Chapter 147: The Bloom of Three-Colored Flowers

Looking at the twin-colored flower before him, shifting constantly between black and white, Ning Xiu pondered for a moment. He continued to grasp Wang Danfeng’s arm and moved closer to the center of the altar.

"Since these twin-colored flowers only require a living body as a host to bloom, I refuse to believe that among you Loulan survivors, there were no individuals willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good."

Whether through selfless dedication, sacrificing oneself for the fallen motherland, or being forced into sacrifice, such people would certainly never be in short supply.

If things were truly as Wang Danfeng claimed, this flower could never have survived down to the present day.

When it came to the darkness of human nature, he understood it better than anyone else.

"I never said that a single person's life alone was enough to make this nether-flower bloom," Wang Danfeng said, her eye rims turning red, her voice laced with tears. "What do you think those tens of thousands of subjects in front of the palace died for?"

"Their lives were all offered to this demon-like flower!"

Ning Xiu looked at Wang Danfeng, sensing the emotional shift across her face. He could tell she was not lying.

Moreover, he could no longer find any reason for her to lie at this point.

Ning Xiu stopped his movement, tossed her aside, and stared at the demonic, flickering flower on the verge of blooming, ultimately choosing not to act.

He stood upon the altar, turned, and looked down at the crowd below.

His gaze sent a chill straight to the bones of the desperate renegades gathered there.

Those who made a living wandering the rivers and lakes of the Dead Desert lived lives truly licking blood from the edge of a blade. The harsh environment fostered this reality, where people would take lives over a pack horse, a woman, or even a mouthful of water.

Many among them had committed every conceivable crime of murder and arson in the neighboring prefectures, fleeing into the boundless Gobi Desert only when they could no longer survive out there.

Take, for instance, the burly man with a face as dark as charcoal down below; he had once committed thirty-two major crimes in Baiyun Prefecture in a single breath, the majority of those who died by his hands being innocent women and children. Eventually, hunted by the officials with nowhere else to turn, he had fled into the Dead Desert.

Or consider the Chang brothers, who had been the first to die at Ning Xiu’s hands—their favorite pastime was digging out human hearts and eating raw human flesh.

Thus, it could be said that from a certain perspective, every single person here was rotten to the core from head to toe. Of course, to their respective families and friends, they might be good people, or even heroes.

Yet once one enters the martial world, who remains innocent?

Who could ever claim innocence?

The conversation between Ning Xiu and Wang Danfeng moments ago had been heard by everyone in the great hall.

As they looked at Ning Xiu, their complexions turned exceptionally ghastly.

"You—what are you going to do?"

"Weren't you all fighting over this twin-colored flower? I am giving you a chance."

Although Ning Xiu did not believe Wang Danfeng was lying, there were some things he needed to witness with his own eyes before he could truly let go.

After Wang Danfeng's account, the twin-colored flower had instantly transformed in their eyes into a primordial beast—no, something far more terrifying than a primordial beast.

One had to bear in mind that this tiny flower had literally slaughtered an entire nation.

At the thought of the sea of bones piled outside the palace, a creeping horror gripped them, and a wave of profound regret surged through everyone's hearts.

Having endured untold hardships to arrive here, they were now throwing away their lives for a few pieces of worthless scrap metal.

No one noticed that the crimson blood on the ground was converging into tiny trickles, flowing along the gaps in the floor tiles directly toward the black altar.

"Everyone, let's fight them to the death!"

"No matter how strong he is, he is only one person. There will come a time when he exhausts his strength."

"Charge!"

...

Someone shouted within the crowd.

Yet no one was a fool. Looking back, the crowd saw that the very person who had shouted "Let's attack together" was the first to turn and flee.

In an instant, the crowd scattered in a mad rush toward the exit of the hall, every single one of them wishing their parents had given them two fewer feet. They understood clearly that survival didn't depend on how fast they could run, but on running faster than the person next to them.

They had witnessed Ning Xiu's lightness kung fu with their own eyes, and they knew full well that outrunning him was practically an impossibility.

Right at that moment, a sudden change occurred.

The entire grand hall began to violently shake, and Ning Xiu slightly furrowed his brow.

He glanced up at the ceiling. From the looks of it, the entire hall was about to collapse, and even the fastest person was still a long distance away from the exit.

For Ning Xiu and Wang Danfeng, who remained upon the black altar, escaping was even more out of the question.

Boom, boom, boom!

The ceiling of the hall shattered completely. A massive boulder crashed down just five paces in front of Ning Xiu, exploding into a rain of flying rock fragments that sprayed like bullets.

The deafening roar echoed through the space.

What on earth was happening?

Ning Xiu turned to look at Wang Danfeng, only to find her equally bewildered, having never anticipated such a turn of events.

Even for the sake of the ancient martial arts cultivation techniques, Ning Xiu had no intention of letting Wang Danfeng die.

He reached out, pulled her close, and shielded her in front of him.

In the blink of an eye, the entire grand hall was reduced to ruins.

Colossal boulders obliterated everything.

...

After an unknown passage of time, a faint sound suddenly echoed from within the ruins.

In a secluded corner, the rubble on the ground violently burst apart.

As the dust settled, two figures emerged atop the debris.

They were none other than Ning Xiu and Wang Danfeng.

For Ning Xiu, who possessed the Golden Bell Shield, this level of commotion was nothing more than child's play, completely incapable of inflicting the slightest harm upon him.

He looked down at Wang Danfeng beside him and noticed that her expression was entirely vacant, her lips muttering softly without pause.

Protected by Ning Xiu, Wang Danfeng had sustained virtually no injuries. Given her caliber as a master, how could she possibly be frightened into such a state by mere falling rocks?

Therefore, this reaction of hers must have stemmed from another reason entirely.

A sudden premonition struck Ning Xiu, causing him to turn his head.

Amidst the ruins, a black-and-white flower was blooming against the wind.

The rootless twin-colored flower had suddenly sprouted a blood-red stem, now displaying a bizarre triad of colors.

Upon witnessing this sight, Wang Danfeng snapped as if losing her mind and lunged toward the twin-colored flower beside them.

Seeing her movement, Ning Xiu instinctively reached out to stop her.

For a moment, he completely forgot the words Wang Danfeng had spoken earlier.

It was entirely a reflex action.

The moment the blood-red stem brushed against Ning Xiu’s hand, it instantly dissolved. Immediately afterward, the petals withered, transforming into a dual stream of black and white energy that poured directly into his body.

...

The Dead Desert, the Ruins of the Ancient Loulan Kingdom.

How much time had passed? Another sandstorm swept across the land.

When the dust finally settled.

A single figure slowly emerged from the entrance.

Silence hung heavy over the threshold.

Only the howling of the cold wind carrying yellow sand could be heard, along with the rustling sound of sand settling across the boundless Gobi, and the quiet rhythm of human breathing.

Those so-called big figures hiding in the shadows to observe frowned in unison at the sight of this figure.

Because this person was not the one they had hoped to see—neither from the Moon Wheel Temple nor from the Loulan remnant faction.