Chapter 1129: Elder Shui Tears Apart the Divine Sword Sacred Lord, Who Else but Me at the Eye of the Storm!?

Just the opening few moves and he almost died!

And this Shui Zongmin still hadn't even used his two Heaven's Punishment and Earth's Annihilation, weapons born of killing!!

Elder Shui looked at the deformed magic sword in his hand. "Sword cultivators treat the sword as life, they always say that where the sword lives, the person lives; where the sword dies, the person dies..."

Bang!!!

Elder Shui crushed the magic sword in his hand, his gaze like a blade stabbing straight at the Divine Sword Sacred Lord. "Your fate is sealed!!!"

Elder Shui opened both palms and unleashed his qi wide.

The inverted bone bell on his body shattered, then reformed into another, and he condensed a Feng Fierce Eight-Point Tower!!!

A towering murderous might erupted.

That pitch-black murderous qi and intent radiated outward in countless strands, wrapping everything it touched.

Elder Shui pushed through horizontally.

The Feng Fierce Eight-Point Tower opened its gate.

A birdlike shriek shook heaven and earth, the ferocious spirit spread its wings and burst forth, its speed blurring light and shadow to the extreme. This was the move that made Elder Shui famous, and the origin of his Sky-Plundering Eagle nickname.

The Divine Sword Sacred Lord instantly realized how serious things were. It was this exact move from Elder Shui that had once forced him to flee.

He immediately formed a sword finger to the sky.

"Flawless Sword Domain!!!!!!"

Back then, the Divine Sword Sacred Lord had used this technique to block Elder Shui's attack and successfully escape.

Now, at this very moment, it was the same.

The Flawless Sword Domain opened, and only then could they clearly see the charging ferocious spirit.

It was the golden-winged great Peng bird that fed on dragons!!!

Fierce and savage!!

Only, the old Elder Shui once treated light as heavy, breaking then rebuilding; now he treated heavy as light.

He was no longer the same as in former days.

The golden-winged great Peng struck and directly smashed through the Divine Sword Sacred Lord's Flawless Sword Domain.

"How is this possible!!!?"

The Divine Sword Sacred Lord could not believe it in his heart. He knew that Shui Zongmin had been plagued by illnesses all these years, but he himself had been safe and sound, steadily improving his cultivation and strength. How could he be inferior to Shui Zongmin!!!

He refused to believe it!!!

Until the golden-winged Peng that Elder Shui manifested snatched him up.

In midair its talons tore him apart.

Rip, rip, rip.........

"Those who oppose Great Han, die. Those who disrespect Han's orders, die. Those who resist stubbornly, die without whole corpses!!!!"

Elder Shui's voice detonated across the long sky.

Under the shroud of blood mist, chunks of limbs and severed arms fell to the ground.

The Divine Sword Sacred Lord's essence, energy, and spirit were completely absorbed by the Feng Fierce Eight-Point Tower behind Elder Shui.

This is also one reason why the Martial Path of the Fierce God draws Heavenly Retribution.

Elder Shui landed.

He inhaled deeply; under his clothes his chest rose and fell noticeably, his complexion flushed, and even the marks of aging on his face were gradually fading.

This was another effect of the Martial Path of the Fierce God.

Rejuvenation.

But it was not all benefit.

Cultivating the Martial Path of the Fierce God brings Heavenly Retribution and accelerates the passage of years; once begun it cannot stop, and it only speeds up. One must kill more and more to fill the deficit, constantly making up the shortfall to freeze aging and avoid consequences.

Couple that with Elder Shui's previous grievous wounds and hard-to-treat damage.

That is why he once appeared so decrepit.

Not like many other Qi Refiners who remain young at a few hundred or even a few thousand years old.

Now that Elder Shui's injuries had mostly healed, the hunts driven by the Martial Path of the Fierce God were enough to let him slowly make up the deficit and turn back the clock.

This was the cruel, unforgivable side of the Martial Path of the Fierce God.

Of course, the Great-Grandmasters did not cultivate the Martial Path of the Fierce God and remained old because they followed the Dao of nature, and the aging brought by the passage of time was in harmony with that nature.

