Legend of Swordsman

The deeps of the Battle Fortress was still engulfed by a rowdy and boisterous crowd, albeit in a completely different atmosphere.

Even though they had managed to secure a huge victory at their first confrontation with the Jin Kingdom, the warriors of the Green Fire World began to notice and comprehend their own losses as the fervor of their first triumph began to subside. The sacrifices of the huge number of Dao Masters swept the entire Battle Fortress into a sorrowful mood.

Jian Wushuang wandered aimlessly along the corridors of the Fortress as he looked around.

He was still strolling with his mind far away when his senses alerted him to two familiar presences. With a whisk of his robes, he leaped towards the auras that he knew.

There were two figures huddling together in a corner.

“First and Third Senior Brothers.” Jian Wushuang addressed them.

The two people standing together were Jian Wushuang’s First Senior Brother, Xue Lingtian and Third Senior Brother, Bai Hu.

“Junior Brother.” They both turned to look at Jian Wushuang.

“Only you two are over here. Where is Second Senior Brother?” Jian Wushuang asked.

“Your Second Senior Brother… H-he… I am afraid he’s…” Xue Lingtian tried to explain but he could hardly finish his words, with the look of grieve unmistakable upon his features. Beside him, Bai Hu was on the verge of tears.

Jian Wushuang felt a shudder as he grasped what had happened.

“Has he fallen?” Jian Wushuang muttered.

There had been about 35 thousand Dao Masters giving their lives in the battle earlier. Jian Wushuang’s Second Senior Brother, Purple Mountain, was one of the Dao Masters who had tragically fallen during the Jin Kingdom’s onslaught.

“Second Senior Brother!” Jian Wushuang gasped with anguish, as his fists were tightly clenched with rage and his eyes wet with pain and sadness.

“Our Teacher has urged that we should be careful during battle when we came. We have always kept his words at heart. Yet, we have never expected that one of us would perish in only the first confrontation.” Xue Lingtian lamented as he shook his head in grief.

“My skills and strength are inferior even to Second Senior Brother. I am afraid Death shall not be far from me. You both are much stronger. You must stay alive.” Bai Du spoke to them, as if leaving them his final words.

“Speak nothing of such ominous words, Junior Brother!” Xue Lingtian admonished him sharply.

But Jian Wushuang could not help feeling a strong burden weighing over his heart.

There were more than 35 thousand deaths in the first battle; some of whom were related to Jian Wushuang.

His Second Senior Brother, Purple Mountain, was one of them.

Jian Wushuang then later found that Di Jing was amongst the casualties as well.

“Senior Di Jing!” Jian Wushuang breathed heavily with agonizing pain.

Jian Wushuang had long known Di Jing since the day they met in the Ancient World,.

It was he that had told Jian Wushuang about the Eternal World and had widened the latter’s perspective about the vastness of the universe.

Moreover, Di Jing had saved him from evil numerous times. It was his kindness that Jian Wushuang had felt eternally indebted to.

Yet, he had barely been able to repay him for his kindness when his benefactor had already perished in battle.

Purple Mountain, Di Jing, and the Dreamless Dao Master, whom Jian Wushuang had known during his venture into the Samsara Continent, had all perished in this battle.

In the midst of grief and sadness, Jian Wushuang could only sigh with dismay.

They had all given their lives for the Green Fire World!

Just then…

“Palace Master Wushuang, look!” A Dao Master beside him called him out.

With a flicker of his body, Jian Wushuang appeared at the edges of the Battle Fortress and cast his sights far into the distance where the Spaceship was.

A female, proud and stern of demeanor, glided out of the Spaceship and was coming directly at the Fortress.

“Ah?” Jian Wushuang looked at her intently.

He could see that despite being a Universe Master, the woman had an aura inferior to that of the Long Xu King.

“What’s her intention of coming here, alone?”

“Jian Wushuang!”

The Samsara Temple Master, the Void Temple Masters and the rest of his comrade hurried over, having received word about the lone woman.

The Palace Masters all looked darkly with doubt at the sight of the woman coming, not knowing what was she up to.

The proud woman flew closer and closer. Finally, she stopped, hanging over mid-air thousands of kilometers away from the Battle Fortress.

There, before the eyes of the host of experts in the Fortress, the woman produced a token with a flick of her wrists. She channeled her powers and drew from within the token two mysterious strands of auric energies; one in black and the other in white.

The two energies were apparently of completely conflicting nature for they tried vehemently to gnaw and chew at each other as they intertwined furiously. The entanglement of energies ground and gnashed together violently producing a huge drawing force.

“Swoosh…” Even the fabric of Space and Air surrounding the entangling mass of energy was ruptured by its sheer destructive force.

Slowly, a coagulation of black and white raw energies blended as one began to swirl like a whirlpool at the very center of the battlefield.

The black and white vortex seemed harmless. Any one of the Holy Masters or even a Dao Master could have easily decimated it. Still, the mysterious vortex began to grow and enlarge at an unprecedented speed.

It was only the size of a bowl when it first took form. But in mere moments, it was now the size of a pail; and yet it was hardly stopping.

“What is that?”

Everyone in the Battle Fortress began to take notice of the swirling mass of energies outside. All of them were riddled with suspicions and bewilderment.

Not one of the warriors in the Fortress knew what it was nor did any of them knew the woman’s reason in conjuring the vortex.

Everyone, save for one: the Gu King in Jian Wushuang’s body. At the sight of the black and white spinning vortex, he immediately exclaimed with fright, “That is the Enduring Samsara! The Grand Formation of the Enduring Samsara!”

“The Grand Formation of the Enduring Samsara?” Jian Wushuang was puzzled by the Gu King’s sudden agitation. “What is this Grand Formation, Gu King? Is it powerful?”

“Powerful? Powerful, you say! To call it “powerful” is an understatement!”

The Gu King’s voice turned cold and frosty like never before seen as he told his companion, “Attack at once, Jian Wushuang! Destroy the swirling vortex before it truly grows! Kill the woman as well! Otherwise, the Green Fire World will be destroyed!”

“What!” Jian Wushuang was startled.

“The end of the Green Fire World is near if the vortex is not destroyed?”

“Is it that bad?” Jian Wushuang grimaced with horror.

“Hmph! It is much more terrible than what you can imagine! Go at once lest it is too late!” The Gu King pestered.

“Very well.” Jian Wushuang acknowledged wearily.

With his past travels through the Eternal Chaotic World with King Luo Zhen for many years before, the Gu King has vast experiences and knowledge that has proved to be an asset to Jian Wushuang. Even though he has not fully revealed the true abilities of the Grand Formation, Jian Wushuang trusted the Gu King’s warnings that the Grand Formation would be of tremendous danger to them without question.

“Everyone! There is something unusual about the vortex. I will now try to destroy it before it grows!” Jian Wushuang announced his intentions.

“Granted. I myself do not feel well too. There is something peculiar about the vortex.” The Samsara Temple Master nodded in agreement. “Go as you will, Jian Wushuang. But be extremely careful. Return immediately if anything is wrong.”

“Understood.”

Jian Wushuang nodded and disappeared with a kick of his heels.