Nightfall

There were footsteps behind Jun Mo.

Other than Fourth Brother who was holding the River and Mountain Sandbox, everyone else from the Academy rushed out from under the iron shelter.

Sixth Brother raised his hammer, staring warily at Liu Bai who was more than 100 feet away.

Beigong Weiyang and Ximen Buhuo held their zither and flute, standing on both sides of Jun Mo.

They all knew that even though Liu Bai was badly injured, as long as he waved his sword, they would die should they leave the iron shelter. However, they had all rushed over here despite that.

Because Second Brother needed them.

Wang Chi held his medicine box and made preparations with a pale face.

Mu You held her needle, about to staunch the blood flowing from Jun Mo. However, her hands were trembling too badly. She looked at his broken limb and felt as if it was her own arm that had been cut off. She felt a terrible pain.

Jun Mo looked at the single teardrop under her lashes. Then, he raised his left hand and hovered it over the wound.

His fingers flicked lightly, as her tears fell. Pure Qi of Heaven and Earth covered his broken shoulder with an invisible web, immediately staunching the blood. It was like the act of a medical sage.

Wang Chi relaxed slightly as he poured medicine on the wound and prepared to bind it.

Liu Bai looked at the scene playing out 100 feet away from him and did nothing.

He had suddenly gained a deeper understanding as to why the Academy was so powerful.

He said, “I have a few questions.”

Jun Mo motioned for Sixth Brother to move away and looked at Liu Bai. He said, “Yes, please.”

Liu Bai asked, “I gave you an opportunity to retreat at the beginning. Why didn’t you?”

Jun Mo answered, “Back then, when you challenged the Sword God at the South Sea, you were obviously not his match. So why did you not retreat?”

After a moment of silence, Liu Bai said, “That makes sense.”

Jun Mo said, “It makes sense, so I did not retreat.”

Liu Bai sighed and said, “You paid such a terrible price but did not kill me in the end. Even I feel that it’s not worth it.”

Jun Mo said, “I used my arm to exchange for your injury so you would not be able to fight any further. It’s worth it in my opinion.”

Liu Bai said, “No matter how severe the injury is, I can still recover, but you will never be able to regain your arm. I might not be able to fight now, but that is only temporary. You have lost your sword-wielding right hand. And that is for a lifetime.”

“I have lost exchanging my whole life for temporality. But in the battle of the Verdant Canyon, I have won because even though I am almost dead, I have managed to secure the canyon and you have to leave.”

Jun Mo looked at him and said, “Because you are too strong, you have many things you want to do. That is why you think staying alive is important. As such, you will return to the Sword Garret to recuperate since you’re badly injured.”

Liu Bai looked at him silently and suddenly smiled. He had not expected that his opponent would see what he was going for even as they had both lost and been injured. He said, “Then you should also cherish your life as well.”

Jun Mo asked, “Why?”

Liu Bai replied, “The thousand-year Tang Empire is but just a fleeting moment in cultivation. Therefore, what else should we place importance on other than our bodies?”

“We all have a promise to ourselves. And by placing ourselves first, we are also placing importance on the promise.”

Jun Mo looked past Liu Bai and the quiet horse carriage. His gaze landed on the mass of Divine Hall army troops and said, “I promised that no one would pass the Verdant Canyon as long as I’m still standing.”

Liu Bai said, “It’d be a pity if you died in their hands.”

“I’ll do my best and without questioning the future. I have no regrets.”

Jun Mo said, “Furthermore, you’ve failed to kill me, who else can?”

Liu Bai looked at Jun Mo who was bathed in blood while carrying his iron sword. He suddenly felt as if he was looking at a different person.

“I feel as if I’m looking at Mr. Ke.”

Liu Bai said, “Yesterday, I regretted and felt that I should have killed you at the beginning of the battle of the Verdant Canyon. However, I’m glad now. You should display your splendor on these plains before you die.”

With that, he turned around and walked back to the silent horse carriage.

The horse carriage pulled away. Jun Mo looked away and at his left hand.

There was a red thread around his ring finger. It was drenched by blood and felt slightly tight.

His gaze continued downwards and landed on his broken arm and his iron sword.

