Chapter 468: Settling Old and New Grievances Together (End)

Chapter 468: Settling All Old Grudges and New Enmities Alike (Conclusion)

"Qingxiu!!!!"

The cry sounded like weeping blood, every word a wail of despair.

The pillar of flame that violently erupted from the city exploded simultaneously within Arawashi Retsu's heart.

For the very first time, an expression of sheer panic and dismay appeared on his face.

Many knew of Arawashi Qingxiu’s identity as a phantom of the Yellow Sorcery.

Arawashi Retsu knew equally well in his heart that there was a hidden hand manipulating things behind Arawashi Qingxiu.

But he did not care about any of this.

In the eyes of outsiders, and even within the Arawashi clan itself, he, Arawashi Retsu, was merely a faint-hearted lord infatuated by beauty, willingly reduced to a puppet.

Thus, after the others had perished in misery, the despondent Arawashi Fuyudou had been so easily brought under the control of Sangyan Temple.

Yet only Arawashi Retsu himself knew that if not for Arawashi Qingxiu's appearance, he could never have found the inner resolve to endure until this day under the terror of the Yellow Heaven Gate.

To him, Arawashi Qingxiu was a wife, and likewise a mother.

She was his sole anchor for surviving in this world.

Grief brings death to the heart, and extreme rage steals away words.

A low, beast-like growl escaped from Arawashi Retsu's throat as he suddenly turned his gaze forward, his eyes, devoid of any trace of humanity, staring directly at Li Jun.

Splat!

He threw his body forward and advanced, allowing the long spear impaling his torso to pierce out from behind his waist. Amidst the splattering blood, he actually forced his way up along the spear shaft to close in on Li Jun with extraordinary ferocity.

Every hair on Li Jun's body suddenly stood on end as an unprecedentedly intense sense of crisis surged from the base of his spine straight up to the crown of his head. Without a moment's hesitation, Li Jun pressed his hand against the butt of the spear and kicked directly at the shaft, attempting to use the leverage to fling his opponent's body into the air.

Yet the spear shaft remained completely motionless in his grip, suddenly instilling in Li Jun a sense of helplessness like a mortal trying to shoulder a mountain.

Thud!

Arawashi Retsu brought his fist crashing down upon the spear shaft; one force rising and one force descending, two completely opposing, savage powers clashed wantonly along the length of the weapon.

With a crisp, loud snap, the fifth-rank long spear shattered directly down the middle.

Sharp fragments flew wildly between the two men, tearing through armor and piercing into flesh as they embedded themselves into their bodies.

Carried by inertia, Li Jun's figure staggered backward uncontrollably, yet a furious shadow of fists had already forcefully invaded his vision.

The Eight Techniques of Yellow Heaven, Fist Art of Thunderous Echo!

The Eight Techniques of Yellow Heaven, Finger Art of Mountain Piercing!

The Eight Techniques of Yellow Heaven, Palm Method of Lunar Axe!

Arawashi Retsu had already become a demon possessed. The soaring speed of his punches made him look as if he grew six arms on his back, his offensive bearing down like dark clouds, demolishing strongholds and toppling cities.

His heart held no other thoughts, consumed by a single desire: to slaughter everyone in this city to accompany Arawashi Qingxiu in death!

And for this massacre born purely of vengeance, Li Jun was merely the beginning.

The shrieks of genes, the wild blare of suona horns, the thunderous pounding of the heart, the surging waves of blood...

At this moment, Li Jun's ears were filled with all kinds of sounds—excitement, madness, turbulence, fanatical zeal—but there was absolutely no fear, and naturally, no thought of flight!

Between life and death, there were no longer any conspiracies or schemes, nor did benefits or grievances matter.

There was only a solitary soul facing a sect, martial order against martial order!

The outlaw flames in Li Jun's eyes burned in tandem with the armor on his body. The sheer ruthlessness acquired from walking his path alone boiled over completely at this instant. His right foot stomped heavily against the ground, forcibly halting his backward staggering body. With his spine slightly bent, he pulled back into a stance to meet the clash of power.

