Chapter 400: Gift

A wind carrying ash and dust rushed toward his face.

The sky, covered in cracks, radiated light.

It illuminated Ji Jue's eyes.

The skeletal serpent rose from the abyss, dancing wildly and coiling; its nearly infinite body surged continuously from the depths, entangling itself around the Sower's arm.

Through the firmament of the Rift Realm, it was as if looking through a cracked glass cover; everything was magnified, including the Sower's massive form.

The giant serpent writhed, coiling tightly around that arm which struggled in fury.

Wave after wave of magnificent ripples spread continuously from the fingertips, the wrist, and the arm; wherever they passed, everything was utterly annihilated.

Amidst the earth-shattering ripples, a burning figure emerged from atop the serpent's skull.

Compared to everything else, he was like a speck of dust.

"Hello there."

Ji Jue strolled between the iron scales, raised his head, and waved toward the Sower across the Rift Realm and the turbulence: "We meet again!"

Books once said: Every encounter in life is a reunion after a long separation.

When Ji Jue first read it, he only felt that such pretentious, sour sentimentality was all bullshit, yet at this moment, he inexplicably understood and grasped the truth within it.

Perhaps, what it spoke of was exactly this.

Clearly so strange, yet destined to be familiar; from the very first

glance, he felt the long entanglement of time to come.

And the moment he saw those eyes again, he could no longer hold back a smile, feeling joy and happiness from the bottom of his heart, already unable to wait to step forward and offer a greeting:

"Have you been doing well?"

Boom—!

The fierce light of the Natural Enemy Blade erupted, piercing out from behind the Sower, gushing like a fountain; the fierce light raged, burning away the paleness, and infinite blood sprayed out from the wound.

Pierced, severely wounded!

It seems not well.

As if in response to him, it made him laugh out loud, filled with joy—that's great, I've waited for you for so long, and you've finally spoken to me!

Seeing that you aren't doing well, I can finally rest easy.

It's okay, don't worry or be afraid if you aren't doing well.

Because, with my help, you're about to do even worse very soon!

This serpent is a gift I'm giving you; I searched for a long time in the Sacrifice Temple. Take it quickly, don't be polite, take it back and nourish your body!

"———————!!!!"

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The giant serpent hissed; though it had no flesh or blood, it emitted a high-pitched sound like silent steel grinding. Countless bone joints rubbed against each other, shooting out sharp spikes like countless tiny blades and needles, which, following the writhing of its body, pierced into the giant hand.

Pale phantom light like blood gushed out continuously, only to be swallowed and absorbed entirely by the serpent's body. The serpent's maw grew increasingly firm, tightening and clamping down.

Letting the cracks on its body spread continuously, it refused to let go!

The resentment and lingering hatred were endless!

Boom!!!

Another crack appeared on the serpent's body, nearly severing it at the waist.

After such a long passage of time, it was no longer that Serpent of the Present World that once spanned the world, whose blood made the four seas salty.

Its life had flowed away without a trace, its fierce might had dissipated, and all that remained, besides this relic existing as a martial achievement, was its undying resentment.

Using this relic as a foundation, the structure of the Nether Sea Worm as its spirit, and catalyzed through countless sacrifices and offerings, it finally operated on this single breath of resentment.

It was as if the deceased had returned to life, crawling out from the grave once more.

No matter how fierce and violent it was.

Compared to an existence like the Sower, it was still limited; no matter how much it gnawed, it was like an ant trying to swallow an elephant, with no hope in sight.

Yet that baleful energy and resentment vibrated incessantly. The serpent's remaining ferocity erupted once more, crazed, devouring the phantom blood flowing from the Sower's arm without limit, not even sparing the blood outside the Rift Realm.

Like a bottomless pit, it tried to swallow everything again, overestimating its own strength.

All in vain.

Not only did it fail to shake the opponent's foundation like the Natural Enemy Sword, but it was instead eroded and infected by that eerie pale blood.

