Chapter 486: His Pride Does Not Allow It |
"Chang Geming also admitted defeat?"
On the stone platform, the crowd watched as Chang Geming departed after confronting Taixuan Hong for only a moment, inevitably feeling stunned.
"This..." Zhong Yue couldn't help but say: "Even if this guy admires the other party, shouldn't he at least try? After all, this concerns the selection of the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith."
He was already quite surprised when Su Chen admitted defeat, let alone Chang Geming. Xu Yingshen had played himself to death, but Chang Geming possessed a genuinely formidable physical body.
Du Yunfei shook his head and sighed with emotion: "He's different from us. The Pillar of Longevity has few members; the probability of him succeeding as the Radiant Sun is extremely high."
The others also realized this point and couldn't help but inwardly curse a couple of times.
Someone from the Machine Domain spoke up: "Chang Geming's magnanimity is truly vast, to actually give away the title for nothing."
Although this matter only involved the Five Pillars, everyone knew it definitely couldn't be concealed.
Firstly, because there were simply too many people present, the news was bound to leak out.
The events of today would more or less leak into the Abyssal Domain. Although they would say that Chang Geming admitted defeat without fighting, the reputation of Taixuan Hong sweeping across the Five Pillars would definitely be set in stone.
They would definitely be fiercely mocked as well.
"Chang Ge is still as magnanimous as ever... unwilling to bully others." Xuan Kai sighed with deep emotion.
"Indeed." The crowd echoed one after another, expressing their admiration.
What they cared more about was another point. After all, Chang Geming was already a freak. If he defeated Taixuan Hong, it was feared no one would be able to snatch the selection position of the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith from him.
But now, Chang Geming voluntarily admitted defeat, meaning no one had gained this advantage. For the crowd, this was surprisingly considered good news.
"For this person to be able to grow to such a stage under the withered conditions of the Taixuan House, the hardships he paid are probably hard for ordinary people to understand. He deserves admiration," Tong Zhuo said.
His expression had also softened considerably. After all, everyone had lost, so there was nothing for him to be embarrassed about.
"Heh heh... Hypocrite. Perhaps it's because even using the Longevity Root, he might not necessarily defeat Taixuan Hong, so he's just putting on an act." Only Xu Yingshen had a face full of mockery.
"Patron, please speak a few words less. I see your body is about to collapse soon," Kong Ye advised with a benevolent expression. "It's better to rest and recover first."
"Haha..." Low laughter arose from the surroundings. Although Xu Yingshen was formidable, they were all from the Five Pillars; who was afraid of who?
Xu Yingshen's already gloomy cheeks turned even darker, fury surging in his heart. Is the Chosen of the Radiant Sun really so uniquely blessed by heaven to actually have an aura protecting him?
Let alone their generation, even tracing back dozens of generations, no one had seen a Radiant Sun Elect other than Taixuan Hong.
They naturally didn't understand this kind of person, and much of the information they had was just hearsay.
If he hadn't used the Grand Celestial Nether Shadow earlier, he might have been able to grind him down. But now, the Nether Shadow refined by consuming a massive amount of Nether Realm Creatures had almost completely collapsed.
"But this is fine too. Since no one defeated him, everyone is still on the same starting line. I am set on victory for the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith..." Xu Yingshen's eyes flickered.
As for this Taixuan Hong, everyone knew that even if he defeated all the members of the Five Pillars, the Radiant Moons present couldn't possibly let him leave here.
The blood feud this person carried involved more than half of the Abyssal Void. It wasn't something just anyone could protect him from just because they wanted to.
"Since Chang Geming has also admitted defeat, then this matter..."
Above, Huang Pan frowned. Before he had time to react much, his expression suddenly changed drastically. A dazzling cyan light suddenly bloomed from somewhere in the Great Void Realm below.
The Cyan Light Divine Thunder didn't all erupt in an instant, but bloomed sequentially. Through the distorted domain of the Guixu Abyss, one could clearly see the cyan light erupting one after another in that area.
Cyan-white electric arcs spread across the surface of the Great Void Realm, bringing out a dazzling halo.
In a mere instant, the central area suddenly collapsed, transforming into a profound darkness, disintegrating into fine points of light.
Everything in the surroundings was torn and pulled towards that black hole.
"It's going to collapse, let's go!" Yan Xing's reaction speed was even faster than his, having already withdrawn backwards.
The crowd on the stone platform only felt their vision blur. By the time it cleared again, they were already far away from the Great Void Realm. They could only vaguely see it gradually becoming distorted and unstable, like dough being kneaded by a giant hand, growing smaller and smaller.
The surrounding Nether Mist roared and boiled, being torn away like a swimming dragon.
"This is... it collapsed?" Someone recognized it, their expression terrified. The collapse of the Guixu Abyss was almost one of the most dangerous situations in the Nether Realm.
It was even said that even if one was targeted by an Evil God, they might not necessarily die on the spot, but if they were swept into the collapse of the Guixu Abyss, there was almost zero chance of survival.
