Chapter 651
A miraculous scene emerged. The already out-of-strength and almost dead
Cai’er suddenly pushed her own body up alongside Long Haochen’s in a surge,
making a movement close to a pouncing carp.
In the midst of this pounce, her right hand finally dug into that gate of
light, but this had just exhausted all her remaining potential. While
stretching her hand in front of the gate of light, Cai’er’s eyes opened
wide, already devoid of light.
At the same time her right hand came into contact with the gate, that gate
abruptly shone brightly, enveloping both Cai’er and Long Haochen who
disappeared inside in a swish.
As Cai’er and Long Haochen disappeared, all the steps in view of Bright
Glimmer of Hope disappeared as well.
Space twisted and refracted, and the next instant, the sixth floor regained
its original appearance, the only difference being that Cai’er and Long
Haochen weren’t there anymore.
Cai’er’s miserable condition and hysterical state were causing everyone to
violently gasp for breath, with only one line of thought in them, Cai’er
succeeded!
The bright light kept curling up, bringing Long Haochen and Cai’er into a
gold colored world, filled with inexhaustible golden rays. Tiny traces of
blood bleached and dyed the air, and dots of bright light circulated all
around Cai’er’s body, making their way inside.
Even the blood on her lapel drifted back due to that bright light, slowly
returning back inside her body.
Cai’er’s right arm was still stretched forward, with Long Haochen tightly
under its embrace as if she was afraid of dropping his body off.
The injuries on Cai’er’s body recovered slowly, and all imperfect parts
scattered to all direction, disappearing. Only her torn long skirt wasn’t
restored.
The look on her face was still determined, even if it had lost all light.
In the golden world, following a deep long sigh, an aged voice sounded out,
“Was it really worth it?”
The golden light vanished gradually, and Cai’er who had carried Long Haochen
on her back landed lying on the ground. She seemed to be dreaming about the
time the two of them had reunited back in Holy City for the Demon Hunt
Competition.
They were holding hands, and walking alongside that road to the inn...
That road seemed to suddenly become endless; no matter how long they walked,
they did not reach the inn. But they didn’t get fidgety at all, instead
enjoying the warmth of each other’s hand.
The sounds of the cane in her hand tapping onto the ground kept
reverberating in Cai’er’s world. Every time she turned back to look at Long
Haochen, she would catch sight of that extremely loving and warm smile.
Their lives were melting together at once.
All the pain seemed to be forgotten like that, forever and ever...
But a lot of things frequently turn out differently from one’s wishes. The
road in front turned illusory, and the next instant, the surroundings all
became golden.
Cai’er was quite panicked, tightly gripping Long Haochen’s hand and shouting
loudly.
“Haochen! Haochen!!”
The awakened Cai’er suddenly sat up, immediately catching sight of Long
Haochen’s pale hands wrapped around her chest, and she immediately gripped
them tightly.
Her body was really no l onger feeling any pain, and even all her internal
and external spiritual energy had come back.
Quite a few memories of the harsh pain she had previously experienced had
remained. The hem of her skirt was still tattered since long ago, and she
was unaware that her body was shaking greatly.
Remembering everything she just did, Cai’er raised her head to look around.
This should be the seventh floor of the Tower of Eternity right?
As far as the eye could see, everything was gold colored. Compared to the
sixth floor of the Tower of Eternity, this place was far smaller in volume.
The circular hall made up a diameter of roughly thirty meters.
This was a dome, surrounded by a total of twenty golden pillars.
The surface, dome and surrounding pillars all contained countless golden
magic infused runes.
The ground of the hall formed a huge golden hexagram, from which a thin
golden fog arose.
At the center of the hexagram stood a huge coffin. Five meters long and
three meters wide, this coffin was embedded with various precious gems, and
not only gems but also magical beasts’ magic crystals and human spiritual
pellets, none of which was below the ninth step.
So was this the seventh floor of the Tower of Eternity, eternal dwelling
place of the Holy Necromancer, Slumbering Calamity Elux?
Cai’er stood up impatiently. After spending so much effort to come here, she
was in the midst of getting her one and only chance to resurrect Long
Haochen! But where was Elux?
“Was it really worth it?” An aged voice suddenly reverberated in her head.
Cai’er unconsciously stepped back, staring at that huge coffin in front of
her.
A white fog slowly ascended from the top of that coffin and in the sky
surrounding it.
Very rapidly, this white fog turned into a human shape, looking the same as
all the previous sculptures, it just didn’t have a lower body, which was
just replaced by fog linked together with that golden coffin.
An aged face, extremely emotional looking, had a gentle look directed at
Cai’er. Letting out a light sigh, he asked once again, “Was it really worth
it?”
“It’s worth it. You’re the Slumbering Calamity Elux?” Cai’er asked with
determination. Elux nodded and responded, “I am indeed the Holy Necromanncer
and Slumbering Calamity Elux. Was it really worth it”
Cai’er wrinkled her eyebrows, “Of course it’s worth it!”
Elux let out a deep sigh, “What a good girl! I didn’t think that you would
finally manage to complete all the trials I have set up in those years. You
should know that the most unacceptable attribute in my eyes is your
purifying attribute, so there’s almost no way you should be able inherit my
legacy.”
Hearing him, Cai’er immediately became greatly alarmed. She didn’t mind the
inheritance at all, but this was pertaining to the matter of whether she
would be able to resurrect Long Haochen! If the power from Elux’s legacy
couldn’t be borrowed, wouldn’t all her efforts just come to naught?
“I am willing to inherit your power. You left the message that as long as
one can attain this seventh floor of the Tower of Eternity, they could
receive your legacy. Don’t tell me these words didn’t count?” Cai’er
stubbornly stated.
Elux showed a faint smile, “I have never heard anyone adress this tone of
speech to me in my living years. And yet you want to inherit my power.”
Cai’er became sluggish, slowly kneeling in front of Elux, and bowing down to
him, “Sorry, Teacher. I was in the wrong. I hope I can inherit your power,
you must have a way right?”
Elux’s eyes pulsed at once, “All for the sake of this child on your back.
This one should be my original successor right?”
Cai’er didn’t mutter a word, only continuously kowtowing towards Elux, her
forehead rapidly turning red and swollen.
Elux waved his hand, and immediately, a spurt of golden light came out from
the ground, supporting Cai’er’s body.
“You have already knocked your head on the ground enough. Indeed, I have a
way to make your inherit my power. But if you inherit it, your original
power of purification will completely dissipate, and your body will even
consequently fester, turning you just like a zombie. This power of
purification is originally entirely incompatible with my power of
necromancy. Are you still willing even if it turns out that way? If you lose
your beauty, do you really think that even if the one on your back is
resurrected, he would still come to like you?”
“I am willing!” Cai’er replied with no hesitation.
“Are you not worried?” Elux seemed almost unwilling as he asked. “
Cai’er shook her head with energy, “I am not worried. ”
“Then, please begin.”
Elux took a deep look at Long Haochen, his look turning greatly emotional,
causing that body formed of mist to distort slightly.
A long time later, he replied quietly, “His heart is already destroyed,
giving him no more opportunity to live. Although his soul is intact,
resurrecting him will be extremely difficult. First of all, he will need a
live and fresh throbbing heart.”
Cai’er raised her head to look at Elux, undoing the chains on her body,
cautiously placing Long Haochen on the ground, laying him on the golden
ground.
Taking a deep look at him, and gently caressing his face already empty of
blood, she lowered his head and lightly kissed his forehead. Although this
forehead was already devoid of warmth and was ice cold, that still gave her
the feeling of a living person. Her cute face displaying a faint smile,
Cai’er slowly stood up, raising her right hand which flashed in black light
as the Sickle of the God of Death appeared in her palm.
“……”
“You are right. Actually, he should be your successor. Please resurrect him.
As for the heart...”
Cai’er smiled, full of sincerity. This instant, she looked as charming as a
myriad of blossoming flowers. Even the Holy Necromancer Elux who was already
dormant for several thousand years couldn’t help but blank out upon sight of
her smile.
“Please use mine.”
In a flash of black likght, the Sickle of the God of Death in Cai’er’s hand
was flipped back, aiming its sharp blade toward her own chest. She had the
absolute confidence of being able to extract her own heart intact and leave
it in the spot of his one. This seemed to be a perfect ending. This way she
would be able to stay forever at his side, which is why her smile was
sincere. She could already feel the cold blade of the sickle pierce through
her skin, and in just an instant, her blade would cut through her chest and
cautiously extract her heart.
“Not allowed.” Golden splurges of light burst out from below, clashing
against the Sickle of the God of Death, and taking away the massive weapon,
although a trace of blood had still appeared amidst Cai’er’s chest.
Elux declared in fury, “What a girl! Is he really worth you doing such a
thing for him? Don’t you know that this purifying blade has soul purifying
properties? Even if you are the one using it on yourself, in case your
vitals are pierced by it, an inevitable death will follow. No force will
ever be able to bring you back to life!
Chapter 652
Cai’er looked at Long Haochen with deep emotion, “So what; with my heart
being together with him, having him resurrect is already enough for me. I am
willing to die for his sake. Don’t tell me you have another heart at
disposal here aside from mine? All I am asking is for him to be
resurrected.”
Elux became silent, his eyes showing struggles, but right now, Cai’er, whose
attention was focused onto Long Haochen, just didn’t notice it.
“If only that girl I had met at those times was like you… maybe none of that
would have happened. Perhaps I would have just followed her in death. Even
if everything ends with death, at least that would be a happy ending.”
The words that Elux murmured woke Cai’er up with a start. Lifting up her
head, she insisted, “Please use my heart…”
Elux suddenly interrupted her, “Child, don’t be hasty. How about it, let’s
make a bet. If you win, I will help you to resurrect him, but if you lose,
just give up on him, and concentrate all your thoughts and efforts in
inheriting my power. Although I do not like the purifying attribute on you,
I like your character.”
“I am not taking the bet.” Cai’er shook her head vigorously, “There’s no way
I can take a bet with him as the stake, because I cannot afford to lose.”
Elux replied coldly, “Then it cannot be helped for you.” This instant, he
really had the imposing manner of the Holy Necromancer Elux.
In a wave of his hand, Cai’er felt extremely tense all over her body,
already out of control of her whole body, and even the Sickle of the God of
Death in her hand was suppressed, returning back into her own body.
Pulled by the golden light, she was pulled to Elux’s side. Immediately, the
surroundings twisted all around, and everything transformed miraculously,
turning illusory, yet substantial.
Cai’er discovered with stupor that she was not only unable to move, but also
unable to let out the slightest sound, and was unable to exert the slightest
bit of spiritual energy. It seemed that her very soul was frozen.
Elux remained afloat on her side, dispersing layer upon layer of bright
light. On Long Haochen’s side appeared another Cai’er, with a hole in her
chest and having lost her heart.
Immediately, his right hand pointed its forefinger on Long Haochen’s body in
a touch. Then the wounds on his body healed up at an astounding speed. In
the midst of intense fluctuations of golden light, the Golden Foundation
Armor on him was removed, and under Cai’er’s emotional watch, Long Haochen’s
pale skin gradually regained color.
All of it was really too miraculous. Elux just needed a lift of his hand to
bring Long Haochen back to life.
