Cold, terrifying words rang out from midair, instantly echoing in every direction and leaving everyone aghast and unable to believe it.
The Sword Sect's sect master was dead!
How was that possible?
Their Sword Sect's sect master ranked sixth on the Heaven Rankings. Who could kill him?
Besides, with the assistance of Master Yun Kong, ranked first on the Heaven Rankings, no one should have been able to kill him.
But if he was not dead, why did Lu Chen speak with such absolute certainty?
And why did he dare to charge into the Sword Sect alone?
High in the sky, sword light flickered.
Weapons that had once belonged to Sword Sect disciples and elders all floated beneath the youth's feet at this moment, as though they had encountered a born king and were submitting to him.
Not only that.
Even the sect-protecting treasured sword gave a low, mournful hum in midair, trembling without end.
Level Three Sword Intent suppressed everything.
All weapons were automatically paying homage.
Lu Chen's gaze was cold as he looked down. After a brief pause, he said, "Considering that some of you may have only recently joined the Sword Sect and know nothing of its grudges, I'll give you three breaths to leave the Sword Sect at once. Anyone who remains after three breaths will be buried alongside the Sword Sect!"
After all, he was not some Great Demon King who killed people without blinking.
Sometimes, he could still be reasonable.
The crowd below finally erupted into an uproar.
Everyone wore horrified expressions as they retreated rapidly.
"Quick, report this to the Great Elder!"
"Someone has come to challenge the Sword Sect!"
"Don't panic, everyone! The Great Elder is right behind us. The Great Elder will handle everything!"
"Great Elder, quickly suppress this madman! Don't let him spout nonsense!"
"..."
The Great Elder said nothing. His expression was grave as his eyes locked tightly onto Lu Chen in the air. Fine beads of cold sweat covered his back, while stormy waves surged in his heart.
Second Layer Grandmaster...
One realm higher than himself!
He could not have seen wrongly, could he?
But how was that possible?
"Father, Father..."
The young man beside him was pale with terror. He called out several times, then grabbed the Great Elder and shook him hard. Only then did the Great Elder return to his senses. "Is he truly at the Grandmaster realm? How can he walk through the air? And the news he mentioned—could the sect master really be dead?"
The Great Elder swallowed with difficulty but did not answer.
In truth, he could not determine whether Lu Chen had used some secret treasure to achieve flight.
After all, there were countless wondrous treasures in the world.
Perhaps some treasure could emit an aura comparable to that of a Grandmaster.
And he said the sect master was dead?
He dared not believe that news even more.
Without drawing attention, the Great Elder crushed a jade token for requesting aid. Then his body slowly rose into the air. Arriving in midair, he forced a smile onto his face and said, "You must be the famous Young Hero Lu. Truly, heroes emerge in their youth. This old man is from the Sword Sect..."
Clang!
Boom!
Blade light flared, radiant as sunset clouds.
Lu Chen gave him no chance for further nonsense. The Precious Blade in his hand had already left its sheath, carrying unmatched, indescribable radiant light as it crashed down in an instant.
The fifth style of the Seven Styles of Divine Extinction!
Severing Calamity!
Tenfold strength gathered at a single point in an instant, appearing on the blade's edge like peerless divine light descending from beyond the heavens, illuminating the entire sky at once.
Everyone was stabbed by the glare until they covered their eyes and screamed, feeling as though their eyeballs were about to be blinded.
The Great Elder at the forefront was even more frightened out of his wits, terror filling his face.
Now, he was finally certain that Lu Chen was a Second Layer Grandmaster!
No!
This was not the Second Layer. Such power had reached at least the Fourth or Fifth Layer!
Whether in spirit, true qi, or Blade Intent, this strike had nearly reached the pinnacle.
The Great Elder let out a furious roar and used every method at his disposal without regard for anything else. Yet the moment those methods were unleashed, they proved as fragile as paper windows, unable to withstand a single blow.
His entire body was instantly swallowed by that terrifying blade light!
