Chapter 592: 545 Mutual Restraint

"Life-Death Bell!"

The battle had progressed to this point, and Gui Rong's Sword Image had finally descended.

Though called a Life-Death Bell, this Sword Image was not a bell, but an hourglass—a sand clock.

The sand clock was half black and half white, black on top and white on the bottom, with fine sand flowing from the black bell into the white portion. At this moment, the sand in the black hourglass had reached the bottom, with only a tiny bit left; once this bit of sand leaked through, the black and white would flip in an instant.

Yet that tiny bit of sand was surprisingly resistant to leaking; it fell continuously, but the remaining sand did not seem to decrease.

Anyone who saw the black half of the hourglass felt a shiver in their heart, a chill rushing straight to their crown, giving rise to the deepest fear, as if it were a terror flowing from the very instinct of life. But upon seeing the white half, they would relax, regain strength, and become light, joyful, and spirited.

Without need for introduction, everyone had realized: the two ends of the sand clock were life and death; the black was death, the white was life.

This Sword Image was truly extraordinary; it was too profound, too heavy, as if it were the authority of a god!

Amidst the exclamations, Golden Tiger looked on from below, curled his lip, and said, "What level is this, to dare toy with life and death? Truly, those who know fear."

Tang Zhao saw the inexhaustible grains of sand remaining in the black hourglass and suddenly smiled: "Because I haven't died, this sand hasn't finished leaking? Black on top, this should mean you are in a state of death, right?"

After being killed, Gui Rong had used death to exchange for the death power of half an hourglass, and by using this immense power to create enough death, he should be able to resurrect himself; perhaps at the moment of rebirth, he could even obtain the other power of life within the hourglass.

In an instant, life and death would flip; that would be a grand performance of experiencing life and death and toying with creation.

Unfortunately, Tang Zhao would not cooperate with his performance.

The most critical person had not died, so Gui Rong was not yet fully resurrected, stuck between life and death, just one step away—that must be very uncomfortable, right?

However, Gui Rong had also completely freed himself from the passive state of being beaten; the sword in his hand was imbued with the power of death. Once the Life-Death Bell descended, he could wantonly harvest life, no less than a god of death!

Tang Zhao also steadied his mind, preparing to fight again:

"Sword Art—White Colt!"

A white horse descended from the sky, flashed behind him, and disappeared, leaving only a phantom image. Tang Zhao seemed to be shrouded in a layer of white light, as if a paintbrush had traced a faint white edge around him, but nothing else happened.

But no Sword Art was used in vain; if its power had not yet been revealed, it naturally had an effect held in reserve.

"Tigers, horses—as expected, the little beast's sword is full of beasts. Come to your death—"

Carrying the death power flowing from his blade, Gui Rong struck straight through the center!

Tang Zhao took the initiative to strike, and the two fought together once more.

So fast!

This thought flashed through the minds of all the spectators, and some were even driven to distraction.

The speed at which the two exchanged blows this time was truly astonishing. If the initial sword duel had allowed the Sword Guests to watch the excitement, now even Sword Guests with excellent eyesight could only see a few afterimages, so blurry they couldn't even distinguish the people; as they struggled to track the traces of the swords with their eyes, they felt dizzy and dazzled.

As for ordinary people, they couldn't even see the afterimages, only occasionally catching a flash of white light or a cold shadow. Those were the traces of the Sword Arts.

*Ssh—*

As the battle paused, both appeared simultaneously above the Wangliang Power warriors, each stepping on a prone head.

Both were unscathed; it seemed no damage had been dealt.

Gui Rong stared at him and said, "Why can you keep up with my speed? I have mastered the speed at which death arrives; life and death are but an instant. There cannot be a speed in this world faster than death!"

Tang Zhao said, "I am the speed of light. The speed of light is three hundred thousand... three million... never mind, anyway, it is the fastest speed in the universe. A white colt passing a crevice—how could human speed capture light?"

Saying this, he sighed: "The sword is truly a marvelous thing. To actually be able to compare the speeds of light and death, which are in completely different categories. For the ultimate and the ultimate to be able to determine a winner, it is truly a feat."

Gui Rong sneered: "Comparison is meaningless; only victory and defeat have meaning. Life and death are even more meaningful—your White Colt is fast, but I will kill it!"

"Sword Art—Xunsi Mifuo!"

The cold light on his blade began to flow, suddenly changing from a quiet stream into a torrent, erupting along with the Sword Light.

Tang Zhao blocked with his sword, and the sword-stream instantly splashed out, rushing toward him from all directions with incredible speed!

In an instant, it was as if a small-scale "Ambush from Ten Sides" had been cast. Tang Zhao still had the enhancement of "White Colt" and was extremely fast; he pierced through the torrent before it could close in, striking out with a heavy blow.

However, the surging Sword Light barely paused, turning directly to pursue Tang Zhao, locking onto him like a shadow. Tang Zhao waved his hand, and the Golden Tiger descended, blocking the Sword Light and crashing back against it.

There was almost no sound; although the Golden Tiger had the strength of a thousand jun, once it brushed against that sword-stream, it suddenly lost all its spirit and collapsed—it died again.

