The Reign of Vaillant

The fierce wind rolled over the western banners, and myriad hues burned through the azure clouds.

Bora raised his eyes. Amid the sea of crimson, countless flashes of spiritual light suddenly appeared. The Dao rhythms of the tribulation realm rang out like bells, completely throwing all the auras in the area into chaos.

There was no sound at the heart of the battle.

The mighty techniques of the various sides collided with one another, annihilating even the sound itself. Only at the outermost edges did their thunderous echoes resound across heaven and earth.

From the very beginning, Bora’s side had been at a disadvantage. As time passed, that disadvantage only grew more pronounced. At first, they had still been able to struggle for a few words, but now Bora could only devote himself entirely to surging through the sea of tribulation cultivators, searching for a path to survival.

Bai Xuanling’s objective was also crystal clear—to strike directly at Bora.

Though the power of faith burned like fire, Bai Xuanling wielded his origin power without the slightest hesitation. Bora exhausted every source of energy he could rely on, yet could only barely exchange wounds for survival.

Countless lights and radiances flowed through the battlefield, but every single strand of light was enough to claim a life.

No tribulation cultivator had come to this battlefield merely to serve as cannon fodder. As for the Mahayana cultivators, they could do little more than endure a few extra blows.

Fangjin crashed down, and his origin power ignited as well. He slammed straight into the Supreme Elder of the Xuanqing Heavenly Sect, who was both undergoing tribulation and maintaining the formation against the enemy, breaking open a sliver of Bora’s path to escape.

But the price was equally obvious.

Fangjin landed inside the great formation, where he had to face the joint assault of five tribulation cultivators alone.

Unless something unexpected happened, his life or death had already been decided.

Bora cast him a glance, then had no energy left to spare another look.

It was not until an aura that could not be ignored erupted behind him, causing the origin power within his body to boil, that he noticed.

It was not until a figure who had become unfamiliar revealed a familiar aura and, gripping a long sword, charged without hesitation toward Chu Xingchen.

Bora looked at Yuanqiong’s thin, gaunt frame and faint origin aura. As he used his trident to block an incoming tribulation cultivator, he whispered in a voice barely audible:

“Don’t blame me. This is the price.”

Only Bora himself could hear those words. In this place, where the collisions of Dao rhythms had nearly shattered space, a voice so faint could no sooner be heard after leaving his lips.

Besides, Bora had never intended for Yuanqiong to hear it.

Elite demon soldiers shot into the sky, then surged toward the center of the tribulation like a flood.

Most of these elite demon soldiers were still too weak. The moment they entered the battlefield, the aftershocks easily swept them away. Yet they continued to pour into the fray like an unstoppable tide, heedless of life or death.

Chu Xingchen glanced sideways at the demon elites blotting out the sky and sun as they charged forward, as well as the comparatively few demon generals who still possessed the strength to fight here.

Such a suicidal assault had no meaning for the battle itself.

With the great war upon them, the Xiao Yun Palace had already abandoned all its previous intentions and joined the battlefield.

The Xuanqing Heavenly Sect, the Tianyan Sect, and the Taidao Sect had also entered the fray.

The Yunmeng Pavilion was already on its way. The Buddhist sect was suppressing the anomaly in Xiniu Hezhou, while numerous other immortal sects had emerged from seclusion and were rushing over to offer aid.

After all, if this great tribulation could be resolved at this very moment, then the reputation of Chu Xingchen, the man born in response to the tribulation, would inevitably remain unimpressive.

It would still be the eighteen immortal sects joining hands to face the heavenly tribulation, rather than Chu Xingchen standing alone in the spotlight.

Naturally, Chu Xingchen did not care about any of this.

If the great tribulation could be quelled just like this, Chu Xingchen would not want to see countless living beings truly suffer and die.

Fame had never been something Chu Xingchen craved.

However, although the demon soldiers who had come to throw away their lives were meaningless to the battle itself, the purpose behind their sacrifice was highly significant.

Chu Xingchen raised his eyes and swept his gaze across the battlefield. He had already spotted many tribulation cultivators from the eighteen immortal sects. Tribulation cultivators were truly as numerous as hemp here. Even Yuanqiong, who was halfway through his charge toward Chu Xingchen, was intercepted by someone else before Chu Xingchen needed to act.

