Chapter Eighteen: Premature Death

  Bìyún said, his entire body ignited a layer of intense white flames. These flames emitted an astonishing wave of immortal energy fluctuations. The originally dull tortoiseshell once again burst forth with dazzling white light. This white light presented a pale color, and wherever it passed, the air crackled with a sharp sound, not being shattered into true emptiness, but thoroughly dispersing, being annihilated by this white light, completely transforming into nothingness.

  The middle-aged man's face showed a solemn expression for the first time, his body was surrounded by a turbulent aura, like a vast ocean roaring, with dragon chants echoing inside him. Then, he himself let out a thunderous dragon roar, which contained an astonishing spiritual will, sweeping across all directions.

  Boom!

  The vast white fog was instantly dispersed, and the already precarious Great Devouring Soul Array collapsed completely in this dragon's roar. The Wind Tooth Valley reappeared, and two legions of war soldiers rushed in, but their numbers were less than 5,000. Under the annihilation of the Great Devouring Soul Array, many people had thoroughly disappeared, leaving no blood, no bones, not even a soul. There was no longer any trace of them between heaven and earth.

  As the collapse of the Da Sao Hun Array, the figures of Xiao Yi and others also emerged. The Fire River Clan Patriarch breathed rapidly, staring at the figure standing in the void, his white hair dancing wildly, with a look of intense shock in his eyes.

  "Soul Fusion Realm! Indeed, a strong Soul Fusion Realm cultivator of our Human Tribe!"

  Huō Lí Qiān Fū Cháng dào xī yī kǒu liáng qì, dī yǔ dào: "Tā nǎi nai de, róng hún jìng qiáng zhě, nà qǐ bù shì zhàn shī tǒng lǐng, bǐ wàn fū cháng hái yào qiáng dà, zhè shì xuè shí bù luò qǐng lái de ma? Tāmen jú rán néng jié shí lèi yàng de qiáng zhě, zhè tā niáng de hǎo yùn qì."

  In front of the stone stage.

  A middle-aged man let out a dragon roar, and slowly pushed out a fist. This fist was extremely slow, but the purple mang on it almost solidified into existence, vaguely visible a small purple python swimming on it. Even Shi Zhixuan couldn't see through the mystery of this fist, only Biyun could clearly feel the horror of this fist.

  The middle-aged man's fist was as slow as it was fast, and even in Biyun's eyes, it was so fast that it reached the extreme. The purple fist shuttled through the air, producing all sorts of illusory fist shadows.

  "Lock the sky!"

  Finally, the middle-aged man let out a loud roar, his fist glowing with a purple aura, and a massive purple fist print burst forth, spanning an area of over ten square meters. The fist print was crystal clear, with a purple dragon coiled around it. As soon as it appeared, the entire stone platform was transformed into a vacuum world. The purple fist print shot through the void, leaving behind a trail of faint, transparent ripples that spread out and pierced through the vacuum world, transforming into a violent storm. Several stone houses were uprooted and sent flying hundreds of meters away.

  Fist imprint collided with Bai Mang, and a dazzling purple-white light burst out between the two. The light was so intense that even Xiao Yi squinted his eyes, unable to look directly at it, and couldn't see any truth or falsehood.

  His eyes gleamed with a sharp light, his spirit and willpower reaching their peak. He wanted to imprint the essence of this punch, but in an instant, a massive force surged into his spiritual world along with his gaze. He let out a stifled groan, retreating over ten steps in succession, his face pale, a thread of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

  In front of him, the red heavenly horse turned its head and glanced at him, let out a loud snort, and then with a flap of its heavenly wings, it charged into the void.

  Xiao Yi also retreated hastily, accompanied by the burst of purple and white light, a devastating gust of wind spread out, wherever it passed, the earth cracked, mud flew, and was flattened to a depth of several feet, hundreds of meters in diameter, dozens to hundreds of stone houses were reduced to powder, stone buildings collapsed, unable to withstand the destruction of this force.

  It wasn't until after a dozen or so breaths that the brilliant light finally dimmed, Xiao Yi's gaze flickered, and he looked forward to see that in front of him, where the stone platform had originally been, a deep pit over a hundred feet wide and long had suddenly appeared. The middle-aged man was standing in mid-air, but there was no sign of Bi Yun's figure. Under the middle-aged man's punch, nothing was left behind.

  However, at this moment, Xiao Yi's heart tightened, because he could clearly feel that the middle-aged man's figure had a kind of illusory sign. If it was said that it was still indistinguishable before, but now his body was changing between reality and illusion, becoming more and more transparent, as if it would completely dissipate with just one blow of wind.

  "Senior!" Xiao Yi shouted in a low voice.

  A middle-aged man waved his hand, gazing at the distant undulating mountains. A bitter smile spread across his lips: "Life is but a fleeting joy, death but an eternal sorrow. This is my fate, my destination."

  As he spoke, the middle-aged man's body dispersed and transformed into a drizzle of light, disappearing without a trace.

  The Huohe tribe leader and others had a hint of unusual color in their eyes, at this moment, they vaguely understood something, their gaze towards Xiao Yi changed, among which more was focused on the broken gun in his hand. However, at this moment, with the disappearance of the middle-aged man, the Broken Soul Gun in Xiao Yi's hand silently and quietly had several more cracks.

