Chapter 618: Pollution and Salvation

Tang Zhao felt a chill in his heart upon hearing this, as if a thread of ice were spreading down his Vertebra Bone, and he shivered all over, asking in a rapid succession of questions: "What is going on? Three Sword Intents merging all of a sudden? Is this a decision you made on the spot? Can it be done? How should it be done?"

Although Jinwu spoke of it lightly, Tang Zhao felt the information was immense, to the point that he instinctively felt something terrible was afoot, though he could not yet analyze just how bad it might get.

Jinwu was exceptionally calm, as if Ju Dongjun had truly reappeared, without a trace of agitation, saying: "Do not be anxious. I will tell you everything. Go back first, and make sure to explain things clearly. When you return, I will explain it to you in detail."

Tang Zhao forced himself to calm down; he knew that losing his composure like this was not good, especially if he were too flustered when instructing his teammates upon returning, as his emotions would undoubtedly be transmitted to the team and spread tenfold or a hundredfold. At a time like this, even if one has thunder in their chest, one should face it with a face like a calm lake.

He nodded, grabbed Zheng Yun, and was about to return, but suddenly turned his head and asked: "Your Highness, to what extent should I explain things to them? Should I give them my final instructions?"

He asked very bluntly; at this point, there was no need to beat around the bush. He figured Jinwu would not be evasive either.

Jinwu smiled gently and said: "No need. You will be safe. Of the three of us, I will ensure you remain."

Tang Zhao was even more shocked and said loudly: "Jinwu Dianxia!"

Jinwu cut him off and laughed: "Go back first, go back first."

This tone was unmistakably Jinwu; Jinwu was Jinwu, and it was not an incarnation of Ju Dongjun.

Jinwu pointed to the top of the dark world and said: "Look there."

Tang Zhao had indeed not noticed, but when he looked closely, he found it was true: the closer to the "egg membrane," the more severely the black was mixed in, while the top still retained the purest gold, bright as the Zhaoyang.

When the Ghost Disaster was severe before, the sky of Wangliang Mountain also seemed as if it were about to crack, but that was only a crack, giving one the feeling of teetering on the edge, as the Fragments were still stuck together.

Tang Zhao suddenly felt a wave of sadness in his heart, his voice turning hoarse: "This... this is..."

Tang Zhao pressed his lips tightly together, picked up Zheng Yun, flashed, and left once again.

Simple?

Tang Zhao clicked his tongue and suddenly asked: "Will the shadows sucked in not retain the consciousness they had while alive?"

This time he was gone for a while, and when he appeared again, his expression was already calm, as if he had adjusted to a state of neither joy nor sorrow, similar to the expression of Ju Dongjun, only with a bit more seriousness and a bit less relief.

In Tang Zhao's eyes, the sky of Yingyuan was like an egg; the outer shell was gone, leaving a soft membrane wrapping the world, with a finger pressing down on the membrane, stopping at the edge where the membrane was about to tear, the finger not retracting but still pressing on the membrane, barely maintaining a state of wholeness.

"But now, my power has no way to recover it; only the true Jinwu Sword has a chance. So I decided to merge the Sword Intents first. With two Sword Intents together, the prototype of the Jinwu Sword can be seen, and Supernatural Power can be used. When that time comes, the destruction will naturally be attracted to return and submit. If it does not resist, then the Sword Intent will return, and the Jinwu Sword will reappear. If it still resists, the two Sword Intents can suppress the one; in any case, its consciousness will eventually dissipate and return to the pure Sword Intent it once was, which is also a relief for it."

Tang Zhao breathed a sigh of relief; the situation was better than he had imagined, and he said: "Good, I support Your Highness in returning the Sword Intent..."

It paused and said: "I suspect it might be because the destruction isolated it from Yingyuan for too long. These hundred years were precisely the period when Yingyuan was undergoing rapid qualitative change, a change that exceeded Wangliang's expectations. Wangliang was fully occupied with resisting the destruction and was unable to manage it; now that the change is complete, it is helpless."

Jinwu shook its head and said decisively: "Impossible. Perhaps the earliest batch of shadows had some consciousness that could be converted for Wangliang's use; for example, those Wangliang warriors might be the veterans. But now, as Yingyuan undergoes endless Superposition, all shadows are crushed, compacted, and turned into a part of that unfathomable Deep Shadow the moment they enter. This Yingyuan can no longer add Wangliang warriors, nor are there any other creations to speak of. I even suspect that Wangliang is already helpless against Yingyuan."

Tang Zhao could not help but say: "This is the place where the sun cannot shine."

This dark sky had collapsed.

A crack had opened in the light before his eyes.

To dispel the haze and see the sun again is the mission of our generation.

But this sphere made one feel that it was polluted from the inside out; those impurities were already a part of it, and its gold was no longer bright.

A part of the sky sagged downward, sinking to a limit, held up by a gargantuan object, barely avoiding collapse.

Jinwu said: "One could say it was polluted by Wangliang, or one could say not. Have you noticed? It started polluting from the bottom."

Speaking of this, his expression suddenly changed, and he said urgently: "Your Highness! If the consciousness of destruction is destined to dissipate, then what about you?"

Jinwu said: "Fine, then I will let you take a look."

Tang Zhao also felt that there should not be a place in the world where the sun cannot shine; if it cannot shine, then someone must have deliberately blocked the sun. That is not the sun's fault; it is the fault of that place.

