Silent Crown

The dead silence was only broken by Yuan Changqing’s laughter. “What’s going on? Finally regained consciousness?”

This old man was admiring the horrible wounds on the giant beast as he expressed his genuine awe, “Look at how the good and bad are both destroyed together. Isn’t this refreshing!”

“I just… suddenly thought things through…” The fearsome ape threw the broken sword aside and stared directly at the soldiers and horses ahead. Then, it turned around and looked back at the last city gate that it was defending.

War had finally come. It could never die, and 15 years later, it had been revived once again to burn this country, which should have been destroyed long ago, completely to the ground. Regardless of any Emperor or bloodline of the dragon, any attempts to stop this day from coming was a mistake. No one knew this better than Mr. Hu.

Perhaps he should have destroyed that thing 15 years ago, so that the Aurora, which had been forcefully prolonged, would lead him to the ending he deserved. If he had allowed this world to be flooded, the teachers would not have died and he would have had to suffer for 15 years.

Perhaps he could have chosen to remain anonymous, or perhaps he could have… gone to look for that woman that was waiting for him. They would escape from this place together and go to the World of the Dark. They could find some deserted land and build a house made of straw. A future like that might still have its pain and suffering but compared to the dull life that he was leading now, undoubtedly, the former would have been a blessing.

Perhaps, he could have chosen not to force himself to become a hero.

For all these years, he had always been thinking about another possibility, another life, another way that he could make up for his mistake. It was only until this day arrived that he finally realized that it was simply too late to try and make up for his mistake. 15 years ago, when he opened that box in front of the Emperor, his destiny had already more or less been decided. It was fated that he would not be able to redeem himself. His only choice was to drag out the rest of his life in this world and bear all the pain and regrets on his own. There would be no redemption.

But at this moment, as he was face-to-face with the impending war, he did not expect that his pain and suffering would turn into a form of relief. It was like how a prisoner would welcome his trial. At the end of this war, no matter which side won, there should be nothing left of the old dynasty?

His journey to the West was ultimately a failure. He made sacrifices, lost everything, obtain the truth and created a wise ruler… After so many changes, the outcome was still the same. Suffering for half a lifetime for nothing was simply a waste of effort. It was like a dream. And now, it was finally time to wake up from this long and arduous dream.

This was why when the bloody monster lifted its head to look at the soldiers and horses heading its way, there was a smile on its broken face.

“Look at this. This shall be my greatest achievement that no one will know about. A future that will continue on after all the sacrifices!” Mr. Hu proudly extended both his arms to show off his proudest piece of work to his enemies. There was arrogance in his eyes as he looked down on them, “Just as you guessed… it is me who has delayed this day for 15 years!”

There was a solemn look on the face of Zhangsun Jigui. “Indeed, you were the one that swapped the prince 15 years ago…” His eyes were cold. “And now you are gloating. Aren’t you ashamed?”

“It was a mistake that I made but unfortunately, I have decided not to repent.” The fearsome ape took a step in the direction of its enemies to block them off, “Since I’m already going to die, why am I still stubborn? Right?”

“…” Zhangsun Jigui kept quiet and spoke no more. He did not know what to say nor did he wish to say anymore.

Just like how metal clashed with rock, their only reaction was to burst into shouts and roars of killing. As turbulence spread across heaven and earth due to the terrible movement, reckless and joyful laughter could be heard. It was Mr. Hu. He was leaning back and laughing.

After he was no longer able to make up for his mistakes, he did not learn how to forgive himself. Instead, he chose to remain stubborn.

I’m afraid there’s nothing that can help me now? For the sake of this country that should have been destroyed long ago, my teachers and juniors have all died. But I have learned nothing from this. I am still so… hopelessly stupid!

Despite having regretted for so many years, he was still insistent on going down the wrong path… the only consolation was that this time around, the only person he would have to sacrifice was himself.

Amidst the roars, the images of countless palace watchtowers appeared out of nowhere on the battlefield to seal him off. The image of the Moon in the Well hung high in the vault of heaven and cast down the image of the City in the Sky to seal off both inside and outside. Soon after, the giant spirits drew their swords and charged at the fearsome ape.

The torch dragon howled in fury while the earth shattered. Countless evil beasts and spirits climbed out of the darkness and gathered together to form a pitch-black current that flowed recklessly everywhere. It was as if the terror of the depths of hell was spreading in all directions.

