Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 772 – End of Life

The sword light was like a torrent. It tore through the world, annihilating all life.

A cold light flashed in the dark star ice serpent’s eyes. With its strength, how could it willingly be treated as a target dummy and be stabbed at 13 times?

If it allowed this, it naturally had its own reasons. Now the moment of the spirit lizard attacking with all its strength that the dark star ice serpent had been waiting for had finally arrived.

The time was now!

Kacha –

Kacha –

The layer of ice on its body had withstood 13 continuous strikes from the spirit lizard without showing any signs of collapse. But now it suddenly shattered and fell off on its own accord.

Yet these broken ice shards didn’t fall to the ground. Instead, they were wrapped up by an invisible strength and floated high in the air.

The dark star ice serpent roared. The ice shards flew out to meet the surging current of sword light. There were gaps between the shards of broken ice, and at this time an extra translucent blue layer of film appeared between them.

Each ice shard acted as its own node, supporting a giant net that wrapped around the endless sword light.

The spirit lizard’s complexion changed. In the next moment, the deep blue net fell down, pulling the sword light down with it.

Rumble rumble –

There was a low and deep sound, like the roaring of thunder in the distance. One could see through the thin blue film between the ice shards and observe the sword light wildly erupting within. Besides that, there was nothing else.

The Limitless Sword Sect fell completely silent!

Whether it was their supporters of the sect cultivators, they subconsciously widened their eyes. Their faces were full of disbelief.

This was a completely one-sided battle, without any chances of success.

The dark star ice serpent actually possessed such terrifying strength. The sword sect’s spirit lizard was strong, but the two spirit beasts didn’t even stand on the same playing field.

This was defeat!

At this point, everyone understood that from the very start this battle was already over. Or to be more accurate, the result of the arena finals was already decided.

It wasn’t just the Limitless Sword Sect. The cultivators of Moonkeep Tower and Radiance Temple, as well as their numerous supporters, also felt the same thing in their hearts.

Bang –

With a loud explosion, the ice shards blew apart to reveal the thin figure of the spirit lizard within. The sword sect robes it wore were now tattered and in pieces, with only strips left hanging from its body.

On its exposed body, large tracts of scales were shattered. Wounds of varying severity crisscrossed it. Because there was still sword intent lingering around its wounds, it wasn’t able to regenerate for the time being. Blood freely flowed out, dripping to the ground.

Soon, a shallow pool of blood formed on the ground, making the spirit lizard’s condition seem even more dire.

Hu –

The Sword Sect Master stood up. He took a deep breath and said, “Today, we – !”

Before he could finish speaking, he was silenced by a stern look from the spirit lizard. The Sword Sect Master frowned and said, “A loss is a loss. The Limitless Sword Sect hasn’t yet fallen to the point where we need you to risk your life to maintain our position. Moreover, what does it matter if we are defeated today? In the future we will have a chance to regain everything.”

The spirit lizard shook its head, “I don’t have much longer to live.”

The Sword Sect Master stiffened. “That’s impossible. With your strength, living for at least 10,000 years is simple.”

The spirit lizard revealed a warm and gentle look. It shook its head and said, “I am just an ordinary lizard beast. I had the good fortune of being able to follow by the side of the old Sword Sect Master to cultivate, and I was lucky enough to open up my spiritual wisdom and step onto the path of swordsmanship. But when I became a cultivator, I had already reached the end of an ordinary lizard beast’s lifespan. To have lived for 5000 years is already a gift from the heavens.

“That is why I asked to participate in this year’s Beast King War, because this is the last thing I can do for the Sword Sect and also the only way I can repay the Sword Sect.

“Do not stop me…this battle is the summary of my life. If I can die in this battle, that will be the best result for me.”

The Sword Sect Master clenched his fists. He used his formidable willpower to stop his shaking hands. He looked at the resolute spirit lizard and said, “Good, then I won’t stop you!”

The spirit lizard nodded, “Thank you.” It looked back and turned to the dark star ice serpent. All of the warmth and gentleness in its eyes disappeared, and all that was left was a solemn dignity. “Your strength is far greater than I expected. You indeed have the qualifications to become the leader of the arena.

“But I have my own reasons for why I must keep going. Even if I don’t have much of a chance, I will still fight with everything I have. I hope that you do not pity me, and that we can fight an open and honest battle. Otherwise, you will regret it, because I am going to utilize a secret art that will allow me to erupt with an extremely formidable strength for a brief period of time.”

The dark star ice serpent’s lips moved and a guttural sound came from its mouth. “I will satisfy your final wish!”

The spirit lizard smiled. “Wonderful.” It raised its sword. The tattered robes that hung on its body were shredded to pieces by an invisible strength.

Puff –

Puff –

A massive amount of blood sprayed out from the wounds all over it. Using this method, it forced out the remaining sword intent in its body.

As the wounds closed, the spirit lizard’s aura started to rise at an astonishing rate. The air turned dry and hot, leaving those watching with parched mouths.

