Huge white crabapple flowers bloomed on the mountain every now and then.

Above each crabapple, there were one or two white-clothed, red-clothed and gray-clothed. Their expressions were either sluggish, confused, or intoxicated as they stood, lay on their backs, or lay down on their front, repeating simple and profound rhythmic movements according to the rhythm of the great path.

“Hu hu…”

The wind rustled.

Carrying the unconscious Bazhun’an on his back, Haitang’er leapt from the depths of the mountain to the outer area of the Eighth Palace.

At this junction, without the support of the Nation-Toppling Heavenly Shield’s sensing network, the ordinary white-clothed and even Gou Wuyue would probably find it difficult to find any traces of this saint servant duo.

“Ehm.”

A groan of pain sounded from his back, and Haitang’er stopped in his tracks.

“You’re awake?”

As he turned his head, a pink crabapple flower bloomed in mid-air and placed the person on top of it.

There was a long silence.

Bazhun’an sat upright on the crabapple flower, rubbing the back of his neck while raising his eyes to look at Haitang’er.

He did not speak, and just watched for a long time. Haitang’er could no longer control himself.

“At that time, the situation was dangerous. You couldn’t make a move so I had no choice but to…”

“You sneak attack me?”

Haitang’er’s voice paused.

Bazhun’an’s eyes were cold. He had interrupted him just like that and for a moment, Haitang’er did not know how to refute.

“Yes!”

“That was indeed a fact.”

Clenching his teeth, Haitang’er immediately continued, “But at that time, if you were to fight with Gou Wuyue, with your injuries and just that sword, it would be difficult for you…”

“You sneak attack me?”

There was silence again.

Haitang’er closed his eyes with a feeling of heaviness, and did not intend to say anything more. “So what if I did?”

Bazhun’an said in an indifferent tone, “Gou Wuyue is a sword deity, and he’s at least twice as powerful as a typical higher void. If I am unconscious, who can hold him off?”

“Cen Qiaofu can.”

“Cen Qiaofu can, but the divine puppet and the other white-clothed, who can hold him off?”

“The storyteller can.”

“The storyteller is only Cutting Path level. When people of that level surround him, he can still protect himself. But the rest won’t be so silly as to stay still when they have the time. They will still be looking for others.” Even though Bazhun’an was unconscious at that point of time, he was able to make his own judgment of the situation.

“Second Brother is here.”

Haitang’er could not continue, so he chose to confess.

“Second Brother?”

Bazhun’an was stunned. He paused for a moment, and his voice became fragile. “You know, he’s injured.”

“He has recovered,” Haitang’er said.

“He told you that?”

“Yes.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I don’t.”

“And then?”

Haitang’er sighed. “It doesn’t matter whether I believe him or not. He opened the Dragon Melting Realm and attracted Gou Wuyue there. He wanted to fight to the death. You know his temper…”

“He wanted to fight to the death, so you have to let him be?”

Bazhun’an suddenly stood up and said coldly, “If he really wanted to fight till the end, it would be impossible for Gou Wuyue to come to the white cave in the Azure Dragon Prefecture!”

“He was stopped by someone.” Haitang’er turned his head away and didn’t dare to look directly at him.

“Chey.”

Bazhun’an sneered, “These are all excuses.”

He suddenly turned around and walked to the back.

Haitang’er had no choice but to pave a path for him to prevent him from falling. He asked again, “Where are you going?”

“Back.”

“Why are you still going back at this point? What can you do if you go back? In your current state, can you defeat Gou Wuyue?”

“If I’m around, he won’t dare to kill people.”

“But he was going to capture you!” Haitang’er said angrily.

He did not know what was the significance of going back.

Cen Qiaofu risked his life to stall all the high-end white-clothed so that they would not interfere with the other battlefields.

Sang Qiye stopped Gou Wuyue by himself so as to make a way out for Bazhun’an.

Just as Haitang’er had said earlier, they had already come to this point, why should they go back?

Wouldn’t all their efforts be put to waste?

When did the chief become so pretentious?

Looking at the haggard figure that was moving forward one step at a time without the slightest hesitation, Haitang’er couldn’t help but shout, “The battle has already ended!”

He looked at the shattered mountain in the distance, the sword will of the realm, and the burning aura…

And that arrow!

If they return now, not only would they fail to retrieve the corpses, two additional lives would be lost!

“Do you have a sword?”

Bazhun’an did not even turn his head back. His calm voice drifted over from the front.

Haitang’er’s heart trembled.

He knew that the three strikes from Hua Changdeng in the past not only destroyed an era, but also made the ruler of that era weary of holding a sword again.

But now, what did he hear?

A sword?

“No sword!”

Haitang’er’s voice trembled slightly.

“Even if you have a sword, you can’t pick it up.”

“The path you chose, you want to give up halfway?”

