"Tian..."
"Jue..."
Old Man Yufu murmured these two words under his breath, his expression initially bewildered.
As he repeated them over and over, he seemed to recall something, a faint glimmer flickering in his turbid eyes.
"I am..."
"Tianjue?"
As Yufu's memories slowly resurfaced, the black baleful qi that had already been surging around him grew ever denser.
It even resembled a rolling black tide, spreading outward and wreaking havoc.
Yet before any of the black baleful qi could reach the Heavenly Physician, it instinctively veered away from afar.
Between the two facing off, a vast empty zone formed.
The Heavenly Physician remained indifferent to the diffusing baleful qi, only slightly surprised to see Tianjue looking so muddled.
"His memories haven't returned? Then how..."
The Heavenly Physician's eyes flickered, and he was about to make a move.
When suddenly, from the distance, came the resonant sound of chanting.
"Solemn is Heaven's Law, honoring rules and keeping order."
"Having attained the Law today, I spread it to all living beings."
"Heaven's Law shall not be defied."
...
The Heavenly Physician's expression finally underwent a noticeable change.
Squinting his eyes, he looked toward the direction of the voice.
"Moo!"
Without any warning, an azure ox the size of a small mountain suddenly appeared before him.
With horns slightly raised and hooves flying, it seemed to be sprinting at full speed, intent on ramming the Heavenly Physician blocking its path to death.
"Vile beast!" the Heavenly Physician snorted coldly.
He neither dodged nor evaded; only a speck of silver light seemed to appear in his right hand.
The silver light became a slender thread, piercing through the azure ox like lightning.
In an instant, twisting and weaving a thousand times, it had already pierced the azure ox through and through.
In that split second, the azure ox was sliced into countless indistinct fragments, yet it still kept its forward momentum, scattering across the whole sky.
"Condense!"
A furious bellow suddenly rang out.
A moment later, the azure ox that had been dismantled by the Heavenly Physician actually "returned from the dead." From the flesh and blood filling the sky, its original appearance suddenly re-formed.
Leaping above the Heavenly Physician's head, its four hooves were about to stomp down.
The Heavenly Physician still did not dodge.
Yet just before the azure ox touched the Heavenly Physician, its body actually shrank.
From a sturdy adult ox, in the blink of an eye it became a newborn calf, and finally turned into a wisp of refined qi, dispersing into the world.
"Tianyu..." The Heavenly Physician looked toward where the azure ox had appeared, a playful expression on his face.
A transparent figure with withered white hair and a doddering frame appeared there right on cue.
"Master!"
"Master!"
With Tianyu's appearance, the people of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace—who had previously cowered, not daring to step out of line under the oppressive presence of the Heavenly Physician and Tianjue—now felt as though they had found their pillar of support.
Without any more hesitation, they cried out unceasingly.
"Alas..."
Tianyu sighed softly and waved his wide sleeve in a soothing gesture.
The cries of agony within the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace lowered several notches for the moment. Only then did he turn his gaze to the Heavenly Physician and Tianjue in the center of the ruins.
Clap, clap, clap.
The Heavenly Physician lightly clapped his hands.
"Well..."
"What a coincidence."
Without looking at the two who faintly encircled him, the Heavenly Physician merely looked up, searching for who knew what, a pensive expression on his face.
"Heavenly Physician!"
After a moment, Tianyu was the first to lose patience.
"You hid for so many years, and you are finally willing to show yourself?"
His voice was like thunder, brimming with boundless fury, echoing continuously through the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.
"Hmph."
The Heavenly Physician merely snorted coldly and gave no reply.
This contemptuous attitude infuriated Tianyu.
"Since that is so, there is nothing more to say. Prepare to die!"
"Tianjue, strike now!"
Old Man Yufu was still lost in confusion.
Yet at the Master's furious shout, as if the two were old comrades who had coordinated for years, with consummate understanding, the Heaven Fiend Sword rang clear as it unsheathed in the next instant.
Even though it was only a broken sword, monstrous baleful qi surged endlessly from the blade, coalescing without dispersing into the shape of a sword.
From the depths of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace came a massive tremor.
Tortoise-Snake Taiyi let out a wail of agony. Sensing its master's summon, the hilt of the Heaven Fiend Sword was about to tear free from the tortoise-snake monster's body.
Right at that moment, an azure light enveloped the entire Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.
A giant blue hand pushed the restlessly stirring Heaven Fiend Sword hilt back into place.
Taiyi once again let out a sky-shattering scream of pain.
Then, as if suppressed, its cries grew fainter and fainter until it fell back into slumber.
"Patriarch Hanhai?"
Across the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, surprised gasps could be heard rising and falling in the distance.
"At least there's still someone lucid," the Heavenly Physician remarked coldly.
In the next instant, the azure ocean in the sky abruptly contracted, condensing into an unsteady phantom that seemed poised to shatter at any moment.
It arrived before the Heavenly Physician and the other two.
"Greetings, Venerables,"
he said, neither humble nor haughty.
"Hanhai, what is the meaning of this?"
Seeing Hanhai's bizarre attitude, Tianyu reined in his fury and asked in a low voice.
"The murderer is right before our eyes. Why not avenge that deep sea of blood from back then right now?"
"The Master is right. A debt of blood must naturally be repaid in blood. However..."
Hanhai did not look at the Heavenly Physician, instead turning his gaze toward Old Man Yufu, who held the sword in one hand and still looked somewhat bewildered.
"The one who slaughtered my Cloud Water Heavenly Palace back then was not the Heavenly Physician."
"It was Tianjue!"
His words seemed laden with monstrous resentment.
Hanhai's azure phantom shook violently.
He glared furiously at him, as though great waves were surging relentlessly within his form.
"Hmm?" Tianyu froze slightly, then shook his head and sighed.
"In the end, Hanhai, you too could not escape the ravages of time. Have even your memories from back then become scrambled?"
"Taking advantage of the defenseless rear back then, who else could the butcher who slaughtered sects great and small down to the last soul be, if not this traitor?"
Tianyu looked toward the Heavenly Physician, the flames of hatred igniting once more in his eyes.
"One person might see wrong. Could it be that every soul that fell that day was mistaken as well?"
Hanhai still shook his head, insisting stubbornly, "I know nothing of other sects, nor do they concern me."
"But back then, the one who destroyed my Cloud Water Heavenly Palace was absolutely Venerable Tianjue!"
he said with absolute certainty.
"Although his outward appearance was that of Venerable Heavenly Physician, and even his aura was identical,"
"neither that style of annihilating everything nor that cold, silent demeanor could ever be mimicked by the Heavenly Physician."
"Most importantly, the murder weapon used back then is precisely the [Heaven Slayer] sword hilt suppressed within Taiyi today."
"Aside from Venerable Tianjue, no one else can wield that formidable weapon, Heaven Slayer."
When these words came out, even the Master could not help but hesitate.
He turned his head to look at Tianjue beside him.
And it seemed Hanhai's words stirred memories buried deep within Tianjue's mind.
He stared blankly down at his hands.
After a long time, he suddenly spoke up.
"That's right... I was the one who killed them..."
"What?!" The Master's hunched body snapped straight in an instant. He stared in disbelief at the confession from Old Man Yufu before his eyes.
Chapter 597