Chapter 144: The Reason for Standing on Opposite Sides! (Part Four)

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No preparation was needed. At a single shouted command, the nearly one hundred men moved as though they had rehearsed it thousands of times. In perfect unison, they gathered their qi, and an immense pressure took shape. The golden dragon became even more imposing.

“Not enough! Still not enough—far from enough! Ah! Three dragons, rise!”

Baili Mo gave another thunderous shout. The icy wind within the gorge seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, raging freely through the entire valley. The wind, already sharp as knives, now felt like countless tiny silver needles piercing every person present. The blood on the ground froze solid in an instant.

Behind Baili Mo, another blood dragon rose into the air. His body appeared so frail amid the freezing gale. He began to tremble, as though he could no longer withstand the pressure brought by the formation. The long hair streaming behind him began fading from the tips, turning white.

“Dragon Formation!”

Xia Chuan directed the nearly one hundred cultivators before him as they arranged themselves. They moved swiftly, finally forming a dragon-shaped formation. Above them, the golden dragon appeared vividly alive, its majesty impossible to defy, its eyes seeming to look down upon all things.

“Young Master Baili…”

On the carriage beside Xia Chuan, Xia Qinglian stared blankly at everything unfolding before her, as though she had witnessed something impossible. Her face held both joy and worry.

“Go back!”

Hearing her soft murmur, Xia Chuan turned his head. He frowned and shouted at her, “In a situation like this, another woman joining in would only create chaos. And as a sacrificial pawn of Great Xia, you are hardly worth my effort to please.”

“Xia Chuan! What are you doing? I command you in my capacity as the Princess of Great Xia! Stop immediately!”

Xia Qinglian ignored his tone and issued the order coldly.

“I am very sorry, my princess, but you no longer have the right to speak to me that way.”

Xia Chuan smiled contemptuously and waved his hand. A formation on the carriage activated, and a circular barrier appeared, trapping Xia Qinglian inside.

No matter how she struggled, she could do nothing. A Foundation Establishment cultivator with an unstable foundation could never break through that formation.

“Dragon Devourer—kill!”

Xia Chuan’s command rang out coldly. The entire army shouted as one, and a huge golden dragon roared before charging once more toward Baili Mo, carrying with it the rolling majesty of a king. It was the spirit of morale formed by the battle array.

“Is there no time left? Three dragons—go!”

Baili Mo shouted and used his own strength to drive the formation, resisting nearly one hundred cultivators. Three blood dragons, reeking of blood, stared coldly at the golden dragon rushing toward them, as though they were natural enemies.

Four dragons clashed.

In both size and pressure, the golden dragon far surpassed the three blood dragons. Yet those three blood dragons were savage and utterly fearless of death. Every attack struck directly at its vital points. The four dragons twisted and grappled together, and for a time neither side could gain the upper hand. Meanwhile, the mountains on both sides of the gorge collapsed even more violently beneath the force of the formation and the shock waves of their battle.

“Looks like I’ve won.”

Baili Mo grinned ferociously. Sounds like shattering glass came from within his body without pause. Cracks covered the Golden Core inside him, and even its luster had faded completely.

His body was drenched in blood. From a distance, he looked like a man made entirely of blood, standing motionless amid the storm. The viciousness in his eyes was exactly the same as that of the three blood dragons.

“The outcome has yet to be decided. Stop acting so arrogant.”

Though surprised by what he saw, Xia Chuan remained calm. No matter what, the idea that one man could defeat so many of them was nothing short of absurd.

If he had not been concerned about the deaths and injuries among his subordinates, a mere Golden Core cultivator—even one who shattered his own core—would pose no real threat. The Five-Dragon Blood Formation was certainly not to be underestimated, but so long as the soldiers could hold out until Baili Mo exhausted himself, everything would resolve itself.

“Four dragons, rise.”

Baili Mo spoke softly.

Another identical blood dragon emerged. In that instant, half of his long hair turned white. Amid the freezing wind, he looked unbearably desolate, swaying as though he might fall at any moment, yet stubbornly forcing himself to remain standing before these people.

“I was too weak after all. It seems the fifth dragon won’t emerge, even if I stake my life on it.”

Baili Mo laughed at himself.

With the fourth blood dragon joining the battle, the situation immediately tilted to one side. A single golden dragon, even one formed by nearly one hundred people, still could not withstand four blood dragons. After all, only a portion of the formation’s members were Golden Core cultivators; most were merely at the Foundation Establishment stage.

After exhausting time and energy, and sacrificing a Golden Core to sustain the formation, the Five-Dragon Blood Formation finally began to bare its fangs.