“Just because of Second Brother, just because of Gou Wuyue, just because of this fight?”

“Do you know what you forgot?”

Haitang’er roared, “The real battle is waiting for you at a later time. We can’t do without you!”

There was a click.

Bazhun’an stopped and slowly turned his head.

“Haitang’er.”

“Go?” Haitang’er’s voice became gentler. Although it was only one word, his tone sounded more like, “Since you’ve thought it through, why don’t you come with me?”

Bazhun’an shook his head gently.

“Bazhun’an, it’s not that I’ve forgotten, but you’ve gotten used to it.”

“Wait, hide…”

“What we’ve been getting ready for, it has been too long, too long.”

Bazhun’an raised his head and looked at the shattered sky. There was an endless vicissitude in his turbid eyes. It was as if the resolve of his entire life had been drained away with time.

But his words were powerful.

“Just like this flower.”

He pointed at the crabapple flower under his feet and said, “If you don’t have the ability to spend all your time with it, then you’ll never know if what you’ve seen, what you think is its most glorious moment, is really true.”

“Just like this hand!”

He spread out his palms again, and his eight fingers trembled slightly. “You see, it is no longer as stable as it was yesterday. However, without a sword, furthermore, without the ability to hold a sword, does this mean that this is the end?”

Bazhun’an looked straight ahead and stared straight at Haitang’er. He pondered for a moment and said earnestly,

“In this world, there is nothing that you can face in the most perfect state of preparation.”

“When the time is up, it is up.”

“When the time is up, you can no longer refuse.”

“If you can really see the most resplendent of flowers, the perfect life of a person, then you have already given everything… to put it another way, you have prepared everything, so you can see the ending that you want.”

“But that ending, is it meaningful? Is it really what you want to see?”

Haitang’er lowered his head.

He agreed with the chief’s words, but it did not mean that he could accept it.

They did not make full preparation for all this and the price might be that they would lose everything!

Bazhun’an could not help but laugh. He knew what the other party was thinking.

“You are an extremist and also a perfectionist.”

“Not every step in life has to be measured to a tee, and not everything in the world is only right and wrong.”

“People can actually have a third choice.”

Haitang’er raised his eyes which were filled with coldness. “Is that so? You haven’t put your whole life into it, right? How do you know the ending?”

“I don’t know, but I can create it. This is what I’ve been doing, isn’t it?”

“Create it with what?”

“Create it with my hands, my body, my willpower, anything that I can use, even preparations that are half-done…”

Bazhun’an gave a lot of answers before he finally paused and said, “Face it, don’t show your back!”

With a thud, Haitang’er’s heart suddenly contracted.

Was he saying that he…

Was running away?

He gritted his teeth and wanted to refute.

“Put me down.”

Bazhun’an pointed at the ruined mountain forest below.

It was a desolate place. The aftermath of the battle in the Eighth Palace had swept away all the trees and broken the branches.

“Oh.”

Haitang’er reluctantly put him down.

Bang.

The moment Bazhun’an landed on the ground, he broke a dead branch.

He lowered his head.

Haitang’er also lowered his head along with his line of sight.

Broken branch..

Was this implying something?

Haitang’er felt that the sky was about to turn gray. His entire body was shrouded in gloom and sorrow.

He could not persuade chief!

Bazhun’an, however, moved his feet. As if he had thought of something, he squatted down thoughtfully.

He picked up the withered branch that had been broken in half and was only the length of his forearm, and studied it for a long time.

“Chief?”

Haitang’er looked in the direction of the battle behind him.

If they did not leave now, the white-clothed would really catch up.

Bazhun’an stood up and looked over with him.

“The battle is not over,” he suddenly said in a low voice.

Haitang’er was stunned when he heard this. It took him a long time to react. The chief was responding to what he had just said. Gou Wuyue and second brother’s battle had already ended.

“Can you see it?” He was a little curious.

“I can’t.”

Bazhun’an looked into the distance.

He was only at the cultivation level of the acquired realm. He had injuries all over his body. All he could see was the broken sky.

Whoosh.

He used the withered branch in his hand and swiped it in the air, and a faint sound of wind could be heard.

Bazhun’an’s lips curled up, and a smile appeared on his face.

“But I know..

“The battle has just begun.”

..

On the other side.

Whoosh!

The Evil Sin Bow’s arrow returned.

It was obvious that Gou Wuyue’s “Time Sequence, Reversal” wasn’t powerful enough to completely affect the two domains.

After the arrow disappeared from the sky, it suddenly shot over with an invincible momentum.

“Xu Xiaoshou…”

Elder Sang sighed.

He had never thought that his new disciple could cause such serious damage to one of the seven sword deities on the continent.

It was true that Gou Wuyue was a sword deity, a higher void.

But on this continent, cultivation level did not determine everything.

