690: Chapter 690 Sharing Glory and Disgrace, United by Blood

The Realm Spirit was silent for a moment.

"I do not know."

He said, his voice carrying a hint of bewilderment for the first time, "Perhaps I will dissipate, perhaps I will flee into the depths of Chaos, or perhaps... one day, I will return in another form."

He looked toward Chu Changsheng.

In those eyes that had seen through the vicissitudes of eternity, a trace of something nearly resembling a smile appeared, which was rare.

"Lord of Heaven, there is no need to worry about me. I came from nothingness and shall return to nothingness; it is only natural. It is you, however—"

His tone gradually grew solemn: "Your path is still very long. Yuyao Pass is merely a starting point, and Nanming Province is also just a starting point. This world is far vaster than you imagine, and your destiny..."

He did not finish his sentence.

Because at this very moment, his body began to turn transparent.

Emerald-gold light emanated from him like fireflies, drifting toward every corner of the great hall.

Those Dao Laws were also snapping and dissipating one after another, turning into specks of starlight and merging into the Void Realm.

"The time has come," the Realm Spirit said in a low voice.

Chu Changsheng's hand clenched involuntarily.

He wanted to say something, but when the words reached his lips, he felt that a thousand words would be pale and powerless.

Having walked this path, from the Southern Region to the Northern Region, from the Mortal world to the cultivation world.

Although the Realm Spirit rarely appeared, it had always accompanied him in another way.

During ten years of drifting in the endless Void Realm, if not for the Realm Spirit's guidance, he might have long been lost in that eternal darkness.

"Realm Spirit."

Chu Changsheng spoke, his voice calm, "Will I ever be able to see you again?"

The Realm Spirit's figure was now almost completely transparent, leaving only those eyes still clear.

Those eyes looked at Chu Changsheng, as if looking at a junior, and also as if looking at an old friend with whom he had walked through long years side by side.

"Who knows."

He smiled.

This was the first, and also the last time, that Chu Changsheng truly felt the Realm Spirit's smile.

"Perhaps one day, when you are strong enough to overlook the Myriad Heavens and Worlds, if you look back—I will be there."

The voice faded.

The emerald-gold light dissipated completely.

The great hall returned to silence.

The star-shattered jade lit up with a faint glow again, and the killing Dao patterns on the hall pillars resumed their flow, as if nothing had ever happened.

Only the mountain of treasures on the ground, along with the five bronze fragments and four Jade Slips floating in front of Chu Changsheng, silently proved that everything that had just occurred was real.

Chu Changsheng stood where he was, not moving for a long time.

His hand was still maintained in the outstretched posture, his fingertips seemingly still lingering with that trace of cold and vast Aura from when he touched the Realm Spirit.

But before him, it was empty; there was nothing left.

After a long while.

He slowly withdrew his hand and looked down at the five bronze fragments.

The fragments floated quietly, mottled with rust, appearing unremarkable.

But Chu Changsheng knew that these would be the most precious things in the long years to come.

"Sharing honor and disgrace, bound by the same Qi."

He softly repeated the Realm Spirit's words, his gaze falling on the four Jade Slips, a thoughtful look flashing in the depths of his eyes, "Will they... all come to my side?"

He always felt that in the Realm Spirit's final words, there was some hidden mystery he had not yet fully grasped.

Chu Changsheng took a deep breath, suppressing all the emotions in his heart.

He waved his hand, collecting the treasures on the ground along with the bronze fragments and Jade Slips into his storage space.

Meanwhile—

The Southern Region.

Above the Zhenwu Dynasty.

Lead-gray thunderclouds surged and galloped like millions of ancient Vicious Beasts, pressing the entire sky extremely low and heavy, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.

Bolts of silvery-white lightning, as thick as water buckets, shuttled crazily through the clouds, tearing through the long sky and illuminating the thousand-mile Imperial City below—magnificent and endless.

In the city, countless Cultivators and commoners looked up at the sky, their faces deathly pale.

The Aura permeating the thunderclouds was too terrifying, as if a killing god from the abyss of Hell was treading on the lightning, approaching step by step, each step treading on their hearts, making the entire Imperial City tremble.

Rumble—

Another bolt of lightning exploded.

In the blinding electric light, a figure stepped over from the distant horizon.

This figure was so tall that he did not resemble a Mortal.

The silver-gold battle armor shimmered with a cold, piercing metallic luster in the lightning; his exposed right arm had knotted muscles, as if cast from silver-gold, and every muscle fiber contained power enough to shatter mountains and rivers.