Thunderous Echo against the Eight Extremes, Lunar Axe against Sinew Severing, Mountain Piercing and Ocean Breaking directly clashing with the Dragon Sighting and Armor Shedding!

The Hive Officer of the ninth layer commanded the dragon and tiger, exchanging blows with the Yellow Heaven Gate to ignite the martial art of shifting clouds!

The internal organs housed within the two separate bodies boiled and brewed blood, beholding the five deities fighting against the inner strength of Yellow Heaven.

Tigers and leopards mauled, dragons and tigers entwined!

The needle-thin confrontation of their genes drove both Li Jun and Arawashi Retsu to choose the most direct method of combat, standing opposite each other and trading unreserved blows.

At this time, there was no concept in their minds of killing a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of their own. There was only the complete death of the enemy, leaving a total victory for oneself!

Savage, crude fist against fist; red, violent blood against blood.

The clash lasted only an instant, yet the two had already exchanged hundreds of punches, the spilled blood entirely swallowed by the fractured earth.

Overhead, the bright moon hid behind clouds and the stars withdrew their light, no longer bearing to watch, or perhaps not daring to watch this tragic and fierce struggle.

Atop the pitch-black summit of Mount Tenpo, the battle cries that made one's blood boil came to an abrupt halt, followed immediately by an exceedingly muffled and heavy crash.

Thud!

Li Jun's body was thrown high into the air, blood spilling from his mouth and nose, the armor on his upper body shattered into pieces.

The rushing sound of wind whined behind him; that was Lord Horse controlling the few remaining operational components to vent rapid streams of air, striving to alleviate the immense impact wrapped around his body.

Li Jun crashed heavily onto the ground, his spine plowing a deep trench into the mountain earth until he smashed a massive boulder into rubble, only then barely coming to a stop.

His exhausted hands trembled uncontrollably; his twisted knuckles were now a mass of ghastly white bone, with fragments of pulverized armor embedded within the spreading fractures.

Li Jun sat splay-legged on the ground with his head hanging low, spitting out a mouthful of blood he could no longer swallow right before him.

"It hurts like a real bastard!"

The red eye still remained between the martial artist's brows, but the light radiating from it had become incredibly dim, and Lord Horse's voice, trembling with pain, slowly drifted out.

"Hey, Old Li, are you dead? If you're dead, I, Lord Horse, am throwing in the towel."

After a moment of silence, a weak laugh sounded: "Old Horse, is this how you show your absolute loyalty and righteousness that reaches the heavens?"

Hearing this familiar voice, Lord Horse's suspended heart finally settled back into place, and he joked with a chuckle: "When walking the greenwood world, knowing when to bend and when to stand tall is the true wisdom. You're still a bit green, kid. Besides, even if I, Lord Horse, am to die in this lifetime, I will only die from the resentment of thousands of beautiful women who cannot have me. How could I possibly die for this invisible, intangible greenwood righteousness?"

"So, that means we can't die today?"

"Does that even need saying? Absolutely!"

"Haha..."

Just as the smile appeared on Li Jun's face, it was immediately replaced by a suppressed groan.

The sharp pain surging within his internal organs made the dragon and tiger vital energy circulating between his nose and mouth become incredibly thin. His breathing also turned burning hot, each inhalation causing the muscles across his entire body to spasm continuously.

Sustaining various explosive martial arts for such a long duration had already pushed Li Jun's physical constitution to its absolute limit.

Li Jun raised his hand to feel the tattered clothes at his chest; within the inner pocket, there had once been an object resembling a longevity lock.

Capable of withstanding a fatal blow from a Rank Four cultivator.

This was the life-buying money Chen Qisheng had given him, and at this moment, it had completely crumbled into powder.

Just moments ago, the instant Arawashi Retsu's final punch landed on Li Jun's chest, it was Lord Horse who had activated this Daoist mechanism at the eleventh hour, successfully preserving Li Jun's life.

"Since we can't die, then we won't die today."

A hoarse, laughing voice echoed from within the red eye: "It's time to bring this to an end. My women are still waiting to be fed back in the Realm of Bright Ghosts!"

Ssh!

