"Boom—"
As the Sword Light faded,
a powerful gust of wind suddenly swept through.
The people present were buffeted by the wind, their robes billowing and their hair tousled.
They stared blankly at the scene before them.
One sword!
One sword had flattened the Ten Thousand Bat Grotto!
One sword had annihilated every Blood Bat!
Was this the power of the Number One Sword Immortal Under Heaven?
Everyone looked ahead and saw a youth dressed in green, standing tall and graceful, his black hair falling to his shoulders. He held the Tianya Divine Sword in one hand, its azure Sword Light making him look exceptionally stern.
Yan Hong stared at the youth's back in a daze.
For some reason...
She suddenly felt a little envious of Lu Xueqi.
Envious that she could have such a perfect husband.
The Leader of the Righteous Path!
The Sword Wielder of the Zhu Xian Sword!
The Number One Sword Immortal Under Heaven!
Such a perfect person.
Why did he have to be Lu Xueqi's husband?
Li Xun stared blankly at the scene before him, deep shock flashing in his eyes as he gazed at the Green-robed Youth's back in disbelief...
"So this is his strength?"
Li Xun thought to himself.
He silently lowered his head. In the presence of such a dazzling figure, he...
Wasn't worth a damn.
Faxiang, Qi Hao, and the others were all dumbstruck.
Lu Xueqi's clear, cool eyes shone brightly as she looked excitedly at Ye Changfeng beside her. An inexplicable sense of pride welled up inside her...
Was this her future husband?
"Swish!"
Ye Changfeng sheathed his sword.
He glanced back at Lu Xueqi, saw the little stars in her eyes, and said with a smile:
"Let's go."
With that, he took Lu Xueqi's hand and led the way into the cave.
At the sight of this,
the others hurriedly came back to their senses.
They followed along in silence. Why did they feel like they'd only come along to make up the numbers...
The Ten Thousand Bat Grotto.
Deep inside.
Liu Hao and Wild Dog Daoist, who had been keeping watch outside, hurried back. Their panicked voices rang out through the cave:
"Hall Master, something's wrong!"
"Those people from the Qingyun Sect are coming!"
At these words,
the place immediately descended into chaos.
Many members of the Blood Refining Hall panicked.
"What are you panicking for?"
Old Master Nian snapped at them, then asked, "How far have they gotten?"
"They should be almost at the Ten Thousand Bat Grotto."
Wild Dog Daoist replied, "There's a particularly powerful person among them. He wiped out the Vampire Bats we raised with a single sword strike."
At that,
Old Master Nian's expression didn't change.
He said coldly, "I don't care how powerful he is. The Ten Thousand Bat Grotto is the territory of my Blood Refining Hall. If they've come here, they won't be leaving!"
With that, Old Master Nian prepared to use a secret art to communicate with the Vampire Bats inside the Ten Thousand Bat Grotto.
He wanted to see how far the people from the Qingyun Sect had made it.
The Vampire Bats raised in the Ten Thousand Bat Grotto weren't ordinary demonic beasts. They had been specially bred by the Blood Refining Hall using a spirit-linking secret art. Anyone who practiced the art could establish a spiritual connection with the Vampire Bats...
And use their eyes to scout the surroundings.
"Swish!"
As Old Master Nian gradually performed the secret art,
his vision seemed to merge with that of the Vampire Bats.
He could just make out some of the scenery outside the Ten Thousand Bat Grotto.
However,
just then,
"Swish!"
A brilliant azure sword beam suddenly slashed out of thin air.
In an instant,
Old Master Nian felt as if he were about to go blind.
The dazzling sword beam seemed to pierce his mind.
"Ah!"
He let out a sudden scream.
His spiritual connection with the Vampire Bats was forcibly severed.
Which meant...
Every Vampire Bat in the Ten Thousand Bat Grotto was dead.
In the haze,
Old Master Nian glimpsed a figure.
The person wore green robes, had black hair falling to their shoulders, and stood tall and slender.
Green robes...
Green robes!?
Could it be him?
Old Master Nian recalled the Green Robe Sect Leader revealed by the Heavenly Curtain.
Could he have come?
Was he here to destroy the Blood Refining Hall?
At that moment,
Old Master Nian was filled with dread.
After all, according to the information revealed by the Heavenly Curtain,
one day in the future... the Blood Refining Hall would be destroyed by that Green Robe Sect Leader!
He just hadn't expected that day to come so soon.
"No!"
"It might not be him!"
"Even the people from the Qingyun Sect don't know his true identity!"
"Those old geezers like Poison God don't know either."
"What are the odds..."
Old Master Nian kept trying to reassure himself.
He quickly issued orders to the members around him, intending to put up some resistance.
"Old Master Nian."
A pale young man suddenly stepped forward. He stared at Old Master Nian with a sinister look and asked in an unfriendly tone:
"What happened?"
At this,
Old Master Nian paused slightly.
He casually waved a hand and said, "It's just a few nobodies from the Qingyun Sect."
"They're nothing to worry about."
Then he pretended to curse under his breath. "Damn them. They killed the Blood Bats I raised..."
For Old Master Nian,
until he knew whether that Green Robe Sect Leader had truly arrived,
the more people he had on his side, the better.
If the man had really come to the Blood Refining Hall, Old Master Nian could use the confusion to escape.
The young man who had just questioned him was Lin Feng, the nephew of Ancestor Fengyue, a rogue cultivator from Jieshi Mountain. He was fairly strong, and young and hot-blooded.
Just the right person to use as a shield.
The Ten Thousand Bat Grotto.
After Ye Changfeng annihilated the bats with a single sword strike,
the mountainside had collapsed, and countless Blood Bat corpses now blocked the passage. The bat droppings beneath their feet had also been buried under rubble and corpses.
The group entered the Ten Thousand Bat Grotto.
They followed Ye Changfeng deeper inside.
Before long, they came to a fork in the path. Two dark passageways stretched off in different directions, and a stone tablet stood above the junction.
It was inscribed with—
Heaven's Will Is With Me!
Lu Xueqi frowned slightly.
She looked at the words carved into the stone tablet, a trace of frost in her eyes, and said in a clear, cool voice, "Demonic Sect fiends, how dare you presume to speak of Heaven's Will?"
As soon as she finished speaking,
"Swish!"
The Cold and Aloof Girl's white dress fluttered.
The Tianya Divine Sword in her hand suddenly left its sheath.
A streak of cold light shot into the sky, and brilliant Sword Intent split the air.
"Boom!"
The Tianya Divine Sword cleaved the stone tablet in two.
Lu Xueqi sheathed her sword and stood prettily beside Ye Changfeng...
At the sight of this,
the people from Burning Incense Valley and Tianyin Temple fell silent.
As they looked at the figures in white and green before them, an unspoken envy rose in their hearts.
What a perfect match.
"Junior Brother."
Qi Hao stepped forward and looked at Ye Changfeng. "Now that the path splits in two, what should we do?"
At this,
everyone turned their gaze toward them.
Ye Changfeng pondered briefly, then said, "We'll split into two groups."
With that, he led Lu Xueqi and the others toward the passage on the left.
Faxiang and Li Xun exchanged glances.
They had no choice but to go together toward the passage on the right.
As Ye Changfeng's group continued deeper inside,
they soon noticed something amiss around them. In the darkness, shadowy figures crept forward, pairs of cold, bloodthirsty eyes staring fixedly at them.
Before you continue