Chapter 259 — Killing the Immortal
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 7 of 10
Wen Pei's eyes filled with tears. Suddenly footsteps sounded behind her; she turned, and her body gave a shudder—it was Song Dayi of Dazhu Peak. Song Dayi smiled, reached out, and took her pale hand, holding it tightly in his own.
Wen Pei seemed suddenly to take courage; the fear and despair faded from her face, and slowly a gentle smile appeared. She turned back and said to Lu Xueling: "Sister, go in peace. We will be right behind you to keep you company."
Lu Xueling glanced at their tightly clasped hands, at the two figures leaning close against each other, and slowly a faint smile too appeared at the corner of her mouth. Then she closed her eyes and called softly in her heart:
"Xiaofan, we shall meet again in the next life..."
The icy chill of the Divine Sword Tianxuan seemed to seep through her skin into her very blood. Smiling faintly, she gripped the hilt hard—when suddenly, at that very moment, Wen Pei beside her gave a startled cry: "Sister, wait."
Lu Xueling froze, lowered Tianxuan, and said in astonishment: "What is it?"
Wen Pei had turned and was gazing toward the rear mountain of the Jietian Peak, and in utter amazement she said: "Listen—listen... what is that sound?"
On the battlefield, so wild and clamorous but a moment before, all had suddenly fallen quiet for some unknown reason, without a sound; those hordes of the demon cult, all claws and fangs, stood frozen in place, every one of them.
In the silent stillness, the ancient Tongtian Peak—nay, the entire mountain range—began, ever so slowly, to tremble.
A low, long cry burst forth from the rear slopes of Tongtian Peak, rising steadily, sharpening into something fierce and clear, splitting stone and metal as it soared straight into the heavens.
Amid that cry, a vast beam of radiance shot skyward, like a dragon imprisoned for a thousand, ten thousand years bursting forth with a thunderous roar, galloping across the nine heavens, summoning wind and rain in its wake; gales howled, heaven and earth changed color, the assembled mountains bowed their heads, and the magic treasures and weapons in the hands of countless people began to quiver of their own accord.
"Immortal-slaying... Immortal-slaying... that is the Immortal-slaying!"
Suddenly a cry rang out before the Yuheng Hall, tinged with astonished joy, and among the surviving disciples of the Cang Lan Sect, even those gravely wounded seemed to forget their pain entirely.
One after another they struggled to their feet and looked up, at that brilliant, magnificent pillar of light piercing heaven and earth, insufferably proud—as though it were the peerless pride and anchor of their hearts!
The Immortal-slaying!
The sky, shrouded by crimson radiance, was instantly driven back by this sudden glory; the dazzling light soared beneath the nine heavens, came speeding on, and above Jietian Peak burst forth all at once, radiating a thousand rays, like the blazing sun fallen to the mortal world, driving every shadow into flight.
Deep within that radiance a figure slowly emerged, though the light was so resplendent that his features could not be seen; only, amid the flickering of light and shadow, the people clearly saw that the figure was slowly raising an ancient sword in his hand.
The Immortal-slaying Ancient Sword!
In an instant a thunderous roar of cheering erupted over the Yuheng Hall; Wen Pei and Song Dayi were both brimming with tears, and only Lu Xueling suddenly swayed on her feet, an expression of disbelief on her face. But at that moment every eye was fixed on the heavens, and no one marked her strangeness.
That figure above the horizon, though half-hidden in the radiance and indistinct, had long since been carved deep into her heart—she would not forget it even in death—so how could she fail to recognize it?
"Xiaofan..."
She called it a thousand times in her heart, clutching the collar at her breast with her hand, as though only thus could she still her wildly pounding heart.