Wen Tai used both hands simultaneously, and suddenly a massive ring of the Five Elements appeared around his body. This ring was composed of countless tiny specks of light, resembling dust, which gradually expanded into a colorful, shifting sphere of light. It enveloped Ning Gu and his Tree of Heaven, seemingly attempting to draw Ning Gu’s conjured scenario into itself.
Mei Qing’s heart remained free of joy or sorrow, as indifferent to the battle between Ning Gu and Wen Tai as if it had nothing to do with him. He watched like a mere spectator, mesmerized by the techniques displayed by both sides, unable to extricate himself from the spectacle.
Ning Gu still had his eyes tightly shut, but finally began chanting aloud. The ancient syllables sounded like a mixture of song and speech. Although Mei Qing could not understand their meaning, as he listened to Ning Gu’s hoarse and mournful voice, and sensed the deep longing and attachment to life within it, his heart trembled. It seemed as if he could already see Ning Gu drawing forth the last remnants of his life force, displaying them one by one before the eyes of the world.
Mei Qing saw a gigantic tree struggling up from the earth. Thousands of slender branches and supple twigs stretched out toward the sky, competing to reach the heavens. Delicate green and pale purple buds, like countless pointed shoots, sprouted in layers and clusters from the branches, densely covering the tree in a thick expanse.
A vibrant vitality surged from the tips of the branches and buds, unstoppable and brimming with the joy of birth, mingled with a sense of longing and curiosity for the future. It sent forth a pulsating energy that filled every corner.
Wen Tai’s face flushed red, and two streaks of blue qi gradually gathered between his eyebrows, entwining and circling one another in a swirling pattern, constantly shifting and moving. Facing Ning Gu’s seemingly unthreatening yet extremely difficult-to-resist pressure, he gritted his teeth and shouted, “Metal!” Then he spat forth a column of golden qi.
As soon as the qi column appeared, it split into countless golden rays, dispersing into the massive sphere of the Five Elements. Immediately, sharp golden winds and piercing blades formed, like swords and knives wildly slashing toward the tender buds on Ning Gu’s branches.
The branches and buds trembled as the tree’s limbs were instantly scarred. Yet, as soon as one layer was destroyed, another quickly regenerated. The bud tips unfurled, layer upon layer, becoming even denser and more compact.
In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged millions of blows. Although Wen Tai was on the offensive, he was barely holding on, repeatedly expelling golden winds to sustain his attack. Meanwhile, the layers of tender buds on Ning Gu’s tree kept growing more luxuriant, finally unfurling into dense green leaves across the branches.
Wen Tai’s face had already turned excessively flushed, and his heart pounded anxiously. Seeing that all of Ning Gu’s buds had finally matured into leaves, he secretly exhaled in relief. The flourishing of life was unstoppable. Though the leaves seemed more imposing, the intensity of their energy was actually easier to resist.
Indeed, Master Ning Gu’s chant changed, becoming more impassioned. His chant sounded like rolling thunder echoing across a snowy mountain range, interspersed with ancient, guttural vibratos difficult to comprehend. It reverberated through the heavens and earth, further stimulating the already lush and leafy tree to emit an overwhelming aura.
One after another, dark-gray, spherical flower buds emerged from among the branches and leaves, continuously splitting open to reveal blossoms of every color. Flowers as large as bowls swayed incessantly, forming a dazzling sea of brilliant hues, exuding a radiant splendor.
In contrast, Wen Tai abandoned his earlier aggressive stance. He pulled the Five Elements sphere back around his body, forming a protective shell-like sphere of multicolored light. He focused entirely on defense, warding off the ceaseless assault of flying petals and leaves.
The situation had now completely reversed. Under Ning Gu’s control, the giant tree lashed its flowering branches and leaves toward Wen Tai’s sphere like a storm, unrelenting and fierce. Wen Tai, however, concentrated solely on defense, seeking no offensive glory, only survival, with no gaps in his defense.
Wave after wave of swaying green leaves transformed into a rain of blossoms, gradually drifting down like a cascade of flowers, forming a dazzling floral shower.
“Thousands of autumns, winds and rains, and in one morning, flowers fall,” Wen Tai said sorrowfully. “Ning Gu, do you truly wish to witness falling leaves and a heartless heaven and earth?”
Ning Gu remained silent for a long time before finally replying, “An empty mountain, no one around; water flows as flowers fade.”
As he spoke, the ancient tree beside Ning Gu, as if responding to his will, let its petals drift down, falling to the ground. The once lush green leaves slowly withered and turned yellow, and a desolate, bleak aura gradually spread from the tree.
Autumn winds howled, and leaves blanketed the mountains.
Behind the sound of autumn lay a sky-wide killing intent, seemingly ready to destroy all living things.
Seeing this, Mei Qing couldn’t help but feel a slight stirring within. He murmured to himself that Ning Gu’s technique had progressed from spring into summer, then through autumn’s killing force, like the cycle of heaven itself, step by step. He wondered how Wen Tai would respond now that he was caught in this situation.
Wen Tai also inwardly groaned. His earlier words were meant to dispel Ning Gu’s killing intent, hoping to find a chance for escape. His phrase “Thousands of autumns, winds and rains, and in one morning, flowers fall” was meant to remind Ning Gu of the difficulty and preciousness of life and death.
