"Patriarch!" Those who had run away came back drenched in blood, "We completed the-, Patriarch?! Someone get a doctor, quickly!"
"What?"
"NOW!"
"Fuck!"
Those who had returned covered in blood were quick to move, as they rushed through the sea of corpses both in awe and fear.
In awe of the strength their Patriarch held, but in fear of the fate he seemed to be following with blades stuck in his back and death nearby.
They feared for his life.
"He… he… Kaaahahaha!" Someone among the sea of the death began to get up, a single crooked finger and a shaky stance accompanying his crazed eyes, "You dare to challenge us? Look at what happened to your lord! Die, Die, Die, Die, Die…"
His ramblings caught them off guard as he charged, a survivor of the Sanguine Field massacre, Shou Xin could not possibly split his attention so many ways effectively enough to search for survivors in the midst of that dreadful battle.
"Fuck! Spread out!" Liu Gang, who had arrived first screamed as he unsheathed his blade despite the immense killing intent, "Run away!"
—
"...Run… away…!"
Shou Xin stirred slightly within his Inner Sea, which had gone dark.
His Sword Mound an oasis among the storming forces and howling winds creating the disaster within.
He felt a little prick in his mind, and then another, and another like a flood.
Killing Intent.
Bloodthirst.
His smile slowly began to rise, as an insane thought filled his mind.
Opening his bodies pores he began to devour the killng intent into the fading Sanguine Sword Law!
The immense killing intent within the field of dead, unfulfilled emotions and regrets, all swirled towards him, seeking to destroy his mind!
Yet, he was terribly mad!
The storms and winds within his Inner Sea rose and fell like hurricanes and hard times bashing against the Sword Mound, yet he who was already on the verge of death stopped feeling pain his mind dreadfully focused on but a single thing.
Survival!
Sanguine Sword Qi began to appear around the Sword Mound as more and more killing intent was absorbed!
The storms of Qi rushed down and a fearsome battle began to take place with the near limitless killing intent from the fresh battlefield fueling it.
However whilst he did this, he could not move much.
—
"What?!" The Second Chain Expert looked terrified as he turned white as a sheet of paper, "Impossible!"
He was stopped in his tracks by the sudden sense that his killing intent was being drained away!
Liu Gang who could not see the killing intent as someone who had become a true cultivator could, did not know what was happening, but he could feel a stirring change as though the terror of the field was coalescing into one place.
His instincts told him one thing.
Let it out!
"Release your killing intents! The Lord is healing from it somehow! Quickly!" Liu Gang's shout awoke everyone from their shock, including the Second Chain Expert who charged not towards them, but at Shou Xin who was slowly regaining his strength!
—
"Stop!" The guards released their strengths to subdue Feng Wuqing whose eyes were bloodshot as she watched Shou Xin being attacked just as a strand of hope had arrived.
"Release your killing intents! The Lord is healing from it somehow! Quickly!" Hearing Liu Gang's shout, Feng Wuqing did not delay.
Her killing intent was far more massive than that of anyone on the field, save for Shou Xin.
The guards looked at one another and released their own, terrifying giants of killing intent to suppress hers so as to not give away their position.
Feng Luoyu looked at this with a wry smile.
"As guards they do their jobs, but as warriors they cannot help but to help him." She said calmly, "Mister, you are quite the charmer, aren't you?"
—
Massive waves of killing intent crashed into his Sanguine Sword Law, almost overrunning it, but his soul remained strong and his mind unbreakable!
The sudden, immense output of Sanguine Sword Qi created a terrifying Sanguine Field within his Inner Sea which cut down the majority of the remnant Qi left by those experts as most of it had been expunged to kill the two who impaled him.
He regained his ability to move.
—
"Die!" The Second Chain Expert swung his blade in a full moon arc cutting into Shou Xin's shoulder.
But that was all.
The sword was stopped at the top of the muscle as it was caught by it flexing.
He looked bewildered, yet when he looked up, he was petrified.
Shou Xin looked down on him, his face getting further and further away as his own vision dulled into a sudden, unending night.
"Another headless corpse." Shou Xin muttered almost sadly as he began to shuffle away, his back straight as a spear and wide as a mountain.
Liu Gang rushed forward.
"Lord! You need to rest, please-"
"Don't worry." Shou Xin smiled as blood dripped from his lips, "I will be okay."
—
"Ah-!" Feng Wuqing choked on her grief and felt that words were for her, and not for Liu Gang, her heart skipping as she felt a small sense of relief despite the immense worry in her heart.
The guards felt awe at his ability to ignore the pain likely burning its way through his entire body as though it didn't exist.
—
"Where is he?" Yui Luo paced at the Lord Selection Ceremony, where no one had arrived yet, not even the Patriarchs of the Fu, Hu or Shi Clans.
She glanced at the sun, seeing it was already far past the time for not only him, but the others to have arrived as well.
However, as she paced, her gaze flickered, she saw something walking down the street to the arenas.
It was not something, but someone.
A familiar figure which now seemed to carry a crimson robe.
Yui Luo felt her chest cave as she fell to one knee, "Ah-, Ahhh!"
Her grief was on full display, the wounds on the figure approaching looked… fatal.
"A final stand," Wo Yiyu squeezed out the words speaking even if she had to beat them out of herself, "We must welcome him."
Yui Luo looked at Shou Xin, whose face was nothing short of relaxed.
Slowly, she stood up, the clansmen who waited their alongside her, and the people of Sea Spring who had gathered, stood from their seats as he silently shambled forward onto the the arena floor.
Looking around, Shou Xin held his hands behind his back as he spoke.
"Are there any challengers?" He said evenly.
No one responded, only a long, solemn silence.
Wo Yiyu calmly stood on the stage.
"Does Sea Spring recognize Shou Xin of the Shou Clan, as their lord?"
They swelled with pride at the thought of having such a man lead them.
How could they not know?
Not know of his strength in battle nor his intellect out of it?
How could not know of his kindness even to his enemies whom he had given housing after their heads fell?
How could they not know of his great love like it was not painted on his body?!
How could they feel anything short of pride, watching him stand unbendingly upon the arena square despite his injuries?
"Ou!" Came the earth shattering response.
"Then, it is settled!" Wo Yiyu raised a plaque, "By the name of the External Affairs Office, Shou Xin of the Shou Clan of Sea Spring Province, has been given the title of Lord Sea Spring!"
However, even as she spoke, no one was paying attention to her.
Instead, they watched as Shou Xin slicked his hair back with the blood, a gentle smile like a fresh breeze across his face.
"Sea Spring, huh." He said lightly, "As wind blows, and time passes, some names carry too much sadness."
"...Do you wish to change the province's name? You will need quite the achievement."
"How does killing six third chain experts alone, and ten second chain as well as twenty first chains, sound?"
Wo Yiyu was quiet and he nodded.
"From this day forward, the name sea spring is dead alongside the clans that once terrorized it, it is gone with the winds which blew the nobles away, it should be reborn as," Shou Xin took a moment, "Shouai Province."
(Author's Note: 'Shou' has the meaning of longevity and 'Ai' has the meaning of love.)
Hearing the proposed name, the people felt that it was right and just that the name to come about after all of this bloodshed would be one of long lasting love in hopes of a prosperous future.
—
Feng Wuqing who stood further away, who heard the name, felt it was directed at her, but did not dare to get her hopes up.
Feng Luoyu who saw her sister tripping herself up and pinching herself, wanted to tease her but stopped short as she felt it was too cruel.