Thirty thousand zhang beneath the earth.
The divine arm suspended above the furnace began to shrink rapidly after devouring the last trace of Vast Void Dao Ancestor's origin.
Its enormous form, originally a thousand zhang long, kept collapsing and reforming under the tempering of the Myriad Manifestations Spirit Fire.
Its bones shattered and healed; its flesh melted away and was reborn.
In the end, it no longer held the shape of an arm.
All its flesh and essence transformed into a three-foot-long sword blank.
The entire blade was a dark red, as if forged from flowing blood.
Set into its spine was a gray-green Vertical Pupil, the embodiment of Vast Void Dao Ancestor's origin.
Along the blade's edge shimmered a faint gray light—the cutting edge of the Side Effect Rectification Law.
Hum.
The sword was complete.
A clear, ringing sword cry exploded in the heart of the earth.
The sound was not blocked by the heavy layers of rock.
It ignored all material barriers and resonated directly through every structural point in every inch of the Canglan Realm.
Boom.
The once-clear sky above the Central Continent Immortal Realm shattered in an instant.
It wasn't that dark clouds had gathered. The sky itself had truly split open.
Countless pitch-black spatial fissures spread like a spiderweb, slicing the firmament into fragments.
Then, a blood-red pillar of light shot skyward from deep within the Central Continent's ley lines.
The pillar was a hundred zhang wide, containing enough terrifying energy to destroy stars.
It smashed through the Mountain Protection Array, pierced the atmosphere, and thrust straight into the outer void.
Heaven and earth lost their color.
The sun and moon gave no light.
The entire Canglan Realm was dyed a ghastly crimson.
Blood rain poured from the heavens.
The rainwater carried no scent of blood. Instead, it gave off a strange fragrance.
Wherever a raindrop touched the earth, an eerie Shore Flower bloomed.
In the blink of an eye, the wasteland became a sea of flowers.
This was a divine miracle, and also Heaven's lament.
For this artifact had been born at the cost of stripping one Ancient God of a limb and stealing the origin of another.
The Heavenly Dao trembled.
It could not determine this weapon's grade.
It had surpassed the limits of this world's laws.
The Nine Provinces shook.
On the shores of the East Sea, ten-thousand-zhang waves froze in place, then surged backward toward the sky.
In the hundred thousand mountains of the Southern Border, countless dormant volcanoes erupted at once. Lava dragons soared into the heavens, as if bowing before the pillar of light.
In the ancient deserts of the Far West, the shifting sands stopped flowing and gathered into enormous whirlpools.
Across the northern ice fields, layers of ice that had endured for ten thousand years shattered.
The sleeping beings hidden in remote mountains, great marshes, ancient tombs, and ruins all awoke at this moment.
A bronze coffin was flung open.
A withered old man crawled out of it. He gazed toward the Central Continent, his cloudy eyes filled with shock.
"This aura..."
"It's neither an immortal artifact nor a Dao artifact."
"This is..."
"Someone is stealing from Heaven."
Central Continent's defensive line.
Dragon Lord stood atop the city wall, inspecting the defenses.
The instant that sword cry rang out, the black-and-gold longsword in his hand suddenly flew free and soared into the air, its blade bending slightly toward the Central Continent.
It was submitting.
All swords paid homage to their sovereign.
Dragon Lord felt his blood and qi churn in his chest, and his knees nearly buckled.
It was absolute suppression by rank.
"Dao Ancestor Ming Yan..."
Dragon Lord stared at the pillar of blood-red light, his lips trembling.
"You really did it."
"You used an Ancient God's body as the material and another Ancient God's origin as the fuel."
"This isn't weapon forging. You're creating a Demon God."
Beyond Changyuan, the wandering fallen demon immortals reacted even more violently.
Their bodies carried blood tainted by Bloodline Emperor Lord.
When the aura of the divine sword's birth swept over them—
Thud, thud.
Tens of thousands of fallen demons fell to their knees as one.
Against their will, they kowtowed toward the Central Continent, smashing their foreheads against the rocks until blood streamed freely.
Their souls screamed in terror.
