Ruthless Blade

"Rumble!"

The heavenly tribulation raged, pouring down like a waterfall. The dark clouds were scattered by lightning in an instant, turning into dazzling radiance as lightning filled the sky.

Heaven's Will transformed into a blade and entered Xu Changqing's body. It was a blade constructed from the Origin Great Dao, capable of severing everything in the world, with nothing it could not break.

Xu Changqing guided his thoughts into the Heaven's Will Saber, aimed it at his own origin, and slashed down without hesitation.

With a puff, his origin was split apart in an instant. Intense pain flooded every part of his body, and the Great Dao within him fractured as well. Those strands of Emotional Origins were instantly annihilated by the Blade of Heavenly Will.

"Heavenly Tribulation as a Furnace, Heaven and Earth as Fire, temper my body!"

Enduring the excruciating pain, Xu Changqing sat cross-legged in the void and allowed the Sea of Lightning to swallow him. White flames began appearing throughout the surrounding void, eventually gathering into clusters.

"Rumble!"

A waterfall of lightning descended, and the violent thunderbolts instantly tore Xu Changqing's flesh apart. Blood sprayed everywhere, and his skin was scorched black.

"Screech!"

At that moment, red light burst from within Xu Changqing's body. His Dao Artifact was trembling as it flew directly out of his Sea of Bitterness, entering the Sea of Lightning to undergo tempering.

Everyone saw Xu Changqing's weapon.

It was a snow-white Bone Saber, as beautiful as mutton-fat jade and seemingly carved from translucent crystal jade. Its edge was dark red, radiating baleful energy.

The saber was very long, more than one and a half meters in length. Even when gripping the hilt with both hands, a large portion still extended beyond them. The blade possessed the texture of jade.

It was not straight, but slightly curved. Patterns spread across its spine, resembling Dao Order and also a naturally carved jade carving.

This saber had accompanied Xu Changqing for over three hundred years, fighting alongside him from his Mortal Period until now.

Back when he enlisted in the army, he had used a saber. This was the saber he had forged himself in a Blacksmith Shop, originally nothing more than an ordinary piece of iron.

Yet it had killed many people on the battlefield. In the end, it shattered countless times. Xu Changqing had no good materials to mend it with, nor could he bear to discard an old friend that had fought alongside him for so many years.

So he fused it with the corpses of the dead from the battlefield and tempered them together.

Over time, he grew accustomed to using it, and the saber thus became a Bone Saber.

Within Xu Changqing's glabella appeared a dark-red Nascent Soul. He had killed too many people and cultivated a certain demonic art, which had given rise to this evil Nascent Soul.

But at this moment, the Nascent Soul actually entered the furnace formed by the Myriad Great Daos of its own accord, evaporating all the baleful energy within it. That dense baleful aura and killing intent all fused into his Ruthless Blade.

At that moment, the dark-red Nascent Soul began to turn crystal-clear, like a mirror, and also like a milky-white porcelain doll.

At this moment, Xu Changqing had also found his own path.

Under the gaze of countless onlookers, nine colors burst from the crown of his head. They were his Origins of Emotion.

Immediately afterward, everyone saw Xu Changqing form hand seals, guiding those Origins of Emotion into his five viscera and six bowels. They also saw him absorb the Blade of Heavenly Will.

After Emotion Severing, Xu Changqing's face no longer held any expression. His eyes were unfathomably deep, like a secluded spring under the moon. He became quiet and reserved, cold and emotionless.

Moreover, his hair visibly began to turn white. His thick black hair was gradually consumed by whiteness.

Xu Changqing turned his head toward the Woman in White and discovered that she was forming hand seals with both hands. The Great Dao Treasure Bottle above her head became increasingly solid, until it directly swallowed the Dao Slaying Heavenly Tribulation.

She lowered her head toward the Feathered Dynasty's Protective Formation. Knowing that she could not heavily damage the Feathered Dynasty this time, she carried the heavenly tribulation and fled into the universe.

Xu Changqing did the same. The two entered the universe and were swallowed by the lightning tribulation.

Mu Miaomiao stood in the street, watching Xu Changqing with concern. She found it difficult to accept that Xu Changqing had severed his emotions.

"Master, Changqing is undergoing his tribulation before everyone and wants to destroy the Feathered Dynasty. Those old immortals will definitely intervene. Can you help him?"

Mu Miaomiao's silky black hair swayed gently, while tears welled up in her large eyes.

Mu Miaomiao's master remained silent for a long time. She had been observing Xu Changqing in secret all along. Then she replied, "I will only help once, enough to let those two escape. The Feathered Dynasty is not simple. I have sensed two Quasi-Emperors alone."

"I can help them hold back the Quasi-Emperors, but I cannot deal with those Great Sages. That will depend on their luck."

A delighted expression also appeared on Mu Miaomiao's face. "As long as Master can hold them back, that will be enough. I believe Great Sages cannot kill them."

In the universe, many powerful cultivators had already arrived. Most were experts from the Big Dipper Star Domain. Some belonged to the younger generation, while others were from the older generation, all watching two Mortal Bodies undergo the Dao Slaying Heavenly Tribulation.

"Xu Changqing's emotional fluctuations are slowly disappearing..." An elder sighed. Xu Changqing's experiences were things they had neither undergone nor imagined.

Those Divine Bodies of the younger generation were like flowers in a greenhouse before Xu Changqing. They had never endured wind and rain, and their state of mind was lacking as well.

Such people often collapsed after being defeated.

