1039 He Was No Longer One Person (2/2)

He seemed pale. His lips seemed blue and he was covered in blood. Yet, he looked very calm.

It was dead silent in the square.

Everyone was staring at him. People from the Sword Garret, followers of the New Stream, and the divine priests and deacons from the West Hill were all stunned speechless. They looked at Long Qing with mixed emotions.

Many years ago he was the most famous young genius of Taoism. But no one had expected him to be defeated by Ning Que in the Academy's enrollment test to the Second Floor. Ever since then, he had lost in a series of fights and was no longer the glorious young man. Eventually he became the wretched figure commonly seen in stories and struggled in a miserable life of revenge.

Even though Long Qing survived and became even more powerful than he used to be, even though he had returned to Taoism and was accepted as the Abbey Dean's last disciple, he was no longer paid any attention in the cultivation world.

If it was in the past, a young Knowing Destiny like him would have been indeed outstanding. But now Taoism had Ye Hongyu. And Haotian had left some gifts to the human world after that spring breeze and rain. There was Hengmu Liren in Taoism and A Da, the young barbarian in the Grassland. Furthermore, Ning Que had always been in Chang'an overlooking the world. Compared with these people, he seemed like nothing.

Therefore Long Qing had been very quiet and stayed low, so quiet that he was almost forgotten by the cultivation world. When he and Hengmu led the cavalrymen of the Divine Halls to extinct the New Stream, people only saw Hengmu and no one cared about him.

It was not until today that he made his presence again in the cultivation world, in the capital of Song. He supported the falling sky with one hand, and destroyed the sacred artifact of the Devil's Doctrine with the other. Only by then were the people reminded of his previous glory, and that he used to be much more powerful than Ning Que.

Ye Su was here. Therefore it was the most critical place for the extinction of New Stream. With Long Qing as the leader of this battle was proof of his high rank in Taoism and their faith in him. It was just like what he told Tang Xiaotang. He was indeed very powerful. His state was very high, and his psyche power was unprecedentedly majestic. He had a huge complex of powerful psyches inside his body. He could be a demon or deity.

Long Qing walked dozens of meters away. He was calm. But to the crowd he symbolized the evil side. Right then they exclaimed because they saw another unbelievable scene.

Tang Xiaotang was trying to stand up. She propped herself against the ground, with her fingers inserted deeply into the mud. Her hair was soaked in blood and sweat, and swung helplessly in front of her forehead. Her body was trembling in pain. She was severely wounded and exhausted. But she still wanted to stand up and fight. Therefore, she made it.

Like what she had done in the dozens of fight these days, she fell, stood up, then fell again, and stood up again. No matter how many times she fell, she would eventually stand up, as if no one could really defeat her.

Even the evilly powerful Long Qing could not. Long Qing was slightly shocked. He knew how badly Tang Xiaotang was wounded. Even if she had cultivated on Devil's Doctrine and acquired an iron hard body, it was not possible for her to stand up from such a severe wound.

Recalling Tang Xiaotang's stunning recovery capability and her power that exceeded what the Taoism had expected, Long Qing frowned slightly and started wondering. When he went to Tang Xiaotang, she was no longer panting in pain and her wound on the chest was recovering fast. Within a distance of a hundred steps, she seemed to have regained the strength to fight.

It was not a human approach.

Long Qing had kept the Arcane Tome of the Sand with him, which recorded every single type of cultivation in the world. He was certain that none of them could have fulfilled what Tang Xiaotang did. It could only be a Divine Manifestation.

”Now I know why.” Long Qing stared at her and sighed, ”Is this Haotian's gift to you?” When he said it, he was somewhat disappointed and upset. It was because he had spent the previous half of his life to get closer to Haotian. No matter if it was light or darkness, he used to have no regrets.

However, today he realized that he had been walking further away from Haotian whereas his enemy, the enemy of Taosim, was blessed by Haotian. How could he not be disappointed? But after being disappointed, he felt grief and self-mockery, yet even more resolute. It was because it was exactly what the Abbey Dean was trying to do: to get away from Haotian.

