Chapter 205: I am Nantian Yijian. Please lend me your strength

Just as the cultivators across the Scripture Hall were caught in a heated discussion, the lightning giant's power suddenly surged. A ring of electric energy erupted around it, blasting Wind Dragon away.

Both Nantian Yijian and Jun Laoye reappeared in everyone's sight.

They saw Nantian Yijian, bloodied and barely able to rise, clutching the guqin case as he threw himself in front of Jun Laoye. He threw every ounce of strength into blocking the lightning spheres, only to be blasted back again and again, causing the crowd to gasp every time.

The fact that he could even stand in the giant's palm with nothing but his Qi Regulation Realm cultivation was already a feat. Yet now, he was resisting lightning spheres carrying power at the Human Core Realm level with nothing but his own strength.

None in the Scripture Hall had expected that among Lu Chen and his companions, the one with the lowest cultivation—the one they had dismissed the most—would end up leaving the deepest impression.

The cultivators could only clutch their chests and sigh as they watched him get hurled back time and again. Their initial disdain had long since faded, yet still, none dared step forward to face the lightning spheres with him.

By now, Jun Laoye had fully absorbed the Heaven Restoration Pill and gradually regained consciousness.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Nantian Yijian, bloodied and battered, kneeling before him, lightning still flickering around his body.

Before Jun Laoye could speak, Nantian Yijian swallowed a handful of pills, staggered to his feet, and charged forward again, throwing his small frame against the lightning attacks.

"Little Jian..."

Bang!

Jun Laoye struggled to rise, lifting himself barely half a meter before crashing back down. He tried again but couldn't move.

"Little Jun, you're awake?" Hearing the voice behind him, Nantian Yijian cleaved through a bolt of lightning, turned, and laughed heartily.

"Hahaha! You're finally awake! Look at me! I'm like a king descending from the heavens. In the past, you were always the one watching over me. Today, it's my turn to protect you."

Jun Laoye's pupils dilated in horror as his gaze fell on Nantian Yijian's blood-streaked profile. "Little Jian... your face..."

Nantian Yijian's face was nothing but blood and wounds, with barely any skin left intact. A crack had split across his head, exposing a charred piece of skull, while dark red blood poured from the wound like water.

"Hehehe,

it's nothing, nothing at all," Nantian Yijian said, smearing the blood from his face as he shoved more pills into his mouth, casually staunching the flow from his head. "I'm a real man! A little injury's nothing I can't handle. By the way, Little Jun, you—"

He was still speaking excitedly when Jun Laoye suddenly saw a thick black bolt of lightning rushing toward them. He shouted with all his strength, "Be careful!"

He tried once more to rise, only to crash back to the ground.

Pfft!

Hearing Jun Laoye's warning, Nantian Yijian turned around, only for the lightning to strike his left arm.

The black lightning cleaved like a blade, slicing through nearly three-quarters of his shoulder.

"Hiss!"

The cultivators below gasped as blood sprayed from the wound. Carried by the wind, it soon splattered across their faces.

With so much blood lost in an instant, Nantian Yijian's face turned deathly pale. He staggered back ten steps, missed his footing, and tumbled down the giant's forearm.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

At the last moment, he drove his flying sword into the giant's body, slowing his fall.

He didn't fall completely, but his condition was critical. Suspended in midair and unable to take pills, blood poured from his left arm. His consciousness began to fade, his vision gradually darkening.

High above, Blindman Lu let out a cold snort. He sent his spirit qi surging through the air into the flying sword. The thirty-six flying swords merged into one colossal blade, lifting Nantian Yijian back up.

Seeing the massive sword before him, Nantian Yijian believed it was his own hard work in protecting Jun Laoye that had finally allowed him to merge the thirty-six swords. Laughing foolishly, he tried to rush forward to tell Jun Laoye about it.

But after just two steps, his vision went black, and he collapsed forward once again.

Beneath the lightning giant, Red Fox opened her eyes. As she saw Nantian Yijian fall into a pool of blood, she leapt free from Nantian Wan'er's arms and let out a mocking snort. "Cultivators today may be weaker than before, but their hearts are just as filthy and disgusting as three hundred thousand years ago. So many are watching from above and below, yet not a single one dares to help these two poor children. And the most laughable part? These few children are still intent on saving these commoners.

