"And finally..."
Su Shanjun spoke eloquently, concluding his story: "Jin Xi He Xi, with the highest global esports trophy in hand, ranked first in the national server CgL Hall of Fame, established the Beichen International Hotel with his beloved confidante Tiramisu, transitioning from virtual to reality, achieving a life reversal. Ultimately, the hero embraced his beloved, living a life of eternal happiness and boundless joy."
"Wow..."
Tong Yu's large, watery eyes widened, her admiration undisguised. She tugged at Su Shanjun's sleeve and asked, "Shanjun, Shanjun, what about Shan You Fusu and Xi You He Hua? What happened to them in the end?"
"What else could happen?"
Su Shanjun looked at the beautiful young girl before him, thinking that Shan You Fusu was telling stories to Xi You He Hua. However, he still said aloud, "They ended up together, for all eternity, forever as one."
"That's wonderful..."
Tong Yu pursed her red lips, her face filled with admiration. Although Su Shanjun's story was fanciful, with many things like 'equipment,' 'operation,' and 'falling leaf float' that Tong Yu didn't understand, it didn't detract from the story's brilliance. Through the twists and turns of Jin Xi He Xi and Shan You Fusu's experiences, Tong Yu felt as if she were there, her emotions rising and falling with them.
"Alright."
Su Shanjun stood up, and for the first time, gently stroked the young girl's head. He smiled and said, "Tong Yu, the great battle is imminent. The mountain of Wuwang, planned by the demon race, will fall soon. This mountaintop villa and the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond will likely be smashed to bits. What are your thoughts on this?"
"I..."
Tong Yu's delicate brows furrowed, and she said softly, "Su Shanjun, although my realm is now close to the tenth realm, I still don't have much confidence in my own strength. However, if the demon race truly attacks, I will use my full strength with my sword. After all, the mountaintop villa is my home..."
"That's good."
Su Shanjun smiled slightly and said, "If sacrificing your own life could save a few more people in the mountaintop villa, would you be willing?"
"Of course, I would!"
Tong Yu nodded heavily.
"That's good then."
Su Shanjun adjusted his collar, returning to his elegant Shanjun appearance, and smiled, "I knew it. On this entire Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, only you and I are truly kindred spirits. Tong Yu thinks this way, and so do I."
"Ah?"
Tong Yu was bewildered, not understanding what Su Shanjun was plotting.
"Tong Yu, I'm leaving now."
Su Shanjun smiled faintly, "Wait for me. There will be opportunities to tell you stories in the future."
"Okay!"
The young girl stood ramrod straight, her pretty face full of seriousness, watching Su Shanjun descend the mountain.
...
Inside the Shanjun Shrine.
Su Shanjun bathed and fasted, bowed to the mountains, and then stepped out of the shrine. Instantly, starlight poured down upon him, transforming him into a mountain and river deity whose power rivaled that of a late fourteenth-realm cultivator. The Shanjun Treasure Sword at his waist shimmered with divine light, emanating an aura of profound sanctity.
"Su Shanjun."
Outside, a young sword cultivator stood waiting. It was Lin Zhao.
In fact, the moment Su Shanjun awoke from his dream, Lin Zhao had sensed it. He knew that Su Shanjun had awakened, his realm restored to its peak, even stronger than a hundred years ago when he had helped Mr. Qin draw his sword.
He looked at the handsome and elegant Shanjun, cupped his fist in respect, and asked, "Are you going to intercept the mountain?"
"Yes."
Su Shanjun gently raised his hand and drew the Shanjun Divine Sword. He smiled and said, "The speed at which Mount Wuwang is falling is too great. Just as you said, the faster a substance moves, the greater its mass. Lin Zhao, I know you have other plans, but to ensure complete safety, I must go. After all, you are Ding Muchen's junior disciple, and I am Ding Muchen's best brother. I cannot stand idly by."
"Are you planning to go and never return?" Lin Zhao frowned.
"Yes, go and never return!"
Su Shanjun smiled calmly and said, "Alright, I must leave. Before I go, can I call you 'brother' one last time?"
"Yes!"
Lin Zhao's sword brows were tightly knit. He cupped his fist towards Su Shanjun again and said solemnly, with utmost respect, "Lin Zhao greets Elder Brother Lin Su! Lin Zhao, on behalf of the mortal world and all living beings, thanks Elder Brother Lin Su!"
"Good!"
Su Shanjun laughed heartily. "Since that's the case, I have no regrets. I'm leaving."
With that, Su Shanjun transformed into a beam of sword light and shot into the sky, using his fourteenth-realm Shanjun power to strike at Mount Wuwang, which was rapidly descending from the heavens.
...
Though it was the dead of night, the sky was illuminated as if it were day. The moment Su Shanjun unsheathed his sword, the entire sky was filled with the aura of mountains, as if Su Shanjun himself, clad in a snow-capped peak, was colliding with Mount Wuwang.
For a time, within the fiery red star in the sky, dense sword lights and spell energies erupted. The thirteenth and fourteenth-realm great demons within Mount Wuwang had no reason to sit idly by and retaliated.
Thunderous roars echoed, and the entire sky seemed on the verge of being torn apart.
Woven amongst the crisscrossing sword lights, imbued with the essence of mountains, Su Shanjun, though not a sword cultivator, was the Sword-Wielding Shanjun. In his youth, he had sparred many times with the fourteenth-realm sword cultivator Ding Muchen. While not a sword cultivator, his swordsmanship was extraordinary. Instantly, the entire Mount Wuwang trembled, and with Su Shanjun's assault, cracks appeared at the base of the mountain, growing denser and more numerous.
