Chapter 449: Awakening and Rebirth

Although the Idol of Chaos tried to stop the attack with its hand, Ming Yue's dagger cleaved through. It cut right between the finger, carving into the hand and through the arm. 

"What?! What just happened?"

She immediately retreated as half of the Idol's arm was sliced off. It fell, slowly vanishing as the lightning died out.

And suddenly, the Idol of Chaos screamed out loud. But it was not the voices of the Hundun clan that cried out in pain. 

Rather, it was a single voice, one that was very familiar but not what Ming Yue was expecting. 

"Agh, curse you! To think this body would be injured by you again! But it matters not, it is done! I have taken over!"

The pain was ignored as a sense of victory and joy overwhelmed it. But for Ming Yue, it was shock.

"That's not the Dai Mian's voice, that's the disciple!" she realized in an instant. 

Xuan Yin and the others soon arrived with Yu Zhen brandishing her saber. 

"You, weren't you suppose to revive your sect leader? What did you do?" she asked. 

The Idol of Chaos or rather, Ling Hun, looked at them all. He stood up and laughed. 

"Of course, that was the original plan", he answered. 

While he spoke, he looked at himself, studying this new body with great interest.

"The sect leader had trained me in the Soul Dao so that I will be able to awaken his soul should something happen to his body. However, all of the others are dead and his soul has shattered. What do you think I should do? Save my master or take his power? The answer was simple. With this, I'm free of him, him and his cursed experiments", Ling Hun explained. 

"But you were his disciple, no?"

He laughed before pointing at his former body, which had become a melting mess. 

"I was his first disciple and his greatest achievement. But that was just in name, he used me to study the Soul Dao, forcing me to learn a technique that could revive his soul. But if I were to use it, my body would end up like that."

Everyone witnesses it, his human body was breaking down. Bone and flesh turned to mush, losing any color that they once had. 

Although he was now faceless, the hatred was easy to tell. 

"Do you think I should've been grateful to him? No, being his disciple was torturous, my body was no longer mine, do you understand? All fifteen disciples were just contingencies to keep him alive, all under the guise of stopping another calamity. But no, it was clear that he was a madman and I've finally rid the world of him."

Ling Hun walked forward with his sliced arm limp to the side. His body crackled every now and then and the black and white lightning had changed. From afar, it looked gray but it was white sparks outlined in black. 

It was different, much more controlled.

"And what of the Hundun Clan? What happened to them? Are they no longer in control of the Idol of Chaos?" the commander asked. 

Ling Hun shook his head. 

"I should thank you all for managing to destroy its shield enough for me to touch its soul. I severed the connection between this body and that clan. I am the one in control now." 

"And what will you do now?" 

With this last question, it had turned silent between him and them. The air had grown tense as Yu Zhen, Ming Yue, and Xuan Yin all held tightly to their weapons. The force within their bodies continued to surge, ready to burst out at any moment. 

He then turned back to Yu Zhen, still pointing her saber at him. 

"To answer these questions of yours, I'll be leaving this cursed place, I've suffered enough. Neither the Hundun nor the Tao Feng, or any of you for that matter will stop me from disappearing."

"Is that so? And if I do not believe you?" 

She eyed him intensely, her saber at the ready. However, he was no perturbed. 

"In that case, we can fight. It would end in my loss considering the state that I'm in but... at what cost?" he responded. 

"Not to mention, destroy me or not, the Hundun Clan will most certainly come for you all here. It'd be better for both of us to concede or would you rather have your strength cut down by the time they come? Of course, if you want, I could offer you my aid", he suggested, putting a somewhat friendly air through his distorted voice.

Yu Zhen was silent, most likely pondering her options. 

What he said did indeed carry some truths. With the Hundun Clan so obsessive over the Idol of Chaos, they would definitely come down here. And while it was possible to give them a explanation, Yu Zhen knew that they would not listen. 

Would she risk it?

After another few moments, she pulled her saber back.

"Ah commander, I knew that you would make the right choice." 

He placed his other hand to his chest and bowed before taking care fo some other business. 

Ling Hun's eyes scanned them all before finally laying on Ming Yue. 

"You... you must've been the one responsible for killing the others. In fact, you were one of the people who sent my former master to his doom", he said, looking at her with interest.

"Perhaps, you were looking to end it yourself and I suppose I've taken that from you. But now, you have helped in freeing me. I am no longer tied to the Tao Feng and it will end with the death of him."

Despite his words, Ming Yue still looked at him warily. While she was not stupid enough to charge forward and attack, she was also not naive enough to fully trust his words. 

Then she spoke. 

"If you would like to go, then go now. This is the only chance that I'm giving you." 

Giving him that one warning, she also pulled her dagger back. And although Ling Hun's face was nothing more than two red gems, one could see a smile of some sort on it. 

"I will be going now." 

He then rose up to the sky, vanishing to the skies as they all watched. 

The black clouds seemed to light up with lightning before slowly dispersing, revealing a bright sun hanging over it all. They all looked up for a few more moments before finally taking a breath. The commander stuck her saber into the ground, using it to support her weight. Xuan Yin dropped to the ground while taking in deep breaths. 

And Ming Yue put away her dagger and released her Zephyr Claws. She looked at the others before gazing at the clear skies.

"Fuck, that was... too intense."

Xuan Yin sputtered out between each breath as she looked at the two of them. 

"So what now?" she asked. 

Yu Zhen looked at the two of them before taking her saber out of the ground and sheathing it on her back. 

"We go back... and prepare for the next battle." 

Far into the northeastern corner of the continent, in the mountains where dark clouds swirled about. Lightning and thunder crashed down with a frenzy. Ball of electric fury fluttered about as those of the Hundun Clan were both in panic and in rage. 

"The Idol is gone! The Idol is gone! We must reclaim it! We must reclaim it from the one who dares to take it!" 

"Where has it gone? Where? Where?!" 

"The south, the south! We must go south! We must search for the Idol of Chaos! No matter the cost!" 

One by one they gathered together, forming a chariot with their power and rising into the skies. And just like Ling Hun, the entire clan vanished into the clouds.