Hope

Wei Donghai had searched for the sun for years to no avail. He could only watch helplessly as all living things withered away. This was due to his limited abilities, and he had long felt guilty in his heart. Seeing such a tragic scene today, however, was absolutely unbearable!

Even if those black shadows emitted a terrifying aura and he could hardly match them now, even if it meant fighting to the death, he absolutely could not sit back and watch his fellow kin be slaughtered!

Embracing the resolve to fight to the death, Wei Donghai landed in the city and thrust his sword straight at the black shadow before him.

Unexpectedly.

With just a single slash of his sword, that entity with the powerful aura was actually cleaved in half on the spot!

Crack!

The crisp sound stunned Wei Donghai and also shocked the surrounding black shadows into looking back!

Wei Donghai's face was filled with shock and doubt. He never expected that with his regressed cultivation base, he could still possess such sword intent, able to obliterate even this kind of powerful black shadow with a single strike.

Staring blankly at the longsword in his hand, he finally remembered something, and a look of pleasant surprise burst forth in his eyes.

This sword...

The sword Brother Yi gifted me that day is actually this incredible!

Suddenly discovering that the power of the longsword in his hand far exceeded his previous understanding, Wei Donghai was overjoyed. His battle intent surged, and he charged into the black shadows with his sword.

For a time, sword light flickered, actually illuminating the dim surroundings several times over. Wherever the sword light passed, there was nothing but severed limbs and broken arms.

As he swung his longsword, Wei Donghai grew more and more confident with every kill, single-handedly slaughtering this entire group of black shadows!

A full several breaths of time passed.

The cultivators who had luckily survived expressed their endless gratitude, and Wei Donghai also fiercely let out a breath of pent-up frustration!

But when he looked back at the black shadows scattered all over the ground, their lingering terrifying aura still struck fear in his heart. The solitary courage from just a moment ago receded, and a wave of lingering fear quietly crept in.

If he did not have this divine sword, he feared he would have already perished and his dao erased!

This lucky victory was purely relying on the sharpness of a divine weapon!

After sobering up, various doubts gradually welled up in his mind, making Wei Donghai feel inexplicably panicked, so much so that he could not even bother to respond to the surrounding cultivators.

These black shadows were simply too strong, much stronger than he was even in his prime.

Fortunately, there were only a few of them here at this moment. If a few more came, even with a divine weapon in hand, he feared he would not have enough spiritual energy to support fighting the enemy!

Nowadays, natural disasters ran rampant and all living things were withering. How could such powerful entities suddenly appear?

Thinking of this, his expression became increasingly stern.

This matter is truly bizarre...

On the current Cloud Planet, I am afraid few people can deal with them. If they have other accomplices, it will definitely be a great disaster for Cloud Planet! I must inform my fellow Daoists about this matter!

Weighed down by various shocks and suspicions, Wei Donghai did not dare to stay any longer and hurriedly flew towards his former secluded village!

Not long after.

Upon returning to the mountain village, Wei Donghai saw that his fellow Daoists were already engaged in a bitter struggle, with some even falling in battle on the spot!

Fortunately, his senior brother Zui Wuya also had a divine sword by his side, allowing him to achieve a difficult victory.

A group of old men, heavily exhausted, sat on the ground. After adjusting their breathing for a long time, their expressions were solemn.

Ancient Saint Luo Hongfei looked around at his injured fellow Daoists and asserted in a deep voice on the spot.

Fellow Daoists.

With natural disasters and man-made calamities occurring simultaneously, Cloud Planet is already at a critical moment of life and death. These black shadows are simply too tyrannical and cannot be matched by human strength. We must unite all our forces; perhaps then we can protect all living things on Cloud Planet!

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately drew the agreement of everyone present.

In an instant, all the secluded elders flew off in different directions, their spiritual energy radiating out without reservation, while simultaneously sending out numerous transmission messages, doing their utmost to contact the major factions still surviving on Cloud Planet.

Within a few hours.

All the remaining cultivators of Cloud Planet formed an alliance. The higher-ups gathered in the secluded village. Regardless of their various backgrounds or past grievances, they discarded all enmities at this moment, reaching a unanimous agreement from top to bottom, preparing to rely on the two divine swords to protect Cloud Planet.

However, the reality was even more cruel than they had imagined.

At the time the Cloud Planet Alliance was formed, black shadow creatures continuously began to appear across the major immortal continents. Countless immortal sects and secluded prominent clans were instantly annihilated, completely unable to fight back!

Even other planets far away in the sea of stars suffered the same slaughter.