Elux’s voice resounded in Cai’er’s mind, “I have temporarily simulated the
situation where he would be brought back to life. Now guess, what will his
reaction be when he learns that your heart was used to resurrect him?”
Cai’er’s original feelings of excitement turned instantly. She struggled as
much as possible against Elux’s binding, but how could it be so easy to
resist in front of this man who was previously known as humankind’s disaster
who narrowly caused humanity to go extinct? There was nothing
she could do except for looking on helplessly at that instant of
resurrection, at Long Haochen in the midst of trembling.
So cold! Long Haochen felt as if he was soaked in a pond of ice, shivering
with extreme cold. The deathly stillness in his brain gradually rose and
fell, and he felt chills in succession, and was roused by the cold.
A golden expanse came to his sight, as the intense light essence caused the
chills felt by his body to decrease sharply.
Where is this? Hell?
Subconsciously, Long Haochen placed his hand onto his own chest, finding out
astonishingly that the hole in his chest had disappeared, and that he felt
an indistinct heartbeat, and had the sensation of blood flowing through his
body. Only, his powerful cultivation was obliterated completely, and faint
waves of weakness assaulted his brain again and again
“Are you awake?” An aged voice drew Long Haochen’s attention, who
immediately noticed that huge coffin and the soul floating in the sky.
“You are? And what’s this place?” Long Haochen asked reflexively. Right now,
he still felt dizzy, but the ice-cold sensation all over his body subsided
gradually, and the thick light essence in the air helped him feel better.
The spiritual energy in his body also seemed to slowly recover thanks to
absorbing the light essence, and at long last it felt a lot warmer.
“This is the seventh floor of the Tower of Eternity. And I believe that you
must know who I am right?” Elux asked in a faint voice.
Long Haochen became greatly alarmed, and immediately sobered up, “What? This
is the seventh floor of the Tower of Eternity? But then, just how, how… How
did I get here?”
Elux pointed to his side, and replied calmly, “She’s the one who brought you
here.”
Long Haochen followed his finger, and immediately became stagnant. His mouth
agape, and eyes staring confusedly, he suddenly found himself unable to let
out the slightest sound, as if his body was locked down, remaining
motionless.
That… that was Cai’er. A Cai’er with a hole in her chest and whose blood was
flowing all over the ground.
Having lost all vitality, Cai’er looked as pale as a piece of paper. Cai’er!
Cai’er! How could my Cai’er…?
Long Haochen stayed so stiff for several seconds, totally motionless.
Elux’s voice reverberated through his ears, “She has been carrying the
Eternal Melody I have given you, and been shouldering your corpse, going
through the challenges in the Tower of Eternity one after another. She said
that you were my successor, and that she wanted to bring you back to life.
You should clearly know how you died. Having lost your heart, even my magic
cannot resurrect you without a live and fresh heart. So she offered her own
heart to you.”
“NOO!!” Long Haochen looked up to the sky, and kneeled down to the ground,
throwing himself at Cai’er and tightly gripping her tight figure, his tears
falling beyond control.
Cai’er’s corpse was really cold. Long Haochen felt as if the blood flowing
in his body froze down this instant.
“How could you be so stupid Just how could you be so stupid Cai’er, don’t
tell me that you believe that I can keep on living by myself with you dead?”
Suddenly turning back, Long Haochen looked at Elux, “Elder, please give her
heart back to her. You must have a way to do that right? Please bring her
back to life!!”
Elux coldly responded, “Do you take this for a game? Do you think that heart
transplants can be cycled over and over again? Moreover, even if I was able
to do that, you would return to death without a heart.”
At this point, his voice suddenly warmed up, “She is already dead, having
offered her heart to resurrect you, and wishing for your heart to be made
one with you, this way you won’t ever be separated. Don’t tell me you don’t
understand her pain? You are my chosen disciple, who came here to inherit my
power. There are plenty more fishes in the sea. With your talent, you will
surely be able to find an even better girl than her. And moreover, one can
only take revenge by staying alive. If you did not die, she wouldn’t have
died for the sake of bringing you back to life. You should go look for the
culprit of your death, instead of mourning in sadness like a coward.”
“Stand up, and accept my, the Holy Necromancer Elux’s, inheritance. At the
time you leave from here, you will be the greatest human powerhouse in the
world. At that time, everything will come to your grasp. You will be able to
get as many girls as you want, and even use the body of your target to pay
homage to her.”
Long Haochen held Cai’er’s body, then turned back toward Elux with an
indifferent look, as if convinced by Elux’s words his previous state of
hysteria disappeared at once, entering a serene state of mind.
Holding Cai’er’s corpse, he slowly stood up, and muttered irresolutely,
“If only one of us can live on, it’s a good thing that she died first.”
Elux’s eyes diluted in shock, turning back toward the real Cai’er standing
at his side. Long Haochen was unable to see her, but Elux could. His ice-
cold voice reverberated in Cai’er’s mind, “See, that’s the man you were
willing to sacrifice your life for.”
But to Elux’s disappointment, Cai’er seem to only feel some grief alongside
a deep feeling of love, as if she hadn’t heard Long Haochen’s heartless
words at all.
“Don’t you understand?” Elux questioned Cai’er in a slight splurt of fury
Cai’er lightly shook her head as if she didn’t see him, “I understand very
well. You are the one who doesn’t, because you don’t understand him at all.”
Elux let out a cold snort, “I don’t understand him?”
He turned back toward the apathetic Long Haochen, and declared, “You are
right. She died for your success. Are you prepared to inherit my power?”
Long Haochen shook his head lightly, “Inherit your power? What use is there
for me to? You are just a slaughterer, a man who clearly is a Scion of
Light, and should have brought light to humanity, yet chose to cause dark
slaughters. I don’t need to inherit your filthy power.”
“Living on is even more painful than death. If Cai’er and I could age
together, I would definitely strive the hardest to follow after her in
death. This way, she could have me accompany her in death, and have me by
her side in death. But the event of me dying before her, could only make the
rest of her life lonely and nothing else.”
“What about strength, what about revenge? None of it matters in my eyes.
Perhaps I have a lot more responsibilities, but how can I let Cai’er keep
waiting for me?”
At this point, his eyes shifted back to his left arm, “Sorry that I have
disappointed you, Divine Snail Shield of Sun and Moon. I couldn’t bring
light to humanity in the end, even if I am the Scion of Light, and even if I
have made the resolve to never let myself get stained by impurity. Even so,
I have a weakness that I can never correct. Please let me be unruly once,
let me be selfish once. Cai’er, I am a bit late, but let me join you.”
Drawing Cai’er toward him with his left hand, he lowered his head, and
offered a deep kiss to her lips while raising his right hand, and condensing
the bit of spiritual energy he had just recovered onto his palm, abruptly
aimed it at the top of his head.
“You are not allowed to die!” Elux shouted in unreconciliation. His soul
materialization instantly appeared in front of Long Haochen and grabbed his
hand.
Long Haochen raised his head and looked at him coldly, “Are you qualified to
stop me?”
For who knows which reason, Elux’s powerful soul force only felt chilly upon
Long Haochen’s cold gaze, unexpectedly causing him to not even be able to
retort back.
“Go away!” Long Haochen shouted in fury, struggling fiercely.
Elux grabbed his arms energetically, “Don’t tell me that there is nothing
else you are reluctant to leave behind in this world? Is it really worth it
to die just out of a romantic love?”
Long Haochen smiled in contempt, “From what you are saying, you don’t
understand what love is at all. Love is the most basic thing there is, yet
the most intense. Without her, it is like my heart is dead. The other things
I am reluctant to leave are just meaningless at that point. This world is
already colorless in my eyes, don’t stop me in my search for Cai’er. Do you
think that you holding my hand would stop me from causing myself to die? ”
Saying that, Long Haochen’s eyes suddenly lit, and one could vaguely see a
golden flame instantly flaring up.
“Bastard, you are crazy!” Utterly discomfited, Elux shouted loudly, pointing
his finger to the space between Long Haochen’s eyebrows.
Struck by this finger, Long Haochen struck the seventh floor heavily of the
Tower of Eternity.
If Elux’s reaction was just a bit late, Long Haochen would have been
ignited, and at that time, let alone a necromancer, even a god would be
unable to bring him back to life.
Bouncing back onto the wall, Long Haochen was still hugging Cai’er tightly,
his right arm whirling once again, and aiming at blowing off his own head
with no hesitation.
Crazy! Elux saw in Long Haochen’s eyes an apathetic look like never before.
The worst sorrow is not as bad as an uncaring heart, perhaps this was the
true meaning behind his look.
“She is still alive.”
These simple words were more effective than any attempt to stop him. Long
Haochen’s right hand stopped on top of his head, lowered to look at Cai’er,
but he still didn’t see an ounce of life in her.
But right at this time, a sorrowful call came to his ears, “Haochen.”
In Haochen’s arms, Cai’er disappeared into several dots of light, and beside
Elux, Cai’er appeared alive and well, rushing into his embrace, crying
loudly.
Cai’er’s body was warm, her tears instantly seeping rapidly into Long
Haochen’s lapel. Her arms were really vigorously, tightly hugging him.
“Cai’er! Cai’er! Cai’er! Cai’er! Cai’er!…” Long Haochen called out her name
without pause. He wanted to cry, to let out every tear in his body. Having
just regained the most precious thing in his life, he was returning to a
state of joy as his soul finally saw a light from a state of deathly
stillness. Tightly hugging her, his chin shook and his calls became more and
more choking.
Seeing the embracing pair, the Holy Necromancer, Slumbering Calamity Elux
declared with difficulty, “You two have won.”
Chapter 653
“You two have won.”
These simple words sounded really terrible in Elux’s mouth. His soul form
floated in a daze, his eyes filled with incomprehension and unbelief. It
seemeed as his thoughts were shaken to the core, causing his soul to
fluctuate in instability, dispersing layer upon layer of white light.
Right now, Long Haochen and Cai’er were completely soaked in the joy of
reuniting, and did not take note of any changes in Elux.
“Cai’er! Cai’er!!!” Long Haochen called out her name over and over again.
Right now, his feelings of wretched sorrow ended with Caier’s appearance, to
change into an extreme fear, the fear that this Cai’er was a fake, which
would just shatter his hard-won last hopes.
So, he hugged her tightly, as if attempting to absorb her in him, and called
her name incessantly.
Long Haochen still remembered clearly the instant the Demon God Emperor
pierced through his heart. Darkness approached, but he didn’t have any
grudge or pain in him, only an inexhaustible reluctance to part with Cai’er.
Darkness had descended gradually. Cai’er’s figure became fuzzy, until the
instant that he finally started to fear death. The last thought in his mind
was: So I’ll never be able to meet with Cai’er ever again?
But right now, he was back to life, and Cai’er was finally back in front of
him. The fire of joy and hope rose in him in an indescribable manner.
Hugging her tightly, the fear filling his heart gradually turned into
extreme joy. If this was a dream, he hoped to never wake up from it for
eternity.
“If you want to stay together forever, calm down a bit.” A warm soul-
shaking voice woke up the two of them with shock from this moment of bliss.
