Wen Tai moved both hands simultaneously, and suddenly a gigantic Wuxing Ring appeared around his body. The ring was composed of countless tiny glimmers, as fine as dust, gradually expanding into a multicolored glowing sphere. It enveloped Ning Gu and his Tongtian Tree, as if attempting to absorb the scenario conjured by Ning Gu into itself.
Mei Qing felt neither joy nor sorrow in his heart. To him, the battle between Ning Gu and Wen Tai seemed entirely unrelated. He watched like a mere spectator, mesmerized by the techniques displayed by both parties, unable to extricate himself.
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 the meaning, the hoarse and desolate voice, brimming with a profound yearning and attachment to life, deeply shook him. Mei Qing felt as if he could see Ning Gu pouring out his very life force, bit by bit, displaying it before the world.
Mei Qing beheld a colossal tree striving to rise from the ground. Thousands of slender branches and tender twigs stretched upward toward the sky. Pale green and light purple buds, like countless sharp-tipped shoots, sprouted densely from the branches, layer upon layer, covering everything in a thick expanse.
A vibrant vitality surged from the tips of the branches and buds, unstoppable and brimming with the joy of birth, mixed with a touch of curiosity and longing for the future. It spread a pulsating energy that filled every corner.
Wen Tai’s face flushed red. Between his brows, two streaks of blue qi gradually gathered, entwining into a swirling loop, continuously rotating and moving. Facing Ning Gu’s seemingly non-aggressive yet extremely difficult-to-resist aura, Wen Tai gritted his teeth and shouted, “Metal!” Then he spat out a golden column of energy.
As soon as the column appeared, it fragmented into countless golden rays, dispersing into the massive Wuxing sphere. Immediately, sharp metallic winds and deadly blades emerged, like swords dancing wildly, slicing toward the tender buds on Ning Gu’s branches.
The buds quivered. At once, the tree’s branches were scarred, but as soon as one layer was destroyed, another grew anew. The tips of the buds unfurled, layer upon layer, becoming even denser.
In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged millions of blows. Although Wen Tai was on the offensive, he was struggling mightily, repeatedly expelling golden winds to maintain the attack. Meanwhile, the tender buds on Ning Gu’s branches kept growing more and more luxuriant under the assault, eventually all unfurling into dense green leaves.
Wen Tai’s face had already turned excessively flushed, and his heart pounded with anxiety. Seeing that all the buds on Ning Gu’s tree had finally matured into leaves, he secretly exhaled in relief. The force of nature’s growth was unstoppable. Though the leaves seemed more imposing in appearance, their energy had actually become more diffuse and easier to resist.
Indeed, Master Ning Gu’s tone shifted, becoming more intense. His chanting sounded like prolonged thunder rolling over snow-capped mountains, interspersed with ancient, difficult-to-comprehend vibratos, reverberating through the heavens and earth. It spurred the already luxuriant tree to radiate an increasingly powerful aura.
One after another, dark-gray spherical flower buds emerged continuously from the branches and leaves, then burst open, revealing blossoms of every color. Flowers as large as sea bowls swayed ceaselessly, like a five-colored ocean, radiating dazzling brilliance.
In contrast, Wen Tai abandoned his earlier aggressive stance. He pulled his Wuxing sphere back around his body, forming a protective shell of multicolored light. He used all his strength to repel the ceaseless onslaught of flying petals and leaves.
The situation had now completely reversed. The giant tree under Ning Gu’s control lashed its flowering branches and leaves toward Wen Tai’s glowing sphere like a storm, unrelenting. Wen Tai, however, focused solely on defense, seeking no offense, yet allowing no breach.
Wave after wave of swaying green leaves transformed into a shower of falling petals, drifting down like a cascade of blossoms, creating a scene of dazzling beauty.
“Thousands of autumns of wind and rain, and in one morning, the flowers fall,” Wen Tai said sorrowfully. “Ning Gu, do you truly wish to witness the desolation of autumn winds and fallen leaves, and the indifference of heaven and earth?”
