"Is there still a way? What other way could there be? Ziwei, you've lived for over six hundred years, and it's all been for nothing? Living in a dream?"
Yun Lan scoffed instinctively.
Though he appeared to be living a life of drunken indulgence, he was actually the most realistic of them all; he simply dared not face reality.
"Shut up, you coward. When will you ever shed your disguise? What you care about, what you hate, what you love – can't you just show it? Is it that difficult? Do you really need to pretend to be someone who has seen through everything, someone detached from the mortal world, just to fit your status?"
"Wake up, Senior Brother Yun!"
Ziwei Dao Shou's words were like pearls, each one striking its mark.
"I..."
Yun Lan was enraged, but his instinctive retort left him speechless.
"Hmph, fine. Keep dreaming. This brat won't last a few more minutes anyway. Then, we'll see who was right and who was wrong!"
Yun Lan grumbled.
"Hey, can you two stop arguing? This kid seems a bit off..."
Unlike the other two, Duan Yan Zhuo's gaze had been fixed on Chen Xiao.
Every ripple and movement within the Zhan Shen Sword Formation tugged at his heart.
Indeed, Chen Xiao was not himself at this moment.
He had sat down cross-legged on the ground, his hands forming a seal and resting on his knees.
"What is he doing?"
Yun Lan asked doubtfully.
But no one could provide him with an answer.
The sword rain fell upon Chen Xiao, and the Cang Lan Sacred Body was no longer effective...
Swish—
Swish—
Swish—
Chen Xiao's body was once again pierced like a hedgehog, miniature Zhan Shen Swords impaling him all over.
Blood pooled on the ground. If this continued, Chen Xiao would be reduced to a bloody pulp within minutes.
"Is he... has he given up?"
Seeing this, Duan Yan Zhuo said blankly.
Ziwei Dao Shou's heart twisted into a knot once more.
"What exactly are you doing? Please, don't die..."
"Why are you being so stubborn? Didn't we agree to retreat when faced with adversity?"
Unknowingly, tears streamed down her face.
Seeing Ziwei Dao Shou in such a state, Yun Lan had no inclination to mock her.
His own mood was incredibly heavy.
Being realistic, he understood that if Chen Xiao died, the hope for the other path would be completely extinguished.
He would then have no choice but to abandon Kyushu, abandon humanity, and ascend to the upper realms with his master and ancestors, becoming a traitor to his people.
And that was assuming his master and ancestors would even accept them.
The miniature Zhan Shen Swords, piled together, had completely submerged Chen Xiao.
Unlike the sword rain that vanished without a trace upon hitting the ground, the swords piercing Chen Xiao's body did not disappear; they only accumulated, until the sword formation ended.
The sword formation was still ongoing, but for the three Dao Shou of the sects, it was already over.
They could no longer see Chen Xiao, and where he had been sitting, only a pool of viscous blood remained.
Perhaps he had already been reduced to a bloody pulp.
Yun Lan shook his head, sighing with a sense of regret.
Ziwei, however, slumped to the ground, her eyes vacant and devoid of light.
Her tears had run dry; she could no longer even cry.
"Why? Why did it come to this?"
"He was fine just moments ago, everything was fine. Why did it suddenly turn out like this?"
Duan Yan Zhuo pounded his fists against the blue energy barrier.
He had been completely conquered by Chen Xiao, and his death left him with an unbearable sense of injustice.
However, his repeated blows were not an attempt to break the sword formation, but merely an outlet for his pent-up frustration.
The first ten minutes of the Zhan Shen Sword Formation were a pre-activation phase, allowing for immediate termination.
But once ten minutes passed, it would continue for at least an hour.
After an hour, the three Dao Shou could deactivate the sword formation.
The hourglass in the corner continued to drip, and time ticked by, second by second.
But all of it had become meaningless.
The hour was up.
Yet Ziwei Dao Shou remained unresponsive, still lost in the pain of losing Chen Xiao.
"Time is up. Stop the formation,"
Yun Lan said faintly.
He wanted to offer Ziwei a few words of comfort, but they caught in his throat.
At a time like this, offering comfort might only be another form of cruelty.
"Junior Sister Ziwei, pull yourself together. Let's stop the formation first. Perhaps, perhaps... alas..."
Duan Shi Kong had intended to say that perhaps the young man still had a sliver of hope.
But based on his understanding of the Zhan Shen Sword Formation, there was no hope left. Such words were merely self-deception.
Ziwei Dao Shou finally rose from the ground, walking numbly back to her position to prepare to stop the Zhan Shen Sword Formation.
The three of them recited a string of incantations, simultaneously using their spiritual energy as a conduit to halt the formation.
However, after completing the normal procedure, the Zhan Shen Sword Formation did not stop as they had expected.
"Hmm? What's going on? Why hasn't the Zhan Shen Sword Formation stopped?"
"Could the formation be broken?"
"..."
A flicker of surprise crossed the faces of the three Dao Shou.
They had never seen such a situation before, nor even heard of it. They had no idea what was happening.
They tried several more times, but after their final attempt, shock was evident on all their faces.
They discovered that they had completely lost contact with the Zhan Shen Sword Formation.
"What is happening?"
The three Dao Shou shared the same bewilderment, but again, no one could provide them with an answer.
Meanwhile, within the Zhan Shen Sword Formation, beneath the mountain of miniature Zhan Shen Swords, Chen Xiao's body had not been reduced to a bloody pulp.
His body was tightly enveloped by a layer of dark golden mist.
This dark golden mist was the mist that had enveloped his 'intent' when Chen Xiao had broken through to the seventh realm.
As the golden mist spread and enveloped him, Chen Xiao had seen his 'intent' and comprehended it.
His 'intent' was 'break'.
The break of 'breaking the old to establish the new'.
Chen Xiao recalled that his incredible journey over the past year had begun with a 'break'.
At that time, he had been beaten half to death, and then he had stood up.
After that, he had faced several situations requiring him to break the old to establish the new, and each time, he had persevered to the end, turning danger into safety.
Now, he was facing the same 'break' once more.
The dark golden mist was becoming more solidified and robust.
This was because the sword rain that had fallen to the ground had transformed into energy, flowing into the mist.
Within the Zhan Shen Sword Formation, this tempestuous downpour was nearing its end.
And Chen Xiao, having comprehended his own intent, was about to break free from his cocoon...