"Su Shanjun..."
At the summit, the young girl Tong Yu looked up at the sky. She knew it was Shanjun Su drawing his sword, and Mount Wuwang was about to fall. He was aiding the mortal realm one last time at this critical juncture.
After unleashing hundreds of crisscrossing sword strikes, Su Shanjun had exhausted all his strength. He looked back at the mortal world, no trace of regret in his eyes. With a hearty laugh, his golden body began to burn, and he transformed into a golden meteor, inverted between heaven and earth, crashing heavily into the base of Mount Wuwang.
"Boom—"
The entire sky was illuminated in a spectacular display.
The human land trembled incessantly. Su Shanjun, a Shanjun divinely appointed by heaven and earth, had sacrificed himself. Naturally, this would elicit a cosmic resonance.
"Su Shanjun!"
Tong Yu's heart lurched, and she suddenly knelt on the ground, her beautiful eyes veiled by mist. Da Feng Novel Network
In the sky, Su Shanjun, at the cost of his fourteenth-realm golden body, had collided with Mount Wuwang. Not long after his sacrifice, a rain fell above the mountaintop villa. This rain had no droplets, only translucent fragments the size of soybeans—the remnants of Su Shanjun's fourteenth-realm golden body, a gift of shattered glazed jade, nourishing the mountaintop villa.
Within these jade fragments lay not only Su Shanjun's lifelong cultivation as a Shanjun but also divine power bestowed by heaven and earth. The concept of "golden money" or "flying fish money" that mortal cultivators spoke of, containing luck and spiritual energy, was incomparable to these glazed jade fragments. There was a vast difference between them.
"Swish!"
Lin Zhao ascended the mountain on a flying sword, the Red Leaf. He looked at the people of the mountaintop villa, his eyes slightly red. With no time to mourn Su Shanjun's sacrifice, he said sternly, "These fragments are Su Shanjun's gift to the mountaintop villa. Do not hesitate. Those below the thirteenth realm, pick up the glazed jade fragments and refine them for your use!"
"Yes, Villa Master!"
Yu Wannian, Chu Yu, Mu Zha, and the others immediately moved, collecting the glazed jade fragments that fell within the mountaintop villa. They began to refine them without delay. Time was running out. Su Shanjun had bestowed such a generous gift upon the mountaintop villa; they had to convert these gifts into combat power as quickly as possible.
...
"Tong Yu, what are you still hesitating for?"
Lin Zhao looked at the young girl on the mountaintop.
But at that very moment, an expression of surprise, and immense complexity, dawned in Tong Yu's beautiful eyes. The instant Su Shanjun sacrificed himself, Tong Yu's sealed memories of a past life were suddenly unlocked. At this moment, she remembered her true identity: Lin Yue, Chen Yu, the one he had always gazed at from afar in every life.
In an instant, Tong Yu's emotions collapsed. She knelt on the mountaintop, tears streaming down her face.
"..."
Lin Zhao's brows furrowed. He felt a stir in his heart, as if he had guessed the truth.
He did not disturb Tong Yu, allowing the young girl to cry her heart out and vent her emotions alone on the mountaintop.
...
"Farewell, Su Shanjun."
A figure appeared gracefully before the now dim Shanjun Shrine. It was the old sword immortal Han Buyu, a seventh-realm Cloud Master. However, within the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, Han Buyu's cultivation was equivalent to that of a twelfth-realm cultivator, comparable to a local Dragon King, possessing the methods of a cloud and rain deity, making him incredibly powerful.
He cast a glance towards the direction of the mountaintop villa and said softly, "Lin Zhao, is the speed of Mount Wuwang's descent still too fast?"
"Yes."
Lin Zhao nodded. He could clearly feel the speed of Mount Wuwang. If it struck the mortal realm at such a speed, even with the protection of millions of umbrella-wielding heart demons, the loss might not be significant, but the terrifying shockwave would undoubtedly reduce the entire Snow Domain Heavenly Pond to ruins.
"In that case, Han Buyu will lend the mortal realm a hand."
The old sword immortal Han placed his long sword behind him and ascended into the sky.
"Old Sword Immortal Han..."
Lin Zhao's brows furrowed, but he did not stop him. Han Buyu was contributing to the mortal realm, and he had no right to stop him. After all, Han Buyu was a man burdened by guilt. If he could die in a spirited battle, it would be a satisfactory end for him.
"Clouds of the eight directions, come!"
Han Buyu, clad in a white robe, formed sword gestures with his hands, exuding the demeanor of a sword immortal from the mountains. At his command, the clouds from tens of thousands of miles across the vast snowy region gathered, forming ribbons that connected together. In an instant, they converged into a net-like cloud lock. Under Han Buyu's command, it was cast towards Mount Wuwang, which was rapidly descending from the sky!
...
Above the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, Lin Zhao, Su Qingjiu, Huang Tingyu, Shu Zhi, and others all looked up. They saw that under Han Buyu's command, the vast expanse of clouds had gathered and woven into a cloud lock. One end of the cloud lock was tied to the eastern horizon, and the other end was tied to the western horizon. With the entire world as a fulcrum, this was meant to slow down Mount Wuwang.
For a time, countless great demons on Mount Wuwang unleashed their swords and attacks. Streams of sword light and spell energies struck the cloud lock woven from white clouds. But it was like cutting through cotton. The next moment, Mount Wuwang heavily collided with the cloud lock, its speed significantly reduced once more.
"Pfft—"
In the wind, Han Buyu spat out a mouthful of blood, and his body slowly began to dissipate.
...
"So be it, this is exhilarating!"