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Chapter 8 - Chapter 8: The Herald of Heaven Vs The Demon of Rot.

The Ashes of Emerald Bamboo

Flames still danced weakly over blackened ruins.

And standing there, on what was once sacred jade flooring, Wuxie waited.

But what came first was laughter—not his.

Out of a rift of golden clouds, a figure descended, graceful, like a swan landing on still water.

In one hand: Han Wu—broken, barely alive, bones shattered, blood trailing in strands like ink dropped in clear liquid.

Yet… his teeth were bared in a grin. Even in defeat, smiling.

"HAH…! Look at you… little serpent… Heaven fears you after all…"

He coughed blood, but still smiled.

"My sect may burn, but I birthed the greatest calamity this world will know."

With a flick of his hand, Shengyun let the Grand Elder fall to the blackened stones like discarded garbage.

The First Words

Shengyun stood radiant. His robes gleamed with divine glyphs, floating gently around him as if reality bent to respect his presence. His aura didn't scream; it whispered authority.

Wuxie didn't even glance at Han Wu. His attention was on this… messenger of arrogance.

"Took you long enough," Wuxie mocked, running a hand through his disheveled hair. Childish. Defiant. Amused.

"Where were your pristine heavens when I was feeding on dirt? Where was this justice when your pact sects bought mortal daughters like cattle?"

"You only come when I'm strong. Saints of convenience."

Shengyun didn't bristle. His expression was that of someone explaining rainfall to a dog.

"Evil speaks in half-truths to justify its existence. I do not hate you, demon child. But rot spreads, and Heaven must prune it."

Wuxie's lip curled upward.

"What's your name, saintling? I'll need it for the death song I'll write for you."

A faint smile from Shengyun. Calm. Kind. Pure.

"I am Shengyun, Sword of the Seventh Heaven."

"Good," Wuxie breathed. "I'll remember."

The Fight Begins – Subtle at First

Wuxie moved first, rot-energy rolling off his body in curved spirals of silver decay.

But Shengyun? He didn't move—he stepped forward.

One step.

And Wuxie's entire right arm erupted in black boils, Qi channels seizing under divine resistance.

"Tch…"

Another movement—Wuxie's foot lashed outward, rot spiraling toward Shengyun like dead rivers flooding a pure pond.

CLANG.

Shengyun's jade sword drew itself, faster than lightning, forming a circle of light that shattered the rot streams like glass falling into holy water.

But it wasn't power that stunned Wuxie—it was ease.

"You… you're barely trying…"

Shengyun didn't respond. He didn't need to.

Escalation – Childish Rage vs Divine Composure

Wuxie's face twisted—not in despair, but in excitement. A wicked grin broke across his young face.

"YES! That's it—show me your sanctimonious power!"

The ground beneath Wuxie exploded, rot boiling upward like black fountains.

Out shot bone spears, corrupted blades of ancient skeletal remains. His Qi surged, burning his own meridians for power.

And for a while—for just a few brief exchanges—they matched:

Clash of rot against cleansing glyphs.

Silver arcs against jade streaks.

Childhood fury against divine centuries.

But reality didn't care for dramatics.

Soon, the difference showed.

The Shift – Shengyun Gets Serious

Shengyun took a breath, murmuring something under his breath.

"Third Verse of Heaven's Chains."

Golden sigils spread around Wuxie's feet.

Chains made of scripture, living prayers, erupted from thin air and wrapped around Wuxie's limbs.

"Damn—! Tch—!"

His Qi rot tried to corrode them—

But these were not mortal bindings. These were concepts. Divine Law in form.

And Shengyun… finally moved to kill.

"Final Verse: Purification—Silent Heaven's Bloom: 7 layered binding palm Lotus."

Above Shengyun's sword, the lotus of divine destruction unfurled—pure, white, humming, eternal. It wasn't violent. It was the absence of corruption.

And then…

The Lotus descended.

The Breaking – Wuxie's Defeat

Wuxie screamed. Not like a child. Like a being stripped down to its very concept.

His Dantian shattered.

His Qi shattered.

Even his spirit self was shattered, as though Heaven itself was editing him out of existence.

Intervention: Devouring Moon Beast

Somewhere in his collapsing consciousness…

"I will not die for a child's arrogance ,no I still have plans, and this would be a waste of potential."

A second voice, ancient and deep like mountain echoes under dark skies, cut through the void.

The Devouring Moon Beast flared alive within the core of Wuxie's being.

"I bind my soul to this rot-child. If I die, he dies. If he dies, I die. So we shall both live."

Black tendrils of lunar decay shot through Wuxie's broken spirit realm, stitching it together like grotesque sutures.

The Lotus of Heaven still pressed downward—but it could not fully kill what now wasn't entirely mortal.

Han Wu's Last Act

Gurgling laughter echoed behind them.

Han Wu, with bleeding lips, dragged his finger through his own blood and wrote a single forbidden inscription in midair.

A forbidden portal glyph.

Destination: Unknown Continent.

"Live, my wicked serpent," he rasped.

"Live, grow, have the chance to explore the world for yourself, learning and understand,become the cultivator you are destined to be,return one day and devour them all…"

The portal opened, sucking Wuxie's barely coherent form into its depths.

With one last exhale, Han Wu's body turned to ash, smiling at the heavens as he died.

Aftermath

As the Lotus finished blooming, there was nothing left but burnt earth.

No spirit signature.

No Qi.

No life.

Nothing for Heaven to sense.

To Shengyun… the mission was complete.

He stood, silent, looking down at the ashes, expression unreadable.

Scene Shift: Unknown Continent

A new land. Vast forests of crimson trees, foreign beasts lurking, the air filled with more spiritual energy and qi,the environment foreign and almost unique.

From the edges of a ruined cliffside—a charred, broken body coughed smoke.

His hands trembling, eyes flickering with both rot and moonlight, Wuxie lay… alive. Barely. Breathing. Cursed. Changed.

A whisper echoed only In his mind.

"We are one now."

"I will return…" Wuxie whispered, hoarse, a child's promise spoken like an emperor's decree.

"I will return… and burn Heaven itself."

And then... Blackout, he had lost consciousness, his dantain was a mess, his core and foundation in shambles, and his qi almost none existent. Yin Wuixe was truly defeated, the heavens have made their judgement. Even his pale skin had gained color showing his corrupted qi was no more. The demon child of ruin was left as nothing but an empty vessel.

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