Chapter 135: Trials of Spear XII
"Solar Tyrant Spear Art—Final Sun Annihilation!"
The heavens themselves bent. The blazing spear stretched skyward, blotting out sight, its light threatening to incinerate everything in the arena. The crowd collapsed to their knees, unable to look directly at it.
But Tian Lei did not flinch.
His emerald death-god stepped forward, roots clawing through the shattered stone, vines latching onto fragments of the ruined stage to anchor him in the storm. His eyes were sharp, steady, burning with a cold inevitability.
"You burn..." Tian Lei whispered, his spear tilting downward, deathflame gathering like a storm of shadows. "But I bury."
Emerald qi detonated. His phantom swelled monstrously, hollow sockets blazing as it raised its colossal spear. From the cracks of the stage and the drifting rubble, countless emerald roots erupted—binding the air, chaining the light, forging a graveyard in the sky itself.
"Death-Dominion Spear Art—Funeral of Eternity!"
The air collapsed into silence.
Two legacies rose to their absolute peak—one a sun desperate to consume, the other a grave that swallowed all.
And then—
BOOOOOOMMMMMM
BOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
Sunfire and deathflame exploded into a cataclysm that split sky from earth. A golden star blossomed in the heavens, only to be strangled by a forest of emerald graves rising like a god’s hand to drag it down.
The barrier was gone. The arena was gone. Even the formation-carved mountains ringing the sect groaned, their peaks cracking, avalanches thundering down as if bowing to the duel’s wrath.
Disciples lay sprawled on the ground, their qi seas trembling, blood leaking from eyes and ears. Elders strained, protective veils collapsing under the pressure—yet still, they did not intervene. To interrupt this would be to defile history itself.
At the center of the maelstrom, two titans warred.
Long Aotian’s spear split suns with every thrust, arcs of molten brilliance carving reality into rivers of fire. His body burned, every pore weeping golden blood, his very flesh threatening to ignite as he roared in madness.
Tian Lei’s graveyard answered. Emerald phantoms swarmed—skeletal spearmen, root-clad reapers, the death-god colossus itself driving its lance through the heart of the sun. Every thrust of Tian Lei’s weapon was inevitability incarnate, the weight of endings, the silence that waits after all flames die.
KAAAAAAAAA-CRAAAAAAAASH!!!
The final clash devoured everything. Aotian’s spearhead, the size of a mountain, struck against Tian Lei’s grave-spear—a black-green abyss where light itself went to die.
For a single, eternity-long instant, the two forces froze.
Then the sun cracked.
Light shattered like glass, pouring away into fading motes. The war-avatar of the Sun Tyrant screamed silently before splitting down the middle, golden fire breaking into ash.
The emerald graveyard surged, devouring the collapse, binding it in roots, burying it beneath an eternal silence.
When the storm cleared—
Long Aotian knelt, his golden spear broken in half, blood soaking his robes, his body trembling like a collapsing star. His eyes blazed still, molten and unwilling, but his qi had burned to nothing.
Before him, Tian Lei stood. His death-god phantom towered tattered yet unbroken, its hollow sockets glowing like twin abysses. His spear was steady, aimed downward—its cold emerald tip resting at Aotian’s throat.
The sect was silent.
Even the winds dared not move.
Tian Lei’s voice came low, merciless, carrying across the ruined world:
"Long Aotian... your sun has set."
Long Aotian swayed, blood pouring from his lips, his body a husk of light about to collapse into darkness. His broken spear clattered against the shattered stone, ringing once like a funeral bell before falling silent.
Yet even on his knees, his glare did not fade. His molten eyes locked on Tian Lei with hate, pride, and the unbearable weight of defeat. His jaw clenched as if to spit out one last denial—yet no words came. Only blood.
The sect held its breath.
And then—it was done.
The war-avatar dissolved into golden ash. The phantom of death loomed alone, wings of roots spread wide, its presence heavier than the mountains themselves. Tian Lei lowered his spear a fraction, the victory absolute.
The dueling master finally raised his hand. His voice, heavy with something between awe and dread, echoed over the ruined sect grounds:
"The duel is decided. Tian Lei... is the victor."
The words struck like thunder.
Disciples screamed, some in disbelief, others in ecstasy, their voices clashing like crashing waves. Elders bowed their heads, the more ambitious of them tightening their fists, veins bulging with envy and desire. For in that instant—it was clear.
What had transpired on the stage was not a battle between mere disciples.
Two mortals had dueled, yet what the world had witnessed... was something else.
The disciples whispered in shaken voices:
"Impossible..."
"No mortal qi could endure that..."
"Damn... what was that? I was so mesmerized, I didn’t get it—we’re all just ants compared to them."
"Y-Yeah... the sort of thing you say, but how the fuck did they bring this much destruction so easily?"
"Maybe... maybe it’s this trial’s side-realm. Maybe it’s the world itself that allowed such things. That’s why, even with just mortal qi, they were able to unleash power like that," one disciple muttered, and others nodded. After all, this wasn’t the real sect grounds, only a trial world—the rules here might not be the same.
An elder finally stepped forward, his voice grave yet firm."You have proven yourself, Tian Lei. You may now climb the Soaring Dragon Peak and claim its legacy—if you can."
As he spoke, a stairway of stone manifested, descending from the heavens. Tian Lei gazed at it silently before moving forward. Step by step, he began ascending the staircase, his figure swallowed by the light above.
The disciples craned their necks, frustrated whispers rising."Damn it... I thought we’d at least get to see what legacy he obtained!""I guess not. The moment he stepped into that light, it was already his."
Grumbling spread through the crowd, but the elder cut them off with a sharp gesture. "Enough. The trial is over. Tian Lei has claimed his right. You may return to the sect with what insights you’ve gained."
Murmurs faded. Though their hearts burned with envy and curiosity, none could deny the truth. Tian Lei had already taken the legacy. In this strange trial world, no one else could contest it now.