Chapter 1023: The Strife Subsides

Whether it was an illusion or not, beneath that aura, the intuition Fang Yue had built up over his long years of cultivation was frantically warning him of danger! Warning him that any slightest excessive move would be crushed to dust in an instant by the aura of the Guardian Stone Lion, killed on the spot!

"Huang… gui?"

"The Guardian Stone Lion is a Huanggui?!"

In the Great Wasteland Desert, at the Eternal Abyss, one sees 【Huanggui】!

Fang Yue had seen a Huanggui once at the Huanggui Yiji in Mo Cun, but between one Huanggui and another, there is still a gap.

The Huanggui before him, called the Guardian Stone Lion, was so terrifying in aura that it was on an entirely different level from the Huanggui he had seen before!

That horrifying strength, accumulated over who knows how many years, was already so oppressive just from its aura that one could barely breathe!

This thing, in a certain sense, is even more terrifying than an immortal!

Fortunately, that aura only lingered on him for an instant before quickly fading.

The pressure vanished abruptly.

Puh!

The next moment, the Great Prince, who had been forcing himself, spat out a mouthful of black blood on the spot, clutched his chest, took two steps back, and stared at Fang Yue with an unreadable expression.

And above him, the Guardian Stone Lion, which contained inexhaustible power, had already ceased its movements, its eyes closed once more.

Clearly, the Great Prince's limit was only enough to make the Guardian Stone Lion do this much.

"So you can no longer control it! No wonder earlier you were only skirmishing with me, never borrowing the Stone Lion's power!"

The Seventh Prince's face showed delight.

His battle with the Great Prince had already been in his favor; it was only because he had always feared the Great Prince driving the Guardian Stone Lion to launch an attack in a mutually-destructive last stand that he had held back.

Now, there was no longer any need to hold anything in reserve.

"Come out, Tian Ruichi!"

As the Seventh Prince's words fell, a figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

That was none other than… Tian Ruichi!

Only at this moment, Tian Ruichi's eyes were vacant, seemingly without any self-awareness.

"Tian Ruichi?!"

Fang Yue's expression flickered slightly.

Since the destruction of the Heaven Sword Sect, he had searched for news of Tian Ruichi, but ultimately came up empty, and had once thought Tian Ruichi was already dead. He never expected to meet Tian Ruichi again here, in this way.

Only, the Tian Ruichi before him now seemed somewhat strange.

"Don't bother trying to call out to him. Tian Ruichi has already died once. After the Ox Seat used his methods on him, he returned to my side. Now, he is nothing more than a tool that obeys commands, and doesn't remember anything that happened between you at all."

After a pause, the Seventh Prince poured a bottle of human medicine into Tian Ruichi's mouth, then circulated his internal force and slapped a palm onto Tian Ruichi's back.

The next moment, Tian Ruichi, who had originally only had meager strength, suddenly had his aura surge, directly reaching Rain-rank strength!

Rain-rank and Rain-rank, there is still a gap.

Back then, he had killed Tian Ruichi because he felt Tian Ruichi was no longer useful.

Later, because of their cooperation, the Ox Seat sent Tian Ruichi back into his hands. Only then did the Seventh Prince discover that the post-mortem modified Tian Ruichi had great use!

That special physique, combined with the Ox Seat's human medicine, could barely reach Rain-rank strength. But if one added his own unique cultivation method and channeled power into him, he could rise another level above Rain-rank, reaching strength sufficient to look down on veteran Rain-rank experts, and might even surpass them!

However, this state could only be maintained for a very short time, so he absolutely had to end the battle quickly.

Neither Fang Yue nor the Great Prince did he intend to let go!

"Tian Ruichi, attack!"

Almost the instant the Seventh Prince's words fell, Tian Ruichi moved.

Tian Ruichi was seen slowly raising his right hand, aiming it at the Great Prince.

Sizzle!!

The next moment, before the Great Prince could even understand what was happening, a sword abruptly burst forth violently from his chest.

The sword tip pierced through his chest, and blood sprayed out.

His expression dimming, the Great Prince fell to his knees.

Blood welled up in his mouth as he raised his head blankly to look at the Seventh Prince.

"Seventh Brother, are you truly determined to wipe us out completely?"

In response, only more sword tips abruptly pierced through from within his body. In just an instant, the Great Prince was riddled with swords all over, collapsed to the ground, and gradually lost his breath.

"Is this… my end?"

Before his consciousness sank into absolute darkness, he looked at the fate plate in his heart, but it remained pitch-black, utterly impossible to discern anything.

The Great Prince was dead—too sudden a death, catching people somewhat off guard.

But death is death. With the Great Prince's death, many people one after another realized the shift in the situation.

"G-Great Prince?!"

"Impossible! The Great Prince is dead!"

"Seventh Prince! How vicious your heart! That is your own blood brother!"

"Aaaaaah! Avenge the Great Prince!!"

