Chapter 152: A Hero In His Twilight Years? Screw You!

Chapter 152: A Hero in His Twilight? Screw That!

"Shwish!" The blade light, far surpassing Zhao Changhe's usual strength and speed, came crashing down toward the old man of the Lu family.

The old man dodged, appearing behind Zhao Changhe, his sword aimed at the back of his neck.

In his frenzy, Zhao Changhe didn't care if his neck was about to be pierced; he twisted around, as if to cleave the old man in two!

The old man dared not meet the blow head-on; he deflected the force and retreated.

His swordsmanship was indeed exquisite—even as he retreated, the tip of his sword grazed Zhao Changhe's hand. Normally, the opponent would have lost his grip on the blade, but Zhao Changhe, oblivious, pressed on relentlessly, swinging his broadsword like a giant windmill, filling the entire space.

The old man dared not face the onslaught and retreated again, a pang of sorrow in his heart.

He had weakened far too much, no longer possessing the strength of the Ninth Layer of the Mystic Gate. After all, he was but a mortal; old age had caught up. No matter how deep his inner energy, his body could no longer keep pace. Intense battles had long become too much for him.

Earlier, before entering this place, when he exchanged those two moves with Zhao Changhe, it had seemed effortless, but in truth, he simply couldn't afford to be too fierce. Otherwise, he would have tried to finish the opponent off long ago... but he couldn't.

After entering, countless sword qi assailed him from all sides. He parried and dodged all the way to the main tomb's entrance, his qi and blood already depleted, his combat strength diminished. In terms of internal cultivation, he might still be at the Ninth Layer's level, but his physique was now worse than that of a frail, untrained invalid. How much real combat power could he actually bring to bear?

Zhao Changhe, on the other hand, was bolstered by the absurd power of "Heaven and Earth Without Self."

This wild strength was no longer that of the Fifth Layer of the Mystic Gate! If someone said it was the Sixth or even the Seventh, few would object. He felt no pain, feared no death. Even encountering such an opponent outside would be a headache, let alone in this environment where sword qi constantly scraped at the body. Zhao Changhe, utterly unafraid, let the myriad cuts do their worst. Could the old man do the same?

Even the space for agile dodging and clever tactics was completely restricted, and he had to constantly divert his attention to resist the sword qi.

The old man realized with sorrow that he could only barely outmatch this madman, and the longer the fight dragged on, the weaker he became, possibly even falling into a disadvantage.

A hero in his twilight. The phrase filled his mind.

He couldn't delay any longer; he had to end it quickly!

A fierce glint flashed in the old man's eyes. He suddenly did something that Sisi, watching from the sidelines, couldn't understand.

He actively closed in on the most intense part of Zhao Changhe's blade momentum, no longer avoiding its edge to seek weaknesses.

The Dragon Sparrow howled as it swept toward his head. The old man raised his sword to parry, but clearly couldn't withstand the wild force. The sword bent slightly, and he stumbled backward, crashing toward the main tomb's gate.

In his frenzy, Zhao Changhe couldn't think. Naturally, he pursued the strike, determined to kill the enemy in one blow!

"Damn!" Sisi suddenly realized—the old man had been in the middle of "provoking the main tomb" earlier, but their arrival had interrupted him. He no longer wanted to tangle with them; he was using himself as bait to lure Zhao Changhe's wild power into striking the gate!

Sisi had no time to warn him. Zhao Changhe's blade was already at the gate. She stamped her foot in frustration, but couldn't help feeling a grudging respect. An old man on the brink of death, willing to exhaust himself for his family's sake—one had to admire that.

Yet just as this mix of anger and admiration arose, it got stuck in her throat.

Zhao Changhe's blade didn't strike the gate at all. Instead, as if he had anticipated it, the moment the old man dodged, the blade followed him like a homing weapon.

Old man: "?"

Sisi: "?"

This completely misjudged the blade's path. How could he dodge in time?

The old man barely managed to raise his sword horizontally to block. The Dragon Sparrow clanged against the blade, finally snapping it in two. The old man abandoned the sword and retreated, his chest already slashed and bleeding profusely.

Now he couldn't avoid the sword qi from either side. With a series of swishing sounds, he was covered in wounds.

"You..." He clutched his chest, staring at Zhao Changhe in disbelief. "You're sane! That frenzy was all an act!"

Zhao Changhe grinned. "If your grandson or great-grandson can pretend to be mad, why can't I?"

The bloodlust in his eyes hadn't faded, and his face still bore a savage expression. He roared, "You're respectable enough, but your starting point was wrong. The greater your ability, the greater the harm! Forget whether the Sword Emperor will revive—just the fact that this baleful qi will sweep through Suzhou, how many people will it harm? Do you care? You only care that your Lu family is prepared, so you can use this to dominate Suzhou! You think you're a hero? Screw that!"

