

A painful roar erupted in the sky.

Hua Changdeng plunged down from the sky in a surge of rage, grabbing Shouru in his hand, and shrieked:

“I told you, you have no chance!”

“All your struggles, after you interrupted my union with the Dao, are nothing but futile resistance!”

He gave Ba Zun'an no time to transcend the tribulation, throwing Shouru into the sky, clenching hand seals, and roaring:

“Ancestral God's decree!”

“Sword Pillar Taste Array, heed my call!”

Several buzzing sword hums were heard as ten famous swords scattered on Lingyu Mountain soared into the sky.

Among them...

The Divine Sword Xuan Cang, the Emperor Sword Duzun, the Buddhist Sword Nuxian, the four Fierce Swords, and the Profound Sword Taicheng, soared up and merged into the heaven of Wugen Guiyu.

The Evil Sword Yuelian, the Flame Sword Yanmang, the Spirit Sword Qingfeng, the Crane Sword Tingchen, and the Sleeve Sword Shuangzhen, fell straight down, merging into the earth of Wugen Guiyu.

Boom!

All sounds were silenced, and Dao techniques collapsed.

The Five Domains looked up in horror, seeing five pillars descending from the sky, grand and immense, arraying and locking Ba Zun'an.

The earth exhaled five tastes, invading the divine husk, disturbing the Dao heart, and even directly disrupting the Ancestral God Extinction Tribulation.

Hua Changdeng did not stop, using the foundation of the Sword Ancestor's path to deification and ancestral ascension to obstruct Ba Zun'an's hope of deification and ancestral ascension...

Not enough!

Far from enough!

He wanted this person dead!

“Trapped in a cage, yet still dreaming of being free and transcendent?”

Shouru followed, merging into Wugen Guiyu, Hua Changdeng laughed maniacally: “Ba Zun'an, it's too late!”

The Five Pillars and Five Tastes trembled.

The Sword Pillar Taste Array, which trapped Ba Zun'an's divine husk, spewed out rays of light, condensing a ten-thousand-zhang long sword atop Wugen Guiyu.

Shouru hung above, the pillars and tastes trapped the divine husk.

No path to heaven, no gate to earth.

Wugen Guiyu was unleashed early, Shouru was Tianjie-fied early; Hua Changdeng was guarding against Ba Zun'an's final struggle.

And this struggle...

He gave him no chance.

With a crash, the ten-thousand-zhang Shouru, as if a sword hilt had its chains removed, heavily slashed down.

“Divine Edict: Execute!”

The Five Pillars that sealed the entire world!

The Five Tastes that burned and scraped at the Dao heart!

The ten-thousand-zhang Shouru slashing downwards!

The cultivators of the Five Domains finally realized the "limitless" nature of ancient sword cultivators; Ancestral Hua's madness had reached such a point.

Such immense power, even if the Sword Ancestor reappeared, how could he resist?

Let alone Ba Zun'an, whose Dao tribulation was broken, whose Dao heart was disturbed, and whose divine husk was restrained?!

“Late...”

The fierce wind roared in his ears, and the aura of death permeated all around.

Ba Zun'an, who had just shed his shackles and ascended to the clouds, yet had no opportunity or time to enjoy even half a breath of Ancestral Godly glory, seemed to have completely given up struggling.

He didn't even glance at the ten-thousand-zhang Shouru above, looking out at the mountains and rivers, as if lingering on this beautiful world that had nurtured him.

Flying snow fluttered, covering the distant peaks with a frosted white cloak.

The setting sun's lingering light sprinkled upon the Fusang trees and Lingyu trees across the mountains and plains, their snowy scales turning golden.

“Yes, it seems late...”

Time itself seemed to slow with a sigh. Ba Zun'an turned his head, his eyes filled with reluctance.

But he was no longer looking at the mountain snow or the mulberry and elm trees; his gaze fell upon Yue Gongnu below Fusang City, who was clearly sobbing uncontrollably.

His heart surged, waves churning.

A thousand words, finally归于无.

With the Sword Pillar Taste Array unleashed and the Divine Execution Edict given, even if Ba Zun'an still had myriad things to say, trivial matters to do.

He had no chance.

He saw the end of the Dao.

He couldn't easily sever Hua Changdeng, embrace that old sentiment from thirty years ago, and the current thumping in his heart.

“Cangshan envies not white hair, yet this love is hard to control...”

But this absolutely did not mean that Ba Zun'an would perish here, falling beneath Hua Changdeng's Shouru sword.

The wind and moon were no more.

The sword pressure descended.

Ba Zun'an gracefully turned, his melancholic thoughts instantly dispelled.

As Shouru approached his face, he looked at the distant, frenzied Hua Changdeng, his eyes revealing fierce intent and murderous aura.

“Late?”

Ba Zun'an sharply shouted, raising his hand, drawing his sword to the east:

“Nothing is later than the mulberry and elm, but returning is always the rising of the sword!”

“Qingju!”

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