Chapter 44: Chapter Forty-Two: The Fall of Viscount Luo Fu Gu De

Luo Shan never imagined that one day he would appear as the world's protector, and he never expected that he would cooperate with Ming Guang, the enemy who killed his parents. And Ming Guang, too, gave his life in this ancient battle.

Perhaps, when the whole world faces crisis, personal grudges are nothing.

At this moment, Viscount Luo Fu Gu De was wielding his longsword, fighting the Honored God to an intense degree. His strength was far inferior to the Viscount's, leaving him unable to confront the Honored God head‑on; he could only keep moving, attacking from the Honored God's weakly defended rear and flanks. The Honored God's strength had greatly diminished; facing the Viscount's exquisite swordsmanship, he was not immediately overwhelmed, yet for a time he could not prevail. After all, the Viscount was a Human Emperor‑level expert; exerting his full power, his might was extraordinary. Luo Shan, seeing both sides display such astonishing strength, couldn't help but feel secretly shocked.

However, at this moment Luo Shan only felt a powerful magical aura suddenly surge through his body, warm and indescribably comfortable, making his sword‑wielding strength seem to increase severalfold. Luo Shan suddenly realized this was due to his bloodthirsty soul, which was drawing power from the surrounding death.

The Honored God appeared, and the summit of Cold Mountain instantly ran red with blood, corpses strewn everywhere. Amid this massive death were experts from Mecklenburg, Bavaria, Goth, Hesse, and Ming Guang himself. Each of their powers was at the Human Sovereign level or above; though their bodies had perished, their magical force remained undiminished, and at this moment it was wholly absorbed by Luo Shan's bloodthirsty soul, entering his body. Although the Honored God also possessed a bloodthirsty soul, his flesh had long been destroyed; his power now resided entirely in Xiao Tian's body. Xiao Tian, though a master of his generation, lacked a bloodthirsty soul, so the Honored God, while still formidable, had long lost the ability to draw strength from death. Luo Shan's original magical power was merely on par with Ming Guang, Bavaria, and the like, but now he had suddenly absorbed the strength of several experts of comparable standing. Though he could not immediately use it all, it was already abundantly plentiful—so much that even Viscount Luo Fu Gu De might not be his match at this moment. Hence, with a casual offhand strike he gained extraordinarily great power, startling even himself.

"Luo Shan kid." Faced with the powerful Honored God, Viscount Luo Fu Gu De also gradually felt strained. He was an unparalleled master, clearly aware of both his own strength and the enemy's. After hundreds of exchanges, his and Luo Shan's swordsmanship could not subdue the Honored God, yet they faintly risked defeat. Knowing that continuing this fight meant certain loss with no chance of victory, he said: "Ming Guang and the others have already perished; humanity is weak and few. With our two forces we are absolutely no match for the Honored God; if we keep fighting, death is certain. I will now stake my life to block him—you quickly take Qin Yan and flee for your lives. No matter how heaven and earth are torn apart, never come out!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? I can't understand." Luo Shan gritted his teeth and in an instant unleashed seven consecutive strikes. "If we cannot win today, we might as well die here. Should the whole continent fall into the Honored God's hands, given his bloodthirsty nature, how could there be any place left for us in the world?" "Boy, you are truly foolish!" Viscount Luo Fu Gu De roared angrily. "To die here—does that make you a hero? If you don't leave, Qin Yan, who knows no magic, staying here means certain death." "If Qin Yan comes to harm, I will die with her." Luo Shan glanced at the white‑clad girl not far away, gave a faint smile. "Anyway, the whole human world is destined to perish; dying together here would not be a regret."

"Foolish, foolish!" Viscount Luo Fu Gu De seethed with anger, yet could only roar like this. He knew Luo Shan's character—once he made a decision, even if heaven and earth collapsed he would not change it. However, Qin Yan was his only daughter; he knew this battle offered no chance of victory, and naturally hoped at least she could escape alive. His mind in turmoil, his magical power suddenly weakened. The Honored God seized the opening, abruptly unleashing a move; magical force like a mountain‑toppling wave surged toward his chest. The Viscount's heart jolted; having no time to dodge, he hastily mustered all his strength to block. Instantly his body shook, blood gushing forth. Although the Viscount's power was far inferior to that of Ming Guang, Bavaria, and the like, this blow, though he suffered a serious wound, also deflected the Honored God's spell, altering its direction so it slammed violently into the ground.

Luo Shan knew this was a once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity; he flashed forward, his right hand delivering a sword strike that unfolded the exquisite Genesis Sword Technique aimed at the Honored God's throat, while his left hand clenched into a fist, magical light already gathering in his palm. With a furious shout, a bolt of light shot forth like thunder that leaves no time to cover one's ears. Just as it seemed the Honored God could not defend and was about to be struck and wounded, Luo Shan's gaze swept the battlefield, his heart leapt, and he instinctively cried out. It turned out the Honored God's blow, blocked by Viscount Luo Fu Gu De, had been deflected and was now heading straight for where Qin Yan stood! Luo Shan was in the midst of launching a fierce assault, his strength surging outward, leaving him no way to ride the wind to her aid; his vision instantly darkened. Even stalwarts like Bavaria and Ming Guang, after taking a hit from the Honored God, would end up with broken necks and severed bones, dead. Qin Yan, who knows no magic, now faced this world‑destroying, immensely powerful spell—what would become of her?