With a furious shout, the Dragon Sparrow rose again, aiming straight for the old man's chest!

The old man tried to retreat, but a gust of wind came from behind. Sisi, having confirmed that Zhao Changhe was actually sane, finally joined the attack!

Wounded and exhausted, the old man could no longer evade such a pincer attack. He didn't dodge anymore. He let the Dragon Sparrow hack into his chest and the dagger pierce his back, while his broken sword suddenly flew sideways, straight toward the main tomb's gate!

"Damn!" Zhao Changhe hadn't expected this. He couldn't intercept the broken sword in time.

A flash of wild joy appeared in the old man's eyes, then abruptly stopped.

Sisi had somehow turned and dashed over. Just as the broken sword was about to hit the gate, her slender hand grasped its hilt.

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze. Zhao Changhe's blade had already sunk into the old man's chest, breaking several ribs, nearly splitting him in two.

The old man's dying eyes were still fixed on the gate.

In truth, he had no idea exactly how much more was needed to trigger the main tomb's baleful qi to erupt. Whether it was guiding Zhao Changhe's earlier strike or his final throw, neither necessarily meant that one more blow would succeed. But the tension was such that everyone present instinctively felt it was just one step away...

The old man murmured, "Just one more... just one more... you..."

Zhao Changhe and Sisi exchanged a silent look.

But at that moment, the gate suddenly began to tremble violently. The earlier faint sensation of the earth shaking grew more pronounced, making it hard to stand. The surrounding sword qi no longer scraped at them; instead, it all gathered together, roaring like a tornado, shooting straight into the sky.

The old man's face lit up with wild joy. He laughed, "It worked! It worked! In the end, my family wins! Haha... hahaha!"

Amid the laughter, he breathed his last.

Zhao Changhe sheathed his blade and stood upright, looking up at the spot where the sword qi had converged into a tornado. Gradually, he could see the countless strands of sword qi coalescing into the shape of an ancient sword, surrounded by baleful qi, exuding a fierce aura, as if it could soar into the sky at any moment.

Exhausted, he drove his blade into the ground, supporting his blood-soaked body. "Did it really work? Did we do all this for nothing?"

Sisi said softly, "Don't panic. We interrupted him, so the result is far from what it could have been... At least there's no sign of the Sword Emperor reviving."

Zhao Changhe sensed for a moment and nodded. "I can feel the 'emotion' of the baleful qi here. The old man's 'provocation' inside made the qi roar in anger, and there's some kind of external trigger, causing the qi to find an outlet and surge upward. The space hasn't collapsed. We didn't do it for nothing."

Sisi said, "Is this situation still manageable? At least we won't be blown to bits by the space collapsing inside."

Zhao Changhe said, "This gathered sword qi and baleful energy doesn't seem like it will spread across Suzhou. At most, it'll shoot up to the Sword Pool? As long as those outside can contain this concentrated sword qi..."

Sisi sighed. "That seems to be the case, but there are two problems."

"What?"

"First, if Maitreya has arrived, the Tang family might already be finished. Who will contain this sword qi? Maitreya?"

"..."

"Second..." Sisi's voice seemed squeezed through her teeth. "Since the space hasn't collapsed, and only the sword qi is shooting out... how do the two of us get out of here!"

Zhao Changhe slowly straightened up and took a deep breath. "Since it's just baleful qi surrounding a sword shape... when it shoots upward, can't we hitch a ride behind it?"

Sisi's eyes widened. "Are you insane! Forget the sword qi killing you—just the surrounding bloody baleful qi alone would annihilate any living thing that gets close... Uh..."

"Yeah, ordinary living things probably can't get near such concentrated baleful qi, but I cultivate in this." Zhao Changhe spread his arms. "As long as you dare to hide in my arms, I dare to take you out."

Sisi felt that this was the most foolish thing she had ever done in her life... She had come all this way just to find some so-called baleful treasure, only to be led into a dead end with no way out. She stumbled in, fought a battle without understanding why, got nothing in the end, and now had to be held by someone.

Where was the treasure? What was she even here for?

Zhao Changhe seemed to read her thoughts and said softly, "The entrance is now clear, and the exit might be opened by this sword qi... If we survive this, can't we come back later?"

Sisi said, "Later, either the Maitreya Sect will ravage this place, or you and the Tang family will take it over and kick me out."

Zhao Changhe smiled faintly. "Half of this place is yours. Even if Tang Wanzhuang comes and dares to deny you a share, I'll fall out with her."

"What good would that do? Who are you? The Tang family might kick you out too, idiot..." Sisi muttered under her breath, but finally said no more. She cautiously moved closer and nestled into his blood-soaked embrace.

Zhao Changhe looked up at the sky. The ancient sword shape had finally fully formed, and then, surrounded by a halo of blood and baleful energy, it shot into the heavens.