His face was cold and stern as if carved by a knife and axe, and his silver-gold short hair stood up on end.

In his pair of silver-gold pupils, there was not a trace of warmth, only a kind of pure, almost instinctual—killing intent.

With every step he took, the Void Realm beneath his feet cracked inch by inch, spiderweb-like cracks spreading in all directions, as if even this world could not bear his weight.

And what was most suffocating was the vision behind him—

Two giant Dragons coiled within the life wheel behind him!

One was a golden Dragon, its entire body brilliant golden, scales and claws flying, emitting a majestic imperial Aura, as if it were an emperor ruling over the Myriad Heavens and Worlds!

One was a silver Dragon, its entire body silvery-white as snow, cold and chilling, with blood-red eyes, carrying an intent of destruction that would annihilate everything!

The two Dragons intertwined, their roars shaking the heavens, churning the sky into a gold and silver vortex!

Chu Zhanxiao.

Descends.

Above the Zhenwu Dynasty, countless terrifying Auras shot into the sky almost at the same instant!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

One figure after another tore through the Void Realm, appearing opposite Chu Zhanxiao.

Every figure exuded the terrifying pressure of the Mahayana Stage, churning the Spiritual Qi within a thousand miles into Chaos.

Behind them, dozens of Auras of the Void Refinement Stage followed closely; further back were dense, countless Soul Transformation Cultivators, covering the entire sky like a plague of locusts.

A full eight Mahayana Stage Cultivators.

Dozens of Void Refinement Stage Cultivators.

Tens of thousands of Soul Transformation Stage Cultivators.

Such a force, placed anywhere in the Southern Region, would be enough to sweep through everything and crush all things.

Yet at this moment, they were all gathered here, standing in battle array, just to surround and kill one person.

The person at the lead was clad in golden armor, holding a golden longsword. The sword body flowed with majestic imperial Aura, as if a single strike could sever mountains and rivers and split the heavens.

His face was majestic, with an air of disdain between his brows, typical of one who had long held a high position.

The imperial Dragon Qi around his body surged endlessly, condensing into a giant golden Dragon above his head, overlooking Chu Zhanxiao below.

The master of the Zhenwu Dynasty—Li Tianxuan.

He looked at Chu Zhanxiao, his gaze carrying a trace of complex emotion, and when he spoke, his voice was like rolling thunder, resounding through the Nine Heavens:

"In just fifteen short years, I did not expect that the former prisoner would have become so strong."

He paused, the golden Dragon behind him roaring at the sky, shaking the clouds into a surge.

"It truly is—time spares no one!"

Chu Zhanxiao did not speak.

He just stood there quietly.

His silver-gold pupils coldly stared at Li Tianxuan opposite him, stared at the eight Mahayana Stage Cultivators behind him, stared at the dozens of Void Refinement Stage experts, and stared at the overwhelming army of Soul Transformation Cultivators.

There was no expression on his face.

No anger, no hatred, no fear, not even a trace of emotional fluctuation.

It was as if everything before him—eight Mahayana, dozens of Void Refinement, ten thousand Soul Transformation—in his eyes, was nothing but a group of ants on the side of the road.

He slowly raised his right hand.

Zzzzt—

Silver-gold lightning spread from his palm, like thousands of silver snakes dancing crazily, ionizing the surrounding air with crackling sounds.

The lightning gathered more and more, becoming denser and denser, until the entire sky was illuminated as bright as day by the silver-gold electric light!

Then—

A great halberd condensed from the lightning!

This was a great halberd that was silver-gold all over.

The halberd shaft was long and slender, covered with dense, ancient patterns, each pattern flowing with silver-gold light, as if it possessed its own life.

The halberd blade was extremely sharp, shimmering with cold light.

Just looking at it made one's eyes sting, as if countless needles were pricking deep into the pupils.

The moment the great halberd appeared, Chu Zhanxiao's entire Aura soared suddenly!

If he had previously been a silver-gold statue of a killing god, then at this moment—he was a true Asura who had stepped out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood!

His Aura was forcibly raised by three points!

That killing intent, so thick it was almost tangible, swept across the entire scene like a violent storm, causing the faces of those Mahayana Stage Cultivators opposite him to change slightly.

Chu Zhanxiao gripped the great halberd with one hand, the tip pointing diagonally toward the ground. Silver-gold lightning flowed slowly along the halberd shaft.

He finally spoke.

His voice was low and hoarse, like the sound of metal friction.

Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying a kind of bone-deep hatred that had been suppressed for far, far too long:

"Li Tianxuan."

"You must already be very clear—why I have come."