Long Haochen and Cai’er turned back their heads at the same time, finally
taking notice of the changes in Elux.
Elux’s condensed soul dispersed some white halations. From his body, a
breath of death slowly spread outwards. The pair of eyes on his condensed
body seemed far brighter than before, watching them ardently.
Long Haochen failed to understand his words, but Cai’er had a terrible
chill! Right, Long Haochen hadn’t yet really resurrected. It’s just that
Elux used extraordinary ways to temporarily bring him to life.
She immediately stepped up, filled with hastiness, “You just said that we
won. Since we won, shouldn’t you be helping to resurrect Haochen?”
Long Haochen was startled, and looked at Cai’er in incomprehension,
“Am I not truly alright? What are you saying Cai’er?”
Elux had a faint smile, “What a fool you are, kid. Don’t tell me you have
forgotten everything that has happened before? Although I just used my soul
power to make an illusion, it can be considered real in some sense. If I had
at that time really accepted letting this girl offer her heart to resurrect
you, everything just now would be real.”
“Cai’er, you...” Long Haochen tightly drew Cai’er closer in his embrace,
“Why would you do such a foolish thing? If you die, what meaning is there
for me to live?”
Cai’er buried her head in his chest. At that time Long Haochen was just a
corpse; her only thought was that she had to resurrect him. That is why the
previous scene shook her greatly, especially Long Haochen’s crucial words.
Right! If he’s resurrected but at the cost of her own life, he’d still
choose to die, so wouldn’t that make everything up to now meaningless?
This instant, the two of them became very calm. Long Haochen seemed to no
longer be in a rush to resurrect Long Haochen. They would either live
together or die side by side. Her heart finally felt relieved at this real
ization.
“So a thing such as real love really exists in the human world.” Elux’s aged
face displayed a bitter smile. Although that was body just a condensed soul,
he suddenly seemed to look much older at once.
“Of course it does.” Long Haochen raised his head, ardently looking at Elux.
He still did not have the slightest good opinion of Elux. This slaughterer
was the one to cause the collapse of Shengmo Dalu, the great loss in power
of humanity. If not for him, how could the dark age even have come to be? If
not for him, perhaps everything would be different. As the Scion of Light
and candidate chosen by the goddess of Light, all he caused was destruction
along his way. Long Haochen still remembered the deep impression the
helpless testimony of the Divine Snail of Sun and Moon had made on him at
that time.
Elux could not avoid seeing the look of rejection in Long Haochen eyes, and
he calmly declared, “Long Haochen, you have a chance to choose now. Compared
to her, you are the most fitting to inherit my power. I can see that you
have already formally become the one blessed by the Goddess of Light, so you
must despise someone who has walked in the path of death and darkness like
me. But now, you have no other choice than to rely on me to come back to
life. On one side is your beloved girl, and on the other side, your
conviction. Now is the time to make your choice. By choosing to inherit my
power, you will be able to stay by her side, and the two of you will be able
to live together. And you will become even stronger. If you choose to
renounce this, you will die, and surely she will follow you soon. It’s up to
you.”
Long Haochen became blank-faced, and Cai’er too.
They did not expect Elux to give Long Haochen such a choice to make at such
a time.
“Are you saying that… That even without my heart, you can help bring him
back to life?” Cai’er asked in great joy.
Elux responded proudly, “I am the almighty Holy Necromancer, Slumbering
Calamity Elux. In this world, the things that I cannot accomplish are very
scarce. Your soul is still present, so what’s the deal with reconstituting
your body? But why would I help reviving him? Unless he consents to inherit
my power, and becomes the next necromancer lord, you are free to live or die
as you wish. You will see him die, and whatever you choose is none of my
concern. At worst I just have to enter several thousands more years of deep
slumber awaiting a next successor’s arrival.”
Cai’er instantly turned her head to look at Long Haochen. But the instant
her pretty eyes caught sight of Long Haochen, the flames of joy in her were
extinguished entirely in one instant.
Right! Inheriting from Elux would be the only way to resurrect him, but
Haochen was the one chosen by the Goddess of Light, the Scion of Light. how
could he accept inheriting Elux’s power? Elux was the enemy of mankind, a
terrible sinner, the Slumbering Calamity. If Long Haochen were to inherit
his power, would that befit the Scion of Light? That would be like
renouncing his whole beliefs.
Cai’er was totally unable to speak a word. This being the man she loved
deeply, how could she bear to tell him to renounce his beliefs? Cai’er
understood clearly that these beliefs were as important as his life in his
eyes.
He was a knight, a pure knight to the core. Telling him to renounce his
beliefs was no different than telling him to die.
She didn’t speak a word, tears flowing from Cai’er’s eyes again. Stretching
her hands forward, she wrapped them around Long Haochen’s chest, sticking
tightly close to him. She was already unwilling to think of
anything, and just wanted to let him make his choice. If he chooses death,
then let the two of them share this fate. This instant, Cai’er suddenly felt
very tired, and only wanted to hold him. No matter whether they lived or
died, they would stay that way forever.
The dull feelings in Long Haochen’s eyes disappeared gradually. Lowering his
head, he looked at Cai’er leaning on his chest, his eyes flickering in the
light, but it seems that no conflicting emotions were in him.
An insipid smile started to form from the corners of his mouth, as Long
Haochen raised his head, and looked calmly at Elux.
“Have you made your decision?” Elux looked at him with some stupor,
originally thinking that he would be in an incomparable struggle. But he
didn’t expect him to have such a look on his face so rapidly. This clearly
meant that he had already made his decision.
Long Haochen calmly answered, “I am willing to accept your inheritanceto
live on.”
Hearing his declaration, both Elux and Cai’er were suddenly shocked. Cai’er
raised her head suddenly, looking at him in disbelief, “Haochen,
you...”
Elux reacted with great unbelief, “You are not even afraid of death, yet
want to renounce your beliefs? Don’t tell me that you have already forgotten
that you are the Scion of Light, the one chosen by the Goddess of Light!”
Long Haochen raised his hand, lightly caressing Cai’er’s long hair, “I am
willing to die for her, as well as I am willing to live for her sake.”
At this point, he paused slightly, his eyes looking dazzling at the time he
turned toward Elux again, “For the sake of Cai’er, what’s the deal with
renouncing my principles?”
Bam!
Two explosions occurred almost simultaneously. One was in Cai’er’s brain,
feeling totally empty, as if she had already lost all her ability to think.
And the other explosion occurred in the Holy Necromancer, or more accurately
speaking, his condensed-soul body.
The terrifying explosion caused massive fluctuations of soul force, blasting
Long Haochen and Cai’er away.
Elux lifted his head, shrieking in pain, and his entire soul-body trembling
violently. Large amounts of death energy were spurted out from his soul, and
even more pure holy fire of white color had appeared, igniting his soul, and
spreading to every corner of his soui.
Long Haochen hugged Cai’er tightly, using his own body to shield her from
the assault of the terrifying soul force. Elux’s soul force was just too
powerful: even the Demon God Emperor would be almost unable to compare in
this aspect. In front of the terrifying soul might, he was unable to even
struggle.
Chapter 654
The terrifying spiritual waves persisted for a whole quarter of an hour
before gradually pacifying.
“No, no… This can’t be! How could such feelings exist between humans? Humans
are supposed to be vulgar and shameless, disregarding anything in front of
benefit. Why would you have such feelings, just why?”
Elux howled in hysteria. Right now he seemed like a wounded wolf, completely
turning mad.
No soul attack came. Long Haochen was drawing close to Cai’er, who noticed
that right now Long Haochen was full of incomprehension. He had just
consented to inherit Elux, so why would this Holy Necromancer make such a
fuss?
Elux kept yelling all along so far, but Long Haochen could feel that the
aura of death in the seventh floor of the Tower of Eternity was disappearing
at an astonishing speed. This place, originally full of dense light essence,
gradually regained its sacred feel.
This madness lasted for the time of a meal, before Elux gradually calmed
down. Although he was just a soul with a body, it took him large gasps to
breathe, and his body was at least half its previous volume. But it had
become pure white. Right now his soul seemed ignited to burn strongly, and
the soulfire pulsing in his eyes gradually pacified as well.
“Unexpected, what an unexpected thing!” Elux’s voice clearly became stiff,
and although his emotions had settled down, his feeling of incomprehension
was still present.
Long Haochen looked at him without understanding, “Senior, you can let me
inherit your power.”
“……”
Elux shook his head, replying in distress, “No, I am not qualified. I was
mistaken. I didn’t expect myself to really be so mistaken. I was mistaken
for several thousand years. ” He shook his head vigorously, full of pain.
Cai’er held Long Haochen’s hand, right now her mind was empty, filled up
with Long Haochen’s figure.
She warmly stood by his side, all traces of her original coldness totally
vanished. The haze from her youth’s traumas were all swept clean, leaving no
traces behind. If one were to ask her why, surely she would reply that it’s
the power of love. Right, Haochen showed her his abiding love, willing to
renounce his convictions for the sake of love. This caused a sublimation of
Cai’er’s soul, as all negative feelings in her were swept clean at that very
moment.
Nothing else mattered in that life where this fulfilling love existed.
Elux raised his head, his ardent look faced toward this pair of sweethearts.
His warm expression contained an unspoken admiration, but no traces of
jealousy.
“Willing to hear my story? That’s a story from six thousand and eight
hundred years ago.” Elux’s voice changed to contain a dense sadness, which
came out all around him.
For some reason, Long Haochen felt thin surges of sympathy when looking at
him, and nodded unconsciously.
Elux calmly declared, “Six thousand eight hundred ninety years ago, I was
born in a city from the Pombo Empire on the northwest of the continent. This
city was called Sidi.
“My father was the lord of Sidi, a hereditary earl, and I was his only son.
“From the day of my birth, I lived in nobility. For the sake of letting me
succeed his position as earl in the future, he arranged the best teachers to
teach me knowledge and etiquette. The year of my sixth birthday, my great
affinity with light essence was found out: I was blessed with a constitution
of a Scion of Light. Although nearly seven thousand years have passed since
then, I s
till remember very well the great joy Father had at the time. He held me in
his arms, and shouted in excitement through the whole hall, Elux, you are my
pride!’
“From that point, I became a light mage. My cultivation was extremely fast,
shocking every teacher, and during the year of my eleventh birthday, I had
already become a mage of the fourth step. And at thirteen, the fifth step,
then at merely fifteen years old, I became the youngest mage of the sixth
step to have ever appeared in the continent.”
At this point Long Haochen was also shocked; because, despite being a Scion
of Light too, he had yet to reach the sixth step when he was fifteen years
old. In other words, Elux was even more outstanding than him at the same age
of fifteen years old.
“Father said that I was shockingly talented. Therefore, he personally
brought me to participate in the Talent War organized at that time between
the three empires by the Glorious Church, where only youngsters below twenty
were allowed to participate. Right, does the Glorious Church still exist at
present? Have they yet taken over the whole continent?”
Long Haochen shook his head, “No, at the time of the start of the dark age
six thousand years ago, the Glorious Church was annihilated by
demonkind.”
“Annihilated?” Elux became blank, and immediately made the strange
statement, “Great, great. I knew that they would one day walk this path. So,
what was I saying again?”
