Chapter 1514 - Black, White
Lingfeng had killed Long Renshe in a shocking turn of events, only to be struck and ostensibly killed by the Torchdragon Emperor! A simple palm strike from a solarian wasn't something a junior would be able to resist, no matter how impressive or talented they were. The fact that Lingfeng's body was still in one piece was already a miracle in its own right.
Though Lingfeng was dead, people felt even more heartbreak for Long Renshe, whom he had killed. This wedding ceremony was completely ruined. It was supposed to be a pretense for the celestial orderians to fight the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect in the first place by demanding to enter the Primodragon Cave, giving the sect no choice but to fight. With the groom dead, would there be a reason to demand to enter the cave anymore?
A commotion began brewing the moment Long Renshe's head had burst open. Lingfeng had already 'profited' a lot by being able to kill a genius of unprecedented talent of the Veildragon Palace. What an impressive achievement for someone so young! The Ninedragon Army seethed with rage at seeing him attacked by the Torchdragon Emperor. However, there was nothing they could have done to prevent it, for the duel had taken place too far from the ranks of the army.
On the other side, the ten million from the Veildragon Palace were all stupefied. It felt like their hopes for the future had completely crumbled. All of a sudden, they were assailed by endless pain and confusion. The celestial orderians were also just as hurt by the loss, but they were more angry than confused. What could they do about the upcoming arrangements? Either way, they were still filled with a sense of respect and helplessness at the sight of the unmoving specter youth. Back then, the top figures that shocked the world with their talent had all come from celestial orderians, but now there was nothing they could do but envy and respect these ‘lesser’ people.
The sixty million people had come with high morale, only for their plans to be completely set back by Lingfeng alone. Now, their morale was at rock bottom.
"And to think the Torchdragon Emperor killed him off.... This is the kind of shameful deed we’ll never be able to shake off for the rest of our lives." With Lingfeng dead, that meant that nobody from their ranks would have a chance to defeat him and wipe their humiliation clean. It was even worse than leaving Lingfeng alive. The celestial orderians cared for their reputation more than anything, after all.
They all watched the Torchdragon Emperor hugging his dead son on the silent battlefield. The remaining grand contrakarmic dragons could do nothing but mourn. After losing their beastmaster, they would have no future apart from decadence and death, regardless of their impressive bloodlines.
"Son!" the Torchdragon Emperor cried, agitatedly hugging the corpse. His pride and joy, all ruined. Had he known this would be the result, he would never have allowed Long Renshe to fight and used the army to crush Lingfeng instead. However, would that have been possible in the first place? The duel had been carried out in the name of Li Qingyu, the Ninemoon Goddess. Long Renshe had too much to live up to, given her peak status. If he hadn't accepted Lingfeng's challenge, it would have left a stain for the rest of his life.
However, the benefit of hindsight would always be irrelevant; the fact remained that losing Long Renshe had caused their morale to collapse. What could they do now that the wedding was already in question? It seemed there was nothing else they could do but languish in humiliation. The Torchdragon Emperor was nothing but a sad husk. People savored his pitiful state, given how much grief he had brought the sect in recent times.
Then a strong wind ruffled his robe. He stood up, holding the corpse, and turned to Lingfeng, glaring at him with all three eyes. He seemed to hear signs of life in the form of light breathing! Immediately, he picked up the Bloodleech Voidriver, the weapon he had passed onto his son, and charged toward Lingfeng. The palm strike from before was far from enough. He would cut Lingfeng into many pieces this time around. With how quickly this was happening, those from the Ninedragon Army couldn't react at all.
Almost instantly, the tip of the spear was thrust toward Lingfeng's throat. He was covered in blood and his chest had completely caved in, barely able to take in much air at all. Tightly gripping the ground, he coughed out black blood, hanging on a thin thread of life. People knew that even if he had somehow survived the first strike, there was no chance he would now. However, they forgot that Lingfeng was only able to gain the right to challenge Long Renshe because of Qingyu.