Naturally, the Golden Tiger had hindered the sword-stream from pouncing on Tang Zhao, but Gui Rong had already lunged from another direction, sweeping his sword across. Tang Zhao dodged to the side, but the turbulent flow leaping on the sword grazed the white light on Tang Zhao's body.

*Hiss—*

A horse's whinny seemed to ring in Tang Zhao's ears, but the whinny stopped abruptly, sounding even more miserable than a long cry.

The White Colt was dead!

Tang Zhao realized this, and his heart sank—these Sword Arts were not actually living beings; it was just because he had been in a whim and given them animal names, and thus added a bit of spirit to them, making them more vivid than other Sword Arts. Yet they had just happened to collide with this unreasonable power of death and died just like that.

From now on, Tang Zhao could still use two Sword Arts, but they would have to slowly condense from the Sword Image again; when they appeared, they would be a newly born little tiger cub or little foal, the second generation. The previous little tiger and White Colt had completely perished.

A truly vicious Sword Art to the extreme.

Gui Rong continued to pursue Tang Zhao with his sword; although he hadn't killed Tang Zhao himself, he saw the White Colt shadow attached to Tang Zhao die, and his speed immediately dropped. Unable to escape his own speed of death, he sneered: "I hope all your Sword Arts are tigers, horses, pigs, or dogs; those beasts deserve to be ghosts under my sword. You are dead; my sword is the natural nemesis of yours!"

While he was using words to attack the mind, the Xin Yinghe watching from afar suddenly said: "What is this guy saying? Does he have some opinion about birds and beasts?"

Manying said: "Of course. Gui Rong has an opinion about everyone, let alone us. No, I should say especially us. Compared to that Sword Hero, he is the natural nemesis of us Abyss Envoys."

Xin Ying sneered: "What is he, to dare say he counters us? So what if he is a Sword Hero? It's not like I haven't killed one."

At this moment, the old ape Lueying nearby also sneered, its laughter filled with thick mockery.

Xin Ying glared at it and shouted: "What is the old thing laughing at?"

Manying's pipa said: "It is laughing at your ignorance of death. Do you know that the Changhen Jian can kill us?"

Xin Ying shivered and said: "Kill us? Can we be killed?"

Manying continued: "We crawled out of Yingze; as long as Yingze does not dry up, even if we are smashed to pieces, we just crawl out of Yingze again. But if we are touched by that sword, we will truly die, extinguished from the very bottom. Even if Wangliang wants to add another Abyss Envoy, even if it chooses a He again, it will not be the current you."

These words truly frightened Xin Ying. As an Abyss Envoy, it had no concept of death and was somewhat arrogant, but when that sword was placed there, bringing death within a hundred zhang of it, it seemed to be able to feel that immense terror.

Manying seemed to think it wasn't enough and added: "And you saw it, this person cannot be killed. Killing him only makes him gain greater power; he uses this power to kill you, and he resurrects again. You cannot kill him, but he can kill you—isn't this a natural nemesis? If not for this, he would not have been allowed to stand alongside us as a Human, especially given that he has already killed Abyss Envoys."

Xin Ying asked in surprise: "He has killed Abyss Envoys?"

The eye on Manying's pipa shaft glanced toward Lueying and said: "Indeed. It was that time he wiped out Danyue Manor. He killed the Abyss Envoy who came to handle the matter, killed Wangliang's envoy, yet he gained Wangliang's appreciation. This logic... is also beyond question. If that Tang Zhao can kill Gui Rong, we would be happy to see it happen."

"Unfortunately, that is impossible."

"Gui Rong cannot be killed."

Tang Zhao looked at the soul-stirring power of death flowing over Gui Rong's body and sword, and said, "If I still had that beastly Sword Art, and used it all to kill you, what would happen if your power of death were exhausted?"

Gui Rong pointed to the hourglass above his head, where a tiny pinch of sand had yet to fall, and said with a grin while grinding his teeth, "Do not worry, this power is ultimately reserved for you; no one can take a share of it. You will certainly be able to enjoy death to your heart's content."

Tang Zhao said thoughtfully, "In other words, because I am the one who kills you, the power in this hourglass will not run out before you kill me in return, right?"

As he spoke, he revealed a wide smile, like the Sunlight of youth: "So, before you kill me, you won't be resurrected, which means you're a dead man, right?"

"Then may I Ask, if a dead man like you is killed once more, what will happen?"

Staring at Gui Rong, who was struggling to suppress his irritable expression, Tang Zhao laughed and said, "Life and death are a cycle, seemingly inexhaustible. But once the cycle chain breaks and one falls outside the power of the protective chain, one will vanish into thin air. Therefore, right now we are both in a state where we will die if killed, which is just right for a fair fight."

Not waiting for Gui Rong to become angry from embarrassment, Tang Zhao continued, "What you said just now was wrong; you do not counter me, I counter you. Blood counter—I will prove it to you!"

His sword leaped upward, and a familiar light rose once again:

"Sword Technique—"

With just these two words, the surrounding temperature suddenly rose again, and that scorching heat capable of melting gold and stone rushed toward him. Along with the heat, there pressed down endless light and endless Momentum! It was as if an invisible scorching sun had descended!

The spectators below were once again in a state of panic, thinking only:

No way? This move again?

Only the Golden Crow underground felt a stir in his heart, and for the first time, surprise arose:

This is wrong!

This time is not right!

The sky has changed!