Immortals Bet Everything on a Sword

Immortals Bet Everything on a Sword

The two cultivators high in the sky were caught completely off guard and struck head-on.

There was no scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere. Ripples merely spread around them as some invisible force blocked the tide-like barrage of bullets.

"Eh, what kind of Magical Artifact is this?" Faced with the sudden siege of thousands of mortals, the two cultivators remained calm. Kou Hong extended his right hand, seized a soldier into the air, took the gun from his hands for careful inspection, then casually flung the soldier away.

"Interesting. Using ingenious mechanical structures in place of spell formations, and the explosive force of mortal objects in place of Spiritual Power, it can actually unleash the strength of Early Qi Refining..." Kou Hong understood the workings of the gun after only one glance.

He shook his head. "Who would have thought that after thousands of years, the mortals exiled to the Immortal Forsaken Land would develop such an exquisite thing? Unfortunately, it can only function in this land where the Great Dao is incomplete. Outside the Immortal Forsaken Land, it is nothing more than a pile of useless scrap metal." With that, the gun in his hand abruptly vanished, evidently put away with a casual motion.

"Mere mortals dare raise their hands against cultivators like us. I had felt a trace of guilt before, but now it seems you were the ones courting death!"

Kou Hong looked down from above at the countless mortal soldiers packed densely through the darkness, his eyes filled with disdain.

His right hand rapidly tapped through the air before him, tracing one profound mark after another.

Countless sparks suddenly appeared from the darkness, swelling in an instant like a prairie fire into enormous fireballs.

"Mystical Art: Fire Dragon's Roar!"

As Kou Hong shouted coldly, crimson flames extended and burned outward from those massive fireballs all at once. In only a few moments, the Crimson Flame connected the fireballs across the sky as though it were flesh and blood.

A ferocious giant dragon formed from crimson flames immediately appeared, coiling above Profound Capital City.

The fire dragon raised its head and let out a ringing dragon's roar. It drew in its body, then crashed fiercely downward.

Boom!

Thunderous explosions rang out without end.

House after house in Profound Capital City was like crudely made toys, unable to offer the slightest resistance before being easily destroyed.

The Crimson Flame, as though it possessed a will of its own, devoured and burned everything it could touch after reaching the ground.

In the blink of an eye, Profound Capital City had become a blazing inferno on earth! Yet Kou Hong, who had caused all of this, frowned, his expression uncertain and alarmed.

For he discovered that while Profound Capital City looked miserable below, the overwhelming majority of the soldiers had actually survived his attack! One had to know that the Fire Dragon's Roar he had unleashed in rage had already been his full strength.

The power of a Great Circle of Foundation Establishment cultivator was something mortals simply could not withstand!

Even if those soldiers were well-trained and had immediately taken out protective gear and hidden in building corners the moment they saw him cast his art, their casualties should have been far greater than they were now!

What was going on?! Kou Hong was startled and suspicious. In an instant, he seemed to notice something. With a wave of his hand, Kou Hong gathered the tiny metal objects that had previously blanketed the sky as they flew at him, only to be easily blocked by his protective Spiritual Power and fall all over the ground.

"This is..." Kou Hong's expression changed drastically. He immediately swept his gaze around in vigilance, and the disdain in his eyes abruptly became wariness.

"These concealed weapons were soaked in mortal blood. It is Immortal-Mortal Miasma..." Dao Xuanzi's voice came from nearby, his expression equally grim.

"We were ambushed the moment we arrived. They even used Immortal-Mortal Miasma, so they clearly came prepared. Could cultivators be guiding these mortals from behind the scenes?" The two exchanged a glance, countless thoughts flashing through their minds. "No matter what, this place is strange. We should not linger."

Dao Xuanzi and Kou Hong might have drawn blades against each other over a Core Formation Skill, but that had been a matter between the two of them.

Now that an unforeseen variable had appeared, when faced with only several thousand mortals, the two men, who had shared a century of tacit understanding, instinctively chose to flee first at the exact same moment.

