Chapter 1946 – It Has A Home Too  

The decaying log bridge in front of Lu Yun was thirty meters long and a third of a meter wide, permitting passage for only one at a time. The creature of darkness stood in the middle, blocking the way.

The bridge wasn’t part of the vacuum; there was an invisible barrier between the two. The endarkened had thrown itself against the barrier when Lu Yun killed its brethren, but failed to break it.

This one looked different from the previous one. Its form was humanoid and its height similar to a normal human, but a shell covered its body. Looking more like gray armor, bone spurs jutted out at various intervals. The creature was altogether a horrifying sight.

Lu Yun quickly understood what was at hand when he thought about it some more. The log bridge was the only way out of this area, and he would pass only if he defeated or killed the endarkened on it.

His opponent was also a high supreme, but its aura was far stronger than the previous creature of darkness. In fact, he was on par with Lu Yun.

The young man took a deep breath and slowly approached the bridge. When the creature registered his actions, it took a few steps back and bared its teeth in a leer.

Whoosh!

A large machete appeared in its hand, the point leveled at Lu Yun.

The young man set foot onto the bridge wielding no weapons.

“ROAR!!” snarled the creature as it rushed forward, bringing the machete down on the human. It was a blow of pure force—no combat art or power of disorder.

Lu Yun noticed cracks appearing in the void around the weapon. Space here was inordinately durable, unlike the air of the chief worlds. Grand supremes might not be able to break through it, but this endarkened was so strong that he punctured the void with a single wave!

“That guy’s not aiming for me, he wants to destroy the bridge and die with me!” Lu Yun suddenly realized.

The creature of darkness was certainly imprisoned here. Perhaps not every person who set foot onto the bridge would meet one, but it was an occurrence of extraordinary significance for Lu Yun. It helped him more fully understand the horrors of the endarkened.

Yun Yi had definitely arranged this for him.

Last time he faced them, he’d worn the Master of Darkness. All creatures of darkness apart from grand supreme had been intimidated into compliance, eventually turning all of them into new inhabitants of hell.

Compared to that group, the two he faced were the difference between huskies and wolves. The one on the bridge had been waiting for a genius of the chief worlds to arrive so it could ensure mutual destruction.

Naturally, Lu Yun wouldn’t let it succeed. He struck back with a ray of sword qi the moment it slashed down with the machete and forced it back. This was pure sword dao, as opposed to the Divine Fists of Hell.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Sword qi shot out from his fingers and demonstrated all of the sword dao methods that he’d known before. A myriad of techniques churned toward the creature of darkness.

The endarkened didn’t think that the human would respond so quickly. Its first strike was the only proactive move it could make; it was caught on the back foot for the rest of the fight.

Lu Yun’s sword qi was too keen—the power of order that lurked within thoroughly constrained the power of disorder within the creature. As strong as it was, it was disorder at its core. Disorder was countered by order in the chief worlds.

It snarled and tore at the ground, but it’d given up the initiative when it chose to attack the log bridge first. There was no chance for it to seize the momentum again.

The longer Lu Yun fought, the stronger he grew. Sword dao receded and the Divine Fists of Hell reappeared. A dark star combined with sword qi and gradually created a sword star. What was originally a dim star began to sparkle with light—the radiance of killing intent.

Hummm.

A massive blade descended from the sky and crashed into the creature, slicing it into two.

Thump!

Two halves of a body flopped weakly to the ground. A dense air of resentment and grief momentarily flooded the swaying bridge. Just like the creature before it, it didn’t enter hell to become a new inhabitant. Both of them dispersed on the wind.

“Is this… a boxing method, or a sword method?” Lu Yun blinked. Although there was no difference between the two at his cultivation level since all daos were interchangeable, it was still illogical to slice someone in half with one punch.

He sighed to sense the air of sorrow around him. Creatures of the darkness were living beings too. They… also had homes.

But he quickly dismissed his tiny bit of sympathy. These two had been held here for him to practice against. Perhaps there were beings from the chief worlds in the same straits in the land of darkness.

When two different orders and civilizations clashed, both sides fought for survival. The only way to end the strife was to conquer one side.

Lost in his thoughts, Lu Yun walked over the log bridge. The tattered golden bridge reappeared in front of him, alongside Cen Sui. The latter seemed to have been waiting for a while.

“That fast?” Cen Sui started to see the young man.

“Just two endarkened, were they supposed to be difficult?” Lu Yun curled his lip.

“Don’t you have any other thoughts about the situation?” Cen Sui blinked.

“What else can I think of? A father and son duo were delivered to me and I was to kill the son in front of the father. Then, I had to kill the father to get out of there. What am I supposed to think?” Lu Yun snorted with laughter. He’d determined the relationship between the two creatures—father and son. “There can be no peace between us, so is there any possibility of a thawing in relations? They’ll kill us if we don’t kill them.”

“I thought you would pity them or think that they’re the same as us, that they have flesh and blood and emotions…” Cen Sui chuckled ruefully.

“The livestock that mortals eat also are flesh and blood and have emotions. It’s just a matter of survival, there is no right or wrong. We will die if they don’t, so it’s better that they die.” Lu Yun spread out his hands.

“You’re quite an accepting sort. The primordial heavenly emperor wanted to end the war, but…” Cen Sui sighed. “Being kind to the enemy is being cruel to oneself.”

“Well, that emperor’s a fool. Or perhaps he did that to warn everyone not to think of seeking peace with the darkness?” Lu Yun shrugged. “They’re much stronger than us. Ordinary cultivators won’t be able to withstand them if they really come for us.”