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Fate of the nation
墨書 Inktalez
In the northern wilderness of Duanzhezhou, there stands a solitary tower a thousand zhang high, soaring into the clouds. The black tower is surrounded by countless iron chains resembling giant pythons coiled around its exterior. A dark cloud, as if capable of obscuring the sun, gazes down upon this desolate land from above.
"The Wang Chan Penitentiary!"—that is its name.
Though the name may sound somewhat strange, it is no exaggeration to say that this is a place that can make evildoers shudder and stop children from crying at night.
Because this, it is said to have stood here for millions of years, long before the human civilization's Black Tower. Except for a legendary man, no one has ever been able to walk out alive. And this peculiar name is naturally inseparable from that legendary man. The man in the legend is said to be a strange thief, stealing everything. Twenty years ago, he deliberately sent himself to prison to steal a treasure hidden in the prison.
Ten days later, a traveler near the prison witnessed his escape, surrounded by a golden light resembling a golden cicada. Several habitual thieves claimed to know the strange thief, stating that his surname was Wang, hence calling him Wang Chan. This absurd name, due to the mystery of the prison, spread throughout the land with the footsteps of storytellers, unexpectedly unifying the people's appellation across the mainland. From then on, this treasure that should have been regarded by scholars as an exploration of ancient civilization was adorned with this somewhat absurd name.
At this moment, thousands of miles away from the prison, a figure was rapidly approaching in the sky.
"Kid, slow down!" A elderly man dressed in a magnificent azure long robe, with a round figure and a goatee, stood on a floating bronze square tripod about the size of a bowl mouth, pointing his peach wood staff at a point of golden light in the sky.
"Old man, I told you that you couldn't keep up with me. Do you still think I'm a three-year-old kid?" A flash of golden light streaked across the sky, suddenly magnifying several times, revealing a handsome young man in the sky.
A striking red military uniform, paired with a pair of delicate golden-threaded shoes, made him particularly eye-catching in the cloudless sky. As he flew closer, one could see a golden aura surrounding him.
"Big brother said that when Shan'er turns seven, he will come out. It's less than five days until my nephew's birthday, so big brother is definitely coming out," the handsome young man faced the sky with a proud expression. "Old man, how do you think the boss will come out? When we saw him back then, he was barely breathing, his laws destroyed, and his aura gone. Plus, the suppressive effect of that big black stick, it's so difficult to come out of prison!"
"You know it's impossible, yet you still come!" the old man retorted, not holding back as he forcefully struck the young man's head with his wooden crutch.
"If it weren't for An'er's sake, who would love to come to this ghostly place? It's only your group of little ghosts who believe in his boasting. Once you enter Black Jail, it's not so easy to get out."
"Hey, old man, please call it Wang Chan Prison. It has a proper name and surname, okay?" The young man looked disdainful. "And who said big brother can't get out? I'm just curious. Big brother getting out is a sure thing. I respect you as an elder, too lazy to argue with you, hmph."
The old man just gave the young man a glance and didn't argue anymore, because in front of them, the black tower was getting closer and closer.
Inside the tower, on the eighth floor.
The inside of the tower was pitch black, with only a torch burning with purple flames in the hall. Around the hall were six long, narrow corridors extending from the center, and the low, hoarse roar echoed continuously in the corridors, becoming even more terrifying.
Two jailers, one holding a lantern with purple flames and the other carrying a magnificent food box that was five zhang high, slowly walked towards the bottom of the widest passage.
As the two prison guards approached the bottom of the passage, the prison, which had been filled with various shouts, suddenly fell silent, as if entering a new space. The two guards arrived at the end of the passage, looking at the bars in front of them made of an unknown metal. "Master Tong, it's mealtime!" shouted the guard holding a lantern towards the dark prison cell.
After a short while, a somewhat impatient response came from the cell. The guard standing by with a food box hurriedly passed it through the 5-meter-wide gap in the bars, without waiting for a response from inside, and then quickly ran back to his original position.
Before long, a giant hand reached out from the dark cell, grabbed the food box, and forcefully threw it to the ground. The food box instantly shattered, and countless delicacies spilled all over the floor, their originally rich vitality instantly drained by the dark tower.