Perhaps he had lost too much blood, or expended too much of his Psyche Power; he looked very pale.

He was silent for a long while as he looked at his broken arm and the iron sword. No one knew what he was thinking about.

At this point of the battle of Verdant Canyon, the disciples of the Academy and the powerhouses of the Haotian Taoism were either dead or wounded. The situation was very tense and at its breaking point. However, with the army in the south, everyone could see how the battle would end.

However, the West-Hill Divine Palace was not satisfied. They never thought that it would cost so much to pass through the Verdant Canyon. Furthermore, they had not expected even the Sword Sage Liu Bai to fail.

Hope eventually turned into disappointment. This was hard for some to understand and they even grew suspicious.

One of them was Su Chen, the new West-Hill Divine Palace divine guard commander.

Su Chen was a close confidant of the Divine Hall Hierarch Lord. He had taken the position after Luo Kedi was killed by Ning Que’s arrow on the Wilderness. He now had a high position in the West-Hill Divine Palace and was ranked beneath the two Great Divine Priests.

Looking at the slowly-moving carriage, his expression grew ugly.

“My Lord, Sword Sage, I need an explanation.”

Su Chen looked at the carriage and said, “You are still able to fight, why did you retreat?”

The Sword Garret disciples who were heading towards the carriage looked at him angrily when they heard that.

Su Chen’s expression was frigid because he was furious and disappointed.

If Liu Bai was seriously injured by Jun Mo’s sword, what was he afraid of?

Furthermore, Liu Bai’s sword had been broken.

A man without a sword could no longer be called the Sword Sage.

Liu Bai remained silent for a long time, yet he couldn’t hear any sound of Liu Bai coming out of the carriage.

Then a cough came out.

Liu Bai was seriously injured with blood flowing into his lungs. Pain and agony were evident in his coughing.

A trace of mocking shone in Su Chen’s eyes.

Liu Bai continued coughing, louder and louder.

Su Chen’s pupils suddenly shrank, and his expression of mocking suddenly turned into fear and desperation.

Because a blood line had appeared between his brows.

The coughing continued in the quiet horse carriage.

Every time Liu Bai coughed, a blood line appeared on Su Chen’s body.

Even though he was wearing an armor lined with golden runes and even though a sword had appeared in his right hand without anyone noticing.

With every cough, a line of blood appeared.

There was a loud ruckus.

Su Chen and the war-horse he was sitting on turned into several pieces of flesh and blood, scattering onto the plain.

Blood flowed in all directions.

Liu Bai was finally done coughing. He said, “Let’s go.”

The Sword Garret disciples gathered around the horse carriage and they moved towards the Military camp.

They looked around them warily.

Several pairs of eyes were following the horse carriage.

Nobody dared to stop it or speak. In fact, no one dared to even look at the carriage with doubt.

Liu Bai and Jun Mo were both injured in their fight.

Jun Mo said that he was severely injured and was no longer able to battle. But by battle he meant the battle between the two of them.

It was a conversation between the two most powerful swordsmen in the world.

It had nothing to do with anyone else.

The goshawk fought in the blue sky for several days and nights, shedding feathers, dripping blood, wearing down its beak. It was extremely tired and looked as if it was about to die. However, it was still not an opponent an ant could defeat.

Liu Bai was severly injured, and he did not have a sword in his hand.

But he was still the most powerful person in the world.

Looking at the carriage that slowly pulled out of the Military camp, the people from the Divine Hall Coalition Army had many different emotions playing on their faces. Some of them looked as if they were in awe while even more of them looked disconsolate and frightened.

Even the priests in the West-Hill Divine Palace were in the same mood. Their strongest warrior Liu Bai was already injured and had left. What would they do about the Verdant Canyon?

Ye Hongyu looked at the carriage pulling away through the voile. She did not say anything.

The climax of the battle of Verdant Canyon was the battle between Liu Bai and Jun Mo. She believed that it would be impossible to see such a battle between two swords for many years to come.

As for that fool, Su Chen, his death was no bother to her at all. What she was concerned about now was what would happen after the climax. She badly wanted to know how much time the half-dead Jun Mo still had.

