The Avalon Of Five Elements

"Rest a little."

Wan Shenwei was the one who spoke up. His body was covered in blood stains, and the most jarring wound was on his left arm. There was nothing left from his elbow down, only a portion of his white bone jutting out from his flesh. It was a terrifying sight.

He looked calm and his gaze was firm, as if he wasn't the one injured.

It was a wound left by a bitter struggle between She Yu and himself. It was this lose-lose situation that frightened She Yu off, giving them the chance to catch a breath.

His steel-like willpower infected his soldiers. No matter how tired everyone was, no one had a look of despair on their faces. They quickly tumbled onto the ground, and those military officers with leftover energy walked to the outer areas to stand guard without a word.

But Wan Shenwei was very clear that She Yu's escape was temporary and that she would quickly come for them once again. God's blood had an alarming recovering ability. The injuries he had given her would take only one or two days to subside.

She would definitely hunt for them again.

She'd been doing exactly that for the past few days, effectively inflicting enormous damage on Dread and Judgement.

The generals of Dread and Judgement were called to gather.

Without nonsense, Wan Shenwei got straight to the point. "Let's plan our next operation. After the break, Dread and Judgement will split up and evacuate."

Ximen Caijue cut in, "I disagree!"

Wan Shenwei asked, "Don't you want to leave some seeds for Judgement?"

Ximen Caijue went mute as these were words she'd used on Ye Baiyi. She surveyed her troops with a grieved look.

There were only about a hundred people left in Judgement, and practically all of them had injuries. Ever since the establishment of Judgement, there had never been such a heavy loss, and they had never faced such a direct danger of annihilation.

Disconsolate she stressed, "I'm staying."

Wan Shenwei shook his head. "Your abilities have been affected, so it's pointless for you to stay."

If it had been any other day, his words would've triggered her to start a physical fight. Yet, today, these words only brought her despair and grief. She turned her face and looked at the unconscious Ye Baiyi.

Ye Baiyi seemed to be in a deep, quiet sleep. If not for the occasional movements of his eyelashes and the faintly discernible heartbeat of the Heart of God, people would've suspected that he was no longer alive.

Kidnapping the enemy's commander… what a glorious and out-of-this-world accomplishment!

Yet Ye Baiyi had become a pressurizing force. The power of the Heart of God had far exceeded their imagination. It was their first time seeing somebody who, even when unconscious, could not be killed. It was already proven that She Yu would always be able to lock down on their location, so everyone guessed that it was related to the Heart of God.

They only way for them to escape She Yu's hunt was to throw Ye Baiyi away, but doing so meant that all their sacrifices would become meaningless.

She Yu's power brought not only shock but also fear to Dread and Judgement.

As the division leader of Dread, Wan Shenwei's abilities were already at an elementalist's peak. The only elementalists stronger than him were Dai Gang and Le Buleng. Even then, he wasn't She Yu's match.

An unkillable Ye Baiyi and a fatal She Yu.

The force both the Heart of God and God's blood contained subverted Wan Shenwei and gang's knowledge.

The blood catastrophe's eruption and the rise of blood elementalists had made elementalists realize that there was another kind of force in this world. Now they had to find out that the blood elementalists had started moving ahead of them, and their force system seemed to be superior to theirs.

This was the real despairing realization.

Remarkable blood elementalists kept emerging, but powerful elementalists were dwindling. In the times yet to come, the disparity between both sides would only widen.

It was as if Wan Shenwei was standing alone on an isolated island, looking at the torrential and boundless waves rising up slowly and covering his feet and his surroundings. There was no escaping and no place to hide.

Sometimes an individual's strength was really as negligible as dust.

Wan Shenwei sighed inwardly before his train of thought pulled him back. "Now we're only afraid that we won't be able to shrug She Yu off. Now our only plan is to survive. Dread and Judgement will split up and move toward different directions. I will bring Ye Baiyi along with me and flee toward Jadeite Forest. If she doesn't want Ye Baiyi to fall into the hands of Dai Gang, She Yu will spare no time to chase after you all."

"Let me stay, Sir!"

"How can you take such risks so rashly?"

"Yeah, how can Dread do without you, Sir? I'm willing to be the bait!"

Dread's soldiers were beyond emotional, offering themselves for service one after another.

Wan Shenwei raised his working arm, which hushed them.

When it became quiet, he smiled. "You guys can't outrun She Yu. I might not be able to it either, but at the very least I should be able to keep up with her. If I don't run far enough, she will have time to turn back to hunt for the others.

The audience kept silence as they knew he was right.

"But…"

"No buts." Wan Shenwei shook his head. "This is an order."

Everyone quietened down.