In the dark clouds were countless streaks of lightning and thunder. The thunder dragon screamed and appeared out of the layers of clouds. One could almost make out the shimmering formation beneath its countless streaks of electricity. On the other hand, as the slender and agile fury dragon slithered in the vault of heaven and extended downwards, both dragons clashed and created the roar of friction of metals.

In the greatest depths of the realm of aether, the gigantic projection of the City in the Sky exerted an incredible force of attraction downwards and seemed to be holding the entire “weight” of the City in the Sky by relying on the shackle. It was a representation of heaven’s wrath befalling on mankind, a chain that was capable of restraining God and catastrophe.

In an instant, the fearsome ape was covered by the lock of thunder and restrained over many layers. Shortly after, the image of the palace watchtowers in the Moon in the Well quickly turned into a platform that was a thousand feet long. On the platform, millions of nature interferences rose and fell together like an explosion of stars, creating a hopeless situation that was tens of thousands of times worse than the Dark Zone. Tens of thousands of giant spirits were dragging the lock of God’s punishment while hoisting the ape of catastrophe onto the platform.

The waves of evil beasts gathered into a rumbling ocean as countless palms stretched out from within. Those slender and absurd arms were illusional and did not even possess any physical weight yet every time they touched the fearsome ape, they would suck away some of the latter’s power. It was as if they were on the brink of death and were desperately reaching for life. As they continued to suck life away like the ocean abyss, the image of Hanuman began to collapse bit by bit, unveiling the host within that was being heavily restrained.

It was the immortal-bundling lock, followed by the immortal-banishing platform, then the lake of nine levels of hell. Finally, Yuan Changqing sighed and closed his eyes. A majestic suit of iron armor appeared on his body as he climbed up the stairs and stepped onto the platform.

With the boost from the City in the Sky, Chun Jun sword was undergoing a rapid transformation. It was completely covered by a thick blanket of scarlet as the weapons of the universe gathered together to form the dragon-slayer sword.

“I had wanted to have a proper battle with you. It’s a pity that you didn’t give me the chance…” He lowered his head and looked down at the prisoner, who was restrained on the guillotine. There was a look of pity and regret in his eyes. “Is there anything else you want to say? You can say anything you want. You must have some last words.”

Mr. Hu kept quiet for a long time before he suddenly whispered, “Everything that I have done has been a mistake, right?”

“Perhaps.” Yuan Changqing answered indifferently, “But in this world, who dares to say that he is always right?”

“Indeed.” Mr. Hu hung his head. “Regardless of right or wrong, something had to do it, right? Even if there comes a day where the world will be flooded…”

“Indeed.” Yuan Changqing nodded as the look of pity never left his face. What a worthy opponent. Why couldn’t we have sparred against each other?

Mr. Hu kept quiet and merely closed his eyes. For some reason, he recalled the look on his teacher’s face before he died 15 years ago. That old man was not shocked nor enraged. He did not even put up a fight. He had merely taken a look at the blade of the sword that had stabbed into his chest, then smiled. With whatever strength and energy he had left, he embraced Mr. Hu.

“Little monkey,” the old man, who had turned into a monster, muttered softly, “from now on, I’m afraid you will have to suffer.” Those were his last words.

Why didn’t I understand what he meant earlier?

“After all of you have grown up, you all will succeed me…” Undoubtedly, that was his teacher’s last hope that he had pinned on all of them. “All of you will grow up to become the pillars of this country, and become heroes that will far surpass me.”

Indeed, there will come a day when I will pass on too. And all of you will inherit my conviction, my power and… my mistakes! All of you represent the future and you will all surpass me. All of you will find a way to break through the limitations I faced and face this cruel world. You will either choose to maintain the status quo or choose to change everything. All of you will become… heroes!

“Yes, leave it to me.” This was an answer that was given 15 years too late. He muttered under his breath and lowered his head. He had found himself in the worst possible situation, yet his heart was filled with unbelievable joy. He could not help himself as… tears flowed freely.

Amidst the roars of heaven and earth and the congregation of the weapons of the universe. The end was here.

“Farewell.” Under the murderous melody, Yuan Changqing raised the dragon-slayer sword and said farewell, “It is my honor to be able to kill you.”

Mr. Hu laughed and looked up at the sky. “Teacher, please watch me from the heavens.”

Perhaps everything that I have done has just been a waste of my efforts. Perhaps the only thing that would come out of all my sacrifices was just a huge mistake. But even so, there had to be someone in this world to make this decision. And if this decision was wrong, then may it be rectified a new mistake. Use a new mistake to overwrite the old one then.

