Chapter 1083: Man and Beast

Proofreader: Papatonks

Whoosh~

Holding the sharp Sundering Sword, Baili Yutian glanced with excitement from the crow to Zhuo Fan below, “Ha-ha-ha, Sir Zhuo, I must thank you for giving me such a great adversary. I’ll be sure to show my appreciation by giving you a proper burial once I slay it and keep your head.” 

“I’m humbled, which is why I’ll be sure to gather your pieces and send them back to Sword Star Empire once my spirit animal tears you apart. The least I can do is not let your corpse be ravaged by wild beasts, as a token of our brief friendship, ha-ha-ha…” 

Zhuo Fan looked perky as well.

The two stared at each other and burst out laughing..

The audience was left dumbstruck, none able to understand what was happening, not even the three Sword Kings.

[They both talk about the other’s demise, but what’s the deal with using such a friendly tone?]

What baffled the Sword Kings more was how their Patriarch sounded even genuine. It held no sarcasm, but true in his intent to pay back the favor.

[Who in the world is kind to their victim? Since when is giving them a burial being nice?] 

Invincible Sword was just that content with saying such dreadful words, making all others numb.

Ouyang Changqing wanted clarification, “Big brother, were you cursing each other just now?”

“Of course not, we’re just having a friendly chat, finding common ground even.”

“Friendly? Common ground? I don’t see it.” Ouyang Changqing was stumped.

Zhuo Fan sighed, “You haven’t been around much and have no clue about a practitioner’ friendship. Being part of this circle of practitioners, you don’t get to choose. Each of us wants the other dead, driven by our own interests. That, however, doesn’t stop us from having mutual respect as well, showing it by looking after their corpse. This is how you treat an honorable opponent, completely natural.”

“How’s that natural? I didn’t understand any of that?” Ouyang Changqing scratched his head, clueless still.

Ouyang Lingtian took a moment to mule his words and then bowed to Zhuo Fan, “We all admire sir’s conscience!”

“Dad, you got what he said?”

“Of course!”

The three old men laughed, “Practitioners don’t get to choose, ha-ha-ha…”

(StarReader: the author is taking the idiom literally, with the implied meaning that they don’t get to choose where to die or if they get a burial.)

They turned serious then, their smiles falling, turning to the man and beast above with nothing but respect.

Self-preservation no longer dominated their actions, standing tall like a true top expert of their land.

Zhuo Fan nodded.

[No wonder they understand, being the head of their land. A practitioner must be willing to challenge, that’s what makes him a fighter, rather than stretching his time on this earth for as long as he can.]

[They sealed it off in their hearts, sealed themselves from the Dao in the secular world. This may be why their insights in the sacred weapons lack compared to the Invincible Sword. Their hearts were confined with trifles.] 

[Now their hearts are open…]

Whoosh~

The Three-headed Crow flapped its huge wings, sending fierce winds around. It then shot for the Invincible Sword, talons at the ready to tear him apart, whistling through the air.

“Patriarch, look out!”

“Rip him apart!”

The Sword Kings cried out while Qiao’er cheered for their house pet. She was getting more than a little kick out of it, seeing Invincible Sword about to get it after picking on her.

Clang!

The Invincible Sword squinted, flicking the sword to block the claw, letting out a grating sound.

The power exerted was absurd, cataclysmic, with Invincible Sword forced back as he defended, his arms bulging from strain and sweat formed on his brow.

Having never seen Patriarch in such difficulty in battle, the Sword Kings were panicking.

The rest, by contrast, were wild with joy. Ouyang Changqing skipped over to Zhuo Fan to exclaim, “Big brother, if you had that precious, you should’ve taken out from the start and saved my dad and others the effort.”

“I wanted to wait for the perfect timing to catch the Invincible Sword by surprise and end him. Now I had no choice but to let them face off.”

Zhuo Fan made up some lie on the spot. He couldn’t outright say.

[I was waiting for both sides to be crippled.] 

That would be most rude.

The excuse sounded clever too, with none judging his intellect. After all, he had done all the thinking for them all this time. No matter how suspicious this reason was, since Zhuo Fan said it, they had to believe it. Who here was the Grand Marshal anyway? 

Only Ouyang Lingtian and the old timers understood that the war didn’t matter, only this battle.

“Aah!”

A howl echoed as the Invincible Sword tensed his legs and stood firm to stop his retreat.

The Invincible Sword then pushed harder, flinging the humongous bulk of the Three-headed Crow back, making it roll in the air a couple times.

The three pairs of eyes looked back with shock, “You’re quite strong for a human!”

“It speaks, just like that sea demon!” Ouyang Changqing shrieked, “Do all 9th level spiritual beasts speak? Is the sea demon at the same level?”

The other paused then nodded, coming to the same conclusion.

Only Zhuo Fan and Qiao’er knew the reason behind a 9th level spiritual beast could speak, the azure flame enlightened it. As for the sea demon, it was much much worse than a puny spiritual beast.

What did startle Zhuo Fan though, was that the Invincible Sword was able to fight a 9th level spiritual beast evenly. At this level, the beasts were king, not to mention this particular creature was the Kunpeng’s right-hand, a cut above the norm.

Despite it all, the Invincible Sword pushed on. 

[Does this mean that the Invincible Sword is at the stage of a Spirit King? He’s not one in the truest sense only because the domain blocks him?]

Zhuo Fan’s mind was calculating and observing.

His power went beyond anything and anyone, yet his cultivation stalled. It did not match the natural order. 

[If the Invincible Sword gets any stronger, will the domain press harder on his cultivation?]

If his power overcame the limit of the domain, once he broke through he’d rise above the mortal realm, and he would incur heavenly tribulation.

But with the Sword Sovereign’s inheritance, heavenly tribulation might not mean instant death. 

[But then what? Will he remain in the mortal domain or…] 

[Was the Invincible Sword the only true talent that reached this point in the long history of the mortal domain? There had to be generations of glorious talents and their centuries-long legends. With how the five divine swords existed since the beginning, the Sword Sovereign’s inheritors couldn’t amount to just these few. So where are they?] 

[If they ascended to the Sacred Domain, why hasn’t there been word of any people coming from the mortal domain then?]

Zhuo Fan knew things didn’t add up. The Heavenly Sovereign’s domain wasn’t merely made to trap sacred beasts. 

Shriek~

The sudden cry pierced the skies and the ears of everyone.

The Three-headed Crow cried out at the indignity of having a human push it back. Its huge wings sent swirling black winds straight for Baili Yutian.

Any hill or rock in their path were reduced to nothing, the wind holding the power of decay as it ate through anything it touched.

Even the lightning streaking across the skies fared no better, turning the purple hued heavens block from the winds. All felt a sudden chill as it whistled in their ears, their blood running cold.

It was all done to swallow Baili Yutian.

The Sword Kings cried out once more, worried for their Patriarch.

Everyone else was in grave disbelief a Sword King would act like that.

Though it became clear from the display that not even the best in the world might fare better against a 9th level spiritual beast.

As the darkness and the winds surrounded him, the Invincible Sword’s eyes flashed and lightning sparked across the sword…