Chapter 081 - Public Declaration of War!

A hushed silence fell over the room as the words Forbidden Tower Death Decree pierced through the air, an ominous declaration that clawed at every ear, twisting faces into masks of wary apprehension. Even Madame Xiao and Ning Yan found their expressions betraying a hint of concern.

A collective gasp was the crowd’s singular, unnerved response.

“The Forbidden Tower, huh?” Yun Xiao remarked..

Within the vast Sea of Swords, countless forces vied for dominance. However, none cast a shadow quite as imposing as the Forbidden Tower—its rule, unchallenged and absolute.

Suddenly, a thunderous bang resounded as the formidable gates of Sword Heaven swung open. A man, cloaked in a black robe, emerged, taking deliberate strides within, greeted by Sword Heaven’s disciples with an honor that seemed paradoxically servile.

“Xiao He.” Ning Yan’s eyebrows knitted together, tracing a delicate frown across her visage.

Here stood Xiao He, the entrusted guardian of Holy Son Chu, a protector whose only mission was to ensure the unhampered blossoming of his ward.

At that moment, a chilly resolve flickered in his eyes, an icy stare that unerringly found Yun Xiao amidst the sea of faces. In a heartbeat, his awe-inducing magic power surged forth, washing over the gathering, and pressed down upon Yun Xiao with the weight of an unseen ocean.

"Xiao He?" Madame Xiao's face shifted from its earlier ebony stoicism to a shade tinged with a semblance of vitality upon setting eyes on him. She raised her hand slightly, her voice a mere murmur, yet it cut through the silence assertively. "The Forbidden Tower Death Decree, was that you who announced it?”

“Yes, the Forbidden Tower Death Decree!” Xiao He, his gaze austere, sweeping across the assemblage, articulated with a weighty solemnity, “It’s the inaugural Death Decree issued by the Forbidden Tower since the establishment of the Grand Wasteland Pact!”

A palpable shiver of unease rippled through those gathered, their hearts ensnared by a nettling sense of doom.

Because before Xiao He had crossed the threshold, he had proclaimed, 'Sword Heaven receives the decree!'

Did this not imply an unnerving link between the decree and Sword Heaven?

Madame Xiao’s lips curled into an eerie, almost spectral half-smile. “Lil He, would you kindly elaborate on this Forbidden Tower Death Decree for us?”

“Certainly, sister.” Xiao He unveiled a black scroll, his eyes morphing into a frigid, lethal stare.

"Exorcize demons, guard the earthly realm, the Forbidden Tower commands!" he declared. With a sudden lift of his head, his gaze, fierce and unyielding, locked onto Yun Xiao. He shouted, “Yun Xiao, disciple of the Azure Spirit Sword Sect, you’ve selfishly defied the Grand Wasteland Pact, slaying a staggering hundred thousand demons in the Northern Wastelands and sparking a cataclysmic war between humans and demons. The Grand Wasteland Demon Lord, enraged by your recklessness, pledges to sweep through the world, condemning eighty million souls to sate the Northern Wastelands demon kin!"

An uproarious clamor cascaded through the assembly.

"That's a pile of bull! The Northern Wastelands and Azure Spirit clash daily without such consequences!" Ning Yan countered, her voice quivering with indignation.

"The Grand Wasteland Demon Lord, furious?" Yun Xiao, for a moment, entertained the thought of laughter.

His other self, Moon Fairy, had already visited the Grand Wasteland and encountered that ostentatious Demon Lord. That Lord, presiding over millions of demons and sustaining thousands of offspring, scarcely registered the skirmish in the Northern Wastelands as worthy of attention!

Yet, Yun Xiao comprehended the underlying message: if you seek to condemn, you will always find cause. Wasn't that precisely what Ye Guying had orchestrated? Why was the Forbidden Tower now fixated upon him?

It was evidently nothing to do with the demons of the Northern Wastelands, but rather because Yun Xiao had eradicated Ye Guying’s kin!

