Chapter 306 - Demise (1/2)

The Barrens were in a state of turmoil, with disturbances fermenting beneath the surface; all the major forces had already received the news — East Barren, Xian Kong Saint City, Shi Buyi walked out from his closed-door training. The dragon race of the Eastern Sea; the Xia and Zhurong Clan of the South Barren; the clan masters of the Marital Divine Masters; the celestial races' high priests of the West Barren ... everyone had their eyes fixated on the Great Wilderness.

Moreover, the North Barren's Bai Ze Clan, a race who never intervened in matters unrelated to them, were also paying close attention to the occurrences within the Great Wilderness.

There were three magnates in Swords Gate, among which, Shui Zian was now dead, and the old Sword God was dying. This left only Feng Shouzhu to pick up all of the burdens of Swords Gate. The other major forces were initially waiting to devour the powerless Great Wilderness after the headmaster's death. But all of a sudden, there were three newly ascended young magnates, forcing them to reconsider their course of actions.

The three newly ascended magnates were incredibly young, all of whom had bright futures before them; any one of them would reach the peak to eventually stand on par with the old headmaster!

The old headmaster was venerated as the Sword God, with a sword in hand, he swept across the lands, and no one dared to invade the Great Wilderness for hundreds of years. If a new Sword God were to emerge, it would ensure the next few hundred years of survival for humanity.

Not to mention the fact that there were three young men that had the potential to be the next Sword God, or even Sword Gods!

This alone introduced a whole new risk to the equation; it was enough to force them to throw all their designs on the Swords Gate to the wind.

"However, this is exactly a golden opportunity."

The high priest of the Xiao Mang Celestial Temple stepped forward. He walked toward one of the palaces in the celestial temple and said leisurely, "The Barrens are worried that the three of them will be the next Sword Gods, and that the Barrens will have to face with the consequences from them. This is why they are afraid to touch the Swords Gate. But little do they know that among the three, one of them is a spy from our Xiang Mang Celestial Race. And the other two are destined to die."

"The fruits of our years of planning will soon ripen ... its time for us to claim the Great Wilderness for ourselves…."

"Feng Shang, my old enemy, you must be in the Devil Soul Forbidden Land now?"

He walked to the front of the palace and went straight in. There were virescent lights that lit up the palace while the hall was empty with a three-headed beauty kneeling before a huge statue. The statue was a three-headed Pan Ao, its heads reached down, and its eyes stared at that three-headed beauty judgingly, as if interrogating her, and torturing her soul.

If Zhong Yue were here, he would have exclaimed in shock — this three-headed beauty was the same as the one he had seen in Swords Gate, the only difference was that she now looked a few years older!

In Swords Gate, the old man sculpted the statue of a goddess-like beauty with his Sword Qi, there, Zhong Yue learned the way to understand the totem patterns through sculpting. This lesson went on to have profound repercussions on his cultivation; it wasn't hyperbole that it was what shaped him to become the person he was now. This was why the image of that woman had left a deep impression on his heart.

The sculpture of that goddess-like lady had a pair of wings with three different beautiful faces. Each of them had their own unique allure – one cute, one solemn, and the final one sweet.

Right now, the three-headed beauty in the palace also had a pair of wings, which suggested that she wasn't a pureblood Xiao Mang Celestial Race. She also had the same three beautiful countenances; however, she seemed to be utterly devoid of any life energy.

She was dead, her lifeless body was eternally stopped by time at the moment she died, her countenances remained the same, and her image was still the same as if she were still living.

"My little sweetheart, my dear daughter…."

The high priest's eyes were filled with the tender affection of a father toward his child. He looked at his daughter who was still tortured by the Xiao Mang ancestor even after her death. He then smiled bitterly and said, "My daughter, you will not die for nothing … if only you hadn't met with Feng Xiaozhong at all, then you wouldn't have brought shame to our Xiao Mang Celestial Race. I wouldn't have been forced to sentence you to death either … But don't you worry, I will crush the Swords Gate and make them atone for your death!"

"The son you had with that man will become the sharpest sword I wield against Swords Gate. He will be the key to Feng Xiaozhong's betrayal to humanity!"

"Hehe, although everything you've done in your life has disappointed me, I'm still grateful that you gave birth to a very good grandson for me…."

The sun had set, and darkness fell on the Great Wilderness. It was going to be a long night ....

***

The second day, Swords Gate golden summit.

The ascendance of the three young men to the True Spirit stage to become Swords Gate's new magnate experts had awakened the old headmaster from his deep slumber. He ordered the elder council to recall all of the disciples back to Swords Gate, stating that he had news to announce.

The elder council did as he bid, and they relayed the orders to all of the disciples, including the elders that were hunting for Zuo Xiangsheng and Tian Yanzhong, recalling them to Swords Gate.

It wasn't hard for the whole of Swords Gate to infer the upcoming news; when the disciples return, the old headmaster will reveal the inheritor of his mantle. The only question is, who will it be among the three young magnates – Feng Wuji, Fang Jiange, or Jun Sixie?

The three of them carried the hopes of Swords gate, regardless of who would be the next headmaster, the Swords Gate was definitely bound to flourish.

After selecting the next headmaster, the old headmaster will then fulfill the last and final duty as a Swords Gate headmaster — to the enter the Devil Soul Forbidden Land and fight to secure another 500 years of peace for the Swords Gate.

This was the headmaster's

destiny, every headmaster of Swords Gate would bring what was left of their dying lives. They would strive for the peace of Swords Gate by neutralizing the threats of the Devil Soul Forbidden Land until the last second of their lives.

Half a month later, most of the disciples had returned to Swords Gate, and the elders that were in pursuit of Zuo Xiangsheng and Tian Yanzhong had also returned. Even Zuo Xiangsheng and Tian Yanzhong were also back in the Great Wilderness, but they didn't return to Swords Gate and instead, hid in a decent place.

The sky was bright, and the sun was blazing. The winds were gentle; a series of bell rang from the golden summit, and all of the Qi Practitioners gathered there. The old headmaster looked spirited, seemingly sparkling with life as he led the elders, hall masters, and other Qi Practitioners to worship the godly spirit of Swords Gate – the first headmaster. They then proceeded to pay obeisance to the rest of the headmasters; it was truly a grand scene.

Then they beseeched for the Sword Spirit of Swords Gate to show its appearance.

The first headmaster's godly spirit and the Swords Gate's Sword Spirit both emerged before the whole of Swords Gate. They were suffused in their godly auras, spreading all over the Great Wilderness, every living being could clearly perceive their existence.

In the tribes within the Great Wilderness, the totem patterns and totem spirits linked themselves with the godly spirit and Sword Spirit. Specters emerged above the tribes; there was a fish-dragon that swam in the river, a towering ancient tree, a Hebo that stood above the waters, the monster god that sat in the lotus flower, the mountain god with four arms, and the rain god that sat in the clouds.