His five fingers dug into the ground, and Li Jun, supporting himself by his knees, swayed as he stood up.

More than thirty feet away, Arakawa Retsu stood in silence, not out of an arrogance that disdained pursuing a beaten foe, but because he could not.

Blood flowed incessantly from the spear wound piercing his abdomen, and the ghostly wraith tattoos that once blanketed his flesh had vanished entirely with the melting of his skin, replaced now by a dense, distinct patchwork of fist-prints.

It was precisely because his ghost-body had been shattered within the Buddhist realm that he had lost his physical advantage in the recent static exchange of blows, leaving him equally mangled and torn.

Though he had not yet reached the very end of his life force, he was spent, like an arrow at the end of its flight.

Watching Li Jun rise to his feet once more, Retsu felt no confusion as to why the man yet lived; within his hollow gaze, only a still-boiling animalism remained.

The corners of his mouth twitched, exposing a row of blood-soaked teeth to Li Jun in a feral grin.

Once, Akichi Haruhide had been the collar around Retsu’s neck, and equally the pillar that sustained his resolve.

Now, that Huangliang Ghost, so dismissively regarded by others, had turned to ash, and the Arakawa Retsu who had once existed as a man was no more.

All that remained was a bloodthirsty beast.

The moment their eyes collided, both figures vanished from their spots simultaneously.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A succession of ear-splitting sonic booms erupted from different directions, the turbulent gales sending shattered rocks rolling wildly across the ground.

Two silhouettes chased and fled, colliding in a ceaseless rhythm, though one was visibly much slower.

The gale ceased, and the silhouettes materialized.

Li Jun’s fists were gripped tightly within Retsu’s palms, clearly placing him at a disadvantage in this contest of strength as the bones of his wrists creaked and snapped, bending upward on the verge of fracturing.

In this instant where life and death hung in the balance, Li Jun’s blood-mottled face suddenly flushed crimson, and the heartbeat within his chest surged violently, as though the mechanical heart of a soldier-sequence had entered overdrive.

The Art of the Hibernating Official, ten tenths open.

All physical agony and spiritual fatigue vanished into nothingness at this very moment.

The pupils in Li Jun’s eyes dilated abruptly, and a thrill of absolute ecstasy made him burst into a long, resonant laugh.

With a twist of his wrists, he tore free from the vice-like grip of Retsu’s ten fingers, his palms sliding sharply upward against the opponent's arms to clamp directly onto the back of Retsu’s skull, slamming it downward with brute force while he drove his knee upward like a swinging bell, crashing brutally into Retsu’s face.

There was no room for a scream, only the horrifying sound of collapsing, splintering bone rippling through the air.

Retsu’s colossal frame was thrown backward, yet his retreating steps came to a dead halt.

Unnoticed, his left foot had already been pinned beneath Li Jun’s descending boot.

There was no respite, only a breathlessly close and unrelenting melee.

Snap.

Li Jun seized a wrist and snapped a right arm, the torn muscle popping like a broken bowstring; without pausing, he delivered a sharp elbow strike within the narrowest of spaces, aiming directly at Retsu's unrecognizable head.

The stark terror of death miraculously shook Retsu from the intense vertigo of the knee strike, causing him to duck his head and upper body, evading the elbow while driving a left fist into Li Jun’s abdomen.

Bang!

A mouthful of scalding blood sprayed onto Retsu’s face, yet through his crimson-tinted vision, he beheld a face that was still locked in a ferocious smile.

Both were beasts who had forgotten pain, their fangs already sunken deep into each other's flesh.

Li Jun’s hands, like iron pincers, clamped tightly around the fist buried in his abdomen, thrusting it downward with immense speed before driving it back up, crippling Retsu’s sole remaining left arm as well, before kicking him away.

Clang!

Li Jun sprinted in pursuit, his broken ink-armor, now a mere encumbrance, shedding itself and clattering into the churning dust. Reaching down, he snatched up the half-broken spear embedded in the earth, its sharp tip darting straight for the space between Retsu’s brows.

