After everyone heard the Rank 9 cultivator, they looked at each other. Even though they were anxious, they were not fools. Everyone knew about Yang Zhai and how terrifying he was. Was he trying to kill them by asking them to kill Yang Zhai? This Rank 9 cultivator was definitely trying to make them cannon fodder.
Yang Zhai even killed three Rank 9 cultivators, let alone them, who were below Rank 9. He was basically asking them to die in Yang Zhai's hands than his sword. They were not so fools as to attack Yang Zhai. They knew that whoever attacked him first would also die firstly.
They were already regretting coming here to kill Yang Zhai. He was killing them like nothing. Even though Yang Zhai got injured, whoever was attacked by him was badly injured or died. Everyone was contemplating the choices they had and what could be done in a situation like this.
While on the other hand, Yang Zhai was silently watching them. He needed a little time that was being provided by themselves. Yang Zhai knew that these people wouldn't be able to decide quickly. They might even choose to stay. After all, the righteous path prided themselves and cared for their reputation. They were afraid that if they run now, they would be disdained by the world and their reputations would plummet. But if they stay, they would die. Yang Zhai knew that these people would have already tried to run but were afraid of him. They were afraid that he would attack them from behind if they turned their backs and ran. Nobody was confident of beating Yang Zhai's speed, they had already seen how terrifying his speed was.
So, everyone knew that the best choice for them was to stay and kill Yang Zhai before he kills them and hope that the ones killed by him would not be them. Yang Zhai also wanted this for his plan to succeed. If anyone tried to run, he would kill them without any hesitation to make the others lose hope of running from him.
Everyone was ready to attack him, but not foolishly.
"Lord Rank nines, why don't you take the lead? We will make sure to help you in every possible way." A rank 8 cultivator spoke from the crowd. He knew that attacking Yang Zhai by themselves would be ridiculous, so he tacitly asked the Rank 9 cultivators to attack first.
When Sang Xie heard this, he was annoyed. But he remained calm and didn't do anything. If he attacked this Rank 8 cultivator and killed him, he would lose the trust of other cultivators.
Whilst they were deciding and talking to each other, a sword came floating to Yang Zhai's side. It had turned seventy percent red and thirty percent black. A snake pattern was engraved on the sword's blade. Its hilt had disappeared. This was a process of refinement. This was to be expected, instead, it meant that the refinement was going smoother. Many elements were needed for its refinement. Yang Zhai had wanted to start the refinement process a long time ago but couldn't do it because he also had another plan that needed to be initiated with the refinement of this sword.
Right now, he was not just putting one plan to work in this war but more than one. One was the refinement of this sword, one was his freedom, and one was to transfer his sword as well. He was also linking the plans together. There couldn't be the slightest mistake or he will pay severely.
Yang Zhai hinted at his sword to initiate the attack. Because there was only a blade, this sword was even more dangerous.
It moved at an extreme speed and the heads started to fall from the sky. It had already touched or more accurately had absorbed the blood of many of these people. Even a rank 9 cultivator was killed by it. This blade had become even more powerful. Its speed, as well as strength, had increased. Hundreds of people were killed in a minute. It could be seen how terrifying the sword had become. Many limbs were flying in the sky, and many pieces of meat were falling down on the ground.
Yang Zhai was fighting with the Rank 9 cultivators. His aura was also weakening, it was unknown if his powerup was his own strength or was just a powerup. Or whether his strength was weakening because of the blade, it was unknown, but the Rank nines knew that it was beneficial to them.
The battle went on. All kinds of attacks were being released. Yang Zhai was dealing with the Rank Nines and allowed the sword to kill all the people it had absorbed the blood of, except for Sang Xie.
Yang Zhai managed to kill four out of the nine Rank 9 cultivators. But it was getting difficult for him to kill more. He was also panting and was accumulating injuries on his body constantly. However, he was still not suppressed by the other cultivators.
Yang Zhai was panting heavily when his expression suddenly changed drastically. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
He looked down and saw that a hand was coming out of his chest. It was covered in blood. He looked behind him and saw an old man.
"So, it's you, Hue Kamina. I wonder if your grandson is still alive, or did he die by my sword? I heard that you like your grandson very much." Yang Zhai said mockingly.
