Chapter 632: Next Supporter

Huge, pure white begonia flowers bloomed sporadically on the mountain slopes. Above each begonia, one or two figures in white, red, or gray robes stood, lay on their backs, or lay prone, their expressions blank, lost, or enraptured. They repeated simple yet profound rhythmic movements, following a certain rhythm of the Great Dao.

"Whoosh, whoosh..." The wind rustled.

Haitang'er carried the unconscious Bazun An on his back, having moved from deep within the mountains to the outer reaches of the Eight Palaces. By this time, it was unlikely that even the ordinary White Robes could catch up. Without the support of the nation-spanning Sky Veil Sensing Network, even Gou Wuyue would likely find it difficult to track down the duo of Saint Slaves.

"Mmm." A slightly painful grunt came from his back, and Haitang'er stopped in time.

"Awake?" He turned his head. A pink begonia flower bloomed in mid-air, and he gently placed the person onto it.

The scene was quiet for a long time.

Bazun An sat upright on the begonia flower, rubbing the back of his neck while looking up and watching Haitang'er. He said nothing, just watched for a long time until Haitang'er himself couldn't stand it anymore.

"The situation was critical then. You couldn't act yet, and I was forced to, having no choice but to..."

"You ambushed me?"

Haitang'er's words caught in his throat. Bazun An's eyes held a cold glint. He interrupted him like that, leaving Haitang'er at a loss for how to refute.

"Yes! That is indeed a fact."

Gritting his teeth, Haitang'er immediately continued, "But at that time, if we truly were to fight Gou Wuyue, not only had your own injuries not healed, but could you even wield a sword..."

"You ambushed me?"

The scene fell silent again.

Haitang'er heavily closed his eyes, not intending to say more. "So what if I did?" he muttered.

Bazun An spoke indifferently, "Gou Wuyue is a Sword Immortal, more than twice as strong as an ordinary Grand Void. I was unconscious, who could hold him off?"

"Cen Qiaofu could."

"Cen Qiaofu could, but who could hold off the Heavenly Mechanism Puppets and the other White Robes?"

"The Storyteller could."

"The Storyteller is only at the Dao Severing stage. If a group of Dao Severing cultivators surrounded him, he could protect himself, but others wouldn't be so foolish as to waste time and not go after others." Even while unconscious, Bazun An had his own assessment of the situation.

"Second Brother came," Haitang'er said, unable to continue. He chose to confess.

"Second Brother?" Bazun An was startled. He paused, and his voice softened. "You know, he's injured."

"He recovered," Haitang'er said.

"Did he tell you?"

"Yes."

"You believe him?"

"No."

"Then?"

Haitang'er sighed at the question. "Regardless of whether I believed him or not, he opened the Dragon Melting Realm and drew Gou Wuyue over. He wanted to fight to the death; you know his temper..."

"He wants to fight to the death, and you let him?"

Bazun An suddenly stood up and said coldly, "If he truly wanted to fight to the death, he wouldn't have allowed Gou Wuyue to smoothly reach White Cave back in Azure Dragon County!"

"He was stopped by someone," Haitang'er said, turning his head away, daring not to meet his gaze.

"Hmph." Bazun An sneered, "Those are all excuses."

He abruptly turned around and walked towards the back.

Haitang'er had no choice but to lay out a path of flowers for him to prevent him from falling, and then asked, "Where are you going?"

"Back."

"It's come to this point, and you're still going back? What can you do by going back? In your current state, can you defeat Gou Wuyue?"

"If I'm there, he won't dare to kill anyone."

"But he dares to capture you!" Haitang'er said angrily. He didn't understand the meaning of such a return. Cen Qiaofu desperately held back all high-tier White Robe combatants so they wouldn't interfere with other battlefields. Sang Qiye, by himself, stopped Gou Wuyue. Was it not also to create a path of escape for Bazun An? As Haitang'er had said earlier, having reached this point, how could they turn back? If they turned back now, wouldn't the efforts invested by multiple parties all be wasted for nothing?

When did the Chief become so sentimental? Watching the gaunt figure walk forward, step by step, without the slightest hesitation, Haitang'er couldn't help but shout.

"The battle is over!"

He looked at the shattered mountain in the distance, the sword intent from that realm, the scorching aura... and that arrow! Going back now, not even their bodies could be retrieved; it would only mean two more lives lost!

"Do you have a sword?" Bazun An didn't turn his head; his indifferent voice drifted back from ahead.

Haitang'er's heart trembled. He knew that what Hua Changdeng had severed with three swords in the past was not just an era, but also the weariness of that era's masters towards wielding a sword again. But now, what was he hearing?

"No sword!" Haitang'er's voice trembled slightly. "Even if there were a sword, you couldn't wield it."