Wan Shenwei swept his gaze across his people, the smile on his face gradually disappearing. With a stern expression, he spoke calmly, "I'm most likely not going to be able to return this time. Dying in a battlefield is our predestination. It's pretty nice. All troubles are solved with death, and the living suffer more. For that I'll have to say I'm sorry."

He got up suddenly and gave everyone a serious bow.

At a loss, the soldiers stood up crying.

"Sir! Sir!"

"Sir, you…"

This bunch of ironclad fellows grew red in the face as their voices choked. They were unable to speak and their eyes were bloodshot. The young soldiers bit their lips to prevent themselves from crying, but tears rolled down their cheeks uncontrollably.

Wan Shenwei smiled for a second before speaking up with a solemn expression on his face. "Let's talk about the arrangements in the back. Your mission is more difficult than mine."

The valley was very quiet and only Wan Shenwei's voice could be heard.

His voice was very calm and deep. There was no motivating or vehement words as usual, as if he was briefing them about the usual training content, patrolling arrangements and upcoming missions.

"My mission is to bring Ye Baiyi to Dai Gang. Whether or not I can hand him over safely, there's no guarantee. It's best if I can, because it's better for him to be in Dai Gang's hands than to return to Blood of God. After all, Dai Gang is an elementalist, and it's still better than handling Blood of God. There's no choice if I can't make it there. People like us should just do our best and that's enough."

"I'll leave Dread to you, Song Yan."

"Now it seems that our combat and training methods require a lot of modifications. We need to improve and alter every aspect. Blood of God is progressing very significantly, be it within their combat divisions or within their powerful players. She Yu alone is able to tackle all of us, and we're unable to kill Ye Baiyi's Heart of God. How are we going to fight if he wakes up? We would only get ripped apart. Blood of God is simply improving too quickly. We must catch up, or there really won't be anymore hope."

His unhurried tone carried the same familiarity, but the foreign part was his continuous chattering, as if he was talking about ordinary daily matters.

Usually, his speech was concise and powerful, consisting of order after order.

There must've been a lot of things that he wanted to say… things he couldn't bear to let go of...

To die in battle wasn't scary at all, but why were tears falling down?

The young soldiers wiped their tears away, their flushed faces filled with unswerving determination. They were going to remember all his words.

Wan Shenwei sighed after a brief pause. "Be it Dread or Judgement, don't get destroyed. Don't disperse either. You guys must unite, live on, and continue fighting. As for what course to follow, I don't know. I only have one request: do not start any internal strife. Any enemy of Blood of God is a friend."

After some thought, he seemed to mutter to himself, "I wonder if Madam Ye's Master's Glory has succeeded. Although I disagree with many of her views, I do hope it will succeed. If the elementalists don't come up with new battling methods, we are bound to lose. If not that, then there's Ai Hui. There are many strange things in the Central Pine Faction. The pagoda cannons are really powerful, and Shi Xueman and gang are even more insistent on taking the blood elementalists down."

In a self-mocking manner, Wan Shenwei smiled a bitter smile. "All of this feels like pointless talk."

With his eyes red, Song Yan clenched his teeth. "I'll remember all your words forever, Sir!"

Wan Shenwei turned to Ximen Caijue. "Ximen, you're fiery and jealous. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle Madam Ye. It's better if you go to the Central Pine Faction."

Ximen Caijue felt sorrowful but did not express it on her face. With a cold snort she said, "Think about how you're gonna survive in the hands of that witch first! You dying in the hands of a younger blood elementalist is a humiliation for the people of the three central divisions."

Because he knew her character well, Wan Shenwei did not get angry.

With a laugh, he stood up.

He walked toward Ye Baiyi, kept his sword, and used his working hand to pick Ye Baiyi up before spreading his azure wings.

They opened up like an evil dragon spreading its wings from within hell.

Except that his wide, black wings were badly damaged and scarred. The sword on his waist was filled with cracks and its edges were chipped off. His broken arm had yet to recover and his white bone was eerily stained with blood.

Wan Shenwei stood pencil-straight and upright, without the least bit of hunch. His cool face, having been through hardships, was heroic and high-spirited at this moment.

Whoosh, whoosh, his wings flapped slowly, stirring the air around them.

Wan Shenwei's straight silhouette remained motionless.

He scanned his eyes across everybody's faces. He was going to remember all of them. Emotions filled his chest as he shouted, "It's been an honor working alongside all of you for over a decade. I will never forget it! Time has passed, but nothing changes. We will not turn our backs on the citizens and Dread! If there's a chance, I will fight with you all again! We will fight to our hearts' content!"

Some sobbed silently, some cried out in grief, some yelled agitatedly, while others started bellowing in agony.

Wan Shenwei only smiled. Carrying Ye Baiyi, he rose into the sky.

"I'm going."