Chapter 1272: Swordsmanship Battle
Proofreader: Papatonks
The Sword Emperor floated down with his white hair swaying, showing his gaunt face. The corruption from the black energy that surrounded him struck terror in all who saw him.
He was nothing like the previous head of the Eight Emperors, but a demon that hell spat out.
The Sword Emperor cursed like he wasn’t aware who Zhuo Fan was, “Rubbish! I’m the head of the Eight Emperors, the pinnacle of the righteous path. I could never kill my own men. Only the Demonic Emperor and the like would dirty their hands as such. I am a man of honor and modesty, you have no right to impugn it!”
“Yeah, dad, there’s nothing but dust around. How do you know he killed his men? There’s nothing here to show it, not even a bone.”
“His deranged look says it all, he’s cultivated for too long.”
Zhuo Fan pointed at the Sword Emperor’s mad gaze, “Five of the Eight Emperors went into hiding with their people and enough materials, thinking they would soon come back out, but there’s no end to greed. Take the Demon Transformation Art too far and your mind gets warped. When these old fools found their materials ran out, their thirst grew so big they turned on their own people.
“The fact he looks like this proves he had no control in curbing this desire, or how he went around like a ravenous beast sucking up people’s lives. I was thus confident the Sword Emperor’s people were reduced to ashes by his own hand. But this geezer still thinks of himself as the model of dignity and honor. His actions drove him even more mad than the Enchanting Empress to not even recognize his people but to see them as just walking materials.”
Sword Child nodded, “I figured something was up when he didn’t even remember the great Steward Zhuo.”
“Steward Zhuo? W-who is that?”
The Sword Emperor shook his head, his eyes hazy.
Zhuo Fan smirked in contempt, “I was but a nobody and didn’t require the Sword Emperor’s attention. But there’s one name I’m sure he still remembers.”
Zhuo Fan paused.
“Sword Emperor, do you remember Demonic Emperor Zhuo Yifan?”
“Z-Zhuo Yifan?”
The Sword Emperor’s face shook and he roared, “Zhuo Yifan is not the head of the Eight Emperors, I am. He is dead, his Nine Serenities Secret Records are mine. He can’t threaten me, ha-ha-ha. That fool, Zhao Chen, I got him in the Eight Emperors, but I can remove him just as well. He isn’t fit to even fight me. That idiot is worthless. I only helped him to get at his master, hi-hi-hi…”
Zhuo Fan took a deep breath, his face flat, but his eyes mocking, “Sword Emperor, you wanted the Nine Serenities Secret Records that much?”
“Of course, the Demonic Sovereign’s cultivation method is something I must have. Since Zhuo Yifan didn’t give it, I killed him.”
“Congratulations, you now have it.”
“Oh, really?”
The Sword Emperor flipped his dirty sleeves to search them, “Where, where’s my Nine Serenities Secret Records?”
“In your heart. Aren’t you training it?”
“Oh, I am training it? Ha-ha-ha, I am!” The Sword Emperor gave a mad laughter, “I’ve cultivated Nine Serenities Secret Records and become the Demonic Sovereign. No one can stop me now. The Seven Sacred Mountains are nothing but bugs at my feet, ha-ha-ha…”
“Yeah, you reign supreme, the pinnacle of the world. But there is one man who is still above you.”
“Who?” The Sword Emperor glared at Zhuo Fan with savagery.
Zhuo Fan smiled, “Me.”
“You? Who are you?”
“Demonic Emperor, Zhuo Yifan.” Zhuo Yifan uttered.
[What?!]
The Sword Emperor staggered back two steps, “No, he died! He can’t be alive!”
“You’re wrong. Demonic Emperor Zhuo Yifan didn’t die, he’s standing right before you. As long as he’s alive, you will always be second, Sword Emperor Ao Changtian.”
“No! I trained in Nine Serenities Secret Records, I’m the Demonic Sovereign. The Demonic Emperor is nothing to me!”
“Wrong, the Demonic Emperor also trained in Nine Serenities Secret Records, far better than you. You will always be in his shadow.”
“Ah!”
The Sword Emperor howled, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Zhuo Fan with bloodthirst. He charged with a black blade, slashing at him, “Zhuo Yifan, die! Die so I may be the head of the Eight Emperors, the best in the world!”
Ding!
The Sword Emperor got flung back from the clash, staggering five steps. He now noticed the eight-year-old next to Zhuo Fan and his cruel smile.
“To get to my dad, you’ll have to go through me first!”
