181. Golden Light
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Back at Present, Luoyin, Old man Bao, and Kai Zhen watched in dismay as Yu Wang cast the Darkness Spell, and countless dark wraiths, as numerous as ants, descended from the skies and began to fly around.
The wind warped in their presence, and anything they touched instantly broke apart, fading away into particles which were absorbed by the blackened sky.
Even the demons were not spared, and the wraiths swirled around them, sucking them into the skies.
"Shield Yourselves!" Luoyin's warning thundered across the city, and the Immortals didn't hesitate to erect shields around themselves.
But these wraiths were simply too many and powerful, and after only a minute of onslaught, quite a few shields were broken throug, letting in a tide of wraiths.
Several swallows were instantly caught in the tide of the wraiths, and even two of the High Grand Immortals were swept away, their essences broken and sucked into the darkness.
Luoyin moved swiftly, flashing to as many swallows as he could see, while his clone dragon appeared and darted through the City, sweeping back the wraiths and giving the immortals a chance.
Soon the air was filled with a cacophony of roars, growls, and howls as Old man Bao's air dragon, Kai Zhen's kirin, and a host of other phantom creatures joined the fray, while the immortals themselves fended off the black wraiths as much as possible.
"Pathetic." Yu Wang's cold voice echoed around. "No matter how much a worm wriggles, it remains a worm beneath my feet!"
He raised a hand, and time seemed to stop as he said,
"End of Heaven."
The effect was instantaneous as the air constricted with more demonic aura, making it hard for even the older Immortals to breath.
Millions and millions of wraiths flew around in massive flocks, and one after the other, the enormous phantom creatures were eliminated into nothingness, causing the Immortals behind them to spit blood.
Helplessness weighed on Luoyin's brow as things took a severely worse turn, and the wraiths began to shatter the shields of the Immortals.
The Shadow deity sliced off an arm as the wraiths tried to encroach on her, and she leapt away just in time to avoid being consumed alive.
The Plague deity was not so lucky, and the wraiths swarmed around her, her aura vanishing in mere seconds.
A few other immortal auras faded away, and despite Luoyin still determinedly flashing around the city, several swallows faded before he could dream of reaching them.
Old man Bao's strength was waning, yet he used most of it to catch and shield Kai Zhen who was nearly swept away by the wraiths.
'Is this it...?' The Immortals wondered.
'Is this the end of all hope...?!'
An odd weight dropped within on Luoyin's chest.
He was unsure of the origin, but he somehow felt like this was all his fault!
Had he summoned everyone here to die?
And beyond that...
There was an odd certainty that he had unleashed Yu Wang in some way.
A Certainty that he was to blame for all this...
But as his thoughts spiralled, the black skies were suddenly split by a vast array of gold light, sending the dense clouds of wraiths flying apart.
Their shrieks filled the air as brilliant rays of the gold light shot down from the skies, stabbing through the wraiths and dispersing them.
Yu Wang's brows dived into a sharp furrow as a gold-light beam shot at him, forcing him to leap back a few steps, and his head whipped upwards as a flare of light exploded above.
A winged figure appeared there, hovering against the bright light, and all eyes turned as one to stare up at this newcomer.
"Yan...yan...?" Luoyin almost couldn't believe his own eyes.
But he would recognize that aura and those gold phoenix wings anywhere!
...and besides, wasn't that his blacker-than-sin tiger beside her?
"It's Yan Liwei!" One of the swallows called out, and tears of joy nearly fell from Yan Lutian's eyes as a surge of hope welled up in his heart!
...in all their hearts!
And everyone reinforced their efforts, fighting against the now weakened wraiths.
Yinying roared, and his golden bell appeared and expanded, widening and pushing back the innumerable wraiths, while Weiyan appeared right in front Luoyin.
"A-Yin!" She threw herself into his arms, and his arms automatically caught her, spinning her in a circle.
"A-Yin, are you okay?!'' She asked, her voice tinged with worry.
"Yanyan, if I wasn't okay and you threw yourself in like this... Wouldn't we both fall from the skies?!"
Weiyan lightly chuckled against him and Luoyin bit back a smile, an immense relief nearly causing his knees to give way.
