Side Story 2

"Child, hurry and leave with Grandpa. It is far too dangerous here. The doomsday cataclysm has arrived, and Tianxing Province is on the verge of destruction, soon to be no more!" said a hunched, elderly man in his twilight years, leaning on a cane with one hand while holding his six or seven-year-old grandson by the other.

"No, I won't go. Tianxing Province will not be destroyed! This is the domain of the Tianxing Swordsmen, the stronghold of light and justice upon the continent. We do not need to flee; the Tianxing Swordsmen will protect us." The boy looked up at his aged grandfather with firm determination, his bright blue eyes profoundly pure.

"Ah, you foolish child, the Tianxing Swordsmen perished long ago—twenty years ago. The Tianxing Tower, which symbolized the Tianxing Swordsmen, collapsed right before our eyes two decades ago. In all these years, have you ever heard of a single Tianxing Swordsman appearing across the continent? From this day forward, there are only legends of Tianxing, and no more legends of Arcane Energy!" The old man let out a helpless, bitter laugh, their conversation quickly swallowed by the crowds of refugees fleeing through the ruins.

Heavy leaden clouds blanketed the sky, plunging the world into darkness! An oppressive atmosphere pervaded the entire land of Tianxing Province. This pure sanctuary of light, once regarded as the very heart of the continent, was now scarred and reduced to ruins. Magnificent cities were consumed by raging fires, majestic rivers and mountains fractured and altered in their courses, and the ground was webbed with dense, pitch-black fissures. Deep within these chasms, searing crimson magma surged turbulently, threatening to erupt onto the surface at any moment...

Tianxing Province faced a doom-laden crisis; this was the center of the entire Twin-Sun Continent and the epicenter of the catastrophe! On this day, darkness descended, with destruction stemming from Tianxing Province. The twin suns in the sky were obscured by endless leaden clouds, all because the evil Anti-Tianxing faction sought to perform a so-called "baptism" upon the continent. Their method of baptism was none other than the blood of innocent lives!

Across the land of Tianxing Province lay collapsed city walls, dilapidated metropolises, and the five-colored giant tower that had plummeted from the sky twenty years ago...

The giant tower was the Tianxing Tower, forged from five-colored stone. Once the sacred cultivation sanctum of the Tianxing Swordsmen, it had been completely slaughtered twenty years ago during the assault of the Anti-Tianxing forces by the rebel prodigy, Tianxing Swordsman Yang Xuanxiao. Ultimately, the giant tower was cast down from the heavens by the Anti-Tianxing faction, crashing into the earth of Tianxing Province. Where the tower's summit once radiated a five-colored light capable of detecting all evil forces across the continent, it was now devoid of luster, bearing only the mottled traces of time and the scars of ancient blades and spears.

Before the Tianxing Tower, a surging crowd voiced overlapping cries of shouting and agony. It was not just humanity; other races were fleeing as well. Tianxing Province was where the doomsday cataclysm began, and everyone had to leave! To counter the disaster, the various races had long since devised a countermeasure: the construction of flying arks—massive vessels designed to ferry living beings of all races onto a path of survival.

Barely ten miles away from the collapsed five-colored giant tower, a massive ark lay moored. Measuring three hundred and sixty-five zhang in length and one hundred and twenty-five zhang in width, it appeared utterly magnificent. Constructed entirely from pale-yellow timber known as undersea agarwood—a miraculous material impervious to fire and unbreakable by blades!

On the left side of the flying ark was the boarding ramp, where people swarmed like a tidal wave, entirely unstoppable by the guards on either side. In the face of disaster, human fear was infinitely magnified, and with it, strength surged—much like the maxim of the Anti-Tianxing: "Fear breeds anger, and anger breeds strength!"

Boom, boom, boom...

In the distance, at the edge of the horizon, a sudden roaring sound echoed. Billowing smoke choked the skies, accompanied by earth-shattering hooves. Over ten thousand black-armored cavalry charged forward, fully armed in matching dark armor with their faces entirely concealed. In their hands, they tightly gripped chilling silver lances, the tips gleaming with a lethal cold light. Behind the black-armored cavalry marched countless half-orcs, forming the vanguard of a veritable half-orc legion. Towering over a zhang in height, draped in animal pelts, and wielding giant axes or broadswords, these half-orcs all bore facial scars—badges of honor in their kind.