A single point of cold light expanded rapidly in his vision, and the armless Retsu could only manage a desperate twist of his torso, using his shoulder to meet the opponent's blade.

Pfft!

The spear plunged into flesh, yet it did not cut through like bamboo as before, catching instead within the bone and refusing to yield another inch.

The vision before Li Jun’s eyes also began to blur, the backlash of the fully unleashed Art of the Hibernating Official beginning to manifest; the time left to him was dwindling.

"Roar!"

Retsu seemed to sense the waning momentum of his adversary, a piercing howl erupting from his throat as he kicked straight toward Li Jun’s chest.

Bang!

Bang!

The two traded kicks, flying backward in opposite directions at the same time.

The broken spear scraped against bone as it was violently wrenched free, drawing forth a geyser of spraying blood before spinning high into the air.

Li Jun gritted his teeth, enduring the waves of weakness washing over him as he twisted his torso, taking another bounding stride forward the moment his feet touched the ground.

Dragon Unarming!

Without any evasion or block, and with no ferocious counterattack to follow, this fist landed squarely upon Retsu’s chest.

The sound of fist striking flesh was like the final drumbeat at the conclusion of a melody.

The echo lingered, grand and tragic, yet unable to conceal a profound desolation.

"You win."

The beastly nature in Retsu’s eyes had faded, and in this final moment of lucidity before death, he reclaimed his identity as a man.

Despite the horrifying collapse of his chest, he still stood perfectly erect, the untamed defiance still lingering within his fiercely wide tiger-eyes.

"But I did not lose to you; I lost to that old dog, Huang Qinlong. If he had ever truly considered me his disciple, the one fighting me here today would not be you, but his Sovereign, Su Ce—do you believe that?"

Li Jun remained silent, his gaze fixed calmly upon the man.

"How could I utter such nonsense that only a coward would speak?"

Retsu shook his head with a self-mocking laugh: "It seems living really is a tedious affair. I have had quite enough of this wretched world; if you still have the strength, give me one more punch, and send me on my way a little sooner!"

The veins in Retsu’s neck bulged as he roared savagely, "Come on!"

Li Jun did not strike again, only slowly exhaling a breath of blood-tinged, warm air.

It was not out of pity, but because it was unnecessary.

The final flare of life faded swiftly, the light in Retsu’s eyes draining away as if drawn out in an instant, his lips twitching to produce a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

"If any of her remains are left, please find a cherry blossom tree and bury her beneath it."

Upon seeing the slight nod of Li Jun’s head, an expression of relief washed over Retsu's face, his ruined body sinking slowly as his bent knees struck the earth.

"Thank... thank you."

Retsu’s head fell limply forward, his kneeling form slumping, yet in the split second before his forehead could strike the ground, he was caught by a single palm.

Drip... drip...

Drops of blood spilled through the gaps of Li Jun’s fingers, hammering the airborne dust down into the soil.

The dust had finally settled.

With gentle movements, he laid Retsu’s corpse flat, closing those lifeless, hollow eyes.

Having finished all of this, Li Jun sat cross-legged beside the body, his eyes tightly shut, as though fallen into a deep and peaceful slumber.

Now that the mortal slaughter had ceased, the moonlight finally dared to peer through the clouds, casting patches of cold light upon the silent, desolate peaks and the scattered rocks that littered the ground.

The night wind swept through the torn trees, making a shrill sound that resembled the weeping of mountain ghosts.

Some have died, others have cried.

It has been a while since I saw the crimson glow flicker gently on the edge of a distant helmet.

A faint red light drifted upward, catching the eye.

The old man, Master Wang, grasped his own body, yet his shock turned to horror as he beheld Li Jun sitting on the ground, uncertain of life and death.

Behind him, a massive shadow crouched low.

“Who are you? You’re far from Master Wang’s brother! If you dare harm him, you’ll pay for it—trust me, I’ll send you to the heavens!”

“What is this speech? How do you speak like that? Are you trying to trick me?”

As the shadow crept closer, illuminated by the silver glow of the moon, Master Wang finally saw the figure before him—a towering, imposing helmet of black.

“Who am I? You can call me the Jade Emperor.”