Chapter 5: Xuanyuan Jiantian (3)
Although he knew the truth, Xuanyuan Jiantian did not divulge it to Qianye Ying'er under any circumstance. He decided to keep it a secret until she was truly strong enough to act upon it, instead of him taking revenge for her. After her mother died, Qianye Ying'er's affection went to her kind, charismatic and all-mighty mentor, who became somewhat of a second father. Other feelings developed too as Xuanyuan Jiantian was truly a specimen to behold.
As the years passed, her divine beauty truly began to emerge but Xuanyuan Jiantian remained focused on the task at hand. In the end, his heart only had space for one woman... the only one he ever truly loved. That heart was broken ever since Jun Zhi breathed his last breaths. For that very reason, he never grew attached in that manner. Yet, Qianye Ying'er was still precious to him.
She was simply so cute... he could never let a lowly lecher get within five meters of her. One time, Nan Wansheng, the Southern Sea God Emperor was acting out of hand... and so, Xuanyuan Jiantian brought him 'outside' for a little talk. A few minutes after, Nan Wansheng returned to make preparations for a swift leave with a purple eye and broken arms. The next time he returned to the Brahma Monarch God Realm, Nan Wansheng acted like a humble dog whenever he was near Xuanyuan Jiantian or Qianye Ying'er, for that matter.
Once she broke through to the Divine Master Realm, Xuanyuan Jiantian had his first expedition of the God Realm of Absolute Beginning. Together, they thoroughly explored and Qianye Ying'er was finally enlightened to her Master's true strength. No matter what dangers they encountered, he cut through them all like a hot knife against butter. On the other hand, his peerless formation made sure that not a single thing in the Realm could even touch a lock of her hair.
After some time, it was their luck to discover a secret realm. After further observation, they found out that the very powerful barrier in front of them protected a piece of the World-Defying Heaven Manual.
"Master, that barrier might be too dangerous... even for you."
"Hahahaha..." Xuanyuan Jiantian couldn't help but laugh. "This barrier?"
He drew his sword and shrouded it in his navy-blue lightning. Then, with one slash, he shattered the barrier into thousands of pieces.
"Not an issue."
There was only one beast he struggled with and that was a mighty violet dragon who could call upon lightning formidable enough to torch an entire planet. Needless to say, he drew some blood to put it down and was forced to go beyond Primal Chaos' 'limiter'. Then, once defeated, it actually became submissive to Xuanyuan Jiantian. He managed to tame a peak Divine Master dragon from the God Realm of Absolute Beginning... truly, Xuanyuan Jiantian was powerful enough to look down on the rest of Primal Chaos.
Though, from the experience, he realised that using his full power would unsettle all of Primal Chaos and cause it to break down so he decided to keep it down.
Once their expedition ended, they sat down to read the piece of the World-Defying Heaven Manual they had attained. Consequently, this led to him remembering that he had gained something very similar earlier on Blue Pole Star. Taking it out, he realised that he had not one but two parts of the World-Defying Heaven Manual.
Putting them together, they tried their best to decipher it. But... without the last part, all they could find were some words. Namely, the 'Nine Profound Exquisite Body'. Now, although reaching the True God Realm wasn't originally his life-long goal, he actually started to strive for it when he saw how adamant his disciple was.
Two hundred years later, a grand-scale war between the God Realm and the Devil Region broke out as the yin energy in the Northern Divine Region suddenly shrank severely. Naturally, the experts of the God Realm flew over to expand their territory and slaughter all of the devils who remained.
Towards the beginning of the conflict, Xuanyuan Jiantian and the Dragon Monarch easily subdued the three god-emperors of the Northern Divine Region and sent them retreating with their tails between their legs. Despite never fighting together before, they seemed to have pretty good chemistry.
Then...
Xuanyuan Jiantian stood over the battlefield, watching helpless devils fall under the vicious attacks of countless powerful 'crusaders'. Their justification for killing them was simply because they were influenced by the darkness profound energy in the Northern Divine Region, making them irredeemable devils.
Yet... as Xuanyuan Jiantian watched, all he saw was humans killing other humans in a needless conflict. As a matter of fact, it was the 'righteous' experts from the God Realm who seemed to be the true devils.
A child running away from his parent's murderer...
'Is this what these people believe is righteous... is this their so-called justice? And why am I, the strongest person in this World standing by...? Damn it!'
"DIE, YOU FILTHY DEVIL-"
Clang.
"Sword God Xuanyuan!?" The Divine Master expert's eyes widened in shock as he realised who had disarmed him with one simple wave of his sword intent. "What are you doing? Ah... I see, you wish to kill the devil yourself, don't you? Well, go on right ahead, I will not stop you."