"Kill!" The leader of the black-armored cavalry wore no heavy armor, but instead was draped entirely in a light black cloak that obscured both his body and face. Wielding a blood-red arcane light sword, he gave a gentle wave, instantly shattering the space before him. The living beings blocking his path were cleaved directly in two by the crimson radiance. He was none other than the prized disciple of the Anti-Tianxing Emperor, the sole pupil of the dual-law masters—the Lord of Anti-Tianxing. To act against the heavens requires both Emperor and Monarch! The "Monarch" referred precisely to this Lord of Anti-Tianxing.

"Run! The minions of the dark forces are closing in!"

"Board the ship quickly, there's no time left! The dark minions will slaughter everyone!"

"I don't want to die! Can the flying ark withstand the pursuit of the dark minions?"

Terrified, the living beings of all races accelerated their flight, watching in horror as a straggler behind them was sliced in two by the arcane sword in the hand of the Lord of Anti-Tianxing, their blood splashing beneath the hooves and merging with the ruins on the ground.

"Child, be obedient. The dark minions are upon us; if we don't flee now, we will all die here." Before the towering Tianxing Tower, two tiny figures still stood motionless, the old man urging his grandson with mounting urgency.

"I believe the Tianxing Swordsmen will come! They will definitely come!" The boy's eyes held not a shred of fear. Gazing at the giant tower before him, and past it toward the distant half-orc army and black-armored cavalry, his heart remained steadfastly convinced that the righteous Tianxing Swordsmen would appear to save them from this doomsday cataclysm!

Deep within the earth of Tianxing Province, the five-colored pond remained serene and beautiful, untouched by the fires of war raging above.

By the edge of the pond, an old man in white robes, standing merely four feet tall, sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Devoid of any vital aura, he seemed as though he had already passed away.

Pop! Suddenly, a fiery-red vortex manifested in the space, from which two figures emerged.

"Master!" Jiuyun leaped out from the vortex, stumbling unsteadily toward the white-robed elder. His eyes filled with agony and doubt, desperate to question his master, the Venerable Baixuan.

"You... already know, don't you? This is something you would have learned sooner or later." Kneeling before the white-robed elder, Jiuyun wept as tears fell in a steady patter. The elder opened his eyes, though they were brimming with profound fatigue, his voice exceptionally soft.

"Master Baixuan, he needs your help, otherwise he will shatter!" Behind Jiuyun trailed a breathtakingly ethereal and graceful feminine figure, standing five feet nine inches tall—matching Jiuyun in height. She was none other than Yanhji, the Nine-Tailed Flame Fiend Fox sealed within Jiuyun's body.

"Indeed." Baixuan nodded, then extended two hands—one pitch black, the other snow white—to cup Jiuyun's lowered head.

"Jiuyun, look into my eyes. What do you see?" Master Baixuan asked.

"Forgive me, Master, but all I see in my reflection is that face which fills me with doubt and hatred. I can see nothing else." Jiuyun replied.

"Heh, is it my face?" Master Baixuan chuckled, wrinkles crowding his face as he let out a light laugh.

"Of course it isn't yours. It's him—the Lord of Anti-Tianxing. How could he be my father? My father died twenty years ago! My father should have been a great Tianxing Swordsman! Why is he the Lord of Anti-Tianxing, a minion of the darkness?!" Jiuyun cried out in emotional turmoil.

"Child, after experiencing so much, can you still not distinguish between justice and evil? Take your father, for instance: once brave and fearless, harboring a deep hatred for the dark forces, he was hailed back then as the most talented emissary of justice. Yet now, transformed into the Lord of Anti-Tianxing, slaughtering innocent lives without exception, he is branded a dark fiend. Justice and evil reside entirely within a person's heart; a heart turned toward goodness is justice, while a heart turned toward malice is evil," Master Baixuan said.

"Then what should I do? Previously, I longed to kill him, but now that I know he is my father, I cannot bring myself to strike. Yet as a Tianxing Swordsman, I must put an end to him!" Jiuyun clenched his fists in profound torment.

"Eradicating evil is the duty of a Tianxing Swordsman, and committing patricide violates the creed of the Tianxing Swordsmen. However, young Tianxing Swordsman, you can attempt to resolve this dilemma through other means," Baixuan stroked the white tuft of his beard.

"Other means?" Jiuyun asked, bewildered.

"For instance, speak to him in the capacity of a son, allowing the father's side of him to awaken and break free from evil!" Baixuan suggested.