Ning Gu remained silent for a long time before finally replying, “An empty mountain, no one around; water flows and flowers fall.”
As he spoke, the ancient tree beside Ning Gu seemed to sense his will. Petals drifted down, falling to the ground. The once lush green leaves slowly withered and turned yellow. A desolate and bleak aura gradually seeped from the tree.
Autumn winds howled, and fallen leaves blanketed the mountains.
Behind the sound of autumn lay a sky-pervading killing intent, as if seeking to destroy all living beings.
Mei Qing, witnessing this, felt a slight stirring within. He murmured to himself that Ning Gu’s techniques had progressed from spring into summer, then through the killing aura of autumn, like the cycle of heaven’s way, step by step. He wondered how Wen Tai would respond while caught in this situation.
Wen Tai was also inwardly groaning. His earlier words had been meant to dispel Ning Gu’s killing intent, hoping to seize an opportunity. His phrase “Thousands of autumns of wind and rain, and in one morning, the flowers fall” was meant to remind Ning Gu of the difficulty and finality of life and death.
Originally, Wen Tai had thought that Ning Gu, as a great shaman, had not cultivated his physical body well. Thus, at this critical moment of life and death, he might become emotionally unstable. Unexpectedly, Ning Gu had replied, “An empty mountain, no one around; water flows and flowers fall.”
Although Ning Gu was a northern barbarian, his words captured the essence of classical poetry, momentarily leaving Wen Tai at a loss for a response.
A sky filled with falling petals and leaves, accompanied by autumn winds and metallic killing energy, swept across the heavens and earth.
Despite Wen Tai’s mastery of the Five Elements, maintaining an unyielding defense, the pervasive metallic killing intent gradually eroded his strength. He couldn’t help but feel frustrated. He had always believed his cultivation was among the strongest in the world. Yet this obscure master named Ning Gu had emerged, and with just one move, had dealt him a heavy blow. His once-proud doppelgänger had barely appeared before being forced back. Now he could only rely on his Wuxing Thunder Arts and his profound cultivation to endure, with almost none of his other techniques proving effective.
As he saw his Wuxing sphere thinning and his inner energy waning, Wen Tai’s eyes turned blood-red, his heart burning with fury. A growing anger surged within him. Could it be that today he would fall to this old man’s hands?
After holding on for several more rounds, as the swirling petals danced before him, Wen Tai sensed his mental stamina beginning to falter. He realized that if this continued, he would eventually be overwhelmed. Merely defending was not a viable strategy.
At this thought, Wen Tai’s spiritual awareness swept outward, and suddenly he noticed Tao Zhongwen and Duan Chaoyong nearby. His heart jolted.
While he was locked in a life-and-death struggle with Ning Gu, Tao and Duan had decided the opportunity was ripe. They had quietly begun to unravel the magical formation binding them. If Wen Tai hadn’t sensed their movement, they would have fled unnoticed.
“Wicked beasts!” Wen Tai roared, and with a focused thought, two giant hands suddenly appeared in the air. They expanded rapidly to the size of tables and lunged toward Tao and Duan from either side.
In truth, Wen Tai was fully occupied with Ning Gu’s attack, so although the giant hands appeared fierce, they lacked true power. However, Tao and Duan, long under Wen Tai’s oppressive rule, had been attempting to sneak away to save their own lives. Suddenly exposed by Wen Tai’s shout and seeing their master strike, they were seized with terror. Duan Chaoyong, in particular, immediately fell to his knees, allowing the two giant hands to seize him by the neck and drag him back.
“Master, spare my life…” Duan’s plea had barely begun when the giant hand struck the crown of his head. A chill shot through his Tianfu point, and his soul shattered. The infantile yuan-tai he had cultivated, still unformed, was forcibly extracted by Wen Tai using a soul-seizing incantation.
