Bang! Wang Chong suddenly jumped forward with all his strength. A moment later, he heard a deafening clang.
Thousands of flying swords had struck the chain behind him, unleashing an explosion of sparks.
The chain forged from Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron and covered in all kinds of ancient inscriptions was peppered with dense marks, some even gouging several inches deep.
While Wang Chong had managed to escape, his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
The meager Stellar Energy available to him was rapidly dwindling.
There was no time for hesitation. Wang Chong hastily focused his mind and repaired the flaw, once more taking up his disguise as a giant chain.
But while he had escaped one disaster, an even greater danger was coming.
Wang Chong’s body was getting heavier and heavier, that invisible pressure having already doubled or tripled in this brief period, and it was showing no signs of stopping.
Not only that, Wang Chong’s Psychic Energy was also being consumed at an astonishing rate.
It was like he was constantly battling with some high-level Psychic Energy.
In the thick fog, the flying swords were continuing to circle around. They had lost Wang Chong’s energy, but the first-generation successor had already grasped Wang Chong’s general location. He only needed a little more information to pin his location down and kill him.
But Wang Chong had to deal with an even greater crisis first.
Buzz!
There was a hum in the air, and Wang Chong soon sensed an immense energy hurtling toward him at incredible speed.
Even Wang Chong and his tangible Psychic Energy couldn’t help but feel insignificant in the face of this power.
It was like an ordinary person without the strength to truss a chicken was facing a supreme expert who could shatter mountains by waving a hand.
“How could this be!?”
Wang Chong instantly paled, and at this moment, the world seemed to spin, the fog tearing open for a moment so that Wang Chong could see the divine sword thrust in front of the altar.
Unlike the flying swords, this divine sword was dignified, solemn, and holy. In Wang Chong’s eyes, it had the grandeur and immensity of a mountain.
It’s that sword!
Wang Chong’s mind trembled in understanding.
Buzz!
As Wang Chong set eyes on the sword, the sword suddenly transformed, taking on a sharp and vicious aura. Soon after, boom! The world exploded as the massive sword slashed down at Wang Chong.
Plush! The sword passed through his body, and Wang Chong trembled and vomited blood.
Wang Chong’s Psychic Energy was at the tangible level and was unmatched in the world, but this sword had instantly dealt it a heavy blow. His face turned ghastly pale and his clothes were as drenched as if they had just been fished out of the water.
Not only that, in a burst of golden light, countless flying swords shot toward him. Wang Chong jumped forward, but this was a feeble and awkward jump, lacking any of his previous grace.
The numerous swords brushed past the chain, and though Wang Chong had used all his strength, one of the swords still managed to strike his right leg, causing blood to spurt out.
“How could it be like this!?”
Wang Chong fiercely raised his head, shock in his eyes.
That single sword had cut away one-third of his Psychic Energy and half his Stellar Energy, pushing Wang Chong into even greater danger.
But that sword…
Wang Chong gazed at the churning fog, seeing nothing and feeling only a chill. But Wang Chong could sense that the divine sword Bagushidu had spoken of was still thrust into the altar at the other end.
The divine sword had not moved once, but the ‘sword’ was scarier to Wang Chong than all the flying swords overhead.
The flying swords could only attack his flesh, but that sword had been able to strike at his soul and was capable of completely extinguishing it.
Wang Chong suddenly understood why Bagushidu feared that divine sword so much. He also understood how the state teacher of the Turks, Ishinishidu, had been able to get past the Dragonbeasts, the Nightmare Beast, all the traps, and the attacks of the walking corpses, but had still ended up dying to the divine sword.
Attacks of the mind and soul could not be avoided.
Buzz!
As this thought passed through Wang Chong’s mind, his vision went dark as his soul was once more pulled into that mental world.
The world was dark, and churning fog surrounded Wang Chong. That immense divine sword stood before him like a pillar of the heavens, ready at any time to slash down.
Wang Chong’s mind tensed and his face paled.
But at this moment, the space in front of him shifted, the fog seething and coalescing into words:
‘Obstructive Desires’!
Wang Chong was astonished by these words. But he seemed to realize something, and a pensive look appeared on his face.
“It’s useless!”
On the stone bridge, Bagushidu’s robe snapped in the air. He was able to clearly make out the changes on Wang Chong’s face and knew that he was thinking of a countermeasure. To this, Bagushidu could only shake his head, staring at Wang Chong like he was already a dead man.
“The Origin Immortal Sword attacks again and again. There’s no stopping it unless you pulled back from the chains right from the start! Not even someone of Ishinishidu’s astonishing capabilities was able to withstand it, let alone you. King of Foreign Lands, you are a rare genius of the Great Tang, but alas, even you will die in this place!
“This trial is truly difficult to pass!”
Bagushidu softly sighed to himself.
It was not because he pitied Wang Chong over his inevitable death, but because he could no longer obtain any information from the Great Tang’s King of Foreign Lands. There was no escape from Wang Chong’s current situation.
In the distance, Wang Chong was in mortal danger.