"What a truly pathetic world... it's no wonder the Imperial Lord of Rituals once chose to prove his Dao through slaughter."

She sighed helplessly. "Forget it. If no one else will act, then I'll do it myself."

The Divine Eye on her forehead flared open as she unleashed a spell that shot straight into Nantian Yijian. "Unfortunately, this is all I can give. But with my power bolstering him, he should be safe for now. As for the rest... Wind Dragon, it's in your hands."

As Wind Dragon charged forward with all his might, Red Fox leapt back into Nantian Wan'er's embrace.

Wind Dragon, at the Sunken Core Realm, was the more suitable choice to stand at the forefront and support Lu Chen in battle. Red Fox, however, was at the Earth Core Realm. She could not risk exposing her true strength. If she did, the enemies Lu Chen faced in the future would immediately rise by several calibers.

Within the giant's palm, Nantian Yijian absorbed the boost from Red Fox. He regained clarity and let out a cold snort. The cracks along his arm began to mend under the added power.

He looked down at Red Fox, crossing his arms and giving her a faint nod of acknowledgment.

Propping the sword guqin with his right hand, he climbed toward Jun Laoye. "Little Jun, how are you? Come on! Let's keep going! We can't miss this chance to help Uncle Jun!"

Jun Laoye weakly shook his head. "Little Jian, your injuries are too severe. Rest for now... this is our fate. I am destined to fail."

Nantian Yijian hugged the guqin case under his arm, struggling to rise. "No, Little Jun! We absolutely cannot give up. Didn't we swear to seek the Heavenly Dao together? Didn't we agree to save the innate talents of the commoners together? Didn't we promise to help shoulder and resolve each other's obsessions?

"What we face now is only a small tribulation." He pulled out a handful of pills from his spatial ring, swallowing some himself before giving the rest to Jun Laoye.

"It's useless... if it were possible, we would have already succeeded." Jun Laoye swallowed the pills and regained a little strength. He pushed himself off the ground, flipping to face the sky with a weary sigh. "You've never seen a Human Core Realm cultivator unleash their spells. It's only natural you don't understand the conditions and time required for such techniques. The ancestor can activate a formation with just a single thought. The fact he hasn't done so means I don't yet have the right to attempt it."

He adjusted his position to gaze at the lightning giant's eyes, murmuring bitterly, "Perhaps you're right... I am just a crybaby, unworthy of inheriting the Heavenly Dao Spear, unworthy of bearing the name 'Tian.'"

"No... how can you say that? How can you give up on yourself?" Nantian Yijian's eyes blazed with fury. He roared and kicked Jun Laoye hard, sending him rolling through the air before crashing to the ground.

"Do you see? The ancestor is still pouring every ounce of strength into his spell, and you would give up now? If you can't overcome this hurdle, how can we speak of seeking the Heavenly Dao? How can we talk about saving the commoners' cultivation talents?

"Look! There are still so many people below waiting for us." Nantian Yijian swept his gaze downward at the cultivators below. "They... no, we... all of us have been denied ascension because of our lacking talent. For generations, we've been treated like livestock by the sects and noble clans."

"Hehehe...

impossible," Jun Laoye muttered, flipping onto his back, madness and despair in his voice. "We're too weak. We cannot challenge a system built over countless millennia."

"Foolish!" Nantian Yijian placed the Thirty-Six Cosmic Sword Guqin beneath his feet and seized the massive sword hovering beside him. "Little Jun, if you want to give up, then go ahead. But I'm done being treated like livestock by the noble clans. I will rebel! I will lead the mortals in revolt! I will bring equality to all the races of this world!

"I want every mortal to have the gift of cultivation! I want equality for every race beneath heaven!"

Clutching the giant sword with both hands, Nantian Yijian cried out through the searing pain in his shoulder and raised it toward the sky.

The Wish Power in his Heavenly Pool erupted. Golden strands of light coursed through his meridians, flowing from his skin and hair to his limbs and hands, before finally pouring into the massive sword.

He closed his eyes and roared with all his might, "Commoners without the gift of cultivation! If you are willing to let me lead you, to grant you the power to cultivate, then lend me your strength! I need it now!"

At the valley's entrance, the cultivators raised their heads as his voice rang out.

With the giant sword raised high, lightning crackling around him, and the colossal dragon looming at his side, Nantian Yijian's formidable presence etched itself deep into the hearts of all who watched.