1404 A Life Saved at the Cost of Others

"Your Majesty!"

Although Old Sycamore and the others were battling power enemies, their attention was on Tang Xiu at all times. They used their most formidable attacks as if their life depended on it to force back their opponents and rushed towards Tang Xiu and Zhu Wushou immediately.

"They are quite loyal!" A cold gleam of light flashed past Shade Demon Zhu Wushou's eyes as he used his strongest divine power, Twilight Nightmare, and enveloped all seven of them in it.

"Break for me!"

"Break!"

"Go!"

Crazed expressions appeared on their faces as they unfolded a fierce offense towards Shade Demon Zhu Wushou, almost with the intent to exchange their lives with his.

Boom…

The planet nearby exploded within the vast starry skies, yet the explosive force behind the explosion didn't have any influence on them. Shade Demon Zhu Wushou's strongest attack also got defeated by their superimposed attacks.

"Kill them all!" Shade Demon Zhu Wushou commanded in an enraged voice, and following that, the six Supremes that had accompanied him immediately charged at Old Sycamore and the others.

The intense battle caused the stars around them to tremble, and the nearby planets exploded one after the other because of the energy fluctuations. The blasts from the explosion of the planets as well as the attacks of the Supremes even caused space to destabilize and form innumerable black holes.

This battle continued for five days, and during this time, no matter whether it was Tang Xiu or the others from his group, all of them had suffered grievous injuries. On the enemy side, Shade Demon Zhu Wushou had just suffered light injuries, and the same could be said for Supreme Icesnow. However, the other five Supremes who had accompanied Shade Demon Zhu Wushou had all gotten severely injured.

"Twilight Nightmare, Void Blast." Shade Demon Zhu Wushou revealed a dense killing intent on his face as he watched Tang Xiu get blown away. As soon as he uttered those words, he immediately followed up with his strongest attack once again.

Pain flashed across Tang Xiu's eyes as he spewed out blood. As he was almost ten times weaker than before, there was a huge chasm between his strength and a late-stage Supreme like Shade Demon Zhu Wushou. The reason he had managed to hold on for five days was that Old Sycamore and the others had gone all out to protect him, and also because of the aid provided by the fully matured Supremacy Stage Star Devourer Insect residing inside his body.

If not for them, he would have died in Shade Demon Zhu Wushou's hands five days ago.

Shade Demon Zhu Wushou revealed a crazed smile on his face as he watched Tang Xiu and seized this opportunity to teleport and arrive before him momentarily. His saber struck down towards Tang Xiu's head and he almost felt like he could see the scene of his saber splitting Tang Xiu into two any moment now.

"Twilight Nightmare." A cold, monotonous voice echoed from behind Shade Demon Zhu Wushou, and a demon artifact pierced through his defenseless body along with an explosive amount of fearsome energy.

"Scram!" Shade Demon Zhu Wushou's expression changed greatly. His saber that was just inches away from reaching Tang Xiu's head changed directions and struck towards his back. At the same time, he gathered his energy to use Twilight Nightmare once again and bombarded the person behind him with it resolutely.

The person who had attacked Shade Demon Zhu Wushou at almost the same moment got hit in the chest badly and flew back within the void as Shade Demon Zhu Wushou fell back several thousands of meters, blood spewing out from the wound on his chest.

Tang Xiu's gaze fell on the person who had got blown away from Shade Demon Zhu Wushou's attack. Although he couldn't see their appearance, he had recognized their identity after hearing their toneless voice.

"Leave now!" Tang Xiu roared at them with a crazed expression on his face.

That person paused for a moment, and after looking at Tang Xiu deeply, they immediately charged at Shade Demon Zhu Wushou in silence. A storm of demon flames appeared all of a sudden as a crazy amount of black mist surged up from the surroundings, instantly enveloping Shade Demon Zhu Wushou and them in it.

"Damn it! Who are you and why can you use my Twilight Nightmare? Argh… you scoundrel! You actually plan to detonate your immortal soul?! Scram for me!"

A figure flew out of the roiling black mist like a broken kite while spewing out blood crazily. Their right arm had been amputated while a huge hole had appeared on their chest. Furthermore, their mutilated body was suppressed by a flickering golden soul seal.

Whoosh…

Tang Xiu felt like his heart had ripped into two pieces, his cheeks trailing with tears. He appeared behind that figure instantly and held them in his embrace.

"Cough…"

The person's mask had broken into pieces already, and their black robes were in a tattered state. Xue Qingcheng coughed out a few mouthfuls of blood, and although her forehead had creased up in pain, she had a poignant smile on her face right now.

"You idiot!"

Tang Xiu poured a crazy amount of Primal Chaos Force inside her body as she laid within his embrace. He could sense that Han Qingwu was losing her vitality at a rapid pace, and from the looks of it, it seemed like she would die thoroughly in just a few hours.

"Cough… I am… an idiot."

Xue Qingcheng's eyes brimmed with tears, yet the smile on her face turned even brighter. She raised her blood-stained hands and caressed Tang Xiu's face gently before speaking in a weak voice, "I owed him a favor before, and all my relatives were in his hands too. If… Cough… I hadn't struck you back then, they would have all died and I wouldn't have been able to pay back the favor I owed him.

