Chapter 179: Becoming the Dust of History

Chapter 179: Chapter 179: Becoming the Dust of History

The Fiery Fire Sect had become a living Purgatory.

Ying Xiao led over seventy assassins from the Dark Night Envoys, infiltrating the Fiery Fire Sect without alerting a single soul and beginning a systematic slaughter.

By the time the scent of blood filled the entire sect and someone finally reacted, the Fiery Fire Sect’s population of over 3,600 had been culled to just over a thousand.

Instantly, the alarm bells of the Fiery Fire Sect rang wildly.

An Integration Realm Supreme Elder and a Void Realm ancestor on the verge of death both appeared.

Seeing the state of their Sect, the two were overcome with furious rage.

"Where is Wu Guanghai!"

"Old bastard, stop shouting. Wu Guanghai has already been slain. The Fiery Fire Sect has committed countless evils in the Eastern Domain over the years. It’s time for divine retribution."

The one who spoke was not Ying Xiao, but the ancestor of the Profound Celestial Sect, Su Zhong’e.

Su Zhong’e and the Fiery Fire Sect’s ancestor, Zhu Yan, were from the same generation. Moreover, there was no small amount of enmity between them.

In his youth, this ancestor of the Fiery Fire Sect had been extremely hot-tempered. Back then, during the Tengxing Grand Assembly, he had killed a prodigy from the Profound Celestial Sect over a simple argument.

The Fiery Fire Sect Leader at the time had done everything to protect Zhu Yan, compensating the Profound Celestial Sect with countless Heavenly and Earthly Treasures and even confining Zhu Yan to Blazing Cliff for ten years to quell the matter.

But no one could have expected that Zhu Yan’s decade of seclusion at Blazing Cliff would also forge his legend.

In those ten years of seclusion, he went from the Golden Core Realm to the Divine Separation Realm, becoming the youngest Divine Separation Realm cultivator in the Eastern Domain at the time.

After coming out of seclusion, not only did Zhu Yan’s temper fail to mellow, but it grew even more volatile.

Although Zhu Yan had a volatile temper, it did not detract from his personal cunning. As the old Sect Leader lay on his deathbed, Zhu Yan initiated a coup that shocked the Six Sects and Eight Gates of the Eastern Domain. He ambushed and killed four of the Fiery Fire Sect’s Elders and the Saint Heir who was about to inherit the leadership position, seizing the role of new Sect Leader through sheer force.

In the century-plus that the Fiery Fire Sect was under Zhu Yan’s leadership, it developed rapidly. If not for one particular incident, it might very well have become the number one sect among the Six Sects and Eight Gates.

And the protagonist of that incident was none other than Su Zhong’e, who now stood opposite Zhu Yan.

The man Zhu Yan had killed at the Tengxing Grand Assembly all those years ago was Su Zhong’e’s uncle, who had been like a father to him.

When Su Zhong’e was young, his parents died in an accident. His uncle brought him to the Profound Celestial Sect and treated him like his own son.

His uncle’s death became Su Zhong’e’s childhood nightmare, and hatred became the sole conviction supporting him on his path to power.

Each generation brings forth its own talent, and every era has its own splendor.

Fueled by hatred, Su Zhong’e, who originally had only average talent, grew step by step through self-discipline and relentless pressure, with a ruthlessness that was difficult for ordinary people to comprehend.

He formed his Golden Core at the age of forty-three and shattered his core to birth his Nascent Soul at seventy-five.

Such a slow rate of cultivation advancement meant he was destined not to be valued by the Sect. And indeed, until he was a hundred years old, he was a negligible figure within the Sect.

On his one-hundredth birthday, the Sect’s leadership changed hands. The new Sect Leader was only fifty-three years old but was already in the Divine Separation Realm. According to seniority, the new Sect Leader had to address him as Martial Granduncle.

On that very same day, Su Zhong’e broke through to the Divine Separation Realm. Due to his rise in cultivation, he was appointed an Elder of the Profound Celestial Sect at the age of one hundred.

At one hundred and thirty-six, he entered the Integration Realm. He stepped down from his position as an Elder to focus entirely on his cultivation.

At one hundred and seventy-six, he broke through to the Void Realm.