In the mental world, that divine sword exploded with light and began to hum. It was once more about to strike.
Bang!
A moment later, the sword once more began to swing down at Wang Chong.
The entire world fell silent, and the sword seemed imbued with even greater power than before.
Rumble! The world seemed to crumble to pieces, and the sword itself seemed unavoidable. Immense danger surged up in Wang Chong’s heart, but all he could do at this time was focus and compress his Psychic Energy to try to fend off this strike.
The light hurtled forward, and a chill encroached on every cell of Wang Chong’s body. But just when Wang Chong had curled up in preparation to take on this thunderous strike, whoosh! The Sword Qi swiftly passed by like a light gust.
His Stellar Energy and Psychic Energy were not halved like before.
“!!!”
Wang Chong was struck dumb.
“What’s going on here?”
This sword strike had been even more terrifying than the last, but its lethality hadn’t been even one-tenth of the first one. As Wang Chong scanned his body with his Psychic Energy, he discovered that his judgment had been correct. His Stellar Energy and Psychic Energy had decreased, but the loss was negligible.
Wang Chong was momentarily confused. One attack had made him feel like he was on the verge of death while the other attack had been like a light breeze, but both were from the divine sword.
The same attack had resulted in two completely different effects.
Buzz!
As Wang Chong was lost in confusion, he was once more pulled into the mental world and taken to confront that divine sword.
‘Greed’!
The fog coalesced into this enormous word.
Wang Chong clung motionlessly to the chain, but his mind was spinning with countless thoughts.
Obstructive desires, greed… Wang Chong inwardly muttered.
Humans had desires, and there were no exceptions. Wan
g Chong did have desires, so he had been heavily injured by the first attack. But greed… Was he greedy? Of course, he was greedy. He wanted to get his hands on far too many things.
When he had used Wootz Steel to obtain one million, ten million, even a hundred million taels of gold, he had truly been happy. In order to make even more money, he had even signed a contract with the Sindhu High Priest.
But at the same time, he wasn’t greedy.
He had accumulated a vast fortune with Wootz Steel, but he had used it all up without the slightest hesitation. All of his wealth had been so that he could win the war of the southwest and save the nearly one million civilians living there.
He hoped to achieve many feats and obtain a greater reputation. Thus, after the southwest, he went to the northwest and expanded the borders of the Great Tang all the way to Khorasan. And even this was not enough for him, as he still wanted to fight all the way to Baghdad.
In the end, he had set his sights on conquering the entire Arabian Empire.
However…
Everything he had done had not been for himself. He could hand over Khorasan to the Imperial Court without hesitation, and once he pacified the west, he could hand back all his military authority to the Imperial Court. He didn’t even care about his titles of Young Marquis and King of Foreign Lands.
The only thing he cared about was this world’s future!
Everything else was merely a means of realizing this goal!
Thus, he truly was not greedy!
Chapter 1516 - The Crime of Killing!
Chapter 1516: The Crime of Killing!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Wang Chong’s brow deeply furrowed as he pondered. At this moment, he felt like he had finally grasped the laws of the divine sword.
This thought instantly invigorated Wang Chong.
Wang Chong agilely leapt forward like a civet cat. Clangclangclang! The flying swords once more created a shower of sparks on the chains as they were dodged once more.
“Wonderful! The divine sword’s attacks can influence the successor’s Origin Immortal Sword Formation!”
As Wang Chong jumped forward, he had noticed that after he successfully took the divine sword’s attack, for some reason, the power of the flying swords had significantly weakened. As long as he didn’t have to worry too much about the first-generation successor’s attacks, even his own meager strength was more than enough to make it across the chains.
“This… How?”
Bagushidu had already been ready to step forward onto the chains, but when he saw what had happened, his body trembled in shock.
Everything that had happened just now had completely overturned his understanding of the world. Wang Chong didn’t even have the strength to fight against a Profound Martial expert, and he was insignificant in front of someone like Bagushidu, but not even Ishinishidu had been able to cross the chains as easily as Wang Chong.
“Impossible, absolutely impossible!”
Bagushidu’s eyes went wide. He had no way of explaining these events.
Buzz!
Bagushidu’s foot instinctively extended toward one of the chains.
“Could it be that Ishinishidu’s memories were all false? Or did something happen at the end that I don’t know about?”
Bagushidu was confused and suspicious. He even wondered if he and Wang Chong had started from different places and stepped on different chains.
Buzz!
Bagushidu’s right foot stepped onto a chain, but at that moment, the Sword Qi howled, and those swords circling in the air immediately shot toward Bagushidu like locusts. This power and momentum made him even more frightened than when he had first stepped onto the chains.
Bagushidu grimaced as he immediately drew back his foot, his face turning ashen.
“Just how did this kid manage to do it?”
For the first time, Bagushidu looked at Wang Chong with deep unease… and envy.
Meanwhile, Wang Chong continued to advance along the chains. Boom! The Origin Immortal Sword sent yet another attack thundering at Wang Chong.
This time, it was the sword of arrogance.