“Talents War.” Cai’er reminded him.
“Right, the Talents War. I was without doubt the focus of this whole Talents
War. The enemies that came out in front of me rarely resisted for over a
minute. When I was young, I was also on par with your looks. Uncountable
young ladies from the three empires gave me coquettish looks, and, during
the finals, my opponent was the princess Fuluo of the empire. She was also a
genius, a powerful summoner. With the royal family’s backing, she already
had a Purple Thunder Star Dragon Emperor as her contracted beast. Although
her cultivation was below mine, her endless successions of summons were
tough to face. That battle had lasted for a whole half of an hour, and in
the end, because of her insufficient spiritual energy, she lost by my hand.
I thereby became the final champion, and our Pombo Empire became the great
winner.”
No matter how many years had passed since then, Elux looked extremely proud
as he recounted these facts, making clear how impressive that feat used to
be.
At that time, humankind was still ruling over the whole Shengmo Dalu, and
the total human population was perhaps ten times more than nowadays. This
Talent War was undoubtedly a stage for the youngest elites, so the
achievement of that victory was truly a great glory.
“The pope of the Glorious Church from that time rewarded me personally with
a direct title of viscount, and a feudal fiefdom of fifty kilometers. My
reward was a great item, later known as equipment of epic tier. The me of
that time was quite pleased with himself, having become the most glorious
youngster of all continent. Even the pope’s son Pelo was nothing in front of
me.
“Also, that saying 'a friendship may arise from an exchange of blows' is
true. That battle with Princess Fulo created a link between the two of us:
from that day onwards, we were known as the two great seeds of the empire,
on whom great hopes were placed. I was then transferred to the royal
academy, pursuing my studies alongside Princess Fulo, and received all the
support of the empire.”
Just by listening to his story, Long Haochen and Cai’er could feel how
successful Elux was in his younger times. Receiving such glory at the age of
sixteen was not something just anyone could do.
Elux’s face started to fill with warmth, “During the period of my studies in
the royal academy, I was with Fulo training together and researching magic
together all the time. Our feelings started to get deep between the two of
us, and I deeply loved that beautiful genius. When the two of us were
together, we were never short of topics to talk about. We made an oath of
eternal love, engrossed with each other. The rise of these feelings did not
only not adversely affect our cultivation, but instead made it faster and
faster. In the year I turned eighteen years old, I became a Grand Magic
Tutor of the eighth step. Given my cultivation speed of that time, I was
certain that I would surely be able to break through the ninth step at the
age of twenty, making me the youngest powerhouse of the ninth step in the
whole continent.
“As time passed, the superiority of my talent became clearer and clearer.
Although Fulo was also outstanding, in the end she was unable to compare
with my gifts as Scion of Light. When I broke through the eighth step, she
had just broken through the seventh. Back at that time, I could see that she
was unhappy, but didn’t put a lot of thought into the issue. I told her that
I was willing to make a pause to wait for her to catch up with my
cultivation.
“At the same time, I asked His Majesty her father for her hand, and he
accepted a marriage between Fulo and me.
“Everything went smoothly. His Majesty was extremely pleased about our
relationship, and the day I would break through the ninth step would be when
we would marry. At that time, I was already acclaimed as the man most likely
to rise to the level of god. The pope of that time personally
came to the empire, expressing the wish to take me as disciple, and to take
over his position in the future.
“For the sake of the empire, and for Fulo’s sake, I refused. At that time,
the church was extremely powerful in the continent, and in some manner, all
three kingdoms had to listen to their orders. I could feel His Majesty’s
unwillingness, and for his Majesty’s sake, I preferred to offend the church
rather than leaving the empire.
“After reaching the eighth step, my great speed of cultivation visibly
slowed down. My teachers in the royal academy told me that because I only
kept cultivating all the time, I was lacking in other experiences, and
suggested that I go to the outside world and gain experience, to discover
all the miraculous places in the continent so that I would be able to
progress while gaining in understanding. I followed their suggestion, and
told Fulo about this matter, hoping to gain these experiences alongside her.
“But, Fuluo refused. Although she loved me deeply, she had an even greater
eagerness to be number one. I knew that she was always looking to surpass
me, but the gap between us only kept getting wider. So she chose to remain
in the academy to keep training hard, looking to catch up to my
cultivation.”
Chapter 655
“For the sake of reaching the ninth step as early as possible to take Fulo
as my wife, as well as to bring an even greater honor and glory to the
empire, I took this training trip. But never did I expect that because of
the great gains in this trip, the incoming period of my life would become a
total nightmare.”
At this point, Elux’s face became gradually more and more sinister, filled
with anger. Alongside his fury, his intense soul fluctuations caused
repeated shakes of the Tower of Eternity.
“After leaving the empire, I roamed through the whole continent. With my
cultivation reaching the eighth step, I encountered almost no challenges.
“During two whole years, I wandered through almost all cities of the three
great empires, discovering all the local conditions and customs and
experiencing the joys and the sorrows of the world. The scope of my world
and my cultivation all made considerable progress. And, maybe because I was
the one chosen by the Goddess of Light, I had a lot of happy encounters in
these two years, and acquired a martial technique of incredible might.
“When I returned to the empire, my cultivation had already reached the peak
of the eighth step. Upon seeing Fulo again, I couldn’t help but take her in
my arms while sobbing from extreme joy. I could feel that I was nearing the
edge of the ninth step, only at one step from breaking through, and believed
that I would be able to marry my most beloved Fulo in the near future, as
well as to inevitably become the future greatest powerhouse of the empire.
“At that time, I had almost no notion of schemes, and told Fulo about all my
various adventures during these two years of training, to share the feelings
I had during these moving encounters with her. However, something slightly
displeasing happened to me later: the son of the Supreme Pontiff
unexpectedly joined the Imperial Magic Academy to study. At that time, I
found it very strange: why he would come there? Compared to our Pombo
Empire, the Glorious Church should have reached even deeper levels of magic
researches, so he had no need at all to come here to pursue his studies!
“However, I didn’t give it much thought because of my joy from being on the
verge of marrying Fulo. After I told Fulo everything about my trip, she held
a great interest toward that martial technique I gained in my encounters,
hoping that I could hand it over for her to learn, but I rejected her. That
martial technique was certainly miraculous, but it could by no means be
learned or used, because it came at a too great cost, and I feared she would
get wounded in the process.
“Do you know what kind of martial technique that was? Even now, I still find
it to be really miraculous. Although it was just a move, it required a
perfect harmonization with the owner’s soul to be executed. It seemed to
come from an ancient tribe from another world. A type of Martial Soul
Technique, this technique had a very strange name: it was called
Tortoiseshell Technique.
“When I had just obtained it, I still took it to be just a defensive martial
art, but after deep researches, I found out that it had almost no relations
with defense, but was an ability of prediction. Back then, the Glorious
Church was the only other entity in the whole continent to have a prophet. I
also have some understanding of it: all they can predict is the future. As
for that martial technique, its use would execute a kind of divination, with
a really overbearing aspect: its unconditionality. Launching the
Tortoiseshell Technique would act on all living creatures in its scope, the
user being no exception. And even if a god is in the area of effect, he will
have no immunity either, being just as affected by its absolute control .
It’s such a fearful technique! But at the same time, as it has absolute
effects, it brings certain danger. This technique has a great
indeterminacy: after using it, the user will have no control over its
effects. In other words, the effects may be positive just as they may be
negative. But no matter what, the user will have to bear some burden, so
using it could very possibly offer the user as a sacrifice for the
Tortoiseshell technique after a few uses if they are unlucky. How could I be
willing to learn such a martial technique? Or even give it to Fulo?”
At this point, Elux had an extremely bitter look, “But Fulo didn’t
understand my painstaking effort. She thought I wanted to keep it for
myself, and thus refused to transmit it to another. Its absolute effects and
efficiency against even a god was just too alluring, making her completely
unable to treat it lightly. Why didn’t she consider that if I really wanted
to keep it for myself, then I’d simply not tell her about it.
“At first, I was thinking that she was just temporarily letting her emotions
affect her decisions and didn’t think about it too much: it would likely
calm down after two days. As expected, when I went to look for her two days
later, she seemed to have entirely recovered, only looking as though she
still had some worries. But her attitude to me was the same as before, and
the matter of that day was not mentioned again. Never did I expect her to be
such a snake-hearted girl, who had already executed her schemes against me."
Elux gritted his teeth as his whole body shook, clearly because the
experience he had at that time was simply far too painful.
“Then on a bright day with good weather, with the blue sky stretching
continuously over the horizon, and the sunshine was especially abundant… The
intense light essence brought an indescribable sense of harmony to me as the
Scion of Light: this sunshine was really ideal. Fulo had invited me to go
for an outing, to which I naturally agreed gladly, and even told her that I
would seclude myself to aim for the ninth step after that excursion, to ask
His Majesty for her hand after I succeed in accomplishing this breakthrough.
At that time, I believed His Majesty would at least offer me the level of
nobility of a viscount, as well as a title of court mage.
“We exited the empire, to head for the outskirts, and right when we were out
for a scenic tour, I suddenly discovered that we were
surrounded, a large amount of black-clad men sealing off every one of our
routes of escape. These people were masked head-to-toe, making not even the
slightest shred of their skins visible. Upon appearance, they launched a
frantic attack at us. At that time, Fulo was in a daze, seemingly having
even forgotten about the use of magic despite her cultivation reaching the
eighth step. As a man, protecting my own woman seemed like common sense in
my eyes, especially with how conceited I was at that time. Relying on my
cultivation reaching the peak of the eighth step, I made use of the various
magics I had researched painstakingly.”
“Those black clad men were extremely strong, but a lot of them were killed
at my hands.
“However, they were only growing more and more numerous, each of them
reaching at least the seventh step. I found it very strange at that time: if
this many powerhouses from the other two great empires were really
infiltrated, how could the powerhouses from our empire disregard them to
such an extent? If this kept up, I was afraid Fulo and I wouldn’t ever get
away, so I made the prompt decision of bringing out Fulo to immediately
break out from the siege.
“At this time, Fulo seemed to have recovered her senses, immediately using
various summoning spells to assist me, and we rode her summoned beast to
flee back to the empire.
“As we thought the enemies would already no longer catch up to us, we rushed
out at full speed, and the distant walls of the empire even came into sight.
But suddenly, a slight chill permeated in my heart, and when I lowered my
head, I found a pitch-black dagger piercing deeply through my chest, its
handle being held in Fulo’s hand.”
At this point, Long Haochen and Cai’er couldn’t help but cry out in alarm.
Never did they expect this princess Fulo to actually betray Elux: they were
lovers who had sworn the pledge of eternal love!
“At that instant, her look was completely filled with malevolence.”
Deep tears of sadness flowed out from Elux’s eyes, “She even murmured,
‘Why, just why didn’t you hand the Tortoiseshell over to me? Why? I hadn’t
planned to go so far at first.’