Two prison guards also seemed unfazed, still standing on the side as if waiting for further instructions from the person inside. What puzzled them, however, was that the person inside today was just staring at the food on the ground, motionless for a long time. In the past, they would have been clamoring for extra rations by now, even though they had never been successful.
"Hmm? Where's Wu De? Where's Wu De!" Suddenly, the huge monster known as Master Tong in the darkness began to shout and angrily pound on the wall.
"Master Tong, Master Tong, calm down!" The two jailers dared not approach and could only shout into the cell, "Lord Magistrate is not here right now, Master Tong, have we done something wrong?"
"Not here? Hahaha, let me ask you, why is today's fish carp? I don't like it, I want to escape! Hahaha!" Master Tong laughed and pounded the wall forcefully.
The two jailers, upon hearing the creature inside talking about escaping, turned pale and hastily exclaimed, "Master Tong, please don't scare us, don't talk about escaping casually!"
"You think I don't dare!" Master Tong instantly rushed towards the railing of the prison cell and let out a roar towards the deep corridor. In an instant, the entire prison seemed to shake violently like an earthquake.
The once silent corridor was now shrouded in the continuous shouts from outside. The prison guards holding lanterns ran without looking back towards the central hall, "Quick, quick, go inform Lord Wu, the prisoners are rioting!"
Inside the tower, on the ninth floor.
The difference between the ninth and eighth levels of space is huge. Looking around, the vast space is only filled with endless white. No matter where you look, it's impossible to discern how far the end of this space is. In this empty space, there is only one naked man, suspended in mid-air by four faint chains, motionless. It seems that he senses something, as the man slowly opens his tightly closed eyes and murmurs, "Time really flies." Then he begins to shake his limbs and continuously brings his hands together. An invisible force begins to gather, causing ripples in the surrounding light.
And at this moment, a pitch-black cavity appeared on the originally flawless ground, from which emerged a man of equally handsome appearance. His neat short hair did not conceal the fierceness revealed in his eyes, and he stood at a towering nine feet tall. He carried a short-handled broad blade of a bright red color, its patterns resembling a poised wolf, staring intently at its prey.
The naked man seemed to be continuously gathering strength, seemingly unaware of the situation, as time passed by. The towering man stood silently in front of him. After a long while, the towering man took a step forward and hesitantly asked, "Brother Jiang, is there something wrong here? Are you still determined to leave?"
The towering man's voice did not match his appearance, instead carrying a hint of gentleness.
After a long silence, the tall man took a step forward and said, "Brother Jiang, why do you have to leave? Why do you have to suffer again?"
"This is not my home after all," the naked man murmured.
"But at least you can survive here! You should know that he is unbeatable! His..." Before the tall man could finish, he heard two crisp cracking sounds, and two of the four chains had already broken.
"Wu Qingde, so many years have passed, and there are some things I don't want to talk about anymore. I just want to say thank you to you. I know that over the years, you have secretly helped many brothers, but none of this changes anything. Your ambition has never changed!"
As the man's voice fell, the four chains had already broken apart, and the naked man fell to the ground, his black long hair hanging down to his feet.
"Wu Qingde, from that day on, you and I are no longer brothers. Has the main body not arrived yet?"
"Jiang Cheng, I never expected this, never expected it. You've been in Black Jail for twenty years, yet you still have some understanding of the outside world. Why are you still paying attention to me? You've left me unsure whether to be happy or not."
The tall man hung his head low, laughing bitterly, his body heaving with his laughter.
"Hahaha, Jiang Cheng, do you still think you're the old Emperor Jiang? I'm giving you face by calling you 'big brother.' You, a lawless waste with a destroyed dantian, have no right to lecture me!" With that, Wu Qingde drew the broadsword from behind, and a surge of blood-red spiritual energy gushed from the hilt, wrapping around the blade. The previously aloof aura faded, leaving only naked killing intent.
Wu Qingde With eyes burning red, he glared angrily at the naked man in front of him, his gentle voice carrying a kind of anger that perhaps even he found hard to describe.
"What have I done wrong? Where have I gone wrong? If it weren't for me, all of you would have been dead, and there would be no today!"
"In the past, one brother after another fell before my eyes, and I... I felt so helpless. With such a gap, none of us could survive!"
"Yes, Jiang Cheng, you have nothing to fear. Even if you lose, you'll just be imprisoned in the Black Jail, living in destitution. As for me, I can only be crushed like an ant, with no one to remember me!"