"The Forbidden Tower Death Decree hasn’t been fully announced, Ning Yan, be silent!" Madame Xiao glared at Ning Yan, a mocking smile creeping ever more visibly onto her lips.

Her family resided within the Forbidden Tower. Currently, with the Sword Lord of Sword Heaven relinquishing his responsibilities, and her managing all. Sword Heaven, having entwined its fate with the Forbidden Tower through numerous marriages, was essentially becoming an extension of the Forbidden Tower itself!

"Challenge me? Beyond your hefty jade lanterns, what else can you leverage?" Madame Xiao internally scoffed.

"Be still!" Xiao He coughed, clearing his throat. His tone intensifying and his eyes, maliciously fixated on Yun Xiao, continued, "To safeguard the earthly realm and rescue eighty million beings, the Forbidden Tower must uphold the duty of the Heavenly Dao! So, the Forbidden Tower issues a Death Decree, the judgements are as follows—

"Firstly, Yun Xiao must answer for his crimes with his death! His head shall be delivered to the Grand Wasteland to quench the flames of war, ensuring the safety of our people! Secondly, should any formidable entity shield Yun Xiao, they shall stand as mortal enemies to the Forbidden Tower. Every member of the Forbidden Tower will vow to eradicate their lineage, ceasing only at death! Thirdly, should any power provide him sanctuary, they effectively declare war upon the Forbidden Tower! Every member of the Forbidden Tower will march into battle, obliterating them with a thousand swords, sparing not a single life!!"

In the shadow of Sword Heaven's Jade Sun Tower, a profound stillness enveloped the gathering following the proclamation. The three stern decrees, likened to a trio of massive swords, invisibly suspended above the assemblage from Sword Heaven, seemed especially poised over Ning Yan.

Xiao He, having concluded the announcement, stored away the black scroll. His eyes, emboldened with a malevolent pleasure, leisurely swept across his Sword Heaven counterparts. He drawled, “My fellow Sword Heaven comrades, understand all of that, did we?”

“Quit your prattling,” Madame Xiao scoffed with a curl of her lip, casting a mocking glance towards Ning Yan. “It's all there, in black and white, as clear as day.”

Recoiling, Ning Yan's complexion shifted to an ashen hue, as if a thunderbolt had scalded her very soul. To protect a rebel meant the demise of a clan. To shield a rebellious faction signaled the obliteration of a sect. A public declaration of war against the Forbidden Tower? Who, in their right mind, would dare?

“All present, listen well!” Madame Xiao’s voice sliced through the silence like a blade through silk. “A talent, no matter how transcendent, committing acts that harm the masses, has surely sown seeds of an unpardonable crime! Although we, Sword Heaven, do cherish talent, we simply cannot abide by those on a demonic path!” Her features contorted into a specter of venomous resolve. “The Forbidden Tower, through negotiation and reconciliation with the Grand Wasteland demons, showers boundless blessings upon humanity! Such an epoch-defining act of virtue shall not be sullied by a single, wayward child! Given his sins, of an unforgivable nature, his death shall serve as salvation for the many!”

One by one, the dignified Sword Venerables and elders of Sword Heaven bowed their heads, a sea of stooped spines and solemnity.

“Xiao He! Xiao He!” Ning Yan’s voice quivered, her features warped by anxiety as she took quick, short steps towards him. “Offer us something more, won't you? What could possibly incense the Forbidden Tower to such an extent?”

No matter how she pondered, it simply didn’t add up. It certainly wasn’t an issue with the demons of the Northern Wastelands; that was merely a facade.

As for Holy Son Chu? He was, after all, just a connection, his talents compared to the other prodigies of the Forbidden Tower, hardly noteworthy. Otherwise, they wouldn’t bestow upon him the specific title of ‘Holy Son’.

