Chapter 599: The Little Wangliang

Tang Zhao looked down at the Turtle Shell; it contained a treasure that made the various manor lords of Wangliang Mountain, visiting dignitaries, and even Sword Heroes like Gui Rong go mad, yet now it was delivered before his eyes, within easy reach. He couldn't help but laugh: "You want to use this to bribe me? Just like you bribed Gui Rong back then?"

Xing Cang shook his head and said: "Of course it's different from Gui Rong. I never equate people from the outside with those inside Wangliang Mountain. Those people in Wangliang Mountain are all sick. People of Wangliang Mountain, whether strong or weak, noble or lowly, slave owners or sword slaves, all have an extraordinary craving for lifespan. Because they are all short-lived ghosts, and even if they aren't, their lives are all in the hands of Wangliang; they desperately want a life that belongs to them. Just like the eunuchs in the palace, they are willing to pay any price to make up for their defects."

"So what if Gui Rong became a Sword Hero? So what if he obtained the special status of Abyss Envoy? His hair has turned white far more than it was ten years ago, and there is less and less black hair. When his head is full of white hair, how is he any different from those sword slaves? He knows better than anyone that his life is burning violently, and in an instant, it will burn out and turn into dust in the Yingyuan. He wants to grab onto every straw to save his life; there is no need to win him over at all."

His tone was very calm, with only a tiny, tiny bit of disdain audible, which he then restrained, adding a subtle touch of flattery as he said to Tang Zhao: "You are different, sir. You are young and promising, powerful, and have a long lifespan. If you can climb the Ascension Ladder in the future, you will be able to live long and see much. However, the path of climbing is so difficult; sometimes you fail just because you lack one breath or a little bit of time. What a pity that would be, wouldn't it?"

He sighed again and whispered: "Besides, who would ever complain about having too long a life?"

Tang Zhao looked at him and said: "Yes, who would complain about having too long a life? Haven't you not lived enough yet? Even though you have already lived to be an old man, haven't you?"

Speaking of this, he suddenly drew his sword and slashed toward the top of Xing Cang's head—

Unsurprisingly, this sword strike was once again blocked by that thin film of power derived from the Sacrifice. The Sword Light and the film pressed hard against each other, emitting a sizzling sound as the two forces consumed one another.

For the protective barrier, it was the power of the Sacrifice being consumed, while the sword naturally consumed Tang Zhao's power. Looking at it this way, it was clear that Tang Zhao could not afford the consumption as well as the other.

Tang Zhao didn't care about this waste at all. While pushing downward, watching the blade press against that head of withered white hair, stopping just a hair's breadth away, he said:

"Ninety percent of the white hair on Wangliang Mountain belongs to poor people whose lifespans have been devastated, but you are not one of them; you are a truly old man. Time gave you a head of white hair, and you use it to pass off fish eyes as pearls."

"Because of this white hair, you can blend in among those poor people without being discovered, and you can approach them, coax them, make them feel that you empathize with them, and open their hearts to you. In fact, you are completely different from them. Not only do you live long, but you have never been devastated, nor have you lost a part of yourself to sacrifice to Wangliang. You are just an outsider pretending to empathize with them, when in reality, you are probably empathizing with Wangliang. You also want to collect sacrifices, you want to control others, you want to be a Little Wangliang!"

"I didn't know before: since you are clearly not under the jurisdiction of Wangliang, why would you be willing to act as a sword slave, acknowledge a Master, and hide in this sunless place of Wangliang Mountain to suffer? Why not use your identity as a Sword Guest to enjoy life? Could it be that there are enemies outside the mountain chasing you?"

Xing Cang had an ominous feeling. He looked up and saw the Sword Light flashing, never leaving the top of his head, and asked: "Do you know me?"

If he didn't know him, how could he have such a feeling of knowing his identity and past experiences like the back of his hand?

Tang Zhao ignored him and said directly: "Now it seems that Wangliang Mountain is crucial to you. It is your school, and it is also your fish pond."

"After all, you made a big mistake at the beginning, blocking the future of a Sword Guest. Perhaps no one told you back then that a Sword Image must be a physical object, the more solid the better; even if it is energy, it cannot be an abstract concept. As a result, you turned your own Sword Image into—Traces of Time."

Xing Cang could no longer maintain his composure and shouted: "Who exactly are you?!"

Tang Zhao just kept pressing down with his sword, as if pressing on a stone slab covering a turtle shell, and continued: "Even among abstract concepts, time is obscure and broad enough. The time condensed on the walls of a house makes the building more dilapidated; the traces condensed on objects turn everyday items into antiques. The traces condensed on pine trees increase the growth rings, and the traces condensed on a person turn black hair into white hair."

"It is already difficult to fill the resonance by choosing just one of these traces, let alone wanting them all. You are not some Son of Luck or heaven-sent genius, so how could you complete it within a limited lifespan? But a Sword Image cannot be undone, and you wasted many years until your hair turned white without seeing any hope."

"So, since the right path didn't work, you took the evil path. I don't know what opportunity led you to come up with this crooked idea, come to Wangliang Mountain, and single-handedly establish Changfa Manor."

"Although you built the manor, you cannot be the manor lord. Because the manor lord is actually under the jurisdiction of Wangliang; as long as one performs a sacrifice, one is drawn into a system of layer upon layer from which it is difficult to escape. You refused to lose your freedom, so relying on a head of white hair, you posed as a White-haired Swordsman who was further away from Wangliang and less likely to be noticed by it, pushing generations of puppets to the top."

"For the sake of convenience in replacing and discarding them, these puppets were not in the know and thought you were truly a Sword Guest of sword slave origin. Inevitably, some of them suspected you. But how could they compete with you?"

