For the Common People, We Come to Die!

"Come! To! Die!!" The resonant shout was impassioned beyond measure, yet it carried an undercurrent of sorrow and helplessness... Now, the world was plunged into chaos. Abyss Demons wreaked havoc, and Mahayana cultivators were ascending. Many sects and clans could barely protect themselves; it was fortunate that once the Great Xia Domain stabilized slightly, it had dispatched aid across the Six Domains. Yet now, the realm's pinnacle combatants were ascending one after another. Many ancestors had even abandoned their own clans to ascend to the Immortal Realm. Even more Body Integration Realm cultivators were forcibly breaking through their realms simply to seize this chance to ascend. And what had Li Guanqi called for? To face death!!! The scene within the Seventh Domain was being projected by Guanyun Pavilion across numerous major cities throughout the Six Domains. Corpses littered the pitch-black domain; the lowest cultivation among any of those bodies was the Mahayana Realm. There were also not a few corpses of Tribulation Transcendence Realm mighty figures. Within the domain, the cultivators of the Human Spirit Realm banded together in resistance, yet in just the three breaths shown, another cultivator was cut down. Before dying, that slain elder roared toward the rift in a voice thick with anguish: "Hold the Human Spirit Realm!!!" His voice cut off abruptly, but the sight sent a tremor through everyone's heart. Tu Yuan struck with sword after sword, his overwhelming power continuing to suppress Li Guanqi. The sword light was ferocious, and within mere breaths, Li Guanqi was already struggling to hold his ground. His origin energy depletion was too severe, and his body had already begun drawing upon immortal essence. Only under the empowerment of that potent immortal essence was Li Guanqi barely able to ward off the other's strikes. Yet with his power waning while his opponent's surged, a moment would inevitably come when Li Guanqi could endure no longer. "Do you see? It is useless." "They care only for their own lives. Those who cultivate immortality are cold and heartless without exception." Li Guanqi's heart grew cold with despair, knowing this desperate bid had failed after all... The Six Domains remained silent; not a single Mahayana Realm cultivator would abandon ascension and march to their death for the Human Spirit Realm in this hour. Anyone could see it clearly; anyone could understand. The Seventh Domain right now was a meat grinder. The Immortal Realm cultivators outnumbered the Seventh Domain by more than two to one, leaving the Seventh Domain utterly powerless to fight back. Going there meant certain death... Li Guanqi closed his eyes in agony as the rift behind him slowly closed. Even if no one came, so long as the cultivators of the Seventh Domain were not completely wiped out, he would not let a single Immortal Realm cultivator escape beyond the Seventh Domain. This action signified his disappointment in the cultivators of the Six Domains... The eyes of the Seventh Domain cultivators were filled with sorrow, their resolve wavering. Was fighting to the death right now to protect the common folk of the Human Spirit Realm truly worth it? There is no greater sorrow than the death of hope. "Everyone, let us go." Suddenly!!!! A thousand-zhang sword beam rose from the east!!!!! That dazzling, brilliant sword light was so conspicuous beneath the darkened heavens. The sword light surged up from the earth, pointing straight at the firmament. One resounding, composed shout after another echoed through the skies!!! A man in blood-stained robes stood atop the sword light. Taking a deep breath, he jerked his head up, eyes blazing like torches, his voice tolling like a massive bell: "Great Xia Sword Sect, Lu Kangnian, has come to die!!!" "Great Xia Sword Sect, Qin Xian, has come to die!!" "Great Xia Sword Sect, Ling Daoyan, has come to die!!" "Great Xia Sword Sect, Gong Ze, has come to die!" "Great Xia Sword Sect has come to die!!!" Aboard that vast sword light stood rows of cultivators over a hundred years of age!! Within the Great Xia Sword Sect, Wu Bing stood upon the sect plaza, weeping bitterly. Across the square, there were only young faces. The peaks of the Great Xia Sword Sect were now fractured, the land scarred and devastated. Every contingency left behind by Li Guanqi and the others within the sect had been expended to reinforce the Six Domains. No