"You disgust me." Xuanyuan Jiantian kicked him away before turning to the 'devil' child. "Poor child, you did not deserve this fate."
"Are you not going to kill me...?"
"No, I'm going to protect you." He smiled. "Protect the weak... isn't that what righteous Gods do?"
"Sword God Xuanyuan! Explain yourself now!!!" The Divine Master expert got back up on his feet.
Xuanyuan Jiantian ascended to the sky and projected his tyrannical voice far and wide.
"YOU SHALL ALL CEASE THIS POINTLESS CONFLICT AT ONCE!"
"ANY WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH, WHETHER FROM THE SOUTHERN HALF OF PRIMAL CHAOS OR THE NORTHERN DIVINE REGION, WHO DISOBEYS MY DIVINE COMMAND SHALL FACE THE RAGING WRATH OF THE SWORD GOD XUANYUAN JIANTIAN!!!"
"Has the Sword God gone mad?" A Divine Sovereign from the God Realm questioned the order.
"You'd have to be even more insane to disobey him... I'd rather not get involved in that."
"Sword God Xuanyuan!" The Dragon Monarch approached, supported by several God-Emperors including Qianye Fantian. "Defending devils... is that what you've come to? What can you possibly hope to accomplish by doing that??"
"If this is another one of your jokes, I suggest you stop the act before..."
"BEFORE WHAT?" Xuanyuan Jiantian interrupted, laughing at the attempt of threatening him. "Listen here, Dragon Monarch and all those who disapprove of my actions!"
"I, Sword God Xuanyuan Jiantian, cannot standby and watch the needless slaughter of innocents, whether they are 'devils' or 'gods'!"
"So you are serious..." Zhou Xuzi sighed. "To think that you, the Eastern Divine Region's greatest prodigy in nine hundred thousand years, would one day defend the devils of the Northern Divine Region! It is a great shame..."
Xuanyuan Jiantian sighed as he watched every so-called 'god' of the God Realm prepare to turn against him. Every last one of them more or less revered his strength before... but now they cursed it. Why? Because he stood for what he believed was right.
Yet, as the strongest person in the Primal Chaos Dimension, Xuanyuan Jiantian was not fazed in the slightest. In truth, he looked down on everyone who intended to confront him.
"Well, then. I can't say it won't be thrilling to beat the life out of every God-Emperor here!!" He chuckled, landing on the ground.
"Master!" Qianye Ying'er flew to his side before he could charge in. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because... why not?" He smirked, the light in his azure eyes burning with passion. "This world... the strong decide everything, isn't that right? Then, as the strongest..."
Pushing aside Qianye Ying'er and sealing her within a formation, Xuanyuan Jiantian kept moving forward.
"I have the divine right to reforge all of Primal Chaos in my vision!!"
After one menacing roar, Xuanyuan Jiantian increased his pace and appeared right in front of the Dragon Monarch. Without further ado, drawing his sword, he started to cut apart the Dragon Monarch. This dazed the mighty Long Bai, allowing Xuanyuan Jiantian to continue landing blow after blow on his body. Even the Dragon Monarch's extremely durable body could only last so long when faced with a barrage of Xuanyuan Jiantian's soul-piercing sword strikes.
"Support the Dragon Monarch at once!!"
Several peak Divine Master beings appeared to stop his onslaught on the Dragon Monarch, launching countless 'mighty' profound skills in his direction. With a wave of his hand, Xuanyuan Jiantian formed a formation with a hundred heavily fortified layers to defend himself.
In the end, only twenty layers had been broken through despite the best efforts of every Divine Master present. Even after a whole minute... they could not even come close to making Xuanyuan Jiantian bleed.
He couldn't help but laugh.
"This... is quite embarrassing for you lot."
He raised his arm and absorbed the entire formation, along with the residue profound energy released by the God Realm's Divine Masters. Feeling energised, Xuanyuan Jiantian almost danced mid-air like a boxer would on the ground.
"My turn."
BOOM. CLANG. SLASH. BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Within moments of charging in, countless Divine Masters had been beaten senseless as Xuanyuan Jiantian displayed his endless arsenal of UNARMED profound skills. Yes... he did not use a single element or weapon except for... his own body (which, mind you, was quite a deadly weapon). This display of strength shocked every person to their very core. (< And that's an understatement!)
How could a single man be THAT much more powerful than everyone else?
After only three minutes, every peak Divine Master who resisted Xuanyuan Jiantian was on the floor and heavily injured. Even the mighty Dragons of the Western Divine Region... they could not even hope to measure up to him. The rest... well, they were scared shitless.
