Chapter 660

In the endless darkness, there was originally a sea of light that stood out, bringing light and hope.

Perhaps it could not be called a "sea" compared to the vast ocean of darkness outside, but it was a lake, or rather, a lonely island of light in the darkness, a Lighthouse.

With this light, there was an anchor point in the boundless shadow, reminding those fighting ahead that there was still a safe house here to catch their breath, a place they could still call home.

But in a single moment, the sea of light suddenly dissipated, and the last area of light vanished; in the center where the sea of light had been, a huge, dark-gold Golden Crow appeared.

Although it was dark gold, set against the darkness, its feathers were still magnificent and brilliant, its posture elegant and vigorous, possessing all the splendor of a divine bird. The sea of light was like a fire burning the world, and it was like a phoenix reborn from the flames.

In the distance, the Golden Crow looked back and smiled: "Destruction, you have finally come."

Destruction held its head high, passed through the thick darkness, and upon seeing the Golden Crow, could not help but disdainfully say: "What has happened to you? You are in such a sorry state!"

Tang Zhao looked out from Destruction's flaming feathers and saw the Golden Crow's appearance, unable to help but be startled:

To say Destruction was in a sorry state was an understatement.

The Golden Crow could simply be described as...

Tattered.

The Golden Crow was not currently transformed into the image of Ju Dongjun, but was maintaining its true Golden Crow form. However, regardless of the image, it was formed entirely of light; its original shape was merely a choice, like painting on a blank sheet of paper—one could paint however one wished, and if a mistake was made, it could be easily erased and redrawn. But now, it was as if a perfectly good painting had been torn in places, or as if the paper had been crumpled into a ball, rubbed several times, and then unfolded; it was just that wrinkled and tattered.

Of course, the Golden Crow was ultimately just condensed light, so even in such a tattered state, it moved as usual and its demeanor remained as usual, but if one were to compare it to a person, that person would have at least been sliced a thousand times.

Seeing the Golden Crow, Tang Zhao knew that what Zheng Yun had called "the situation is not great" was by no means alarmist; that was even an understatement.

Seeing the Golden Crow like this, although Destruction put on a gloating appearance, it was also secretly terrified in its heart and shouted: "What about Xin Wang Liang? It is one against two of you, how did you end up like this?"

Before Destruction entered, the situation was three against two. Although the Dazai was a notch inferior, he possessed a strange treasure and had previously fought two great Sword Gods alone, so the situation was somewhat balanced. After the Dazai and Destruction entered, the situation was two against one. Although the Golden Crow had been weakened by the Sword Intent and the situation of the Ruyi Sword was unclear, Xin Wang Liang was no better off; at the very least, it was a lunatic, and the strengths and weaknesses were clear.

Therefore, Destruction's expectation was that after it entered, the Ruyi Sword and the Golden Crow could at least fight Xin Wang Liang to a draw, or even gain the upper hand, and when it returned after recuperating, it would descend powerfully and settle the battle in one fell swoop. It could be said that it had reserved the most glorious result for itself, firmly suppressing Shine.

The reason it believed its days were numbered was because the Jinwu Sword was already formed, and it would inevitably move toward the fate of returning to Sword Intent. That was a fate it had already accepted, a necessary sacrifice, worthy of a brilliant full stop; it had not expected that it would not have a good end—not a voluntary sacrifice, but being hacked to death by Xin Wang Liang.

It had never had a good life, so how could it not have a good death?

The Golden Crow said: "Xin Wang Liang, there is no longer a Xin Wang Liang in this world. Or rather, the surroundings are Xin Wang Liang."

As if to provide a footnote to its words, countless heads—or rather, things similar to heads—suddenly stretched out from the surrounding shadows. They had no facial features, but every head had a bloody mouth and countless sharp teeth, rushing toward Destruction.

Destruction flapped its wings, knocking these bizarre heads away, and a huge fist suddenly stretched out from the shadows in front, striking toward its head.

Destruction dodged, and countless shadow bats flew out from another layer, pouncing on it one by one.

Heads, mouths, fists, bats...

These strange things only resembled objects in the Human World; in reality, they were a hundred times larger and a thousand times faster than the real objects, rising and falling one after another. In the blink of an eye, that patch of shadow had already launched dozens, even hundreds of attacks, each attack of a different shape and from a different angle, like white clouds and grey dogs, changing unpredictably.

Over there, the Golden Crow called out: "Come to me, it will be better if we defend against the enemy together."

Although Destruction was somewhat disdainful, the situation was unclear, so it had to flap its wings and rush toward the Golden Crow.

During its flight, countless things crawled out from the shadows in all directions and pounced on it, some existing in the world, others bizarre and twisted monsters never seen before, launching an attack denser than army ants crossing the border.

However, the reason Destruction was called Destruction was that it was the incarnation of Destruction Sword Intent. Needless to say, its body, even the radiance beside its wings, was full of Destruction Power; any monster in the shadows would perish upon touching it. That dense attack did not need Destruction to counter it; it could not even break its defense, not even counting as a scratch.

However, Tang Zhao was very close to Destruction and still observed that the repeated attacks from the shadows were consuming Destruction's wings, just very weakly.

That kind of consumption was likely not Sword Essence, but something more essential.

Destruction was not invincible in the shadows either!