Duan Chaoyong let out a heart-wrenching scream. His unformed yuan-tai resembled a giant yolk, within which limbs were faintly visible, still twitching. Wen Tai’s face contorted, his eyes bloodshot, as he gritted his teeth and spat, “Dying, and still trying to escape!”
With that, the giant hands flung the yuan-tai forward, attaching several talismans to it like binding ropes. The yuan-tai soared straight into Ning Gu’s sea of leaves and branches.
As soon as the yuan-tai entered the leafy expanse, it was torn apart like a falling star, scattering into streams of starlight, flashing with multicolored brilliance, gradually fading into nothingness.
At the moment Duan Chaoyong’s yuan-tai was extracted, his body became motionless like a puppet, frozen in its original posture.
Wen Tai moved both palms simultaneously, and a massive Five Elements ring suddenly appeared around his body. The ring, composed of countless dust-like specks of light, gradually expanded into a multicolored, shimmering sphere that enveloped Ning Gu and his towering tree. It seemed as though it was attempting to absorb the illusionary scene conjured by Ning Gu.
Mei Qing felt neither joy nor sorrow, as if the battle between Ning Gu and Fan Wen Tai had nothing to do with him. He was merely a spectator, utterly captivated by the techniques displayed by both sides, unable to extricate himself from the spectacle.
Ning Gu’s eyes remained closed, but he finally began to chant. The ancient syllables were both sung and spoken, their meaning unclear. Yet, hearing Ning Gu’s hoarse and desolate voice, filled with an intense longing and attachment to life, Mei Qing’s heart trembled. It was as if he could see Ning Gu, in his final moments, drawing out the last vestiges of his life and presenting them to the world.
Mei Qing saw a colossal tree struggling to emerge from the ground, its countless branches and tendrils eagerly stretching toward the sky. Pale green and light purple buds, like sharp bamboo shoots, sprouted layer upon layer from the branches, densely covering the tree.
The vibrant energy of life radiated uncontrollably from the tips of the branches and buds, carrying the joy of new life and a hint of curiosity and hope for the future. This pulsating energy permeated every corner.
Fan Wen Tai’s face turned red, and two streaks of green energy gradually condensed between his eyebrows, intertwining and forming a loop that continuously rotated. Facing Ning Gu’s seemingly unassuming yet overwhelmingly powerful aura, he gritted his teeth and shouted, “Gold!” A golden column of energy erupted from his mouth.
As soon as the golden column appeared, it disintegrated into countless golden rays, dispersing into the massive Five Elements sphere. Instantly, sharp golden winds, like dancing swords, slashed toward the tender buds on Ning Gu’s tree.
The branches swayed, and the tree was immediately scarred. Yet, as one layer of damage occurred, another layer of growth emerged. The buds unfurled, spreading densely across the branches.
In the blink of an eye, the two clashed thousands of times. Although Fan Wen Tai was on the offensive, he was barely holding on, relying on the golden winds he had exhaled to sustain his attacks. Meanwhile, the buds on Ning Gu’s tree continued to grow and flourish, eventually transforming into fully expanded green leaves.
Fan Wen Tai’s face was now excessively flushed, and his heart was pounding. Seeing that all the buds on Ning Gu’s tree had finally grown into leaves, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The vitality of nature was unstoppable. Now that the buds had become leaves, though the aura seemed stronger, the dense energy was actually easier to withstand.
Indeed, Ning Gu’s chanting changed, becoming more intense. His song, like rolling thunder over a snowy mountain, filled with ancient, trembling tones, resonated through the heavens and earth, driving the already lush and leafy tree to continuously emit an overwhelming, powerful aura.
One after another, grayish-black spherical flower buds emerged from the branches and leaves, continuously splitting open to reveal large, colorful flowers. These flowers, as big as sea bowls, swayed endlessly, creating a dazzling, multicolored ocean.
In contrast, Fan Wen Tai shifted from his previous all-out offensive stance. The Five Elements sphere retreated entirely, forming a protective shell around his body. The multicolored light almost solidified, desperately resisting the onslaught of the flying flowers and leaves.