"Col... collapsed?" Luo Cheng's heart was bleeding. This was an unexplored Great Void Realm; who knows how many good things were inside.
More crucially, this thing logically belonged to them, but now they could only watch helplessly as it collapsed.
"Sigh..." Yuan Luofan also sighed, feeling resentment towards his treacherous student Zhou Lin. If he hadn't harbored the intention to monopolize it, it wouldn't have ended up in this situation.
Several streaks of light arrived closely behind, manifesting their figures. It was precisely Zhuang Yi, Tang Huai, and the other Radiant Moons. Their expressions varied as they looked at the gradually collapsing Great Void Realm.
"The number of Cyan Light Divine Thunder was insufficient, and they were not detonated simultaneously. Even if he forcefully triggered them earlier, he probably would have found it difficult to drag us down to perish with him." Tang Huai estimated, then shook his head.
Thinking about this now was meaningless. Given the situation at that time, since a solution had already presented itself, who would gamble with their own life?
"Why go this far..." Zhuang Yi sighed. "With his talent, even if he couldn't become the Radiant Sun, he still had a promising future."
Tang Huai shook his head. His burly body was several times taller than the others. "He had already stopped trusting us."
Although he had mentioned methods to strip the status of the Chosen several times, up until today, the Abyss had at most stripped a Radiant Moon Elect. Whether a Radiant Sun Elect could be stripped was still unknown.
"Not only that." Chang Geming suddenly spoke, his voice muffled: "His pride does not allow him to cling to life."
He actually understood Taixuan Hong somewhat. If it were him in that situation, he also wouldn't choose to compromise with enemies of a blood feud.
Without the identity of the Radiant Sun Elect, he would only be a Radiant Moon for the rest of his life. His blood feud would be difficult to avenge. What would be the point of continuing to live?
"Sigh..." Zhuang Yi sighed softly, but his expression turned somewhat serious. "Although Taixuan Hong has perished, we must still accomplish what we promised him."
"No problem." Tang Huai was very straightforward. Because of the Dao Monarch's Edict, no one from High Firmament had laid hands on the Taixuan House for a long time anyway. It was nothing more than cooperating to issue an announcement.
"Qin Guan?" He looked at the Radiant Moon from the Machine Domain beside him.
"No problem." The other party also agreed, then added: "The so-called test subjects of the Machine Domain were just people spreading falsehoods. The body structure of the Taixuan family is no different from anyone else's. Previously, it was nothing more than pursuing the fallen ground of the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith."
"Huang Pan?" Zhuang Yi turned around again.
Huang Pan chuckled, revealing several large yellow teeth. "You from the Longevity Lineage are truly kind-hearted."
Zhuang Yi's expression was indifferent. "That Taixuan Hong was right. This is not out of pity for the Taixuan House, but what he exchanged for by pinning down six Radiant Moons."
"But I don't seem to be among those pinned down." Huang Pan said unhurriedly. "The Taixuan House has quite a large number of Human Stock. If we eradicate them all at once, who will compensate for the losses of our Great Heavens?"
Zhuang Yi's expression didn't change as he said in a deep voice: "Since I promised him, I will facilitate this matter. You didn't voice your disagreement earlier, and now you want to go back on your word?"
"Are you threatening me?" Huang Pan narrowed his eyes.
Chang Geming suddenly said: "Since Martial Uncle Zhuang Yi made a promise on behalf of Longevity, I will also supervise its completion. The Pillar of Longevity will supervise this matter for generations to come."
Huang Pan's eyelids twitched. The Pillar of Longevity had no faction strongholds and no scruples. To be targeted by them over this minor matter was indeed not worth it.
"Forget it. Keeping those Human Stock is useless anyway. If they must be eradicated, then eradicate them." His expression softened as he glossed over the matter.
"Immeasurable?" Zhuang Yi looked at the Immeasurable Buddha again.
"Good, good." The Immeasurable Buddha responded perfunctorily, his gaze unfocused. His mind was entirely not on this matter; there was only one thought in his head: it's over, completely over.
He had mobilized a massive sum of Faith Essence and handed it over to Elder Gou, and now it was all wasted.
The person died right before his eyes, coupled with his previous sins in the Dust Star Sea. When the World-Honored One returned, letting him pass away in meditation would be considered the World-Honored One showing mercy.
If he was refined into lamp oil, he would probably be tortured for a thousand years. Thinking of this made him shudder in fear. Where would he have the mind to care about these trivial matters.
Seeing this, Zhuang Yi had words caught in his throat, but ultimately said nothing. The Immeasurable Buddha had agreed after all.
Huang Pan then added: "Although this Taixuan Hong seems to be dead, to be safe, it's best to go to the Spirit of the Vast Sun to confirm and see if the selection process has restarted."
While the Chosen was still alive, the Professional Spirituality would not react to anyone else; it would only restart after they perished. This was the simplest and most direct method of verification.
"Mm." Tang Huai also nodded, feeling quite emotional: "Since Taixuan Hong has perished, the next step is originally to select the Chosen. It will be another grand event."