cultivator in the sect under a hundred years old was permitted to leave. "Kneel in farewell!!!" Wu Bing dropped to his knees on the sect plaza with a thud, followed by tens of thousands of Great Xia Sword Sect disciples. Grief was etched on every face, eyes brimming with hot tears. Watching their forebears serenely walk to their deaths stirred their hearts to the core. They were young, the future of the sect, and so the sect had kept every last one of them behind. Muffled sobs arose, as though new mounds would soon rise in the sect cemetery. Great Xia Domain. Within ancient sect after ancient sect, people watched that terrifying sword light from the Great Xia Sword Sect streak across the sky overhead. Many clenched their fists. "We cultivators cultivate the Dao and pursue longevity—could it be that in the end, we have cultivated away even our humanity?!" "The Great Xia Sword Sect goes to die to the last elder; what have we left to fear?!!!!" Terrifying pressure surged around a twilight-aged elder. He casually tossed a jade pendant to a young man kneeling on the ground. "Xuan'er, today I pass the position of Family Head to you." "I... go to die for the Dao." Tears flooded the young man's eyes, and looking up at the elder, he cried in anguish: "Ancestor, you cannot!!!" "Ascension to the Immortal Realm is within our grasp. Why must our Zhao family... suffer this?" With his hands clasped behind his back, the elder stepped into midair and looked back at the scarred province. His voice laced with wistful emotion, he murmured: "And so... you are not equal to your father." For his father had died during the last rampage of Abyss Demons while saving the common folk. His words falling, the elder laughed freely and soared on his sword straight into the clouds!! Scenes like this played out across the Six Domains. Clear, ringing sword chimes sounded one after another. Streaks of sword light shot into the heavens, piercing the sky!! Impassioned, stirring shouts rang out in succession... "Zhenyue Mountain, Shen Ye has come to die!!!" "Six Ancients Sacred Sect, Gu Huai, has come to die!!" "Baibao Pavilion's Tang Wei has come to die!!" "Wind Thunder Sect, Chu Xingxian, has come to die!!" "Guanyun Pavilion, Ji Yuchuan, has come to die!" Spurred on by the Great Xia Sword Sect, countless cultivators from righteous sects across the Great Xia Domain took up their swords and took flight!!! "Piaomiao rogue cultivator, Min Shusheng, has come to die!" "Domain Master of Great Xia, Zhou Yunqing, has come to die!" "Lord of Qingyun, Zhao Xianglu, has come to die!" "Luoxia Bishui Palace, Lu Yong, has come to die!" "Luoxia Holy Emperor Palace, Fu Yin, has come to die!" "Taiqing rogue cultivator, Mo Lang..." "Taiqing Yujin Tower, Yang Man!" "Shenbao Domain, Tianjie Sect, Hu You!" "Domain Master of Daochan, Tu Yichen, has come to die!" "Xuanmen Domain, He Shiguang, has come to die!!" It felt as if a lump had formed in Li Guanqi's throat. Tears welled in his eyes, his gaze fixed intently on Tu Yuan before him. Seeing the disbelief etched across the young man's face, Li Guanqi swung his sword violently!! *Clang!!!* The strike knocked Tu Yuan back. Turning his head, Li Guanqi saw sword lights piercing the heavens across the Six Domains; thousands of streaks surged from the soil of the Six Domains, rushing toward the rift above the Daochan Domain. The sight set everyone's blood racing. Pointing his sword at Tu Yuan, Li Guanqi roared with virtually every ounce of strength in him: "Do you see it now?!!!" He jerked his head up toward the Immortal Realm above the heavens. Blue veins bulged on his neck as he bellowed at the top of his lungs: "Do you... see it?!!!!" "This is the Human Spirit Realm!!!" "If you wish to invade, step over our corpses first!!!" "We will fight to the last man, to the very last soldier, and make you pay the price!!" "Even if blood stains the Immortal Burial Realm, that blood... will never spill into the Six Domains of the mortal world!" The realm twisted; any cultivator who had broken through to the Mahayana Realm could enter. As for those below the Mahayana Realm, entering was useless; they were better off staying behind. Figure after figure strode in!! Li Guanqi also saw Fu Yin and Lu Yong—both sworn elder brothers of Li Song... The tides of battle shifted, and the two sides finally reached a balance of equal strength!! Li Guanqi licked his lips. The outcome of this battle would likely be decided between him and Tu Yuan.