At the very least, he was not born with a sacred physique, nor was he trained physically. The higher void physique, which had been modified by the Way of the Heavens power, could not withstand that punch.

“What kind of fist technique is it?”

Elder Sang did not probe further.

This was Xu Xiaoshou’s opportunity.

He knew that this disciple of his had many thoughts, many secrets, and even more opportunities.

If he had been the one to face that punch, he would have been a little stunned, even though he had the sovereign physique.

However, no matter what, Xu Xiaoshou had already done too much in this battle.

It had even exceeded the “Anything” that he needed to endure at his current realm!

This battle that’s not worthy of being at Cutting Path level, was something that a junior like him should not be facing.

What he should do was to defeat his peers in all kinds of competition in a glorious and carefree manner!

“Ai Cangsheng…”

Looking up at the arrow that shot down from the sky, Elder Sang opened his hands.

Without Gou Wuyue’s obstruction, he could easily collect the body of his disciple that had been hit by the backlash of the punch and exploded into several pieces.

As the true successor of the Infernal Fire Seed, even if he was only left with his last breath, or even if he didn’t die for too long, he had several ways to snatch the person back from the hands of the Grim Reaper.

“Pa!”

Grabbing Xu Xiaoshou’s cracked head, Elder Sang aimed at the wound and slapped a rejuvenation pill into it.

In the blink of an eye, Xu Xiaoshou’s muscles began to split and grow crazily.

In just a short while, he had rejuvenated his whole body.

Elder Sang took out another pill bottle from his ring.

This time, he carefully poured out a golden elixir the size of a fingernail.

“God’s Blessing!”

Known as the strongest healing medicine in the world, “God’s Blessing” had the ability to dispel all negative effects, revive the soul, and reverse the Way of the Heavens power.

He fed it in one go.

In less than three breaths, Xu Xiaoshou spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyelids trembled slightly, and he opened his eyes.

“Old man…”

Time seemed to slow down.

Xu Xiaoshou saw the arrow of the Evil Sin Bow falling from the sky with one glance. However, as he was in Elder Sang’s arms, he surprisingly did not have the slightest bit of anxiety.

It was as if even if the sky fell, everything would be supported by this old man.

— a sense of security!

“Pa!”

Darkness fell in front of him.

Elder Sang took out a straw hat from his ring and covered his disciple’s face.

“Xu Xiaoshou.”

He opened his mouth and seemed to have a lot to say.

However, as his lips and teeth opened and closed, it was as if he didn’t need to say anything and he shut his mouth again.

The medicinal fragrance was mixed with the burnt smell, and there was even the smell of sweat on the old man’s body..

Xu Xiaoshou felt the smell of the straw hat on his face and understood everything.

He suddenly felt a lump in his throat.

“Master…”

Elder Sang’s heart trembled, but he still did not lower his head.

The arrow that was magnified in his pupils did not give him enough time to savor the name uttered with sincerity from his disciple since the night he became his teacher.

He knew it.

Xu Xiaoshou had been holding a grudge in his heart.

But who could not hold a grudge?

The way he took in disciples was to disregard human lives.

But Elder Sang did not care.

He did not have the extra time or patience to face those chess pieces that might not grow up.

Only through repeated attempts and disappointments could there really be a chance.

And now…

It was obvious that Xu Xiaoshou had risen.

Then, his mission had been accomplished.

Did he feel regretful?

It was impossible to say that he did not regret it.

But because it was hard to come by, he treasured it even more.

At least, in front of Elder Sang, he did not allow anyone, any form of existence, in any way, to cause harm to his disciple’s body, spirit and soul.

No one!

Even if that person was called Ai Cangsheng!

“Xiaoshou, this is very likely the last thing I will say to you.”

With a bang, Elder Sang with his straw hat was being sucked into the spatial crack.

The straw hat flew away.

Xu Xiaoshou grabbed it in a panic.

Just as the spatial crack was about to disappear, he saw the old man’s lips squirm a few times and although it was horrifying, it could be seen that he was trying his best to express a warm and friendly smile.

“If I die, you don’t have to fear anyone in this continent.”

After saying that, Elder Sang turned around brazenly. His hands became scorched and with a bang, he grabbed tightly onto the arrow from the Evil Sin Bow that came from the sky.

The void exploded and the space shattered.

Invisible air waves flattened the space for several miles.

It was difficult for the voice to be heard again.

But even at this moment, the old man still gritted his teeth and trembled. He forcefully turned his head away.

He knew that communication was impossible within the vacuum, and it was very likely that Xu Xiaoshou wouldn’t be able to hear him.

However, he was determined to say it.

What he didn’t know was that even if there was only a sliver of the spatial crack left, Xu Xiaoshou’s “Perception” could ultimately figure out the shape of his mouth.

“Your next backer, the Holy Palace, Dragon Melt!”