Zu An was shocked. He still clearly remembered Chu Chuyan saying that as long as the Great Snowy Mountain remained, she wouldn’t truly die. But now, everything was starting to crack and collapse. The Great Snowy Mountain Range itself seemed to really be in danger.
“Just what is going on?” Zu An quickly asked Mi Li.
“It’s probably because that being just now was too strong and this world is struggling to bear its power, causing some problems with this s.p.a.ce. Earlier, didn’t the Lord of Slaughter come out from beneath the Great Snowy Mountain? There were probably already issues with the seal then. Factoring in all of those elements, it seems that the seal has completely collapsed,” Mi Li said after looking around.
Zu An followed her gaze and saw pitch-black cracks appear in s.p.a.ce. At first, it was just a single one, but he could clearly sense that the rupture was growing bigger and bigger. Soon after, monsters started forcing their way out. In just a few seconds, there were nearly ten thousand monsters storming into the world. Judging from how the cracks were growing bigger and bigger, that number would only continue to grow exponentially.
There were even some ma.s.sive bodies that were trying to force their way over from the s.p.a.ce behind the crack, and every single one was clearly an incredibly powerful being. If they were allowed to descend, the whole world would definitely be in enormous trouble.
As he watched events unfold, Zu An felt a sense of powerlessness. He had worked so hard for so long, but was all of it for nothing? If he had been at his strongest, he could eliminate the monsters that had just entered. But after fighting huge battles again and again, the people at his side had either died or fallen into eternal unconsciousness. He was in a terrible state himself and didn’t have much strength left.
“You’ve already done everything you could. This isn’t your fault. You should first pick up that blade, and take some time to recover. You can think about all of this after you’ve restored your condition,” Mi Li said. She was worried that after losing his lover, Zu An do something impulsive. She wanted him to fully heal and deal with the situation again once he made a full recovery.
Zu An didn’t say anything. However, his eyes still followed Mi Li’s line of sight and he saw a blade stabbed into the ground. That was the place where the Lord of Slaughter had been ‘brought away’. When it met power at that level, even something as powerful as that monster had turned to ashes, only leaving behind this blade.
When he walked over, Zu An finally saw that it wasn’t a blade, but rather a tooth. Since it was too large, its shape looked like a blade. It shone with a cold glint, and was sharp and st.u.r.dy. There wouldn’t be much issue in using it as a blade. The fact that it remained even now proved that it was clearly special.
Mi Li floated over to him. While looking at the blade, she said, “Anything that could survive under that level of power is definitely of extraordinary grade. It seems like something that the Lord of Slaughter was only able to refine through a miraculous encounter.”
Zu An held the tooth in his hand. The surface was extremely smooth and didn’t give off any smell. When he brandished it, it was as easy to use as a proper weapon.
“You can forge weapons, right? Once you return, you can make it into a real blade. I can sense some kind of special energy within it. Who knows, the fact that the Lord of Slaughter could ignore the influence of various magical laws might just be because of this tooth,” Mi Li said, her eyes sparkling.
Zu An was startled. The reason why the Lord of Slaughter had been so hard to deal with was because it had that immunity to magical laws. If this ‘blade’ had that ability too, it would become much easier for him to deal with various situations.
“Since you've already obtained something good, you should hurry and leave this place. Once you recover, you can gather the humans and fiends to deal with these foreign monsters,” Mi Li urged.
However, Zu An didn’t move. He looked at the monsters that swarmed out and the crumbling snowy landscape, creating a scene that was like the end of the world. He said, “I can't leave.”
If the Great Snowy Mountain Range was destroyed, then Chuyan would truly die.
“But you can't stop them at all! That is, unless you use Keyboard Come, but if you do that, you’ll turn into ashes. There are still so many people waiting for you. Qiu Honglei is also waiting for you to save her!” Mi Li exclaimed, starting to panic.
This kid isn’t really going to be stupid enough to sacrifice himself, right?
“That may not be. That blade reminded me that I still have something else,” Zu An said, then took out the Skycloud Sword from the Brilliant Gla.s.s Bead. He began to use the summoning method just as he had been previously taught.
Soon after, clear smoke surged all around him. Shi Bingxiu appeared nearby along with the other departed spirits.
Zu An pointed at the monsters that covered everything and spoke gravely. “Don’t you all wish to atone for your crimes? Your chance has come. Kill all of these monsters and save the world!”
Shi Bingxiu looked at all the monsters and said, “There are so many...”