Tang Xiaotang said nothing, as a silent acknowledgement.

When they were in the shabby lane in Linkang, she did not take it seriously when Sangsang said to grant her immortality. Even though she was Haotian, Tang Xiaotang thought it was just a joke. She thought Haotian was just making fun of ordinary humans.

It was merely a few years after Sangsang had said so, not long enough to prove that she was immortal. But what had happened during the constant fighting had somehow proved that Sangsang was not joking. She was serious.

During the constant fighting, she had been wounded again and again. Meanwhile, she found that she seemed to have formed some magical bond with the Qi of Heaven and Earth. The strength she lost was always restored instantly. No matter how severely she was wounded, she could always recover instantly. Death could never seize her. Probably that was what immortality meant.

Despite the Divine Manifestation, she was of course not a god but just an ordinary human being. She could not be immortal forever. Yet death would not be able to seize her for a while. In other words, she was much more powerful now. That was why she could have escorted Ye Su and Chen Pipi, both with destroyed Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow, through their journeys across mountains and rivers, and came here successfully.

That was also why she could stand against the evilly powerful Long Qing. Even though she had been severely wounded, she was not killed and even able to recover instantly. She could almost fight another round.

”It must feel jolly good… to be protected by Haotian.” It seemed Long Qing did not care about her being recovered instantly. He looked at her and said, ”Unfortunately, Haotian will not always be on your side. And you are doomed today.”

Tang Xiaotang said, ”At least I am still alive now.”

Long Qing laughed. The scar on his face distorted slightly and his grey eyes seemed sarcastic. He said, ”I suppose you had already noticed that you were not recovering as fast as you used to.”

Tang Xiaotang did not answer. Because Long Qing was right. But why? Does that mean Haotian is no longer offering protection as she promised? Why?

”When Haotian is no longer able to protect herself, how could she continue protecting you?” There was some unnoticeable joy in Long Qing's voice.

Tang Xiaotang said after a pause, ”I don't care.”

Indeed, she did not need to care because she grew up in the center of the Wilderness. She was pure and simple. She practiced hard before she was granted immortality. She witnessed no miracles or secret cultivations. She never took any Heavenly Power Pill, and was the most unlucky in the young generation of cultivation. However, she became powerful no matter what.

With or without Sangsang's words, she was herself. Therefore when the protection was gone, she was still herself, the girl who always wore fur and had no idea what failure was. Why should she care?

She pulled her strength to straighten the cudgel. Due to the efforts, she felt some pain in her chest and spat some blood. But she regained her strength immediately and pointed her iron cudgel forward.

Long Qing smiled and said, ”You people from the Devil's Doctrine are indeed crazy.”

In order to destroy, one had to be crazy. There had been quite a few lunatics in the Devil's Doctrine who wanted to destroy the world. Although Tang Xiaotang was not one of them, she could be pretty crazy in battles, just like she was previously as well as today.

Tang Xiaotang took one step forward while colors were further drained from her face.

The iron cudgel pierced through the wind. Just like the mountain that still stood high even when abandoned by Haotian, she still fought resolutely against the enemy even she was no longer protected.

Long Qing got stern. His Taoist gown fluttered in the chilling morning wind and formed scattered shadows. In a blink, he had made countless attacks.

A low bang was heard. The nicely cut stones that covered the ground of the square was cracked. Long Qing and Tang Xiaotang dashed toward each other in a blink and darted apart in the next. They stood staring at each other at the opposite ends of the square.

Long Qing was pale. Blood was dripping from the corner of his lips.

Tang Xiaotang lowered her head as if she was pondering, but then fell onto the ground all of a sudden.

Long Qing wiped off the blood and looked at her quietly.

She was extremely exhausted and had drained every bit of her strength.

Long Qing was sure that she could never stand up again. So he turned toward the high stage.