pjbooks Chapter 156 Warning
Chapter 156 Warning
A silvery-white sword light exploded from the blade, transforming into a silver pillar of light that stretched across the heavens and earth, hurtling towards Neltharion's brow. Wherever the sword light passed, the dark red chaotic power evaporated, dissipated, and returned to nothingness layer by layer, like ice and snow thrown into a furnace, starting from the edges.
Nesario raised his right hand to block. The dark red scales clashed head-on with the silver sword light, producing a piercing metallic scraping sound. The sword light slashed a deep, bone-revealing gash in his palm, dark red blood gushing from the wound and dripping onto the Gobi Desert, each drop corroding a crater several meters deep. But he did not retreat. The horns on the right half of his black dragon skull, engraved with runes, began to glow. Dark red light surged from the tips of the horns, spreading along his arm to his palm, layering over the wound inflicted by the sword light.
"The sword intent of the Primordial Immortal Emperor." Nesario looked down at his healing palm, his dark red eyes reflecting the cold light flowing on the silver-white longsword. "Thirty thousand years ago, he used this sword to cleave the first crack sealing the Demon Ancestor deep in the Kunlun Mountains. Thirty thousand years later, you used this sword to leave a scar on my palm."
He raised his head and looked at Ye Wuhen.
"Ye Wuhen, your sword intent has indeed inherited some of the essence of the Primordial Immortal Emperor. But do you know what the biggest difference is between you and the Primordial Immortal Emperor?"
Ye Wuhen remained silent. His hand, gripping the silver-white longsword, trembled slightly, not from fear, but because that last strike had consumed most of his spiritual power. The Primordial Immortal Emperor's sword intent was indeed powerful, powerful enough to cut a gash in Nesario's palm, but his physical body could not withstand the Primordial Immortal Emperor's full power. Every swing of the sword was an overdraft of his life force.
"The sword intent of the Primordial Immortal Emperor was forged using the Dao Fruit of an Immortal Emperor for thirty thousand years. Your sword intent was forged using the body of a mortal for thirty years." Nesario took a step forward, and a circle of dark red ripples exploded on the Gobi Desert beneath his feet. "Your sword can wound me, but it cannot kill me. Your physical body can hold out for a while, but it cannot hold out forever."
He raised his right hand, fingers spread, palm facing Ye Wuhen. In his palm, the dark red light condensed again, larger, brighter, and more intense than before.
"Ye Wuhen, I'm giving you one last chance. Get out of my way. I'm not looking for you, I'm looking for Jiang Chen."
Ye Wuhen gripped his silver-white longsword and took a step forward. His legs trembled, his arms trembled, his entire body trembled. But his sword remained steady. The tip of the sword was aimed at Nesario's brow, unmoving.
"I told you, I'll block your way until you back off."
Nesario looked at him, at the deep, weary eyes of the Dragon Kingdom's Sword Saint, honed by years and battles, and at the sword intent burning within them—the same intent as that of the Primordial Immortal Emperor. He remained silent for a long time.
"Fine," he said. "Then I'll kill you first, and then go find Jiang Chen."
A dark red beam of light shot out from his palm and hurtled towards Ye Wuhen.
Ye Wuhen did not dodge. He held his silver-white longsword horizontally in front of him, the silver sword light flowing along the blade and condensing into a silver-white light shield in front of him. The surface of the light shield was covered with fine runes, each rune flashing wildly, dissolving the impact of the dark red light pillar layer by layer.
First layer, shattered. Second layer, shattered. Third layer, shattered.
The silver light shield crumbled layer by layer under the impact of the dark red light pillar, and silvery-white fragments drifted in the void, each fragment carrying the little spiritual power Ye Wuhen had left. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin onto the city wall and onto the crumbling silver light shield.
But he did not put down his sword.
"Ye Wuhen!" Zhao Tiecheng's voice came from behind, hoarse and urgent, "Retreat! You can't hold on!"
Ye Wuhen did not retreat. He poured the last wisp of spiritual energy into his silver-white longsword, and the silver light on the blade shone brightest at that moment. A silver-white beam of light exploded from the blade, colliding head-on with Neltharion's dark red beam of light.
The two forces collided, creating an extremely bizarre scene—a silvery-white sword light and a dark red chaotic force confronted each other in the void, neither able to advance an inch nor willing to retreat even half a step.
Nesario's dark red eyes narrowed slightly.
"Your sword intent is stronger than before."
"It's not that I'm stronger." Ye Wuhen's voice was hoarse, but every word seemed to be supported by a rock, landing steadily in the void. "It's that I'm more determined."