"The path you chose for yourself, are you going to abandon it halfway? Just because of Second Brother? Just because of Gou Wuyue? Just because of this minor skirmish? Do you know what you've forgotten?" Haitang'er roared, "The true decisive battle awaits you later! Without you, it cannot be done!"

*Tap.* Bazun An stopped ahead and slowly turned his head.

"Haitang'er."

"Go?" Haitang'er's voice softened. Although it was a single word, the implication was more like, "Since you've come to your senses, will you come with me?"

Bazun An gently shook his head. "Haitang'er, it's not that I've forgotten; it's that you've grown accustomed. Waiting, lurking... What we've been brewing and accumulating has been for far too long."

Bazun An lifted his head, looking at the shattered sky. His cloudy eyes held endless vicissitudes, as if his lifelong will had also been tainted by the dust of time. But his words were resolute.

"Just like this flower," he pointed at the begonia at his feet and said, "If you don't have the ability to spend your entire life accompanying it, then you will never truly know if the most glorious moment you've witnessed, which you believe belongs to it, is indeed its true peak. Just like this hand!" He then spread open his palms, his eight fingers trembling slightly. "What you see is that it no longer has yesterday's majestic stability. But how can having no sword, or being unable to wield a sword, mean that the outcome is truly just this?"

Bazun An looked straight ahead, staring intently at Haitang'er. After a moment's thought, he said earnestly: "In this world, there is nothing you can face in the most perfect state of readiness. When the time comes, it simply comes. When the opportunity arises, you cannot refuse it. If you could truly see the most brilliant peak of a flower, or a person's perfectly fulfilled life, then you would have essentially given your all... In other words, you prepared for everything, which is why you saw the outcome you desired. But is that outcome interesting? Is it truly what you wanted to see?"

Haitang'er lowered his head. He agreed with the Chief's words, but that didn't mean he could accept them. This time, acting without perfect preparation, the potential cost could be total defeat!

Bazun An chuckled, knowing what the other was thinking. "You are too extreme, too much of a perfectionist. Not every step in life needs to be measured with absolute precision, nor are all matters in the world simply black and white. In fact, people can have a third option."

Haitang'er looked up, his eyes filled with coldness. "Is that so? You haven't devoted your whole life to it either, have you? How do you know the outcome?"

"I don't know, but I can create it. That's what I've always been doing, isn't it?"

"Create it with what?"

"With my hands, with my body, with my will, with everything that can be used, with preparations that are only half complete... By facing it, not by turning your back on it!"

*Thump.* Haitang'er's heart suddenly tightened. Was this about him... evading? He gritted his teeth, still wanting to retort.

"Put me down," Bazun An said, pointing at the withered forest below. It was scarred and desolate there, the aftershocks of the battle in the Eight Palaces having swept through, tearing trees from their roots and leaving broken branches and crumbled stones.

"Oh," Haitang'er said, reluctantly lowering him.

*Snap.* As soon as Bazun An landed, he stepped on and broke a withered branch. He lowered his head. Haitang'er also lowered his head, following his gaze. A broken branch... Was this symbolizing something? Haitang'er felt as if the sky was turning gray, and he was engulfed in gloom and sorrow. He simply couldn't persuade the Chief!

Bazun An, however, moved his feet. As if he thought of something, he thoughtfully crouched down. He picked up the withered branch, which had broken into two and was only forearm-length, and examined it for a long time.

"Chief?" Haitang'er looked towards the battle's location behind him. If they didn't leave soon, the White Robes would truly catch up.

Bazun An stood up and looked in the same direction as Haitang'er. "The battle is not over," he suddenly whispered.

Haitang'er was startled by his words. It took him a long time to realize that the Chief was responding to what he had just said about the battle between Gou Wuyue and Second Brother that had already ended.

"You can see it?" he asked with some curiosity.

"No, I can't." Bazun An gazed into the distance. With his mere Post-Heaven cultivation and full of injuries, all he could see was the broken sky. He swiftly drew a line with the withered branch in his hand, and a faint whoosh of air appeared. A corner of Bazun An's lips curved upward, and a smile appeared on his face.

"But I know... The battle has only just begun."

On the other side.

The arrow from the Evil Sin Bow returned. Clearly, Gou Wuyue's sword strike, "Time Order: Reverse," was not powerful enough to fully affect two realms. After the arrow flew back and disappeared from the sky, it returned with an unmatched momentum and shot forth violently.

"Xu Xiaoshou..." Old Sang sighed. He had never imagined that his newly taken young disciple could cause such severe damage to one of the continent's Seven Sword Immortals. Indeed, Gou Wuyue was a Sword Immortal, a Grand Void. But on this continent, cultivation alone did not determine everything. At least, if one wasn't a born Saint Body and hadn't trained their physical body, relying solely on a Grand Void body modified by the power of the Heavenly Dao was completely unable to withstand the damage from that punch.

