Chapter 941: Winding Up Loose Ends (I)

Yuan Shuo roared from close quarters and erupted with a domain of the five elements. He clapped it down over Zhao Tianyang, whereas he himself jumped out and pummeled Qi Pingjiang with punches. He delivered a barrage of one hundred punches until one connected squarely with his opponent!

He operated the Incantation of the Blade of Blood and summoned a massive bear with a howl. His chest caved in, Qi Pingjiang coughed up blood from the punch.

“You’re still... so strong...” he heaved for breath with a smile. “My wife... died to... one punch... through the heart... Yuan Shuo... you have truly... taken martial dao... to its extreme...”

He turned to look at Li Hao and the fallen Skystar King on the ground.

“Actually... that guy... was good enough,” he sighed. “He was... better than... his son. The nine ministries... could succeed... because that guy... chose to abdicate... at the end...”

He fell backward on his back and whispered, “Ole Zhao, our era... has finished!”

Boom!

He crashed down with arms outstretched!

Zhao Tianyang heaved a long sigh within the domain. His old friends had left one by one. To the victor went the spoils. Everyone knew that there was no chance left the moment that Li Hao’s group appeared. And yet, it was still saddening to see people fall one by one.

“Yuan Shuo, Li Hao... can you erase this part of history when you write the history books in the future?” Zhao Tianyang laughed tragically. “Can you just... leave us eighty years in the past?”

Indeed, eighty years ago! That would be when the old ministers died! They all died after establishing the nine ministries.

“We can decide that later!” Li Hao frowned.

“What a pity!” Zhao Tianyang erupted with a powerful surge of aura and broke the domain of the five elements. He was as if a demon god come to life, descending upon the world with a punch and beating Yuan Shuo back. “Don’t you like using the fist? I will grant you your wish!”

RUMBLE!

Punch after punch followed, shoving Yuan Shuo to a wall. He roared with fury and responded in kind!

Fist matched fist for hundreds of punches—both of their hands were nearly completely shattered! Zhao Tianyang and Yuan Shuo disengaged at the same time. The minister’s presence was in disarray and he smiled at Yuan Shuo. “The Five Styles secret art... is incredible!”

BAM!

His arms exploded, his organs crumbled away, and Zhao Tianyang toppled over with unspeakable regret in his eyes.

I used to be a hero renowned throughout the world eighty years ago! Perhaps... we should’ve all died when we overthrew the royal family!

He closed his eyes and looked no more upon this world.

The premises quieted as four ministers and the old Skystar King were all dead. Their demise meant that curtains had been drawn on the Skystar Dynasty. The status quo of the nine ministries and royal family existing in conjunction would soon fade away.

Under orders from their Silver Armor troop leaders, the Skystar Army rushed the Black Armaturas. The royal family had brought a sizable force with them—almost one thousand, but not many were left by now. The survivors were being cut down by the Skystar Army.

They had their own Silver Armors, but those were of the Jiangs.

No one said anything as they were elites. The Black Armaturas fought on even though they’d seen the old Skystar King die with their own eyes. They would fight to the last. It would seem that the Jiangs had raised some loyal troops after being in command for two hundred years.

“Chaaaarge!” called out one of the troop leaders. The remaining one hundred assembled themselves for one final charge.

This army had once swept through the world, marching through ninety-nine provinces, ever victorious and all conquering. And yet, it was still unable to withstand an army of the ancient civilization. They were actually of the same system since they were both bestowed with a Skystar Army designation. Their armor was of the same system, but the bodies littered the ground now.

The one hundred troops left readied themselves for a final charge. A Silver Armor held the royal pennant of a golden dragon high. A Bronze Armor from the Skystar Army cut it down moments later.

The pennant dropped and its bearer was similarly hacked to death. The Black Armaturas died to the last. Blood flowed in rivers over the ground!

......

Li Hao watched silently without too many thoughts. To the victor went the spoils. That had ever been true. He didn’t need to think too hard or too much on the events of the day. There was no need to regret anything. Whether these people had been the hero or villain back in their time, they’d all fallen in battle today.

It was time for the name of ‘Skystar Dynasty’ to disappear from this world. As for how history books would speak of them... he didn’t care. Whether it was to praise or deride them, all of it would be in the past soon enough.

He looked at some other parts of the battlefield.

Director General Wang and the redwood tree were very powerful. They suppressed two plant spirits, leaving the remaining five Silver Armors to coordinate with the jujube tree to bring the other two plant spirits under control. There would be no further unexpected developments taking place today.

Li Hao lifted his head to look at the void. A very romantic sight filled it as countless rose petal leaves dyed it red. The bramble rose chuckled alluringly.

