The tiger roared loudly and then it glared at a now terrified Shadow Dragon.

The beast squirmed as it tried its best to break the chains bounding him and flee "Damn! I have not yet fully recovered, I cannot possibly survive that blow! Break! Break! Why is this shit not breaking!"

The chains seemed on the verge of breaking but managed to hold on, as if they were making an all-out effort and using every bit of remaining all their power now to keep the dragon still for a few more moments.

Lao Jianghu smiled and whistled a happy tune as his eyes lit up "Hey, my old friend! Are you ready? Here it comes!" Lao Jianghu lifted his hand up in the air and the Golden Tiger, which had become as big as a whole country, mimicked him, lifting its huge front paw... 

The Shadow Dragon looked up in terror and began to squirm even more violently, pushing his body to its limits to break free of the golden chains. All was for naught as he could only watch as the tiger's limb got closer and closer...

"...HIGH FIVE!" Lao Jianghu yelled and smiled cheerfully.

"...ROAAAAR!" With a loud roar, the tiger dashed towards the Dragon. The body of the tiger quickly morphed into one gigantic tiger's paw, the single paw being many times the size of the sect and, as it slammed down, the Shadow Dragon couldn't hope to resist it as it shrieked in pain.

The Dragon tried to put up resistance against the attack but he couldn't do anything to even slow down the massive attack. His eyes glowed with fear as he understood that he was about to die.

With that, the beast found strength where there was none before, making an all-out effort and bringing its body past its limits, a fearful array of thousands of flaming black blades materialized and immediately shot to meet the oncoming paw.

Although this counterattack was extremely fierce, even this was not enough to block the blow from the countless golden weapons' attack and it also soon dissipated into nothingness as the paw broke through the array.

The dragon watched on in despair as the golden paw grew bigger and bigger in his eyes as it got closer and closer...

It slammed into the dragon's body so fiercely that it seemed like it could crush the beast's body into a bloody pulp effortlessly as it smashed down with all its might. 

Down below, Lao Jianghu panted as he grew pale and spat out many mouthfuls of blood: although this attack was used by gathering an incredible amount of Qi for the past ten years, it was still really taxing on his Mortal body.

Had he been inside the true Aura Tiger's body, an attack like that wouldn't even need him to concentrate for even the fraction of a second to pull off.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately as that would mean the Shadow Dragon would be free as well, he was not. The seal above also sealed the Shadow Dragon's cultivation by a great margin: he could wield even less than one percent of his true power, otherwise he would have already killed everybody present.

Had the beast been in that kind of stage, such an attack wouldn't even be able to put a scratch on the dragon's body. Fortunately, he was not, and thus the blow would gravely injure him in the least, killing him with one hit was also possible.

Lao Jianghu wiped away the blood dripping down from the sides of his mouth. He smiled faintly and once again determination flashed into his eyes as he lifted his hand a second time, gritting his teeth and enduring when he heard his body making creaking noises in protest.

The thousands of weapon lifted themselves up again, leaving behind a deeply wounded Shadow Dragon: he was covered by countless gaping holes, deep gashes and was greatly trashed. 

The mass of mangled flesh barely resembled a dragon right now and it even looked like it could collapse at any moment. 

Still, Lao Jianghu left him no time to recover: up in the sky, the countless golden weapons shone with bright light as they assembled, beginning to resemble a tiger's paw once again.

As the gigantic golden paw reappeared it immediately slammed down for a second time! This time, the old man's face turned as white as a sheet of paper and he coughed up even more blood.

Still, the attack was not in any way inferior to the one he had done before as it slammed down with even greater might than it had showed earlier.

Countless drops of black, putrid blood began to fall from the sky as if they were part of a waterfall. Lao Jianghu looked up, his white beard now stained with his own red blood. When the first few drops of black blood fell, the land they touched began to wither and grow black.

With a loud roar, Lao Jianghu's body flew in the air and his eyes shone with intense golden light. He yelled once more as his eyes sparkled with determination and his robes fluttered in the wind "Your blood shall not contaminate this land that I protect!"