"Calculating the time, the few Radiant Suns should be returning soon. At least this matter was resolved before they returned."
"He self-annihilated?" Su Chen leaped down from the Azure Dragon, arriving beside the group from High Firmament, gazing at the black hole in the distance that had almost completely merged with the Nether Realm environment.
The surging of the surrounding mist had slowed down, indicating that the collapse process was almost over.
"To win against everyone, yet only be able to self-annihilate." Du Yunfei nodded, seemingly quite moved, his expression impassioned: "How tragically heroic."
Su Chen cast a baffled glance at him.
"Better to live badly than to die well, foolish..." Someone blurted out a sentence from an unknown location.
"That's why you cannot become a Radiant Sun Elect, and that's why the people from Great Heaven are all rats in a gutter." Xuan Kai's gaze instantly locked onto the other party, and he said in a deep voice: "Without this kind of pride and self-esteem, one couldn't become the Chosen of the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith either. Do you truly believe this person relied solely on bloodline protection?"
The other party shrank his head back. Xu Yingshen merely closed his eyes to rest, not offering any rebuttal.
What pride and self-esteem? How come I didn't know about this?
Su Chen looked at Xuan Kai in even greater astonishment. The hole on the other party's chest, which he had forcefully pierced through, hadn't even been patched up yet.
The others also nodded one after another. Not everyone could face death without fear. There was an example right before them. Since the person was already dead, there was no harm in showing some respect.
"What a pity. I hope Patron Taixuan Hong will be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss..." Kong Ye pressed his hands together, his expression solemn. Those bald heads all began to chant some sort of scripture.
Reborn your ass&*... Su Chen glared crossly at the group of bald heads.
"Admirable, lamentable..." Tong Zhuo sighed with regret.
Su Chen was speechless. Why are you joining in the fun?
How come I didn't know Taixuan Hong actually had so many confidants?
Su Chen shook his head. He was clear in his heart. Although everyone seemingly lamented and sighed with emotion over the tragic heroism of Taixuan Hong's death...
In essence, it was because with Taixuan Hong's death, the position of the Chosen for the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith was left vacant. For them, this was naturally a massive 'blessing'.
But if Taixuan Hong hadn't died, or even escaped, this group of people would probably show a completely different face.
While the crowd was conversing in low voices, the Radiant Moons had quietly landed. As if they had reached a prior agreement, they didn't speak much before each taking their respective junior generation and leaving the stone platform one after another.
"Heaven Lord Tang..."
"Heaven Lord Tang..."
Returning to the Azure Dragon, everyone including Su Chen paid their respects one after another. Looking at this burly Heaven Lord, they couldn't help but feel a bit odd in their hearts.
After all, he was also one of the Radiant Moons pinned down by Taixuan Hong.
"Mm." Tang Huai didn't mind, even showing a bit of self-deprecation: "I troubled you all to come to my rescue."
"You're joking..." the crowd hurriedly said.
"Heaven Lord, approximately when will the selection for the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith's Chosen take place?" Zhong Yue couldn't hold back his question any longer. He needed to estimate if his Azure Deity Metamorphosis would be in time.
Tong Zhuo and Du Yunfei also couldn't help but cast concerned gazes over.
"Already so impatient?" Tang Huai wore a half-smile, shaking his head and saying: "The specific time hasn't been set yet, but it shouldn't be too slow."
"Sect Master, how did this Taixuan Hong suddenly appear here?" Tong Zhuo asked.
Tang Huai pondered and said: "According to what Storm Tower said, he seemed to be looking for something, and that Zhou Lin also seemed to be looking for this item..."
"But that item has probably, along with the collapse of the Guixu Abyss, disappeared with..." Speaking up to here, Tang Huai paused imperceptibly before saying: "...out a trace."
"To brave such huge risks to come here to search, it is probably extraordinary..." Tong Zhuo echoed a sentence, and left it at that.
"Zhou Lin seems to have locked down the information..." Su Chen's eyes flickered. "An item that can allow the Taixuan House to rise again", this was the reason he came up with for Taixuan Hong appearing here.
This was something that only existed in imagination; no one would know what it was.
Coupled with the bits of information Zhou Lin grasped, it could also form a closed loop. After all, Zhou Lin didn't know what kind of Sovereign Relic that Boundless Radiance was.
But the ruthlessness of this guy was somewhat beyond his expectations. Those two people he heard talking with 'Second Uncle' that day seemed to be gone.
There are always some accidents in things, but it shouldn't be a big deal...
Yan Xing spoke up at this moment: "This place is far enough from the collapsed area of the Guixu Abyss. You all should have restored your connection to the reality world. Go back directly."
"Yes..." Su Chen came back to his senses. As everyone agreed, he felt slightly, and sure enough, his connection to the reality world had been restored.
Tang Huai and Yan Xing watched as the figures disappeared one by one until only the two of them were left. The Azure Dragon beneath their feet shrank and crouched on Yan Xing's shoulder.
The two exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.
The next moment, Yan Xing disappeared, but Tang Huai still remained standing in place.