Chapter 1393: Kings Fall
"Have you been well?" Li Jingzhe quietly looked at Tan Tailan, who was now much more mature than the last time he saw her. All of his complicated feelings had been condensed into a single simple greeting.
Tan Tailan gave a smile. "There’s no need to worry, Father. We are all doing well. I’ve temporarily separated from Taixuan due to certain developments. However, there is no need to worry about him."
Li Jingzhe lightly nodded and didn’t probe further. Now that Tan Tailan was a Greater Transcendent Duke, her strength meant that even in his prime, he might not have been able to beat her. It seemed like these youths had made their own achievements after twenty years.
"Grandpa, is your body fine?" Li Luo hurriedly asked. His gaze betrayed the anxiety in his heart, and Li Jingzhe’s condition didn’t look very good. The skin on his entire body was covered in cracks and he was emanating terrifying, chaotic fluctuations of energy.
Li Jingzhe gave a wry smile. "Little Luo and Qing’e, the two of you really aren’t normal. Both of you have embarked on the Path of Ascension. I hope that you’ll become even more outstanding in the future."
Li Luo’s expression changed when he heard those words. He forced a smile. "Grandpa, without your protection, how could I, your grandson, have the confidence to become a true Transcendent Duke?"
Li Jingzhe lightly sighed. "I’m afraid I won’t be able to see that day."
In order to destroy the Tri-Pupil Enigmatic Fetus’ Human Fetus, he had paid the price of igniting his three crowns. This was a heavy price that even he was unable to escape from. Li Luo’s heart trembled and Jiang Qing’e’s eyes turned red.
"Mother, you must help Grandpa!" Li Luo desperately grabbed Tan Tailan’s arm.
Tan Tailan fell silent. She was stronger than Li Luo and thus could sense the vitality slipping away from Li Jingzhe’s body. Igniting his three crowns had forced him to pay a price that even she couldn’t do anything about. On the side, Li Qingpeng and Li Jinpan had reddened eyes with faces full of grief.
Li Luo stood there blankly as though he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. Hot tears gushed out of the corners of his eyes as he couldn’t accept the fate of the invincible grandpa in his heart. Someone as powerful as Li Jingzhe could have escaped from the World’s End River Region at any time.
Even the Human Fetus wouldn’t have been able to stop him.
Yet for the sake of protecting them, he gave up opportunity after opportunity to save himself. In the end, he chose the path of self-sacrifice, burning his three crowns to carve out a path for them to escape. If not for him giving up his life, they would be stuck in a predicament even if Tan Tailan had managed to arrive on time.
Li Jingzhe’s selfless actions to keep his descendents safe played through Li Luos mind. The grief within his heart could no longer be suppressed. Jiang Qing’e tightly gripped Li Luo’s hand in an attempt to console him in her own way.
"My silly grandson... the world is naturally filled with regrets, so there is no need to demand perfection."
Li Jingzhe then gave a hearty smile. "I was originally a little worried for all of you, but now that Little Lan is here, I can truly be at peace."
He removed a plaque that emanated a sense of pressure from his robes. The ancient characters for "Dragon’s Fang" were engraved on it.
This was the Dragon’s Fang Lineages Lineage Chief plaque.
He then passed it to Tan Tailan. "Little Lan, I know that you don’t hold any feelings towards the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li. However, after I leave, there will be no one who can bear the mantle. Thus, I beseech you to temporarily represent the Lineage Chief. When Taixuan returns and if you can’t take it any longer, you can pass it to him instead."
Tan Tailan hesitated for a moment. She truly didn’t hold any interest in becoming the Lineage Chief. Furthermore, she would even have to deal with the other lineages when the time came.
She held no goodwill towards the rest of them, especially the Dragon’s Blood Lineage. Li Taixuan would not have been forced away all those years ago without their machinations.
However, looking at how aggrieved Li Luo was, she could only darkly sigh. She stretched out both hands and respectfully received the plaque. Li Jingzhe had done a lot for her children, and this was something that she could never repay. All she could do was try her best to fulfill this old man’s final wish.
"You can rest assured, Father. So long as Taixuan and I are around, the Dragon’s Fang Lineage will never fall," she lightly declared.