Golden scales fell from the golden dragon’s body. Though it was merely an illusion, patches of blood appeared across its form as the other four dragons tore at it. It roared furiously, yet could do nothing.

“Even the fourth dragon has reached the peak of the third grade?”

Xia Chuan murmured as he watched.

“Baili Mo. Not a bad name, but you are still far too young.”

“What do you think it took for me to receive this name? Do you really think the august Emperor of Great Xia would pass the character ‘Xia’ to a mere Golden Core cultivator?”

Xia Chuan shook his hand from atop his warhorse and loosened his muscles. Then he sprang into the air and joined the battle directly, taking his place at the golden dragon’s head.

The pressure radiating from him, however, was not that of the Golden Core realm proclaimed by the world.

It was the pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Xia Chuan—early Nascent Soul stage!

The golden dragon roared. After Xia Chuan joined the battle, its previously dim body returned to its former brilliance, becoming even more glorious and formidable.

Suddenly, the golden dragon shook off the four blood dragons clinging to it and flew straight into the heavens. A lump of flesh seemed to have appeared beneath its belly.

After a roar of agony that was nevertheless filled with exhilaration, the lump burst apart. A sharp golden claw broke through from within.

A golden dragon emerged—a five-clawed golden dragon.

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The might of the five-clawed golden dragon instantly rose to an entirely different level. Its gaze, invincible beneath the heavens, was so vivid and lifelike that it seemed almost real.

It looked coldly at the four blood dragons. The blood dragons, which had charged forward without hesitation and fought with terrifying ferocity, now seemed to have encountered a superior king. They hesitated and slowly retreated, a trace of humanlike fear appearing on their savage dragon heads.

This was the power of the Nascent Soul realm.

Enough to turn the tide of battle with one person alone.

“Now, do you still have anything to say?”

Xia Chuan’s cold voice came from the mouth of the five-clawed golden dragon. He looked at Baili Mo as though he were watching a joke.

With such a simple move, Baili Mo was rendered helpless. A Five-Dragon Blood Formation that could not summon the fifth dragon was ultimately incomplete, and no matter how powerful an incomplete formation might be, it could do nothing against the five-clawed golden dragon before it.

“Nascent Soul… I never thought you were actually at the Nascent Soul realm. Heh. How many Nascent Soul cultivators does Great Xia possess now? Xia Wenhao truly was willing to pay the price.”

Baili Mo sank down onto the ground, disheveled and utterly dejected. The blood dragons began to fade, and the mountains on either side of the gorge gradually ceased their trembling.

Baili Mo’s body had reached its limit. The Golden Core within him had visibly shrunk by a great deal. Once the size of an egg, it was now no larger than a small longan, its cracks even more pronounced.

“Heh. Are you surrendering? Baili Mo, I truly thought too highly of you. I assumed you were the sort of unyielding man who would never give up until the very end.”

The voice of Xia Chuan came once more from the five-clawed golden dragon, full of disdain.

“Surrender? What are you talking about? Xia Chuan, the outcome of a battle is never determined by the process alone. Victory depends on more than strength.”

Baili Mo sat on the ground and began to laugh softly. The cold wind swept through his hair, revealing a face so much like the one Xia Chuan had seen before—a face filled with mockery and derision.

“It also depends on this.”

Baili Mo lightly tapped his own head, his eyes brimming with amusement.

“You’re still being stubborn even with death at hand!”

Looking at Baili Mo’s face, Xia Chuan inexplicably felt another surge of unease.

“Soldiers, warriors, array yourselves before me—scatter.”

As he spoke, Baili Mo’s figure dispersed like smoke. It gradually faded until not even a trace remained.

“The Body-Splitting Art from the Nine-Character True Formula! When did he escape?”

Xia Chuan was stunned. Then he suddenly remembered Baili Mo’s true objective and whipped around.

A thunderous explosion came from Xia Qinglian’s carriage. A moment later, it burst apart, and two figures leaped from within.

“Lotus… it’s over now. How did I do?”

Baili Mo’s voice was very soft. He smiled weakly, awkwardly, just as he had in those distant days, with the same youthful innocence.

Just as in that encounter years ago—in the pleasure house, when they had met, saved one another, and come to understand each other.

“You fool! You fool! You fool!”

Looking at the man who held her in his arms, Xia Qinglian wept and cried out before finally embracing him tightly.

From that day onward, no one else had ever been able to understand her—her sorrow, her suffering, the person she wished to rely upon.

That person had always been him.

