The thunderclouds of tribulation in the starry sky dispersed.
Stars began to twinkle in the dark sky, which had held not a glimmer of light. Shattered space, broken order, and even the fractured rules of heaven and earth began to mend.
"The Immortal Order's sword heir from the upper realm..."
Jiang Ding murmured.
He lowered his head and looked at his body.
White ash covered him. Not a trace of healthy color remained, and his body was utterly withered. In many places, flesh and skin had burned away to expose bone. Even the bones were deathly pale and dry as kindling, little different from the coals glowing red in a stove. Precious little life remained within them.
This was the price of burning his vital blood and flesh.
Jiang Ding's body seemed intact, but in truth, it was like fuel in a furnace. Less than a tenth of its vitality remained. If he had delayed another ten breaths, his entire body and soul would have crumbled to ash!
"Just an imprint within a single lightning tribulation... Ha!"
"Hahahaha!"
Jiang Ding suddenly smiled.
There was no crushing sense of defeat or sorrow in him. His heart brimmed with joy, and his smile was simple and unguarded. "But an opponent like that is wonderful!"
"I saw hope of becoming an immortal!"
"If I kill Xuan, the Heaven Sword Heir, that one-in-ten-thousand chance of becoming an immortal will surely appear before me... The grand path to immortality is no longer a hollow fantasy, no longer just a slogan. A glimmer of light has truly appeared."
"If Xi Yuan came back to life, if all the Great Sun Sword Lords of past generations came back to life, they'd probably be so jealous their cell walls would peel away, wouldn't they?"
"...Hahaha, can't be helped.