Chapter 341: Returning to One
A golden dragon appeared in the night sky. A dragon's roar tore through the darkness. A stream of dragon's breath crushed the entire grassland.
Countless demon beasts prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling and afraid to move—even the most powerful and proud Fanged Mountain Beasts were no exception. Any beast that dared to look up instantly exploded into a mist of blood. As for the serpent-dragons that had survived the battle, they trembled so violently they seemed ready to twist themselves into bloody chunks as an act of suicidal devotion.
Because this was a dragon. This was a being far more exalted than the Golden-Winged Roc, a truly supreme existence, nearly divine.
The divine fire in the Golden-Winged Roc's eyes still blazed wildly, yet also burned with an eerie stillness. It stared at the golden dragon rising from the tomb, erupting with fierce battle intent. Born from light itself, how could it fear blinding radiance? Its very life was meant to challenge the authority of dragons and phoenixes—how could it fear the pressure radiating from that golden dragon? And besides... ten thousand swords forming a dragon—was that truly a real dragon?
A savage cry tore across the sky. The Golden-Winged Roc shot toward the tomb like a meteor, its passage distorting the very heavens above the grassland. As it extended its twin claws, dozens of miles of prairie seemed to be lifted into the air! It intended to pierce straight through the golden dragon's skull with those sky-rending talons!
The golden dragon formed from ten thousand swords soared upward. Its dragon eyes were indifferent, proud and cold. Its whiskers danced, shattering the lightning bolts high in the sky into fragments. It radiated supreme majesty and light, yet strangely, its dragon's breath carried a profound chill. In an instant, heavy snow began to fall from the sky around the tomb!
At that moment, the divine fire in the Golden-Winged Roc's eyes flickered—both from the extreme cold in the dragon's breath and from a shocking realization: this dragon formed from ten thousand swords was a true dragon! Even more terrifying, this sword-dragon carried two kinds of draconic might! The Golden Dragon and the Frost Dragon—the most powerful, noble, and sacred of the dragon race, yet also the most irreconcilable enemies—had achieved perfect unity within this sword-dragon!
In this instant, this dragon of ten thousand swords was even stronger than the Golden Dragon or the Frost Dragon alone!
The golden dragon and the Golden-Winged Roc met high in the sky, converging amidst the blizzard!
A furious, unwilling cry of anguish rang through the heavens, followed by a pained roar!
The Golden-Winged Roc's right claw shattered instantly. The vast shadow it cast across the sky was torn open by the dragon of ten thousand swords!
But the golden dragon also suffered a terrifying wound from the Roc's talons!
Countless beams of light wavered in chaos. The Golden-Winged Roc's blood gushed forth like golden jade nectar, splashing onto the grassland and burning wildly, incinerating thousands of demon beasts. Then it transformed into a hurricane, rampaging everywhere, churning up endless soil.
Blizzard and wildfire danced and intertwined across heaven and earth.
The golden dragon roared and charged at the Golden-Winged Roc again, its jaws gaping wide as if to swallow the entire world!
A thunderous boom!
Golden light blazed across the sky. The darkness of night vanished instantly.
The grassland before the tomb sank an entire layer—dozens of miles in radius, ten zhang deep.
Countless demon beasts perished in that instant.
Grass and stone were ground to dust.
Even the highest cliffs of the tomb crumbled, several boulders tumbling down with thunderous rumbles into the prairie. Everywhere, there was the sound of tearing air, the creaking of space barely holding together, the clash of divine might, and the screams of dying beasts—until finally, a savage dragon roar erupted!
That dragon roar was so clear and far-reaching, as if it came from ancient times, yet also felt newborn—proud and domineering beyond measure!
Ten thousand swords became a dragon, devoured heaven and earth, and ate the Golden-Winged Roc!
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No one knew how much time passed. The blizzard gradually thinned, snowflakes drifting slowly down. The chaotic, violent sounds faded away, and the grassland finally regained some peace. The tens of thousands of surviving demon beasts looked up in fear and unease. The sky was clear, though snow fell without snow clouds. The vast shadow that had covered the sky for so long had vanished.
A tiny black speck drifted down from the high sky, like a falling leaf. After a long time, it reached the ground with a soft pat—barely noticeable compared to the violent uproar of the earlier battle.
What fell from the sky to the ground was Nanke. She crashed heavily into the earth, spitting out mouthfuls of blood. She landed right before the tomb, at the beginning of the divine path.
Chen Changsheng looked down at her. It wasn't intentional, but naturally, he held the high ground.
He knew that after defeating the Golden-Winged Roc, the ten thousand swords were battered and exhausted, but some things still needed to be finished.
He raised his arm, pointing at Nanke below on the divine path, and silently willed the word: Go.