The situation had reversed. Under Ning Gu’s control, the massive tree frantically lashed its branches and flowers toward Fan Wen Tai’s sphere, like a relentless storm. Fan Wen Tai, however, focused entirely on defense, seeking only to hold his ground without making any mistakes.
Wave after wave of green leaves swayed, eventually transforming into a sky full of falling flowers, creating a rain of blossoms as splendid as brocade.
“A thousand years of wind and rain, and in a single moment, the flowers fall,” Fan Wen Tai said with a tone of sorrow. “Ning Gu, must you truly witness the autumn wind and fallen leaves, the heartlessness of heaven and earth?”
Ning Gu remained silent for a long time before finally speaking, “The empty mountain is devoid of people, the water flows, and the flowers wither.”
As he spoke, the ancient tree beside him seemed to sense his thoughts. Petals of flowers drifted to the ground, and the once lush green leaves slowly dried and turned yellow. A sense of desolation and melancholy gradually permeated the tree.
The autumn wind rustled, and fallen leaves covered the mountain.
Behind the sound of autumn, there was an overwhelming aura of destruction, as if it sought to annihilate all living beings in the world.
Mei Qing, witnessing this, felt a slight stir in his heart. He thought to himself that Ning Gu’s technique, transitioning from spring to summer and then to the killing aura of autumn, was like the natural cycle of the heavens, methodical and deliberate. Fan Wen Tai, caught in the midst of it, now faced the challenge of how to respond.
Fan Wen Tai was also inwardly distressed. His earlier words were meant to dispel Ning Gu’s killing intent, hoping to find an opportunity. His mention of “a thousand years of wind and rain, and in a single moment, the flowers fall” was a reminder to Ning Gu that life and death were not easy, that they were among the most difficult things in the world.
Originally, Fan Wen Tai had thought that Ning Gu, being a shaman, was not skilled in physical cultivation and was thus nearing the end of his life. At this critical juncture, he might be more susceptible to emotional fluctuations. However, Ning Gu’s response, “The empty mountain is devoid of people, the water flows, and the flowers wither,” was deeply poetic, leaving Fan Wen Tai at a loss for words.
The sky was filled with falling flowers and leaves, accompanied by the killing aura of the autumn wind, sweeping across the heavens and earth.
Despite Fan Wen Tai’s mastery of the Five Elements, his defenses were as immovable as a mountain. Yet, against the relentless golden wind and killing aura, his own aura weakened by three parts. It was no wonder Fan Wen Tai was frustrated. He had believed that his cultivation was among the best in the world, yet here was this unknown Master Ning Gu, who, with just one move, had put him at a significant disadvantage. His once-proud avatar had been forced to retreat, and now he was relying solely on his profound cultivation and the Five Elements Thunder Technique to hold his ground. All his other techniques and methods were almost entirely useless.
Seeing that his Five Elements sphere was becoming increasingly fragile and that his internal energy was nearly depleted, Fan Wen Tai’s eyes turned bloodshot, and his heart was filled with rage. He thought to himself, “Could it be that I will fall to this old man today?”
After enduring several more rounds, Fan Wen Tai noticed that his mind was beginning to falter amidst the flurry of flowers. He realized that if this continued, he would eventually be unable to hold on. Simply defending was not a viable strategy.
With this in mind, Fan Wen Tai’s consciousness swept around, and he suddenly noticed Tao Zhongwen and Duan Chaoyong not far away. His heart sank.
While he was locked in a life-and-death struggle with Ning Gu, Tao and Duan had seen an opportunity and had been quietly loosening the restraints of his formation. If he hadn’t been distracted, they might have already slipped away.
“Wretches!” Fan Wen Tai roared, focusing his consciousness. Two massive hands suddenly appeared in the air, instantly growing to the size of tabletops. One hand reached for Tao Zhongwen, the other for Duan Chaoyong.