"Torchdragon Emperor!" From the moment the Torchdragon Emperor picked up his son, Qingyu had begged Li Yunxi, Apothecary Li, Li Xiaoyan, and the other two Dragon Imperials to save Lingfeng. However, they all kept quiet in the face of the Torchdragon Emperor's despair.
"Goddess, calm down. He’s the enemy. Stopping the Torchdragon Emperor will only make it worse for the Veildragon Palace," Li Xiaoyan said.
"Calm down?" Her moon-white hair began wildly fluttering. Her body had been filled with nothing but grief. She would probably never forget about the duel that had just taken place for the rest of her life. Qingyu had never been one to rely on others for everything. The moment Li Xiaoyan refused her, her expression turned cold. "Very well. Then I'll die when he does. I'll start with destroying my bane-rings. Let's see how you explain this to him, then!"
Her dedication was no joke. Li Yunxi immediately panicked and hurriedly tried to stop her, but she panicked when Qingyu shot a furious glare at her. Her red eyes were filled with endless resentment, the implied message being 'do you think you can stop me?'
At that moment, the nine moonsbanes brightly glowed as they howled and shook. Ghost faces began surfacing from them, all nine at the same time, the cry of which caused Li Yunxi to shudder. She recalled what Li Wushuang had ended up like. Looking up, she saw ghostly faces appearing in Qingyu's eyes, coldly laughing at her. All the resentment and animosity had built up with her grief, mixing with her feelings for Lignfeng. Her white hair even began turning red!
"Stop!" Li Yunxi noticed that while she was able to stop Qingyu from moving, she couldn't stop the changes in her bane-rings.
"Listen up. If he dies today, the five of you will suffer an even worse fate once I grow powerful enough!" As Qingyu said that, tears of blood began leaking from her eyes, having been stained red by the ghostly faces in them. The faces in her eyes were laughing and crying at the same time in a ghastly manner, exuding an even more horrifying aura than Li Wushuang had, thanks to Qingyu's innate potential.
Those words stunned the five of them as they exchanged glances. Qingyu was still the Ninemoon Goddess, at the end of the day. No matter what, she was the flesh and blood of the sun emperor. It was clear what choice they had to make, whether it be antagonizing her or the Veildragon Palace.
"Torchdragon Emperor, stop!" All five of them charged in at the same time as the Torchdragon Emperor raised the spear up high. However, his thrust had been stopped by Li Yunxi's sword flash, barely managing to save Lingfeng. The others managed to force the Torchdragon Emperor away and surround him.
"What is the meaning of this?" He held his dead son tight with one arm, and the spear with his other.
"Apologies, brother. The Goddess used her death to threaten us to act. This should be a matter left to the sun emperor," Li Xiaoyan said.
"Hahaha!" the Torchdragon Emperor laughed, knowing that his son's death had been in vain. Even though his son had possibly been about to become the second most potentially influential person ever after marrying the first, the Ninemoon Goddess had never cared about him at all. The Torchdragon Emperor laughed as he held his son tight, returning to the rest of the Veildragon Palace with a look of grief.
Now, all ninety million people there looked at the Ninemoon Goddess as she ran toward the bloodied youth, unafraid, and tightly hugged him. His black blood stained the Diviluna Eternalight. It was a clash of the pure and the obscene. However, when their faces were pressed together, it looked so natural, as if their match had been ordained by heaven. Tears and blood mixed as they united in an embrace, no longer caring about the huge audience around them. Her hand held his tighter and tighter.
"Feng...." The ghostly faces in her eyes finally vanished.
Hearing her dreamlike voice, Lingfeng nodded in response and opened his mouth. Even though blood filled his mouth, he managed to smile.
This sight completely stunned everyone. There were all kinds of theories being thought up. Li Yunxi and the rest were the worst off as they awkwardly watched from the side, not knowing what to do now that the marriage plans had been ruined by something nobody could have expected. Just as they were about to faint from the worry, a transmission stone that burned bright and golden appeared before them. It was the sun emperor's decree!