Ch. 1420 - The Desires of All Living Beings

Flames blazed upon the sword, burning the very air.

Zhang He roared in fury and charged straight at Xiao Anshan.

Xiao Anshan raised his right hand, spirit energy swirling around his palm. An overwhelming force erupted outward, boom!, blasting Zhang He off his feet and hurling him across the arena.

“Kill!” Zhang He howled, forcing himself up from the ground and lunging again.

But each time he charged, Xiao Anshan struck him down. Though covered in blood, Zhang He kept struggling back to his feet, as if he were an indestructible cockroach.

“I, Zhang He, have come this far not through anyone’s help, nor by luck,” he shouted, laughing wildly through his pain. “I’ve crawled my way up like an ant, shameless, cunning, willing to use any scheme or trick, to claw my way to this realm!”

His entire body was drenched in blood, yet he still refused to fall.

Xiao Anshan’s expression softened slightly. “Whether you win or lose today, I must admit, I respect your spirit. But in my eyes, all things have their Dao. If you act without Dao, pursuing your goals by any means necessary, how are you any different from a beast?”

“Then call me a beast, so what?” Zhang He spat blood and laughed madly.

Xiao Anshan sighed.

Spirit energy gathered at his right hand, forming an enormous palm that filled the sky. He poured half of his strength into this single strike.

When Zhang He charged again, the palm descended like thunder. Boom! The explosion echoed across the arena, shaking the air.

Zhang He’s body was sent flying, crashing heavily to the ground. He tried to rise, but his body no longer obeyed him.

“I have destroyed your cultivation but spared your life,” Xiao Anshan said calmly. “This is not revenge, it is so that you may lay down your obsessions and learn what it means to live as an ordinary man.”

“My meridians… my cultivation is gone…”

Zhang He sat there blankly, his eyes lifeless. Then his gaze filled with fury as he looked up at Xiao Anshan.

“You cruel bastard,” he hissed.

Without hesitation, he seized his flaming sword, and thrust it into his own chest before everyone’s eyes.

Xiao Anshan’s face changed dramatically. He tried to stop him, but it was already too late.

All that remained before him was a corpse.

“Why?” Xiao Anshan murmured, confused. He truly couldn’t understand why Zhang He had chosen to end his life when he had spared it.

“I’ll tell you why,” Liu Huohuo said bluntly. “You yap too much. Your lectures on morality probably annoyed him to death!”

Xiao Anshan turned to look at Xu Zimo and his group, then actually walked over.

“Please,” he said sincerely, “enlighten me.”

“Enlighten you about what?” Zhang Hengzhi asked warily.

“I spared his life. Why did he kill himself? I don’t understand,” Xiao Anshan replied earnestly.

Despite his exalted background, he never spoke to others with arrogance.

In Xu Zimo’s eyes, Xiao Anshan was admirable in many ways, principled, composed, and sincere, just a bit too detached from the world of ordinary people.

“You grew up in the Chaos Fire God Realm, didn’t you?” Xu Zimo asked. “You’ve probably never been outside its walls, maybe you’ve barely even been to this Chaos Fire City.”

Xiao Anshan nodded. “How did you know?”

“That explains it,” Xu Zimo said. “You don’t understand people. You’ve spent your life learning lofty doctrines but never learned how to apply them.”

He continued, “Take Zhang He for example. He spent his whole life striving to become strong. He clawed upward, using every means, even calling himself a beast. Can you imagine how deep that obsession ran?”

“That’s exactly why I destroyed his cultivation,” Xiao Anshan said, frowning. “So that he could release that obsession.”

“By doing that, you erased his entire life’s effort,” Xu Zimo countered. “Do you really think someone can just accept that? You didn’t just cripple his power, you shattered his reason for living. You left him no path forward.” He smiled faintly. “You think what you think is what is, but it’s really not.”

The line left Xiao Anshan speechless.

He had grown up in the shelter of the Chaos Fire God Realm, never knowing deceit or betrayal, never tasting the coldness of the world. Naturally, he couldn’t understand the hearts of ordinary people.

“Thank you for your guidance,” Xiao Anshan said after a long silence. “Whether you are right or wrong, I am still grateful. But when we meet in battle, I will not hold back.”

Xu Zimo didn’t bother replying.

Xiao Anshan bowed again. “I have a feeling that in the end, we will be the ones to fight for first place.”

As he walked away, the others couldn’t help but think that, aside from being a little rigid, Xiao Anshan was actually quite likable.

The second match began.

Shangguan Xian vs. Luo Ji.

At the referee’s shout, Luo Ji’s expression grew tense, gone was his usual composure.

Ideally, he had wanted to face Zhang He; that would have been an even fight between weaklings. But facing Shangguan Xian, he knew he had no chance.

“Sister Shangguan,” Liu Huohuo said hesitantly, “I’ll have to trouble you with this one.”

“Don’t worry,” Shangguan Xian replied with a faint smile. “He won’t walk off that stage alive.”

As long as Luo Ji lived, Liu Huohuo would never be free of his grasp.

Shangguan Xian was not someone who enjoyed killing, but she knew when it was necessary.

She stepped gracefully onto the platform. Luo Ji was already waiting, trying to compose himself.

“Miss Shangguan,” he greeted with a smile.

“Let’s begin,” she said coolly.

The ethereal fire of the Immortal Spirit ignited in her hand, blazing to life. She held nothing back, her attack came immediately and without mercy.

Luo Ji’s face changed. He dared not hesitate and summoned his Nine Beacon Flames, his strongest technique.

Two surging fires clashed in midair, roaring and devouring the space between them.

The next instant, Luo Ji was sent flying backward like a rag doll.

“Damn it, so strong!” he gasped, his expression twisted in disbelief. He had been utterly crushed from the very first exchange.

Shangguan Xian’s power was far beyond anything he’d imagined.

“I adm-” he began, but before the word “admit” could leave his mouth, Shangguan Xian’s palm was already upon him.

Her figure, elegant and ethereal like a phoenix soaring through the heavens, carried both grace and dominance.

Her jade hand pierced through the layers of space and pressed against his chest.

Boom!

Blood spurted from his mouth before he could even fall.

Then Shangguan Xian seized him, hurled him into the sky, and unleashed the full force of her Immortal Spirit Flame.

The fire rose like a column connecting heaven and earth, engulfing Luo Ji entirely.

His screams echoed through the arena, haunting and pitiful.

When the flames finally died down and silence returned, all that was left was a charred skeleton tumbling from the air.

“Shangguan Xian, victory!” the referee shouted.

The crowd buzzed in awe and shock.

As Shangguan Xian stepped off the stage, Xu Zimo chuckled. “You’ve just made Fire Beacon City your mortal enemy.”

“We’ll be leaving the Chaos Fire God Realm soon anyway,” she replied with a carefree smile. “Why should I care?”

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