In truth, Fan Wen Tai was fully occupied with Ning Gu’s onslaught, and these two hands, though imposing, were not particularly powerful. However, Tao and Duan, long accustomed to Fan Wen Tai’s tyranny, had been hoping to escape unnoticed. Now, caught off guard by Fan Wen Tai’s shout and seeing their master’s hands reaching for them, they were utterly terrified. Duan Chaoyong immediately fell to his knees, allowing the hands to grab him by the neck and drag him back.
“Master, spare me…” Duan Chaoyong’s plea was cut short as the hand slapped his forehead. He felt a chill in his Tianfu acupoint, and his soul was torn from his body. His nascent infant spirit, still unformed, was forcibly extracted by Fan Wen Tai’s soul-seizing spell.
Duan Chaoyong let out a heart-wrenching scream. The unformed infant spirit, resembling a large egg yolk with faintly visible limbs, writhed in agony. Fan Wen Tai’s face twisted, his eyes bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth, saying, “At the brink of death, and still you try to escape!”
With that, the massive hand swung, attaching several talismans to Duan Chaoyong’s spirit, binding it like ropes, and hurling it directly into the sea of branches and leaves created by Ning Gu.
As soon as Duan Chaoyong’s spirit entered the sea of leaves, it was shredded like stardust, scattering into countless shimmering lights that gradually faded and disappeared.
Duan Chaoyong’s body, now devoid of its spirit, stood motionless like a puppet, frozen in its original position.
Master Ning Gu, seeing that Fan Wen Tai had resorted to such cruelty, extracting his own disciple’s spirit to counter his autumn killing aura, let out a long sigh. His chanting changed once more, becoming even more mournful and desolate, his voice now devoid of any brilliance.
The autumn wind, though a harbinger of death, could not sustain itself once its killing was done. Fan Wen Tai, having sacrificed Duan Chaoyong’s spirit, found that his killing aura was now exhausted. The fluttering yellow leaves, no longer driven by the autumn wind’s killing intent, spiraled down to the ground, piling up across the mountain. The sky turned cold and overcast, and the water was silent.
A thin snowflake suddenly fell, drifting down onto the ground covered with fallen flowers and leaves. Then, countless snowflakes began to fall from the gray sky, covering the ground, the branches, the petals, and the yellow leaves, turning the world into a pure, white expanse.
Master Ning Gu slowly opened his eyes, gazing with difficulty at the snowflakes dancing in the air. They settled on his white hair and eyebrows, not melting but forming clusters of silver-white.
Master Ning Gu sighed once more, reaching out with his rough, withered hand to gently touch the massive tree beside him. In an instant, the tree’s towering form shrank, its dry branches drooping and breaking off, falling into the thick snow.
Tears streamed down Ning Gu’s face as he began to sing again, his voice filled with boundless sorrow:
“Between heaven and earth, we meet but rarely.
The sun sets in the west, and the birds return to their nests.
A hundred years pass in a moment, yet our aspirations remain unfulfilled.
The celestial palace is but a step away, yet we cannot follow.”
Autumn wind, though a harbinger of death, cannot sustain itself once its destruction is complete. With Wen Tai’s sacrifice of Duan Chaoyong’s soul, the killing intent was appeased, leaving nothing to sustain it. The swirling yellow leaves, deprived of the autumn wind’s deadly force, one by one spiraled down to the earth, piling high across the mountains. The sky turned dark and cold, and silence fell like cold water.
Suddenly, a thin snowflake drifted down, gently sprinkling over the ground littered with fallen flowers and leaves. Soon, innumerable snowflakes descended from the gray sky, covering the earth and branches, concealing the petals 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. Gradually, the snow settled on his white hair and eyebrows, not melting, but instead clinging to them, merging with his silver brows and beard into a single expanse of white.
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 off one by one, falling 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, rarely united,
The sun sets on the western hills; evening birds return to flight.
A hundred years is but a fleeting moment; wishes and wills often part.
Heaven’s palace is near; yet, alas, I cannot follow.
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