He took a step forward. The city wall beneath his feet crumbled, his boots scraping against the rubble with a harsh screech. But his sword remained unwavering. The tip was still aimed at Neltharion's brow, the silver gleam still shimmering on the blade.
"Ye Wuhen, your sword intent is indeed resilient. But your physical body has reached its limit."
Nesario clenched his right hand, causing the dark red beam of light to expand several times its original size, compressing Ye Wuhen's silver sword light layer by layer. The silver-white light shield emitted a piercing cracking sound under the impact of the dark red beam, and cracks spread from the center of the shield in all directions.
Ye Wuhen's body was blasted away the moment the light shield shattered. The silver-white longsword slipped from his hand, tracing a silver-white arc in the air before landing on the Gobi Desert below the city wall. He lay among the rubble, blood from the corner of his mouth staining the sand beneath him a dark red. His right hand was still trying to grip the sword, but his fingers were no longer obeying his commands.
Nesario withdrew his right hand and looked down at Ye Wuhen lying on the Gobi Desert.
"Sword Saint. Your sword has been broken for thirty years, and you finally got a new one. Now, your sword is broken again."
Ye Wuhen turned his head, looking at the silver-white longsword lying among the rubble not far away. The blade was not broken, nor were there any cracks. But the shallow scratch on the hilt gleamed coldly under the dark red light.
"My sword isn't broken." Ye Wuhen struggled to his feet, his right hand still reaching towards the silver-white longsword. "My sword is still here."
Nesario looked at him, at the swordsman covered in blood, barely able to stand, and remained silent for a long time. Then he raised his right hand, fingers spread, palm facing Ye Wuhen.
"Then take your sword and die with me."
A dark red beam of light shot out from his palm and hurtled towards Ye Wuhen.
The beam of light stopped less than three feet from Ye Wuhen's chest.
It's not that it's blocked, it's that it's frozen.
A crystalline blue light condensed in front of Ye Wuhen, forming an ice wall several meters thick. Countless fine crystalline blue runes flowed across the surface of the ice wall. A dark red beam of light slammed into the ice wall, causing it to crack from the surface. However, the cracks stopped halfway through their spread—because a second ice wall had already condensed behind the first, a third behind the second, and so on, and so on.
Bing Li stood behind Ye Wuhen, her long silver-white hair flying in the wind, her icy blue pupils reflecting Neltharion's dark red eyeball. Her hands pressed into the air, and icy energy surged from her palms, condensing into ice walls in front of Ye Wuhen.
"Nesario." Her voice was as cold as ice, each word causing the surrounding temperature to plummet. "The Ice Ancestor taught me one thing over thirty thousand years. The essence of Ice Ancestor's power is not freezing, but protection."
She took a step forward, and a circle of icy blue ripples spread across the Gobi Desert beneath her feet.
"If you want to kill Ye Jiansheng, you'll have to get past me first."
Nesario looked at Bing Li, at this successor of the Ice Profound Immortal Emperor who had awakened from a slumber thirty thousand years ago, and at the icy blue light flowing in her palm, and remained silent for a long time.
"The successor of the Ice Profound Immortal Emperor." His voice was old yet calm. "Thirty thousand years ago, the Ice Profound Immortal Emperor used his own body to seal the largest fragment of the Demon Ancestor's primordial spirit. Thirty thousand years later, his successor stands before me, using the power of Ice Profound to protect a mortal sword saint."
The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
"interesting."
The ice walls of Bingli shattered and regenerated repeatedly under the impact of the dark red light pillars. Each ice wall took less than half a breath to condense and shatter, but half a breath was enough time for Ye Wuhen to climb out of the rubble, enough time for Zhao Tiecheng to lead the Liangzhou garrison to retreat behind the city wall, and enough time for Wang Kai to rush from Qingyun Academy to Liangzhou Fortress.
Wang Kai stepped out of the void, the "Dao" sword in his right hand, its blade shimmering with a two-tone light of pure white and emerald green. His right arm was wrapped in bandages, beneath which the newly formed skin was a pale pink, and his nails, not yet fully grown, revealed tender pink nail beds. But his sword remained steady. The tip of the sword was aimed precisely at Neltharion's brow, unmoving.
"Nesario." Wang Kai's voice was hoarse, but every word seemed to be squeezed out from the deepest part of his chest. "Brother Chen was injured in the First Apostle Hall and is still recovering. If you want to find him, you'll have to get past me first."
Nesario looked at Wang Kai, the holder of the Chaos Spiritual Root, the new master of the Immortal Emperor Dao Fruit, and the young swordsman in the early Golden Core stage. His dark red eyes narrowed slightly.