And the very first thing he did upon entering the Void Realm was to travel alone to the Fiery Fire Sect and issue a challenge to Zhu Yan.

The battle between them lasted for seven days and seven nights. The few old monsters at the Integration Realm from the Six Sects and Eight Gates all came to watch.

In the end, both were grievously injured, and the spectating Integration Realm experts were forced to intervene and separate them.

From that moment on, for sixty years, both Su Zhong’e and Zhu Yan could only cling to life by relying on their Sects’ Spirit Veins.

Although their cultivation had recovered, their Life Force was completely depleted. A single battle would undoubtedly be fatal for both of them.

Su Zhong’e clung to his wretched existence, partly to protect the Profound Celestial Sect, but mainly because he had not yet killed his enemy with his own hands.

And today was the day it would all end.

When Zhu Yan saw his old rival, rage instantly welled up inside him. If not for this man, would he have been forced to subsist on a Spirit Vein for the last sixty years?

"Su Zhong’e, you actually dare to show your face here?"

Su Zhong’e threw his head back and laughed. "Old bastard, I am here. It’s time for us to settle this once and for all. If you had just died sixty years ago, this all would have been over. But today, you won’t be the only one to die."

"What crime have my Fiery Fire Sect disciples committed?" Zhu Yan roared.

"You reap what you sow. Zhu Yan, from the moment you became the Fiery Fire Sect Leader, your sect was doomed to this fate," Su Zhong’e said.

"As long as I have a breath left in me, I will not allow you to run rampant here. You were not my match sixty years ago, and you still aren’t today," Zhu Yan said angrily.

"Old scoundrel, you think too highly of yourself." After speaking, Su Zhong’e untied a gourd from his waist, pulled out the stopper, and chugged its contents.

Then he tossed the gourd aside, drew his sword, and pointed it at Zhu Yan.

"I’ll deal with you first! Everyone who came to the Fiery Fire Sect today... all—must—die!" After roaring out the last three words, Zhu Yan formed his hands into claws as two fireballs condensed in his palms.

As he threw his hands forward, the fireballs grew in the wind, hurtling toward Su Zhong’e with immense pressure.

When the fireballs neared Su Zhong’e, they transformed into two Fire Dragons that looked as if they were about to devour him.

Only when the Fire Dragons were right upon him did Su Zhong’e finally swing his Long Sword.

With a flick of his Long Sword, a gang wind rose up, forming a Gang Qi shield around his body that blocked the Fire Dragons three feet away from him.

At that moment, the fighting below came to a halt. Countless pairs of eyes turned to watch the earth-shattering battle in the sky.

A battle between Void Realm experts was a once-in-a-century sight.

What’s more, it was between two Void Realm experts on the verge of death. Perhaps after this battle, even the victor would perish, having exhausted their last shred of Life Force.

Zhu Yan stared at the scene in astonishment. For sixty years, he had been holed up on the Spirit Vein. Although he hadn’t fought in all those decades, he had spent that time endlessly refining his Martial Dao.

These two fireballs contained the very essence of his life’s work in the Martial Dao. He never expected Su Zhong’e to block them so easily.

In truth, a hint of astonishment also lay deep in Su Zhong’e’s eyes.

He was astonished that Zhu Yan’s Fire Control Technique had reached such a masterful level, but he was even more astonished by the changes that bowl of wine had brought to his own body.

He could feel the once-depleted Life Force in his body slowly becoming abundant again.

He had no doubt that once the wine’s potency was fully absorbed by his body, he would no longer need the support of the Spirit Vein and could live for at least another hundred years.

’With this realization, was the near-death Zhu Yan before him even a threat anymore?’

He didn’t even need to kill him. He could just stall, and Zhu Yan’s last bit of Life Force would be exhausted.

However, avenging his uncle was his life’s obsession. If he had truly come just to wait for him to die, Su Zhong’e wouldn’t have made this trip at all.

"Zhu Yan, for over two hundred years, I haven’t forgotten my quest for vengeance for a single moment. I could clearly just wear you down until you die, but for the sake of this two-hundred-year-old obsession, I will give you the chance to die by my sword."

Su Zhong’e said this faintly. The next moment, his robes billowed without a wind, and he thrust his sword forward.

A Sword Gang swept out like a hurricane, tearing the two Fire Dragons into countless glimmering embers.