The sky above the tomb suddenly brightened again. Led by the short sword, the ten thousand swords turned and descended, stabbing toward Nanke.
Still a dragon, though its color was slightly paler than before.
The demon general couple stood before Nanke. They exchanged a glance, seeing determination and regret in each other's eyes. In truth, earlier, when the Sword Pool had appeared and the ten thousand swords hovered around Chen Changsheng, they had exchanged the same look—only regret and determination then. At that moment, they had vaguely understood that the Strategist's plan for the Garden of Zhou had completely failed. No matter how well the Strategist could calculate, no matter how powerful Nanke was or what hidden tricks she had, they couldn't deal with this human youth's endless string of miraculous encounters.
It wasn't a failure of strategy—it was fate.
They felt Chen Changsheng's luck was too good.
The determination in their eyes when they exchanged glances came from the fact that, at this moment, they had to break through their limits. Only by restoring their true strength could they find a sliver of opportunity. But in the Garden of Zhou, once they restored their cultivation level, it meant death.
Ten thousand swords, like a dragon, descended from the sky to the ground.
They stood before Nanke. Their auras surged, instantly becoming terrifying, like true mountains.
This was the peak of the Star-Gathering realm, though in the Snow-City, they didn't call it that.
Black armor covered their bodies. From this moment on, they were no longer an ordinary middle-aged couple, no longer Teng Xiaoming and Liu Wan'er, but the 23rd and 24th Demon Generals.
The ten thousand swords arrived, slashing toward Nanke.
The demon general couple stood in front of her.
The dragon's head spewed dragon's breath, bringing endless light.
In that light, nothing could be seen—only sounds could be heard.
Countless dense hissing sounds—the friction and cutting of swords against armor, iron rods, and iron pots.
What was called dragon's breath was the sharp intent of the swords.
No one knew how much time passed. The golden dragon let out a long, ambiguous cry, completed its attack, and turned back toward the tomb.
Teng Xiaoming and Liu Wan'er stood before Nanke, quietly gazing at each other.
Their black armor was shattered, their stone-hard bodies covered in sword scars.
Teng Xiaoming looked at her calmly and said, "Sorry, I can't go back to the homeland with you to farm and watch the sunset."
Liu Wan'er replied, "I'm the one who should apologize. If I hadn't insisted on going back to our hometown, we'd still be at the front lines right now, instead of being killed here so absurdly by a dragon."
Teng Xiaoming said nothing.
Liu Wan'er continued, "The sunset back home is much more beautiful than the sun here, but after seeing it for so long, it gets boring."
Teng Xiaoming said, "Yes, the scene of ten thousand swords turning into a dragon earlier was quite beautiful."
As they spoke, several bolts of lightning struck down from the sky.
To block the savage blow of the ten-thousand-sword dragon for Nanke, the demon general couple had simultaneously raised their cultivation to the peak of the Star-Gathering realm. The rules of the Garden of Zhou sensed this and began to attack. They didn't dodge, because they were already dead. To block the sword-dragon, they had used a self-destruct technique—they were doomed.
The heavenly thunder kept crashing down, seeming rather foolish.
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...
The ten thousand swords returned to the tomb. In a blaze of light, Chen Changsheng reached out and grasped the short sword.
But the ten thousand swords didn't disperse. Instead, they surged toward him, as if trying to kill him.
Countless sword cries arose, one after another, unending.
He instinctively closed his eyes.
After a moment, the sword cries vanished. Silence fell.
He opened his eyes. The ten thousand swords were gone.
Only the short sword remained in his hand.
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(Thank you all for restraining your impulse and anger over the past two days without cursing me out. Old readers know that when I write climaxes, I always prefer to finish them in one go. I'm even more anxious than the readers to get that scene out. But times are different now—oil, salt, tea, rice, sauce, vinegar, and tea, especially with the New Year approaching, there are many preparations to make. I'm a middle-aged man; there's no way around it. With this, the first wave of the Garden of Zhou climax ends here. Tomorrow, the second wave will immediately unfold. Wave after wave—that was my self-imposed requirement when I conceived this section last year. I love many scenes in this battle. There's not much novelty, but they're truly magnificent—like the final scene of ten thousand swords returning to one. Someone has certainly written something similar before, but I still felt it was very cool when I wrote it. I insisted that it must end in stillness. As for the demon general couple's segment, it was a bit out of place, but after thinking about it for a long time, I couldn't bear to delete it. Because from the very beginning, I planned to spend some ink on these two characters, to pay tribute to life—even if they enjoy eating human flesh, that's still their life. Let me say a few more words, feeling a bit emotional. It's getting harder and harder to develop characters in long-form novels now. Of course, in the end, it's still a matter of my own skill level. Tomorrow is Monday, so please cast your recommendation votes. Also, the free work votes for the Golden Keyboard—please cast those too. Thank you.)