Originally, Wen Tai had thought that Ning Gu, as a great shaman, did not cultivate his physical body well, and thus, facing the threshold of death, he might easily become emotionally swayed. Unexpectedly, Ning Gu replied, “An empty mountain, no one around; water flows as flowers fade.”
Though Ning Gu was a northern barbarian, his words deeply resonated with the refined elegance of the imperial court’s poetry, momentarily leaving Wen Tai at a loss for words.
The sky filled with flying petals and falling leaves, swept across the heavens and earth by the autumn winds of death.
Despite Wen Tai’s mastery of the Five Elements, maintaining an unshakable defense, the omnipresent killing intent of the autumn winds still caused his momentum to wane by another notch. Indeed, Wen Tai couldn’t help feeling frustrated. He had always considered his cultivation to be among the best in the world. Yet this obscure Master Ning Gu had appeared from nowhere, and with just one move, had dealt him a heavy blow. His proud doppelgänger had barely made an appearance before being forced back. He was now relying solely on his Five Elements Thunder Art, using his profound cultivation to endure, while nearly all his other techniques and spells were rendered useless.
As he watched his Five Elements sphere thinning before his eyes and his inner energy becoming increasingly difficult to sustain, Wen Tai’s eyes turned blood-red, his heart nearly bursting with rage. A growing fury churned within him. Could it be that today he would fall into the hands of this old man?
After holding on for several more rounds, as the chaotic petals danced before his eyes and his focus began to wane, Wen Tai was alarmed. He knew that if this continued, he would eventually be unable to hold out. Merely defending was not a viable strategy.
Realizing this, Wen Tai’s spiritual awareness swept outward, and suddenly he noticed Tao Zhongwen and Duan Chaoyong nearby, and his heart sank.
While he was locked in a life-or-death struggle with Ning Gu, Tao and Duan had seized the opportunity. They were quietly undoing the constraints of his formation. If he hadn’t sensed their movements, they might have already escaped.
“Vile beasts!” Wen Tai roared. With a focused thought, two giant hands suddenly appeared in the air, rapidly expanding to the size of tables. One struck left, the other right, rushing toward Tao and Duan.
In truth, at this moment he was fully engaged in countering Ning Gu’s assault, so although the two giant hands appeared fierce, they lacked true power. However, Tao and Duan, long under his oppressive rule, had been attempting a stealthy escape. Suddenly exposed by Wen Tai’s shout and seeing their master strike, their spirits faltered. Duan Chaoyong, in particular, immediately knelt on the ground, allowing the two giant hands to seize him by the neck and drag him back.
“Master, have mercy…” Duan Chaoyong had barely begun his plea when one of the giant hands struck the crown of his head. A chill spread through his Celestial Palace, and his soul shattered—his unformed infant spirit, the core of his cultivation, was forcibly extracted by Wen Tai’s Soul Seizing Spell.
Duan Chaoyong let out a piercing scream. His unformed infant spirit resembled a giant yolk, with faint outlines of limbs still twitching. Wen Tai’s face twisted in rage, his eyes blood-red, his teeth clenched as he spat, “You dare try to flee when death is upon you!”
With that, the giant hands flung the infant spirit forward, attaching numerous talismans to it like binding ropes. The spirit hurtled straight into Ning Gu’s sea of branches and leaves.
As soon as Duan Chaoyong’s spirit entered the leafy expanse, it was torn apart like a falling star, scattering into streaks of starlight, flashing brilliant colors, gradually fading into darkness.
At the moment Duan Chaoyong’s spirit was extracted, his physical body became motionless, like a puppet frozen in its posture.
Seeing Wen Tai’s ferocity in sacrificing his own disciple’s spirit to counter his autumnal killing force, Ning Gu let out a long sigh. His chant changed once more, becoming even more mournful and sorrowful, his voice now dull and lifeless.
Autumn winds were inherently deadly, but once their destruction was complete, their force could not last. With Duan Chaoyong’s soul sacrificed, the killing intent was satisfied, leaving nothing to sustain it. The swirling yellow leaves, deprived of the autumn winds’ deadly force, began to fall one by one to the earth. The mountains became covered in yellow leaves, the sky turned cold and gray, and silence reigned.
Suddenly, a thin snowflake fell, drifting gently onto the ground strewn with fallen petals and leaves. Soon, countless snowflakes drifted down from the gray sky, covering the earth and branches, concealing the flowers and yellow leaves, transforming heaven and earth into a pure, white expanse.
Master Ning Gu opened his eyes, gazing with some difficulty at the swirling snowflakes. They gradually settled into his long white hair and eyebrows, not melting but clinging to them, merging with his white brows and beard into a silvery white mass.
With another long sigh, Ning Gu gently placed his rough, emaciated hand on the giant tree beside him. In an instant, the towering tree shrank, its withered branches drooping and breaking, falling one by one into the thick snow.
Tears streamed from Ning Gu’s eyes as he sang once more, his voice filled with boundless sorrow:
Heaven and earth may meet, yet we part far and wide.
The sun sets on the western hills; evening birds return to their nests.
A hundred years is but a fleeting moment; my will and wishes clash.
The gates of heaven lie near, yet I cannot follow.
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