20demayo Chapter 259, Part 8: The End of an Era
Chapter 259, Part 8: The End of an Era
Chapter 259 The Eight Vertical and Horizontal Lines Come to an End
"It's His Majesty!!"
"His Majesty is out!!"
"Your Majesty—is charging?!"
On the chaotic battlefield below, both the fleeing remnants of the Douling army and the surging Tianhun soldiers saw the snow-white figure that charged down from the top of the command tower!
This figure was so dazzling, carrying a tragic sense of mutual destruction, that it instantly ignited the last vestiges of almost extinguished fighting spirit in the hearts of the remnants of the fighting spirit!
"His Majesty!!!"
A half-armed fighting spirit officer roared hoarsely, his vision blurred by blood and tears.
He abruptly changed direction, no longer running away, but brandishing his remaining broken sword, his eyes red as he lunged at the nearest enemy.
"Fight to the death with His Majesty!!"
"Fight to the death!!"
"For His Majesty! For the last vestige of dignity in the Battle Spirit realm!!"
Like a spark thrown into boiling oil.
Xue Rui's charge miraculously stopped some of the scattered Douling soldiers in their tracks, their eyes flashing with a final frenzy and determination.
They roared, completely abandoning their defenses, like moths drawn to a flame, facing the steel torrent of the Heavenly Soul Empire with their flesh and blood.
high in the air.
A strange light flashed in Du Bu Si's eyes: "This Dou Ling Emperor does have some backbone."
"If for thousands of years, all the emperors in the Battle of Spirits have been like this, instead of lying on their ancestors' coffins, guarding that pitiful amount of wealth—"
His tone then turned cold: "Why must it come to this, that a last emperor who still has some spirit must use his own life to toll this final, futile death knell for an empire that is terminally ill and beyond redemption?"
A building is about to collapse; a single pillar cannot support it.
This belated display of courage is nothing more than the last splash of water before the ship sinks, unable to change its inevitable fate of sinking into the abyss.
Douling has long been rotten to the core, terminally ill, and has been lingering on for thousands of years.
Today's defeat is not the fault of one person, but an inevitable consequence of the historical tide washing away the dregs.
Xue Rui was born in the wrong era. If this courage and determination had been used during the founding of the Douling Kingdom, he might have achieved great things.
Now, he is merely adding a touch of tragic grandeur to the decaying empire of Douling.
No matter how much courage Xue Rui showed at this moment.
No matter how fiercely those remaining soldiers, their fighting spirit ignited, fought.
They could not change the inevitable outcome of Longshoutai's fall.
This belated display of backbone appears so insignificant and powerless under the relentless march of history.
In the center of the battlefield.
Xue Rui transformed into a frost-covered swan, and with each flap of her wings and swing of her sword, she brought forth a chilling current.
However, just a few minutes after Xue Rui appeared on the battlefield, a clear, cold female voice suddenly rang out here.
"He handed it over to me."
A dazzling golden light suddenly pierced the smoke-filled sky.
Wearing a soul-guided armor specially made by the Soul Research Institute, Vina leaped off the back of the Thousand-Year Lion.
The moment Vina leaped down, the Heavenly Soul Empire's Pure Lotus Soul Guard surrounded her and Xue Rui.
The cold light of the soul-guided cannons and various soul-guided devices completely isolated this area, forming an arena that belonged only to Xue Rui and Vina.
Xue Rui's swordplay paused for a moment.
He astutely observed that the emblem engraved on Vina's breastplate was not the emblem of the Heavenly Soul Empire as it is today.
It is actually the emblem of the Heavenly Dou Empire from ten thousand years ago.
Although Vina's current realm is only Soul King, with the support of this armor, she is in no way inferior to Xue Rui, who is at the Soul Saint realm.
"The glory and lessons of the Tian Dou conflict, the cause of the division and the consequences of today, should come to an end."
"Shut up! My Dou Ling is the true successor to the Heavenly Dou Clan!"
The grief and indignation surging in Xue Rui's chest instantly overwhelmed her physical exhaustion and pain.
"The dignity of the Fighting Spirits, the legacy of the Heavenly Fighting, cannot be desecrated by a lowly wretch like you!"
Xue Rui's figure transformed into a resolute streak of light, almost becoming one with her sword, like a falling comet, crashing headlong into Vina, whose body was radiating dazzling golden light.
Vina neither retreated nor dodged.
She simply held the sword upright in front of her.
"The lotus that purifies the world washes away all defilement."
Vina whispered, her voice not loud, yet it seemed to carry a peculiar rhythm.
With a whoosh, the armor on her body emitted a magnificent light, which quickly condensed and bloomed around her, forming an enormous, lifelike golden lotus!
In the center of this giant lotus flower, Vina held a sharp sword, her Brain Martial Soul resonating in unison with the Snow Lotus Martial Soul.
"Pure Lotus Flower!"
The mournful roar of Xue Rui and the shrill cry of the Frosty Swan merged into one.
He poured his soul power into the sword without regard for its cost, and it clashed violently with Vina's longsword!
Xue Rui's eyes were bloodshot.
He could clearly sense that what Vina was exhibiting now was the terrifying power amplified by that strange armor.