"Can... can this really work?" Jiuyun's eyes brightened as if grasping a straw of hope.

"I believe you can do it, for after my death, you will be the final Tianxing Swordsman. Your existence is meant to bring balance to arcane energy, and your father will help you fulfill your mission!" Baixuan smiled, slowly lowering his hands.

"Master, you will not die! Your arcane energy is so powerful; why must you die?" Jiuyun quickly grasped Baixuan's hands, refusing to believe the elder was about to perish.

"Hahaha, I have lived for over a thousand years. Powerful though arcane energy is, it cannot grant immortality. Besides, for a Tianxing Swordsman, death is merely returning to the embrace of arcane energy. Do not grieve; as I have taught you, after my death I can manifest as an immortal arcane wraith, remaining forever by your side!" Baixuan smiled as he looked at the young Jiuyun.

"Go, the last Tianxing Swordsman. Fulfill your mission, for the arcane potential dormant within your body awaits your awakening."

With those words, Baixuan closed his turbid black-and-white eyes, a serene smile still lingering upon his lips.

"Master, may arcane energy be with you!"

Casting one final glance at his master, Jiuyun turned away from the five-colored pond without looking back. Hand in hand with Yanhji, he channeled his arcane energy to tear open a spatial vortex leading toward the surface.

"Yanhji, this is the final battle. Help me hold off the half-orc army and Anti-Tianxing's black-armored cavalry; I must settle things with my father once and for all!" Jiuyun pleaded, casting an imploring look at the beautiful fox-spirit beside him.

"A piece of cake! You're my husband, and I'm your wife—don't humans always say a wife obeys her husband in everything?" Yanhji replied breezily. Having fully recovered her peak nine-tailed state, she had grown increasingly affectionate toward Jiuyun.

"Uh... right, right." Jiuyun's eyes darted around as he fought down a laugh, though he desperately wanted to point out: In our human world, husbands have always been the ones who must obey their wives, not the other way around!

Across the land of Tianxing Province:

"Slaughter every living being in Tianxing Province! The doomsday shall begin from this pure sanctuary of the Tianxing Swordsmen!" The Lord of Anti-Tianxing, clad in his dark cloak, issued an icy command. His blood-red arcane sword was already stained with gore, having reaped countless lives along their army's advance.

Before long, the half-orcs and black-armored cavalry arrived before the ruins of the Tianxing Tower. The giant tower lay horizontally across their path, blocking the Anti-Tianxing army, while directly behind it sat the flying ark...

Whoosh!

The Lord of Anti-Tianxing vaulted from his mount using arcane energy, descending directly atop the giant tower. Five hundred zhang high and one hundred and twenty-five zhang wide in its upright state, its horizontal collapse meant it now stretched five hundred zhang long with a height of one hundred and twenty-five zhang.

Such a height could only be surmounted by utilizing arcane energy to levitate oneself!

Standing atop the giant tower, the Lord of Anti-Tianxing cut an imposing figure. Overlooking the earth below, his gaze immediately caught the grandfather and grandson near the base.

However, his eyes lingered on them for merely a fraction of a second before shifting to the massive flying vessel not far away.

Boom!

Raising his sword high with both hands, the Lord of Anti-Tianxing brought it crashing down upon the tower beneath his feet. With a thunderous roar, the massive structure was actually cleaved in two, a fissure nearly one hundred and fifty zhang deep splitting through the masonry.

"Part!"

Sheathing his arcane sword, the Lord of Anti-Tianxing swept his hands outward. In an instant, the severed giant tower truly parted to create a wide passage, through which the black-armored cavalry charged headlong!

This unfathomable might was the manifestation of arcane energy—a spiritual essence transcending material limits, a supreme power capable of moving mountains, filling seas, and soaring through the heavens. All things possessed this energy, though only a minuscule fraction of beings could awaken it.

"Child, run!" Leaning on his cane with one hand and pulling his grandson with the other, the old man bolted forward. Alas, it was too late; how could human legs match the speed of galloping cavalry?

"Don't kill my grandpa!" As the cavalry thundered closer, a chilling point materialized, driving forward like a dragon's fang. To shield his grandson, the old man had no choice but to offer his own chest against the lethal spear tip.

Yet amidst the thunder of hooves, the childish cry sounded agonizingly desolate...

Bang!

At that most critical juncture, a white-robed figure abruptly materialized from the void. Merely the aura of his arrival blew the charging cavalryman and his mount backward through the air.

