Chapter 34: Heaven and Earth, Fivefold Force!
When Li Hongling heard that, she froze for a moment, then burst into laughter, furious beyond reason.
"You really dare!"
She reached out with a wave, and Meteor Abyss fell into her hand. She pointed it straight at Chen Kuang, her gaze as sharp as lightning, her voice like thunder:
"Don't think that just because you picked up some power from nowhere that it counts as your own. In this world, every bit of effort earns its due return. If even a tenth of it is false, it'll never become true!"
"Huo Hengxuan endured forty years in silence, wagering his life in a grand plan, forging his sword and ascending to sainthood, I acknowledge that. But you?"
Although Li Hongling had been horrified by Huo Hengxuan's terrifying leap of two major realms into sainthood, it wasn't hard to deduce what he had been doing all along.
He had always pursued the Dao of protecting the nation, but for the heavens to acknowledge such a path was incredibly difficult.
Because many claimed to protect their nations... but few actually succeeded.
Simply expanding territory or guarding borders, was that enough to call oneself a protector of the nation?
If so, then wouldn't everyone be a saint?
Only those who rise up in a time of collapse, who hold up a falling pillar in moments of true crisis, and who preserve the last thread of a nation's hope, only they can move the heavens and forge a Dao worth witnessing!
Li Hongling had a chilling suspicion.
A terrifying suspicion...
She thought it might even be possible, just barely, that Liang's fall and Huo Hengxuan's capture had been part of the plan all along.
Of course, that was only a faint possibility.
But if that were true, then what role had the deceased Su Yu played? The implications were too dark to consider.
The only certainty was this: Huo Hengxuan had succeeded.
But Huo Hengxuan was Huo Hengxuan. What was a mere musician like you, to dare claim you'd break her legs just because of borrowed power?!
"Arrogant fool!"
Li Hongling bellowed, and shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bowstring:
"Last time, I only broke your legs out of mercy. Today, I'll let you taste what it's like to be cut in half!"
Her aura surged with each step, the true might of the Moon-Embracing Realm radiating outward. Around them, soldiers could no longer withstand the pressure and dropped to their knees.
But Chen Kuang stood motionless, steady as a mountain, raising his hand to pluck the strings.
"Zheng-"
A single note, deep and distant, echoed like the sound from an ancient well, spreading across the battlefield.
There was no outward flash of force, no visible tremor. Just the music.
Yet within a thousand li, all who heard it felt their eardrums rupture: Some lost their hearing and others could only hear a shrill, piercing ring.
Dragon Gums, as a famed instrument, carried a tone laced with killing intent, sharper than any normal zither.
If an ordinary zither could be likened to a beauty with a lovely voice and charming smile, then Dragon Gums was like a sword-dancing warrior maiden in flowing green robes, her intent not on admiration, but on cleaving through the world itself.
When its strings sang, the world was meant to tremble.
And this was only the outermost effect.
Chen Kuang, using the Moon-Embracing Realm, wielded the Sage's Zither, battling Li Hongling head-on.
"Boom..."
At his brow, the lotus seal burst forth with light. His body surged with qi, Spiritual Energy gushing like tides, and behind him formed the illusion of a vast white lotus.
He had already stacked three layers of force into his First Form, and now, emboldened by Huo Hengxuan's earlier advice, he pushed for a fourth.
The center of the lotus opened once more.
A fourth petal bloomed.
The light at his brow dimmed slightly, not because of weakness, but because it had grown even more concentrated.
This fourth force layer was as strong as the first three combined.
Even Chen Kuang himself was startled.
He had briefly tasted Master Realm power before, albeit a diluted, borrowed version, and though it was lacking, it gave him context.
And now, this fourth force he had built... was comparable to a Grandmaster's strike!
Chen Kuang's heart burned.
"That old man wasn't lying... this First Form, if you can keep layering the force, it's endless in potential!"
Suppressing his excitement, he remained calm. He couldn't afford a long battle. This fourfold force had to be released at just the right moment, to end it all in a single blow.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Li Hongling's eyes were like blades, her giant halberd sweeping back and forth with ease. Her long hair whipped in the wind. She crashed into the lotus-shaped energy formation again and again like a meteor from the mountains.
Each strike blasted deep craters into the ground.
The violent gales of her strikes tore massive holes into the soft petals of the lotus, scattering them into shards of Spiritual Energy.
The once-majestic lotus quickly began to collapse, flickering like a candle in a storm.
At its center, Chen Kuang, still holding his zither, remained calm, his fingers resting lightly on the strings, eyes closed as he gathered his emotions.
"Boom!"
Another strike, this time, the lotus was split wide open.
The lotus formation had no real strength. It was pure quantity, massive amounts of Spiritual Energy that would dissipate anyway. He had simply dumped it all to buy time.
Seeing this, Li Hongling's face twisted into a mad grin as her crimson eyes burned with murderous light.
"You have power but no idea how to use it. You're courting death!"
She broke through the remaining Spiritual Energy barrier. Meteor Abyss crashed down toward him, all her Spiritual Energy focused into a single attack, a blow meant to end the battle.
She too could not afford to drag this out.
This one strike would decide victory or death!
The halberd, wrapped in thunder and wind, struck down toward Chen Kuang's forehead. The blade tip split his brow, drawing a line of blood.
"Shhhh-"
The force pierced into his body. Cuts opened all over, his white robes soaking red.
At the edge of death, he dreamed of his past life.
Powerlessness. Emptiness. Despair. Regret. Terror. All the emotions surged forth at once.
Chen Kuang's eyes snapped open. He plucked the strings.
"Zheng-!"
The sound carried a torrent of emotion, amplified infinitely by the Heavenly Demon Law.
Soldiers nearby lost control, some dropped their weapons, others collapsed sobbing, or laughed maniacally, or even turned on one another.
Some of the weaker ones simply raised their weapons and stabbed themselves, dying on the spot.
As for Li Hongling, the closest to the sound, she was struck with a terrifying vision.
She saw Huo Hengxuan again, standing tall in the midst of chaos.
"You-!!"
Her heart contracted, breath caught. For a second, she almost fled.
But the illusion shattered quickly, and her mind cleared.
She looked up to see Chen Kuang, brow bloodied, lotus seal fully formed and fading into his skin.
Dragon Gums was now strapped to his back.
He gave her a serene smile, gentle and warm, almost with the mercy of a Buddha.
Time froze..
Chen Kuang spoke softly:
"You're right. In this world, effort earns results. But I... I am different."
"Have you heard the term... martial prodigy?"
He moved with his will, his arms swept out to form a circle. One hand pointed to the sky, the other to the ground, then clasped together in front of him in a seal.
His eyes shone with golden light while the lotus behind him grew a fifth petal.
Third Form: Twin Dragons Bathe the Buddha.
Fivefold Force!
"To survive before, I had no choice but to kneel before you. You broke both my legs."
"Now, I only want one thing-"
He stepped forward, hands sealing, and brought them crashing down with thunderous force:
"To return the favor!"
"Boom!"
Under the tremendous impact, Li Hongling had no chance to resist.
Meteor Abyss flew from her hands.
"Aaahhh!!"
Her legs shattered below the knees. Bones, muscle, and blood were all ground into pulp.
She collapsed with a thud, trying to fight back, but her spine cracked audibly, and she slumped forward, screaming in agony.