Chapter 58: The Arrangement of Shang Tianyan

Sang Shuiyun looked at him, yet a series of forces escaped into the depths of the earth, rapidly moving away from this cave dwelling.

"Brother Shang, I never expected you to view me this way." Sang Shuiyun's voice was low. "I do indeed have some secrets, and you have secrets of your own! I had assumed... that we understood one another, that neither of us would pry into the other's secrets. I never expected you to be investigating me, or even to believe that I could be Blood Cloud Shenjun? Do you truly think a solitary cultivator like me could possess such strength?"

Shang Tianyan looked at him: "Still denying it at this stage?"

"You have truly misjudged me." Sang Shuiyun looked at him.

"If I have misjudged you, why has your true body already fled?" Shang Tianyan looked at him.

Sang Shuiyun was silent.

"Brother Shang, it seems you are stronger than I anticipated, to be able to perceive my method of escape." Sang Shuiyun sighed. His method of escape integrated three types of Chaos Realm techniques; it was silent and soundless, something an ordinary Eternal True God could never detect.

"I have no particular expertise, I only understand a little about artifact refining." Shang said, "It is just that upon returning to Huyang City, I had no heart to compete further, yet the outside world claims my artifact refining is among the top two in Huyang City."

"You are among the top two without even competing?" Sang Shuiyun looked at him. "I knew long ago that you were the same as me."

"You and I are not the same." Shang Tianyan looked at him. "You and I are both very lonely in this world, with few attachments. But I am grateful for the experiences of this life. I watch the splendor of the world, I watch the individual cultivators; they have their own pursuits, they have their own beloved ones... just like you and I once were, full of fighting spirit and full of longing."

"This world is so splendid, why must you insist on destroying it all?" Shang Tianyan looked at him. "To destroy all of this, what is it for?"

"As long as I can become stronger, sacrificing everything is worth it!" Sang Shuiyun's eyes were cold and sharp. "What does it matter if hundreds of millions of living beings are annihilated? I, Sang Shuiyun, will certainly become a Chaos Sovereign, and in the future, I shall become a God King!"

"And what if you become a God King?" Shang Tianyan looked at him. "Even if you become a God King, there are still ancient powers like the Yanfeng Ancient Kingdom and the Lei Ting Ancient Kingdom that far surpass you. In the vast Origin Continent, there will always be those stronger than you."

Sang Shuiyun said coldly: "I am alone in this world, and now I only wish to cultivate and become stronger!"

"Are you becoming stronger just for the sake of becoming stronger?" Shang Tianyan shook his head. "You and I are truly different."

"Of course we are not the same!" Sang Shuiyun said. "You are merely an inconspicuous little wave on the Origin Continent, while I... shall be like the vast heavens and earth, dominating all things! Countless living beings across the entire Origin Continent will be influenced by me, and my will shall determine the life and death of countless lives."

Shang Tianyan looked at him: "Then, are you happy?"

Sang Shuiyun was startled.

"No matter how powerful you become, no matter how many lives you can determine the fate of, ask your own heart: if you remain lonely and in pain, then this path of yours is a path of suffering." Shang Tianyan looked at Sang Shuiyun. "We have associated for a time, and I only hope you can walk a path where your heart can find liberation and happiness, a path where you can face your once-beloved ones with equanimity."

"Regardless of how the outside world changes, your inner feelings are what is real." Shang Tianyan looked at Sang Shuiyun.

"Hahaha, are you actually trying to change me?" Sang Shuiyun looked at Shang Tianyan. "We have associated for too long; I can see through your intentions at a glance."

"Yes, I am trying to change you. I know I cannot stop you. Even the Yu Kingdom might not be able to kill you. A cultivator as sinful as you truly might become a Chaos Sovereign or even a God King. I only hope that a future peerless powerhouse... will face this world with kindness, rather than malice." Shang Tianyan looked at Sang Shuiyun.

"Hahaha..." There was madness in Sang Shuiyun's eyes. "You have your path, and I have mine! What is good or evil? My will is the will of the heavens and earth, the will of all living beings!"

Shang Tianyan shook his head gently.

