Chapter 671: The Whole Sect Ascends!

“This Xuanxiao... feels so strange...” Watching the paranoia and madness in his words and countenance, it was as if he were no longer a Daoist practitioner who had meditated long within the immortal mountains, possessed of celestial grace and gentle harmony with the dust of the world.

It was palpable even through the screen, to say nothing of Yun Tianhe.

Naturally, Yun Tianhe was unwilling to acquiesce to the words of such a man, demanding only that the Wangshu Sword be returned; with the massive power of the blade constantly mobilized, Han Lingsha’s condition had already become precarious, worsening by the day, and who knew if she could endure until the moment of ascension?

Xuanxiao, dead-set on ascending, would naturally never agree.

In the past, when Yun Tianhe lived upon the mountain, because he had nothing and knew nothing, even hunting a wild boar today or having clear weather tomorrow could make him happy for a long time.

Just as Yun Tianhe’s father, Yun Tianqing, had taught him, a man should be fearless; even when confronting the divine dragon, or facing the divine general Jumang, there seemed to be nothing to fear, yet ever since descending from Qionghua to seek a way to deal with the dual swords, a feeling of dread had suddenly sprouted within his heart.

He feared he would never see Mengli again in this lifetime, feared he could not stop Xuanxiao, and feared even more that he could not save Han Lingsha.

The divine dragon had once said, “Perhaps you cannot yet see the true hardships of the mortal world, and firmly believe that everyone can resolve things through their own strength.”

And it was only at this moment that he understood that in this world, not everything could be accomplished merely by giving one's all.

“Tianhe is still too naive...” Seeing this, whether they were players in the new shop or the old shop, a deep tremor resonated within their hearts; this wild youth who feared neither heaven nor earth had, in the end, learned to fear.

Yet what he feared was neither the divine dragon nor the gods.

“Tianhe, you and I are both mortals.” Murong Ziying was clearly much more resigned to it than he. “Birth, old age, sickness, death, and the outcome of a lifetime—all are likely arranged by providence in the unseen realm... How can man contend with heaven?”

“Indeed... fortune plays fools of us all...” In the Jiuhua City shop, the Yuanyang City shop, and the Banbian City shop, those like Nalan Hongwu, Ningbi, and Su Tianji had all played Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 and 3; Li Xiaoyao was so formidable, yet he could not save Ling'er, and Feipeng was so mighty, yet he was still cast down into the mortal dust.

Some things were simply beyond the reach of human effort.

As for the players of the new shop, though they had no concept of heavenly mandate, they knew of "fate"—that mysterious and miraculous power, an entity utterly beyond anyone’s reach.

To the likes of Helen and Captain Evan, it was as unreachable as the gods themselves.

And to a transcendent existence like Merlin, fate was perhaps even more terrifying than the gods.

Certain things, even if foreseen, could not be altered; that profound helplessness was enough to drive anyone to despair.

...

Within the Breeze Ravine, the companions sought the aid of Chongguang and Qingyang, the only two surviving elders of the Qionghua Sect from nineteen years ago, only to discover that Chongguang had perished and Qingyang was severely wounded; by now, Xuanxiao’s obsession with ascension had corrupted into malevolence, and he had dealt these cruel blows just to find the records left by Zonglian, ensuring no one could discover a flaw in the twin swords from them.

The Qionghua Sect had amassed the grandeur of several generations, with the Xihe and Wangshu swords standing supreme under heaven; the two elders had once held this as an supreme glory, but now they realized it was nothing more than an empty illusion.

The sect, which once resembled an immortal realm upon the Kunlun Mountains, was now filled only with a foul and chaotic miasma.

The records of Zonglian—the last sword-smith of the Qionghua Sect and Murong Ziying’s grand-master—noted that the power of the dual swords was exceedingly tyrannical, but extremes meet; therefore, the hosts had to cultivate strictly by the rules, otherwise the power would spin out of control and backlash against its masters, turning the twin swords from spiritual artifacts that aided ascension into malevolent weapons that invited catastrophe.