Splat!
Blood sprayed, and the light was terrifying.
The Great Elder, Yun Wuchang, was sent flying thousands of feet on the spot. With a boom, he smashed into the sect master's hall behind him. The terrifying residual force he carried instantly shattered the entire hall.
Terrifying Blade Qi crashed viciously into the ground, instantly setting off heaven-shaking tremors.
Crash!
The entire layer of earth seemed about to overturn.
Countless streams of Blade Qi ravaged the ground and lashed out everywhere. The disciples in the plaza all screamed in terror at that moment, bursting one after another beneath the violent Blade Qi like rotten watermelons.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Aaaahhh!
In the blink of an eye, no one knew how many people had been shattered alive.
Flesh, broken bones, and hair flew everywhere.
You killed the Great Elder of the Sword Sect, ending his many years of corrupt living. Merit Points +500! You killed the son of the Sword Sect's Great Elder, allowing father and son to reunite in the underworld. Merit Points +350! You killed a Sword Sect disciple. Merit Points +200 +180 +180 ...
Countless lines of text rapidly appeared.
The might of a single slash was unfathomably terrifying.
Seen from high above, the ground had been carved with a horrifying crater thousands of feet long and three to four meters deep. Cracks covered the area around it, while countless streams of Blade Qi still lingered.
Everyone else trembled violently, gripped by boundless fear.
Though they had not been directly killed by that sudden slash, it had still left their legs weak and their souls scattered. They collapsed to the ground and began crying out in terrified pleas for mercy.
Their wails shook heaven and earth.
"Spare us, my lord!"
"Young Hero Lu, don't kill me! I have nothing to do with the Sword Sect!"
"Spare my life! I'm willing to leave the Sword Sect today..."
"Spare me!"
"Fools who do not know life from death. Did you think I was exchanging pleasantries with you? You even came over to make conversation with me?"
Lu Chen's tone was cold. After slashing down the Great Elder and his son, his long blade had already returned to its sheath. His indifferent gaze swept over those below as he said, "Those who just joined may leave immediately. As for everyone else, not a single one of you will escape!"
"I just joined!"
"So did I!"
"Run!"
Several dozen people immediately began fleeing for their lives.
A cold glint flashed through Lu Chen's eyes, and blade light swept out in an instant.
Splat!
In an instant, more than ninety percent of those several dozen people died on the spot.
Only three were left alive, their faces deathly pale with terror.
You killed thirty-three Sword Sect disciples. Merit Points +7920! In your boundless mercy, you spared three innocent people. Merit Points +350!
"Do you think I don't know? Anyone who has cultivated Sword Sect techniques must die! No one can muddle through today!"
Lu Chen's cold words rang out again.
Those who had just joined surely had not yet had time to cultivate Sword Sect techniques.
But anyone else who had cultivated Sword Sect techniques carried a certain aura.
His Sword Intent could sense it with perfect precision!
That was his confidence.
The crowd grew even more terrified.
Suddenly, someone shouted, and everyone began scattering in desperate flight.
Lu Chen's eyes were icy as he began slaughtering them right there.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
"Aaaahhh..."
"Demon! You demon!"
"Sect Master, come save us..."
Screams rose as the entire Sword Sect became a scene too terrible to behold, directly shrouded in blade light and sword shadows.
Clang! Clang! Clang...
The great bell responsible for warning was struck again and again. Its mournful, resounding toll spread ceaselessly in all directions through the blood-red sky.
Outside.
Shen Lian, the Golden-Eyed Lion, led a group from the Pacification Bureau as they rushed without restraint to encircle the Sword Sect.
He was exceptionally shocked.
Because only a short while ago, he had learned from his Master what had happened at the Sky Sword Sect.
He had then been ordered to lead experts and raid the Sword Sect at top speed.
But compared to Lu Chen, their speed was undoubtedly slower by an unknown amount.
Even traveling at full speed, they had not yet covered half the distance.
Yet one could imagine it.