“My heart was in pain, even more in pain than my wound. My cold chest
gradually got numbed, and I could feel my vital force gush out through that
dagger. Even at that time, I was still unable to believe that my beloved
Fulo was the culprit of that act against me. I just loved her that much! For
the sake of marrying her, I trained night and day. All for the sake of
sharing happiness alongside her in the future. But she stabbed a dagger full
of poison in my left chest, aimed at the spot which should correspond with
an ordinary person’s heart. This stab inflicted complete despair in me. She
should have been clearly aware that I had no suspicions at all toward her,
and moreover, her stab was timed the instant my vigilance was the most
loose.
“This instant, even more black clad men came from in front of us. They
seemed to have been lying in wait since long ago, and expected all of this
to happen long since. The previous ambush was just a start, but Fulo’s stab
was the true critical point in the move against me.
“A familiar-sounding cold voice spread; that man told Fulo: ‘Kill him.’
“That instant, I finally came to a realization. The desire for survival
caused me to push Fulo away, jumping off from her mount. That instant, Fulo
seemed quite in a daze, seemingly having had a change of heart due to this
stab, which stopped her from immediately finishing me off. Taking advantage
of this opportunity, I took out a scroll, which was forged by a great master
for me, and used that Escape Scroll, teleporting me instantly six kilometers
away. They clearly didn’t expect me to have such a thing in store, which is
how I managed to get away. The instant the Escape Scroll took effect, I
still remember clearly that the sobered Fulo hastily commanded her summoned
beast to attack me. That instant, her eyes were only filled with cold
killing intent, without any of the former tender sentiments.”
Long Haochen and Cai’er were already completely immersed in Elux’s story, to
the extent of forgetting the whole situation they were in. Perceiving
the deep sadness coming out from Elux, they were totally able to imagine the
kind of feelings he had back at that time.
For a moment, the two of them were completely speechless. So there was after
all a basis for the Scion of Light’s betrayals to his duties! He was in the
end betrayed, but how could that mere fact cause him to become the
Slumbering Calamity?
Chapter 656
The sadness in Elux’s eyes gradually turned into coldness, “You are feeling
that the mere betrayal of Fulo shouldn’t be enough for me to betray my holy
convictions? You misunderstand. This alone would still be insufficient to
cause these changes in me. But Long Haochen, as a Scion of Light, you should
understand that the Scion of Light is the one chosen by the Goddess of
Light, and the resolve he has as such. However, the one to betray me was not
princess Fulo alone, but this whole world.
“Through the Escape Scroll, I broke away from their ambush, and only felt a
great chilliness fill me at that time. The beautiful parts of my heart
disappeared with Fulo’s betrayal, but even so, I couldn’t bring myself to
hate her at that time. I loved her deeply, and wanted to think of her good
parts no matter what. That black clad man’s final appearance caused me to
guess that maybe Fulo was coerced into doing that, and was completely
unwilling. Although I was clearly aware that, as the princess, it was almost
impossible that there could be anyone who could coerce her, I still wanted
to keep this way of thinking. At that time, I was just really too foolish.
“Fulo’s stab was aimed right at my left chest, but she didn’t know that
unlike an ordinary person, my heart was located on the right side. Although
her poisonous dagger caused heavy wounds in me, these wounds were not
mortal. I resisted the pain with great difficulty, finding a hollow tree to
treat my wound. Relying on medicine I had gotten in my adventures, I forced
out the poison from my body before gradually eliminating all this poison by
the means of my pure light essence.
“This process was painful and long, but I knew very clearly that even if I
wanted Fulo to clarify all this, I had to first wait for my body to recover
entirely for that. I heard a lot of brouhaha outside the hollow tree in the
process, as if large armies were transferred around. But at that time, I did
not expect the reasons for these armies to be deployed.
“It took two entire months for my injuries to get better, and my cultivation
to recover. I stealthily exited the hollow tree to return back to the
empire. But before arriving at the city gates, a thunderous scene came to my
sight.
“A very clear announcement from the royal family was displayed right nearby
the city gate, in which was written: ‘The duke of the empire, Elux, who
attacked the princess Fulo to steal a powerful martial technique, snatching
it and causing her to sustain heavy injuries, is wanted for the crime of
treason. Their whole family is to be deprived of their territory, and get
death penalties. Every commoner reporting traces of the criminal will get
rewarded with ten thousand gold coins.’
“I absolutely didn’t expect them to use such despicable means, actually
making such bogus accusations. Furthermore, this announcement from the royal
family was not the only thing. There was also an announcement from the
Glorious Church with the same contents, designating me as a heretic
corrupted by darkness.
“At that time, I took a whole half-hour to gradually come back to my senses.
I loved Fulo deeply, but I wasn’t a total idiot. If I hadn’t realized this
huge plot aimed against me at that time, I wouldn’t be fit to be the
inheritor of the identity of Scion of Light. I immediately went into
concealment to disguise myself, thinking at that time that I had to find a
proof that they were deceiving His Majesty and the church; to prove my
innocence. The key element to this proof lay in Fulo, which is why I went to
look for her to make it clear.
“Perhaps it was because several years had passed, or perhaps because I was
thought to have died from the poison, the empire did not put emergency
measures in place. So after I disguised myself, returning to the empire’s
capital was very easy. Looking at these formerly familiar places, my heart
was in great pain. At night, I stealthily infiltrated into the royal palace,
still extremely familiar with that place. Although I was a mage, having a
cultivation reaching the eighth step, I had numerous means for infiltrating
my destination. Coming into Fulo’s quarters, I saw another man there. The
son of the Supreme Pontiff, Pelo.
“They were discussing, and
and that was in Fulo’s bedroom. At that time, I already had guesses about
the relationship between them, but was still unwilling to believe it. But
when I clearly heard the contents of their discussion, I finally realized
how stupid I was, and the extent of that plot.
“Back then, Fulo questioned Pelo on why they hadn’t found me, and he replied
that he had already mobilized the Glorious Church’s force, matching with the
Empire’s forces to find traces of me, dead or alive. That martial technique
in my hands had to be seized ‘at any cost’. I gradually constructed it all
from the clues I heard in the midst of their conversation. It turned out
that as early as when I was out for a few years, Pelo had already made a
trip to the Imperial Academy, having two purposes in mind. One was to
discuss the matter of pulling me into the Glorious Church with the Emperor,
and the second, to chase after Fulo.
“At first, His Majesty had no interest in enticing me to join the Glorious
Church. But Pelo insisted, using countless means to seduce Fulo. Though,
Fulo being so materialistic, due to his flowery speed and the appeal of the
numerous martial techniques and pills at the disposal of the Glorious
Church, she finally gave in to his continuous offenses. Pero mentioned to
her that the Scion of Light would be a threat to the Glorious Church, hence
the Church needed absolutely to get rid of me, to make sure of their eternal
rule at the time he would become the pope and Fulo would be his empress…
Originally, Fulo still had some apprehensions, but Pelo expressed to his
Highness the will of the Glorious Church to support their empire in
vanquishing the other empires and in uniting the continent. Moreover, he
promised Fulo to give her all the martial techniques from me for her to
learn. Both the royal family and Fulo were finally ensnared by the benefits
that way, while I became the sacrifice for all these benefits to be
obtained.
“This was supposed to be a perfect plan: by taking advantage of the trip I
took with Fulo to ambush me, they wanted to deplete my strength, and then on
the way back, Fulo
back, Fulo would take advantage of my lowered guard and exhaustion to move
against me, making it hardly possibly for me to escape. At that time, they
would only need to kill me and report me as a betrayer to the Empire and the
Church, so that even despite my reputation as the pride of the empire, the
truth behind this conspiracy would rapidly be drowned.
“I hated them bitterly; I never expected my homeland, my lover, and my
convictions to actually betray me together. At that time, my brain went
blank, and as Fulo and Pero were in the midst of making out, I suddenly
rushed in and launched fatal attacks against them.
“My appearance was just too sudden for them. Although they were top figures
of the younger generation, there was a significant gap in our strengths, and
this was moreover a situation of ambush. I very rapidly took the advantage,
wounding Pelo seriously while suppressing Fulo with my attacks. Although a
large amount of powerhouses from the palace immediately gathered as a
result, they did not dare act rashly as I held Fulo and Pelo as hostages at
that time.
“Then I questioned Fulo, ‘Why did you have to do this to me? What in me
dissatisfied you?’ She only kept begging me for her survival then, but I had
already heard all their previous conversation! How could I still trust in
her words after that? At that time, my only thought was take to them down
with myself. The former me was incredibly proud. At that time, I had been
reduced to the position of traitor to the nation, completely unable to
accept such a huge downfall. Having no more attachment to my own life, I
only wanted to take down this cheating couple with me.
“But that Pelo was, after all, the son of the pope, having many survival
means at his disposal. Right when I was prepared to take them down with
myself, he used extraordinary means to summon the pope’s attack, causing me
to get seriously wounded. And, in the end, as I couldn’t bear to move
against Fulo, I could only choose to escape the encirclement. After I
finally
made it out, I went into hiding in the capital, covered in bruises after a
narrow escape.
“Immediately, the Empire initiated a manhunt in the whole city, lookingwhole
city, looking for traces of me. It was through the help of a beggar that I
formerly saved that I luckily escaped their chase. But as I was just done
healing my wounds came thunderous news. They had caught my family.”
Elux gritted his teeth and declared, “They knew that I was concealed in the
Empire, which is why they released an announcement about executing the
traitor’s family. I still remember that day clearly: the sky seemed to get
blood-red colored as His Highness passed down the execution order in front
of the masses. When I saw Pelo and Fulo clad in armor and cutting off my
relatives’ heads, I lost the last ounces of hope and light in me, which all
faded away.
“Can you imagine? Someone who witnessed all his kin getting killed. My
father, mother, older sister, younger sister, and the rest of my family;
even the young children were not spared: my whole family was executed with
no exception.
“I knew that they were waiting for me to show up at that time. Waiting for
me with a perfect bait, they just understood my character far too well. But
at that time, a black tile I had formerly gained in the previous training
trip got affected by my dark emotions, turning my whole body cold and unable
to move a single step. It was because of this that I had to stare blankly at
the scene of my family getting slaughtered one by one.
“At that time, I was furious, having entered a frantic state. My kins’ blood
dyed the ground of the public square of the empire’s capital: not a single
one of my three hundred sixty-seven family members escaped this fate. They
all met with violent deaths under their butchers’ knives. At the time I
recovered from that cold state, the rest of my family was already
extinguished. I seemed to catch sight of their specters, pacing back and
forth irresolutely in the sky, utterly unreconciled.
“I didn’t step in as my family was already all dead, and I left that place
with an overwhelming rancor. As I did not appear from beginning to end in
this slaughter, they believed that I already had left the Pombo Empire,
hence the hunt came to a provisional end. Instead, they went on to search
for my traces over the whole continent.”
Chapter 657
"After finally exiting the Empire, I rushed out in a set direction, running
frantically for seven days and seven nights, until getting completely washed
out, finding myself in a valley. From that day onwards, there had not been
any more light in my heart, only an endless rancor and grudge. This hatred
was what kept me alive: I had to kill all those who had betrayed me and
slaughtered my people.
