Chapter 902 The Pa.s.sing Away of a Genius
An uncontrollable madness, like a hot flame, burned in Ding Hao’s body. Like a volcano that had been suppressed for thousands of years, it was about to break through the crust and erupt wildly.
Subconsciously, Ding Hao was about to activate the Rusted Sword and the Devil Saber.
“Fight him!
“Even if I die, I must kill the Third Divine Prince!
“He must die!”
At this moment, Ding Hao’s pupils completely turned blood red.
This was a sign that he was about to be possessed by the devil.
At the critical moment, the Mind Essential cultivation method suddenly began to run wildly in Ding Hao’s body on its own. The Divine Senses in the “One in True Self” realm suddenly vibrated violently, as if they were suppressing something. Then the last clear thought crossed his sea of consciousness, like a flash of lightning cutting through the darkness, making Ding Hao pause for a little while.
“No!
“There is something wrong!”
Ding Hao instinctively felt that something was wrong.
Because of that, he did not make his move right away.
In the next moment, again something unexpected happened.
On the bow of the wars.h.i.+p, the smile on the Tenth Divine Prince’s face froze. Being greatly shocked, he supported Ding Shengtan.
A very strange expression appeared on his face.
It was most definitely not joy. Nor was it excitement. Instead, he was surprised, stunned, and shocked.
He was… a bit frightened.
“How… how do you know… Impossible!” The Tenth Divine Prince was supporting Ding Shengtan. He immediately injected his Qi into Ding Shengtan’s body to heal him. He looked at the Third Divine Prince as if he were looking at a ghost. His voice was trembling when he was talking.
“Well, although I haven’t seen our eldest brother for 16 years, I won’t be deceived by an imposter. My tenth brother, you’ve been too naive,” said Ding Xinghua with a scornful smile on his face.
An imposter?
The word was like a thunder rumbling in everybody’s mind.
Wu Feng and the other white-robed soldiers were stunned. So did Ding Busan, Ding Busi, countless masters in the Black Armored Army, and the masters from all forces.
Ding Hao was also stunned.
“An… an imposter?
“That Ding Shengtan… is a fake?”
The surprise stunned everyone, including Ding Hao. They had thought that the Third Divine Prince had betrayed the Eldest Divine Prince. Unexpectedly, such a thing happened. Ding Shengtan had attracted countless masters and the army and had caused a great disturbance on the entire Eastern Continent. However, he turned out to be a fake. It seemed that the Tenth Divine Prince knew it before.
Countless thoughts flashed through Ding Hao’s mind in an instant.
He suddenly realized why he had felt like something was wrong.
Indeed, he couldn’t feel a strong love for this Ding Shengtan. The blood power in his body did not react at all. All his previous emotions were caused by Ding Shengtan’s name. He just subconsciously believed that Ding Shengtan was his father. The acc.u.mulated emotions over the years had been too strong to be restrained.
It was a conditioned reflex.
It was not out of the instinct from the depths of his bloodline.
Now everything could be explained.
Why did the G.o.d’s Palace Army follow Ding Shengtan and the others so accurately all the way to the Hundred Thousand Mountains? It was as if they had known that Ding Busi and others would come here. They set up numerous ambushes and defenses around the Hundred Thousand Mountains. It turned out that the fake Ding Shengtan had been sending out messages and leaving clues to lead the army there.
Someone had asked a G.o.d Realm Master to pretend to be Ding Shengtan. He had grasped the essence in the disguise and had deceived too many people.
Ding Busan and Ding Busi had never expected that the person who had led the pursuers there was their uncle, whom they had tried so hard to save.
“Why did the G.o.d’s Palace do this on earth?
“Well, they want some people to show up. These masters and forces have been secretly loyal to my father over the years and have acc.u.mulated their strength to wait for his return. The G.o.d’s Palace wanted to lead them to the Hundred Thousand Mountains and annihilate them at one stroke.
“What a ruthless move!”
“Cough, cough… Puff!”
The fake Ding Shengtan was standing at the bow of the s.h.i.+p with broken limbs.
He had gradually recovered a little vitality. His face was deathly pale. His eyes were full of doubts and confusion. He looked at the Third Divine Prince Ding Xinghua and said with difficulty, “How did you find out? I spent ten years imitating him. I listened to what he said, imitated his style of doing things, studied his personality, and guessed his preferences… In the end, even I began to hallucinate and felt that I was Ding Shengtan. How could you find out?”
“An imitation can never be true.” The Third Divine Prince smiled faintly and said, “You have only spent ten years, but I have been following my eldest brother since I was a child. Cultivating, eating, resting, fighting, drinking, playing, and troop training… The first half of my life was spent with my eldest brother. He is my relative. The blood flowing in his body is the same as mine. I know him extremely well. You can deceive others, but you can’t deceive me.”