He clapped his hands once and pointed up: a gigantic golden shield appeared in the sky, covering the grounds of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect: as soon as the blood touched the glowing seal, it would sizzle and then disappear, not even leaving behind fumes or vapor.

Lao Jianghu panted as he seemed to age over ten years, but his strained body and weathered face showed no sign of giving up: only once the last of the blood drops were destroyed did he finally dispel the shield and the spell on the golden weapons.

They turned back from their huge hundreds of meters long form into their original appearance, just a few foot long each, and the golden glow began to fade away as well.

They fell down from the sky and Lao Jianghu spent the very last of his strength to break their fall before they could harm anyone. He spat out another mouthful of blood and moved his hands making strange symbols.

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Veins popped on his forehead as he slowly but carefully guided the blades to land beside him and when they finally did, they embedded themselves in the ground firmly where they stopped glowing altogether.

Meanwhile, up in the sky, the dragon's figure was slowly crumbling away as it turned into countless black petals which then once again turned into dust and subsequently disappeared completely from existence.

As Cheng Hao saw how Lao Jianghu had dealt with the dragon's threat, he was stunned by the old man's power. Still, he had no time to be shocked by what happened just then, that a thunderous roar sounded out by the thousands of cultivators below.

"The dragon is dead!"

"We won!!!"

"We are alive! Protector Lao Jianghu, thanks for saving our lives!"

"Dragon Slayer! Dragon Slayer!"

Cheng Hao's eyes widened when he heard those cries but then he nodded "Old Tiger... You did a great job"

The young child smiled as he looked at the battered body of the old man with golden eyes, a long white beard, a pair of handsome white mustache and impeccable white hair.

Lao Jianghu smiled tiredly at the crowd of people and felt the last of his strength leave him. Just as he was about to fall on the ground, four strong arms caught him. 

Bi Liang and Mu Gu were smiling bitterly when they looked at the battered body of the old cultivator and they gently laid him down. Mu Gu brought two of his fingers to his mouth and murmured a few ancient-sounding words. He then drew the figure of a tree in the air: it looked mysterious, as if it belonged to some lost era in the past. 

Soon thereafter, a tall, illusory tree also appeared above the old cultivator's figure and began healing Lao Jianghu's body.

Lao Jianghu looked around himself surprised and then smiled "Mu Gu... I have killed the man responsible for your friend's death... Bi Liang... I have avenged your father. Mu Gu, thanks for trusting me and helping out my companions... I am afraid that such a small sacrifice won't be enough for you two to forgive me, but I apologize nonetheless..."

The old protector, wearing bright green robes made of the most beautiful leaves, smiled and shook his head "You did much more than avenging that old fart. You saved us all. Thank you, Aura Tiger. I am sure that Lao Jianghu would have been more than happy to die knowing that his life would save many" he smiled and his gaze fell on the pale face of the wounded man "Now rest, we will take care of everything else!"

Lao Jianghu nodded and looked at Bi Liang "I see you have defeated Chu Sai... Your father would have been very proud of you. At least I, who was so arrogant to think of myself as your father for these many years of planning and hiding, certainly am"

Bi Liang smiled tiredly but it was a sincere smile that came from the heart. It was a bitter one, but it was in no way cold as he warmly shook his head "I also did, do and will think of you as a father. I am sure Lao Jianghu is smiling at us as he heads down his own path! Wether it is going to be an easy or an harsh one, he will give it his best, how can I do any less?"

Lao Jianghu looked confused and surprised at the two men and a wide smile formed on his face as he sighed "Your words make me rest at ease. Thank you. If it was not for you, this all wouldn't have been possible and Lao Jianghu would have died for nothing. He was a very lucky man, to have people as great as you by his side..."

He smiled and closed his eyes as he began to rotate his cultivation base which had now gone back down to a mid level cultivation base and began to restore his strength.