Zu An remained silent. As time went on, there would only be more and more monsters. To be honest, he wasn’t too optimistic about Shi Bingxiu and his soldiers. Even though they had quite a few numbers, compared to these monsters, they wouldn’t be able to do too much. Even so, he believed in the Imperial Gate Bei Qing behind them. Even though he had only met her briefly and she spoke in riddles, since she had set up all of this in the distant past, there was definitely a purpose for it.
“Are you all scared? Do you want to run away again?” Zu An asked coldly. He was worried that they were too scared, so he could only try to spur them on with taunts.
“I am indeed a bit scared,” Shi Bingxiu said, chuckling in embarra.s.sment. The surrounding soldiers also had awkward expressions.
Zu An was disappointed.
As expected, a leopard can’t change its spots. These deserters aren’t reliable.
Suddenly, Shi Bingxiu asked, “If I help you kill these monsters, can you really set us free?”
Zu An was a bit hesitant. To be honest, he didn’t know why Imperial Gate Bei Qing had spoken like that, and she hadn't taught him how to set these departed spirits free. However, he suddenly remembered something and replied seriously, “I can!”
When they saw him hesitate, Shi Bingxiu and the others were a bit disappointed, but when they heard his reply, all of them cried out in excitement.
“Brothers, do you all still wish to continue on like this in these forms that are neither dead nor alive?!” Shi Bingxiu suddenly shouted toward his soldiers.
“We don't!” the departed spirits all roared, their voices making the entire place shake a bit. Even the noisy monsters in the distance briefly fell silent.
To a certain degree, their current state could be considered immortality, but they couldn't leave the range of the Skycloud Sword, nor could they enjoy the pleasures of the world. Their five senses seemed to have been stolen. Living on like this was nothing more than a form of eternal suffering. They all wanted to end things. Even if they couldn’t enter the cycle of reincarnation, a complete end was also a kind of freedom.
Shi Bingxiu gave Zu An a deep look and said, “I hope you aren't lying to us, or else our ghosts will haunt you for eternity!”
“Don’t worry, I'm only interested in women. I have no intention of bickering with you all for eternity,” Zu An calmly said.
When he heard the rather rude reply, Shi Bingxiu just laughed and said, “Brothers, follow me!”
The departed spirits were full of fighting spirit as they charged at the endless monsters.
When they saw that, the monsters were stunned, but they soon broke out into laughter, as if they were mocking the soldiers for overestimating themselves. After all, in terms of numbers, these departed spirits didn’t have the advantage. They likely hadn't been all that powerful when they were alive either. Judging from their appearances, if they had been here in life, they would be nothing more than food for the monsters. And yet, a mere pile of food wanted to go against their fate?
Many monsters bared their fangs and pounced on the departed spirits. Meanwhile, Zu An watched the battle nervously. He had to admit that Shi Bingxiu was an outstanding general, who didn’t blindly order his subordinates to attack at full force. Instead, he surrounded the enemy with all kinds of formations, then attacked the monsters from more favorable positions.
At first, it was pretty effective. Many monsters were surrounded and killed like that. However, the monsters weren’t stupid either. They quickly realized what was happening and began to surround the soldiers instead. Thus, their power and numerical advantage was revealed. The departed spirits didn't just fail to eliminate the monsters they surrounded; they were soon the ones being attacked instead. Soon after, the soldiers were eliminated one after another, and Shi Bingxiu’s formation was completely scattered by the monsters.
Zu An felt a wave of gloominess fill him.
As expected, it seems this won’t work.
Shockingly, however, the departed spirit army suddenly reappeared out of thin air. They continued to follow orders and attack. Zu An’s memory was now extremely sharp, so he quickly recognized quite a few familiar faces. These were all departed spirits that had already ‘died’! He finally understood the spirits’ endless suffering. Even if they were killed, they would still be revived and suffer eternal torment. No wonder they had all been driven mad one after another! The rebel army broke free and fought valiantly.
...
After a long time pa.s.sed, Shi Bingxiu’s army had already been wiped out countless times, and yet they always revived and rejoin the fight.
After seeing their powerful companions die one after another, the monsters were starting to grow apprehensive. Even though they were much stronger than these departed spirits, they couldn't withstand the other side's endless revivals! If this continued, they would just be slowly whittled away!
Countless monster corpses were strewn everywhere. The remaining monsters panicked and fled back toward the void crack. Even the monsters behind the cracks stopped and didn’t come out. If they continued to just fight like this, they would all eventually die! Thus, they planned to observe the situation first.
When Zu An saw that almost all of the monsters had fled back into the void crack, and that apart from the monster corpses, there were no others, he started to doubt his own eyes.