"WHO WANTS MORE OF THESE HANDS?"
He triumphantly roared.
Naturally, no one else dared defy him.
"NOW THEN. ALL GOD REALM PERSONNEL BEGONE TO YOUR RESPECTIVE REGIONS! YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE BEFORE I START KICKING YOU ALL BACK MYSELF!"
"What's got into him..." Long Bai cursed in his mind. 'Not that I can do anything... I am helpless against him. Never mind the others. So... this is the true strength of the Sword God...'
And so, all those who came to crusade against the Northern Divine Region's devils retreated to the God Realm. This left Xuanyuan Jiantian standing alone with the trillions of devils he had saved across many star realms. It was... a little awkward, to say the least.
The hatred between these people was quite mutual but Xuanyuan Jiantian had saved them from certain death. Along with that, he was a person that absolutely could not be offended. So, even the most hateful of devils had to grit their teeth and accept him... in a way.
The fight between the God Realm's rulers and Xuanyuan Jiantian had led to quite the aftermath. Now, Xuanyuan Jiantian was regarded as by far the strongest person in all of Primal Chaos and yet a traitor to the core beliefs of every 'god'. Naturally, the god-emperors of the Northern Divine Region had to meet with the indomitable figure who had 'betrayed' the God Realm to figure out his true intentions.
And so, they invited him to the Yama Realm for a meeting. When Xuanyuan Jiantian descended upon the Yama Imperial District, damn near every pair of eyes insight was stuck on him. His escort to the main hall was the strongest Yama Devil at that time, Yan Wu.
"Welcome to the Yama Realm, mighty Sword God Xuanyuan Jiantian. Or is it the Sword Heretic, as those petty gods would say?"
"Sword Heretic..." Xuanyuan Jiantian laughed at the mention of that title. "I feel like I should've killed a few of those bastards instead of letting them all loose."
"There is no redeeming your relationship with those god-emperors, that is certain. But us devils... well, we'd welcome you in open arms."
"I'm the most dangerous when I have no allies." Xuanyuan Jiantian gave her a veiled threat. "It would be in the best interest of the devils to cooperate with me."
Once he entered the main hall, he noticed that damn near every powerful devil was present. This could either be seen as a great honour or as a threat... though, as his ego had been quite inflated, Xuanyuan Jiantian did not feel threatened in the slightest. Even with the darkness profound energy in the air which suppressed his strength, he was not frightened.
"How did that defeat taste, god-emperors of the Northern Divine Region?" Xuanyuan Jiantian wondered. "I would bet good money that it was very bitter and sour. Yet... I would have every devil present know that I was simply holding back. Even when those foolish god-emperors of the God Realm fought against me... I held back. Why? Because I hate to get my hands dirty with blood."
Yan Tianxiao, God Emperor of the Yama Realm, chuckled. "This is not the Northern Divine Region's border where your powers are unsuppressed. Even you, Sword God Xuanyuan, are not invincible deep in devil territory."
"Is that a challenge!?" Xuanyuan Jiantian drew his sword, alerting every devil present. "This darkness profound energy is invoking my anger... hahaha, forgive me if a few of you lose your heads in the process. But first... I want to know, why did you host this meeting."
"After your acts of defending devil territory, returning to the God Realm as you once were is impossible... as you should know. That being said, I believe it would be most beneficial for you to side with the Northern Divine Region from henceforth. Believe me, it would be beneficial for both sides."
"I did not come all this way to be the lapdog of inferior beings." Xuanyuan Jiantian coldly stated with a sneer. "If you all submit to my will, I will provide the whole Northern Divine Region with my divine protection in turn."
"And if we reject?"
"What's a few hundred of you to me?"
Xuanyuan Jiantian's condescending gaze was enough to anger even the most humble and tempered of men, let alone a devil god-emperor that was prone to rage. Though, he handled it well with a laugh.
"Only if you can manage to defeat and subdue all Three Yamma Ancestors in the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness, would I acknowledge you as my Master!"
'Those bastards are said to be invincible... no?'
Xuanyuan Jiantian frowned at the challenge.
"If we are inferior beings as you said, this should be a simple task for the mighty Sword God Xuanyuan Jiantian, no?" Fen Daojun, God-Emperor of the Burning Moon Realm, finally spoke. "I, too, would acknowledge you as my Overlord if you managed such a feat!"
"You devils are something else..." Xuanyuan Jiantian laughed.