"Changfa Manor was built by you; every blade of grass, every tree, every brick, and every tile there is condensed with Traces of Time, all of which are your Sword Image. The longer one stays in Wangliang Mountain with you, the more eternal the inscription of time becomes, and the more powerful the force grows. Every inch of the manor obeys your command, just like the Momentum of a sword, reaching everywhere. Who could contend with you on your own turf? Those manor lords died as confused ghosts, not even knowing what they were fighting against. They didn't know that compared to the intangible time, the tangible manor or the pine trees were nothing more than carriers and decoys."

The more Xing Cang heard, the more shocked he became. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he shouted: "Are you Xingshao?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he was wrong. The Young Master was clearly still watching the battle in front. Although he had been here for a while, he had only left after the second battle started. At that time, the Young Master was still watching the battle between Tang Zhao and Gui Rong in the sky, making arrogant and reckless remarks.

But he must be someone who had been to Changfa Manor and seen his own Sword Image, perhaps even having gained some realization. If he had only heard others describe it, it would be impossible to know it so clearly. The previous masters had lived in the manor for more than ten years, and even at the time of their death, they didn't know as much as he did.

"Who are you?" Xing Cang repeated, looking somewhat Lost Soul.

Tang Zhao never answered and continued: "You are like a fish in water on Wangliang Mountain, becoming more and more adapted, and it has even become your chosen land. Because there is no other place that can teach you so many methods and knowledge of harming others to benefit yourself and extracting the essence of others to nourish you, and there is no other place with so many Sword Guests who possess a little power but are full of despair and need a spiritual sustenance, as well as stupid, greedy, and bored rich landlords for you to exploit."

He sighed: "This place, Wangliang Mountain... gloomy, oppressive, desperate, disastrous, painful—it really is a great place to give birth to a cult. In fact, Wangliang Mountain was originally the foundation of a cult; isn't Wangliang an evil god? It's a pity its structure is poor, only caring about oppression and not seeking spiritual control. Not only is it absent for long periods, but it doesn't even have a cult leader, only a group of extremely unreliable Abyss Envoys to help him spread the connections, which just happened to give you an opportunity."

"As for you, you happen to have the talent for organizing a cult. I admit I underestimated you before. I thought you were just relying on living a long time and having the advantage of strength and information to control a manor and act as a local tyrant. Now it seems I definitely underestimated you. Even if you can reap benefits by relying on Sword Intent, to pull together such a large, smoothly operating organization, and to make such an arrogant and ruthless Sword Hero willing to be your subordinate, sitting firmly in the position of Great Sage, sitting steadily under the tree and driving people to their deaths—can that be an ordinary person?"

"With your talent, staying on Wangliang Mountain is actually a waste of your skills. You really should go outside and see; the outside world is half a chaotic era, which is very suitable for someone like you to show off your skills."

Xing Cang stopped talking and stopped looking up at the sword above his head, just silently lowering his head, his eyes fixed on the turtle shell entwined with "Life Essence."

"However, with your 'ambition,' what you seek is not just a momentary surge of wind and clouds, right? You came to Wangliang Mountain for the path further ahead, and you haven't changed your goal now, have you? As a cult leader, being full of lies is a basic skill. I wonder how many people have been deceived by you? Only thinking that the foundation of the Long Life Society is to seek longevity?"

He also pointed to the turtle: "They see you depriving others of their lifespan, they hear that you want to bestow lifespan, they know this organization is called the Long Life Society... so everyone just thinks that this organization is operating so that everyone can live long, but no one has thought about what you, the Great Sage, want to obtain? Is it a longer lifespan? If so, wouldn't it be better to sacrifice secretly? Why play such a big scene?"

Xing Cang's expression gradually twisted as he listened, staring fixedly at the turtle shell in his hand, his eyes filled only with expectation, as if hoping the turtle would come alive and turn into a "Divine Turtle Knight" to save him.

"So... what is the thing you are condensing on the turtle shell now? What is the thing you pretended to offer me to delay time?"

"Let me guess..." he said with a thoughtful smile, "Actually, there are no other options; it's too easy to guess. Is that the power you use to climb? The lifespans of so many people, just to fill your absurd Traces of Time, to resonate with you, and to let you use this to go a step further and become a Sword Hero, or even touch a higher level?"

Tang Zhao sneered: "The ancients said that the success of one general is built on ten thousand bones; you have really put this into practice. Not only are there the bones of manor lords, but also the bones of your own people. After this battle, how many of those manor lords in the Long Life Society are left?"

"Even Gui Rong is dead; those who knew your background are all finished. You can naturally travel light to complete your next goal... You don't really want to be an evil god, do you?"

Tang Zhao looked at Xing Cang, and Xing Cang looked at the turtle. Tang Zhao shook his head and said: "It seems you are still holding onto a glimmer of hope, wishing that at the last moment the turtle could successfully gather power to send you to the blue clouds. It's just a pity that I have been consuming the excess Qi, not allowing you to gather it. You will never gather it all. You are still hoping..."

Suddenly, bursts of cheers came from behind. Although they came from the square in front and had faded significantly by the time they reached here, one could still hear how deafening they were at the front!

Xing Cang was startled. Tang Zhao laughed: "It's over. That is the celebration of the protective barrier being broken. That indestructible turtle shell has been destroyed; this is the prelude to your demise. You have no power left. It's over—" Xing Cang shouted loudly: "Wait, tell me who you are..."

Before the words could finish, the sword Tang Zhao had been pressing on his head moved horizontally, instantly cutting off his voice—

"As for that... why would I tell you?"