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Writer: StarReader
Proofreader: Silavin
Sword Sovereign was rattled as the whole domain shook. Then he saw it, the black wave spreading as far as the eye could see in all directions, with nothing standing in its way. What made it worse, it came from Mirror Moon Cottage.
He rushed at full speed towards it, getting a sinking feeling the nearer he got. The black mass, now slowing down, felt utterly unnatural, like it wasn’t of this world.
Sword Sovereign couldn’t fight the foreboding feeling for long and was forced to give it a wide berth, having sensed Heavenly Sovereign’s location.
As he traveled, he noticed how the black mass simply ate everything in its path, with not the slightest sign of activity coming from within.
He did send a probing sword wave at it, but the reaction he got was alarming. It just vanished upon contact. One second it was there, the next it wasn’t. The unease only grew at this.
Since he couldn’t make sense of it, he focused instead on reaching Heavenly Sovereign and getting a recount from him.
With his speed, it didn’t take very long before Heavenly Sovereign’s figure appeared into his sight, but he noticed something was very wrong. Heavenly Sovereing only had one arm.
At the Sovereign Stage, flesh wounds could be healed easily, as the soul was the thing that truly mattered. It was also the thing in control of the path. For Heavenly Sovereign to be unable to heal meant that the damage had to have reached his soul. The question now was, could it be healed?
Heavenly Sovereign snapped out of his brooding once Sword Sovereign appeared, “Good, you’re here. I need you to get to Heavenly Rebirth Lake before Zhuo Fan. I’m done taking any chances. He can’t be allowed to regain his memories.”
His next action solidified the gravity of things, by giving Sword Sovereign his path back. He spoke while gazing at the black mass that seemed to swallow all light, “This is the result of little brother attempting a rash fusion of four paths. Imagine the force all ten paths combined could generate. Truly worthy of a Supreme. Cleansing the world of humanity and preserving Heavenly Dao couldn’t be easier at that stage!”
Heavenly Sovereign’s voice sounded eager at the end, and thrilled, recounting the entire event since Sword Sovereign had left to deal with the escaping sacred beasts. From Zhuo Fan throwing a volatile fusion of just two paths, almost destroying his Heavenly Eye, to Emotion Sovereign’s interference and Zhuo Fan throwing the rest of his paths, to finally, his brush with death and missing arm…
Sword Sovereign asked, “What about the bewitching? Is it still affecting you? Can you remove it?”
Heavenly Sovereign looked bleak, with a hint of madness in his eyes, “I did have my hands on the emotion path, but that dear little brother of mine meddled again. Now, it’s with the other paths, within that black sea.”
Sword Sovereign glanced at his missing left arm, “What about healing your arm? Is it possible to do anything about it?”
Heavenly Sovereign had a dark look, “That’s just it. It feels impossible. It’s like my soul and very being are complete with the missing arm. It’s as if I was born one-armed and nothing could change that.”
Sword Sovereign gasped, “The black energy is so destructive it erases the soul upon touch!?”
“I didn’t feel anything when it happened. That was no sign cluing me that something was wrong. If not for me being wary and my quick action, little brother’s plan would’ve worked.”
Heavenly Sovereign added, then turned grave, “Sword Heart, stop wasting time. The reincarnation path is of the essence, as well as stopping Zhuo Fan from remembering. Go at once!”
Sword Sovereign spoke, “But how could he have survived such power? Even you almost fell prey to it!”
Heavenly Sovereign sneered, “If there’s one thing little brother has always been good at, that is making a strong connection. I saw Emotion Sovereign shielding him before he escaped, and then there’s Starfall, Sovereign Yun’s attack.”
Sword Sovereign gasped, “Sovereign Yun? But we saw him falling along with the rest of them all those ages ago! How could he have survived? Even if there’s only a trace of him left, he still wouldn’t be able to unleash enough power to save him.”
“It wasn’t him. For every one of the ten Sovereign paths, one needs a certain mindset to use it. Taking over someone’s body won’t work. Emotion path needs the pinnacle of emotion, true and pure emotion. That is the only way for Emotion Sovereign to last that short minute and control the emotion path like back then.”
Heavenly Sovereign continued, “That means, the body she used had deep emotions for Zhuo Fan. The vessel was willing to die for him.”
Heavenly Sovereign turned pensive, “In regard to Sovereign Yun, his mindset is for the people of the world. It can only be a direct descendant who is in tune with his Dao Heart to wield his path. But they also had to have the heart to sacrifice themselves for Zhuo Fan to unleash so much of its power, at Yun Sovereign’s level. But why does this kid have so many willing to die for him?”
Sword Sovereign sighed, “This must be the human path’s strength. Also…” he paused, “You know very well your little brother’s grace.”
Heavenly Sovereign said, “That’s why he diverged on his journey towards the Heavenly Dao, pulled towards the human path.” Then turned grave, “Now enough talking. While I’ll make another domain for myself before I let the bewitching infect me further, you are to go and get me the final path before Zhuo Fan does.
“Damn it! Now I’m stuck waiting once more. I need to wait for the black sea to recede before taking the emotion path and the rest before I can begin cleansing the world!”
thanks for the chapter!