"You still stand tall and confident, Sword God Xuanyuan. Could it be that you are capable?" Chi Wuyao wondered. The queen of the Northern Divine Region, ruler of the Soul Stealing Realm and the last god-emperor to speak. "If you are, my... I would consider you worthy of my hand-in-marriage."
"Not even worth my time. But your allegiance... well, that is worth something to me." Xuanyuan Jiantian disregarded the offer. "Fine, I'll kill all three of your so-called great and indestructible Yama Ancestors. Lead me to your Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness, Yama God-Emperor."
"I heard the Sword God Xuanyuan had a few screws loose but this... "
"As you wish."
The moment he entered, Xuanyuan Jiantian felt the dense and extreme yin energy of the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness. Apparently, it was the gravesite of most common True Devils... which worked against his favour. Even as a peerless, peak, Divine Master expert, Xuanyuan Jiantian was heavily suppressed to the point of being... beatable.
'Shit, how the fuck am I meant to kill those three bastards in this place...'
"This challenge... is quite laughable." One of the Yama ancestors remarked. "You have entered OUR domain, where you are weakest and we are at our strongest. How can you even hope to win!?"
"Even at my weakest, I am still stronger than all three of you at your very peaks." Xuanyuan Jiantian shrugged.
"Your bluffs will not aide you in this battle, puny Sword God!"
An extremely long battle ensued, where Xuanyuan Jiantian was slowly being overwhelmed by the three Yama Ancestors. No matter how swiftly he managed to cut through them, they would only regenerate... so, eventually, he began to run out of stamina. Meanwhile, the three Yama Ancestors looked just as fresh as when he first confronted them.
'Damn it... if this keeps up, I'll really die to them.'
As he started to fall off, Xuanyuan Jiantian wondered why he was fighting in the first place. There was no one who he truly loved... no one to fight for. Everyone disliked him, from devils to gods... what was even the point?
In the midst of countless negative thoughts that emerged as a result of the darkness profound energy, he finally found one reason to keep fighting.
'Ying'er...'
He remembered her sweet smile, the countless head pats he'd give when she was younger, how determined she was to learn everything he had to teach... and how distraught she was when he 'betrayed' the God Realm. He couldn't imagine how she'd take his death... even if he was reborn, who was to say that she wouldn't take her own life before he could see her again?
"Hahaha... I'm too proud to admit that I can't slay you three." Xuanyuan Jiantian chuckled. "Technically, I've already beaten you three... now all I have to do is subdue you, no?"
"Subdue us? That is a good jo-"
"I, SWORD GOD XUANYUAN JIANTIAN, CALL UPON THIS UNIVERSE'S MIGHTIEST SHIELD; COME FORTH, MIGHTY HEAVENLY SWORD GOD'S DIVINE FORTRESS, AND SAFEGUARD THESE THREE YAMA ANCESTORS FROM ALL HARM!"
"Safeguard? What the hell is he doing!?"
All of the darkness profound energy combined with Xuanyuan Jiantian's own pool of profound energy to chain the three Yama Ancestors into a massive formation. Then, as he was the caster, Xuanyuan Jiantian condensed the formation and took it outside of the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness with him.
"Your lifeforce is tethered to the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness, isn't it? So if I take you outside for long enough... naturally, you will bend to my will in good time."
"You... think this formation can bind us!?"
The Three Yama Ancestors combined their strength and attempted to break through... though, their efforts were futile.
"You think your petty attacks can break through MY greatest formation!? Dream on, you buffoons."
"Yama God-Emperor... the plan was for him to die in the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness but it seems as if he has the upper hand now."
"WE CAN'T LET HIM LIVE!"
As he left the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness, the devils of the Yama Realm cornered him at the exit.
"What's the meaning of this?" Xuanyuan Jiantian questioned. "Are devils sore losers now?"
"The term of the challenge was for you to defeat and subdue the three Yama Ancestors IN the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness."
"You never specified that I couldn't leave the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness, you buffoon. But... if you want to pick a fight with me, then we can fight."
He drained the three Yama Ancestors' profound energy through his formation and prepared for a battle. It looked like both the Yama Realm and Burning Moon Realm's devils did not take too kindly to his method of winning.
But... one of the God-Emperors, surprisingly enough, stood by his side. Chi Wuyao, namely.
"Caging the three great Yama Ancestors like a few dogs is an achievement in itself. If you cannot accept that the Sword God Xuanyuan Jiantian is worthy of ruling the Northern Divine Region, then I'm afraid that you are blind. Or rather... envious of his strength."
"Someone has a brain around here." Xuanyuan Jiantian approvingly nodded.
"You dare protect him!?"
'I absolutely can't hold back... not while suppressed.'