“I’m not a fool.”

Baili Mo’s eyes were half closed as he murmured softly, “My name is Baili Mo. Baili, as in a hundred miles of rivers and mountains; Mo, as in silent and wordless.”

He was no longer obscure and unknown.

He had taken upon himself the strength to bear every responsibility.

He was destined to stand before her.

Holding the woman in his arms, he released the longing and love he had carried for years. He did not want to let go again. He only wanted to remain beside her like this, accompanying her forever.

“My surname is Lu. Lu Qinglian. My childhood name is Lotus. I suppose we can say that we know each other now.”

Xia Qinglian? Lu Qinglian?

She had never truly been Xia Qinglian. Beside him, before him, she had always been herself.

Her name was Lu Qinglian.

Lu Qinglian leaned gently against his chest. For years, she had never felt so secure. And he had always been there.

She had a childhood name.

It was Lotus.

Pure despite growing from muddy waters, clear despite being born from filth.

“I’m taking you away. I will take you away!”

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“Even if I have to overturn the entire world, even if I have to flee Great Xia, I will! I will get you out of here!”

Baili Mo raised his head and stared solemnly at the five-clawed giant dragon flying swiftly toward him. The cultivators followed Xia Chuan as they rushed forward, while Baili Mo, already weak beyond measure, looked like a duckweed caught in a raging storm—so fragile that he seemed incapable of withstanding a single blow.

“Baili Mo! Do you think you can escape?”

The five-clawed golden dragon roared behind him, its voice deafening as it pursued without pause.

“Soldiers, warriors, array yourselves before me! Rise!”

Brilliant light burst from Baili Mo’s body. A white radiance suddenly appeared around him, and his body seemed to become much lighter. With a single leap, he crossed nearly three hundred feet. Holding Lu Qinglian in his arms, he hurried forward.

“You should not have come.”

Lu Qinglian spoke softly from within his embrace.

“I was always going to come,” Baili Mo replied firmly.

“By doing this, you have placed yourself directly against Great Xia. Even the Southern Profound Sect cannot protect you now!”

Lu Qinglian spoke with agitation, unable to conceal the worry on her face.

“I am no longer a member of the Southern Profound Sect. And a Great Xia that must force a woman into a political marriage is not worth remaining in.”

Baili Mo’s voice was calm. To him, Great Xia had never held even a fraction of the importance she did.

“You left the Southern Profound Sect? What about your master?”

Lu Qinglian spoke through her tears. She had wanted him to stay out of this matter. For that reason, she had hardened her heart and said her final farewell to him at the time.

“My master is fine. Truly fine. I have always treated him like my own father. And my father once told me that when a person knowingly does what cannot be done, success is called courage, while failure is the height of foolishness.”

“I do not know whether this time I will become a brave man or a fool. But I promise you this: even if I die, I will drag them down with me. I will get you out of this nightmare called Great Xia.”

“If I survive this, then let us go and visit our fathers. We will thank them properly one more time. And my junior sister, too—let them witness our wedding.”

Baili Mo spoke softly and continuously. His expression had become so gentle as he gazed into the arms of the woman he loved, as though he could look at her for a lifetime and never grow tired.

“I do not know why I fell in love with you. But you are the reason I never loved anyone else. You are the reason I can stand against the entire world.”

“We will make it back alive, won’t we?”

Lu Qinglian wept as she spoke. More and more, she felt that this man was about to leave her again—and that this time, he might be gone forever.

“Yes. We certainly will.”

He made that promise, though even he could no longer tell whether it was the truth or a lie.

Reality, however, was always so cruel. It never considered anyone’s feelings. All it did was reveal its truest face to the world.

Exhausted beyond endurance, Baili Mo could not take another step. He stopped and collapsed heavily onto the ground. Inside him, the Golden Core had shattered into countless pieces. It could barely be called a Golden Core anymore—only a rough stone remained, cracked and uneven, while his dantian had become clouded and turbid.

His gaze drifted. He could no longer distinguish what lay before him.

“Young Master Baili! Young Master Baili!”

Lu Qinglian cried out anxiously.

She fell atop him. Even after collapsing, his final remaining instinct was still to keep her from suffering the slightest harm. He held Lu Qinglian close and chose to land with his back against the ground.

“Lotus… if you can, I still want you to call me Brother Mo. Though I am a few years younger than you.”

Baili Mo spoke softly. His face was pale and weak, yet he stubbornly forced a faint smile onto it. He did not want her to see how much pain he was in.

At last, it had come to an end.

But would this be another farewell?