Ning Yan, disheveled and distressed, stood amidst the formidable, secretive walls of Sword Heaven, her heart wrestling with a perplexing quagmire. Should they shelter Yun Xiao now, it was, in essence, flinging a gauntlet at the formidable Forbidden Tower. The very thought swept tremors through the tranquil Sea of Swords, awakening a cacophony of whispered tensions and clandestine affairs. But the thread pulling at the why of it all remained elusive.

Xiao He, with a mirthless grin, dismissed her with a nonchalant shove. "You always play the sage, don't you? Do some digging of your own!"

Her eyes, locked onto his retreating back, gleaned an underbelly of secrets yet unearthed. What could it be? At this juncture, the knot of the matter seemed to lose its sharp edge.

"Ning Yan," Madame Xiao drawled, her voice steeped in a condescending chill, "do you wish to continue as his shield?"

Ning Yan's eyes flickered with undeniable fear as she stumbled back, her voice barely above a whisper. "No... I can’t. I may mourn the loss of talent, but not to the extent of shielding one whom the heavens and the earthly despise." Her face, a canvas of anguish, was close to crumbling into tears.

Protection was a now distant dream. The Forbidden Tower, with its myriad of piercing swords, had openly declared a war of eradication upon Yun Xiao's entire lineage! Her protection was but a paper shield against a tempest.

Should she even dare to express regret for the talent lost, Madame Xiao need not wait for the Forbidden Tower to act; her Sword Heaven’s might would, without qualm, extinguish Ning Yan’s existence and none of its members would object.

“Any other noble soul wish to protect the boy?!” The cold, sharp gaze of Xiao He scoured the assembly, his voice echoing in the immense hall, hanging like an unsheathed blade over their necks.

A collective shudder raced through the elders of Sword Heaven, a symphony of retreating steps, lowered heads, and sealed lips, all steering clear of the invisible plague that the question seemed to carry.

"He's mere mortal filth. He should perish!"

"Better to be rid of such a malevolent talent now!"

Faces of once-allies contorted into swift, steely masks, exhibiting a masterclass of unspoken treachery.

Pushed to the rear of the crowd, Ning Yan stood, body slick with a cold dread, as the fortress-like walls of Sword Heaven enveloped them all, standing tall yet seemingly closing in.

Beneath the towering edifice of the Jade Sun Tower, a solitary figure in undulating white robes, Yun Xiao, found himself staged upon an impromptu and yet intimate theater of animosity.

To his left, Xiao He offered a brutal death, eyes filled with predatory gleam and a face twisted into a malicious snarl, one reminiscent of an eagle, indignant and rapt upon its prey.

To his right, a quivering congregation of Sword Heaven’s cultivators, shepherded by the icy Madame Xiao, found their tongues benumbed, silenced by haunting words of kill orders and declarations from the Forbidden Tower.

Yun Xiao, while expectant of the domineering bile of the Forbidden Tower, beheld Sword Heaven’s comportment that day with a certain disillusioned awe.

“Is this the lineage that aspires to the pedestal of the Sword Pavilion?” Deep-seated disdain pooled in Yun Xiao’s eyes.

When the pressure of the First Sword Peak had ominously loomed, elders and disciples from the Sword Pavilion, unyielding, huddled protectively around him.

Here, within the boundless Sea of Swords, at the mere threat from the Forbidden Tower, the affiliates of Sword Heaven scattered, each seeking to distance themselves more than the last.

“Yun Xiao, you ought to surrender! There are some people you can't afford to offend!” Xiao He declared, his voice a spectral blend of mockery and venom. The audience presumed he invoked the name of Holy Son Chu.

“Can’t offend? You’re referring to Ye Guying, no doubt!” Unexpectedly, amid such desperation, the young man in white unleashed a smile, one both light and ephemeral as a drifting cloud.

He addressed Xiao He, affirming, “Yes, exactly! I annihilated Ye Guying’s foster father, big brother, and over a hundred of his family! Their souls, now tethered to the Bluedrop Flag, have been caressed by the fires of the Azure Spirit Cauldron a millionfold! Their agonizing laments? Quite exhilarating to hear!”