They sensed the aura of their source, yet mingled with it was an edge that threatened to shatter their souls.
It was a ruler more terrifying than the Emperor Lord.
Within the Central Continent Immortal Realm.
The million-plus revived immortals had already descended into chaos.
The earth shook, and the mountains rocked.
Though the Mountain Protection Array had been activated, it still could not block that terrifying pressure.
Many cultivators with lower cultivation were pressed flat against the ground, unable to move.
Inside the Heavenly Evolution Pavilion, the cultivators who had been engrossed in the Void Truth Unraveled were now clutching their heads and screaming.
The Yao Jue Dao Patterns within their bodies trembled wildly, as if they had encountered their natural enemy.
"What happened?"
"Have the Four Ancient Gods invaded?"
"Is the sky falling?"
Panic spread like a plague.
Everyone trembled and prayed.
Only one place remained terrifyingly quiet.
Beneath the main peak of the Central Continent Immortal Mansion.
Before the long-sealed stone gate.
Several figures knelt in perfect unison on the rubble-strewn ground.
At their head was Longyue, with Jin Mie, Ao Jiao, Ao Yan, Purple Micro Star Lord, and Xuan Yue War Marshal behind her.
Even Ye Qinghan, who had just hurried back from the Heavenly Evolution Pavilion, knelt among them.
They were not afraid.
On the contrary, every face was filled with fervor and reverence.
Each of them bore the mark of the Side Effect Law within their body.
They could clearly sense that the force shaking heaven and earth came from their master.
"We respectfully welcome Master out of seclusion."
Longyue's clear voice pierced the thunderous din.
"Congratulations, Master, on completing your divine weapon and suppressing the ages."
"We've cultivated nothing but demonic arts—where did you get that Ten Thousand Zhang Golden Body?"
The crowd shouted in unison, their voices surging like a tidal wave.
They knew.
From this moment on, the Central Continent Immortal Realm would no longer be a refuge forced to defend itself.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The heavy stone gate let out a muffled grinding sound.
It slowly swung open.
A wave of scorching air poured through the gap, evaporating the rain around it in an instant.
White steam billowed.
Every gaze converged on the dark entrance.
Tap, tap, tap.
Footsteps rang out clearly.
A tall, slender figure emerged slowly from the darkness.
Li Yan wore a fresh green robe, his long hair hanging loose over his shoulders.
His expression remained calm, as if he were not the one who had just caused all that commotion.
But in his right hand—
He held a sword.
The sword was three feet and three inches long, translucent as red crystal, with golden Divine Blood flowing through it like lava.
Its hilt took the shape of a tiny demon claw, gripping the blade tightly.
At the center of the guard, the gray-green Vertical Pupil slowly turned, radiating an eerie aura that drove anyone who looked at it toward madness.
The sword had no scabbard.
It was too sharp; no material in the world could sheath it.
The space around it was constantly breaking apart and re-forming.
Li Yan stepped out of the cavern and stood atop the high platform.
He did not look at his kneeling disciples, nor at the panicked crowd in the distance.
He raised his head and looked toward the still-shattered sky, where the outer void was exposed.
There, four boundless wills were watching.
Li Yan raised the sword in his hand.
Its tip pointed straight at the heavens.
Hum.
The blade trembled once more.
The pillars of blood-red light across the sky instantly drew in, converging at a single point on the sword tip.
An overbearing sword intent swept across the eight directions.
Li Yan's voice was quiet, yet it echoed across heaven and earth.
"Defy Heaven's Dao, throw yin and yang into chaos."
"Slay Gods and Devils, set the universe right."
His gaze flashed like lightning, pierced the barriers between planes, and fixed on the Four Ancient Gods in the depths of the void.
A cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"I've prepared a gift in return for you as well."
"Let's see if you dare accept it."
The wind died.
The rain stopped.
It was as if the entire world held its breath beneath that single sword.
One man, one sword.
He stood proudly between heaven and earth.
Once a pawn forced to survive in the cracks, he had now overturned the board and drawn his sword against the heavens.
The War of the Gods.
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