“Of humans, beasts, and plant spirits, the plant spirits have ever been the weakest. Monster spirits have a Monster Spirit Envoy and a Sea Pacification Envoy, but there is no plant spirit powerhouse that can truly take a stand beneath the world to unify us! Whether it is the Cat Tree or Sky Wood, neither of the two secured better status or benefits for plant spirits...

“The beast spirits have some status to speak of. Plant spirits are living beings as well, but we can only supply life essence to humans while we till your fields, and raise your crops. How is this fair?!” The bramble rose flashed a radiant smile.

It was indeed very unfair! Whether it was human internal discord or wars with external enemies, it was the plant spirits that always walked away worse for the wear. They were needed to supply endless Water of Life when war began, then needed to raise crops for humanity when war ended.

What could the bramble rose do one hundred years ago when humanity fought among itself and Skystar Town was destroyed? It was humans who came to raze their own cities, how was it supposed to safeguard the town?

And one hundred thousand years later, the grandson of the supreme came to kill it. The bramble rose didn’t think that it’d done anything wrong. It only felt that its kind would forever be slaves to humanity if they didn’t produce a heavyweight.

No one was willing to be born into a life of servitude or to be someone’s vassal! Plant spirits were no exception.

“Zhang An, if you see some of the more powerful plant spirits, please tell them why we are unable to produce a definitive heavyweight. It is because none of us carry the plant spirits of the world in our hearts! We deserve our fates of never being able to exalted emperors! Hahaha!” the bramble rose tinkled with peals of laughter.

Beast spirits had exalted emperors, but plant spirits... did not. Even one as strong as the Sky Wood, just one step away from crossing the threshold, was unable to do so one hundred thousand years ago. This was a fate well deserved!

Kaboom!

The world shook as a massive rose petal exploded.

“I will not leave my corpse for you. I lived as your servant and do not wish to die as your food.”

Rose petals rained from the sky as tinkling laughter dissipated upon the wind. Dark red filled the air. The petals drifted away, leaving only Black Armor Zhang An standing in the void.

He looked at the massive petal burning away. He could’ve taken the bramble rose alive at the last possible second, but he chose not to do so. Was the plant spirit wrong?

Zhang An knew that the rose was wrong from humanity’s perspective, yet it hadn’t seemed to do anything wrong from the perspective of its freedom. Plant spirits had indeed always been weak. Even strong existences such as the Cat Tree hadn’t been able to set foot into exalted emperor by the end of New Martial.

Therefore, plant spirits had never been held in high regard.

Since the other didn’t desire to leave its body behind for humans to devour, Zhang An decided to permit the bramble rose its wish after some thought.

......

On the ground.

Li Hao held out a hand for a drifting rose petal and watched it turn to liquid, then disappear. He didn’t feel much regret or sadness about a wasted resource. The young man simply thought over the bramble rose’s words.

Indeed, by what right did a race have to speak if they lacked a true powerhouse? Wasn’t that the case in all of Silver Moon? Jiang Chen and the others were favored sons of heaven in this age, but they ultimately became servants and pawns of these ancient personages and plant spirits.

Although they were all humans, they were humans of different ages. Hence, they could be viewed as two different races. The strong fed on the weak. How would a race have any status to speak of if they lacked notable powerhouses?

Weren’t the times today similar to times long ago? Was Li Hao truly in a better situation than the bramble rose? Although the formidable Black Armor and the still-fighting Director General Wang treated him well, what if he was unable to escort them out of the Star Gate?

What if they could only stay in Silver Moon?

If the main cities revived, if New Martial revived, would these people turn into his subordinates?

At present, they still nursed a bit of hope for leaving and returning to their homeland. What if those hopes were dashed?

Various trains of thought ran through Li Hao’s mind when a loud impact rang out after Director General Wang’s yell. An avenue of great dao appeared in the sky; a seal smashed right into it. An agonized wail rang out as the dominoes began to fall.

With the demise of their strongest member, the bramble rose, the other plant spirits knew that this was the end of the road.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“We surrender!” the rest bawled after Director General Wang killed one of them. “We didn’t do anything, we were sent straight asleep when battle began. We’re just fighting for our recovery. Everyone’s doing the same, what wrong have we committed?”

Who would listen to them at this stage?

The entire group focused on the remaining plant spirits. Under such close attention, they couldn’t self detonate even if they wanted to. All of their hearts of life were demolished, their great dao crushed, and their voices silenced moments later.

Only the sealed Sun Xin was watching them in the vast ruins. Despair filtered into his eyes. Defeat!

Although he hadn’t nursed much hope, the bramble rose had died too quickly when it faced Zhang An. It hadn’t given him a chance to break free.