The horse neighed once more as the cavalry geared up for battle once more. Then, the Coalition Army Military camp marched out like flowing water and met in the middle of the plain. They formed a calm and yet powerful tide that rushed toward the Verdant Canyon.

The Coalition Army cavalry did not speed up. Instead, it approached the Verdant Canyon slowly.

They feared the terrifying sound of the zither and flute. And the man who frightened them most was seriously injured, so they could deliberately slow down and crush their opponents like a moving mountain.

This was the best opportunity that the Coalition Army must seize, so this attack was personally led by marshal Bai Haixin and almost all elite cavalry soldiers were deployed. They were determined to win.

Thousands of cavalries stopped in front of the Verdant Canyon. The Forward Camp was close to the iron shelter, and was at a most suitable distance to charge forth. Furthermore, if the zither and flute sounded, the cavalry could dismount and fight at any time.

Bai Haixin lifted his armor and looked at the nearby Verdant Canyon. He looked at the man covered in blood and the iron shelter, a mocking look crossing his frosty face.

“You are disabled now.”

He looked at Jun Mo and said, “That is why I will not accept your surrender. Die.”

Jun Mo’s expression did not change when he heard that.

Mu You looked furious.

Bai Haixin was the marshal of the Coalition Army. He should’nt have come personally.

However, he thought that even the most terrifying powerhouse would be extremely weak with arm just being cut off. This was the best opportunity for the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army and it had to be seized.

The issue was, the morale of the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army soldiers was at rock bottom.

The Headmaster’s ascendance to heaven had seriously affected the morale of the cultivation powerhouses from the Buddhism Sect. The Sword Sage Liu Bai’s failure to kill the man had brought down the Coalition Army’s morale to the lowest.

As such, Bai Haixin personally led the elite cavalry to attack the Verdant Canyon.

He also had deliberately said such humiliating words.

Of course, he had made extremely careful preparations for this. There were dozens of powerful military cultivators and guards with big shields in their hands. He was not worried about being killed by that horrifying iron sword.

Jun Mo looked at the general in the troop.

He did not know who he was, but he knew that he must be someone important.

That was why he had to kill the man.

Had everything been normal, he would have walked towards the man with his iron sword without a second thought.

But he was seriously injured and had expended most of his Psyche Power. He was exhausted.

That was why he remained on his spot silently, watching Bai Haixin.

He started to ruminate on the issue.

How could he kill this person?

He had many ways in the past.

But he had to find new ways now.

He suddenly thought of the moment when Liu Bai retreated.

That imaged flashed past his eyes quickly and then slowed down into several overlapping images.

He had seen it clearly.

He raised his left arm. The iron sword summoned the autumn wind before the Verdant Canyon.

The Qi of Heaven and Earth on the sword shook uneasily and the cold wind blew.

The river burst out of its banks and flooded.

His body was like a feather, floating on the surface of the water, sweeping across hundred of feet in an instant.

He looked at Bai Haixin in front and waved his sword.

Then he drifted back, landing on his original spot.

Bai Haixin looked at the Verdant Canyon and frowned slightly. He did not know what had happened. He only felt that the scene before him was blurry, and did not know that many blood lines had appeared on his neck.

Then, he looked at his subordinates beside him.

It was a simple twisting movement, and he twisted his own head off.

His head separated from his body and landed on the ground.

Blood spurted everywhere.

Alarmed screams started.

Jun Mo shook slightly, his face grew even paler.

His energy and Psyche Power had declined even more with this simple front and back movement.

He could fall over at any moment.

He had already killed the opposition’s marshal.

He had never exuded a sense of ferocity.

But he was a truly ferocious warrior.

A true warrior would fight thousands of armies and take the life of the general, even if he was about to die.

There were sorrowful exclamations and thunderous hoofbeats.

The massive, dark crowd of cavalry started to charge.

The sounds of the zither and flute started, like the murmuring of a fountain.

From time to time, cavalry would fall from the horse’s back, and a war-horse would fall miserably and be trampled into a pile of mush and blood by its companions. The cavalry was not made up of cultivators, and they could not use talismans. They only held on with their lives.

Beigong Weiyang and Ximen Buhuo were also holding on.

