Chapter 119

Among the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation, any single one could be described as possessing ferocious might and awe-inspiring prestige.

Since their debut, they have been ferocious and tyrannical, oppressing countless people, with no small number of blood-soaked cases on their hands.

For such figures, who knows how many people have longed for them to meet with disaster.

And it is not as if no one has painstakingly sought revenge.

There were bitter cultivators who painfully tempered themselves in the Fire Domain for over five hundred years, there were those who spent unimaginable costs to set up grand killing arrays...

All for the sake of slaying a certain one of the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation, to avenge the murder of their kin.

Their wills could be called tenacious, their deeds worthy of song and tears, yet their endings were all the more desolate.

All acts of revenge, all assassinations, ultimately ended in failure.

Such legends have spread across many a Star Sky Ancient Road and even the Emperor Pass Ancient Road, causing listeners to sigh with regret.

Because although the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation were cruel and incomparably vicious, their strength indeed far surpassed ordinary people, even to the point of being peerless among heroes.

Moreover, they have always been of one breath and connected branches, advancing and retreating together.

The more people and forces they offended, the more cautious they became, rarely acting separately.

In a certain sense, they were even more formidable than the Luan Tian Seven Heroes of the past.

And obviously, not every era sees the emergence of someone like the Chaos Great Emperor.

So much so that before the Wu Shi War, people could only pin their hopes on heavenly retribution, fantasizing that when the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation underwent tribulation, the heavens would send down peerless thunder punishment, take them away, and not let such people achieve the Dao.

This is also why, when Wu Shi defeated the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation as easily as destroying withered wood and pulling rotten roots, people were so excited and overjoyed.

Even though, out of apprehension, they dared not show it too openly, the joy in everyone's hearts overflowed in their eyes.

And in that battle, Lao Er of the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation died, while the others all suffered heavy injuries.

Therefore.

It is not that no one thought: could there be an expert who would seize the opportunity to act and completely eliminate these few ferocious men?

As for which expert, some thought of the Kunpeng Quasi-Emperor, or the Divine Race Quasi-Emperor, or even Wu Shi personally giving chase.

Because they all had reasons to act.

However.

No one expected that the rumor that finally leaked out was: the one who finished off these few of the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation was actually Lao Ba from among them, that young man who looked comparatively kindly!

In fact.

This rumor was not groundless.

On the Emperor Pass Ancient Road, an astonishing piece of news had already been verified by people.

That is: the sects or clans of the first seven of the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation had all been utterly destroyed, occurring within a single month after the great battle with Wu Shi.

If not for these seven world-shaking Quasi-Emperors already being dead, who would dare do such a thing, who would have such ability?

When everything finally settled, the only one who reappeared on the Emperor Pass Ancient Road was Lao Ba of the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation.

All signs indicate that this is all true.

This outcome shocked everyone.

Truly, one cannot judge a person by appearance, countless people exclaimed in amazement.

The harmless-looking Lao Ba turned out to be so ruthless, killing all six of his fellow travelers in one go?!

Why did he do this? Was there some unknown grudge, or purely for his own Emperor Road?

For a time.

On the entire Emperor Pass Ancient Road, who knows how many doubts arose, rumors surging like clouds.

And Lao Ba offered not the slightest explanation for all of this.

He merely quietly appeared in the Fiftieth City of the Emperor Pass, silently drinking a pot of wine alone, completely ignoring the surrounding gazes, whether fearful, panicked, or secretly harboring disgust.

Finishing a pot of wine, he tossed down some Source Stones, then continued on his way, advancing toward the city ahead.

Judging by the situation, he seems intent on charging the First City of the Emperor Pass again.

If so, he is very likely to run into Wu Shi once more.

This astonishing scene truly defied everyone's expectations once again!

This Lao Ba was clearly no match for Wu Shi in the previous battle.

Yet now he still advances fearlessly; could it be that after swallowing and devouring his several elder brothers, he has gained enough confidence?

The Universe is vast and boundless.

In the Xing Kong, cold and darkness are the eternal themes.

Lao Ba thus traversed the void city by city, also gaining insights into something.

Finally, he arrived at the First City of the Emperor Pass, the so-called Ultimate Land.

Along this road, who knows how many gazes of attention he attracted, and there were those who followed behind, yet they kept an extremely distant distance, afraid of provoking his wrath.

And this day finally arrived.

The Ultimate Land of the Emperor Pass.

Wu Shi, who was sitting in meditation on a high platform, suddenly opened his eyes; he saw Lao Ba at the city gate, facing him from afar.

Only upon reaching such a height could one faintly perceive that Lao Ba already vaguely possessed the aura of an Incomplete Chaos Body!

