Chapter 105: 100 Corner Valley (First Update)

Clearing clouds to see the sun, the rain has passed and the sky is clear!

When the red sun first rises, the sunlight only spills onto one person, and the warmth is also for one person, but as it rises higher and higher, becoming brighter and brighter, until finally it hangs in the sky like another sun, the sunlight has already illuminated the entire firmament.

When the clouds and mist touched the sun, they immediately became thin, tiny droplets of water were evaporated by the high temperature, and the mist gradually receded, yielding a clear sky. With no dark clouds pressing down, the rain had no source and ceased in an instant.

After the heavy rain, the sky was as blue as if washed, and one could see rainbows hanging in the Bilu, five-colored and seven-hued, extraordinarily gorgeous.

Without experiencing wind and rain, how can one see a rainbow?

Where this red sun shines, it is not just the clouds vanishing and rain stopping, but a reversal of day and night. Even if the dark clouds were driven away, what should have been revealed was the night sky and the bright moon, but since the sun was there, the moon naturally lost all its luster and retreated far away, and the stars were even dimmer, almost invisible; there was only one red sun in the sky.

It is just that this is not the real sun after all, and it cannot make the earth return to Spring. Hundreds of feet away, the wind and rain were still raging, and the night was deep and thick; this is the case of "sunshine in the east, rain in the west."

But for the battlefield, this sun was enough.

Under the sunlight, everything was clear at a glance.

The battlefield, which had seemed to be at the ends of the earth, was also visible at a glance.

The flood dragon had already flown out of the river, its massive body spanning the Tian He, its heroic posture imposing and arrogant. Wind follows the tiger, clouds follow the dragon; in the air, it also had wind and rain to assist in battle, manipulating the rainwater as easily as moving its own arm, acting as it pleased as if on its home turf, but suddenly the clouds vanished and the rain stopped, the sunlight shone down, and the brilliance was blinding; it was hit in the face by the light, and could not help but freeze in mid-air, its face full of bewilderment.

The sunlight baked its scales, which shimmered with a metallic luster, and the scattered bloodstains were like rust.

Although it had just come out of the rain, it was still covered in blood, clearly having gone through a bitter battle. The dragon head, dragon horns, and dragon claws were all damaged. Blood was still trickling from the scales, teeth, and various gaps. Those bloodstains were both cyan-blue and bright red. The cyan-blue was its own, and the bright red belonged to others.

And opposite it, there was only one Bi'an, and the only remaining enemy lying on the Bi'an's back was in an even more miserable state.

"My Lord—"

Hearing someone call from behind, Xing Ji blinked, waking from the daze of the sudden clearing of the sky, and looking back, he said in surprise: "Zhaozi? Why are you like this?"

Tang Zhao was indeed in a bad state; he had just released his Sword Image, exhausting his last bit of mental strength, and had almost suffered another freefall. Fortunately, the flying cat had caught him, and now, relying on his Glasses to absorb Rune Formula power from his Art Tool, he had recovered a small amount of stamina, but he still looked very weak, and with his skin turned pale from being soaked in the heavy rain, he looked as if he might faint at any moment; his clothes were wet and then dried, and were all wrinkled.

As for the other costs of forcibly releasing the Sword Image, they were not yet visible, and he could only attend to the immediate situation first.

He smiled reluctantly and said: "My Lord, don't you look at yourself? Why are you like this?"

Compared to Tang Zhao, who was merely weak and powerless, Xing Ji was much more miserable, his body covered in wounds, and that black official uniform had already been dyed the same color as the bright red cloak he usually wore; he was lying on the Bi'an's back, seemingly having suffered a serious leg injury, unable to stand.

Just how many injuries had he sustained?

Xing Ji smiled, completely indifferent to his injuries, glanced at the red sun in the sky, and then looked at Tang Zhao.

He had more or less guessed that the red sun was created by Tang Zhao, but he did not know how it was done. Raising a sun to drive away dark clouds—he almost thought it was a Supernatural Power. He also knew that there could not be a Sword Immortal here, otherwise, why go to such trouble instead of just killing the flood dragon directly?

Then it could only be a Sword Technique or a Sword Image, and even if it were a Sword Image, it would be of an extremely powerful Sword Hero level. He did not know that Tang Zhao could use the power of a Sword Hero other than the Xiezhi Sword, but he did not get to the bottom of it. At a time like this, why ask these things?

Tang Zhao then asked: "What about the others?"

In such good weather, the situation on the battlefield was clear at a glance, and except for Xing Ji, he did not see the shadow of anyone else.

What about Teacher Si and the others?

Xing Ji said with complete indifference: "I sent them away. At this point, all means have been exhausted, and it can only be hand-to-hand combat. Their meager skills would only be a hindrance if they stayed, so I 'exiled' them."

Tang Zhao then remembered that Xing Ji's sword could teleport; back then, when he pretended to be a judge, he had once teleported Tang Zhao, Si Liyu, and Pei Shoujing away together.

Later, Tang Zhao learned that it was not teleportation, but "exile," which was also a type of punishment, corresponding to "banishment" in the penal system.

Sending all his comrades away from the battlefield—rather than saying he was afraid they would be a hindrance, it was more like the situation was desperate and he wanted to save their lives, right?

Looking at Xing Ji's state, he was also at the end of his rope. Was he unable to exile himself, or did he intend to fight to the death?

Tang Zhao felt a wave of sadness in his heart; although he had made the sky clear and changed the environment, he had no energy left to fight. Xing Ji was in such a state, and the Great Heavenly Demon seemed to have only flesh wounds and no severed limbs; could this still go on?

But could he let Xing Ji retreat?