"You're lucky, coming in here without the fear of losing your life. But which one of the brothers outside survived without my help? And yet, as soon as you arrived, you denied everything I've done for you! Who do you think you are, Jiang Cheng!"
"You've been imprisoned for twenty years. I don't know what methods you used to evade the suppression of the Black Jail, but your power has already transformed, yet you're still a waste! What right do you have to look at me the same way as you did twenty years ago?" With that, the blank wall opened once again, and a dark figure shot out from the void, merging with Wu Qingde.
Wu Qingde's momentum suddenly surged, then he raised his broadsword and took a big step forward, rushing to Jiang Cheng's front. With a stomp of his right foot, the enormous broadsword cleaved through the air towards Jiang Cheng.
On the other side, Jiang Cheng remained calm and composed, as he deftly blocked the broadsword with his right arm, preventing it from advancing at all. Wu Qingde's expression darkened, then he rotated his body and slashed again, but still couldn't budge the man in front of him, not even a hint of suppression.
As the two moves passed, Jiang Cheng's left fist was already heading straight for his chest. Wu Qingde was about to change his move, but found his body unusually heavy, and the fear in his eyes could no longer be concealed. His only thought was to evade this seemingly ordinary punch.
Jiang Cheng threw a punch, hitting Wu Qingde's right arm, sending him flying hundreds of meters away, and nearly causing his broad-bladed sword to fall to the ground.
"Your Tān Láng is good, just as good as before. It seems that you haven't made any progress in these twenty years," Jiang Cheng said calmly as he walked towards Wu Qingde.
"This is not your power! No one's power can suppress my Tān Láng. Has your Recovery Law been restored? This, this is impossible!"
Jiang Cheng looked at the disheveled Wu Qingde and released the pressure on him, saying, "It's nothing, just a different kind of manipulation."
With the pressure lifted, Wu Qingde immediately stood up and brandished his sword, pointing it at Jiang Cheng, "You don't need to mock me. Give me the secret of your manipulation, and when Wei Tian Emperor arrives, I can ask him not to trouble you."
"Wu Qingde, you're still the same as before, rushing to be his lapdog," Jiang Cheng laughed.
" Tān Láng Order - Break and Kill!" Wu Qingde paid no attention to Jiang Cheng's words, tightened the knife handle, and charged forward. The crimson spiritual energy entwined around the blade transformed into a fierce wolf pouncing towards Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng did not boast either. He reached out with both hands, with no spiritual energy flowing around him. However, when the blood-red wolf pounced in front of him, it instantly collapsed. The crimson spiritual energy seemed to encounter a wind barrier and was blocked outside. Wu Qingde's speed did not diminish, but instead became even faster. The tip of the knife pierced through the barrier, and the distance to Jiang Cheng was probably only a hair's breadth away, but the blade was already firmly grasped by Jiang Cheng.
Seeing that one move failed, Wu Qingde immediately swung the broad blade away and attacked Jiang Cheng from the side. The broad blade also immediately turned into spiritual energy, breaking free from Jiang Cheng's control and transforming into a wolf shape behind him.
Jiang Cheng saw Wu Qingde coming to attack from the side, and he also moved to the side to defend.
Jiang Cheng shouted loudly and threw a right punch with a golden light. The two fists collided, instantly creating a huge burst of energy, causing the light walls around the ninth floor to dim slightly. Wu Qingde was once again blasted hundreds of meters away. This time, Jiang Cheng seemed to have no intention of giving another chance. His momentum burst out from within, suppressing Wu Qingde and Tān Láng.
"Hey, big brother, why are you still just showing off your butt!" The wall of the ninth floor was once again broken open, and two figures walked out, an old man and a young man who had been in the air before.
"Wang Ergou, you're here!" Jiang Cheng looked at them with a surprised expression, ignoring Wu Qingde who had been knocked aside, and embraced his longtime friend.
"Um, I go by Wang Chan now, the cicada of the Golden Cicada," Wang Ergou said with a sheepish smile.
"That's a small matter. Ergou, why did you bring Tang Old Man here?" Jiang Cheng pulled Wang Ergou aside and asked quietly.