Under the irrigation of the blood, it mutated rapidly.

The spiritual quality structure of the Nether Sea Worm, after experiencing the impact of hatred, encountered such terrifying pollution and was collapsing and destroying at a speed visible to the naked eye.

And eerie flesh and blood grew rapidly from beneath the iron light, carrying wisps of paleness, and even gradually merged into the Sower's body.

It was about to be absorbed in return.

The giant serpent expanded, expanded, and expanded further!

In the end, even the entire Rift Realm could not contain it; it was almost squeezed out of the crack, breaking through the Rift Realm to the outside...

"Yes, that's right, just like that..."

Ji Jue bent down, stroking the scales on the giant serpent's skull as if in praise: "Eat more, there's plenty, take another two bites, keep it up."

Boom!!

The final shackles and controls snapped completely.

The giant serpent went mad, its scarlet eyes twisting; amidst the magnificent, endless resentment, a trace of human-like ferocity gradually emerged, looking toward Ji Jue.

Famished and unable to endure.

Ji Jue was also looking at it, gazing at the comrade and partner who had only accompanied him for less than a minute, offering his gratitude and thanks.

"It's okay, I believe in you."

He said: "And please, believe in me too!"

So-called passion and bonds are just like this—without reason, yet so tangible.

Have you felt it, friend?

It's right that you can't feel it.

It's enough that I can feel it!

In that instant, as the eroding, mutated serpent opened its maw, wanting to swallow Ji Jue in the final moment, he reached out his hand once again.

He pressed it upon the 'seven inches' that had been set up since the very beginning of its creation!

Right beneath the mutated scales, at the intersection of countless spiritual quality circuits, where all sequences and modules overlapped—the vital, crucial spot!

——Dissociation Art!

Snap!

The giant serpent stiffened, its ferocity stalled. In that glimmer of light within its eyes, was what emerged confusion, or fear? It was truly hard to distinguish.

It was as if a hand had lightly and casually pulled out the thread from the deepest part of a tangled mess, the crucial main line of a complete sweater...

And so, following Ji Jue's movement, it cracked.

An irredeemable cracking began!

With the collapse of the hub, the 'heart' shattered completely, and immediately after, the self-destruct sequence hidden beneath the spiritual quality circuits activated; like a chain reaction, the explosion spread throughout its entire body along the 'blood vessels'.

At this moment, the giant serpent filling the Rift Realm shuddered violently, dissolving amidst the explosion; it flew apart, and the life, hatred, and spiritual quality aggregated in one place scattered like rain, falling in a flurry.

But before it could spread and land.

Ji Jue reached out his hand once again.

"I have a gift I want to give you."

The Demon in the Flame laughed, launching the final sacrifice!

In the alchemy of the sin-tainted artisans who entrusted their stagnation and corruption, this was a crucial link: through the ritual, direct communication with the Great Sin, and through this resonance and burnt offering, offering massive sacrifices to bring down the true essence of evil and folly!

But at this moment, what it pointed to was not any Great Sin or vortex, but Ji Jue himself!

All evil deeds, all from my hands.

All evil consequences, return to my body!

Accompanied by the complete collapse and dissociation, when that broken skeleton fell from the firmament, the infinite essence of supreme good and Great Sin surged toward Ji Jue, all of it sinking into the 【Hole】 on Ji Jue's chest.

Immediately after, a flame light that pierced the sky erupted here.

White flames burned fiercely, black flames raged; paleness and pitch-black intertwined, sinking into the earth, rising to the firmament, circling around Ji Jue's body.

He could feel himself growing, growing, and growing again at a terrifying speed.

As long as he swallowed all of this, he could break through countless barriers and, in an instant, truly become a Sin of the Human World comparable to the Lu Changsheng of the past!

But even if he became Lu Changsheng, so what?

Even if he surpassed Lu Changsheng and became the next Sower, what of it?