Those who could appear in Sheng Shi Lin were necessarily all trusted subordinates of the Great Prince.

Now that the Great Prince had fallen, they naturally had no intention of living either, and one after another screamed madly, charging at the Seventh Prince with cries to kill.

But the Seventh Prince was not flustered at all.

"Tian Ruichi!"

Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle!!

Almost simultaneously with the Seventh Prince's words, more swords had already emerged from the bodies of those Great Prince remnants, piercing through their bodies and inflicting fatal wounds.

Those who had just been shouting ferociously moments ago were now, one after another, pierced through by sword tips emerging from within their bodies, collapsing to the ground, blood flowing freely, their auras gradually weakening.

The situation on the field suddenly became crystal clear — the Seventh Prince's momentum had reached its peak.

"Your Highness the Seventh Prince! Your Highness the Seventh Prince! Your Highness the Seventh Prince!"

The Seventh Prince's trusted followers shouted excitedly, as if the outcome were already decided.

As for Fang Yue, who had suddenly appeared, and the counterfeit "Seventh Prince," they seemed utterly beneath notice.

But the Seventh Prince was not satisfied — his gaze turned toward Captain Wu and Fang Yue.

"Yese Liming, I'm truly impressed you found a stand-in to try replacing the real me. On top of that, you wanted to kill me and the First Prince — it seems your true aim is no small thing. Are you trying to take my place?"

Such a scheming, deep-minded fellow — the Seventh Prince had no intention of letting him live.

Tian Ruichi's peak strength could only last for a short while.

It was already nearly at its limit.

Therefore, the Seventh Prince had to act fast.

Fortunately, Tian Ruichi had lost his own consciousness — upon hearing a command, he would execute it without the slightest hesitation.

"Tian Ruichi, kill them."

However, as the Seventh Prince's words fell, Fang Yue tilted his head slightly, as if expressing confusion.

Then, a sword slowly poked a tiny tip out from Fang Yue's chest, as if desperately forcing apart the skin of his chest.

But that was all — it got completely stuck in Fang Yue's chest. With a light tap on that spot, the blade was pressed back inside his body, and everything returned to naturalness as if nothing had happened, with no further abnormality.

Tian Ruichi's attack had no effect on Fang Yue!

The Seventh Prince's face changed.

Could Tian Ruichi's strength no longer be at the Rain-tier?

But when he looked toward Captain Wu, he was stunned once again.

Because on Captain Wu's body, swords had sprouted — many swords — nearly turning Captain Wu into a sword-man composed entirely of longswords.

A normal person would have collapsed by now, but although Captain Wu had bled heavily, he showed no sign of falling. He even spoke to Fang Yue as if he didn't care in the slightest.

"Captain Ye, I'm going to make my move."

"Mm, for An Dong'er."

"For An Dong'er!"

The Seventh Prince couldn't understand what they were saying, but he keenly noticed one thing — Captain Wu's aura was rapidly weakening.

This meant… Tian Ruichi's attack was effective.

Captain Wu was simply forcing himself to hold on!

The Seventh Prince immediately felt relieved in his heart. As long as the attack worked, it was fine. It seemed the earlier Fang Yue had only been calm on the surface — Tian Ruichi must have concentrated all his power on the counterfeit version of himself.

The attack was too concentrated on one person, which was why the assault on Fang Yue wasn't obvious and was so easily broken.

Everything seemed to add up.

I knew it — although forcibly boosting Tian Ruichi to briefly possess Rain-tier martial artist strength, this was still an attack of genuine Rain-tier power. How could Yese Liming break through it so easily!

Putting on an act!

The Seventh Prince sneered coldly in his heart. But the next moment, his eyes suddenly bulged wide, and he stared at Captain Wu's direction with a face full of disbelief. His gaze locked on, every thought concentrated on Captain Wu in that instant, not wavering in the slightest!

Because, in the instant Captain Wu stood there and was drowned by longswords to death.

In the instant Captain Wu's aura completely vanished.

The Phoenix Cry suddenly rang out!!

Hum!!

The incomparably clear, intense Phoenix Cry nearly reverberated in everyone's eardrums, echoing through every corner of Shi Sheng Lin!

Fang Yue knew this meant Captain Wu had undergone nirvana rebirth once again.

But he was already used to it and showed no reaction. However, the reactions of the others around him struck him as somewhat strange.

The Seventh Prince's subordinates, who had just been attacking them, all stared wide-eyed in unison, faces full of disbelief, staring dumbly at Captain Wu, their entire bodies trembling uncontrollably.

"Go-Golden Phoenix Cry! It's royal bloodline! An awakened royal bloodline!"

"It's the power of the Golden Phoenix! The power of royal bloodline! This guy… why does this guy possess the power of royal bloodline?!"

"Need you even ask… there's only one answer — he is the true Seventh Prince, the true orthodox bearer of the royal bloodline!"

"The true Seventh Prince… then the one we've been following, isn't he a fake?"