Amidst the fray, he had simply acted, appearing to save those he could see.
He had resisted the temptation to immediately find Weiyan and Yinying, reminding himself that the Swallows before him also had mates and loved ones waiting for them!
All he could do was hope against hope that Weiyan was fine with Yinying...
So having her in his arms now was a blessing!
But he gently took her shoulders and put her apart, a small tinge of worry still on his face.
"Yanyan, are you fine? There's something strange about your aura..." Her gold aura felt the same, but it almost twice as powerful, and there was a distinct difference to it... An unfamiliar trace.
However, Weiyan smiled up at him. "It's from something good! There's something you need to see..." She held up two fingers and her golding aura surrounded Luoyin, and much like the time within that awful seal beneath Caoyang, Luoyin, seeping into his skin, restoring his strength.
But with it came strange memories...
It was the story of Yu Wang- or rather, Yu Xuan and Feng Lian, from how they met, to the unfortunate tragedy, and right to the Demon War at the Abyss of no return...
At that War, Yu Wang finally appeared, more powerful than ever, and his blood-red irises were endless pools of greed, hate and anger.
It had been a brutal slaughter...
At first, the Immortals easily destroyed the demon army, beating them back to the edge of the border, but they were far from prepared to match Yu Wang, and the instant he stepped forward, the tides were turned.
Yu Wang transformed into a great black dragon, larger and fiercer than they had ever seen, and with a single roar, he could freeze everything for miles with Yu Xuan's original stark black frost.
The immortals had thrown their all at Yu Wang, but he razed through them easily.
The Sky Emperor, Zhurong Sheng had also transformed into a brilliant red flame dragon, directly taking on Yu Wang.
The two powerful dragons snapped at each other in a raw and brutal tussle, their roars shattering the landscape around and indeed creating the first rift in the Abyss of no Return.
But Yu Wang was too powerful for Zhurong Sheng and his large black maw opened, clamping shut to bite Zhurong Sheng's neck.
A rain of blood burst forth as the red dragon fell from the skies, transforming back to the human Zhurong Sheng as he fell.
Feng Lian swiftly transformed into her pheonix form, a large magnificent bird with the most beautiful and bold array of orange and red feathers.
She caught Zhurong Sheng in the air and gently set him down before the only two deities left standing in the bloodshed.
"Take him away from here." She ordered in a cold tone, an odd look of disdain in her phoenix eyes.
Almost as if she had no ounce of respect for the Emperor she had just saved.
But before the deities could speak, the great phoenix already turned her back to them, her wings fully unfurled, and she set off into the skies to face Yu Wang...
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In this great demon war, hell's fearsome black dragon faced heaven's grand phoenix in a battle which scarred the land forever.
The glowing flame-like phoenix attacked the black dragon with all the wrath of the past years, and the two were locked in a fight which lasted almost an entire day.
Soon, both broke their transformations, facing each other as humans, and Yu Wang swung out his sword, the black monstrosity forged of his dragon scales.
His dimples flashed with a calm smile.
"'A-Lian', must it come to this? I love you greatly, and you clearly love me! Why not become my Empress? I will set you above all three realms!!"
Feng Lian merely scowled as her own immaculate white sword manifested and she lunged at him without the slightest hesitation.
Their clashes cleaved the earth, further deepening the Abyss, but after a while, it was clear that Yu Wang was merely toying with Feng Lian...
Yu Wang had one hand casually folded behind his back, yet he easily blocked her strongest attacks, while trying to convince her to his side.
But Feng Lian said nothing, her every move aiming for his vital points.
This angered Yu Wang, and with one brutal swing, an arc of qi hit Feng Lian, flinging her back a good deal.
She caught herself, but spewed forth a mouthful of blood.
"A-Lian, A-Lian." Yu Wang spoke with a cold sneer. "Since I can't have you, then I must kill you... That way, you will live-on beautifully in my memories!!"
He swept two fingers along the blade of his sword and then directed an immense jet of his black aura right at Feng Lian.
It was a killing blow aimed at her heart, and her death was certain...!
But though the attack flung her back an even greater deal, black dragon scales somehow crawled out of her skin to protect her heart, saving her from certain death.
Yu Xuan's dragon scales...
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