The power of the dual swords was too immense, and if things truly degenerated to such a state, there was no perfect remedy save one: the death of the hosts, which would cause the swords' power to dissipate.

Down the mountain in Boxian Town, rumors regarding Qionghua's ascension were spreading everywhere.

Alighting from their flying swords, they could hear the commoners whispering everywhere: “I heard that is where the immortals live, they are going back to the heavens, they are abandoning us, abandoning this town, and will never bestow clean water upon us to drink again...”

At this moment, Xuanxiao had no other thoughts besides ascending to immortality, possessing no intention of avenging the old sect master Taiqing; thus, after plundering enough energy crystals, he went with the flow to return a favor to Yun Tianhe, releasing the old, weak, sick, and disabled of the Huanming Realm and withdrawing the binding force of the dual swords.

The demon realm suffered catastrophic losses in this battle, leaving only Liu Mengli and a few other demons to survive, with nothing remaining but departure.

Liu Mengli succeeded as the ruler of the demon realm, guarding this final homeland of the Huanming Realm as it drifted away into the distance.

Just as sung in the ballad, “The bonds of this life shall continue in the next; what is love, that it demands devotion unto death,” perhaps at the end of fate, this bond truly could only be renewed in the next life.

The days of traveling through rivers and mountains, acting righteously, and releasing floating lanterns together still seemed vividly etched before their eyes.

Yet in a human life, there are always too many instances of helplessness.

In the sky, the colossal mountain carrying the entirety of the Qionghua Sect could be seen slowly rising, ascending toward the radiant heavenly light of Kunlun.

That scene shook the hearts of everyone; regardless, whether it was the players in the old shop or the elves and knights in the new shop, they had never witnessed or even heard of such a magnificent feat.

So much so that their entire hearts trembled along with it.

Yet for some unknown reason, a strange sorrow also welled up within their bosoms.

Riding their swords upward, the ruined walls and broken ramparts of Qionghua could be seen everywhere, with corpses and blood sprawled across the plaza before the mountain gate; it was lonely and cold at the top, and as the cold snow drifted and mystical ice congealed, the Qionghua that was once like spring all year round now held only a deathly silence, looking strikingly like a city of the dead.

The few remaining disciples were nowhere to be seen, gathered who knew where.

Upon the Cloud-Rolling Platform, Xuanxiao and Suyao stood, one wielding Xihe and the other wielding Wangshu (though not the host, Suyao, as the sect master and with Xuanxiao's assistance, could control it slightly, while the consumption was provided by Han Lingsha).

With frost congealing on one side and raging flames blazing on the other, the immense power within the dual swords had long surpassed the limits of mortal strength!

“This... this?!” Within the new shop, everyone was currently so stunned they were speechless.

Ascending to immortality was the dream of several generations of Qionghua, and Xuanxiao had cultivated for this, pursued immortality for this, and become the host of the dual swords for this.

No matter how Yun Tianhe pleaded, he naturally could not make him change his mind.

Perhaps in the previous battle against the divine dragon, the dragon had not deployed its true strength, and in the battle against Jumang, Jumang had merely struck out as a test, but now, this was absolutely a battle of life and death.

Within the Qionghua Sect, Suyao was envious of talent and capability; aside from Murong Ziying, no one taught Yun Tianhe any cultivation methods, and many of his skills were learned from Xuanxiao.

To Yun Tianhe, Xuanxiao was both a mentor and a friend, yet at this moment, they were forced to face each other with blades drawn.

Seeing this scene, everyone felt it in their hearts: perhaps Legend of Sword and Fairy 4 would welcome its final chapter right here.

Whether Yun Tianhe would stop Xuanxiao's ascension, or Qionghua would succeed while Han Lingsha perished—everything would depend on the outcome of this single battle.

Everyone stared fixedly at the screen at this moment, as if unwilling to miss even the slightest detail.

.