Besides creating more suffering and hell, what meaning would that have?

At this moment, beneath the surging flames, the matrix of Non-Aggression faintly lit up and emerged; the fire of Non-Fate gathered and burned fiercely—Refining, begin!

In the snap of a finger, he gathered the blood-color and resentment filling the sky, making everything extract,

change, purify, and rise once more.

It was like holding a furious, violent giant serpent, suppressing its struggle and resistance time and again, and then, pouring them all, in one go, onto the giant serpent's skull...

————Into that slash mark in the void that had not dissipated for a thousand years!

With this infinite resentment and sacrifice, he catalyzed, stimulated, and reawakened this Trace of Chixiao's Existence!

"Ancestral Sword Master above!"

Ignoring the excruciating pain that tore through his flesh and soul, letting his palm be sliced and shattered, white bone exposed, he gripped tightly onto that crack, offering the final blood sacrifice, offering everything up.

"I implore you, lend me your sword!"

In that instant, with the ringing of the sword mark, the Hanxiang Mirror in his embrace also seemed to radiate bursts of light, vibrating incessantly; the intent of the Heavenly Origin within the Nine Forms of Change flowed from his chest, changing, reorganizing, and constructing, and as Ji Jue's spiritual quality flowed, it surged into that void crack together.

The sword mark blazed, fierce light erupting.

As if it were a living thing, it changed suddenly.

Ji Jue seemed to have gripped something.

He felt its howling and unruliness.

In the instant it swallowed all the sacrifices, amidst the serpent's resentment, the call of the same origin, the Sword Master's authority, and the realization of Chixiao's creation, a clear and distant cry suddenly rose from within.

It broke through the Rift Realm and resounded through heaven and earth.

It spread lingeringly.

An unexpected change manifested at this moment.

In a trance, Ji Jue's soul seemed to have drifted away

along with that ringing.

The infinite lingering sound broke through the storm, the sky cover, and the crust, rising straight up, rising, and rising again, until it seemed to have gone to the past and the future.

Across ancient time, two clanging sounds of the same origin resonated for an instant.

Amidst the infinite blue waves and sea breeze, on the serpent's corpse that stretched like mountain ranges, the blood-color still meandered, like a torrent, heading toward the four seas.

And right atop the serpent's skull, the middle-aged Sword Master, singing in memory and bleary-eyed from drink, held his wine jar and suddenly raised his eyes, as if foreseeing the phantom and call from the future.

He froze for a moment, then laughed out loud, filled with joy.

Without a second thought, he waved his hand.

"A mere sword, what is there to begrudge?"

The Sword Master flicked his finger, tapping the long sword with undried bloodstains before his knees: "Take it!"

The plain long sword rang, lifted, and slashed down casually; immediately after, a red light soared into the sky, filling heaven and earth.

Vast and mighty like a long dragon, endless and raging, it poured continuously into that sword mark and disappeared.

In the silence, the sea breeze blew mightily, and there were no more strange phenomena.

At the very front, the person in charge who was urging the giants to pull the ropes to drag the serpent toward the Sacrifice Temple returned, glanced at the sword mark, and frowned in confusion:

"Your Highness, who are you talking to?"

"Yes, who indeed?"

The Sword Master was immersed in drunkenness and smiled happily: "Probably a latecomer?"

"For a guy like you who likes to go against the current, can there even be a later generation?"

His companion sneered and snorted: "Maybe in the future, among your descendants, there will be a lone tyrant who brings disaster to the world and invites universal condemnation!"

"Haha, that's also possible."

The Sword Master was indifferent; he propped himself up on his knees, bathed in sunlight, plucking his sword to play a song, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up:

"However, imagine, thousands of years later, when all things have passed, your and my remains have turned to dust, and our names and pasts have vanished into nothingness.

Yet after all things, there is still someone who can rise up, sword in hand, just like you and me...

Isn't that a good thing?"