"Shut up, you basta*t. You killed my grandson in the lightning. I have been waiting to strike you ever since. You will pay today for killing Hue Chi. You demon." Hue Kamina said. It turned out that he was the grandfather of Hue Chi. Hue Kamina was also a Rank 9 cultivator and was hiding in the shadows to strike a fatal injury to Yang Zhai and succeeded.
But how could Yang Zhai give up so easily? He summoned his sword back and was about to stab Hue Kamina's head, but when he was about to do that, his body began to bleed all over. His sword trembled in the air.
"I not only pierced your chest but also inserted a deadly poison in your body. Even though this poison is not able to kill you, it can injure you from the inside out all over your body." Hue Kamina had already increased the distance between himself and Yang Zhai after he dealt a lethal blow to Yang Zhai.
He knew that Yang Zhai was a dangerous man, especially when he was in a situation like this.
Yang Zhai looked at his body, it was bleeding all over. His clothes were fully red because of the blood. Yang Zhai was just examining his body when he was pierced by all kinds of attacks and techniques. Two swords were stabbed in his stomach from the front. A long wood had cut his left hand. His body was full of holes. Yang Zhai looked at his abdomen, which was stabbed by a chain. Not just these, there were also other techniques that had been used on him. Even his face was unrecognizable, it was completely burned. His hair was also burning away. Yang Zhai summoned his sword to his side.
"Hahaha," Yang Zhai laughed instead of being anxious.
When the others saw this, they knew that something was amiss. So, to prevent accidents, Hue Kamina again pierced his chest, but this time, Yang Zhai's heart came out with Hue Kamina's hand.
Yang Zhai didn't die directly because he had a method to sustain his life for a while without vital organs.
"You guys, you guys thought that you are the ones who succeeded in killing me?" Yang Zhai said slowly, but it was heard by everyone, after all, they were all high-Rank cultivators.
"Do you think that you can kill me? I allowed you guys to kill me. I always plan before acting. How do you think that my location was revealed so easily? It was I, who revealed the location. I was also the one who spread the rumor that I was going to advance to Rank 10 and convinced the world that Yang Zhai, meaning me, would start a massacre for my cultivation." He continued,
"I don't know if fate exists or not, but I always felt that I was not free. I always felt someone's clutches on me, as if I was pierced by them."
"Sang Xie, did you and Bao Lin think why didn't my sword kill you two even after it had touched both of your blood?" Yang Zhai asked.
Sang Xie had also felt something was amiss about this. He had only his leg severed by Yang Zhai before and was spared. If Yang Zhai had wanted to, he would have already killed Sang Xie, but didn't. Even his sword was able to kill him, yet he was still alive.
"Why?" Sang Xie asked.
"Because I want to be Reborn free. I needed a powerful cultivator to transfer my sword with me. And I chose you and Bao Lin to increase my chances. I, Yang Zhai, am going to be free from the clutches. My death will free me."
When Sang Xie and Bao Lin heard this, they were dumbstruck, and their eyes widened. Just what was Yang Zhai trying to say?
"Let the show begin," Yang Zhai said, and a blinding light was emitted from him. Hue Kamina hurriedly got away from Yang Zhai. Yang Zhai's body was disappearing into tiny light specks starting from his legs. His body was slowly disappearing into the light specks.
His sword— at an extreme speed— went toward Sang Xie and stabbed itself from the top of his head and entered his body. Blood splattered everywhere. His body completely vanished into thin air in a few seconds and only the sword blade was left floating. Then the sword flew toward Bao Lin and entered her body as well from the top of her head. Because these two were injured badly by Yang Zhai, they were unable to defend themselves. After a while, Bao Lin's body disappeared as well and only the sword was left floating in the air.
After doing this, the sword blade also began to turn into specks of light. It was also disappearing but Yang Zhai shot a red light at it and helped it maintain its shape.
On the other hand, Yang Zhai's lower half had already disappeared completely.
Yang Zhai's expression was changing drastically as if he was enduring a lot of excruciating pain.
"The World itself, The people,
The Fate of a person,
The Speck of a dust. Sealed
Was the Path I Chose. The
Clutches are Painful. Was
I Pierced That Deeply?"
Yang Zhai recited a poem. And disappeared completely.
*****/*****