The Word of Heaven

Chapter 352 Solo Photograph
Gu Zhuo opened his eyes.

The torrential rain subsided, and the oppressive atmosphere over the wasteland was no longer oppressive.

He lowered his head slightly, his body not trembling at all, as if the wounds scattered on his body like porcelain patterns were illusions, and what oozed from them was not blood, but the most concentrated cinnabar.

The night wind was still blowing, and her clothes were fluttering slowly.

Fresh blood was spilled by the wind, staining the black shirt and making the color darker, more intense, and deeper.

After an unknown amount of time, Gu Zhuo raised his head.

The fire, which started by the airship, is still burning around the high platform.

The dense clouds, shattered by the blade's light, were forced to retreat dozens of miles away, transforming into the tallest and most solid city wall in the world. It advanced slowly but unstoppably, wanting to return to its former glory and drown out all the light on the wasteland.

Gu Zhuo looked at this scene, his face extremely pale, whiter than a sheet of paper.

However, his eyes failed to match the whiteness, their dimness so profound that even the world's finest painter could not capture it.

Countless thoughts were flashing through his mind, making his eyes look increasingly haggard.

The White Emperor was pierced through the heart by a sword and was seriously injured, making him unable to participate in tonight's war. But the price he paid was not just his serious injury.

The morning and evening bells shattered, and the soul collapsed, causing the physical body to become like porcelain.

Pei Jingge almost exhausted all his cultivation level to unleash that strike, shielding him from the gaze of the desolate heavens.

The monk Wugou, who lived far away at Cihang Temple, even performed acts of self-sacrifice.

Paying such a heavy price, he ultimately could not kill the White Emperor, nor could he change the outcome of the war, because the moonlight would eventually fade, and the storm would return. At that time, the Great Qin King would personally lead the Xuan Tie Heavy Cavalry, and those barbarians with firm beliefs would also be on their way to kill him, just like the high priest who died in the Crimson Yin Sect back then... All of these are facts, facts that are about to come. Gu Zhuo clearly realized all of this, so how could he not be haggard because of it?
But being haggard is not despair.

This is not an emotion.

This is just a description.

Zhao Qi's voice came from afar, carrying the deepest respect.

"Can you see that glimpse of night now?"

Night is death.

"Ah."

Gu Zhuo's voice, aside from its weariness, was devoid of any emotion: "Just like a hundred years ago."

The next moment, he said something he hadn't said in a long time.

This sentence is very simple, only three words: "Please help me."

Just like all those years in my life.

No one could hear it, because it was not meant to be spoken to anyone.

Gu Zhuo received no response.

Since that day, his world has ceased to be lively; it has become quiet, desolate, bleak, lonely, and solitary.

These are all real, but that doesn't mean his past experiences were unreal.

When those words were spoken.

The howling night wind gradually disappeared, and the dense clouds that had surged in from afar like a tsunami slowed down. The rain mixed with blood on the plains inexplicably rippled, as if it wanted to leap back into the air.

Even the still-burning fire seemed different.

then.

The sky was no longer pitch black.

The stars arrive on earth first, followed by the bright moon.

The moonlight shone down on the desolate plains, and the bleak and overgrown land was no longer shrouded in darkness.

No one knew the cause of this change. Even Zhao Qi, a peerless expert who had reached the advanced stage of ascension, could not immediately understand the appearance of this scene.

The secret letter sent by Chen Chi clearly stated that the wasteland was the only place in the world where Gu Zhuo could be cut off from his connection with heaven and earth, and that he could no longer be with all things here.

This is the biggest premise for killing the Dao Lord, so why has it become a lie at this moment?

Zhao Qi suddenly turned around and saw Pei Jinge with a pale face but a radiant smile.

That's the true meaning behind that slash.

Suddenly, the sky darkened.

The bright moon remains, and the stars have not yet dispersed.

In an instant, the boundless radiance gathered into a waterfall, flowing from the sky to the earth and covering the high platform.

The light, which should have been formless and intangible, took on a real shape at this moment, like a curtain or a veil, and finally condensed into hundreds of streams of varying thickness, rushing over Gu Zhuo's wounds, embellishing the red of the blood and fading the weariness from his eyes.

The stars and moon shine together at this moment.

Disregarding the world.

A single person is illuminated.

……

……

When the moonlight faded, Gu Zhuo was no longer haggard.

His wound had not fully healed, but no more blood was seeping out, and the remaining clear light was like a thin mist on a lake.

Dark clouds returned, and heavy rain fell again.

The light of moments before seemed like a dream; the wasteland was shrouded in darkness.

The fire started by the crashed spacecraft is being extinguished.

The rain continued to pound against the broken beams and logs, making the sound increasingly clear.

Through the darkness and rain, Gu Zhuo looked at Pei Jingge and said earnestly, "Thank you."

Pei Jingge raised an eyebrow and asked, "Aren't there any other words?"

Gu Zhuoxin wondered if there was any word in this world that could replace those two words.
Pei Jingge said bluntly, "I don't like thank yous. This is just an investment I'm making in you. All you have to do is survive, that's all."

After a moment of silence, Gu Zhuo said, "Okay."

Then his gaze fell on Zhao Qi, and he asked, "What do you want to choose?"

As dawn approaches, the hoofbeats of the Qin Dynasty's heavily armored cavalry grow ever closer, perhaps soon to blend into the sound of the rain.

Zhao Qi was well aware that the decision he was about to make would greatly influence the course of the war.

Thinking of Pei Jinge not long ago, and looking at the Dao Lord on the distant high platform, he made a decision after a brief moment of contemplation.

This decision was not difficult.

"Several years ago, my apprentice lost to you in Wangjing."