Of course, Destruction was already very powerful to be able to remain calm; if Tang Zhao were thrown into the shadows himself, he would likely struggle to withstand even one wave.

Just like that, braving the attacks like surging waves, he arrived at the Golden Crow's side. Tang Zhao discovered that the Golden Crow's main body was fine, but around its wings, it was already difficult to see that layer of surrounding radiance.

Destruction rushed over. The two sides probably really had some mutual enhancement; suddenly, both Golden Crows were invigorated, the power around Destruction increased significantly, and the radiance around the Golden Crow also showed signs of rising again.

The two radiances merged into one, pushing outward in layers like waves, finally separating a temporary safety layer in the ocean of Xin Wang Liang. That layer of light suffered the strangulation of the shadows on its behalf and did not stabilize.

It looked like such a safety layer could not be maintained for long, at most for the time it took to say a few words. If they only defended passively, it could not last long.

There was no time for greetings, and Destruction said hurriedly: "What is going on? How did a pool of stagnant water become so turbulent now? What do you mean there is no more Xin Wang Liang..."

The Golden Crow said calmly: "After you left, Xin Wang Liang was quickly swallowed by the Yingyuan. Or rather, it took the initiative to merge with the Yingyuan. It lost its body, and probably its Soul, but the Yingyuan gained a heart."

Destruction's expression was grave, and Tang Zhao suddenly said: "The Sword Intent has a heart... doesn't that mean the Yingyuan is going to become a new Xin Wang Liang?"

The Golden Crow looked at him and said: "Correct, you have great insight; that is exactly it. This is how Sword Gods are born. When Sword Intent has a heart, it is a Sword God. The Xin Wang Liang that entangled with Destruction for hundreds of years has already dissolved. This Yingyuan is giving birth to a new Xin Wang Liang, and it possesses even more powerful strength than the previous Xin Wang Liang the moment it is born."

A Sword God possessing its own Sword God—one had to say it was a bit ridiculous. Previously, it said the Ruyi Sword was a dodder parasitic on a tall tree; if the tall tree died, the dodder could not live either. But its tall tree had been strangled by another dodder and replaced.

Hearing that the original Xin Wang Liang, which had entangled with it for a hundred years, had been swallowed, Destruction sneered, not knowing what to feel.

It paused and said: "Then is the new Xin Wang Liang about to be born?"

The Golden Crow said: "I am afraid it has already been born. It does not have the personality of Xin Wang Liang, which was tainted by the mortal world, but is an innocent yet evil child, very evil and very chaotic, and cannot be speculated upon with any reason. For example, that crazy attack just now—did you think it was a spontaneous riot of the Yingyuan? No, that was the new Xin Wang Liang giving you a little greeting."

One must know that when a child becomes evil, it is something adults cannot imagine, let alone this non-human child born in the shadows.

The Golden Crow said: "Its consciousness can cover the entire Yingyuan, but there is also a main consciousness; the rest of the consciousnesses are like the tentacles of an octopus, with limited intelligence. Now the main consciousness has been lured away by the Ruyi Sword."

Tang Zhao then remembered that the Ruyi Sword was not here; Destruction had already told him the whole story. He also knew that the Ruyi Sword had woken up, but it had never been able to walk out of the Yinglang and had not appeared in front of people. He had thought the Ruyi Sword had not yet recovered and was being protected by the Golden Crow. He did not expect that the Ruyi Sword had not only appeared but had also taken on a very important task of luring the enemy.

Destruction also said: "You asked her to lure away the main consciousness? Is she capable? Don't push her to her death while you hide in the back."

Before the Golden Crow could speak, Tang Zhao already said: "Your Highness Destruction, look at the current state of His Highness Golden Crow; it doesn't look like he is hiding in the back, does it?"

Destruction said somewhat unhappily: "You are in a hurry to speak for it."

The Golden Crow said: "We take turns attracting the new Xin Wang Liang's attention; it is still relatively chaotic and easy to deceive. This way, we can both catch our breath."

Destruction said: "It has already reached this point? The two of you combined can only circle with it? Truly old, weak, sick, and disabled; since you are both no good, step aside and watch me."

The Golden Crow said: "You are no good either."

Destruction sneered and said: "It is not for you to say whether I am good or not." As it spoke, it made a move to rush forward.

The Golden Crow raised its wing to block it and said: "You can go out like this and get your head broken; I could also say I will let you learn a lesson and therefore indulge you. But there is no need for that between you and me. I am saying seriously, this Yingyuan is endless; it is a collection of Xin Wang Liang's remaining power and all the shadows in the Yingyuan. Moreover, you can treat this Yingyuan as its body; inside the body, its power can flow at will. Wherever you are, you are fighting its entire strength; it is truly a case of pulling one hair and moving the whole body. Furthermore, it can tear away your power at any time and pull it into its abyss to turn it into shadow, and its power will grow again."

It said sternly: "Unless you exceed a certain attack limit and can pierce through it in one blow, it will keep recovering, and you are not endless; your power consumption has nowhere to be replenished, and in the end, you will only be defeated the more you fight. Now time is precious, and Sword Essence is precious; we can skip some probing."

Destruction squinted at it and said: "Then what is your meaning?"

The Golden Crow's gaze was fixed on Tang Zhao, and it said: "Since the sword has arrived, then it should be the final moment. A complete Jinwu Sword will definitely be able to break open the Yingyuan. Destruction, come back with me."