The Xuanqing Heavenly Sect’s supreme treasure—the Primordial Grand Unity Orb of Dao-Setting Yin and Yang—had already been activated by the time Chu Xingchen arrived.

Originally, the various spiritual energies had been tangled together like a disordered skein, but in the presence of the Yin-Yang Orb, they were divided into only two colors: light and turbid.

The power of faith and spiritual power were light, while origin power and blood energy were turbid.

Though the scene before Chu Xingchen’s eyes was still a chaotic blur, like ink splashed across a landscape painting, the light and turbid energies forcibly intertwined and resisted one another beneath the might of the tribulation cultivators. Without the concealment provided by the various Dao rhythms and secret arts, however, he could still catch glimpses of how the two energies circulated.

This was especially true of the demon elites who had come here like cannon fodder to participate in this land of death.

After they were slaughtered, the origin power within them was swept up by the surrounding Dao rhythms. Yet after a brief delay, it still rapidly sank away, flowing toward Hengwang, who was fleeing like a frightened child.

Hengwang always ran toward wherever there were fewer people, frequently hiding behind Heavenly Demons. Whenever the situation turned unfavorable, he would turn tail and flee.

Even when exchanging blows, he generally offered only a perfunctory move before transforming into a cloud of blood mist and rapidly escaping.

So…

Was this their purpose?

Chu Xingchen sent a voice transmission to Bai Xuanling, who was currently suppressing Bora:

“Kill that slippery one below who keeps running. There’s something wrong with him.”

Bai Xuanling did not hesitate. He immediately turned around and flung Qingming from his hand. Boundless sword intent erupted, sweeping directly toward Hengwang, who appeared to have been doing nothing but shirking from the fight.

Mighty pressure shook the heavens. With a single sword, the land was leveled.

Ten thousand swords spun through the air, severing mountains and rivers.

Every strand of Qingming sword intent that flew forward at tremendous speed could, once triggered, split mountains and seas and cleave open deep valleys with a single strike.

The ten thousand swords swept across the battlefield. Hengwang did not even entertain the thought of resisting. His body rapidly transformed into blood mist, slipping through and avoiding several swords.

Seeing this, Bai Xuanling detonated all the swords at once. The Qingming sword intent spread across the earth below.

Azure light suddenly erupted, like a green jade bottle shattering.

Hengwang seemed to have used some unknown technique, transforming his body into a cloud of blood mist. Although Bai Xuanling dispersed most of it, Hengwang still leaped out from within and revealed his figure.

But the next moment, Huang Miao also broke free and pursued Hengwang, who was fleeing for his life.

The Hengwang who had been avoiding battle and doing everything possible to escape was instantly hunted by two fearsome cultivators.

With Bai Xuanling no longer suppressing him, Bora’s movements became noticeably more relaxed.

He watched Hengwang flee in disarray, then shifted his gaze toward Chu Xingchen.

It seemed the time had come sooner than expected.

But Yuanqiong had arrived sooner than expected as well.

Bora exhaled. The power of faith that had surged into the sky instantly contracted and returned, flooding into Bora’s body and expanding his form and battle armor.

The flawless radiance of his authority also began to shine from his heart.

The power of faith that was still burning was completely drawn back in. The flames that had been ignited now began to scorch every inch of Bora’s body, transforming him into a Blazing Asura.

His origin power boiled, causing the flames to burn even more fiercely as they shot into the clouds. The heat was enough to make even tribulation cultivators feel seared.

The surrounding cultivators also spared a glance in his direction.

That was because the aura Bora now emanated seemed to have risen another level.

Bora held his trident and let the radiance of his authority illuminate his body. He raised his hand and pointed the trident directly at Chu Xingchen, then shouted through the medium of his power of faith:

“Chu Xingchen, the outcome has already been decided.”

“Today, I will be the one who wins.”

Chu Xingchen’s eyes remained calm as he gazed at Bora’s wantonly arrogant smile.

The next moment—

Bora’s eyes transformed into pure radiance. The flames of faith around his body instantly went out, and the arrogant smile on his face became utterly tranquil.

If there was ultimately no way to wield the might of his authority steadily,

then he would let that might wield him instead.

As long as he was willing to sacrifice his life, even his life could become a trump card.