Li Jingzhe nodded in relief. He then took out a crimson veil, his very own venerated heirloom, the Nine Dragon Fire Sword Veil. "I’ll give this to you. It can be considered one of your strongest trump cards." He handed it to Tan Tailan without a second thought. RAOEs
He then picked up the bamboo staff laid across his knees. The brilliance of that single stalk of bamboo looked a little restrained, as though it had reverted back into a stalk of golden bamboo, giving off an extraordinary air.
"I’ve sealed the Kingslayer Staff’s source origin and it has transformed back into a peak King-grade material. Little Luo has become a Duke and he doesn’t have any appropriate Mythic Armaments. Integrate this into his Dragon Elephant Blade and forge an indestructible mythic armament for him, please."
A look of warmth could be seen in Li Jingzhe’s eyes before he turned towards Li Luo. "I can no longer protect you, so let this Kingslayer Staff accompany you instead."
As Li Luo looked into his grandpa’s gentle and wizened face, he truly wished from the depths of his heart to show him a smile. He wanted to let him feel at peace. However, his eyes misted up no matter what he tried to do.
"I’m sorry, Grandpa. It’s all my fault. This wouldn’t have happened if not for me..." Li Luo kneeled before Li Jingzhe, his voice hoarse.
Li Jingzhe shook his head and stretched out his withered hand to lightly tousle the youth’s hair. "As I said before, I won’t let what happened all those years ago happen again. Even if there was a Heavenly Emperor standing before me, they wouldn’t be able to touch a single hair on your head so long as I’m around. So what if I give up my crowns for this?"
When he finished speaking, the cracks on his body became even wider. He now resembled a piece of porcelain that was about to break.
He finally turned towards Li Qingpeng and Li Jinpan. "Sons, let Little Lan take charge of any decisions in the Dragon’s Fang Lineage in the future. The two of you have to do your best to help her."
The two had faces full of anguish and heartbreak as they kneeled down and kowtowed.
Li Jiluo and the rest of the experts from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li had gloomy faces. A Quasi-Triple Crown King had fallen, and this was an extremely sad thing for the bloodline as a whole. "We respectfully send off Lineage Chief Jingzhe." The group of them bowed with utmost respect.
At the same time, the experts from the other powers similarly bowed with complicated expressions. Even Qin Baiyan and the rest were no exception.
"We respectfully send off Lineage Chief Jingzhe." One after another, reverent and thankful voices chimed in, turning into a resounding roar.
Everyone knew that it was Li Jingzhe’s sacrifice that had allowed them to survive this doomed situation. Amidst the deferential well wishes, Li Jingzhe’s body burst into gloriously incandescent light and then shattered in full view of everyone. Vast amounts of energy shot into the sky, directly causing waves of energy to ripple in every direction across the World’s End River Region.
There seemed to be a gigantic golden dragon soaring through the skies, letting out a final melancholic roar. Heavy rain began to pour down upon the earth. However, this was not the inky-black rain that was falling like before, but a spiritual rain that contained majestic amounts of energy.
A King’s fall would lead to the blessings of the heavens and the earth returning back to the source.
Amidst the falling rain, Li Luo let out a pained cry from the depths of his soul. The grief and misery contained within was so intense that no one could bear to even look at him.
Jiang Qing’e gently wiped the tears from the corners of her own eyes. She didn’t comfort him at this time as she knew that he needed some space to vent his sadness.
Tan Tailan gripped the plaque that was now entrusted to her and felt her heart breaking at Li Luo’s mournful cries.
"Huh?" However, her eyes suddenly froze. At that very moment, she could see a violet-gold light spilling out from Li Luo’s body.
Within the depths of this violet-gold light, she could see a mysterious halo slowly turning. "This is..." A look of shock flashed through Tan Tailan’s eyes.
Bang!
As the mysterious Auric Halo spun, a special roar resounded through the skies. The spiritual rain began to gather towards Li Luo at that instant, absorbed into the Auric Halo within him.
Tan Tailan waved her arm and materialized a silver light that distorted space and prevented anyone from seeing what was happening.
The grieving Li Luo also sensed this sudden change and raised his head. The Auric Halo within him was shining with esoteric light which then weaved and condensed before him.
It gradually condensed into a golden bamboo shoot about an inch long. Li Luo’s eyes widened as he could feel familiar fluctuations from this bamboo shoot. It gave off Li Jingzhe’s aura.
"Gran... Grandpa?" Li Luo’s eyes turned blurry.
"How did he transform into a bamboo shoot?"