"People can be faked, but the power of bloodline absolutely cannot be faked! Why did we follow the Seventh Prince in the first place? Wasn't it precisely because he possessed the orthodox royal bloodline? Now, the true Seventh Prince standing before us is the true orthodox bearer!"

Coming back to their senses, the crowd had already knelt down one after another toward Captain Wu. The sight of everyone dropping to their knees in unison left both Captain Wu and Fang Yue stunned at the same time, and also brought the Seventh Prince back to his senses.

Damn — I've become the stand-in!

The Seventh Prince immediately realized this.

He stared at Fang Yue with an extremely grim face.

The situation had fallen into an absolutely unfavorable state.

And what was even more terrifying — behind Fang Yue and the other man, the colossal Guardian Stone Lion, as if sensing the summons of the royal bloodline, slowly opened its eyes.

A terrifyingly primordial aura instantly enveloped the entire field, casting a shadow over everyone's hearts, freezing their bodies, daring not to move rashly.

"I-it's the Guardian Stone Lion!"

"Just as I thought — he is the true Seventh Prince!"

"Your Highness the Seventh Prince! We are willing to follow you forever!"

"Your Highness the Seventh Prince, please allow us to atone for our crimes by capturing the traitor who impersonated you!"

The so-called impersonator, the so-called traitor, naturally referred to the real Seventh Prince, not Captain Wu.

The sudden reversal of the situation made the Seventh Prince's face turn ugly, his heart sinking.

In an instant, he went from victory firmly in hand to being surrounded on all sides, isolated and without aid.

He stared fixedly at Fang Yue, fists clenched tight.

"I never thought you'd even planned this far ahead. To get rid of me, you've truly gone to great pains. But even so, given my relationship with Sisi, if you kill me, Sisi will never forgive you!"

Tian Ruichi's aura had already begun to plummet sharply due to the side effects of the Human Pill and the side effects of his own forced-growth Internal Energy Heart Method, degrading to Cloud-level strength, falling toward Human-level strength.

But before Tian Ruichi's strength dropped to Human-level, his vitality had already been extinguished a step sooner; he collapsed to the ground, his breath completely gone.

A good friend he knew, dead before his very eyes, made Fang Yue fix the Seventh Prince with an icy stare.

"Captain Wu, make your move. Kill him."

Receiving Fang Yue's order, Captain Wu charged forward without the slightest hesitation.

But he had barely run two steps...

Boom!!

The entire Imperial Palace suddenly seemed to suffer some kind of violent impact, shaking violently.

One moment of unsteady footing, and many people tumbled to the ground on the spot.

Before Fang Yue and the others could react.

Boom!!

Another violent crash echoed through every corner of the Imperial Palace.

This time, the instant the crash fell.

Bang!!

A tremendous roar of something shattering rang out from overhead.

Fang Yue looked up in confusion, only to see the protective formation of Shi Sheng Lin rapidly vanishing, the entire Shi Sheng Lin exposed within the Imperial Palace.

Fang Yue hesitated for a moment, then leaped up, stood at a high point, and looked outward—his pupils contracting at once.

He saw the protective formation that had originally stood above the Imperial Palace now spewing out a great mass of translucent two-dimensional fragments, disintegrating rapidly.

Ink-green light surged in like a tide as the formation broke, flooding into the Imperial Palace.

And flooding in along with the ink-green light was a vast swath of Blood Rain pouring down from the Black Cloud!

The two were no longer adversaries but embracing one another, forming an even greater disaster!

"Captain Ye, what's happening?"

Captain Wu asked in confusion, but the next instant.

Drip.

Blood-colored rainwater dripped onto his body.

He had only been somewhat puzzled a moment ago, but his face changed on the spot.

"Night Rain?! Why is Night Rain falling here? Doesn't the Imperial Palace have a protective formation?!"

Captain Wu was still only puzzled and worried, but the others had already gone pale, their faces filled with panic.

Blood Rain Level Night Rain had always been something only Rain-level martial artists could handle.

Yet the people present were utterly incapable of dealing with Night Rain.

Once Night Rain invaded the Imperial Palace, they had to find a place to take shelter from the rain in time to survive.

While everyone's attention was stolen by Night Rain, the Seventh Prince was quietly retreating backward.

Yet he had barely retreated any distance.

Squelch—

The Heavenly Sword, representing the supreme sword of the Heavenly Sword Sect, abruptly pierced into him from behind and burst out through his chest.

His pupils contracted, the Seventh Prince's eyes went wide, fresh blood welled up in his mouth. He wanted to say something, wanted to struggle, but powerlessness seized everything from him. As the Heavenly Sword was violently withdrawn, the Seventh Prince's corpse slowly toppled to the ground.

And the last thing reflected in his eyes was Fang Yue's cold gaze as he drew out his sword.

"The formation is broken, the Night Rain has fallen—that means that guy... is almost here."

Replaced

(End of this chapter)