The companion fell silent, and after a long while, sighed naturally:

"It couldn't be better."

"Right?"

The Sword Master laughed toward the sky, raised the wine jar, and tilted his head; he drank half himself and sprinkled the other half into the sea:

"This cup, let it be a toast to the latecomer!"

The leftover wine flowed into the four seas along with the blood; from then on, the four seas were all salty, but amidst the turbulent sea waves, did a portion of today's wine still remain?

That instant, thousands of years later, it was as if the scent of wine, like a hallucination, permeated the tip of his nose.

The latecomer reached out his hand, sinking it into the carving.

Finally, he gripped that fierce light that had been waiting for him for who knows how long, and pulled it out with force!

The moment the Sower turned his head in astonishment, he saw it once again.

Amidst the reignited dead ashes, a scarlet color that pierced the sky rose...

The clouds were all red, as if twenty-four heavens were opening in sequence, and the Heavenly Gate appeared.

The blue sea surged, and on the seabed beneath the surface, dragons and snakes rose from the land in an instant!

Between heaven and earth, it was as if the true master, the true controller, the true judge had arrived in an instant... Above the shadow of the tower, the square high gate appeared.

After the Great Sin, the Supreme Good descended!

Looking down at the sword light that pierced the sky in the Sin Demon's hand...

A truly genuine Heavenly Origin Sword!

Tianlu was astonished, Pang Pei and Ellis stiffened; it was not just them.

At this moment, who knows how many people lost their voices in unison:

"————Chixiao?!"

That was not the gradually decaying Emperor's Sword of the late dynasty, nor the namesake counterfeit circulating among the Thousand Islands, but the true Sword of Dominion that had reinvigorated creation, reopened the new heaven, and established eternal phenomena in the hands of the Second Monarch of the past!

At this moment, the shadow of Chixiao had come in response to the call!

Right in the hands of that burning shadow, it was raised!

The sword's ringing was loud, resounding through heaven and earth, shocking the phenomena of the universe, and becoming the axis of the world...

From now on, I'm afraid no one will ever doubt whether Lu Changsheng

has the Imperial Seal!

This manifestation of Chixiao's shadow was the best proof of Heavenly Mandate and the inheritance of the Great Unification!

But Ji Jue didn't care.

The moment this authority to dominate heaven and earth fell into his hands, only one thought, one idea, one question remained in his mind.

Looking at the Sower's giant hand reaching into the Rift Realm...

———Back then, was it this hand that sent the Calamity of the Flame Tide into the present world?

Perhaps it was the other hand.

It's possible he used both hands.

But it doesn't matter...

We meet for the first time, and I didn't bring any gift; the kindness of a drop of water from the past is even harder to repay generously. Simply put, let's just deposit this hand here as interest for now!

In that instant, the Sin Demon laughed wildly, toward that arm that was twitching and trying to pull back...

——Slash!

Heaven and earth moved, all things vibrated, singing and rejoicing.

Carrying the flowing phenomena, it made all things in the world gather within it, gathering all meaning, bidding farewell to the past, establishing the present, and creating the future.

That flame light like fire gathered into a line, flashing and disappearing...

And immediately after, a violent roar, such as had never been heard before, erupted from within the Rift Realm.

With the dissipation of that line of Chixiao's shadow, pale blood sprayed,

covering the sky like a rainstorm.

The Sower's arm was severed at the elbow!

No longer able to restrain himself, he roared!

Severely wounded!

It was not just a wound; even the slightest sensation of the lost arm no longer existed, and it was completely separated into two different individuals.

As if it were naturally so.

Lost once, lost forever.

This is Heavenly Mandate being with me, taking and giving at will!

Amidst the roar, the last thing that came was the sound of distant laughter.

The Burning Demon fell from the firmament, toward the abyss, finally waving to him, full of enthusiasm.

Filled with malice and ferocity, he bid him farewell.

Goodbye, friend.

Goodbye!

One day, you and I will meet again!