Celestial Dragon Sword Venerable

"An ant is just an ant. Nothing more!"

The Taotie Divine Beast roared with savage fury.

It unleashed its Devouring Divine Talent, a power that seemed capable of swallowing the heavens and devouring the earth.

Ye Tianling tilted his head back slightly.

He could no longer see. His eyes were hollow sockets. The blood-red flames that once burned within them were now extinguished, leaving only withered exhaustion and silent extinction.

But what did that matter?

"Go. Drink your fill of Divine Blood!"

Ye Tianling relaxed his grip on the Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword, releasing all his restraints and every tether of his soul.

In that moment, Ye Tianling gave the Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword no Energy.

He had no Energy left to give.

But he did impart one thing to the Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword—his will.

A will that would, without fail, drink its fill of Divine Blood.

’You are the Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword! You are the Xuanyuan Sword, the Unparalleled Divine Artifact of the entire Huaxia civilization, the entire Immortal Buddha Divine Clan civilization!’

’You were meant to kill men, to kill demons, to kill gods.’

’To you, all beings in this world are nothing more than ants.’

Ye Tianling murmured in his heart.

The connection between his mind, his soul, and the Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword in his hand was severed.

And yet, the bond wasn’t completely broken. Instead, it grew even more profound, more concentrated.

SWOOSH—

The Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword unleashed an impossibly tyrannical, heaven-defying strike.

With that one strike, it pierced straight through the small pocket of space, which was already on the verge of collapse.

RUMBLE—

The supreme killing intent of the Taotie Divine Beast Battle Soul rained down. Its Devouring Power surged forth like a tidal wave, but the Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword shot up from below and ran it straight through.

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

It burst like a popped balloon, exploding in an instant as flesh and blood scattered everywhere.

It tried to reform, to use its Nirvana Rebirth Talent, but the Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword’s killing intent flared, each new strike more vicious than the one before.

SCHLICK! SCHLICK! SCHLICK!

Again and again, the sword reduced the Taotie Divine Beast to a bloody pulp, and it shrieked incessantly.

All of this happened in the span of a single breath.

Meanwhile, a look of shock appeared in the withered old woman’s eyes.

Clearly, Ye Tianling was already a spent force, and yet now...

At this moment, the Saint Masters of the Four Great Dragon Clans were utterly shaken by the scene, the impact jarring their minds and souls.

Tears streamed from Long Qingwan’s eyes, her delicate frame trembling.

Shuddering and choking back sobs, she silently knelt before Ye Tianling and performed the three kneelings and nine kowtows.

She said nothing.

She couldn’t have spoken even if she’d wanted to.

What was the point of kowtowing now?

If she had known this would be the outcome, why had she acted as she did?

Ye Tianling could not see with his eyes, but his Soul Talent had grown immensely powerful. It was a Passive Talent, largely unrelated to his body’s weakness.

His hollow, blood-stained eyes nevertheless turned toward the spot where Long Qingwan knelt.

After Long Qingwan knelt and completed the three kneelings and nine kowtows, Long Fengyang, Long Xuanji, and Long Wentian all knelt down in succession.

One after another, they too performed the three kneelings and nine kowtows.

Their pride?

They had no pride left.

They didn’t need it.

They needed nothing now.

They didn’t even dare to think about whether they would be allowed to live after this.

They kowtowed willingly, their hearts a storm of complex emotions.

They weren’t kowtowing to beg for Ye Tianling’s forgiveness, nor was it a calculated ploy to save their own lives. It was simply to ease the ache in their hearts. The catastrophe that had nearly exterminated the Cyan Dragon Race, the deaths of tens of thousands of their kin... the grief was gut-wrenching.

The mistake of one person had led to the annihilation of a generation of their race’s elite!

As Clan Leaders, as Saint Masters of a Holy Land, they could not escape the blame.

...

After slaying the Taotie Divine Beast’s Void Body projection, the Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword did not devour its Essence, Qi, and Soul. Instead, it gathered all of it, and after a process of Refinement, it fed the energy back.

This Divine Energy didn’t enter the Demon Heart Sword Body. Instead, it flowed past it and into the withered, crippled, and ruined flesh within—into Ye Tianling’s true body.

A surge of Divine Energy coalesced, and like Withered Wood Welcoming Spring, a sliver of life returned to Ye Tianling’s ruined body.

But then, that surge of energy vanished. And though a massive torrent of energy followed, Ye Tianling couldn’t absorb a single drop.

That energy also bypassed the Demon Heart Sword Body, sinking instead into the Space-Time Soul-locking Tower deep within his brow before disappearing completely.

After the Taotie Divine Beast’s Battle Soul was slaughtered again, Ye Tianling’s Soul Talent Sensing perceived that the sword’s luster had dimmed.

The power it had unleashed had damaged its very Origin, and its quality had clearly declined.

Ye Tianling sighed. With a wave of his hand, the Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword flew back and landed in his grasp.

*Whimper—*

It was like the pleading of a spoiled child, a tearful cry begging him—*Please don’t cut your connection to me, okay?*

*I’ll be very good and obedient.*

It seemed to be a voice originating from the depths of his soul.

A voice that came from the Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword.

"I won’t. So long as you exist, I exist. If you’re gone, then so am I."

Ye Tianling gently stroked the blade. The Unparalleled Divine Artifact now lay peacefully in his hands, gradually falling silent.

In a single battle, all his trump cards had been either damaged or destroyed.

’But do I have any regrets?’

’I do.’

’And I don’t.’

’I regret not undergoing Demonization sooner.’

’I have no regrets because, no matter what, I’ve gotten justice for my parents, for Tianyu and Tianmo, for Yuchan and Yueling.’

Now, the Dragon Race’s Ancient Dao battlefield had been torn asunder. This core Enlightenment Land, this proving ground, was utterly destroyed.

It was akin to destroying the entire heritage of a race.

"Sigh..."

Seeing that Ye Tianling was conscious, the withered old woman sighed and said, "From this day forward, the Four Great Dragon Clans shall honor you as the First Divine Child. This status shall not change for ten thousand years."

Ye Tianling acted as if he hadn’t heard.

He had no desire to deal with them anyway.

’Ouyang Ruoxue was right.’

’These people are so infuriating.’

"Have you lost heart? Or are you just so old and decrepit you can’t move? Need me to help you cross the street, Grandpa?"

The Little Dragon Girl’s voice—sassy yet cute, ethereal and sweet—resounded in Ye Tianling’s mind.

At the same time, a little girl who looked to be four or five years old appeared, floating before Ye Tianling’s eyes. She looked like a tiny elf with transparent wings, dressed in a blood-red princess gown.

Ye Tianling found that as the Little Dragon Girl spoke, it was as if his eyes were emerging from a black fog, seeing a long-lost light.

"Little Dragon Girl, you’re not... not dead?"

Ye Tianling’s voice trembled, and his aged, decaying body began to shudder.

His shattered heart—and the Nine-Orifice Exquisite Demon Heart that had regrown in its place—began to throb with an uncontrollable excitement.

"A girl as cute as me could never die, of course! If I died, who would go with you to rescue your own little cutie, huh? Right?"

The Little Dragon Girl giggled, tilting her head. She fluttered her incredibly cute, large eyes, constantly winking coquettishly at Ye Tianling.