“I see.” The fake Ding Shengtan sighed and said, “I should have thought of this a long time ago. In those days, you were also a mighty figure in the world. The Feather Clan in the west trembled with fear on hearing of your name. If the Eldest Divine Prince and the current G.o.d Emperor weren’t such s.h.i.+ning figures who had outshone you, you would have been regarded as a peerless genius in a thousand years. I shouldn’t have underestimated you.”
The Third Divine Prince looked calm and composed.
“I made a mistake this time and I deserve to die.” The fake Ding Shengtan sighed lightly. Six rays of light circulated in his broken body, and his facial features and body shape had changed greatly. He turned into a thin, tall, middle-aged man with his skin as fair as jade. He was handsome and elegant. He should be a famous big shot when he was young.
“It turns out to be you, ‘Three Thousand Swords’ s.h.i.+ Yihuang.” The Third Divine Prince’s pupils shrank slightly. He felt sorry for him and said, “You were a famous swordsman on the Eastern Continent ten years ago. With three thousand swords in your hand, you traveled thousands of miles upholding justice… How could such a person like you serve the Fake G.o.d Emperor? It’s a pity that such a decent man like you has become an imposter.”
Some people in the crowd also recognized the real ident.i.ty of the elegant middle-aged man.
“Three Thousand Swords” s.h.i.+ Yihuang was a legendary figure ten years ago. It was said that he had three thousand swords on his palm and had defeated countless swordsmen and masters. His strength was so powerful that some people even called him the No. 1 Swordsman on the Eastern Continent. He was regarded as the most promising young human genius on the Eastern Continent to challenge the peerless Eldest and the Thirteenth Divine Princes in the G.o.d’s Palace. Moreover, s.h.i.+ Yihuang was a man who was ready to stand out for justice and abhorred evils as deadly foes. He suited the action to the word. He was a man of his word and was regarded as a marvelous man of the hour.
But ten years ago, when he was in his prime, he suddenly disappeared without leaving any traces.
Many people speculated that he might have died.
No one could expect that he would appear on such an occasion.
s.h.i.+ Yihuang did not respond to the Third Divine Prince’s sigh.
A wind blew, lifting his long black hair.
He slowly sat down cross-legged on the bow of the s.h.i.+p and closed his eyes. With a calm face, he activated his magic skills, and the clanging of swords came out of his body. He said, “Your Highness, please go back and tell the 13th Divine Prince that I, s.h.i.+ Yihuang, no longer owe him a favor. From now on, we don’t owe each other anything… I can finally be a free man in this world again.”
The Tenth Divine Prince’s expression changed.
In the next moment, the clanging sounds of the swords inside s.h.i.+ Yihuang’s body became clearer and clearer, as if dragons were roaring in the void. Resplendent radiance burst out from his body.
“From now on, I am the master of my own world.” He sighed lightly.
His sigh contained a feeling of being teased by fate, as well as a sense of relief.
He suddenly raised his voice and said vehemently, “I, s.h.i.+ Yihuang, have exerted my strength on the Eastern Continent all my life and have never done anything immoral. I have never used my swords to attack the good and weak. My conscience was clean. Only this time, I pretended to be the Eldest Divine Prince… Your Highness, thank you for striking me with your palm. You helped me out.”
Before his voice died away—
Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+
Countless rays of Sword Light burst out from his body, cutting through the void. They flew in all directions like an endless rain of light. Even G.o.d Realm Masters could not stop such rain of light swords. In the blink of an eye, all the light swords disappeared into the void.
s.h.i.+ Yihuang was still sitting cross-legged on the bow of the s.h.i.+p.
There was a smile on his lips, but his body had become stiff.
“The Three Thousand Swords belong to the fated.” This was the last sentence the former peerless genius had left in the world.
Before his voice died away—
Bang!
With a light sound, s.h.i.+ Yihuang’s body cracked open like a broken sand sculpture, turning into fine grains of sand. The sand drifted away with the wind and spread all over this strange and wonderful land of the Human Clan. From then on, he no longer existed in this world.
A G.o.d Realm Master had pa.s.sed away.
For a moment, no one knew what to say.
The world was filled with a solemn and tragic aura.
The once-all-powerful peerless genius had ended his legendary life in this way. People were sighing and filled with profound respect for him.
Even Ding Hao felt sorry for s.h.i.+ Yihuang at this moment.
He was indeed a frank and upright gentleman. Unfortunately, for some reason, he owed the Fake G.o.d Emperor a favor. Because he valued his promise, he had to repay the favor. He had been forced to pretend to be the Eldest Divine Prince. It must have been a torture for him all these years. As he had said, the Third Divine Prince attacking him with his palm really helped him out.
The Third Divine Prince shook his head slightly.
Fate truly made fools of people. If it weren’t for the battle sixteen years ago, the G.o.d’s Palace would not have embarked on the dark path. In that way, a genius like s.h.i.+ Yihuang might become his friend.
“An outstanding man.” Ding Busan, who had been silent, gave such an evaluation.
“I’m not as good as him,” Ding Busi also sighed.