The Identity of Sha: A Secret Bought with Death!

The youth's hair hung wild and disheveled, his eyes bloodshot. The stray demonic qi pouring from him surged like massive hands, seizing a demon spirit beside him and stuffing it into his mouth to gnaw and devour frantically. Meanwhile, the only two remaining demon spirits could do nothing but tremble under the crushing pressure radiating from him. Boom! The domain quaked, and the entire world shook violently. Suddenly! A figure was hurled out from the shattered domain space. Li Guanqi's expression shifted slightly. In an instant, he appeared behind the woman, catching her in his embrace and neutralizing the force rippling through Meng Wanshu's body. Looking at Meng Wanshu covered in wounds, Li Guanqi frowned. He had not expected Lu Tian's strength to be this terrifying—even Meng Wanshu, powerful as she was, had fallen into a disadvantage! Clutching her injured waist, Meng Wanshu's face was pale. Her eyes were exceptionally solemn as she said in a heavy voice, "Be careful. His strength... is immense!" Lu Tian's physique appeared imposing and burly now. He held a longsword condensed of demonic qi, looking down haughtily at the three of them. Catching sight of the dead Song Zhi'ang, Lu Tian's eyebrows rose slightly, a manic excitement spreading across his face. "Hahahahaha! Dead!!" "Mmh, not bad... That child's Heavenly Demon Physique has finally awakened..." "My grand scheme wasn't in vain after all! Hahahahaha!" Ye Feng's face changed, and disbelief filled his eyes as he muttered, "So that's how it is... Li Si'ang... possesses the Heavenly Demon Physique?!!" Things having come to this, he finally understood why Lu Tian had made seizing that child the very first order. He also finally understood why Lu Tian had never killed Li Si'ang, no matter what the boy did. Yet the more Ye Feng realized this, the harder he found it to accept. Song Zhi'ang had known full well she was being used by Lu Tian, yet she had still willingly chosen to die by Li Guanqi's hand. Moreover, by revealing her moment of lucidity before stepping toward her death, was she not trying to show the young boy that she, Song Zhi'ang, had sought death on her own, and that it had nothing to do with Li Guanqi? Yet... How could a youth blinded by grief and fury, stripped of all reason, notice such subtle details? In his eyes, it was Li Guanqi who had personally thrust his sword into his mother and killed her. She had known the truth all along. She had understood everything. Yet this helpless, despairing path—dying by Li Guanqi's blade—was the only choice she had left. Ye Feng looked down at the lifeless woman in his arms and couldn't help but murmur in bitter lament, "Even in death, all you ever did was think of others..." Buzz! Right at that moment, Nu Sha, which Ye Feng had thrust into a mound of rubble, suddenly let out a resounding sword cry. Lu Tian frowned slightly, unsure of what this meant. Immediately afterward, the sword turned into a golden beam of light and flew back into Ye Feng's hand. A black thread concealed within the bloodstains on the blade surged into view! Swoosh! A fragment the size of a fingernail shot straight into Li Guanqi's glabella. It was as though it existed entirely on its own, devoid of any lethal power, and drifted quietly into Li Guanqi's sea of consciousness. Immediately following that, Song Zhi'ang's voice echoed in Ye Feng's mind. "Ye Feng." "By the time you hear these words, I will already be dead. Thank you for listening." "From the moment you arrived at Sha's side, I resolved to protect you, which is why I prepared the substitute puppet." "So... rest assured. In the future, you can leave all the dirty work to me." "I don't want you to become an executioner whose hands are stained with blood like mine." "If that happened, you wouldn't be able to turn back either, would you..." "I just wonder... whose hands I will die by, haha... I hope it's him." "I love him. When I agreed to join Sha back then, it was only because I wanted to grow stronger, to have the right to stand beside him." "Yet... I was too naive." "Well, enough about that." Hearing Song Zhi'ang's lighthearted voice, tears welled in Ye Feng's eyes. Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu both frowned slightly, watching Lu Tian in the distance with vigilance, bracing for a sudden strike. Li Guanqi glanced at Ye Feng, unsure of what he was hearing. Yet at that exact moment earlier, he too had sensed Song Zhi'ang's aura emanating from Nu Sha. He did not know what Song Zhi'ang had left for Ye Feng that could have been hidden within Nu Sha. And Lu Tian, witnessing this, narrowed his eyes as his heart pounded wildly, seized by an ominous premonition! With thoughts racing, Lu Tian did not sit idly by. Raising his hand, he slashed several fierce sword strikes straight toward Ye Feng! If unease stirred in his heart, he would simply sever the source! Li Guanqi's brows knit tight. Seeing the cascading ribbons of sword light hurtling toward them, he and Meng Wanshu stepped forward together in unspoken accord, shielding Ye Feng! Ye Feng continued to listen. Song Zhi'ang's voice gradually turned solemn—this was likely the secret she had guarded so fiercely. "That day... when I rescued Sha using the Soul Guiding Lamp, I also discovered an earth-shattering secret!" Song Zhi'ang's lingering voice grew fainter, yet weighed down with grim gravity. "Lu Tian... and Youming of the Eight Generals are the exact same person!!" Boom! The words struck like a thunderbolt from the blue, rooting Ye Feng to the spot, his mind reeling for a long time. Ye Feng's pupils quivered, as if unwilling to believe what he had just heard. The Eight Generals... He naturally knew what manner of beings they were. Especially Youming, that mercurial, capricious monster. Boom, boom, boom! Rumble! Li Guanqi's eyes were grave in the extreme. Taking one of Lu Tian's sword strikes head-on, two of his ribs were cleanly snapped. The churning demonic qi was far too pure; even cycling his primal energy at full power, it took several breaths just to purge it. If even he was pushed to this point, Meng Wanshu was in even worse shape. Perceiving Song Zhi'ang's aura completely dissipate and seeing Ye Feng standing dazed in place, Lu Tian scowled deeply. He had no idea what else Song Zhi'ang had concealed. That woman who had obeyed his every whim had actually done so many things behind his back! Clang! Clang! Relying on his superior realm and overwhelming strength, Lu Tian forced Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu back. Lifting his sword, he slashed toward Ye Feng. Terrifying sword light tore through the void, enshrouded in demonic flame, hurtling straight for Song Zhi'ang's corpse. As Li Guanqi was flung back, he whipped his head around and roared in fury, "Old Second!! Snap out of it!!!" Ye Feng stood where he was, his gaze turning frost-cold, the knuckles of his sword hand turning white. The mottled blood on Nu Sha began radiating a tremendous, immense power. Boom! Gripping the sword like a battleaxe, Ye Feng brought it crashing down against the incoming sword beam! Dong! Rumble! A terrifying radiance of sword light erupted from the earth, and surging, tempestuous sword intent wreaked havoc across the heavens. The two colossal sword beams shattered in the void, and within a radius of over four hundred zhang, space instantly collapsed. Ye Feng spat out a mouthful of blood as his body plummeted into the earth like a cannonball. Bang! With a dull crash, a massive crater opened in the ground. Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu instantly converged on Lu Tian from left and right! A ferocious onslaught unfolded immediately, dense sword light blooming across the firmament like a torrential storm.