This, too, was the manifested might of arcane energy!

"Tian... Tian... Tianxing Swordsman!"

The boy cried out in delighted surprise. Before his eyes stood the white-robed figure from countless dreams: the white robe, the white cap, and the golden arcane sword grasped in his right hand!

"It truly is a Tianxing Swordsman! Heavens, how can this be? Tianxing Swordsmen still exist!" The old man gasped in utter disbelief.

"Yanhji, hold them off! I am going to use arcane energy to evacuate these two!" Jiuyun called out into the void.

Instantly, storms of dust and flying stones swept the vast earth as a massive crimson silhouette materialized, churning with monstrous Qi!

It was a crimson fox towering even higher than the mountains, possessing nine tails wreathed in roaring crimson flames. The instant she appeared, the half-orc army and black-armored cavalry were struck dumb with terror; some fainted on the spot, while others turned and fled in a panic...

"Kill them!" Atop the giant tower, the Lord of Anti-Tianxing ordered his cavalry and half-orcs to strike down Yanhji.

Beneath the tower, Jiuyun turned to the grandfather and grandson with a reassuring smile. "Have no fear. I will send you to a safe zone."

"Tianxing Swordsman, I knew you would come to save us! Wonderful, the dark forces are doomed now, hahaha!" Even in the face of such peril, the boy felt no fear, his excitement reaching a fever pitch at Jiuyun's arrival.

"Indeed, I will strike down all the dark forces. Just wait and see from the safety zone!" Jiuyun gave the boy a thumbs-up.

Whoosh! Channeling his arcane energy, Jiuyun lifted the old man and boy into the air, hurtling them safely aboard the flying ark. There, the crowds had ceased their jostling and bickering, every gaze unanimously locked upon Jiuyun.

Roar!

Unleashing her monstrous might, Yanhji let out a roar that drove back any half-orcs and black-armored cavalry daring to approach.

Jiuyun looked up. The Lord of Anti-Tianxing spotted him in return. Locking eyes across the distance, Jiuyun stomped fiercely with both feet, propelling his body upward into the sky. He landed atop the giant tower, stopping just two meters away from the Lord of Anti-Tianxing—the precise distance of two arcane swords!

On one side stood a cloak of darkness; on the other, a pristine white robe. Anti-Tianxing and Tianxing were destined to stand as mortal enemies. Yet these two were father and son, rendering the atmosphere exquisitely delicate...

"Father, lay down the sword in your hand. I believe you have not entirely lost your conscience. Return to the side of Tianxing!" Jiuyun stowed his golden arcane sword, speaking with an earnest expression.

Heavy leaden clouds blanketed the sky, and dark mists obscured the heavens.

On this day, the twin suns above lost their brilliant luster, for the dark arcane energy of the Anti-Tianxing Emperor had isolated the Twin-Sun Continent, dooming its world to become a dead star adrift in the cosmos!

Across the land, beginning from Tianxing Province at its heart, the fires of war ignited and rivers of blood flowed. The Anti-Tianxing launched their total invasion plan, sending hordes of half-orc legions waving giant axes to cleave through humanity and other races. The black-armored cavalry proved unstoppable; wherever their lances pointed, countless beings met eternal oblivion.

Humanity's final hope lay in fleeing the Twin-Sun Continent, escaping this dead star to colonize the cosmos, doing so before the demon-like Emperor fully awakened!

To facilitate this migration, preparations had been made not just in Tianxing Province, but across the entire continent—the construction of flying arks. Empowered by arcane energy, these arks were naturally capable of traversing the cosmos. Arcane energy, the force sustaining and forging all creation, transcended mere matter as a supreme power inherent in all existence. It allowed cosmic stars to float in the void and formed the foundation of the miracle of life. As the saying goes, all things possess a spirit, and that spirit refers precisely to arcane energy—the medium through which humanity communicates with heaven, earth, and all creation!

At this very moment across Tianxing Province, flying ark after flying ark laden with countless living beings sailed away from the ground, while arks remained moored nearby awaiting those yet to board. Most crucially, the black-armored cavalry and half-orc legions had encountered a barrier!

The massive five-colored tower lay across the earth, cleft in two. The wide breach in its center allowed the dark minions to pour through, and directly behind the tower sat a flying ark. One could easily imagine what would transpire once the dark minions broke past the obstruction...

Yet heroes had arrived at this very final hour!