At this moment, even though it didn’t give off any light, everyone felt as if the spirit lizard had become the incarnation of a great flaming sun.

Even through the barrier of the arena, everyone could feel the scorching heat in the air.

The dark star ice serpent quickly coiled its body together. The silver-white horn on its head began to shine.

The temperature around its body wildly fell and massive chunks of spinning ice formed in the air. The ground quickly turned a frost white color, rapidly accumulating and thickening. Soon, a dense layer of frost and snow formed.

With the center of the martial field as the dividing point, two different worlds seemed to appear. On one side, it was like a blazing sun was burning everything. On the other side, it seemed as if an eternal night of frost and snow had arrived.

They stood in sharp opposition to each other!

Where the burning heat and cold ice met, a crackling and sizzling sound constantly erupted. Plumes of white mist rose up. But, this mist wasn’t able to spread out. When it approached the spirit lizard it instantly evaporated and when it approached the dark star ice serpent it was directly frozen into ice.

The atmosphere was heavy, like space itself had been frozen. Although the battle between the phoenix luan and moon praying beast was still underway, almost everyone’s eyes were drawn here.

Shua –

Without warning, the spirit lizard’s sword slashed down. Because it couldn’t completely control the tremendous amount of strength within its body, the moment it attacked, sword intent vented outwards and created a vision.

It was like a golden crow flew out from the great sun. Its wings were launched outwards. Wherever it flew past, space distorted and cracked.

Hu –

Flames appeared from thin air, making the image of the golden crow even clearer. When it broke into the world of frost and snow, it was like boiling oil being tossed into a vat of ice water.

A violent reaction erupted. There was a sharp grating sound that caused everyone’s scalps to tingle!

The ice that gently fell down from the skies suddenly turned wild and dangerous. It quickly gathered together, forming claws of ice and snow that grasped at the golden crow sword light.

But the golden crow was too strong. After the ice claws bumped into it, they instantly dissolved. The sword light continued rushing towards the dark star ice serpent with unstoppable force.

The spirit lizard looked up. It took a step forward and then hurtled forth.

Its sword was raised high. A radiant sword light erupted, covering its body. It became one with its sword as it flew forwards like an arrow. It followed in the wake of the golden crow sword light and recklessly burning flames, breaking into the world of snow and ice.

The spirit lizard’s secret art was formed by combining a forbidden technique of the Limitless Sword Sect with its own natural talent. After using it, its strength would experience a drastic rise, but it wasn’t able to keep this state up for too long.

So the spirit lizard couldn’t calmly wait like the dark star ice serpent did. It needed to end this battle in the shortest time possible.

Everyone thought that this would be a fierce struggle between two evenly matched opponents, but this actually wasn’t the case. This was because the spirit lizard had decided that victory or defeat would be determined in the next few breaths of time. Perhaps it would win by luck or perhaps it would die here.

Following behind the golden crow, the spirit lizard’s gaze was calm. It adjusted its breathing and the sword intent in its body reached the peak.

This would be its life’s strongest sword strike!

Pa –

Rushing ahead and tearing open the ice and cold in its way to create a channel, the golden crow sword light was finally exhausted of strength. It shattered and started to disappear.

But it had completed its mission. Because the dark star ice serpent’s figure had appeared in front of the spirit lizard; it was extremely close.

It was close enough that with its next sword strike, it could erupt with its complete strength.

So, the spirit lizard lifted its sword and stabbed out.

At this moment, the world seemed to lose color. All that remained was this sword light that penetrated through space. It was so dazzling and bright that it was almost impossible to look directly at it.

Air was torn asunder. Pitch black lines appeared, rapidly spreading forwards with irresistible momentum.

The spirit lizard gasped for breath. This sword strike had emptied its body of strength. A feeling of weakness flooded it. Its field of vision blurred and darkness flashed.

It knew that because it used this secret art and wildly erupted with its strength, its predestined time of death had been forced to arrive earlier. But, its eyes were still wide and it forcefully maintained consciousness. It was determined to see the result of its life’s strongest sword strike.

The sword light cut at the dark star ice serpent. The black lines formed in space touched it. Then, a rich dark light appeared around the dark star ice serpent. It was deep black, as if it had been gathered and concentrated from the darkness of the infinite abyss.

Like an opening maw, it swallowed the sword light. The darkness fiercely tumbled about for several moments before calming down.

It was over like that?

The people in the arena that were dumbfounded by the might of the dying spirit lizard’s final sword strike were all left wide-eyed. Their faces were filled with disbelief. They had clearly sensed the formidable strength contained in that sword strike, and it was because of this that they were shocked.

The darkness diverged to reveal the figure of the dark star ice serpent. Its eyes were a bit weary. It looked down at the spirit lizard that had fallen over.

The spirit lizard had a bit of self-ridicule on its face, as well as some gratitude. Before its body struck the floor, it had already closed its eyes.

One side had died; the result of the battle was clear. The strength that isolated the arena instantly vanished.

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