"That seems to be the case."

"This will be a continuation of that victory or defeat."

Gu Zhuo hummed in agreement.

Zhao Qi walked forward, heading towards the high platform in the torrential rain.

His steps appeared slow, but in fact he covered more than ten miles in an instant, leaving a trail of afterimages in the rain.

Before the lingering shadow had completely dissipated, the person had already arrived. Gu Zhuo quietly looked at Zhao Qi.

Zhao Qixing, showing the respect due to a junior, said, "I will make the first move; please understand, senior."

Gu Zhuo said "okay".

Having said everything he needed to say, Zhao Qi clenched his fist.

Just before he threw his punch, a white light suddenly streaked across the sky from afar.

That was Pei Jingge's knife.

Zhao Qi ignored this.

Gu Zhuo held the knife in his hand.

Only then did Zhao Qi throw a punch.

The moment the fist is thrown, it seems as if the morning sun rises from the center of the fist, and infinite light overflows from between the fingers.

The rain evaporated into mist, which was then swept forward by the force of the punches, and forward still.

This punch was extremely simple.

It is powerful precisely because it is simple.

Gu Zhuo had some insights into this kind of pure strength.

He drew his sword, the blade pointing straight forward.

Zhao Qi looked at the long sword that was slashing towards his fist, and his eyes suddenly brightened, as if they were the sun.

There was a loud bang.

The blade and the fist met head-on, but no blood splattered. Instead, the true energy stirred up a whirlwind that surged in all directions.

The thick fog vanished instantly, and the rain that had returned to the world was forced to travel away, leaving nothing behind.

Immediately afterwards, the high platform suddenly sank more than ten feet, causing the desolate land that had been ravaged that night to let out a mournful cry. The rocks and gravel collapsed dozens of feet deep as they were squeezed together, creating a deep pit!
Gu Zhuo started moving forward.

Zhao Qi's fist was cleaved open by the blade, and before the blood could flow out, it was evaporated by the scorching light.

At the same time, the light in his eyes began to fade rapidly.

Those pupils, like those of a dead fish that hadn't been carried away by the tide, lay lifelessly exposed on the beach.

A moment later, Zhao Qi loosened his fist in front of the blade and sighed, "I have lost."

Yes, he was injured in his initial clash with Pei Jinge and was not in his best condition, but Gu Zhuo was also injured and went through an even more brutal battle.

Regardless of what happened to the other side afterward, or what changes occurred, the outcome of this battle remains real.

Gu Zhuo sheathed his sword.

A thunderclap resounded within Zhao Qi's body.

That was the aftermath of Daosheng's influence.

Gu Zhuo remained silent.

Zhao Qi bowed to him again, then turned and walked out of the high platform, his figure disappearing into the wind and rain of the night.

Gu Zhuo sat down on the high platform.

He knew this would be his last moment of rest.

Pei Jingge gazed at him from afar, remaining silent.

……

……

Perhaps because there was no daylight here, the arrival of the Qin cavalry was not abrupt.

The heavy clatter of hooves mingled with the wind and rain, like a dense, faint rumble of thunder rising from the earth, causing the soil and the wreckage of the flying boat to tremble.

The general at the forefront took in the horrific scene after the bloody battle. A chill ran through his body, hidden beneath his armor, followed by a fierce, intense heat emanating from every part of his body.

No words are needed, no encouragement is required, and no shouting is necessary.

Everything that needed to be said had already been told during the march.

At this moment, every cavalryman holding the reins understood the truth of tonight's battle, knew why they were fighting, and knew how to achieve final victory.

—Kill the Demon Lord.

The ground of the wasteland suddenly began to tremble, and countless stones abruptly detached from the earth, paving a path leading to the high platform where the Demon Lord was located under the watchful eyes of countless people.

A hill suddenly appeared on the wasteland!
The Qin general who was about to smash the high platform to allow his cavalry to charge was taken aback.

The next moment, the bugle sounded.

The most elite cavalry of the Qin Northern Army activated their true energy to power their warhorses and launched an attack on the hill.

Even in this dark, rain-soaked world, it was still a terrifyingly large tide.

Gu Zhuo stood up.

From a distance of more than ten miles, his gaze landed precisely on the Qin king's general.

He remembered this man; he recalled that the general's surname was Xu, that he had achieved too many victories that would go down in history, and that he was the commander-in-chief.

Then this person deserves to die.

Gu Zhuo calmly drew a conclusion.

Then, put it into practice.

He reached out, and an iron sword flew up from the wreckage of the flying boat and landed in his palm.

Without a second thought, he threw the sword, which belonged to some unknown deceased general, directly.

All of this happened too fast, too quickly, too hastily, too suddenly.

People only saw the night being inexplicably divided into two halves of different sizes.

A blazing white line, as hot as a shooting star, plummeted into the midst of the army, striking the general surnamed Xu in the chest with unparalleled precision in a split second, bursting forth with dazzling light.

General Xu lowered his head, looking at the huge wound that had suddenly appeared on his chest, his eyes filled with confusion.

What exactly is going on?

When he recalled that the brilliance brought by the iron sword that pierced through the air was quite similar to that of the former chairman Li Xuan before his death... he finally realized what kind of change had occurred.

This is the legendary birth and death of the Dao.

When General Xu discovered this fact, he and his warhorse turned into a cloud of blood mist and vanished along with the sword light.

With a swift sword, a star flies ten thousand miles to vanquish its prey.

……

……

The moment the sword was drawn, Gu Zhuo never looked in that direction again.

He gripped Pei Jinge's sword, standing atop the storm-swept hill, silently awaiting the arrival of the Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry.

(End of this chapter)