"The Chaotic Spiritual Root, the Fruit of Life and Death." His voice held a seriousness he himself didn't even realize. "Within your body, there are two powers. One is chaos, which can negate everything; the other is life and death, which can create everything. Negation and creation coexist within you."
He took a step forward, and a dark red ripple spread across the Gobi Desert beneath his feet.
"Wang Kai, do you know what it means for these two forces to coexist?"
Wang Kai held the "Dao" sword, and the pure white and emerald green light on the blade shone simultaneously.
"It means I can both deny your existence with chaos and repair the damage you caused with life. It means I can always maintain peak condition in battle, and it means I can wear you down until the end of time."
He took a step forward, and a two-tone ripple of pure white and emerald green spread out beneath his feet.
"Nesario, are you backing down or not?"
Nesario looked at Wang Kai, at the two energies surging wildly within this young swordsman in the early Golden Core stage, and at his eyes burning with fighting spirit. He remained silent for a long time.
Then he laughed.
The laughter was old and deep, carrying an excitement that had been suppressed for countless years.
"Chaos and life, negation and creation. Thirty thousand years ago, the Chaos Spiritual Root of the Demon Ancestor was shattered into countless fragments by the Chaos Immortal Emperor, scattered to every corner of the universe. Thirty thousand years later, one of those fragments fell into the body of a human boy, merging with his Dao Heart and giving birth to new power."
He raised his right hand, fingers spread, palm facing Wang Kai.
"Wang Kai, your power is indeed special. So special that even I can't fully analyze it. But do you know what your greatest weakness is?"
He clenched his fists tightly.
A dark red beam of light shot out from his palm and hurtled towards Wang Kai.
Wang Kai did not dodge. The "Dao" sword was held horizontally in front of him, and pure white and emerald green light intertwined on the blade to form a two-colored light shield. Intricate runes flowed across the surface of the light shield, each rune flashing wildly, dissolving the impact of the dark red light pillar layer by layer.
In the first layer, pure white chaotic power negated the dark red pillar of light from its edges. The chaotic power and the dark red pillar of light clashed fiercely at the point of impact, emitting a piercing hiss. Under the erosion of the chaotic power, the dark red pillar of light began to disintegrate from its edges, and dark red specks of light surged out from the disintegration and drifted away in the void.
The second layer saw a vibrant green life force take over the defense. This life force captured, absorbed, and transformed the remaining dark red light spots that had been negated by the chaotic force into pure life energy, which was then infused into Wang Kai's body. His heart pounded wildly under the infusion of life energy, his blood surged through his veins, and the pure white golden core in his dantian expanded at a visible speed.
Wang Kai's power was not depleted during the battle; on the contrary, it increased.
Nesario's dark red eyeballs contracted violently.
"The transformative power of the Dao Fruit of Life." His voice carried a hint of apprehension that even he himself didn't realize. "Your life-giving power can transform my chaotic power into your own life energy. The more fiercely I attack you, the stronger you become."
Wang Kai gripped the "Dao" sword and took a step forward. A ripple of pure white and emerald green spread across the Gobi Desert beneath his feet. On his right arm, the newly formed skin, infused with life energy, became more resilient, smoother, and closer to perfection.
"Nesario. I told you, I can wait until the end of time."
Nesario looked at him, at the two energies surging wildly within the young swordsman in the early Golden Core stage, at those eyes burning with fighting spirit. He remained silent for a long time.
Then he withdrew his right hand.
The dark red pillar of light dissipated. At the edge of the rift, the gap sealed by the golden sword intent remained, but the golden light had dimmed to the point of being almost invisible under the erosion of the dark red light.
"Wang Kai, I'm not here today to kill you, nor to kill Ye Wuhen, nor to kill anyone in Liangzhou Fortress." His voice regained its aged calm. "I'm here to confirm one thing. Jiang Chen suffered severe injuries in the First Apostle Hall."
He turned around and walked toward the crevice.
"Now I'm sure. He's badly injured. So badly that his students need to guard the Liangzhou fortress for him, so badly that his sword saint needs to block my attacks for him, so badly that his successor needs to use his life force to wear him down until the end of time."
He walked to the edge of the crevice, stopped, and did not look back.
"Wang Kai, tell Jiang Chen. Next time, I won't test him again. Next time, I will come in person with the full power of the Seven Pillars of the Abyss."
His figure disappeared into the crevice. The dark red crevice slowly closed, and the dark red light receded from the Gobi Desert like the tide, revealing the eroded and pitted sand beneath.