Chương 278: One More Step

"Damn..."

In that moment, she knew that it was over and it pained her greatly. She was only a few steps from the peak, so close that she saw what was on top, a small flag fluttering in the wind. With her hand outstretched, the distance between her and the flag was mere inches. But her strength left her and a single step could not be taken. She struggled but Zha Tian Yun's attack had taken everything out of her.

"So...close..."

In the end, she could feel her consciousness fading, as darkness graced her eyes. In the very last moments, she heard a voice, her own voice.

"Hah, in the last moment, I can finally step in."

When darkness filled her mind, Xue Yue took control.

As the closest to her, Zha Tian Yun felt elation that Ming Yue had fallen. He ran up to the peak, not noticing the flag at his feet. In his frenzy, he turned around, looking from the top of the mountain. He laughed out loud.

"HAHAHA, I've won once again! I can enter the Empyrean Paradise again!"

The others stopped on their tracks, staring deeply at the peak, looking at the two figures. They could hear Zha Tian Yun's wild laughter, stinging their ears as the top spot had been taken by him. Unbeknownst to them all, it was not over yet.

In all his laughter, he did not notice Xue Yue's body trembling. Lying on the floor, she slowly moved her hands, pushing herself up. She struggled to speak and felt extremely weak but Xue Yue's mind was fresh, unaffected by what Ming Yue had experienced.

The body was weak but the mind was strong and with that, she would go beyond her limits.

"Pale Moon!"

She roused what energy was within her body and forced it to come loose. The pain was enough to shock ordinary people, a burning sensation as if her insides was scalded by a river of boiling water. Wisps of blue energy left her body before a wave burst out.

With a rush of power, Xue Yue took that one step before anyone could even notice and grabbed the flag. A beam of light shot up from it and whisked her away.

"Damn...one step and...I'm already so...tired..."

Deactivating Pale Moon, Xue Yue relaxed herself and slowly slinked back into Ming Yue's consciousness. Despite being in good condition, having to take control of Ming Yue's spent body and use Pale Moon took nearly everything out of her. Still, they did it, they were able to take the flag and take first place.

"What? No, no! What is this? How?!"

Zha Tian Yun spun around, finally seeing the flag in Ming Yue's hand.

"A flag?! It was a damn flag?! I thought it was to reach the peak of the mountain! What is this trickery?!"

He was angry, furious, rage burned every fiber of his being as the thought of it all lingered. As loud as his laughter was, his rage was even louder and everyone on that mountain heard his plight. There was a relief in their hearts, perhaps a bit of joy even. But then they were curious as to who that mysterious figure was.

Ming Yue left barely a silhouette as she scrambled up the mountain.

Not even Zha Tian Yun knew who she was for he never spared a glance at her face. His hands curled up into fist and he punched the mountain peak, forcing cracks to run down. Relaxing afterwards, he took a deep breath and gathered himself together.

"Without the Empyrean Paradise, there is no point to this damned tournament."

He looked down below, finding that everyone else had stopped in their tracks. It was only for a moment before they all began to move, fighting each other once more. None of them seemed to pay much attention to Zha Tian Yun, but he did not move from the peak of the mountain.

His sword was still glowing white and he stood there solemnly.

Zha Tian Yun needed the Empyrean Paradise, such a place was fitting only for him. The "strongest" Inheritor felt helpless without its energy, he could not breakthrough. Now that it was gone, he saw no real purpose in fighting. Thus he only stood and waited for someone to come.

As the tournament came to a close, the battle among Inheritors was nothing short of amazing.

The once towering mountain was riddled with craters and cracks sprawled down to the ground.

Wenqin Yan's battle with Yan Xian ended in his victory, as the horse riding Inheritor managed to outpace Yan Xian's mist-like body, piercing him in the chest. Between Tang Zhan and Liu Xing, the two faced off in the same fashion as before, pushing against each other and refusing to step back. Zha Tian Yun was challenged multiple times but it was only against Yu Hua that he faced difficulty and ultimately died to her.

"How strong! To think she has such skill!" he could not help but praise Yu Hua.

Yu Hua had truly hidden herself and improved greatly. With the teachings and lessons of Elder Xiang, her sword skills had vastly grown, allowing her to better use her techniques and Dao. Practicing the Dao of Earth, she had control over the ground, hard soil could become quicksand in moments, spikes could shoot from below.

In their battle, the stones of the mountain seemed to move wherever she attacked. Sometimes they were like waves, other times it was like a wall, or a weapon and so much more. Despite Zha Tian Yun's seemingly lightspeed attacks, she dealt with them all with her cleaver blade. Eventually, she struck him down with enough power to nearly split the mountain in half.

Some of these Inheritors still had one or two lives left. After dying they returned to the mountain once again to fight. They swarmed the ravaged mountain and the numbers dwindled.

Only two remained, Zha Tian Yun and Tang Zhan, both on their last lives. It was a drawn out battle betweeen the two as the latter was able to form her Lifeblood Armor, enhancing her lances and overall strength. Tang Zhan didn't speak at all in this battle, she was focused and cared about nothing but taking down her opponent.

What concluded the battle was an exhcange of attacks. Against this armored Inheritor, Zha Tian Yun allowed a small gap in his defense. A very risky move that had paid off in the end.

Tang Zhan immediately took full advantage, forcing her lance towards his thigh. He lunged forth, allowing his leg to scrape by the spiked surface of the lance. It ripped through his flesh but he pushed forward. His white sword shined ever so brighter and he thrusted it into her armor. A burst of light brightened the whole arena as Tang Zhan's Lifeblood Armor cracked under the pressure and his sword went through.

As the light dimmed, Tang Zhan's body seemed to convulse as the energy within her turned wild. A few more seconds and her body would have lose control and she would have died. But the mark on her body sensed this and took her away, leaving only Zha Tian Yun to accept this victory.

But it meant nothing to him for he could not enter the Empyrean Paradise. It was no longer about furthering his cultivation but the paradise instead. He yearned for its energy but it seemed that he could not have it.

"You know, even if you had taken the top spot, I would not have allowed you to enter the Empyrean Paradise a second time."

Standing there, the Grand Elder appeared right next to him. Zha Tian Yun turned towards him and bowed respectfully.

"Such a place is truly mysterious and magical, the energy within it is of the highest quality and would be hard to forget. However, such a place also has its dangers."