“Who are you?”
“He’s the Sword Emperor.” Zhuo Fan said at the Sword Emperor’s shock, “H-he’s the Sword Emperor? Then who am I?”
“Whoever you want, but never again can you be the Sword Emperor, because you’re not worthy of this title.”
Zhuo Fan smirked, “Sword Emperor, the Emperor of the sword. He might not be the strongest among the Eight Emperors, but he should be at the pinnacle of the sword path, out of everyone’s reach. But now, Ao Changtian, someone has surpassed you in the sword. My son won that title, leaving you in the dust, ha-ha-ha…”
The Sword Emperor’s dark face twisted, “No, I’m the Sword Emperor! I have the highest sword skills among the Eight Emperors. None can take my name!”
Bam!
The Sword Emperor howled and shot into the sky. Golden lights shone from his body, turning into a huge broadsword, its beauty marred by the black energy corroding it.
A Sacred Body?
Sword Child glanced at Zhuo Fan, “He became a Saint.”
“You won’t fight him?”
“As if. I came to take his title. Calling himself the Sword Emperor to my face is like asking to be thrashed.” Sword Child snickered and shot for the Sword Emperor.
The Sword Emperor looked at the little thing with rage.
[You dare steal my name? Take my sword!]
Whoosh~
A golden wave shot from the sky with tremendous power.
“A sword to crush the heavens, a fortune upon the world, a purger of evil!”
“Humph, you have some nerve to say that. You’ve become evil yourself, a demon, and you dare preach about purging it?” Sword Child mocked, drawing two fingers in a red glow as he shouted, “Soaring Sword, Obliterate!”
Bam!
The golden wave was smashed apart.
The Sword Emperor gasped in disbelief, sending another golden wave, “Sweeping the Eight Emperors, breaking demons and destroying evil!”
“There’s no strength in a twisted heart training in dignified swordsmanship.”
Sword Child mocked, “Your sword is tainted, yet you call yourself an Emperor? You’re a disgrace to all sword cultivators in the world. Get lost!”
Sword Child flicked his hand and a thunder wave shot, using the Sundering Sword Art. The golden wave was crushed once more.
The Sword Emperor was stunned.
[Why are my Sacred Body’s swords so weak?]
Sword Child reached him and his fingers shone black this time, slashing, “Here’s a true sword art, Apocalyptic Sword!”
Hu~
Blackness flooded as it pierced the huge head and cut it in two.
With a mighty explosion, it disintegrated. The Sword Emperor coughed blood and slumped to the ground, having lost all strength.
His eyes were still confused, mumbling, “Why? I’m a Saint so why did my sword grew weaker?”
“Because you abandoned it.”
Zhuo Fan walked over, sighing.
“Ao Changtian, when we made a name for ourselves in the Sacred Domain, none of us would back down from a fight. But in the end, I became the strongest when the Eight Emperors formed and you, ever the second.”
“Zhuo Yifan…” The Sword Emperor’s eyes cleared up somewhat, “How are you still alive and look like this? Steward Zhuo…”
“Oh, you’re awake?”
“All I know is that I lost.”
The Sword Emperor gave a bitter smile, “But I didn’t lose to that child, but against myself. I, the great Sword Emperor, shunned the pursuit of the sword and went for a demonic cultivation method? I cast away my sword and trained in a shaky demonic path. Now that the demonic energy is gone from me, my end has come. I’m dying, but now I’ve come to realize why. My sword doesn’t need the Demonic Sovereign’s cultivation method, for that is not me!”
Zhuo Fan nodded and took his hand, “It’s good you realized it. As an old rival, I’ll forget all the grudges and send you off.”
“Sure, Zhuo Yifan.”
The Sword Emperor nodded, looking at the black energy on his hand, “What is this?”
“Don’t you find giving your strength to the world a waste? It’s better to let me take it.”
“You…” The Sword Emperor’s face shook, sighing, “Zhuo Yifan, you’re still the same, infuriating. This is what you meant by sending me off, turning me into your material. Be careful not to end up like me.”
“Rest easy, for I’ve long passed the point of letting greed control me. I have the restraint to not degenerate, he-he-he…”
“Ha-ha-ha, great. I never knew the grudge five thousand years ago was still ongoing, that it was just the start. It’s you who won in the end, old rival.”
The Sword Emperor closed his eyes without regret, turning to dust. Zhuo Fan let the dust slip from his hand and his eyes shone as his aura surged…