“For some reason, at the time I lost all light, the Tortoiseshell Technique
had ineffably disappeared, perhaps because it was disgusted with the hatred
I had. But this didn’t matter in my eyes: that black tile I had was the
inheritance of an ancient necromancer. Light and necromancy should be two
totally opposite powers, but thanks to my innate gifts, I gradually fused
them as one. I needed power; I needed to topple the whole Pombo Empire and
destroy all the Glorious Church’s forces. I had no more relatives: everyone
else in this world were my enemies. Only their blood and lives could offset
the rancor in my heart. I trained day and night, increasing my strength
massively, all for the sake of taking revenge one day.
“Revenge became my greatest driving force. A Scion of Light hidden in deep
mountains to train at a hundred percent. Can you imagine how frightening
that is? At the time I left these deep mountains, I was not the Scion of
Light Elux anymore, but the Holy Necromancer, Slumbering Calamity Elux.
“I killed people at sight, turning all living beings into undead under my
command. Starting from a small town, I gradually gathered my army of
undeads. When I was back at the Pombo Empire, I already had a million undead
by my sides. I thoroughly destroyed the Pombo Empire, and when
that slut Fulo followed Pombo back to the Glorious Church, I finally brought
my undead army to destroy the Church. I wanted to annihilate them thoroughly
for the sake of avenging my family.”
Hearing all he said, Long Haochen couldn’t help but burst out in rage,
“Haven’t you thought about these countless innocents you took with such a
revenge? Your targets of revenge were the royal family of Pombo Empire and
the Church. So why did you have to implicate so many people?” He sympathized
with Elux’s encounters, but was utterly disgusted with his ruthless methods
and his treatment of other humans.
Elux revealed an indifferent expression of sadness, “When I hesitated in the
past, I came to regret it afterwards. But at that time, the three empires
and the Church were
just too powerful, so
a single person’s strength couldn’t possibly succeed in
exacting revenge. For the sake of revenge, I walked through my downfall, and
headed for darkness. But at that time, I never even considered that I could
be in the wrong. Slaughter was all that mattered in my eyes.”
Long Haochen did not utter a word, because he could feel a deep sadness and
remorse from Elux. He regrets it? Could it be that the former Holy
Necromancer who caused tremendous damage to humankind, Elux, is regretting
his acts? Could it be because of Cai’er and me?
Even if Elux had a remorseful heart, Long Haochen’s impression of him
wouldn’t change like that. The sin being already committed, could remorse
even undo it? Just how many humans’ blood had stained on his hands?
“After I destroyed my own homeland, the Glorious Church chose to unite hands
with the other two Empires to handle me, initiating a war. At that time, I
had already taken over close to a third of the whole continent, and had a
large amount of undead powerhouses under my hands, their soulfire being
under my control, making them incomparably loyal. An army of a billion
undeads was under my command, throwing themselves at the Glorious Church
like a plague. Although the Glorious Church had powerful divine magic, as a
Holy Necromancer, the undead under my control had an extreme resistance
toward light. At the start of the war, I had a total advantage.
“But undead were after all merely undead. Even if they were even more loyal,
they had lost that intelligence belonging to humans. The hearts the people
united gradually in this Glorious Era, and once they steadied their troops,
the counteroffense was launched under the lead of the
the Glorious Church. At that time, I was already exceedingly powerful, able
to resist even the attacks from the pope of the Glorious Church. But I
couldn’t be certain that my undead army would win on its own.
“In an ultimate decisive battle, my undead army was defeated, and although
it came also at a bitter cost for the human armies, I was in the end
defeated. Heavily wounded by the group of experts led by the Glorious
Church’s pope, I had a malicious weakening curse inflicted by that pope. For
the next millennia, I was in great pain due to that sacred curse, coming to
an eternal slumber.
“This war ended with my defeat, but my revenge was still a success. Although
I suffered unredeemable heavy wounds, those ones who harmed my kin were all
killed, including the Pope, Pelo, and Fulo. I still remember clearly that
the instant I broke Fulo’s heart in pieces, her eyes were filled with pain
and struggle. I had taken out her heart to see whether it was still colored
red. Pero was turned into an undead by the most painful means. Keeping him
by my side, I slowly boiled his soulfire over the course of a thousand
years, finally annihilating it completely and eternally stopping him from
reincarnating.
“Back then, this Tower of Eternity was created to nurture my physical body.
But unfortunately, I finally didn’t manage to surmount that hateful curse.
Otherwise, given my cultivation of that time, I wouldn’t die even after
living a thousand, no, ten thousand years. But in reality, what caused my
eternal slumber was not the wounds on my body, but in my heart.
“After I had killed all my foes, I found out that there was nothing left to
keep me attached to this world. My loves ones were dead, my hated ones as
well. My heart became empty, with no more care for living, so I finally
chose to let myself die out. Then I put myself into deep slumber here,
because I was unwilling to recall about the war of that time, and to ponder
about whether I was in the right or in the wrong. the wrong. Now
it looks that I was in the wrong. I was really in the wrong, no matter
whether I had slaughtered them or not, my kin still wouldn’t be brought
back. Moreover, I have taken so many innocent lives… My guilt is already
beyond redemption. I am the worst human sinner. ”
Reaching this point, Elux’s sad look carried a sincere disappointment and
frustration when looking at Long Haochen and Cai’er, “I need to thank the
two of you for waking me up, and for freeing me of my former rancor. I don’t
know for how long I have been asleep, but after all of it passed and I
finally calmed down for real, I can see the evil crimes I have commited. As
you said, my power is not fitting for you two to inherit. This inheritance
belonging to necromancy should rather disappear forever, to avoid the
possibility of another such disaster.
“I originally believed that all the humans in this world were despicable and
shameless creatures, all beyond redemption. But seeing the feelings between
the two of you, I realize that I was in the wrong. Of the two of you, one
was all willing to renounce her own life for the sake of the other one,
paying with no hesitation the cost of her own heart. And the other one chose
to rather give up on his holy convictions as the Scion of Light for his
beloved one. You two have finally shown me what true devotion is, what a
true couple united until death parts them is. Thank you: upon finally
witnessing the feelings between you two, I have finally understood that love
really exists in this world, that not all humans are despicable creatures.
So it really was a heartless urge I had to slaughter everything in my way.
“There is already no more meaning in regretting since long ago, but, after
telling all this to you, I feel much more comfortable. The evil tendencies
that filled my heart are also getting purified, and although I won’t ever
possibly return to the embrace of light, at least this evil body can make a
contribution with itscontribution with its holy origins.”
Saying that, Elux pointed his right hand at the coffin in front of them. The
previously spilling death energy immediately gushed out. His left hand made
a gesture at Long Haochen and Cai’er, and their bodies immediately got
surrounded in a golden barrier, therefore rendering them unaffected by any
of the death energy.
One could clearly see that the death energy pulsing violently was all turned
white, and although Long Haochen and Cai’er only had the time to sense a
glimpse of that previous gush of death energy, they perceived an astonishing
purity in that death energy.
A death energy of such purity was already beyond the scope of a Holy
Necromancer’s level. That was all the accumulation Elux did throughout
several thousand years! Such terrifying might could be called the totality
of Elux’s attainments in life beyond holy light.
A white stream of air gathered as Elux slowly lifted his hand, causing
strips of white light to revolve around his right arm. As his fingertips
turned more and more glistening, that dazzling luster turned all the seventh
floor of the Tower of Eternity completely white.
Elux declared impassively, “Cai’er, you have gone through a great torment,
and when you finally walked past the final path, I had already decided to
take you as my inheritor. You have certainly purified my heart and soul,
making me realize how filthy this inheritance of mine is, thus I want to
offer you something unrelated to holy necromancy. In my several past years
of slumber, I had condensed the purest kind of death energy. As you have the
Body of Samsara, you innately possess the power of purification. This death
energy of mine will make a perfect synergy with you. Although I cannot offer
my power for you to inherit, you can treat this as a gift for you. No need
to consider rejecting it, or even try. What I, Elux, decided upon will
necessarily take place. Unless you want to leave Long Haochen to kill
himself, just gradually absorb all this death force of mine.”
The surrounding white light gradually vanished, and a peach-sized white,
sparkling, translucent bead appeared in front of Elux.
Chapter 658
In a flash of light, this white pearl quietly flew in front of Cai’er, the
golden skull, Eternal Melody, floating back in reaction. But in this
process, the Eternal Melody changed gradually, moving rhythmically like a
liquid. The Eternal Melody transformed in the process, to finally turn into
the appearance of Long Haochen’s portrait, floating in front of Cai’er.
The white death energy integrated with the pearl, and immediately, the
golden Eternal Melody flickered in white. Not only could none of the death
energy inside be sensed, but conversely, it was full of a sacred smell.
Hanging onto Cai’er’s neck, the new Eternal Melody stuck close to her chest,
and just like before, embedded itself in her chest in a flash of white
light.
Cai’er only felt a refreshing power spread from the Eternal Melody, entering
her body and melding with her spiritual energy. Without need for her to do
anything, her spiritual energy rose slowly.
Elux had his death energy stored inside the Eternal Melody, but didn’t
directly give it for her to absorb out of fear about its excessive quantity,
which Cai’er would immediately find unbearable.
Looking at Cai’er’s stunned expression, Elux had a faint smile on his face,
“No need to thank me. This is the first gift I am offering you. As for the
second gift, it will be given later. Be at ease, since I have offered this
gift to you, I will naturally help you two lovers to be together. Otherwise,
even the greatest gift wouldn’t be enough to please you without him by your
side.”
Hearing his words, Long Haochen and Cai’er’s faces couldn't help but display
an expression of joyful surprise.
Although Long Haochen really loathed Elux, he really hated to part. Even if
all the other reasons were to be thrown aside, just for Cai’er’s sake, he
was really unwilling to die like that.
Elux’s right hand once again pointed to the coffin in front of him, and this
time, what came out from there was a bright light of an incomparable purity.
When it bubbled up from the coffin, Elux immediately gained an illusory
look, as if his soul was sustaining a great attack.
Compared to the previous gathered energy of death, the golden radiance that
Elux liberated this time became much slower, his face looking a lot more
grave than before, so much so that it was a bit strange.
Although that golden barrier was there, Long Haochen could clearly feel a
light essence of great purity.
Was what was coming out the holy power he'd stored in himself for several
thousand years? Long Haochen looked at Elux with shock, although he loathed
Elux for his previous doings.
However, he couldn’t help but admire him greatly for his accomplishment in
cultivation. Solely by relying on his soul force, he was actually able to
draw out power from that body. This showed how great his perception of the
power of light was! Asking himself, Long Haochen reached the conclusion that
the gap separating himself from Elux was still incomparably wide.
Out of all the powerhouses he had ever met, the strongest ones were
undoubtedly the Demon God Emperor Fengxiu and this Holy Necromancer Elux.
The former may be stronger in total spiritual energy, but in view of the
control over light Elux had in his soul form, Long Haochen determined that
even Fengxiu was definitely not an opponent for Elux.
The light was extracted for a whole hour, before ending gradually. Long
Haochen and Cai’er understood that what Elux was now doing pertained
greatly to Long Haochen’s resurrection. Only, they did not understand by
which method the formerly most powerful necromancer was attempting to
recover Long Haochen’s lost heart.
