Chapter 2692: To Prove This! Ignite Hope
Wu Kuang and the others sank completely into it. Although time had passed and things had changed, they could recognize it—that was their Shenwu Star!
Originally, the Shenwu Clan had developed well, following their normal trajectory forward!
But one day, the peace was shattered. Spirit Voids appeared across the Shenwu continent, spirit beasts ran rampant, and a spirit calamity ravaged the world!
Countless Shenwu clansmen were devoured by beasts, their homes destroyed and families lost. They refused to accept this fate, so they organized their forces to fight back, swearing to defend their homeland to the death!
But the spirit beasts were too strong. Even though the martial artists possessed the ability to move mountains and cut through wind, they were no match for the spirit beasts!
To protect their homeland, they began to seek other paths, cultivating through spiritual energy, combining it with martial arts, and strengthening their own power!
Bit by bit, they reclaimed control of the Shenwu continent from the claws of the spirit beasts!
Jiang Nan watched coldly from the sidelines. This script was all too familiar!
And how many other races had the same script played out for?
Some might say that without the Holy Star bringing spiritual energy, how could these races have gained such powerful strength?
But the question is… did the original Shenwu Clan need this?
They were living well before, happy, peaceful, and prosperous!
And all of this was forced upon them by the Holy Star!
War brought not only progress but more pain and death!
The Eighteen-Star Martial warriors were completely stunned. How was this different from what history said?
Weren't the Spirit Voids supposed to bring abundant food sources and cultivation resources to the barren Shenwu continent?
But the truth was so bloody and brutal!
The Shenwu clansmen were the food of the spirit beasts!
Wu Kuang's eyes turned red. He knew! All of this was real. The figures in those scenes were all ancestors of the Shenwu Clan!
There was no way to fake this!
As time passed, the Shenwu Clan grew stronger and gradually came to understand the truth behind the spiritual energy revival and the Holy Star's purpose!
How could they be willing to become slave seeds just like that?
Why should they?
Countless Shenwu ancestors rose up to fight back, one after another, even staining the earth red with blood, just to defend the freedom in their hearts!
The Shenwu Clan would never submit to anyone!
The Star Ruins War began. The Bose race was too strong. Exhausting all the Shenwu Clan's power, they couldn't even manage to injure a single Bose body!
Just as the Shenwu Clan was about to face defeat—
Beneath the Shenwu Imperial Capital, a dazzling golden light soared up!
It was a figure unfamiliar to all Shenwu clansmen. No one remembered him!
His clothes were tattered, his body thin and bony, his legs severed, his hair a mess, and even his eyes were blind!
Even more shocking was that this old man, who looked like a beggar, was merely a mortal!
There was no trace of spiritual energy cultivation on his body, yet the power he unleashed startled everyone!
Golden radiance blazed from his broken body, forming a Heaven-Transcending Martial God Body, clad in golden battle armor, majestic and imposing!
With this Martial God Body, he actually fought against the Bose race, his power terrifying beyond belief!
Jiang Nan and Wu Zang's eyes went wide!
This was a pure manifestation of will?
Damn! With Jiang Nan and Wu Zang's strength, condensing a Will Blade was already their limit. This old man had actually condensed a Divine Body from will!
Will becoming a god?
A mortal body going toe-to-toe with a Bose body without falling behind?
Sigh—
What kind of bug old man is this?
That Holy Star Bose said, "It's this old man. Crazy strong, absolutely insane. He doesn't use spiritual energy attacks—he uses a power we can't understand!"
Others might not recognize this old man, but someone did. The Era Lord of the Shenwu Clan, the Shenwu Emperor, remembered!
This old man was extremely famous even before the spiritual energy revival, even earning the title of Martial God!
Once, young and hot-blooded, he came to the imperial capital to challenge the Emperor, but narrowly lost, his martial arts completely crippled. He left in defeat.
With his former glory gone, his old enemies cut off his legs and gouged out his eyes, reducing him to a beggar in the capital!
The Shenwu Emperor thought he had long since died, never expected him to still be alive!
The Shenwu Emperor was filled with shock: "Old friend… why… why didn't you cultivate with spiritual energy? With your talent, perhaps…"
But the blind old man laughed maniacally: "We martial artists, how could we accept the crumbs of others? The things brought by those so-called gods—I don't want a single bit of them!"
"The path of martial arts alone is enough! You blacksmith! Come on! In the past, we were mortal enemies, and I narrowly lost to you. Today, you and I fight side by side!"
"Let me see how much skill you've got, cultivating with that damn spiritual energy!"
"Since you sit in that position, you cannot lose! Just like you once defeated me, defeat them too!"
The old man's body was already collapsing from the strain of the will's eruption!
The grievously wounded Shenwu Emperor reignited his passion, burning everything he had as he charged into the sky!
"You damned butcher! Don't die before me! The two of us will cut down these bastards together! Fight!"
Former mortal enemies, now comrades in arms, the two joined hands to confront the Bose body!
What a stirring, tragic scene it was!
But reality was cruel. Until the Shenwu Emperor died, he hadn't managed to harm the Bose body in the slightest!