The Black-Robed Great-Grandmaster watched the battle's end and quietly said to Lu Ding, "See that?"

Lu Ding nodded. "I see it, purple qi from the east."

The Black-Robed Great-Grandmaster: "Pu-..."

He was speechless.

How the hell could that be purple qi coming from the east.

This was clearly murderous qi, red turning to black, black tinged with purple.

And you call it purple qi from the east.

The Black-Robed Great-Grandmaster: "You... you..."

Lu Ding turned his head. "What's wrong, Grandmaster?"

The Black-Robed Great-Grandmaster sighed. "Ah... Xiao Lu, you really speak so pleasantly."

No moves left, fine.

If even Xiao Lu thinks it's nothing, then whatever.

Elder Shui flew over and landed in front of the two, looking at Lu Ding. "Xiao Lu, will you blame me?"

Lu Ding shook his head. "Elder Shui, you act with your plans and considerations."

Elder Shui exhaled slowly. "But you didn't say you blamed me. It's not that I didn't want to send him back to the Divine Sword Sacred Land, it's that I couldn't let him return."

"Things must be done decisively, the path must be cut off. I just recovered; certain matters must be handled this way to let me reclaim that aloof position at the peak."

"Look at them, how afraid they are of me."

"Only by starting like this can they remember who I truly am. The tide of the times is fair, but I cannot simply fade away with it. Great Han needs me, and you need me. At the eye of the storm, who else but me!?"

Great Han always needs someone to stand in that position. Elder Shui's domineering nature would not allow anyone besides Lu Ding to take his old place, but Lu Ding is still young, so it has to be him!!!!

At that, Elder Shui's eyes cast, and without anger he radiated awe.

In an instant,

those investigators stood and saluted, and the sovereigns and leaders of various states bowed their heads and submitted.

Elder Shui patted Lu Ding's shoulder and had him step half a pace in front of him, while he himself retreated behind Lu Ding, shifting aside to reveal half his body.

Elder Shui's voice sounded behind Lu Ding.

"The more they fear me in the future, the more they will fawn over you."

Only Elder Shui, the speaker, and Lu Ding, the listener, knew the weight of those last four words.

"Do what I can."

Elder Shui had no sons or daughters his whole life.

No wife or concubines by his side.

He gave everything to Great Han.

After the long years confined to a wheelchair, though his original intention never changed and he wholeheartedly served Han, even if he did not consider himself, he should at least consider Lu Ding.

The Black-Robed Great-Grandmaster was right: Elder Shui had changed.

But he still had not changed for himself.

He simply split the whole he had devoted to Great Han and gave half to Lu Ding.

People often say that once someone has attachments, they gain weaknesses.

But Elder Shui's attachment made him even more violent and ferocious.

Lu Ding stood in front of Elder Shui. "You don't have to explain so much. You never blamed my lawlessness; you never blamed my brutality. I brought trouble to Great Han, and you never blamed me."

"Now, how could I possibly blame you."

Elder Shui laughed. "Hahahahahahahahahaha........."

As he laughed, the phantom images of the Martial Path of the Fierce God kept appearing behind him.

Qiongqi, Hundun, Taowu, Taotie, Golden-Winged Great Peng, Blood-Horn Roar, Kunpeng, Mysterious Turtle........and that half-broken eye whose pupil held sun and moon, a colossal being coiling through heaven and earth.

Elder Shui never lacked an upper limit; it was circumstance that had restrained the hero.

Others' Martial Path of the Fierce God was a path chosen out of desperation when the road ahead was unknown.

Elder Shui's Martial Path of the Fierce God was the newbie starter pack of a previous-generation chosen one.

From the Third Circle, the Qi Refiner, opening the first enlightenment stage, he had been Fierce God-chosen, just like Lu Ding's Way of the Jinche.

But what makes one and breaks one is fierce god.

Fortunately, he awaited Lu Ding's Heaven-Man Unity.

"Give me your hand."

Lu Ding reached out.

Elder Shui removed the thumb ring from his own hand and put it on Lu Ding's thumb, then gripped his wrist and raised it. "Dispatch the troops!!!!"

"Divine Sword Sacred Land!!!!!"