Eldest Brother had fixed the strings on the Chinese zither and unblocked the vertical bamboo flute. They had been injured by the Great Divine Priest of Revelation, and even though Eldest Brother had healed them, they were not able to fully recover in such a short period of time.

They lowered their heads and played their instruments with focus.

The strings of the zither were stained with blood and blood started dripping from the flute.

Mu You stood under the iron shelter, holding several arrows in her hand. She looked at the flooding cavalry.

Sixth Brother stood at the front, outside the shelter. He held the heavy hammer tightly, the muscles on his arms almost bursting out of his shirt.

Fourth Brother held the River and Mountain Sandbox. His arms were shaking and his face was pale. He knew that the Academy was facing its greatest danger at that moment and they might all die in it. However, he could not help his Younger Brothers and Sisters.

Jun Mo waved the sword.

He held the hilt of the sword in his left hand, looking majestic.

Blood flew everywhere, hooves breaking and heads flying.

No one knew how many cavalry were felled by the iron sword.

However, the cavalry soldiers rushing toward the Verdant Canyon numbered too many. Jun Mo had just lost his arm and was gravely injured. Even though he did not retreat against the crowd, he could not stop the tide from rising and flooding them.

Jun Mo’s figure was eventually swallowed by the cavalry.

Dozens of cavalry crossed the gradually darkening sword and arrived before the Verdant Canyon.

Mu You looked at the cavalry’s twisted faces. Her hands pressed down softly, and she broke the arrow in her hands.

A pure Qi of Heaven and Earth overflowed from the iron shelter to the plain.

Five deep ravines suddenly appeared on the surface of the plain that was littered with arrows and blood.

The five ravines surrounded the exit of the Verdant Canyon.

Those ravines were deep, black and bottomless. However, they were not wide, and were just enough to hold horse hooves.

The front hoof of a war-horse stepped into a ravine and was broken off by the great force of its charge.

The tragic neighing of horses rang out one after another, and in an instant, more than ten war-horses crashed to the ground.

Several bellows rang out from the cavalrymen of the Divine Hall, and they continued charging forth.

They knew that this was the power of the tactical array. They had to kill the woman powering it as soon as possible.

Sixth Brother held his hammer and stood at the front silently. His bulking figure shielded his junior sister completely.

Several arrows were shot towards them, but his expression did not change.

The sharp arrows pierced through his naked chest, but only left a few white dots on his tanned skin.

A cavalry charged up bravely, crossing the five ravines by luck and he rushed to the front of the shelter.

The war-horse was very fast, speeding against the wind.

Sixth Brother raised his hammer and brought it down.

He had done this action all his life.

Even powerhouses from the Devil’s Doctrine might not be able to avoid his hammer.

Much less the ordinary cavalry.

The heavy hammer hit the war-horse’s head accurately.

After a sharp crack, the horse’s head cracked, spurting blood everywhere.

The war-horse fell heavily on the ground, causing clouds of dust to rise into the air.

Sixth Brother raised his hammer again towards his next enemy.

The battle in front of the Verdant Canyon lasted for an indeterminable amount of time.

The autumn sun gradually moved westward and the cold wind grew colder.

The sounds of the zither and flute grew weaker.

Beigong Weiyang and Ximen Buhuo were pale and they kept coughing blood.

Mu You grew more and more haggard.

Wang Chi hid behind the furnace anxiously. He looked up at the sky from time to time, as if he was praying.

Only Sixth Brother kept waving his hammer. The ground was littered with dead war-horses with heads split open.

The gleam of the iron sword was no longer visible among the flood of cavalry. Only the flying limbs and blood proved that the man holding the iron sword was still alive and fighting.

The night gradually grew darker.

The West-Hill Divine Palace lit their torches and continued attacking the Verdant Canyon.

Under the backdrop of countless torches, the night seemed as bright as day.

The sounds of the zither and flute before the Verdant Canyon grew more chaotic.

Beigong and Ximen were no longer pale. Their cheeks were suffused with a very ominous glow.

They no longer coughed blood because they had no more blood.

Mu You’s hair was messy and unkempt, her Psyche Power was almost drained up.

Even Sixth Brother’s muscular arms started to tremble, his hammer even started to look deformed.