The words seeped into the crowd, jolting the hundreds gathered with their nefarious revelation. The Forbidden Tower was avenging Ye Guying! This was the undeniable truth.

“Yun Xiao extinguished Ye Guying’s family?” The figures of Sword Heaven found their scalps tingling, a chill meandering down their spines.

It was no wonder that the Forbidden Tower convulsed with such fury!

“The ones slain yesterday were kin to Ye Guying?” Ning Yan, lost in stupor, recalled her attention to Yun Xiao throughout that day.

With her knowledge of Yun Xiao's history with the Azure Spirit Sword Sect, Ning Yan didn't stitch together the stories of these two individuals. Her contempt for the Azure Spirit was deep-rooted and corrosive; understanding was not on her agenda.

Yun Xiao, enshrouded by an imminent dark omen, felt an accusatory fury emanating from Xiao He, who declared, “Yun Xiao, your actions imperil millions. Spare us the blather.”

He acted with decisive lethality, unleashing his Sword Soul, and the lethal intent mirrored in his eyes was a tempest awaiting release. He declared Yun Xiao a sinner of epochs and demanded atonement.

He wielded his weapon with a calculated swiftness, initiating a conflict that none from Sword Heaven dared join. Instead, they retreated a step, a collective, unnerving backward dance.

In that suspended moment, a frost kindled in Yun Xiao's eyes. “Can we make it out of this?" he asked the small, ebony beast nestled in his robes.

“We sure can,” it confirmed with vicious assurance, Red Moon’s eyes ablaze.

“Creator,” Blue Star’s voice snarled with a wild defiance, “We promised to have your back, in every scenario. You crash through; we manage the rest!”

Red Moon grinned, a fierce show of pointed teeth. “Worst case, we catch some long needed rest!”

Their collective rage was an inferno, barely contained beneath their seemingly innocent exteriors. And why not? Their assurance stripped the peril from Yun Xiao's path. He harbored not a fraction of fear in this treacherous human realm. For who would dare claim he was devoid of family in this life? They were his kin, his compatriots!

He feared not the advance into Sword Heaven, nor the deadly predicament he was embroiled in. His sole dread; that the killing wouldn’t be gratifying enough!

Xiao He's blade surged, a haunting array of shadowy swords encircling Yun Xiao.

“Even the handsomest face,” Madame Xiao whispered to her daughter with a macabre gentleness, “ends up a skeleton.”

Yun Xiao, seemingly engulfed by the ferocious sword aura, appeared to walk a singular path to doom in the eyes of the Sword Heaven onlookers.

Then, unexpectedly, Yun Xiao slid a hand into his garment! His eyes coalesced into pointed lethality, a killing intent burgeoning within.

“Who dares defy me in my Sword Heaven?!!” As Yun Xiao poised to release the dark beast, a cataclysmic thunder roared from nowhere, shuddering through the very foundations of the Jade Sun Tower! Tiles cascaded downward in disarray!

A grey-robed silhouette appeared before Yun Xiao, an inscrutable guardian.

“He’s quick!” Yun Xiao noted, a flicker of shock darting through him.

The grey-robed figure conjured a storm with a mere wave, swiftly extending a hand to halt Xiao He’s progression.

SMACK!

A slap collided with Xiao He’s visage.

“What?” Xiao He, not glimpsing his adversary, felt as though he'd collided with a mountain. Blood and teeth expelled violently from his mouth, as he, with shattered teeth, spiraled backward, cascading against the grand doors of Sword Heaven after an ungainly thirty-yard flight!

THUMP!

Another arterial spray marred the ground as his facial bones splintered, blood seeping from every orifice, his face a swollen, grotesque canvas of purple-black anguish.

The brutality of that single slap was horrifically palpable, lingering in the stunned silence that followed.