Back at Cheng Hao's group, Aster and Iris were smiling excitedly "Yes! He did it! He is finally dead! We are free! We are alive! We won't have to fear his threats any longer!" Aster laughed cheerfully as he grabbed Iris and hugged her tight.

The girl also hugged him back, tears of joy fell from her eyes and her mouth was arranged into a happy smile. Cheng Hao looked at them smiling and crying: he could see that both the smile and the tears were genuine and they both were full of emotions. He concluded that Yin Hei had been somehow forcing them to obey him.

He sighed relieved, as he now knew that the two of them didn't join their hands with a monster like that on their own. Instead, they had been forced into it. Although this didn't lessen any of their crimes, it still showed that they were not cold-blooded monsters. At least, the two of them weren't.

He took out a white robe from his Dimensional Pouch similar to those that Aster and Iris were wearing and put it on as well. He straightened his clothing and then smiled satisfied.

Cheng Hao nodded at himself and was relieved that he chose not to kill the two Ancients together with the other seven of their companions: unlike the other eight members, he had sensed no true malice from the duo's action, except for the thirst for revenge for their fallen comrade and the hatred towards their own weaknesses in front of his power.

Those couldn't be considered as bad traits alone. After all, revenge is what drives the man to act, to rebel against the powerful and struggle despite the odds. Hatred towards oneself and one's weakness might break a man if too weak in the mind, but it is also what brings a person to break past the limits of their body and soar higher than anyone else.

He had decided to give them a chance.

They were extremely rare exceptions: few have ever been given a second chance by him in his two lifetimes. This time though, he had decided to give the duo another chance, despite them acting towards him.

Of course the fact that they were Ancients, meaning they were like his previous master, influenced the choice a bit, but that was but a mere excuse... What he did not want to admit was that, when he saw them acting like that before, ready to die for one another, it made him feel weak.

When he saw them hugging each other with tears in their eyes, as if they had just been freed by the harshest of prisons, it made his heart ache so badly that he had almost wanted to grab his chest from the pain.

Their relationship was clearly not that of a brother and sister, they were not even related after all, but they still cared about each other so much... This made memories surface again in Cheng Hao's mind. Memories he thought erased. Memories that he would have wished to have forgotten, if it meant not going through those painful experiences all over gain. 

Unfortunately, it was impossible, he knew that as they have always been with him, surfacing from time to time when he thought he had finally got rid of them...

But why would they come back then? Why now of all times? Why did they need to haunt him again after more than a thousand years has passed?

He did not understand, the only thing he knew was that his heart skipped a beat when he recalled her red lips moving without making a sound, her red skinned body dancing near the bonfire as if she was the flame instead. 

She seemed to make the heavens silent as her dance was simply too beautiful. Her robes danced with hair and her hair fluttered behind her back and fell on her face... Her laughter who seemed to be able to turn even the harshest of winters into summer echoed in the child's head as his chest ached...

...

He sighed and looked upwards to the sky still covered in black clouds.

'Will I always see you in my memories as an ethereal flame? You burn, but your warmth won't reach me, your light that may have been blinding before is now nothing more than a faint ember... Will I really... Be forever unable to reach you?' He sighed and muttered "Rei Hong..."

He looked up for some time, not seeming to care about the celebration below.

Suddenly, Cheng Hao's expression flinched, his face darkened and he cursed "Damn... Is that guy immortal? How could he not die?"

Hearing his words, the two ancients looked at each other and then asked "Who? Sir Jianghu?"

Goldy also glared upwards "Crap! Stupid Hao is right! All this happened and he still has not died, this is simply ridiculous!"

Iris trembled as she felt a bad feeling swelling up in her heart. The two people broke their hug and the girl asked "Who... Who are you talking about?"

Cheng Hao's eyes grew angry as he felt the need to unleash his bottled up emotions on someone... And it seemed like he would get a chance, yes, but it might be more than he had been looking for:

"That Shadow Dragon...It is still alive!"