The range of ordinary light gradually weakens; it is brightest in the center and slowly dims around it. Even if one cannot see obvious light, after adapting to the darkness, one can distinguish the outlines of surrounding objects, extending until it is pitch black only very far away. But here, just an inch outside the light is endless darkness, as black as spilled ink; no matter how powerful the light, it can only shine on itself and cannot shine on anything else at all.

"We of destruction are not afraid of Wangliang. If Wangliang can erode destruction, then destruction can also erode Wangliang. Both sides are in a state of balance; neither can do anything to the other."

Through that thin, membrane-like horizon, one could see the appearance of the underside of that "finger."

It was a huge sphere that should have been golden, but at this moment, it was a mixture of gold and black energy, the black energy mixed with gold, the two colors of gold and black entangled together, already indistinguishable from each other.

Jinwu snorted: "It should have been able to. Wangliang, that piece of trash, actually lost control."

This might be because Tang Zhao had projected his own feelings onto it. He was currently very sad, very sorrowful, to the point of being unable to breathe, and he said in a low voice: "It was actually polluted by Wangliang..."

"Yes."

"Hmm, destruction, yes. It has been polluted." Jinwu's voice was also very calm, but Tang Zhao always felt there was some sorrow in it.

Through the crack, one could see endless darkness.

So dark...

"Finished explaining?"

"According to my analysis, it is roughly like this... Yingyuan, as the Sword Force Domain of Wangliang, is at the very bottom, and destruction is directly above it. Above destruction is Wangliang, which should be fixed to the destruction and cannot be separated. I did not see what is above that, but based on your previous analysis, it might be the Altar. It is layered like this, one on top of the other."

Tang Zhao thought to himself: So it is a structure like a human pyramid, which is also...

"But Yingyuan is different. I did not know what kind of existence Yingyuan was before; I only found out after investigating this time. Yingyuan is shadows, layers upon layers of shadows."

Tang Zhao thought of the statue of the Ghost Sea Sunset. The sun in that sculpture was also splattered with sewage, but that feeling was just that it was dirty on the outside; if washed with clean water, it could immediately return to its original, brilliant, and bright appearance.

"Since the birth of Wangliang, all the shadows it has devoured have been sucked into Yingyuan. I don't know how many there have been over the hundreds of years, but Yingyuan has never expanded; in fact, its range is not large. So these shadows are pressed and squeezed, having no choice but to layer one on top of another, constantly stacking upward. The substance of shadows is special; it can probably be stacked infinitely, but its texture gradually changes, becoming darker and heavier the more it is added. Now, it has become an existence more gloomy and dark than the texture of Wangliang. Only in this way could it pollute destruction. I almost got invaded just by coming in; I had to release my Sword Intent to resist, and now I dare not act rashly. If I stayed here for a hundred years, I would be polluted too."

"At that time, you will be able to kill Wangliang—that should not be difficult; it is nothing more than a piece of waste consumed by destruction until it is exhausted. Then you will use all the remaining power to slash open Yingyuan. I roughly estimate that the Sword Essence will be enough."

After finishing the explanation, Jinwu said: "When I saw the destruction, I knew there was no way to simply separate it from Wangliang and then concentrate power to deal with Wangliang. The most important thing now is to recover it, to prevent it from truly falling and becoming a monster more terrifying than Wangliang. In any case, we are still the Jinwu Sword; how could we become that kind of monster?"

Jinwu said: "This is the reason why I must have you stay here. After the Sword Intent returns, the Jinwu Sword will reappear, exactly the same as the Jinwu Sword of those years, but a sword without a Sword Guest cannot exist for long. It needs you to wield it—"

Tang Zhao laughed out loud and said: "As expected of Jinwu Dianxia."

Jinwu immediately said: "There is no place in the world where the sun cannot shine; if it cannot shine, it is because the sun has not yet risen."

Tang Zhao tried his best to look, and he saw a shocking scene: "The sky has collapsed?!"

Seeing Tang Zhao open his mouth, hurriedly wanting to say something, Jinwu raised his hand and said: "Wait for me to finish. I know you are worried about whether having a sword already but still having to wield the Jinwu Sword will ruin the future of a Sword Guest. There was a risk, but I have thought of a way for you. Use your own sword as the base; do not cast another sword body. Temporarily seal your own original Sword Intent, then use the Growth Sword Intent as the main one, and my Shine will be fused into it. Then, when the destruction merges in, you can temporarily possess the power of the Jinwu Sword. It is just like using a power sword; you will be able to exert the same power as Ju Dongjun did back then. At that time, you will be a Sword Immortal."

Tang Zhao asked in surprise: "Cannot a Sword Prayer control their own Sword Force Domain?"

He did not move his feet, and the body of Ju Dongjun did not rise either; he just brushed his hand lightly, as if wiping away mist from glass.

"Then the power of the Jinwu Sword will probably be exhausted, and it will withdraw from your sword, leaving only some residue. The rest will be yours to dispose of. I remember that your fusion of the Growth Sword Intent was just an expedient measure at the time, not a sincere choice. Now your opportunity has come; these three Sword Intents all belong to you to choose from. You can keep whichever one you like; if you like two, you can keep both. If you can gather three Sword Intents at once, then you are not far from being a Sword Immortal. If you do not like any of them, then let them dissipate, and you can go find your own path. Just leave the Sword Seed of the Jinwu Sword and wait for someone destined. How do you like this plan?"

It spoke so sincerely; it was a kindness from the bottom of its heart.

Tang Zhao finally found a gap in the conversation and said loudly, "What future, what Sword Intent, is this the point? Your Highness, why can it not be centered on you? I give the Sword Intent to you, and you carry out this great task?"