Luo Shan felt only a piercing pain in his heart, daring not to think further. At that moment his longsword trembled and had already sliced into the Honored God's neck, blood spurting out! It turned out that Viscount Luo Fu Gu De's hasty blow had already disrupted the repeatedly wounded Honored God's breath, leaving him momentarily unable to respond. Meanwhile Luo Shan, having absorbed the strength of Ming Guang, Bavaria, and other masters, now possessed cultivation not inferior to the Viscount's; his left‑hand spell, launched after the strike, struck the Honored God's protective barrier and shattered it completely, while his right‑hand sword, imbued with great magical power, actually broke through the Honored God's final defense and solidly cut into his flesh!

However, although the Honored God had been struck by the sword, the blow he had previously launched was already shooting straight toward Qin Yan.

Luo Shan felt a pang in his heart; he poured strength into his sword and with a fierce diagonal cut cleanly sliced the Honored God's body in half! The Honored God's eyes widened, revealing an incredulous expression; his left hand suddenly gathered all his remaining strength, and a beam of light shot out instantly, piercing Luo Shan's lower abdomen. Luo Shan only saw darkness before his eyes, yet he did not relax his grip. That move of the Honored God was already a spent force; now his last strength was exhausted, and the body, severed in two, lost all support and plummeted from mid‑air. Luo Shan, struck by the Honored God's dying blow, was also gravely wounded; thinking of Qin Yan, his heart ached even more, and the strength that had long sustained him in battle vanished in an instant, causing him to fall together with the dead Honored God from the sky.

Time, in his heart, seemed to have congealed.

Qin Yan…… Qin Yan……

You must not come to harm.

This was his only thought while unconscious.

However, he did not see that, at the very moment the Honored God's mountain‑toppling wave turned to strike Qin Yan, a figure arrived on the wind in the nick of time, positioning himself in the air not far in front of Qin Yan‑Luo Fu Gu De, and bodily took the blow!

In an instant the light shattered; Qin Yan only felt her vision flash white, that person had already heavily fallen, with a boom landing beside her. Qin Yan instinctively ran over; upon seeing the blood‑soaked face, her heart felt as if struck by a heavy blow, and tears immediately streamed down. This was the scene she most dreaded, yet reality was so merciless—it burst suddenly into her life, crushing her tiny hope completely.

The one who sacrificed himself to block that blow for her was none other than her father, Viscount Luo Fu Gu De!

It turned out that Viscount Luo Fu Gu De, having expended all his strength to deflect the Honored God's attack, then turned his head and saw that beam of light heading straight down toward Qin Yan! All his life he had only this one daughter; although Qin Yan had fled the manor for Luo Shan's sake, almost taking a stance opposed to him, in the Viscount's heart she would forever remain his obedient daughter, no matter how the world's seas shift and sands change.

Therefore, at any time he was willing to trade his life for his daughter's safety.

At this moment, knowing Qin Yan had absolutely no chance of surviving that strike, Viscount Luo Fu Gu De clenched his teeth against the surging blood in his chest, disregarding the fact that his own magical power was now dissipating, and immediately plunged from mid‑air, in the nick of time blocking the Honored God's spell. He had summoned his full strength in the previous strike; there was no time to gather it anew, so he simply used his own body as a barrier and stubbornly endured that mountain‑toppling blow.

In an instant the protective barrier shattered into countless fragments under the tremendous force; the Honored God's magic entered his body, instantly crushing the Viscount's five viscera and six bowels, together with nearly all his bones, turning them into flying fragments inside him. The Viscount could not even spurt blood; he was slammed down hard, blood seeping from every part of his body.

"Father!" Qin Yan wailed and lunged forward, yet she found the Viscount's body wherever she could touch it soft and limp, as if all his bones had vanished—any contact left a large stain of blood. The Viscount's eyes remained wide open, his body limp, but he had already ceased breathing.

His life could also be called a half‑century of wandering. After decades of bitter cultivation he had attained the strength of a Human Emperor, nearly the strongest person on this continent apart from the deities. Yet the existence of gods made him uneasy; even though he had regained such great power, he still felt unsatisfied.

If it were not so, he would not have schemed to obtain Luo Shan's bloodthirsty soul, and his only daughter would not have left him.

All of this entered the Viscount's mind in the instant the Honored God's light shattered the protective barrier. Reflecting on how glorious his life had been, yet in the end he was still destined to become a pile of white bones; the Viscount felt only a deep, bone‑aching sorrow.

Yet his death, able to buy Qin Yan's life, was worth it.

In his life, besides Qin Yan, what else was precious? And what thing could be worthy of him sacrificing his life to possess and obtain?

Only life can ever match life.

What is worth his life in exchange is also only life.