Chapter Eighty-One: The Way of the Tides

  First update! It's been delayed for tens of days and can't break through the 1,000 mark.

  ——

  "My current full-power strike is enough to instantly kill the Black Ape King, how can it be so easily neutralized? What kind of cultivation method is that black rolling river?"

  Chen Xiao gazed intently at the black river rushing between King Kunpeng's palms, a mere two feet long, yet giving an endless and boundless feeling that was beyond imagination.

  "Die!"

  Chen Tai didn't believe in evil, and once again swung his sword upwards. The six major sword moves of "Da Yuan Feng Xing Jian" were performed to the extreme by him: Gale Sweeping Shadow, Fine Rain Slanting Wind, Fierce Wind Like a Dark Night, Crazy Wind Like a Tide, Long Wind Breaking Waves, and Whirlwind Shattering the Void. He was confident that such an attack would be more than enough to kill Lei Ying Wang face-to-face.

  However—

  Still returned empty-handed!

  That black river was like a bottomless pit that could dissolve everything, no matter how sharp and terrifying Chen Tai's sword intent was, as long as it was washed by the river water, all its power would disappear without a trace.

  "No way, if this continues, even if the Kunpeng King doesn't attack me on its own initiative, I'll still be completely dragged down by this black river!" Chen Xiao's thoughts turned, and he no longer moved forward.

  "I've said it before, you're no match for me."

  Kunpeng Wang smiled leisurely, and a hint of disdain flashed across his gaunt face. "You've only grasped a thread of the Wind Path's intent, whereas I, after countless years of contemplation, have comprehended the complete Tidal Path's intent! You, how could you possibly be my opponent?"

  Tidal Road meaning? Complete?

  Chen Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly as he understood the pros and cons involved.

  Any skill, all divided into foundation, subtlety, and unity of heaven and man. Reaching this state, one can already resonate with the harmony of heaven and earth, and every move and style can evoke the power of heaven and earth for one's own use.

  The unity of heaven and man is the realm of the Tao's intention.

  At this boundary, one needs to feel the heaven and earth, and understand the profound mystery of Tao. As long as one's talent is not inferior, and their understanding ability is sufficient, they can all understand their own Tao meaning from all natural things such as mountains, rivers, land, flowers, trees, wind, fire, thunder, and lightning. Like Chen Gan's understanding of the wind's Tao meaning in the wind, like Kun Peng Wang's understanding of the tide's Tao meaning in the tide, are all a kind of Tao meaning.

  However, the connotation of Tao is also not exactly the same. To grasp a thread of Tao's meaning can only be considered as catching a glimpse of the threshold, entering the hall and chamber. If one can penetrate all the subtleties of Tao's meaning, then it can be said that they have grasped an integral thread of Tao!

  Chen's Way of Wind can only be considered as a glimpse of the entrance.

  The tide of King Kunpeng's Tao is already grasping a complete Tao meaning.

  Although both are martial arts cultivation of Taoist intention and realm, they are vastly different, like heaven and earth!

  "I comprehended the meaning of the Tidal Dao 5,000 years ago and spent another 5,000 years refining it through trial and error, repeatedly perfecting it until I fully grasped a complete and unique Tidal Dao. This Yin Ming River in my hand is the essence of water that I have refined using the Tidal Dao, allowing me to unleash all its power. Its might is no less than that of an Earth-grade treasure, and even if I were to encounter a cultivator at the Huang Ting realm, I would still be confident in killing them. And as for you?"

  Kunpeng Wang spoke with a domineering tone, his whole body exuding an aura of tyranny. "Chen Tang, don't struggle anymore, just surrender!"

  "You think I'll go quietly into the night? Beat me first, then talk!"

  Chen Suo let out a cold hum, and the eight Xuanming flying swords spinning around him suddenly emitted a long whine, transforming into eight dazzling sword lights that crisscrossed each other as they shot towards the Kraken King.

  "What a stubborn little guy! Let's defeat you first then!" Amidst the faint sighs, King Kunpeng suddenly thrust his palms forward and pushed with great force, as if he wanted to topple a great mountain.

  Rumble!

  The black river suddenly turned into a rolling muddy wave, instantly flooding the empty space within a hundred miles, and in the distance, it seemed as if a vast and majestic black river was suspended under the sky. In the blink of an eye, it had moved from a hundred feet away to right in front of Chen Xi.

  "Huh?"

  Chen Xiao's complexion changed slightly, and with the appearance of the Yin Ming River, Kun Peng Wang suddenly evaporated into thin air, disappearing without a trace! Chen Xiao's heart skipped a beat as he recalled the eight handles of the Xuan Ming flying sword.

  Waaaah~~~~

  The sharp wind rose like a knife, the stormy waves surged, every thread of wind was as sharp as a sword, and in an instant, thousands of blades cut through the river, cutting off the waves. The storm contained the meaning of the Tao of Wind, its power was extremely terrifying, the black waves that rushed forward were directly cut into fine water mist, and then disappeared into the fog.

  But just as one wave subsided, another terrifying black torrent came surging from afar, with waves crashing against each other, even more majestic and powerful than before.

  "Kill!"

  Chen Xiao didn't hesitate, manipulating the hurricane, eight Xuanming flying swords like eight howling dragons dancing wildly, rushing forward head-on.

  The will of the wind sword, sharp and unmatched, changing in countless ways, tearing apart shackles, breaking free from restraints, is freedom!

  Kill!

  Crush the obstacles in front of you.

  Kill!

  Goblins on the dusty road.

  Kill!

  For freedom alone.