They had heard that Xu Changqing had also been defeated before. It had happened in a Secret Realm, where a disciple of a Holy Land had defeated him. Yet he had not sunk into despair or felt dejected; he had only gained endless motivation.

But in Xu Changqing's eyes, that did not count as being defeated. If one could not even accept one's own failure, then that was true failure.

True success was learning lessons from failure.

"Rumble!"

The thick lightning tribulation was incomparably dazzling. A mere wisp of its aura was enough to make some Dao Slaying Experts present tremble with fear. If they entered it, they might be blasted until not even ashes remained.

The universe was not dim. Instead, it was radiant to the extreme, densely packed with lightning as all kinds of heavenly tribulations rare throughout ancient and modern times continuously descended.

Everyone saw the Woman in White's heavenly tribulation changing. Humanoid Lightning emerged from it. Some had weapons suspended above their heads, some held bone staves, while others carried bells.

"Th-that is the silhouette of an Ancient Emperor Supreme!"

"That is the Kirin Ancient Emperor!"

"And Weapons of an Ancient Supreme! What kind of heavenly tribulation is this? How have we never heard of it?!"

Every living being watching the heavenly tribulation was shocked speechless. This was a heavenly tribulation they had never seen, one they had never even heard of.

The boundless Sea of Lightning stretched endlessly. The Woman in White fought alone beyond the domain, battling numerous Humanoid Lightning figures before engaging Weapons of an Ancient Supreme with supreme Dao arts.

But clearly, she had been wounded as well. Her white robes were stained with blood, and wounds had appeared on her originally exquisite, peerless face. A Dragon Stele had smashed open the corner of her eye.

Lightning coiled around the Woman in White. She extended a lustrous jade-like hand and lightly struck the Dragon Stele. With a bang, terrifying energy spread outward, and the Dragon Stele actually shattered beneath her palm!

"Hiss, that Dragon Stele is the weapon of an Ancient Great Emperor, yet the Female Demon shattered it with her bare hand!" No one could believe it. Her seemingly delicate and ethereal body actually contained such terrifying strength.

At the same time, even more weapons appeared. A Purple-Gold Bell emerged, and with just a slight sway, it shook people's souls unstable and trapped them within an endless illusion.

A Black Cudgel also smashed down from the heavenly tribulation, directly knocking the Woman in White into the Sea of Lightning and sending immense amounts of lightning and blood splashing upward.

"Boom!"

In the distance, a massive Bronze Cauldron descended with endless heaviness, suppressing everything. That cauldron seemed to transcend the Limits of Time as it smashed directly into the Woman in White, breaking her ribs and twisting her arm.

"Look, they've appeared on Xu Changqing's side too!"

Everyone saw several blurry figures appear around Xu Changqing. Some saw a towering phantom charging toward him with a cudgel, while others saw a figure holding a Heaven-Measuring Ruler.

"It's the Fighting Saint Emperor and the Demon Emperor!" Everyone could not help staring in utter shock. What was happening on the Female Demon's side was already outrageous, yet Xu Changqing was the same.

They had never expected two Mortal Bodies to trigger such a World-Shocking Tribulation.

Soon, everyone realized there were not merely two Heavenly Tribulation Great Emperor Figures, but a total of nine.

On the Woman in White's side, the Immortal Gold Green Tear Tower appeared, along with two women. One was the Queen Mother of the West, while no one knew the identity of the other.

"Their Dao Slaying Heavenly Tribulations are formed from the heavenly tribulation copying the Dao Marks of Great Emperors from back then."

Everyone understood as well. These heavenly tribulations were not imprints left behind by Great Emperors, but marks copied by the heavenly tribulation from when those Great Emperors had undergone tribulation in the past.

Furthermore, everyone knew that Xu Changqing's and the Female Demon's Daos were too heaven-defying. The Female Demon seemed to have truly embodied the essence of Dao Slaying, recklessly slaying the Dao itself. Xu Changqing, meanwhile, sought to Slay the Self, severing his emotions in an attempt to equal the Dao.

One wanted to stand Above the Dao, while the other wanted to be the Dao's brother—or its elder brother.

Xu Changqing's Dao appeared slightly weaker than the Female Demon's, but that was not actually the case, because even the many Great Emperors had failed to escape the Limitations of the Dao.

They seemed to have transcended Ten Thousand Paths, yet they were still under the Dao's control. They could not withstand the Immortal Ascension Tribulation, which was also a method of the Dao. Heavenly tribulations, too, belonged to the Dao.

"Buzz!"

The next moment, nine blurry figures appeared before Xu Changqing, each holding a weapon.

Some held Immortal Cudgels, some wielded Heaven-Measuring Rulers, some shone with golden light and carried no weapons, while others held immortal swords or Heavenly Sabers.

"That is Emperor Yuhua!"

Someone spotted a figure on the Woman in White's side. It was a member of the Feathered Dynasty who cried out.

"To battle Ancient Great Emperors with a Mortal Body is also an honor. But from this moment onward, I will fear no one and lose to no one!" Xu Changqing fixed his cold gaze on the Great Emperor phantoms ahead.

Chaos Divine Thunder continuously struck down upon him from the sky. The Ruthless Blade flew out from the depths of the Sea of Lightning and hovered at Xu Changqing's side.

The Bone Saber radiated powerful killing intent and battle intent. It had long since given birth to a spirit, and it had followed Xu Changqing for more than three hundred years, accompanying him from before he had even opened his Sea of Bitterness to the present.

From the moment it was forged, it had never been abandoned. Even when its body was shattered, Xu Changqing repaired it every time.