It can be said that the current Lao Ba has grown strong enough to almost stand on equal footing with him.

At this moment, golden light burst forth from Wu Shi's eyes.

Of course.

This is not solely because of Lao Ba's formidable strength, but also because Wu Shi has clearly discovered another anomaly!

"My name is Rui Zheng."

Unexpectedly, Lao Ba did not start a fight right away, but instead announced his name.

Only now did people learn this young man's true name; his name did not seem all that ruthless either.

He still had that same harmless, delicate face.

Only his eyes held a bloody hue, and a cruel cold light seemed to flash faintly within them, but it passed in an instant, as if he were experiencing some kind of suppression or struggle.

And his next sentence was even more unexpected.

"May I buy you a drink?"

This was the second thing Rui Zheng said to Wu Shi; his tone was calm, his face expressionless.

Clad in blue robes, he stood tall in the starry sky; at this moment he actually exuded a certain dust-free quality, yet also seemed to carry a hint of resolve.

The bearing he displayed at this moment actually seemed not the least bit inferior to Wu Shi's!

Wu Shi had no reason to refuse such a request, and he also vaguely harbored a certain guess in his heart.

At the only tavern in the Di Guan Ultimate Land, two young men sat facing each other.

White-clothed Wu Shi, blue-clothed Rui Zheng.

There was no tense standoff, no flashing blades or swords, only a past story being told slowly.

Many years ago.

On an Ancient Star, there was a young child born into a certain Pill Aristocratic Family passed down through generations.

At his birth, he absorbed the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi for thousands of li around; fortunately the clan suppressed it in time with a secret artifact, so none leaked out.

Otherwise, it might have brought some unfathomable calamity.

Soon after, the clan's Supreme Elder investigated with a Secret Technique and verified that he indeed possessed a certain Dao Body.

Although it could not be called a Peerless constitution that surpassed all stars, it was still a Rare cultivation genius seen only once in hundreds of thousands of li.

For the entire Pill Aristocratic Family, this was absolutely the strongest Heaven's Pride in a thousand years!

Therefore.

This secret was strictly guarded; only the Supreme Elder, the Patriarch, his parents, and a mere handful of others knew.

And he was clever from childhood, doted on by his parents and clan since he was small.

There was also a young lady not many years older than him, who also doted on this pink and adorable younger brother, protecting him dearly.

However.

This happy childhood time ultimately could not last long.

Because the Pill Aristocratic Family was ultimately not skilled in cultivation, they feared delaying his path of cultivation.

For this, the Supreme Elder enlisted a bosom friend of his, one like high mountains and flowing water, who was also an old Sage loose cultivator in the mountains.

The old Sage originally did not wish to accept a disciple, but unable to withstand the Supreme Elder's repeated requests, he finally came to the Pill Aristocratic Family and took the child as his disciple.

But before departing, he used Yin Yang Secret Arts to sever the child's Karma with the Pill Aristocratic Family, so outsiders could not detect it, and only then brought the child back to the mountains to cultivate.

Years passed, time flew, ten years went by in a flash.

This child named Rui Zheng had already grown into an elegant youth.

He indeed possessed outstanding Tian Cai; in such a short time his realm had already far surpassed his peers.

Perhaps in the future reaching the Saint realm, or even becoming a Great Saint, was not without possibility.

Over these years, he had also had brief reunions with his parents and the young lady.

Each such reunion was exceptionally moving and warm, a testament to the bond of kin and blood, and proof that blood is thicker than water.

Every time his mother saw him, she wept without stop, holding him tightly in her embrace.

Although the young lady at the side often teased him, making the youth Rui Zheng always embarrassed, his face often flushing red.

But in fact, the young lady herself also always held him in her arms unwilling to let go, as if to compensate for the years of Separation from her blood brother.

But for some unknown reason, his master set a certain Restriction; such reunions were only a scant few times, and extremely secret.

At first, Rui Zheng did not understand at all.

Until later, he finally understood his master's painstaking care.

Indeed.

This day ultimately still arrived.

Rui Zheng, sitting in meditation in the mountains, suddenly opened his eyes; he felt a tearing heart-palpitations, as if something extremely ominous had occurred.

And the facts proved his spiritual sense was not false.

Soon, a shocking piece of news arrived.

That Pill Aristocratic Family outside the mountains was annihilated by a single casual strike from a certain powerful cultivator; everyone died unnatural deaths.

Some said the attacker was close to becoming a Great Saint, came from an organization called the "Tianhuang Four Gods," with unfathomable background.

Some also said the Pill Aristocratic Family suffered this calamity because the Tianhuang Four Gods coveted their clan's supreme treasure, a single Nine Thousand Year Divine Herb, Rare even across several Star Domains.

Of Course.

Most people still kept silent, daring not to speak much.