Amidst the endless mistakes, lives would pass on. As time interchanged between war and peace, heroes would emerge, only to be overthrown eventually. The land, the sky, and the world would all undergo changes. But there would be no end to mistakes, and they would always be too far from what was right. As long as this mistake was passed down, there would come a day in the future when everything would finally be made right once more! This was what it truly meant to be a hero.

“I want to… become a hero!”

In that instant, the final seal, “Tai Shang,” opened up in the depths of his eyes. With that, the hero of the world had arrived!

…

The world beneath the dragon-slayer sword suddenly stopped. Within those burning pair of gold-colored eyes, the trace of the dragon-slayer sword was brought to a sudden halt.

There was a sharp and high-pitched sound from far away that pierced through the clouds, which was then followed by the sounds of drums and metals clashing against each other. It was as if a melody, that was filled with despair and finality, was spreading in all directions. Beneath the immortal-bundling lock was a shackle that was formed by the interweaving streaks of lightning. It began to tremble violently as it was no longer able to hold down the terrible power that was emerging from the body.

From the lake of nine levels of hell, countless forms of darkness were screaming at the top of their lungs. More and more spots of burning light were rising from the depths of the ocean abyss, like the blade of a sword piercing through the darkness. In the end, all the evil spirits and beasts evaporated even as they screamed.

Within the ocean of light, countless music theories were interwoven with each other and were extending out of Mr. Hu’s body. Beneath his flesh and muscle, the alchemy formations that had been carved into his bones were all beginning to light up, one by one. A fire that seemed capable of creating heaven and earth was coursing through his veins, burning his flesh and muscle and limbs. All the ordinary human parts had completely evaporated. Right now, there was only a bright and burning silhouette that could not be looked at directly. This was the final work of Tai Changqing, Seal of Tai Shang!

With catastrophe as the source, the fearsome ape was completely burnt to ashes. In turn, the human was given incredible power and flames to become a vessel that was capable of miracles and would turn life into hammer and pain into felt. With the spirit-tower heart, and setting moon and seven stars, countless intentions flowed within the flames of light. Finally, after everything had been gathered together, an element, that was so bright that no one would be able to look at it directly, was finally cast. “Hero”!

A hero had arrived. The impact was terrifying that the Lord of Deva quickly retreated with a solemn look on his face. Yuan Changqing was the only one with joy on his face.

“Yes! This is the way! This is how it should be!” He could not help but laugh out loud while gripping Chun Jun sword tightly. Completely bathed in a temperature that was so high that it was capable of evaporating anything, he rushed towards his enemy, who was slowly rising within the burning light. His steely eyes were filled with hope that did not seem human.

“Bai Heng was right after all! You are the opponent that will force me to do my best… Come over! I have been waiting for 20 years for this day to come!” He burst into wild laughter like a beast. He struck with his sword and tore through lightning and fire and into the flame. In a flash, the light of the sword flowed and penetrated 8,000 worlds and stabbed at the enemy.

In that instant, the immortal-bundling lock was completely broken. Golden armor appeared from within the flames, and streams of seven-colored light interwoven into clouds before descending from the sky. After the catastrophe and he had been completely burnt, the man, who had now become a hero, lifted his head. In his hands, empty gravitational force gathered and extended forward to unleash a terrible power that was capable of distorting the entire world.

There was no music theory or element or aether. Just pure power! A total of 108,641 jin!

Hurricanes began to blow. The land trembled like water ripples as flames shot up into the sky to light up the dark heaven and earth. Amidst the roars, Yuan Changqing flew out. An arm was completely broken, but it was also repairing itself rapidly. His entire body was covered in scarlet-red blood, making him look like the devil.

But there was only the look of joy on his face. There was no hatred in his eyes, only… pleasure and gratitude. He did not fear the enemy’s power, but was completely rejuvenated instead!

“What is… that?” The prince was pale in the face. After personally witnessing such terrifying power, he began to doubt this world.

“That’s a hero.” Bai Heng smiled as he admired this scene. He raised his cup of wine and took a gulp before continuing calmly, “Seems like there is quite a lot of truth in that legend. Tai Changqing had dug out an ancient artifact at the foot of Luo Jia mountain. It was said to be an artifact that was used by the ancient Devas to hammer into the seabed in order to stabilize tsunami.” He paused for a while and pondered for some time before saying the name of that object, “Super-mass tidal brake valve.”