In just a short three days, from subsidiary planets down to mortal planets, more than half of the planets were slaughtered one after another, thoroughly reduced to dead stars!

The people of Cloud Planet were unaware of all this.

The alliance they formed gathered in the secluded village, occupying the surrounding mountains, rivers, and wastelands, putting up their final resistance!

After yet another battle, tens of thousands of cultivators were dead or injured.

This victory was extremely tragic, yet it brought a slim hope to the vast number of cultivators.

Zui Wuya and Wei Donghai, holding their divine swords, once again turned the tide and boosted the alliance's morale. At the same time, someone discovered that as long as they refined the mutilated corpses of the black shadows, they could obtain sufficient spiritual energy!

Several years after the sun disappeared, the human race finally seemed to have found a forced way out, which was to rely on the might of the divine swords to hunt down the black shadows and obtain spiritual energy to replenish the cultivators' depleted cultivation bases.

Unfortunately, the spiritual energy obtained from refining the black shadows slain by just two divine swords was truly too little. For the entire human race, it was merely a drop in the bucket.

After a brief moment of pleasant surprise, everyone's gaze turned towards the two divine swords.

The enemy is strong and we are weak. I do not know how much longer we can hold on.

No matter the countless hardships and dangers, we cannot give up lightly. Even if we fight to the last person, we must defend Cloud Planet to the death!

Those black shadows are simply too strong. Fighting them results in either death or injury. The spiritual energy obtained from refining their corpses is currently not enough to make ends meet. I am afraid our prospects are grim!

Where did these divine swords come from? Could there be more?

As the quiet discussions came to an end, the mighty figures from all sides looked towards Wei Donghai and Zui Wuya.

The two shook their heads slightly, their eyes revealing regret.

The swords in our hands were gifted by Brother Yi. I am afraid it will be difficult to have any more.

Brother Yi's cultivation base is extraordinarily high. If he were here, we might have a slightly better chance of winning. It is a pity that his whereabouts are elusive; he has always been like a divine dragon whose head is seen but not its tail. Now, no one knows where he has gone.

The spiritual energy on Cloud Planet has withered to this extent, and we cultivators are all struggling to survive. I am afraid that even Brother Yi might have...

As he spoke to the end, his tone became increasingly low.

Everyone present could hear the desolation in his words. The hope in their hearts turned to nothingness, and they could not help but sigh softly.

Sigh...

At this critical juncture of life and death, a small sliver of hope was not enough to fully boost morale. Some people inevitably began to recall past glories and mention certain peerless experts with tyrannical cultivation bases.

If that Master Lu from back then was still around, perhaps we would have a better chance of winning this battle.

Master Lu? The one who comprehended the terrifying Dao of Feces?

That is right! If that senior expert were here, facing these black shadows, perhaps he would have the power to put up a fight!

These words are true! Master Lu's cultivation is profound, and the faction he belongs to, known as the Shadow Isles, is also full of hidden talents. Our human race still has mighty figures and will absolutely not perish just like this!

Speaking to the end, a gleam gradually appeared in everyone's eyes. The small spark of hope began to start a prairie fire, and battle intent was bred once again!

Fellow Daoists, your words make sense. Our human race will never perish!

Even if our cultivation bases are insufficient, as long as we fight to the death to create opportunities for Brother Wei and Brother Zui to slay the black demons with their divine swords, we can refine spiritual energy. As long as we continue to advance wave upon wave and persevere, there will eventually be someone who can recover their cultivation!

This old man is willing to use his flesh and blood to fight for a glimmer of survival for our race's future!

This seat is also duty-bound!

We swear to defend Cloud Planet to the death and will never give up!

As the passionate voices echoed and spread, the cultivators trapped in this desperate situation erupted with the greatest fervor of their lives. The fact that the seemingly frail human race had managed to survive until now was entirely due to this innate tenacity and resolve deep within their bones.

No matter what internal conflicts they once had, at the critical moment of the entire race's survival, someone would always step forward to shoulder the heavy burden and shed their last drop of blood for the greater good of the world. This was the true meaning of the saying that circumstances create heroes.

This was not only the resilient core of humanity, but also the unyielding martial spirit passed down through generations!

Listening to the resounding cheers echoing in his ears, the heavily exhausted Wei Donghai suddenly felt as if his body was surging with newfound strength, experiencing an indescribable boiling of his blood.

Gazing out once more at the pitch-black night sky, he murmured with unwavering determination.

"The human race will absolutely not perish!"

"Shadow Island and Master Lu will never fall to the hands of the Black Demons!"