"Stinky brat, don't play those games with me as if I can't hear. Let me tell you, it's An'er who sent me here, otherwise who would bother to come. Hurry up, the passage opened by the Four Corners Cauldron can only support for fifteen minutes," the old man said impatiently. Seeing Jiang Cheng naked, he immediately threw a set of green clothes at Jiang Cheng, "Hurry up and put it on, can't you show some respect, can't you call me father?" Jiang Cheng put on the clothes and ignored the old man's words, walking straight towards Wu Qingde.
At this moment, Wu Qingde was very clear in his heart that dealing with just Jiang Cheng alone was already difficult, not to mention the addition of two more people. He could only stand on the side without making a sound, constantly contacting the Wei Tian Emperor in his heart.
"You can't reach him, can you?" Jiang Cheng chuckled and spoke.
"Hmph, you won't be laughing for long. When the Wei Tian Emperor arrives, your time will be up," Wu Qingde cursed. "Do you dare to kill me? Once I'm dead, the Wei Tian Emperor can arrive instantly. At that time, none of you will be able to escape."
Jiang Cheng pondered for a moment: "Tang Old Man, Er Gou, go to the eighth floor and release the Wild Path Disciple and Uncle Du Wu. After releasing them, leave. They will know what to do next."
"What about you?" asked Wang Ergou.
"If you kill him, you won't be able to escape. Right now, Weinyan, you are no match for him. We'll discuss everything in detail after we leave." The old man seemed to see through Jiang Cheng's plan, and his previously calm expression turned serious.
"We can't leave. This is the only chance. We don't have much time left, it's a pity that I won't be able to see Shan'er again." Jiang Cheng spoke casually, as if it were a very ordinary matter.
Upon hearing this, Wang Ergou didn't waste any time and pulled Jiang Cheng to leave: "Big brother, let's go first. We'll have another chance to deal with this beast in the future. If you don't leave, I won't leave either."
Jiang Cheng pushed away Wang Ergou's hand: "Er Gou, there are things that I must do, perhaps this is fate. I knew this day would come twenty years ago. You can't stay, you and the brothers of Xingchen have more important matters to attend to."
"Sorry, I, Jiang Cheng, may have to step back first. Just as Wu Qingde said, I am far from matching your dedication. Brothers, you have worked hard all these years! In the days to come, our plan will continue, I can only rely on you."
Jiang Cheng still had a smile on his face, "Well, Dad, you can wait until Shan'er is seven to give this to him, consider it as having seen him." With that, Jiang Cheng placed his hand on his chest, and soon, a golden bead flew out.
"No, big brother, are you joking?" Wang Ergou still couldn't believe it.
"Do you still believe in the prophecy of Little wizard?" The old man sighed, shook his head, hesitated several times, and finally looked at Jiang Cheng, "Forget it, I'm old and can't persuade you. An'er had already anticipated that you would be like this, so he asked me to bring a leaving image talisman. The fate of your clan... Hahaha, I shouldn't have let An'er marry you in the first place!" After saying that, he pulled Wang Ergou, who was still chattering on the side, and walked towards the eighth floor.
Wu Qingde watched the departure of the other two as if he saw his own destiny. He raised his head and stared directly at the man in front of him, as if he wanted to face his own past, "Did you see my fate twenty years ago?"
"Perhaps, it doesn't matter anymore, Wu Qingde, do you regret it? Tān Láng was a great sword master over six thousand years ago, born from the desire to kill all ferocious beasts. And in these years? How many of your own people have you slaughtered? Your Tān Láng is like a bereaved dog, devoid of any ferocity! That's all I have to say, goodbye."
The luxurious robe on Jiang Cheng fluttered without wind, gathering all his power into his hands, and without a moment's pause, he struck at Wu Qingde.
"Hahaha, Wei Tian Emperor is coming soon, you can't escape!" Wu Qingde turned into ashes, and a black token fell to the ground with a crisp sound. It's just unknown if Wu Qingde's departure, like this token, also lacked any remorse.
Perhaps this was destined twenty years ago, or perhaps it's an even older story.
The dark clouds outside the tower began to swirl around the spire like a storm, and the piercing sound of the wind stimulated people's hearts.
Jiang Cheng arrived at the top of the tower, and the raging wind swept everything around. His robes also swayed with the wind. He looked at the figure gathering in the center of the dark clouds and laughed loudly, saying, "Well, come on then!"
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