  Xiao Yi felt a stir in his heart, and he could sense that the aura of the middle-aged man within the Duanhun Gun had weakened to an extreme limit, as if it would completely dissipate into nothingness at any moment.

  "It's over." Shi Zhi Xuan sighed.

  A silence fell over Fengya Valley, nothing was left behind, a tribe had completely disappeared, tens of thousands of lives had passed away.

  Only those who have truly experienced war can understand its cruelty. Xiao Yi took a deep breath, such wars will not stop, and he didn't know when it would end.

  Half a day later, all the scattered soldiers in Fengya Valley were gathered together and buried in the tomb of the soldiers at the foot of Fengya Valley. From today on, there is no longer any human voice in Fengya Valley, only a quiet and lonely grave.

  They took a final glance at the Wind Tooth Valley, and the two tribes' armies split into two paths, heading towards their respective territories. They agreed to meet again in three days at the other end of the Pan Lei mountain range for a final battle.

  The next day, the dark green mountain wall came into view, and some of the tribesmen had already come out to greet them. There were old men, children, and women, all looking up with anticipation, their eyes filled with deep worry. They would not stop their loved ones from going to war, for it was the destiny of the warriors of the human tribe, a lifelong honor. But they also hoped that every time they returned covered in blood, the first thing they saw would be the figure of their loved one.

  More than 2,000 soldiers went to war, but less than 2,000 returned. Under the Great Soul Devouring Array, even the bones of our fallen tribesmen were nowhere to be found. Some people brought back a jar of yellow earth as a substitute for their ashes and buried them in the tomb of the soldiers.

  Half an hour later, Xiao Yi walked among the tribes, he saw some people laughing and some crying, this is the distance between life and death, only those who have truly experienced it can understand the pain within.

  Back in the stone temple, Xiao Yi pushed open the stone gate, took a deep breath and stepped inside. He saw that in the corner of the wall, the green stone jars belonging to Shi Gong were piled up, but the medicinal aura within had already faded to almost nothing. It was likely that after another month, there would be no scent left at all.

  The flavor of Shi Gong.

  Nowadays, Xiao Yi is more calm and composed than before. This is something that the great era of technology cannot give him. More than a year has passed, but it feels like a hundred years to Xiao Yi. Every day, he is reminiscing about the past, afraid that one day he will forget the world that once was, afraid that one day he will doubt his own memories, wondering if they were just dreams.

  "In this world, the one thing that cannot be retrieved is life."

  In his mind, a middle-aged man's voice echoed, and Xiao Yi felt a deep sense of fatigue from it, as if all his strength had dissipated.

  "Senior, you... are leaving." After a slight hesitation, Xiao Yi still spoke out.

  A purple light flashed in the Soul-Breaking Gun, and the middle-aged man's figure reappeared in the stone house, but at this moment it seemed like a phantom, somewhat transparent, as if it would disappear into thin air at any time.

  Looking at Xiao Yi, the middle-aged man waved his sleeve and a black tortoiseshell fell into Xiao Yi's hand. Xiao Yi's right hand sank slightly, this tortoiseshell was only the size of a palm, but it weighed fifty kilograms, with strange engravings on its surface.

  "This tortoise shell is not simple, I carefully distinguish it, and it seems to be a non-immortal object. With my human tribe's battle energy, it can also be activated. You'd better keep it well, this tortoise shell seems to be damaged, and in the future, if there is an opportunity, maybe it can show its original appearance again."

  He paused, and the middle-aged man's expression turned solemn. He said seriously: "Those eleven fake soul pellets are the condensed blood and spirit of countless tribes. Once you refine them, you will inherit their legacy. These eleven fake soul pellets are not trivial, you must refine them slowly and cannot be impatient. I can see that your heavenly veins have not fully connected, it seems that what you cultivate is not an ordinary martial art. Ordinary martial arts cannot open up the heavenly veins to such an extent in the Blood Refining Realm. Since you can obtain it, it is your destiny. However, everything has its yin and yang extremes, the path of cultivation is full of obstacles, no one can replace you, and you must grasp it yourself in the future, don't fall into a deviant path."

  "Thank you, senior." Xiao Yi nodded and bowed slightly towards the middle-aged man.

  He shook his head, and the middle-aged man said in a low voice: "Finally going to leave, I originally thought I could help you twice more, but didn't expect this battle to exhaust everything. I still have one legacy, for the Bing Fa Suo Tian Fist, can't bear it being buried with me. However, if you want to get it, you need to go through the Legacy Trial. This is the ancestor's law, if you don't pass, this fist method can't be passed on to you. You decide whether to take the Legacy Trial or not, if you don't pass, you will die."

  Xiao Yi's heart skipped a beat. This trial of inheritance was actually a matter of life and death, unlike being killed by his future self, where he could revive again after dying.

  After a moment of hesitation, Xiao Yi looked at the middle-aged man and said solemnly: "Please proceed with the trial."

  "Good!"

  A middle-aged man let out a light drink, and immediately his right hand swung, a piece of purple awn enveloped him, and the stone house completely lost his and Xiao Yi's figure, leaving only the Duanhun gun quietly suspended in the stone house.