Otherwise, given the Tianhuang Four Gods' style of uprooting completely, if they knew there were still people speaking up for them, they would absolutely not hesitate to send Subordinates to kill to the last.

As for those who dared run to the Pill Aristocratic Family to mourn, there was not a single one; no one dared go to their death!

Even Rui Zheng, upon receiving the news, could only stand far away on the mountains at the clan's Outside, across endless distance, watching those ruined, Collapsed Ancient Buildings, where faintly lay his parents' and sister's bodies that had long lost their vitality.

That was a pain of Despair pushed to the extreme.

Tears flowed before words could form, heart-rending, seeping into the bone marrow!

Rui Zheng dared not close his eyes, for then his parents' kind and gentle faces would surely appear before him, along with the young lady's warm and gentle care...

He could not even go over to collect their bodies for burial, to let them rest in peace in the earth.

Because it was very Obviously, the Tianhuang Four Gods must have laid a follow-up hand in the surroundings, precisely to see if any fish slipped through the net.

This is their long-standing modus operandi.

And even if Rui Zheng was unaware of these things, with his intelligence, he had long since speculated and taken precautions against this point.

Yet he could not simply throw his life away.

Even though by comparison his cultivation was too low, seemingly with no thought of revenge at all, he still had to survive, survive until that day when there was a sliver of hope.

And at this moment, he finally understood his master's painstaking effort in initially severing the karma between him and his relatives.

His master bore the title Yin Yang Zi; perhaps initially he had already vaguely glimpsed a strand of future blood-light through Yin Yang Secret Arts.

Even if this strand of blood-light might not necessarily come true, it was still a precaution, a kind of foresight in the cruel cultivation world.

And now, this painstaking effort had indeed played a slight role.

At least it preserved his only bloodline, and perhaps retained a thread of future possibility.

Across a vast distance, Rui Zheng wept blood as offering, not even caring that tears of blood flowed from his eyes.

In the end, he departed, only before leaving using divine crystals to imprint this bleak scene and place it in a secret realm.

This was the only memento he left for his parents and relatives; otherwise he would never see them again.

And then.

In the hundreds of years that followed, a Heaven's Pride rose up, his name shaking several Star Domains.

Almost at the same time, that organization called the "Tianhuang Four Gods" also grew increasingly prosperous, its might shaking one side of the Universe.

Even their name changed to "Tianhuang Six Gods", for they had absorbed two more utterly trustworthy Peerless Great Saints.

That Heaven's Pride named Rui Zheng had also grown into a Great Saint, his Combat Power not much weaker than the latter few of the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation, but wanting to contend with those six was still impossible.

Later still.

On an Ancient Star rumored to hold a Quasi-Emperor's legacy treasure, Rui Zheng "unexpectedly" encountered Lao Er of the Tianhuang Six Gods, and became acquainted with him.

The two shared a common interest in Source Arts, discussed them mutually, inspired each other, to no small benefit for both.

A kindred spirit is hard to find; Lao Er was quite delighted for a time.

Because Source Arts are profound, easy to learn but hard to master; without unique talent one can hardly achieve anything in them, therefore those who understand this path are extremely few.

But to make Lao Er lower his guard was as hard as ascending to heaven; he merely regarded Rui Zheng as a fellow practitioner of Source Arts.

It just so happened that Rui Zheng, not only could he sit and discuss the Dao with him, expounding subtle principles, but his nature was pure and bright, as if possessing a hollow, innocent heart, harmless to man and beast.

After decades of interaction, Lao Er finally pulled Rui Zheng into his own group, ultimately forming the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation!

The twists and turns, the perils during this period, are indescribable.

Until another hundred-plus years passed, the Eight Gods of Heavenly Desolation fought One Battle with Wu Shi, only then did Rui Zheng find a Peerless Opportunity, striking down all six of the previous ones and Swallowing them Clean.

At the tavern in the Di Guan Ultimate Land.

Fine wine fragrant, drifting with the wind along with the gentle narration laced with blood and tears.

Fallen leaves rustle, autumn wind sighs, like weeping, like whispering, as if mourning those departed dead souls.

Such a past has long left all surrounding cultivators dumbfounded.

No one expected that the seemingly villainous Lao Ba actually had such a desperate past.

Who knows how his heart has suffered frustration and torture these years.

Needless to say, it must be a tragic song of blood and tears!

Clearly hatred deep as a sea of blood, yet he had to feign intimacy with enemies, force a smiling face, muster reverence and love for them from the depths of his consciousness, otherwise he would surely be Perceived.

And fortunately he still succeeded in the end, finally striking down several enemies completely!

People can almost imagine the Scene of those Tianhuang Eight Gods villains before their deaths.

(Chapter End)