"Since you have come, you must have left behind a contingency." Sang Shuiyun looked at him. "What is your contingency? No one in the entire Huyang City can kill me now, not even General Yong, who worries about affecting countless living beings. So, is your contingency entrusted to a major power?"

"How clever." Shang said.

"What contingency have you arranged?" Sang Shuiyun stared at him. "Tell me, and I can spare your life."

"Guess." Shang Tianyan smiled. "My contingency, I dare not say it will definitely kill you, but it should have a ninety percent chance."

"What exactly is the contingency?" Sang Shuiyun's eyes were full of madness.

"Let me test your strength! The strength of Blood Cloud Shenjun!" Shang Tianyan suddenly threw a punch.

He was bare-handed, yet a single punch carried a momentum that made the heavens and earth tremble! Sang Shuiyun stood where he was, motionless, allowing the punch to blast through his chest; his entire body flowed like a wave of blood.

An invisible domain enveloped the entire cave dwelling. Sang Shuiyun, in his body of blood waves, stared at Shang Tianyan: "Self-refining your divine body, refining your divine body into something like a mechanical flow secret treasure? Brother Shang, your artifact refining skills truly far surpass the entirety of Huyang City. You should not die just like this; tell me, what contingency have you left behind?"

Only by knowing the contingency could he better respond.

He understood Shang Tianyan too well! Shang Tianyan appeared enthusiastic, associating with countless friends and treating the disciples of his sect with kindness, but when it came to schemes, he was by no means inferior to him, Sang Shuiyun.

The two of them understood each other very well!

"Do you think I would tell you?" Shang Tianyan shook his head.

"Then I can only send you on your way myself!" Sang Shuiyun's body turned into blood waves, completely enveloping Shang Tianyan.

Shang Tianyan, enveloped by the blood waves, turned his head to look at this world: "This world is so splendid, yet you wish to slaughter and destroy it wantonly, just for a sliver of hope for a breakthrough..."

Whoosh!

As the blood waves eroded, Shang Tianyan's body quickly dissolved, and his True God Heart was annihilated.

Sang Shuiyun stood silently in place. Shang Tianyan was dead; the only friend he had in this world had been killed by his own hands.

"Those who block my path deserve to die." Sang Shuiyun was expressionless. He looked around in all directions. "There is actually no ambush; it seems you did not pin your hopes on the powerhouses within Huyang City. Are you intending to borrow outside power to kill me?"

This strand of Blood Cloud power also quietly escaped into the ground and left.

This place, having seen a battle, was no longer suitable for living.

In an ordinary residence, the metal lifeform Uncle Qiu looked at the night sky, waiting nervously. Suddenly, within his causal communication token, the karma of the Sect Master 'Shang Tianyan' dissipated.

"Sect Master." Uncle Qiu's heart trembled; he knew that the Sect Master had died after all.

Without hesitation, following the Sect Master's previous arrangements, Uncle Qiu immediately sent the secret letter to the five targets.

In truth, Shang Tianyan did not have absolute certainty that Sang Shuiyun was Blood Cloud, so he needed to confirm it! He worried that by the time he confirmed it, he would be dead before he could pass on the news. Thus, he had Uncle Qiu help send the secret letter.

And in reality, Shang Tianyan had also used the 'causal communication token' to transmit more explicit information.

On the side of the City Lord's Mansion, Mo Mo Li Meng was handling the aftermath. After all, Blood Cloud Shenjun had affected and slaughtered over eight billion living beings, and the impact on the entire Huyang City would be immense. If not handled well, it might trigger large-scale panic.

"Hmm?" Mo Mo Li Meng first received the transmission from Shang Tianyan, and later received the secret letter sent by Uncle Qiu.

"The true identity of Blood Cloud Shenjun is 'Sang Shuiyun'?" Mo Mo Li Meng revealed a look of surprise. "This Sang Shuiyun has lived in Huyang City for too long; I have encountered him many times at the Master Meng Hua Tower. Wherever he passes, there must be traces, and the more traces there are, the more one can attempt to deduce the heavenly secrets and track his whereabouts... Hmm?"

Mo Mo Li Meng finished reading Shang Tianyan's complete secret letter.

!.