He could persuade him, but would Xing Ji listen?

"My Lord..."

"That's enough, you get out of here too." Xing Ji waved his hand with a smile, "Don't disturb me, we will win."

At this moment, the huge flood dragon finally came to its senses, its two giant eyes emitting a fierce light. Only then did Tang Zhao notice that it was not without serious injuries; at the very least, there were several deep wounds on its spine and abdomen.

However, compared to Xing Ji...

He could not help but look at the fat cat above his head and said: "This lord, can't she come to help you?"

Xing Ji had seen the fat cat long ago and said: "You mean the Inspector? She came long ago, she is up there."

He pointed toward the source where the river descended from the sky, "Earth-type Demon Caves are troublesome like this; once the passage is opened, it is very difficult to close. Even if we destroy the Great Heavenly Demon today, this Demon Cave will remain permanently. Of two evils, we choose the lesser; our strategy is for me to hold the Great Heavenly Demon here, while she goes up to take advantage of the fact that the Demon Cave has just opened and the opening is not yet stable, to try her best to seal it. Once she succeeds, this long worm will be nothing but a tree without roots, left to be slaughtered. When she comes down then, regardless of whether I am here or not, this battle can be won."

So... was it really going to be a fight to the death?

Tang Zhao was silent; the battle had reached this point, and it seemed there were only two outcomes: a miserable victory or a miserable defeat. He had thought the sweep was easy before. He had not truly borne the real danger of the Demon Cave.

"My Lord, can you really win?" he asked earnestly.

Xing Ji looked at his eyes, which were sincere to the point of being serious, just like when he first faced him, and for a moment he could not speak; he waved his hand and said: "Lihua, take him down."

Tang Zhao hurriedly said: "No—I mean, if you have no tricks left, would you consider my methods?"

Xing Ji looked at him in surprise.

In the end, after exchanging opinions, Tang Zhao still left temporarily; after all, there was really not much he could do.

Before leaving, he took another look at the flood dragon, looking at the mottled bloodstains on its body.

Most of that bright red blood belonged to the people of the Land Inspection Division. Although Xing Ji did not say it explicitly, he could guess that the big mouth full of sharp teeth had also ended the lives of members of the Land Inspection Division.

"Now, you have sins too."

Staying high in the air was very exhausting; Tang Zhao tried his best not to move, letting the breeze under the sun blow against his body.

In order to recover his stamina as quickly as possible, he kept himself in an ethereal state, while simultaneously circulating his Inner Qi to restore his energy.

In this way, his Spirit had to be highly concentrated, and he only stared at the battlefield occasionally.

As soon as he left, the bloody battle on the opposite side erupted again. It was still the same two sides that had just been bathed in blood.

He had not seen how tragic the battle in the rain was, but he saw the battle under the sun.

At this very moment, both sides had used up their ultimate moves, leaving only the most basic flesh-and-blood struggle. Xing Ji had a sword and the help of the Bi'an, but the ferocity of the flood dragon was not something he could contend with.

The battle was somewhat one-sided.

Xing Ji no longer used Sword Techniques, as it seemed his Sword Techniques were also exhausted; he was just using his sword to entangle with the flood dragon. Compared to this massive Great Heavenly Demon, his sword was thin and small, not enough to pick the flood dragon's teeth, and when it stabbed into the scales, it could rarely penetrate them. If there were any bystanders watching, they would surely feel that this battle was very cruel, because this could be called a hunt. The prey had no chance of victory, only trying its best to escape death.

Tang Zhao watched from the side, his mood extremely oppressive; beyond the heaviness, he felt even more nervous.

There was only one chance.

If it could be done.

It must be done.

This battle became increasingly intense, intense to the point of being tragic. Under the Sunlight, every spray of blood carved a clearly visible trajectory in the air, reflecting light like rubies. Their bodies were also bathed in Sunlight, as if they were wearing golden battle armor.

The Sunlight illuminated everything down to the finest detail. The golden armor grew more and more brilliant, as if they were two Yellow Turban Warriors.

Because they were already very close to the sun.

Finally, when Xing Ji exhausted his strength in a sword strike and retreated, almost trembling, the Flood Dragon caught up again, opening its maw wide to bite this troublesome insect to pieces.

At this moment, Tang Zhao shouted, "Chief Xing!"

Amidst the intense light, Xing Ji's blood-stained face gave a slight smile, and he waved at him; it seemed to be a gesture telling him not to worry, while simultaneously his long sword circled back, swinging toward himself.

Sword Art—Exile!

A flash of Sword Light, and he vanished.

Crack!

The Flood Dragon's maw snapped shut, its upper teeth hitting its lower teeth.

There was no flesh or blood in its mouth; this Heavenly Demon was somewhat dazed, but immediately after, an intense sense of crisis descended upon its head.

It was a massive, scorching, scalding, and blinding crisis.

Raising its head slightly, it looked above.

The fierce light in its eyes dissipated, leaving only shock and bewilderment—

What was that patch of scorching bright red?

The sun—was falling!

The rising sun that had been shining in mid-air plummeted from the sky, transforming into a brilliant, massive fireball that suppressed the Heavenly Demon, immediately wrapping it within the heart of the sun and continuing to fall with it.

This glorious fireball fell downward, brushing past the river flowing straight across the sky; in an instant, it was like the setting sun over a long river, magnificent beyond compare!

Boom—

A brilliant trajectory streaked across the sky!

Finally, the setting sun crashed into the valley; after a brief, bright explosion, it gradually returned to Silence.

It was as if the great sun had traversed the heavens and landed in the corner valley.

Night swept across the earth once more.

The sun had set.