Perhaps sensing their intentions, the gunfire that had ceased because of the Mystical Art: Fire Dragon's Roar rang out once more!

Yet this only deepened Dao Xuanzi and Kou Hong's suspicions.

These mortals clearly had an agenda!

"Go!" The two were about to flee when a voice rose from below.

"Dao Xuanzi! Kou Hong! If you two flee today, then by tomorrow, news that you obtained a Core Formation Skill will spread throughout the entire Cultivation World!"

The voice came from every direction in Profound Capital City, echoing endlessly through the night.

The voice sounded somewhat aged, yet its tone was incomparably certain and cold.

Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi came to an abrupt halt. Their faces were filled with shock and utter disbelief.

"How is that possible? Only the two of us knew about obtaining the Core Formation Skill. How could the news have leaked?" For a moment, both men fell into profound terror.

They had traveled together to explore a cave abode. Then Kou Hong had seized the skill and fled all the way, Dao Xuanzi pursuing relentlessly. Kou Hong had taken a desperate gamble and barged into this Immortal Forsaken Land in search of a sliver of survival...

Every person and event they had encountered along the way flashed through their minds in turn.

Who was it?!

Just as their minds shook violently and they could barely contain themselves, dozens of shells flew out of the darkness from all kinds of unexpected positions, trailing long Tail Flames as they shot toward them.

"Courting death!" Kou Hong recovered from his shock, only to become even more enraged.

"Mystical Art: Flame Extinction Burst!"

A massive ring of fire faintly formed out of thin air.

"Not good, Kou Hong, dodge!" At that moment, Dao Xuanzi's urgent voice rang out.

"Hm?" Kou Hong froze. Sweeping his Divine Sense over the area, his face filled with horror.

He was about to evade, but it was already too late.

Dozens of shells detonated around them.

There was no deafening explosion. Instead, clumps of dark-red liquid burst around them, forming a small rain of blood that drenched the two cultivators completely! "Ah..."

A bloodcurdling scream immediately echoed across the sky.

At the same time, the awe-inspiring aura around the two men rapidly weakened.

They held on for only a moment before they could no longer endure, falling from the sky.

Thousands of soldiers surrounded them with guns in hand.

Yet the state of these two "immortals" made even these specially trained death warriors, who could cast aside their own lives without hesitation, feel a chill run through their hearts.

Dao Xuanzi and Kou Hong had originally looked like young men in their twenties or thirties. But after being drenched in the rain of blood, their hair turned snow-white in an instant. Within a few breaths, they became incomparably old, their faces covered in dense wrinkles, a horrifying sight to behold.

The two hunched over and slumped on the ground. Kou Hong was at death's door, clearly about to die. Dao Xuanzi's cultivation was somewhat higher, and he seemed to be in better condition, but he was merely dragging out a miserable existence.

The immortal masters who had once stood so high above them had actually become like this! Not only were the many soldiers present shaken, even Li Fan, who was hiding in the rear and directing matters in secret, felt an inexplicable chill upon hearing his subordinates' report.

"Two immortal masters, our Grand Tutor has ordered that if you surrender, your lives will be spared!" A soldier shouted at the two from afar.

"Surrender..." Dao Xuanzi, severely wounded, looked at his close friend beside him. Kou Hong's eyes were full of unwillingness; he seemed to want to say something, yet could no longer speak. Dao Xuanzi suddenly let out a cold laugh.

Seeing Dao Xuanzi's reaction, Kou Hong had already guessed what he intended to do.

He shook his head slightly, then used the last trace of his strength to pass the Storage Ring on his hand toward Dao Xuanzi.

"Go..." Kou Hong parted his lips slightly. Then his head drooped, and he passed away.

A strange phenomenon suddenly arose high in the sky! A crimson wyrm dragon appeared in the heavens. It seemed to be in tremendous pain, struggling and roaring as it tried to break free of something.

Yet all its efforts were in vain.