"What a Shang Tianyan, he actually possessed a 'Causal Tracking Token', and within the Causal Tracking Token, it contained Sang Shuiyun's karma? With this Causal Tracking Token, one can track Sang Shuiyun?" Mo Mo Li Meng was overjoyed. "This makes it easy; being able to track his location, the Marquis can carefully arrange a plan and eradicate him in one fell swoop."

Even if his strength rivaled General Yong!

As long as his location was determined and preparations were made in advance, it was entirely possible to mobilize sufficiently powerful forces to wipe him out in one go.

"Shang Tianyan has truly performed a great service." Just as Mo Mo Li Meng was excited, he suddenly discovered that the karma of Shang Tianyan within the causal communication token had dissipated.

"He is dead?" Mo Mo Li Meng's heart trembled.

"That Causal Tracking Token of his is stored at the Yanfeng Pavilion, and only my father, Mo Mo Li Xiao, can go to retrieve it?" Mo Mo Li Meng did not dare to hesitate and immediately went to report this intelligence.

This was intelligence left behind by Shang Tianyan with his life.

In truth, Sang Shuiyun was extremely cautious. Even though he was a close friend of Shang Tianyan, he had never left behind blood or other items, so he would not allow Shang Tianyan to lock onto his karma.

However, Sang Shuiyun did not understand the methods of a master artifact refiner. Through their long-term association, the two sides would naturally have karmic entanglement! Relying on their mutual karma, Shang Tianyan was sufficient to imprint him into the 'Causal Tracking Token', through which Sang Shuiyun's location could be tracked.

In Shang Tianyan's view, as long as Blood Cloud Shenjun caused disaster, even if the Yu Kingdom endured it once, they could not endure it a second or third time.

Once the Yu Kingdom wanted to kill a Blood Cloud Shenjun, having the Causal Tracking Token to determine his location made it a matter of high certainty.

But Shang Tianyan also knew very clearly that there were too many variables in the future; he could only do his utmost.

The Master Meng Hua Tower Master was playing a tune alone in her small building when, suddenly, she received a transmission.

"Hmm?" The Master Meng Hua Tower Master checked it.

"The true identity of the Food Kingdom power leader 'Blood Cloud Shenjun' is Sang Shuiyun! At this moment, the top few powers in Huyang City all know this news! However, rest assured, the City Lord's Mansion owes me quite a lot, and I have already entrusted them to look after you. Furthermore, the top few powers in the city all have quite a friendship with me, and I believe they will not cause you trouble. If you truly encounter great danger in the future, other powers are unreliable; only Luohe Shenjun can help you."

"I know his temperament; for my sake, he will help you once. You must not trouble him too much; he fears trouble! Once he finds you annoying, he will no longer care whether you live or die."

"Also, do not worry about Sang Shuiyun; he will not come to the Master Meng Hua Tower again."

"Master Meng Hua, your illusion techniques are truly very mediocre; among Eternal True Gods who specialize in illusion techniques, you belong at the bottom. You must cultivate diligently in the future. In this world, one must ultimately rely on oneself."

This secret letter left the Master Meng Hua Tower Master bewildered.

Shang Tianyan and Sang Shuiyun were the only two Eternal True Gods who were infatuated with her.

"Tianyan is dead?" The Master Meng Hua Tower Master discovered that the karma of Shang Tianyan within the causal communication token had dissipated. She stood blankly in place, feeling only a booming sound in her mind; too many thoughts made it difficult for her to remain calm.

Inside the cave dwelling, at the peak of the high mountain.

Luo Feng sat cross-legged, cultivating with a calm heart.

He did not use the causal communication token and did not receive the causal transmission, but he received information from the Yanfeng Pavilion's Dark Hall.

"Luohe Shenjun, Shang Tianyan is confirmed dead. According to his dying wishes, the over three million Universe Sands and all treasures, including a secret letter, left in our Yanfeng Pavilion's Dark Hall, have all been transferred to you. Please come in person to the Yanfeng Pavilion's Dark Hall to collect them."

This piece of information left Luo Feng stunned.

Shang Tianyan, confirmed dead?

——

Thanks to the newly rewarded Alliance Master: Maoben.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 59 =====