"The legitimate lineage of the Heavenly Dou?"
Vina's wrist twisted sharply, golden light bursting forth from the sword's blade, while the petals of the lotus flower beside her closed and strangled it: "Lack of ambition, greed for comfort, clinging to decay—is this the orthodoxy you Fighting Spirits proclaim?!"
The longsword was no longer used for parrying, but instead transformed into a rapidly spinning golden storm, carrying an unparalleled sharpness, actively wrapping around Xue Rui's longsword.
Xue Rui felt as if her sword had sunk into a viscous swamp, and the sword's momentum was almost completely out of control due to the spinning petals.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
A series of rapid, rain-like sounds of impact rang out.
Vina's swordsmanship is concise and efficient, carrying an indifference born from a thorough understanding of everything. Each strike precisely cuts off any possibility of further changes in Xue Rui's sword moves.
Xue Rui grew increasingly alarmed and desperate as the fight progressed.
The opponent's strength, speed, and soul power, enhanced by the armor, reached an incredible level.
Clang!
Finally, Vina seized upon a tiny opening created by Xue Rui's excessive energy depletion.
Her sword tip struck the weakest point on Xue Rui's sword spine with unparalleled precision, like a venomous dragon emerging from its lair!
A heartbreakingly sharp crack!
The sword that had accompanied Xue Rui in battle for many years snapped in two!
The broken blade spun into the air before falling helplessly onto the scorched earth soaked in blood.
The sword is a symbol of Xue Rui's power as an emperor, and it is also his only reliance in protecting the last dignity of the fighting spirit.
Now, it's broken.
Vina stood holding her sword, the light around her slowly receding.
"The bitter fruit of division will be ended by my Heavenly Soul."
"The glory of Tiandou will be reborn under a new banner."
"But the battle of spirits ends here."
Xue Rui's pupils dilated suddenly, and her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she only coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Anger, resentment, humiliation, confusion, and reminiscence.
A variety of emotions were evident in Xue Rui's eyes.
Finally, the light in his eyes flickered violently like a candle in the wind.
It then went out completely.
He chose to sever his own heart meridian.
At this moment, Xue Rui's head, which had always been held high, drooped completely.
On the battlefield, the last scattered cries of resistance from the Douling Empire, like Xue Rui's life force, faded into complete silence.
"it's over."
Vina's voice was soft, yet it clearly pierced through the suddenly deathly silent battlefield, echoing in everyone's ears.
These three simple words, like a final judgment, tolled the death knell for the Douling Empire.
"His Majesty!!!"
In the distance, the one-armed officer witnessed this scene and let out a heart-wrenching howl, like a wild beast on its deathbed, as blood and tears mixed with mud streamed down his face.
He stopped charging and instead suddenly turned the broken sword around, using his last bit of strength to plunge it into his own chest!
The few remaining assassins beside him, whose bloodlust had also been ignited by Xue Rui, let out desperate roars after a brief moment of stunned silence, and chose to commit suicide to follow their emperor.
That last spark of futile resistance, ignited by Xue Rui's life, was completely extinguished.
Dead silence.
A chilling, deathly silence enveloped Longshoutai.
Then, like a suppressed volcano finally erupting, a deafening wave of cheers soared into the sky!
The Heavenly Soul soldiers brandished their blood-stained weapons, pounded their shields, and shouted wildly in celebration of victory.
"A great building crumbles, and no single piece of wood can hold it up. Xue Rui—what a pity."
"Collect Xue Rui's remains with the rites due to an emperor."
"Give him a final moment of dignity."
A captain of the Heavenly Soul Eastern Army solemnly accepted the order, waving his hand to signal several guards to step forward, his movements carrying a solemnity rarely seen on the battlefield.
"Dragon Head Platform has been captured! The backbone of the Douling Empire has fallen here today!"
Vina's clear voice boomed, drowning out the deafening cheers: "But this is not the end!"
"Take Chensha Ferry! Target—Douling Imperial Capital, Lingdou City!"
"For the Heavenly Soul! For the glory of unification!"
A new era is dawning amidst the ruins of the old dynasty and the blood of the last monarch.
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao in the sky opened his Mind Eye, which had been infused with the power of destiny.
He activated the Heavenly Heart Interaction state, watching as the national fortune of the Battle Spirit Kingdom, which had been shrouding the Dragon Head Platform, gradually dissipated with Xue Rui's death.
The faint thread of fortune that had been struggling to stay afloat towards Lingdou City, like a trickle of water, has now been completely severed.
Subsequently, it was swallowed up and assimilated by the newly formed, aggressive fortune of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
This process is silent and imperceptible, transcending the boundaries of physics and touching upon levels that are imperceptible to ordinary people.
However, this feeling appeared incredibly clear and grand under Huo Yuhao's observation through his Mind's Eye and the communion with the Heavenly Heart.
This is not an abstract or ethereal concept.
Instead, it was a heavy and somber, grassy-green current, filled with deep sorrow and resentment, that was swallowed up by the golden-red torrent.
"Xiao Xiao".
Huo Yuhao's voice echoed in Xiao Xiao's mind: "It's time for your Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron to evolve."
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