Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Gale IV

"I have always said that everyone has their own worth..."

Thud.

Li Ju dropped the withered corpse from his hand onto the ground. The aura around him, which had sunk to its lowest ebb, began to slowly recover, and the wounds on his body largely healed.

"Just like these masters of internal and external martial arts. They originally lived in this world with no purpose, either relying on their strength to terrorize their surroundings or sitting idly in sects, practicing without producing anything, consuming the resources gained by ordinary people through hard labor."

"They lived without value."

"But today, at this moment, because they encountered me, their existence suddenly gained meaning. They successfully unearthed their own worth, which is..."

"To become nourishment for my recovery."

Li Ju smiled, speaking softly to Tan Hai.

"Evil fiend!"

"Hai Yuan, the First Elder, valued you, deliberately endorsed you with his own reputation, and vouched for you before the righteous sects, but he never imagined you would be a demon who has fallen so deeply!"

Tan Hai gritted his teeth as he stared at Li Ju.

"You are mistaken. I am indeed not one of the Demon Sect..."

Li Ju shook his head at Tan Hai's words.

"However, I never claimed to be of the righteous path either."

Li Ju shifted his tone, speaking thus.

"..."

Buzz!

Suddenly, Tan Hai slashed a sword at Li Ju.

Shhh!

Li Ju's figure was split in two by the sword's light.

"Not only have you failed to kill me, you have caused another death."

"What a pity."

Li Ju hurled the corpse in his hand at Tan Hai.

Swish!

Another blade of sword light struck.

Boom boom boom!!!

By now, the earth around them had been ravaged by Tan Hai's sword light, left almost unrecognizable.

Chen Youyuan huddled tightly in a small hole in the ground, trembling in fear as he recalled the battle outside. Whether it was the terrifying sword light that seemed able to sever anything, or the demon slaughtering the disciples of the Crocodile Sect, draining Elder Zhou and the others into dried corpses—both were far beyond Chen Youyuan's comprehension, filling him with chilling dread.

So powerful, so terrifying—could these truly still be called "people"?

Perhaps even the legendary martial artists of the Three Yuan would not reach such heights!

Chen Youyuan could not help but fall into deep contemplation.

---

"Found another one."

Suddenly, a voice from hell itself chilled Chen Youyuan to the bone.

A claw, not human but razor sharp, clamped around Chen Youyuan's head and dragged him out of his hiding hole.

"Tsk, too ugly," Li Ju remarked, curling his lip in disgust as he looked at Chen Youyuan's face. His interest vanished—he never expected anyone could look so hideous. He tossed Chen Youyuan aside.

Buzz.

A sharp sword light cleaved Chen Youyuan in two.

As Chen Youyuan faded, he suddenly felt grateful for the appearance that had brought him so much discrimination in life; at least this time, it spared him from being drained into a corpse before death.

Though, he still couldn't keep his body whole...

His consciousness slowly dissipated.

"Next."

Buzz buzz buzz!!!

Blood tears streamed from Tan Hai's eyes. His Three Yuan structure was collapsing, his body battered and wounded, his eyes completely blind, yet he did not cease swinging his sword.

Even if it hastened his death.

"Why do you wield your sword?"

"If you stopped, you might live a little longer."

"You know you had a chance to escape."

A voice abruptly entered Tan Hai's ears.

Not far from him, Li Ju stood beside two dried corpses, his wounds completely healed.

"Ten percent of my strength," Li Ju mused, looking at his hands. Even the blood of an internal master and several external masters barely sufficed to heal his external injuries.

"Why wield the sword..."

"This sword..."

Tan Hai finally aimed in a direction, pouring all his remaining strength into a single strike.

"Not for life, but for death!"

Whether you die, or I die!

The Withered Leaf Sword, which had lost much of its power due to Tan Hai's depleted Three Yuan, suddenly erupted with terrifying might.

A formidable sword intent seemed to freeze the void, locking tightly onto Li Ju!

"You die, I live!"

Li Ju's eyes bulged as his body burned his own Three Yuan, once again activating the Hundred Poisons Vajra Body: Ghost Bat Form!

Whoosh!!!

A sword light that blocked out the sky tore through the rain clouds above, through the flames in the forest, and through the sand and soil of the earth!

---

"Ah!!!"

Li Ju clutched the blade of light with both hands, his roar echoing through heaven and earth!!!

Boom boom boom!!!

Terrifying power scattered everywhere!

It seemed ages had passed before things settled. The Fourth Prince broke through the dirt and sand that had buried them, his hands trembling.

Sunlight fell upon the ground. In the center of a flattened area dozens of feet across, two figures stood facing each other.

"Ha... ha... This time, I have won, and you have lost," Li Ju gasped, his hands slowly morphing into black claws.

"…"

Tan Hai knelt on one knee, his head bowed, his body drained of blood—for he had gambled all his vitality on that last sword strike.

In his hand, the Withered Leaf Sword had turned gray, its former brilliance gone.

"Falling into demonic ways, slaughtering the innocent, selfish and self-serving—you will never reach the ultimate of martial arts in your life."

Tan Hai's weak voice sounded.

"Is your definition of martial arts so shallow?"

Li Ju walked steadily toward Tan Hai.

"Martial arts is only a path—it does not distinguish between good or evil, righteousness or wickedness, right or wrong. Those who climb to its peak may be an evil who cannot die even after a hundred deaths, or a good man of ten lifetimes, or simply an ordinary person with both virtue and vice."

"In this world, there are truly no separate paths of righteousness or wickedness—all martial techniques are martial arts. It is only people who divide them into two categories."

Li Ju came before Tan Hai, raising his claw high.

"Besides, I have never claimed I must reach the ultimate of martial arts."

"I study martial arts for longevity, to protect my family, for selfish gain and self-strengthening, for evil, and for good."

"Humans created martial arts through struggle, and through martial arts, continue to reenact that struggle. Martial arts can halt conflict, or ignite it, but the one thing it cannot do is end strife."

"You have studied martial arts all your life, yet you have not seen as clearly as I. Pitiful and lamentable."

Pfft.

His claws pierced Tan Hai's chest. No blood flowed, but Tan Hai's life was extinguished.

"I have never treated martial arts as a faith, nor has martial arts regarded me as its successor."

Li Ju withdrew his claws.

Thud.

Tan Hai fell to the ground.