The coffin was not releasing bright light anymore, and Elux’s face became
even more focused than before. His left hand was pressed lightly onto his
forehead, and then, a light ray with a tail of light came out from the midst
of his soul. His movement was slow, and the expression on his face started
to twist, as he seemingly suffered a great pain. But, both his hands were
extremely extremely stable, maintaining the same movement.
Gradually, that dot of light was pulled out entirely from his soul. When he
was done, his originally very corporeal soul body immediately became
transparent, much weaker than before.
Elux’s hands both started the same movement. From his hands, dots of light
gathered into a large ball, and his hands started to trace complicated
symbols, each movement appearing very fast. These complicated symbols
rapidly joined with the golden mass in front of him that fluctuated
constantly in front of these complex symbols, and even trembled.
As one symbol after another was completed, Elux’s soul body became more and
more transparent, and on the last one, he couldn’t help but open his mouth
wide, breathing while looking down toward the coffin.
Immediately, a blackish-gray energy burst out from the coffin, making his
soul body regain substance upon contact. Only, that blackish-gray color
seemed full of evil and malevolence, incompatible with the golden color
right in front.
Bang, bang, bang, bang… A fantastic scene followed. When Elux held his hands
out, facing the lumpy golden object toward Long Haochen, it made sounds
similar to heartbeats, and drifted slowly toward Haochen.
“This is the heart I have reconstructed for you. Your flesh will be able to
regain its functions and assimilate its power. It will become your strongest
spiritual cavity in the future, as well as the source of your whole
power. I called it Heart of Eternity, and if I may say, that’s the greatest
masterpiece of my whole life.”
At this point, Elux’s couldn’t help but gasp in self-admiration. Visibly, he
was very proud of having made this Heart of Eternity.
“I know that you must loathe me, and loathe my power. Although you cannot
reject this present of mine since you want to liveto be together with
Cai’eryou feel some reluctance because you believe that your holy heart will
inevitably be affected by this present, am I right?”
Long Haochen didn’t mutter a word, silently approving Elux’s declaration.
Indeed, for the sake of living, he could accept receiving everything before
his eyes, even if it meant going against his against his holy beliefs
without scruples. For Cai’er’s sake, he was willing to renounce all he had,
but he knew that really accepting Elux’s power, even if it’s just the power
extracted from his body, would surely impede Long Haochen’s future, and
greatly affect his future cultivation.
Elux declared calmly, “Right, because of these issues, I must make some
things clear to you before you receive the Heart of Eternity. You can loathe
me and reject my everything, but you cannot reject light. You are the Scion
of Light, to whom the power of light is more fitting than it would be to
anyone else. You saw what I just did: I gave Cai’er the purest death energy
I have been condensing over thousand years, which is a very small part of my
original power. But it prevails in its purity, as it doesn’t contain any
other superfluous existence, making it only advantageous to Cai’er, and
won’t leave any brand which is specific to me.
“I did the same when condensing this Heart of Eternity for you. I extracted
all the light essence to turn it into holy power of the purest kind. Do you
know what I have stripped and peeled from my very soul? It is my brand as a
former Scion of Light. In other words, I am not giving you my power, but the
power of the previous Scion of Light. You may understand it as receiving
holy light and flesh of the purest kind from before the time I have become
corrupted.
“As you have seen, after these two powers were stripped from me, all I have
left is the power of death, as well as all the negative energies. These are
all classified as corruption, my corruption as well as light’s corruption.
The guilt is all mine and not light’s. Go now, you are the most fitting host
for my Heart of Eternity.”
While saying that, Elux’s eyes flashed in the light as that ball of light
suddenly broke into the space in thespace in the middle of Haochen’s heart.
He felt an incomparable surge of heat travelling into all his limbs and
causing him to unconsciously sit crosslegged on the ground. His whole body
turned golden, and he lost even the capability to think.
Placing his ardent gaze onto Long Haochen, Elux stared at him for a whole
ten minutes before gradually loosening his breath. With a little smile on
his face, he declared, “I am still the Holy Necromancer, Slumbering Calamity
Elux. No one in this world is more knowledgeable than me regarding death and
life. My Heart of Eternity was a success, and in some sense, the past me
before corruption will continue to live inside Long Haochen. Maybe this was
the best choice I could do. I will be a little part of all the future
contributions he will make for humanity in the future. I hope this will
serve as a little redemption for all my previous sins.
“Cai’er, are you satisfied with how I handled things?” Elux shifted his
sight toward Cai’er after making sure that Long Haochen was correctly
starting to integrate the Heart of Eternity.
Cai’er bowed to him, “Thank you very much for everything, Senior.” She was
not the same as Long Haochen, as she didn’t have as pronounced of a
disposition towards good. She only knew that this was previously a human
sinner, who just saved her own lover. She only felt filled with
gratefulness.
Elux smiled at her, “Although you cannot inherit my necromancy, in the end
you obtained my death energy. I want to leave this world forever, and get
purified by your hand. This is the best destination I could wish for. Since
that time when blame and hatred deceived my sight, I never thought I'd see
the day where I'd be so very happy again. I feel like I have
come back to the days I was the Scion of Light, when my life and soul were
at their peak. Cai’er, are you willing to call me Teacher? ”
Chapter 659
“In the last moments of my life and existence, are you willing to call me
teacher, Cai’er?” When Elux made this request to Cai’er, a tint of sadness
unconsciously appeared on his face.
“Teacher, you...” Cai’er called him that way without a thought. How could
Elux’s story not move Long Haochen and her? Long Haochen was better off,
because although Elux was pitiful, his mistake really made him sin greatly
against humankind. Although Long Haochen also sympathised with him, he would
absolutely not forgive his sins against humanity.
But Cai’er was, after all, a girl who had also suffered painful experiences
during her youth. Her sympathy was much greater than Long Haochen’s, and
right now she only found this formerly unrivalled necromancer really
pitiful, and had no other impression of him than this great sympathy.
“Great, great...” Hearing Cai’er call him teacher, Elux’s feelings were
greatly stirred.
“Good kid. I didn’t act befittingly as your teacher, but hearing you call me
that, my heart finally found some comfort. I, Elux, did a lot of bad deeds
in this life. But in the end, I can feel honored to have a disciple such as
you. Feel relieved, your teacher left you a great gift. After you return to
the human world, no one will ever be able to bully you. So what if Long
Haochen is the Scion of Light? The disciple of the great Elux is in no way
inferior.”
At this point, the pride Elux had as the Holy Necromancer and Slumbering
Calamity seemed to resurface at once. Lifting his right hand, he
lifted it toward Cai’er, immediately absorbing the Sickle of the God of
Death in her hand. That was quite a strange thing, but that powerful Sickle
of the God of Death which is the natural enemy of all undeads was wrapped in
the gray-black force in Elux’s hand, making its purifying power lose all its
effects.
Raising his head, Elux had a cold smile, “This Tower of Eternity can be
called one of my greatest accomplishments. I didn’t expect it to actually
evolve to such an extent after I was asleep for so long. Want to break out
of my control? Don’t look down on me! Cai’er, I am going. Since you called
me your teacher, I am leaving this Tower of Eternity to you. It has already
evolved close to the standard of a supra-divine tool. Its intelligence is
already manifesting. I will eliminate the excessive things in it. From today
onwards, it will be both your weapon and shield. After its superfluous
forces are purified by my hand, your comrades and you can absorb it to your
liking. Don’t let it go to waste. After absorbing these superfluous forces,
you can all leave from this place.”
In the midst of his speech, the Tower of Eternity suddenly trembled
violently, massive fluctuations of spiritual energy bursting out from all
directions, as if struggling to stay alive.
Elux said proudly, “Still struggling? You are indeed my very own creation.
Don’t tell me you think that because you have an intelligence of your own,
you can escape from my control? At the time of your creation, I had already
considered all the future possibilities. To say nothing about your current
state close to a supra-divine tool, even if you had really become a
supra-divine tool, I could destroy you with no effort at all.”
His left hand pointed to the sky, a grayish-black ray was abruptly shot
forth, aimed at the top of the Tower of Eternity. Immediately, the coffin
underneath Elux’s body bubbled up with a dense grayish-black fog scattering
to all directions. The power dispersing from that Tower of Eternity only
kept getting more and more powerful, and the whole Tower of Eternity shook
violently, countless specters letting out sharp shrills.
What Elux was doing was unknown, but the Tower of Eternity seemed to
gradually get weaker and weaker as that gray-black airflow travelled, and
and big expanses of white light started to wander over the stripped space of
the tower. Immediately, the all-present graying black airflow started to
travel from all around to converge toward Elux, and make its way into his
soul. In just a little while, Elux’s soul became pitch-black just like ink.
“Intelligence strip, power strip. Purification!” Elux’s incomparably mighty
voice spread to every floor of the Tower of Eternity.
Countless specters dissolved in the midst of shrieks of terror. The purest
soul force gathered alongside those stripped elemental fluctuations, and the
terrible stripping force entirely deprived these elemental fluctuations of
everything other than pure energy.
As the greyish black airflow became stronger and stronger, a greying black
ring of light appeared all around Elux’s body, and the Tower of Eternity
gradually changed into a pure white color untainted by even the slightest
speck of dust, devoid of any flow.
The intense shaking gradually turned into a lighter shaking before all
movements stopped, and everything seemed to return to tranquility. Large
amounts of white points of light containing fluctuations of spiritual energy
slowly moved rythmically in the air.
Cai’er clearly felt the Tower of Eternity change, calming down in purity. It
seemed that all the negative things, including emotions, disappeared due to
Elux’s stripping. Furthermore, a strange connection created itself in her
heart, reinforcing the link between the Long Haochen portrait shaped Eternal
Melody and the Tower of Eternity.
“After purification, the Tower of Eternity will be a divine tool combining
attack and defense. Although I have stripped a lot of power and intelligence
from it, it is still far more powerful than ordinary divine tools. Through
its connection with the Eternal Melody, it will gradually fuse with your
soul, becoming part of your body. This way, you will have as prolonged a
life expectancy as the one Long Haochen will have thanks to my Heart of
Eternity.”
Cai’er had a complex look. In fact, she didn’t have any dealings with Elux
until the day Long Haochen was slain by the by the Demon God Emperor. Never
did she expect herself to finally inherit the greatest part of Elux’s power.
Although Elux’s necromancy was finally not imparted to her, the massive
death energy stored in the Eternal Melody as well as the Tower of Eternity
were both the best tools of Elux’s cultivation. Thinking back about the
lonesome life he had, Cai’er’s eyes became moist as a natural reaction.
Kneeling toward Elux, she called out once again, “Teacher!”
Elux smiled in great joy. That was a sincere joy, as he brightly declared,
“If there is a next life, I don’t want to be the Scion of Light again. I
just want to be an all the more ordinary human, and find a girl I can love
whole-heartedly, marry her, have children, and live a peaceful life
together. I have had a glorious period, but also a corrupted period. From
the next instant on, all of this will turn into nothingness. Good bye,
child. Take good care of your beloved one, your teacher wishes you the
best.”
Saying this, he suddenly flipped the Sickle of the God of Death in his hand,
using the immense blade toward that terrible soul force forming myriads of
white glows. This purifying force even exceeded the power of Cai’er’s seven
arts of the God of Death. The blade slashed on a straight line, cutting into
him and through the coffin underneath as well.