This sword was pointed at the haughty and prideful, but while Wang Chong had been born in a rich and illustrious clan, he was not an arrogant person.
Wang Chong also managed to endure the third sword.
One hundred feet, one hundred and fifty feet, one hundred and seventy feet… Wang Chong advanced with astonishing speed, seizing this moment of weakness from the sword formation. The fourth sword was lust and the fifth was envy. Wang Chong was able to endure both.
The idea in Wang Chong’s mind grew increasingly distinct.
…To think that there was a sword in the world like this. It doesn’t attack flesh or Origin Energy, but attacks the most repulsive desires in one’s heart.
Ishinishidu was a Turkic genius and one of the supreme experts of that age. But that very first trial of obstructive desires was something that he couldn’t pass. When he ran into the sixth-generation successor on the borders of the Great Tang, he felt envy over the successor’s youth, his Origin Immortal Art, and his boundless techniques, thus committing the crime of envy. And by wanting to seize all the secrets of the Origin Immortal Palace, he committed the crime of greed. Even with Ishinishidu’s extraordinary power, those three swords would have heavily injured him.
As for Bagushidu, he obtained Ishinishidu’s Earthblood Cauldrons and inherited all his memories, but he also inherited his desires. In certain aspects, his desires are even greater than Ishinishidu’s. Thus, Bagushidu isn’t as transcendent as he appears. It’s not that he doesn’t want to try. He doesn’t dare!
Wang Chong understood the situation now like it was a bright and clean mirror.
Buzz!
The fog seethed and the winds howled. The sixth sword was coming.
Rumble! The world seemed to tear apart in front of Wang Chong’s eyes. Unlike the others, the sixth sword was seething in red flames.
Upon seeing these flames, Wang Chong paled and immediately stopped.
He sensed a familiar emotion from this sword…
Anger!
This sword was aimed at the anger in one’s heart.
“Oh no!”
Wang Chong’s heart tightened as he lost grasp of his composure.
He was not proud, envious, greedy, or lustful, but anger… Whether in his last life or this one, Wang Chong found it impossible to control this emotion. And his anger was far more intense than the average person’s. Without this anger, he wouldn’t have received the chance to be reborn, and he wouldn’t be standing here right now.
This is troublesome…
Rumble!
Just when everyone believed that Wang Chong would successfully pass this trial and reach the other side, his body fiercely trembled, blood spurted out of his skin, and his strength plunged.
Clink! Clank! The chains trembled as Wang Chong’s body swayed, and he almost fell right off.
While Wang Chong had managed to survive, his body now swayed back and forth with the chain. Though he clenched it tightly, it seemed like he might fall at any moment.
“How could this be? What in the world happened?”
Bagushidu’s face tightened. Wang Chong was the person with the highest chance of crossing the chains, but if not even he could safely cross, it would be even more difficult for others.
Wang Chong was in even greater danger than he appeared, as the seventh sword was coming hot on the heels of the sixth.
If the sixth sword had been enough to leave Wang Chong half-dead, the seventh sword was enough to make his blood freeze and send him into the abyss.
The crime of killing!
Wang Chong knew the name of the sword before it had begun its attack.
The greatest evil in the world was killing, which led to the rise of things like the demonic path and the evil path.
The seventh sword was the strongest and
most lethal, and even the amount of time it took to build up power was longer.
Wang Chong was a Great General, the King of Foreign Lands, and even the Grand Marshal in his last life. He lived a life of constant campaigning and had killed countless people.
Just in the war of the southwest alone, he had killed four hundred thousand soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army, and in the Battles of Khorasan and Talas, he had killed one million Arab soldiers. He hadn’t even reached the age of eighteen, yet he had killed one and a half million soldiers. When it came to the crime of killing, no one could surpass Wang Chong.
Two hundred years ago, Ishinishidu had been slain for his envy, and now, Wang Chong would probably be killed for the many people he had killed.
Buzz!
The seventh sword had yet to fall, its energy continuing to soar. It had already surpassed the power of the six previous attacks combined, and it was showing no signs of stopping. Even worse was that this sword had locked down Wang Chong, making even movement incredibly difficult.
The swords in the air hummed as if sensing what was about to happen. The swords of the Origin Immortal Sword Formation circled above Wang Chong like a dark cloud, far more numerous than at any previous moment.
The pressure on Wang Chong instantly swelled.
“Chong-er!”
The Demonic Emperor Old Man and Wushang Village Chief were both incredibly worried, but there was nothing they could do. If they stepped onto the chains, they would only increase the number of attacks aimed at Wang Chong, burdening him instead of helping him.
Moreover, eighty percent of the Origin Energy in this area was under the control of the first-generation successor. Outsiders could not intervene in the boundaries of the Origin Immortal Sword Formation.
Wang Chong’s life was in grave danger.
‘Blood flows so greatly that shields can float, over ground covered in one million corpses.’ Wang Chong was a born general, a commander for two lives. Wang Chong had killed countless people, and when this sword fell, he would have no chance of survival.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 942