"Xiu, you're the person who I'm most indebted to in this world. My life is yours even if you're unwilling to see me again. If you wish to have a tranquil life, just watching you silently from far away is enough to fill me with happiness. If you wish to kill someone, you just need to point your blade at them, and I will… Cough… kill them for you.

"Do you know? This is the happiest I have felt ever since that day.

"I'm pleading with you. Please break the soul seal on me.

"Xiu, this is the first time I've ever asked something from you. Please… leave.

"Leave…"

Tang Xiu cried his heart out, tears bursting out like a broken dam and the heart-rending pain almost made him go insane. At this moment, he had finally realized that although she had struck him back then, it wasn't because she didn't love him. On the contrary, she was so deeply in love with him that the pain she had to bear was much worse than his.

"She died before.

"She really committed suicide after attacking me back then.

"She is Xue Qingcheng, yet she's also Han Qingwu.

"She loved me all along.

"But I kept thinking of killing her and always hated her.

"And she… persisted just as before, enduring everything…"

Tang Xiu's heart filled with remorse. He had always seen things from his perspective and never considered the pain in Xue Qingcheng's heart.

"LEAVE!"

A scream echoed out from Tang Xiu's bosom as a fearsome force pushed him hundreds of kilometers away. In the next instant, Xue Qingcheng appeared near Eagle. After taking a fierce hit from Supreme Icesnow for him, she roared at him, "Help me break the soul seal!"

"ARRGGHHH!"

The gravely injured Old Sycamore who was on the brink of losing his life issued a beastly roar all of a sudden as he bellowed out loud, "Your Majesty. Old Sycamore has forgotten the grace you have shown me. And now, it's time for me to pay you back."

Boom…

A terrifying explosion that was a hundred times more powerful than the explosion of a planet unfolded after that with Old Sycamore at the center. The dreadful energy from the detonation progressed in all directions with terrifying speed and resulted in the nearby Supreme Icesnow's body exploding into a battered state. Only his immortal soul managed to escape and fled towards the distance in fear.

"Old Sycamore."

Tang Xiu's body trembled violently as pain overcame his entire body, following which, all the planets inside the cosmic space of his body shone with intense light. A terrifying halo of energy shrouded his body and his aura soared up explosively in an instant as he made way towards the place Eagle and Xue Qingcheng were located with lightning-quick movements.

"Don't break the soul seal!" Tang Xiu screamed at Eagle.

Eagle smiled bitterly and pushed her hundreds of kilometers away by hitting her shoulder with his immortal force and yelled back at Tang Xiu, "Your Majesty, I should have died in the Nefas Abyss a thousand years ago, but I survived and could even have a child with my wife because you saved her. Please take care of them for me."

In the next instant, Eagle charged towards Apotheon Myriad Notes and punched him in the chest. Once he was far away, he donated his immortal soul as well.

The Supremes besieging him and Apotheon Myriad Notes were both mid-stage Supremes and were already gravely injured right now. Their expressions changed greatly when they realized Eagle's intentions, but they were unable to withdraw in time, and their bodies vaporized within the explosion. Even their immortal souls failed to escape the detonation of Eagle's immortal soul.

"Eagle!"

Tang Xiu's eyes filled with despair as he caught Xue Qingcheng in his embrace, feeling outraged. His eyes turned bloodshot and his body grew in size crazily. His muscles expanded, his bones shattered, and his meridians ruptured. In just a few breaths of time, his height increased by ten meters, and the fearsome Primal Chaos Force then nourished his muscles, fused his bones, and rejoined his meridians.

At this moment, his visage resembled a Demon God as the divine sword returned to his hands. He instantaneously appeared before Shade Demon Zhu Wushou, who had an unsightly expression on his face.

"Damn it! I'm the Demon here!" Shade Demon Zhu Wushou roared in anger.

Although Xue Qingcheng had inflicted a severe wound on him through an ambush, he was confident that he could kill Tang Xiu just as before. The space around him collapsed as a torrent of energy amassed in front of him. His saber then exploded with a bang and turned into a saber light spanning thousands of meters as it struck towards Tang Xiu.

Tang Xiu acted as if he hadn't sensed the danger and cut through space with his divine sword to meet the incoming saber light. His current strength wasn't that far from his former self's strongest might. The divine sword in his hand sliced through the saber light and pierced into Shade Demon Zhu Wushou's chest firmly.

"Divine Power—Heavenly Net."

Tang Xiu coughed out a mouthful of blood and, followed by a flash of blood-colored light, countless multicolored lines appeared, extended with him as the source, and covered a range of 500 kilometers around him in an instant.

The entire world.

Appeared to have frozen.

The magnificent radiance from the multicolored lines made this section of the world appear like an illusionary dream and repressively beautiful. The dozens of Perfected Golden Immortals were sliced into pieces instantaneously, and their blood seemed to augment this section of the world with dazzling amaryllises.