Plop.
A terrible light of purification dispersed the dense soul force forming
Elux’s body, and turned it into an unparallelled brilliant shine.
Ear-piercing tinkling sounds occurred as something seemed to take place
inside the Sickle of the God of Death.
Elux’s proud voice reverberated, “So what, God of Death? In the midst of
getting purified, I have just broken your seal, now let’s see how you will
inflict backlashes to my disciple? If I wanted it, I would already long
since be a god.”
“Holding all… lives… Plucking all stars, the world… Without someone… like
me… Hahahaha… Haha...”
All the darkness and filth gradually dissipatedfilth gradually dissipated
under that pure light of purification, and only the proud voice of Elux
remained, reverberating through the seventh floor of the Tower of Eternity.
Holding all lives, Plucking all stars, the world without someone like me…
What a proud, conceited, yet… sorrowful person.
The former Scion of Light and former calamity bringer for humankind, Holy
Necromancer Elux, died. But in this eternal departure from this world, he
had in the end someone to pay his last respects for him.
Cai’er stayed kneeling on the ground, already brimming with tears.
Women are more sentimental than men. The current Cai’er had totally
forgotten that this disappearing man was the terrible necromancer lord who
inflicted a fatal blow to humankind. All she knew was that he was already
dead, a proud ancestor who did everything to rescue her man by
reconstructing a heart for Long Haochen, for the two of them to be able to
stay together. No matter what Elux had done in the past, right now Cai’er
felt grieved over the scattering of his soul. Elux had a rough and unlucky
life, but he was especially happy at the time of his return to his origin.
In the end, he had a person to grieve over his death. This incredibly simple
matter was really precious in his eyes.
The process of purification lasted for a whole half-hour, the whole space
gradually settling down as the white colored dots formed of incomparably
pure energy drifted away.
With a light Ding sound,the Sickle of the God of Death landed onto the
ground quietly, awaking Cai’er from her emotions. Unconsciously, she strode
forward and caught the weapon.
Not only Elux’s soul had disappeared, but also that pure-gold colored coffin
from earlier, which didn’t even leave the slightest aura.
When Cai’er held the Sickle of the God of Death in her hand, a fantastic
feeling travelled through her whole body. She felt as if she had gained
something more in her life, this fabulous change being brought by the Sickle
of the God of Death.
Chapter 660
That was a feeling of great closeness, as if this Tower of Eternity was part
of her body.
The divine tool was recognizing its master. Cai’er immediately made this
accurate judgement because the same situation had arisen once in the past,
when she had integrated the Dagger of Samsara for the first time. But at
that time, the Dagger of Samsara was far more tyrannical, far from being so
gentle.
Elux truly deserved to be called a genius among geniuses, someone who
single-handedly rebelled against all the terrifying powerhouses in the whole
human continent. Just by using the connection between the Sickle of the God
of Death and Cai’er, he managed to make the Tower of Eternity accept Cai’er
as its master. From this could be well imagined how powerful Elux was in his
living days; maybe even the Demon God Emperor was below him.
The Sickle of the Goddess of Death seemed to gain a great change with Elux’s
purification. Its previously pitch-black main body was surrounded by a white
illumination with a bluish and purplish gloss, giving it a less tyrannical,
more fantastic and proud look.
Holding the Sickle of the God of Death, Cai’er stood speechless and
motionless for a while. Within her heart echoed Elux’s story and that
overbearingly haughty side of him at the time of his death.
“Teacher…” Cai’er murmured this reminiscing word, and the next instant, she
shifted her sight toward the cross-legged Long Haochen who
had entered a state of deep meditation since long ago.
A thin bright light spread out from Long Haochen’s chest, spreading to every
corner of his body before dispersing slowly. His whole body was soaked in
the state of cultivation.
The energy of life stabilized his whole body without a doubt: Elux’s
intervention had thoroughly revived him. The miracle made by the so-called
necromancer was really astonishing to see.
Not sitting next to Long Haochen immediately, Cai’er shifted her thoughts,
immediately returning to the sixth floor of the Tower of Eternity. As the
master of this place, she was able to travel to any part of the Tower of
Eternity at will.
Shocked to no end by the surrounding changes, everyone from Bright Glimmer
of Hope could hardly keep waiting. The white light was of pure energy, but
this was the Tower of Eternity! Without knowing exactly what that was in
front of them, they didn’t dare take the risk to absorb it. Moreover, the
most important in their eyes was Long Haochen and Cai’er’s safety. Without
being certain of their life or death, how could they cultivate with a
peaceful heart?
“Cai’er!”
Cai’er appeared suddenly, a nice surprise which caused everyone’s cheers.
Wang Yuanyuan was the first to rush to her, holding her in her arms
immediately, and the others gathered around, with Chen Ying’er also holding
Cai’er while crying very loudly and bitterly.
The scene of Cai’er’s climb through the stairs to the sky had left them with
an excessively deep trauma, going beyond simple emotions. They would never
forget the scene of her blood falling throughout this whole journey to the
sky, to say nothing about Cai’er’s long skirt fully soaked in blood.
Held by Wang Yuanyuan and Chen Ying’er, and feeling the warm concerned looks
of her comrades, Cai’er had already lost her original ice
coldness and said in a cool voice, “I am all right. Sorry, I made everyone
worry.”
Lin Xin asked eagerly, “How about Captain?” They all noticed that Long
Haochen was not on her back anymore.
Cai’er replied with a smile, “He is alright.”
These words made everyone look blank for a few seconds, before cheers filled
up the sixth floor of the Tower of Eternity immediately.
They had expected Long Haochen to be safe when they saw just Cai’er
return, otherwise there’s no
way she would
look so relaxed; furthermore, she was not bringing
back Long Haochen’s “corpse.” Yet, hearing personally from her mouth that
Long Haochen was already safe, their repressed feelings gushed out like a
terrible volcano.
This group of humans from the young generation were all proud talents, but
they looked right right now beaming in joy. Their captain was actually
miraculously resurrected, giving a new soul to their Bright Glimmer of Hope.
Their moral pillar and best brother was back!
Cai’er’s tears flowed beyond her control, “Thank you, thank you all. Having
such brothers and sisters is the greatest joy Haochen and I could have.”
Chen Ying’er had a laughing while crying expression as she responded,
“Cai’er, you are mistaken. We are a whole, don’t just exclude us! Waa, so
great, that’s really great!”
Sima Xian gathered up Lin Xin closer by the neck, telling Cai’er curiously,
“Quickly tell us just how he was resurrected. So it’s really possible to
resurrect someone. This necromancy is really miraculous!”
Cai’er wanted of course to share the process of Long Haochen’s resurrection
with her companions, so she recounted all the details of what happened
afterwards.
Hearing about Elux’s tragic encounters, they gradually calmed down from
their high spirits. The experiences this Holy Necromancer Elux went through
were really too miserable. Unconsciously, feelings of sympathy rose in their
hearts.
Cai’er let out a light sigh as she said, “Teacher finally came to himself,
and purified himself as a whole, as well as all the evil things in him. No
matter what, he will remain my teacher forever. This pure energy left in the
Tower of Eternity came from the purification of the intelligent parts of the
tower. It’s all pure energy, take it in everyone. Let’s temporarily make a
stop here, until we turn all this energy into spiritual energy of our own.
The energy from the process of weakening a supra divine tool should help
everyone’s cultivation progress greatly.”
The surprise attack against the Star Demon God in Modu had failed, and
moreover nearly caused them to lose their captain. By coming here, they
experienced countless challenges to finally manage to resurrect Long
Haochen, and in the end, an opportunity to progress had come.
Cai’er waved a hand flashing in the white light, and the next instant, the
whole group reappeared in the seventh floor of the Tower of Eternity, which
was its core. its core. All the energy could be transferred here, and
moreover, that way Cai’er could make everyone witness the results of Long
Haochen’s resurrection.
When everyone saw the crosslegged and calmly cultivating Long Haochen, they
couldn’t help but cry out in joy, breaking into tears. Bright Glimmer of
Hope was finally reconstituted!
They all surrounded the crosslegged Long Haochen, regained their calm with
great difficulty, and started cultivating.
Right at the start of meditation, everyone was shocked deeply. Those soft
looking white dots of light were absorbed in their bodies and immediately
caused great changes. The pure energy underwent assimilation by the body, no
matter which attribute of spiritual energy, and was absorbed in a very short
time. There was no need to even eliminate any impurity, and the
group’s spiritual energies progressed at astonishing speeds during this
process of absorption.
Cai’er’s process was different to some extent. She absorbed not only the
pure energy in the Tower of Eternity, but also the death energy left by Elux
inside the Eternal Melody.
The God of Death could also be called a god of purification. Its power came
from purifying spirits, and in this world, there could be said to be no
other specter more powerful than Elux. His use of the Sickle of the God of
Death to purify himself actually caused the weapon to evolve.
But the Sickle of the God of Death joined with Cai’er, and after absorbing
it, Cai’er immediately gained its support right after starting to cultivate.
A massive purifying force rushed forth in Cai’er, converging into her
spiritual energy and absorbing the death energy inside the Eternal Melody as
well as the purified energy of the Tower of Eternity. In a mere split
second, Cai’er’s internal spiritual energy was promoted to the peak of the
seventh step.
Cai’er’s experience already being plentiful, and her accumulation sufficient
since long ago, she did not have to do anything for a spiritual cavity to
appear in her arms and thighs after the three spiritual stoves in her chest,
forehead, and abdomenforehead, and abdomen were completely filled up, making
her spiritual cavities directly rise to the number of seven. The massive
spiritual energy she had yet to absorb flocked in at an astonishing speed,
filling up her two brand new spiritual cavities. That instant onward, Cai’er
formally rose to the eighth step.
Although the speed of the others’ progress was not as fast as Cai’er’s, it
was astonishing enough compared to the speed under ordinary circumstances.
Every time the spiritual energy was operated, it rose by itself. This really
filled them up with great excitement. Everyone knew that this could be their
chance of a lifetime, and naturally put all their energy into it. Especially
Duan Yi and Yang Wenzhao, who, well aware of the gap separating the rest of
Bright Glimmer of Hope from them, went to cultivating with their utmost. In
a moment, the Tower of Eternity became completely calm.
Right because of this calm, everyone focused entirely on cultivating, and no
one noticed the fantastic changes underway in Long Haochen.
The Heart of Eternity entered his body, taking the spot of Long Haochen’s
heart, and a massive light essence softly entered his heart and underwent a
process of gathering.
When Long Haochen’s heart was crushed by the Demon God Emperor, the core
spiritual cavity on his chest was actually smashed to pieces. Right now,
even if he came back to life, all his cultivation could be said to need a
restart.
After the Heart of Eternity was poured in, it immediately became a joining
point between all the other spiritual cavities. The massive light essence
spreading outside very rapidly linked up with the other spiritual cavities,
and when they all connected, the light essence flowed smoothly through Long
Haochen’s body, restoring his original cultivation.
This process of recovery was undergone very fast, and was already over by
the time Cai’er had recounted what they had experienced. When Long Haochen’s
spiritual energy was back to the level of the eighth step, a formidable
change started to occur in his body.