With Lu Chen's methods, the Sword Sect could not possibly be safe and sound at this moment.
Bai Linglong, dressed in white, crawled and stumbled forward in terror. Her face was covered in tears as she sobbed miserably, utterly like a young girl untouched by worldly affairs who only wanted to flee this place at all costs.
That demon had come!
The demon who had shattered her Dao Heart with a single slash in Lonely Cloud Town!
Though afterward, with the help of the elders and sect master, she had repeatedly tried to repair her Dao Heart.
It had all achieved little effect.
Whenever she gripped a sword, she almost immediately recalled her crushing defeat at Lu Chen's hands.
And after Senior Sister Xiao's miserable defeat, her terror of Lu Chen had reached the extreme.
Now, that demon had come to exterminate the Sword Sect.
As she cried in terror, a figure suddenly flashed. Lu Chen had already appeared before her. He grabbed her hair in one hand and yanked her up, frowning as he said, "It's you. You're that white-clothed young master from Lonely Cloud Town? You're a woman?"
"Spare me, please spare me..."
The woman's mental state collapsed. Tears streamed down her face like pear blossoms in rain, and she could not muster the slightest will to resist.
She truly was beautiful, with jade-like skin, crystalline and translucent.
Like the most perfect creation of the heavens.
No wonder she had disguised herself as a man.
Otherwise, she truly could have thrown the world into chaos!
"Spare you? You started all of this. Tell me, why are all you Sword Sect people so thin-skinned? I only defeated you once, yet your Dao Heart collapsed and you wanted me dead? Afterward, you had your elders and disciples endlessly come after me, causing me trouble and plotting against me. Can you blame me for this?"
Lu Chen's gaze was deep as he stared into her eyes. "So why did you challenge me?"
"I was wrong. I know I was wrong. Please spare me..."
Bai Linglong cried.
"Too late! You started this, so you must die!"
Splat!
Sword Intent instantly surged into her mind, shattering her brain on the spot. Blood flowed from her seven orifices as she died instantly. With a casual toss, he threw her corpse away like garbage.
Then he resumed his mad slaughter among the crowd.
Blade Intent and Sword Intent howled through the air with popping sounds. Blood splashed, and corpses flew.
The entire Sword Sect was too horrible to look upon.
From beginning to end, no one could obstruct Lu Chen in the slightest.
Clang! Clang! Clang...
The deafening tolls of the bell continued to echo.
Finally!
When the bell reached the back mountain area, it seemed to provoke some violent reaction.
The area that had originally been the back mountain's forbidden ground.
Boom!
At that moment, towering Sword Qi suddenly erupted, roaring as it shot into the heavens, nearly blasting the clouds apart.
Terrifying Sword Qi swept through all directions, changing the color of heaven and earth and reducing all things to ruin.
Two enormous iron coffins, black as ink, shot out of the forbidden grounds' mountain cave one after the other like two heavy greatswords, shattering the entire cave.
"The sect's warning bell is sounding! What powerful enemy dares invade?"
"Could it be that the sect master is absent? Some brazen bandit actually dares cause trouble in the Sword Sect?"
A hoarse, icy voice came from within the heavy iron coffin.
Both iron coffins moved at an extreme speed.
But just then!
Suddenly!
A dazzling, snow-bright blade light flashed ahead, slashing viciously at the iron coffin charging in front with unimaginable power and speed.
Tenfold power converged at a single point.
Like the Milky Way of the Ninth Heaven pouring down.
Just as the iron coffin reached the front courtyard, before it could even react, it was struck viciously by that blade light.
Boom!
Bang!
The entire iron coffin exploded on the spot. Fragments flew everywhere as countless Sword Qi and blade lights shot in all directions.
A withered figure inside, as gaunt as a dried corpse, was violently cleaved out of the iron coffin and sent flying, as though struck by a meteor, crashing fiercely thousands of zhang away.
The other black iron coffin following behind was instantly startled. It hurriedly stopped dead in midair.
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