Chapter 663: Going Home

Finally... has this moment arrived?

Jinwu says so, and Destruction says so too; the Jinwus have already made their decision, and they have also made their resolve.

Having reached this step, there seems to be no reason to delay any longer.

"Just as we said at the very beginning. Remember, Destruction and I both gave our power to the Jinwu Sword; originally, it was for you to hold the sword and actively absorb it. Now that Destruction is willing to cooperate, that is for the best. Then, you will use the Jinwu Sword to defeat the Wang Liang. I have already taught you the method of using the Jinwu Sword inside the barrier..."

At this moment, Destruction said somewhat smugly: "I taught him too."

Inside the Time Barrier, both Jinwus explained their "final arrangements" very clearly. Precisely because it was clear, this was a task Tang Zhao could not shirk.

Tang Zhao originally only needed to give his word, but he asked again: "Once the sword gathers three Sword Intents, it will give birth to a Sword Image again, right? Who will the Sword Image be?"

Destruction pointed at Jinwu and said: "It will be it. It was originally the Sword Image, and Shine is also the first Sword Intent of the sword. You should know this."

Destruction was originally just a Sword Intent; after it gave birth to spirituality, it chose the appearance of the dark-gold Jinwu itself. It could also transform into other things, such as a Mask; it is hard to say which one is its true form.

But Jinwu—Jinwu is Jinwu; from the beginning, it was the Jinwu of the Jinwu Sword. That giant three-legged Jinwu that seemed to come from the sun is its original appearance. Other images—such as Ju Dongjun—were its hobbies.

Jinwu said: "Not necessarily. Because such a thing has never happened before. With the Jinwu Sword, there can be as many Jinwus as one wants, and it might not be this one of mine." It responded to Destruction, and it was also fulfilling the previous agreement made with Destruction:

We cannot live together, but we must die together.

Tang Zhao naturally did not know about the agreement between them, and said: "Then..."

Suddenly, Jinwu blocked Tang Zhao and protected him within its body!

The Shadow, it rioted!

Countless shadows churned, and the surroundings were filled with surging darkness.

Again?

Tang Zhao originally thought this was the same as before, a disorderly riot of Yingyuan, or perhaps the new Wang Liang was unhappy that it failed to keep Destruction just now and was launching another wave of attacks.

But he immediately discovered that this time it was completely different.

This time the riot was orderly, and it was not a forward impact created to attack them; it formed a certain pattern internally.

The shadows were contracting.

It can only be described as contracting; with a certain point in Yingyuan as the center, countless shadows rolled back. It was like a flower bud blooming and then closing again. Those shadows, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, surged toward the center incessantly. Because the speed was extremely fast, the goal was clear, and those shadow currents were ultimately composed of countless Fragments, they were not as smooth as water flow and kept colliding with each other. Wherever the shadow currents passed, nothing grew.

It was just like that stream of energy from Destruction just now.

Now, the passing energy current swept wildly past Jinwu and the others. Jinwu and Destruction struck at the same time, two golden lights turning into a protective umbrella, annihilating the incoming shadow currents and causing the shadows within a certain space to dissipate.

It was as if a flood was rushing down from a mountain, and a large rock blocked part of the torrent, standing firm in the flood peak; this is the "pillar in the middle of the stream."

However, a pillar in the middle of the stream is not a dam across the river.

If the previous struggle between Destruction and Wang Liang was not very obvious, then this time, in the surging tide of Yingyuan, it could be seen: compared to the new Wang Liang, Jinwu and Destruction might be able to resist head-on for a while or even gain the upper hand, but there was a difference in magnitude in terms of volume.

After all, Yingyuan had accumulated for too long, while the Jinwus had no opportunity to accumulate.

Now, Wang Liang was actively contracting Yingyuan, not to show weakness, but to withdraw the scattered power and condense it upon itself.

The new Wang Liang was finally about to take complete shape!

Once formed, judging by the power of this Yingyuan riot, the strength of the main body would climb to an unimaginable level.

Destruction and Jinwu looked at each other, and Jinwu suddenly said: "Ruyi Sword, I must trouble you once more!"

Before, when Jinwu wanted the Ruyi Sword to save Tang Zhao, the Ruyi Sword's response was very weak, but after a series of battles, the two Sword Immortals had established a more tacit connection and could already interact as comrades-in-arms.

As soon as Jinwu called out, the silver threads that had just stayed in front of them moved. Jinwu shouted: "Help me take care of him." Saying this, it soared into the air with Destruction and rushed toward the center of the shadow tide.

Tang Zhao asked anxiously: "Where are you going?"

Destruction did not look back, but Jinwu turned its head and said: "To see if we can take the opportunity to strike the main body directly!"

After speaking, two golden lights rushed side by side toward the center of Yingyuan that was already forming.

Tang Zhao became even more anxious and said: "How can this..."

Just at this moment, a gentle female voice came to his ears: "Little Friend Tang, do you really not know the purpose of Jinwu's departure?"

That was the voice of the Ruyi Sword!

This was the first time Tang Zhao had heard the voice of the Ruyi Sword; it was gentler and clearer than any female voice he had ever heard.

Black Widow also had a gentle voice, but compared to her, it was somewhat affected; the voice of the Ruyi Sword made one think of a kind and gentle soul upon hearing it.

However, Tang Zhao did not pay attention to the speaker, but rather to the content of what she said.

Jinwu's purpose...

How could he not have sensed it?

Besides sensing that the new Wang Liang was improving at an unprecedented rate, fearing that it would be harder to deal with once it became a complete body, and wanting to try to sneak an attack during the last window of opportunity, it was more for...

