"We won."
"We really won."
"Fellow Daoist Xie, may you fare well on your final journey."
"This battle... was spectacular, but Fellow Daoist Xie is gone."
In the spectator stands, the cultivators fell silent.
They had won this battle. They had finally won, finally been shown hope once more.
But...
Xie Approaching the Abyss was dead.
They had clearly won, yet the atmosphere among them was even more oppressive than if they had lost.
This battle could not be called a Pyrrhic victory. It could only be called no victory at all.
They had won on the surface, but Xie Approaching the Abyss was dead, so it could also be said that there had been no victory, no win.
"Fellow Daoist Xie, may you fare well on your final journey."
After a long silence, countless cultivators bowed, bidding Xie Approaching the Abyss farewell.
They did this after every battle.
Whether they won or lost, those who passed on would always earn their respect.
Because those cultivators had died for them.
This bow was only right. This bow came from their hearts, from their heartfelt respect for Xie Approaching the Abyss.
Before he left, they would see him off on his final journey.
"We actually lost. Just now, I thought we had already won. This Xie Approaching the Abyss had something up his sleeve. To think the Origin Continent still had a forbidden technique like that."
On the Chaos Ancient Clan's side, a powerful cultivator spoke through gritted teeth.
He had not expected Xie Approaching the Abyss to possess such a forbidden technique either.
He had already been dead, yet he had actually come back to life.
And he had even returned at his full strength. Such a forbidden technique was simply unheard of to him. He had never even