It slowly grew thinner, and in the blink of an eye, only a layer of skin and flesh remained.

A moment later, the entire wyrm dragon had been devoured clean, not even bone or flesh left behind.

Only then did people see clearly that a tea-brown tree branch, ordinary and unremarkable in appearance, had taken root and sprouted within the wyrm dragon, devouring it completely!

Though merely mortal wood, it could still devour a dragon!

Like brilliant fireworks, this magnificent sight illuminated the skies for thousands of miles around.

In the minds of every living creature who saw this scene, whether human or otherwise, these words naturally surfaced.

"Foundation Establishment Cultivator Kou Hong cultivated the Dao as a mortal for two hundred and five years, establishing his Dao foundation with the oddity Wyrm Dragon Branch. In the Immortal Forsaken Land, he was besieged by thousands of mortals and carelessly wounded by Immortal-Mortal Miasma."

"His cultivation has been lost, and his lifespan is nearly exhausted."

"Now his body has died and his Dao has vanished. Return Dao to Heaven!"

Pity for One's Kind; their hearts grieved, unable to restrain themselves...

Around Profound Capital City, every living creature shrouded beneath this strange phenomenon was immersed in emotions like these, unable to free themselves.

The splendid spectacle continued for nearly half an hour before finally fading away.

The soldiers finally came back to their senses and silently looked at the other cultivator in the field, now frail with age.

"Immortal Master Dao Xuanzi, our Grand Tutor has no intention of fighting you to the death. If you abandon resistance, our Grand Tutor guarantees your safety..." The soldiers continued calling out as Li Fan had instructed.

Yet Li Fan, hidden in the shadows, sighed inwardly. He knew that this attempt to capture an immortal in this life had failed.

He had never imagined that Immortal-Mortal Miasma would be so devastating to cultivators.

Sure enough, Dao Xuanzi turned a deaf ear to their calls.

He merely looked up at the sky, where the phenomenon had already faded, his eyes full of nostalgia.

"Wyrm Dragon Branch..."

After a long while, he withdrew his gaze and struggled to straighten his hunched body.

Sweeping his eyes around, Dao Xuanzi tried to locate the mastermind behind it all.

"I do not know who you are," he said to Li Fan. "Nor do I know what your purpose is."

"Perhaps it is for this Core Formation Skill, perhaps for something else." Dao Xuanzi glanced at the Storage Ring on his hand and spoke calmly. "Now that you have plotted against us brothers and brought about our deaths and the dispersal of our Dao, there should be nothing left to say."

"But I refuse to accept it," Dao Xuanzi said coldly.

"To have followed behind us all this time, knowing every detail of our affairs without being discovered, your cultivation must be quite high."

"A person like you would be one thing if you simply did not dare face us head-on. Yet you have continuously acted like a skulking ghost, hiding behind mortals, even using the Immortal-Mortal Miasma—that vile thing despised by every cultivator..."

Dao Xuanzi took a deep breath.

"My brother Kou Hong died at the hands of someone like you. It was not worth it for him."

Dao Xuanzi slowly rose into the air. Looking down once more at the crowd that immediately went on guard, his face held neither sorrow nor joy.

"You have already seen my brother's Foundation Establishment Oddity. Now, I ask you all to take a look at mine as well."

"With the wonders of heaven and earth, I establish my Dao foundation," Dao Xuanzi chanted loudly.

"My Dao foundation is named: Dao Xuan."

A gigantic Broken Iron Sword appeared above Profound Capital City.

Every living creature beneath the giant sword's shadow felt their thoughts become like rusted machinery, sluggish and slow.

"I have a sword. I ask you all to behold it!"

The world suddenly brightened. Everyone in Profound Capital City seemed to fall into absolute stillness.

Then, as though cracks had appeared in glass, the entire Profound Capital City shattered into fragments in an instant! "Return to Truth."

The charging progress plummeted. In the instant before his consciousness vanished, Li Fan silently recited in his heart.