"Tang Wan'er, you truly are a madwoman. To try and kill me, you'd even throw your own life away. Is it worth it?"
Although Shen Lang was holding Ye Shishi, his speed remained undiminished. He tilted his head, evading Tang Wan'er's sword strike, then leaped into the air, completing a full 360-degree rotation. He kicked Tang Wan'er's wrist, dislodging the sword from her grasp.
"Shen Lang, you are a sky-high prodigy with boundless prospects, and the greatest enemy of the Tang Sect in the future. Your death here benefits the Tang Sect immensely. As for me, what of it if I accompany you to the grave?"
Tang Wan'er swept up the soft sword from the ground with her foot, her grip firm. With a powerful shake, the soft sword became incredibly rigid.
"Sister Hongyao, and you, do you wish to be buried with us here?"
Shen Lang looked at Tang Hongyao and asked with a smile.
"To be buried with Young Master Shen would be Hongyao's honor," Tang Hongyao replied, a smile gracing her lips as she held her Tang saber.
"I apologize, but while you wish for burial, I have no intention of dying."
Shen Lang looked at the two of them and smiled, "My apologies, I'll take my leave first."
With that, Shen Lang, still holding Ye Shishi, rushed to the front of the pavilion and leaped directly down.
"Shen Lang, you bastard..."
Seeing Shen Lang jump from the eighteenth floor holding Ye Shishi, Tang Wan'er's eyes widened in disbelief.
Eighteen stories high, eight hundred meters. Leaping down like this, with a weight of over two hundred jin pulling them down, Shen Lang and Ye Shishi absolutely would not survive.
"Young Miss, this is not good..."
Just as Tang Wan'er was gloating over the apparent deaths of Shen Lang and Ye Shishi, Tang Hongyao cried out.
"What?"
Hearing Tang Hongyao's words, Tang Wan'er looked down and saw Shen Lang, holding Ye Shishi, plummeting. However, when they were less than ten meters from the ground, Shen Lang suddenly produced a crossbow from his embrace. With a pull of the trigger, the crossbow shot out a steel cable that lodged into a building opposite the Tongtian Pavilion.
"Swish—"
Shen Lang held the crossbow in one hand, Ye Shishi in the other, and with a mighty swing, he propelled himself towards the opposite building, landing steadily.
"How is this possible?"
Witnessing Shen Lang leap from the eight hundred-meter-high building with Ye Shishi and still land safely, both Tang Wan'er and Tang Hongyao's eyes widened in utter disbelief. They could not fathom that what they were seeing was real.
"This kid, he truly surprises people at every turn. No wonder Shishi is so fond of him."
From the beginning until now, Dugu Jian had stood silently in place, saying nothing. This had caused Tang Wan'er and Tang Hongyao to completely overlook his presence. Now, hearing his words, they both turned their attention to him.
"Shen Lang can leave, but can you? How will you leave?" Tang Wan'er asked Dugu Jian coldly, "It seems that you, the Grandmaster of the Sword Dao, will be buried here with us today."
"Buried?" Dugu Jian chuckled. "The Tongtian Pavilion is already engulfed in raging flames, and the floors are collapsing wildly. In less than half a minute, it will be reduced to ruins. Your predicament is indeed dire, but you cannot take me down with you."
"Cannot?" Tang Wan'er sneered, "Can you also leave like Shen Lang?"
"Leave like Shen Lang? No, no, no. That does not suit my style. How could I be as disheveled as him?" Dugu Jian looked at Tang Wan'er, his smile vanishing. He suddenly became serious in a way they had never seen before. "Have you ever wondered how I got up here?"
"What?"
At his words, Tang Wan'er and Tang Hongyao's faces changed drastically.
How Dugu Jian had reached the eighteenth floor of the Tongtian Pavilion was indeed a perplexing question. If he had fought his way up floor by floor like Shen Lang, there would have been some commotion. But if he hadn't come up that way, then how had he ascended? It was known that the outer layers of the Tongtian Pavilion were coated with flammable oil, igniting at the slightest touch, making it impossible to climb from the outside. If neither of these methods were used, how had Dugu Jian appeared so silently? Tang Wan'er and Tang Hongyao were utterly baffled.
"Enough, no need to think. Let me tell you the answer." Dugu Jian looked at Tang Wan'er and Tang Hongyao and smiled, "Do you know the difference in our mastery of the sword?"
"Because... you can only use swords, while I can control them."
"What?"
Upon hearing Dugu Jian's words, Tang Wan'er and Tang Hongyao looked confused. However, in the next moment, they understood what he meant.
"Whoosh—"
Dugu Jian drew the wooden sword from his waist, then grabbed the Xuan Tie Giant Sword from his back and threw it out. He then leaped onto the Xuan Tie Giant Sword and flew away, landing steadily on the ground.
"Sword Control Flight?"
Seeing Dugu Jian capable of flying on his sword, Tang Wan'er and Tang Hongyao's eyes widened. "This... is this still human?" Sword control flight was something only legendary immortals could achieve. How could a mortal like Dugu Jian do it?
However, very soon, the Tongtian Pavilion shuddered violently and finally collapsed into ruins, burying Tang Wan'er and Tang Hongyao beneath the debris, consumed by the raging inferno.
"Dugu Jian, are you truly human?"
Seeing Tang Hongyao and Tang Wan'er swallowed by the flames, Shen Lang sighed, then walked up to Dugu Jian and asked. He had heard of sword control flight before but had never witnessed it. For a moment, he was too astonished to speak.
"It's merely a method of wrapping sword energy around the giant sword and then manipulating that energy. What, is that so astonishing?" Dugu Jian said somewhat speechlessly to Shen Lang. He then approached Ye Shishi and asked, "Shishi, are you alright?"
"Sister Jian, I am fine. I am not hurt." Although Ye Shishi had just experienced such a thrilling event, she should have been frightened. However, with Shen Lang by her side, she felt an unspeakable sense of security and calmly replied.
"Good, it's good you're alright." Seeing Ye Shishi safe, Dugu Jian breathed a sigh of relief. He slung the Xuan Tie Giant Sword onto his back and then ran off into the distance.
"That's the direction of the Tang Sect ancestral shrine. Shishi, let's go there too."
Since Ye Shishi was pregnant, Shen Lang could not carry her while running. Thus, they could only walk slowly. By the time Shen Lang returned to the Tang Sect ancestral shrine with Ye Shishi, Can Dao was kneeling on the ground, blood flowing from the corners of his mouth. Tang Jiutian, having been struck by at least three hundred blades all over his body, stood shakily, his entire being drenched in blood, looking extremely battered.
"Father-in-law, it seems you've been injured. How are you? Are you alright?" Shen Lang smiled as he looked at Tang Jiutian.
"Shen Lang, you're still alive. It seems Tang Hongyao and Tang Wan'er failed..." Tang Jiutian wiped the blood from his lips, his face contorted with ferocity as he looked at Shen Lang. "My three sons and one daughter, one son and one daughter died because of you. Another son was crippled for life because of you. Today, I will have your life."