"What kind of fist technique was that?" Old Sang didn't delve deeper. This was Xu Xiaoshou's own fortunate encounter. He knew that his disciple had many ideas, many secrets, and even more fortunate encounters. If he had to face that punch, he would actually be a bit wary, even though he was a King's Body. But regardless, Xu Xiaoshou had already done too much in this battle. It even exceeded anything his current realm should have to endure! This battle, where even Dao Severing cultivators couldn't make a mark, was fundamentally not something a junior like him should have to face. What he should have been doing was grandly and effortlessly defeating his peers on various arenas!

"Ai Cangsen..." Looking up at the arrow shooting down from the sky, Old Sang spread his hands. After losing Gou Wuyue's obstruction, he very easily collected his disciple's body, which had been torn into several pieces by the backlash of a punch. And before him, Ember's true successor, even if there was only one breath left, or even if they hadn't been dead for too long, he had several ways to reclaim a person from the hands of death.

"Snap!" Grabbing Xu Xiaoshou's remaining half of his cracked skull, Old Sang aimed at the wound and slapped a Body Restoration Pill into it. In an instant, Xu Xiaoshou's muscles began to split and grow wildly. In just a few moments, his full body was restored.

Old Sang then pulled out a pill bottle from his ring. This time, he carefully poured out a golden pill the size of a pinky fingernail. "Divine Blessing!" "Divine Blessing," reputed as the strongest healing medicine under heaven, possessed the power to dispel all negative effects, revive spirits and souls, and reverse the power of the Heavenly Dao. He forcefully fed it to him. In less than three breaths, Xu Xiaoshou "pffft" coughed up a mouthful of blood, his eyelids trembled slightly, and he opened his eyes.

"Old man..." Time seemed to slow down. Xu Xiaoshou immediately saw the arrow from the Evil Sin Bow falling from the sky, but surprisingly, being in Old Sang's embrace, he felt no anxiety whatsoever. As if even if the sky were to fall, this old man would bear it all. —A profound sense of security!

"Slap!" It grew dark before him. Old Sang took out a straw hat from his ring and placed it over his disciple's face.

"Xu Xiaoshou." He parted his lips, as if he had many things to say. But as his lips moved, it was as if nothing needed to be said, and he closed his mouth again. The scent of medicine mixed with a scorched smell, and even the old man's sweat... Xu Xiaoshou felt the scent from the straw hat on his face and understood everything. His nose suddenly stung, and he choked up a little.

"Master..." Old Sang's heart trembled, but he still didn't lower his head. The arrow, magnified in his pupils, simply didn't give him enough time to truly savor this heartfelt address, the first since the night Xu Xiaoshou formally acknowledged him as master. He knew that Xu Xiaoshou had always held resentment in his heart. But who wouldn't be resentful? His method of taking disciples was essentially treating human lives as worthless. But Old Sang didn't care. He originally had no extra time, nor extra patience, to deal with each pawn that might not grow. Only after countless attempts and countless disappointments could there truly be that slim chance. And now, clearly, Xu Xiaoshou had risen. So, his mission was accomplished.

Regrets? To say he had no regrets would be impossible. But precisely because it was hard-won, he cherished it even more. At least, in Old Sang's presence, he would not allow anyone, any being, in any way, to inflict any form of harm—physical, mental, or spiritual—upon his disciple. No one would be permitted! Even if that person was named Ai Cangsen!

"Xiaoshou, this is very likely the last thing your master will say to you." *Bang!* Old Sang forcefully slapped the person, along with the straw hat, into a spatial rift.

The straw hat flew away. Xu Xiaoshou frantically grabbed it. As the spatial rift was about to vanish, he only saw the old man's lips move a few times, forming an awkward, unsettling, yet clearly hard-tried attempt at expressing a gentle and kind smile.

"If I die, on this continent, you need not fear anyone under heaven."

After saying that, Old Sang resolutely turned around, his hands became scorched, and with a *boom*, he clamped down firmly on the Evil Sin Bow's arrow descending from the sky. The void exploded, and space shattered. Invisible airwaves flattened several miles of space. No sound could be heard anymore. Yet even at this moment, the old man's jaw muscles still trembled, and he forcibly turned his head away. He knew that sound could not travel in a vacuum, and Xu Xiaoshou would likely not hear him. But he still insisted on speaking. What he didn't know was that even if only a sliver of the spatial rift remained, Xu Xiaoshou's "Perception" could still completely discern his lip movements.

"Your next patron, the Holy Palace, Dragon Melting!"