  The dark and mysterious river water surged and rolled, like the tide, endless and boundless, with each wave more powerful than the last, terrifying. But Chen Tai relied on his eight handles of Xuanming flying swords, relying on the sword intent of the wind to slaughter wildly, like a hard rock on the cliff, letting the waves roll in, I will break it with my ten thousand swords!

  Hehehe~~

  The hurricane was like a sword, causing the tide to shatter into thousands of water droplets, but it could no longer completely erase them.

  "Relying on the eight handles of the Xuanming flying sword is not enough." Chen's eyes were as calm as ice and snow, with a sharp gleam, his right hand holding the Gengjin sword, which burst forth with billions of lightning flashes, the dark ice condensed into a matchless sword light, madly strangling those black waves that surged from all sides, its momentum rising violently!

  ……

  On a small hill ten miles outside of Xiao Yue Ridge, the black-robed and white-haired Old Tortoise King with piercing eyes stood alongside the Fox King of Qing Qiu, whose hair was scattered like peach blossoms.

  The eyes of both people gazed at the distant horizon under the dark river and the young man surrounded by the waves in the center.

  "What a pity!" Old Turtle King sighed.

  "What a pity?" Qingqiu Fox King was taken aback and asked in doubt.

  "You don't understand." Old Wang sighed, "Not to mention others, look at this little guy. His spiritual soul is extremely powerful, and manipulating the eight yellow-grade top-quality flying swords is also effortless for him. His comprehension ability is also extremely astonishing, his martial arts cultivation has already possessed the realm of the meaning of the Tao, and it's the most difficult to comprehend wind meaning of the Tao. However, he still hasn't realized the terrifying aspect of the tide meaning of the Tao."

  "That tide surges forward, its power growing more and more terrifying with each passing moment. At its strongest, it can easily reduce a towering mountain to dust. With his current abilities, his situation will only become increasingly perilous."

  "If... given him another period of time, relying on his comprehension, he could completely grasp a complete Wind Path Intention. Although his cultivation is not as thick as Kunpeng's, he can still be in an unbeatable position. What a pity, what a pity."

  The old turtle king shook his head and sighed endlessly.

  "What a pity, no big deal, when he's about to die, we'll lend him a hand. You're looking for him for something, aren't you? We save him and he won't even be grateful?" Qingqiu Fox King was relaxed and chuckled lightly.

  "You don't understand." Old Wang shook his head again, but in his heart he thought: "A dragon is formed after being trapped in the nine abysses. If I lend a hand to help, what's the point of talking about a transformation like a dragon?"

  Kill!

  Eight handles of Xu Ming flying swords danced horizontally, Chen Tai held a Geng Jin sword in his hand, step by step forward, wave after wave of black giant waves were twisted into foam by him, disappearing without a trace.

  "The power is getting stronger and stronger, but I'm also getting more and more exhausted." Chen Xiao's heart was filled with anxiety, "Moreover, my true yuan is being consumed bit by bit, if this continues, the situation will become extremely dire."

  Splash!

  Another wave of black tide surged forward, with a more powerful and ferocious aura than before, and a hint of sharpness like golden spears.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!...

  Chen Xiao's sword shattered into a thousand pieces after being struck by the wave, and seeing that it was impossible to make it disappear, he immediately clenched his left fist and launched a series of powerful punches that shook the air.

  Fists like substance, containing Chen Yun's innate perfect realm physical strength and a thread of mysterious witchcraft, whistling to thoroughly blast those waves that turned into water droplets into powder, dispersing them all.

  Kill!

  Surrounded by the dark tide of Yinming River from all sides, Chen Tai could only fight with all his might.

  "It's over." Qingqiu Fox King said leisurely, "Even the pre-heavenly round and perfect boundary of his physical cultivation has been used up. He is undoubtedly making a last-ditch effort. Do you want to save him?"

  Lao Ding Wang shook his head and said, "It's still a bit short, wait a little longer, he can hold on for some more time."

  "Do we have to wait again?" Qingqiu Fox King said in surprise: "If we wait again, even if we can save him, I'm afraid he will suffer a great deal of damage and become a useless person for the rest of his life."

  "Wait a bit." Old Wang Yu insisted, looking into Chen Tang's eyes, as if expecting something.

  Bang!

  It was again the time of a cup of tea, when Chen Xiao was fighting with all his might, a black wave like a giant hammer came crashing down on his body, sending him flying dozens of feet away, and his mouth was already filled with crimson blood.

  "Kill!"

  Chen Yao's hair was disheveled, and his lips were bleeding profusely. As soon as he fell to the ground, he quickly sprang up, and with a swift motion of his hand, the golden sword in his hand pierced through the air, striking down the black tide that came crashing back once again.

  Kill! Kill! Kill!

  His body was exhausted to the extreme, his true yuan was almost depleted, yet in Chen Xiao's eyes, a raging flame burned, that was unyielding, unruly and persistent!

  Another cup of tea time has passed.

  Chen Xiao's complexion had become dull and stupid, as if he had fallen into a demonic trance, his eyes were wooden, and if not for the eight flying swords of Xuanming dancing in the air, the sword in his hand would have stabbed out, at this moment, he looked like a wooden puppet that had lost its soul!

  Innumerable scenes flashed through Chen Yao's mind, fleeting yet crystal clear.

  A childhood of poverty, mother absent, father away, engagement torn apart, endless humiliation and ridicule, grandfather's sorrowful and indignant eyes...

  Innumerable scenes merged together, transforming into a large hand that tightly grasped the throat.

  He felt suffocated, a strong sense of asphyxiation filled his whole body, like a small insect wrapped in spider webs, struggling but unable to struggle free, could only wait for death.

  Why?

  Why?

  His hoarse voice was exhausted from shouting, his furious and indignant roar.