Xuanyuan Jiantian's sword intent exploded as he appeared in front of the Yama God-Emperor. Yet, as he slashed, the God-Emperor blocked his strike.
"The classic Sword God finishing strike... but this isn't the Realm of the Gods!"
"If I wasn't suppressed, you'd be dead by now."
BOOM.
With one swing of his sword, the Yama God Emperor was sent flying into the sky. Just as he regained his footing, a dozen luminous swords pierced his body. Meanwhile, in the Devil Palace of Eternal Darkness, a slaughter ensued. Led by Xuanyuan Jiantian, the forces of the Soul Stealing Realm began to cut through the rest of the devils.
The last opposing devil God Emperor Fen Daojun simply couldn't withstand Xuanyuan Jiantian's superior fighting ability, submitting once he realised this truth.
This conflict ended with Xuanyuan Jiantian becoming the supreme sovereign of the Northern Divine Region, giving him the title 'Devil Master Emperor Xuanyuan'. With the death of the Yama God-Emperor and submission of the Yama Ancestors, Xuanyuan Jiantian also gained direct control of the Yama Realm and named it his capital. Despite being a devil in all but body, he absolutely refused to become one as he did not wish to be influenced by any legacy or negative energy.
This news shocked the God Realm. Once its top powerhouse along with the Dragon Monarch, now the Sword God Xuanyuan Jiantian has turned to the devils and become their ruler. What's more... he spoke of peace!
Peace between the God Realm and Northern Divine Region... was such a thing even possible?
Although peace was not so easily achieved, a cease-fire certainly was. No one dared to face Xuanyuan Jiantian, after all. Because of his non-devil status, he managed to sway the god-emperors of the God Realm to his side... with his charms and words or well, by force (beating up the same people thousands of times over... cough). Within only a hundred years, he had achieved somewhat sustainable peace.
At the age of 1600, he felt his body go through a dramatic change.
'God of Samsara legacy partially awakened... you must die to fully awaken it.'
'Did I awaken my own legacy!?'
'And I have to die... great.'
Xuanyuan Jiantian was not foreign to death but most of his deaths had come as a result of old age. As a peak Divine Master, his lifespan was vastly longer than in any of his other lives. To be precise, twenty-five times longer... if not more using medicine! In the wider picture, he was just a little baby (having only lived 3.6% of his 50,000-year lifespan)!
Making preparations for his death, he left countless star realms with traces of his power (especially the Shadow Sun Star Realm and border realms of the Northern Divine Region). Afterwards, he sealed away the Evil Infant's Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, the Eternal Heaven Pearl (which he'd kindly 'traded' for) and countless divine resources within the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region's very core, his divine sanctuary. While he was at it, he also fortified the formation that mimicked him to have the power to best even the Dragon Monarch.
'Sword Master Xuanyuan Wentian... my nephew, do not fail me.'
...
He sat in his chamber in the Brahma Monarch God Realm, accompanied by his disciple.
"Ying'er... I'm glad that out of everyone, you believed in me most."
"I knew that my Master would never succumb to becoming a devil person..."
"Heh... it would've made convincing these Southerners all that much harder, even if I was stronger." Xuanyuan Jiantian drew his primary sword, a tyrannical cross-guard forged from the core of a mighty peak Divine Master beast. "You know, you've grown into a beauty comparable to the Devil Queen of the Northern Divine Region.-"
"Master! You can't say things like that..."
He chucked when he saw Qianye Ying'er blush and look away.
"Maybe... in my next life, I'll be more honest."
Her golden eyes widened as he embraced her wholeheartedly. With a few tears falling from his eyes, he finally managed to say what he wanted to say.
"I'll return someday... I swear it. But, until then, you'll have to stand strong for me..."
Slowly, he faded into beautiful azure particles, leaving behind almost everything. Qianye Ying'er stood in silence as she absorbed some of his memories as Xuanyuan Jiantian and his partially awakened 'God of Samsara' divine legacy he had intentionally left behind.
The Abyss of Nothingness.
Within several jumps, Xuanyuan Jiantian teleported to the Abyss of Nothingness and stood right before it, sweating profusely.
'Well, I suppose that this is the only thing that can kill me other than myself. Still, this technically counts as suicide... right?'
He took a deep breath and wondered if this was the right decision. There were still so many laws he had yet to learn because they were 'locked'... laws that could very well push him past the Divine Master Realm and into the True God Realm. In the end, it was only logical for him to die in order to progress even further.
'Goodbye cruel yet beautiful world...'
He closed his eyes and descended straight into the Abyss of Nothingness.
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