Fourth Brother stared at the River and Mountain Sandbox silently.

Wang Chi had already stood up from behind the furnace. He looked at the Night Dome and muttered to himself.

They have not seen Second Brother’s figure in a long time.

But they knew that he was still fighting.

The iron sword was still there.

Because the Verdant Canyon was still there.

An entire night had passed.

The stories that happened that night and the determination that played out were hard to describe with words.

The Academy disciples who guarded the Verdant Canyon and the attacking cavalryman of Divine Hall were close to their breaking point.

Dawn arrived, but the daylight was still bleak.

Wang Chi kept looking at the sky, his neck was long sore. However, he did not feel much.

He gave a sudden shout.

Sixth Brother heard it and paused slightly. He tossed the misshapened hammer and hit over a cavalry before walking towards the shelter rapidly.

Fourth Brother’s left hand left the River and Mountain Sandbox and spat out blood with a poof. However, Sixth Brother ignored it and quickly retrieved a talisman paper, using his Psyche Power to turn it into a breeze.

The breeze reached the furnace.

Sixth Brother moved the breeze with his utmost power.

The cold wind gradually stopped.

Then, a wind emerged from the Verdant Canyon.

The wind grew stronger.

Wang Chi had kept a watch for the wind direction he needed for an entire day and night.

The northern wind had arrived.

He took the prepared medicinal powder from his arms, unwrapped it with trembling hands and sprinkled it on the fire.

A slightly sweet aura filled the iron shelter as the powder was evaporated by the hot fire. Then, it floated towards the plain with the northern wind.

The cavalrymen of Divine Hall were still charging towards the Verdant Canyon incessantly.

They suddenly smelled the faint sweet scent.

And they started to bleed.

Blood flowed from their eyes and noses.

The blood that flowed out of them was faintly sweet and fragrant.

A cavalryman suddenly recalled before he died, that he had once smelled such a scent.

He was still in his hometown then, and there was a beautiful woman who sold this white flower on the streets.

This was the scent of a flower.

The fragrance of gardenia flowers.

It turned out that the fragrance of flowers could really attack a person.

It could really kill.

The iron sword appeared once more before the Verdant Canyon.

It was dull, and there were several breaches on the sword point.

But when the iron sword appeared, it brought death.

The cavalry continued to fall.

Several flecks of blood flew into the sky and then fell like a rain of blood.

In the rain of blood, Jun Mo continued to kill.

The wind came and went, and the fragrance of flowers gradually dissipated.

The cavalry gradually retreated, and a piece of clear land finally appeared before the Verdant Canyon.

Jun Mo stood there with his iron sword.

Corpses littered the ground around him.

The cavalry did not continue to charge.

The black tide turned into the quiet sea.

A South Jin Kingdom general looked at the tragic picture in front of him and suddenly felt very tired.

Many had died that night.

He knew that if they continued to charge, those from the Academy would not be able to guard the Verdant Canyon.

The scent of flowers could not last long, and the man holding the iron sword would eventually fall.

But he did not order his subordinates to continue charging.

Because everyone was already jaded and desperate.

The tide could insist beating against reefs for millennia.

But no man could insist like that.

The general noticed that several Commandants under his command, famous for their bravery, were looking at the camp in the south. He knew that these men, like himself, were waiting for orders to retreat.

But the sound did not come.

They wanted to fight again, but they lacked the courage.

It was unknown who started it. It might be an ordinary cavalry soldier. Horse hooves sounded softly, leaving the Verdant Canyon dyed red with blood, heading towards the south. Then, more and more cavalry soldiers left the Verdant Canyon silently.

Jun Mo held the sword single-handedly before the green hills.

He was drenched in blood and filth. His face was pale, but he looked just as calm.

One would usually describe mountains and forests as glorious and flourishing.

But sometimes, these adjectives could be used to describe a person’s disposition and appearance.

Just like how he was right now.

Looking at the thousands of cavalrymen who gradually left the Verdant Canyon, the iron sword in his hand finally dropped slowly.

He turned and looked at the children under the iron shelter and nodded at them calmly.

Then he looked up at the green hills.

In the morning light, the green hills were beautiful.

The green hills must think that he was beautiful as well.