To them, the Bose body was despairingly powerful!
The blind old man's body could no longer bear the burden, nearing its limit!
Yet he still exerted every ounce of strength to unleash his will. He knew he couldn't win!
But he still wanted to prove one thing!
Roars echoed across the Shenwu continent!
"I, Ning Changge, have always believed I am inferior to no one, whether the one before me is a human or a god!"
"This battle—the Shenwu Clan's defeat is certain, and becoming slave seeds is inevitable! But even if we become slave seeds!"
"Our heads can be cut off, our blood can be spilled, but our proud bones must never yield!"
"What cannot be settled in my heart—a single stirring emotion—the eight directions shift, and the stars move!"
"Future generations! Remember this day forever! Remember today's humiliation! When the time comes, fight back!"
"All of you, open your eyes wide and watch! The martial way lies in the will!"
Ning Changge's body was completely shattered by the erupting will. All his spirit, obsession, and battle intent condensed into a single world-shaking punch that smashed down!
The Bose body quickly ascended dimensions to dodge!
But that punch landed, shattering the mountains and rivers of the Shenwu continent. A thousand miles of space broke apart like a mirror, golden radiance illuminating the world, thunderous roars like thunder!
What a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering punch that was!
Even more terrifying was that even hiding in the fourth dimension, the Bose body was injured!
Most of its body was shattered, nearly dying on the spot!
It was only by relying on the Bose race's innate talent that it barely held on to its life!
That punch smashed through the void!
In heaven and earth, there was no longer any trace of Ning Changge, and even the ethereal golden radiance dissipated!
Only a defiant and disdainful voice remained, drifting in the wind!
"Heh~ Gods... nothing special…"
Those were Ning Changge's final words!
Wu Zang and Jiang Nan were stunned!
So this was the terror of Will Power? Even hiding in the fourth dimension got shattered?
What was even more shocking was that Ning Changge was merely a mortal, using his own pure will to fight the Bose race to such an extent!
Jiang Nan's skin crawled with goosebumps!
Not only humans—every race had their own heroes, their own stories!
Passionate, stirring, and epic!
The pen in hand could never write all the heroic figures under heaven!
Each of them, in their own era, in their own life, radiated a brilliance that the blazing sun could not overshadow!
Like lighthouses in the darkness, guiding future generations to follow in their footsteps!
The Eighteen-Star Martial warriors were as silent as the dead. Wu Kuang sat collapsed on the ground, tears streaming hotly from his eyes!
Jiang Nan's voice was hoarse: "Do you know why Ning Changge told everyone to open their eyes wide and watch?"
"Do you know what he wanted to prove in the end, even knowing he would lose?"
"What he wanted to prove was that even the self-proclaimed gods of the Bose race are not omnipotent, not invincible! He could do it, and you, who are also of the Shenwu Clan, can do it too!"
"With his own life, he ignited hope for you who were about to face the darkness! He is worthy of the title Martial God!"
Wu Kuang completely broke down. He grabbed his own hair, roaring at the sky, shaking!
Was this the hidden truth? The forgotten history of the Shenwu Clan?
The Shenwu ancestors had clearly given everything to resist the Bose race, to fight for freedom!
Yet the current Shenwu Clan had forgotten all of it! Who remembered any of this? Who remembered Ning Changge?
Remembered the world-shattering punch that crushed the void?
What proud bones did the Shenwu Clan have left? They had long become the Bose race's dogs, fawning, flattering, and revering these mortal enemies who had slaughtered their ancestors!
Treating them as gods to worship, taking their divine decrees as the sole will, striving with all their might to fulfill them?
This was an insult to the deceased ancestors!
Wu Kuang's eyes cracked at the corners, his fists nearly crushed to dust!
"What in the hell have I been doing! What kind of damn things have I been doing!"
At this moment, Wu Kuang was furious beyond reason. He charged forward recklessly!
He slammed hard into the railing, bending it out of shape, reached out, grabbed Naraku, and dragged him over!
Choking his neck, his expression twisted like a demon!
"Why did you do this! Why does the Shenwu Clan deserve to be treated like this! What did we do wrong?"
"To hell with your gods! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
He almost strangled Naraku to death!
Naraku struggled frantically: "It wasn't me! I didn't do this! Let me go! Boss Nan, save me! Save me! I'm your hostage, I still have value, you can't let him kill me!"
Just as Naraku was about to be finished off by Wu Kuang, Jiang Nan stepped forward and pulled Naraku away!
"This is my hostage. If you want to kill one, catch one yourself!"
Wu Kuang's hatred for the Bose race had reached its peak. Seeing Naraku about to be pulled away, he didn't care—he bit down hard on Naraku's shoulder!
He tore off a piece of jelly, chewed it up, and spat it out!
Only then did Jiang Nan pull Naraku out. Naraku curled up in fear on the side!
"Mad dogs! A bunch of mad dogs!"
At this moment, none of the Eighteen Shenwu warriors could hold back. However much they had once believed in the gods, now they hated them just as much! The servant race had been completely deceived!
Sold out and still counting money for their father's murderers—how could they not be furious?