Buying a little time for Tang Zhao.

If the new Wang Liang finished condensing and wanted to launch a thunderous strike, attacking Tang Zhao first, that would be too dangerous.

Tang Zhao understood their meaning, so he cast aside all distracting thoughts and drew out the Jinwu Sword. The brilliant golden light illuminated all directions in an instant.

At the same time, a silver light slid over and gently wrapped around him.

The silver threads of the Ruyi Sword appeared transparent, but they used their own luster to cover the golden light activated by the Jinwu Sword, firmly wrapping Tang Zhao's movements within the range of the silver light, isolating external prying eyes.

In fact, the time required for the Jinwu Sword to fully activate was not much; one only needed to find the key.

The key was... the Sword Seed!

Sword Intent was originally an extension of the Sword Seed; the Sword Intent of that year was produced by the intersection of the Sword Guest's soul and the Sword Heart, and it still retained the root of the Sword Intent's production.

Just like a growing tree, although it is ten zhang high and its canopy covers the sky and sun, the tree roots are ultimately still under the soil.

And there are two keys to opening the channel between the Sword Seed and the Sword Intent: first, knowing the precise location of the Sword Seed in the sword. Second, having the will and Spirit of Dongjun as a guide.

The Spirit of Dongjun, Jinwu still had some remaining, and it had long since handed it to Tang Zhao.

And the location of the Sword Seed...

That Jinwu Sword was forged by Tang Zhao himself!

For others, it might be impossible to grasp the location of an "empty" Sword Seed within the "wind" material, but Tang Zhao personally placed the Sword Seed into the material; how could he not find it?

Tang Zhao took the wisp of Spirit left behind by Dongjun, mixed it with refined Qi, and then used his own will as a guide to easily find the Sword Seed within the elusive Inner layer.

The Sword Seed was also brilliantly golden, as if it had been soaked in Sun Power by the Jinwu Sword. Only if it were completely stripped from the Jinwu Sword would it lose its color and turn into that formless and qualityless state.

Then it would no longer be the Sword Seed of the Jinwu Sword.

When Dongjun's Spirit reached the interior of the Jinwu Sword again after a hundred years, the Sword Seed moved, and the Jinwu Sword moved!

In an instant, some kind of power was generated in the darkness, seemingly activating a certain connection.

Streaks of golden light lit up.

That was not light released from inside the Jinwu Sword, but light from the outside being guided and received back.

Aside from the Jinwu and Destruction, under the wake of these successive great battles, the Jinwu Sword still had quite a bit of power scattered outside. Because of the special nature of the Jinwu Sword, they had not been devoured for the time being, but their light was dim, and they could not be easily discovered in the Shadow.

When the Jinwu Sword truly restarted, it was these that responded first.

Strands of power scrambled to return to the Jinwu Sword. Many were swallowed by the Shadow Tide halfway and could never return, but many others broke through the obstacles of Yingyuan, turned into rays of light, and joined the thousands of rays of the Jinwu Sword.

The light came more and more, and grew brighter and brighter; the Jinwu Sword seemed to rise with the swaying shadow of a Jinwu.

This pulling and returning made Tang Zhao's heart surge; besides anticipation and nervousness, he suddenly thought of his Glasses:

On the eve of the Glasses shattering back then, they also seemed to have sent out calls and received heavy responses.

Were those the powers of the "sword" that were the Glasses lost outside?

If these powers were found, was there hope for the Glasses to be restored?

This thought flashed through Tang Zhao's mind, then he set it aside and became nervous instead:

Once those stray powers were absorbed, it would be time to absorb those two Sword Intents.

The key was who would return first?

Although it did not matter much who came first or last, Tang Zhao always felt that it was likely related to whose will would form the final Sword Image.

Which was to say, it would decide who could survive.

This was something Tang Zhao could not interfere with, and it was fortunate he could not; letting him decide would be no different than making him solve a "trolley problem." Just being a helpless bystander to the final result was already heart-wrenching.

Finally, a massive shadow seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand and dragged back.

That is...

Pure gold!

It is the Jinwu!

The Jinwu Sword finally made its choice; it was the Jinwu, which is to say, the Shine Sword Intent returning first!

In fact, this was a matter of course; the first Sword Intent of the Jinwu Sword was Shine.

When the Jinwu brushed past Tang Zhao, it even nodded at him, seemingly struggling to resist the suction, hovering in mid-air!

Tang Zhao thought it still had words to instruct him, so he asked: "Your Highness..."

However, the Jinwu did not speak, only struggling to resist the suction, as if it really wanted to go back on its decision. Tang Zhao was somewhat anxious; if the Jinwu wanted to go back on it, should he disperse the absorption?

At this moment, a flash of brilliance appeared on the sword blade, and a majestic vitality was emitted.

That was the second Sword Intent, Growth!

It had originally been inside the Jinwu Sword, and now it was awakened.

The second Sword Intent had now become the first.

At this time...

At the very last moment, a dark golden Jinwu flew in from the sky.

The Jinwu still had the intention of being dragged, but Destruction flew over with its head buried.

Tang Zhao wondered, at this final moment, what would Destruction say to him?

But in fact, Destruction did not look at him again at all, only focusing on the Jinwu Sword; its movements were almost impatient, just like a wanderer far from home impatient to return to his hometown!

At this time, the Jinwu, which had been struggling to hover, suddenly followed, extending its claws.

Destruction grabbed it without hesitation, the two Jinwu side by side—

Li—

With a Chirping, the Jinwu descended from the sky, calmly and resolutely throwing themselves into the Jinwu Sword.

The Jinwu had returned home!