Celestial Firmament Realm?

As the voice fell, Qin Yihu was the first to emerge from the back hall, with Qin Changlin and the others following close behind.

Shen Zhou raised an eyebrow and looked at them. "Have you reached a decision?"

Qin Yihu didn't answer Shen Zhou directly. Instead, he changed the subject. "Didn't you say that anyone with the skill could take the Taixuan Sword from you? This old man would like to give it a try."

No answer was an answer!

Qin Yihu's attitude made everything clear.

Now even the Qin Family elders were coveting the Taixuan Sword.

Shen Zhou sneered inwardly, but showed no concern on his face. "Sure. If you've got the skill, by all means, take it. But I still don't have much control over this sword. If I hurt you, don't blame me!"

What he really meant was: You old geezer, if you're looking for a beating, don't blame me for going all out!

Qin Yihu's eyelid twitched. Then he replied with a half-smile, "Fine. If you can hurt me, I won't blame you."

What he meant was: You brat, you think you can hurt me?

Their eyes met in midair.

In an instant, it was as if blades clashed and war drums thundered.

To show off the bearing of an elder, Qin Yihu even put on a magnanimous air. "Kid, I won't bully you. You can go fir—"

Before he could finish, Shen Zhou had already swung his sword without the slightest courtesy and shouted, "Old geezer, take this!"

Shen Zhou struck as soon as he said he would, holding nothing back. With that one attack, he unleashed the full power of the "Entry."

He had been sparring with the Qin Family's younger generation, so the "Entry" had defaulted to a strength around the fourth or fifth level of the "Transformation Realm"—just enough to ensure Shen Zhou could "invincibly" beat Qin Mingyue and the others.

Thus, when he brought his sword down, it flashed like a rainbow, Sword Qi surging forth. Its power and momentum left Qin Changlin and the others shaken.

Qin Yihu was also startled. Anyone else would probably have been knocked flat by that strike before they could even react.

But Qin Yihu wasn't just anyone. He was an old geezer whose cultivation had reached the "Transformation Realm Eighth Realm."

Facing Shen Zhou's strike, Qin Yihu moved in an instant. He crossed his hands, and in the blink of an eye, an Elemental Shield sprang up before him. He snapped angrily, "You brat, have you no honor? You actually attacked by surprise!"

The next moment, Sword Qi crashed hard against the Elemental Shield. Energy surged and sparks flew, while the powerful impact forced Qin Yihu to stumble back two steps.

Qin Yihu was shocked. "What a powerful strike. No wonder Mingyue and the others lost to him!"

Shen Zhou ignored Qin Yihu's anger and simply kept swinging his sword wildly. One wave of Sword Qi after another shot toward the old man's head.

In Shen Zhou's eyes, the Qin Family had already decided to throw away all pretense, so why waste breath on them? If he left the other side with a complete corpse, that would count as magnanimity.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

For a time, Sword Qi filled the Council Hall. The vast room was hacked to pieces, with broken bricks and shattered beams strewn across the floor.

Watching Sword Qi fly out of Shen Zhou's sword without any sign of needing Elemental Power to sustain it, Great Elder Qin Changlin's eyelids twitched.

Qin Changlin then asked in confusion, "Why do I feel like the power of his Sword Qi keeps increasing? Is it just my imagination?"

Qin Changfeng watched the fight closely for a while, then frowned. "It is getting stronger. The power of his Sword Qi is probably almost reaching Third Brother's level now."

Qin Suyun exclaimed in shock, "What? How can that be?"

Qin Changlin pondered. "Could the Taixuan Sword increase its wielder's strength based on the opponent's power?"

Qin Changfeng was stunned.

If that was true, then the Taixuan Sword was even more heaven-defying than they had imagined!

Compared with Qin Changlin and the others' astonishment, Qin Yihu was now suffering in silence.

He not only had no chance to counterattack, but was barely able to hold on.

That kid's power was too strange. It was as if his strength kept growing as long as he continued to swing his sword, to the point that even defending against him was becoming a struggle.

"No, I can't let that kid keep swinging. I have to find a way to break this deadlock!"

With that thought, Qin Yihu gritted his teeth and unleashed all his Elemental Power, blasting away the Sword Qi before him. Then, seizing the brief opening, he curled his hand into a claw and rushed forward, trying to seize Shen Zhou. He shouted, "That's enough, brat!"

Sensing the danger, Shen Zhou's gaze sharpened. The "Entry's" power surged in an instant, and he once again swung his sword straight at Qin Yihu without hesitation. "Not yet! Ever seen Sword Qi thirty meters long?"

Elemental Power took on a heavenly, unyielding form.

The surging Sword Qi truly condensed in midair into the shape of a colossal, thirty-meter-long sword.

Before its edge even fell, its sheer force swept through everything, splitting the Council Hall's roof in two in an instant. Then the giant sword, wrapped in power enough to destroy the heavens and earth, came crashing down on Qin Yihu.

Qin Yihu stared at the giant sword, dumbfounded. He stood motionless, unable to believe his eyes. "A... Celestial Firmament Realm?"

Qin Changlin and the others were on the verge of going mad, too.

The Taixuan Sword had enabled an ordinary person to unleash the power of a Celestial Firmament Realm expert. "Heaven-defying" didn't begin to describe it. It was downright unthinkable!

"Oh no, Third Brother!"

Qin Changlin reacted swiftly. Seeing Qin Yihu frozen beneath the enormous Sword Qi, he rushed forward to help block it. In the blink of an eye, he raised a Qi Protective Screen over their heads, shielding them both.

Qin Changfeng hurried after him, gathering his strength to resist as well.

The next moment...

The giant sword came down!

A thunderous crash rang out, followed by a tidal wave of force and a raging gale.

The earth-shaking boom left everyone's ears ringing for a moment. The powerful impact and the blast of wind from the explosion made it impossible to open their eyes.

The Three Little Ones had taken cover early, but even they couldn't withstand the battle's shock waves. They were knocked to the ground, where they huddled face down and covered their ears, only just escaping disaster.

After a long while, the wind died down and the Sword Qi faded.

The Three Little Ones shook the dust from themselves and looked up at the scene. They were stunned.

By then, the enormous Council Hall had vanished completely. In its place stood only a field of ruins, a scarred battlefield left in the aftermath.

A huge trench in the ground stretched more than ten meters, like an abyss. Just looking at it made their hearts pound.

A Dai couldn't help asking, dumbfounded, "Did Boss Shen make that with his sword?"

San Mazi and Xi Mei looked just as incredulous.

They had seen Shen Zhou fight before, but never had he created such a shocking scene.

It was far beyond anything they had ever imagined Shen Zhou could do.

Elsewhere, the Qin Family's younger disciples had hidden as soon as Shen Zhou and Qin Yihu began fighting. Now, seeing what lay before them, they too were dumbstruck.

Did that kid really do this?

We'd actually provoked someone this terrifying?

"Pfft..."

"Cough, cough..."

At that moment, in the middle of the battlefield,

the dust finally settled, revealing Shen Zhou and Qin Changlin's group.

Qin Changlin and Qin Changfeng stood there in tattered clothes, blood at the corners of their mouths, looking utterly battered.

Qin Yihu was completely unharmed, but he had clearly been frightened by what had just happened. Even now, he hadn't fully come back to his senses.

As for Shen Zhou, he stood in place with his sword in hand, his face pale. Blood was also seeping from his pores beneath his clothes, and inside, it felt as though his body were being torn apart.

Shen Zhou gritted his teeth against the pain. "How could this happen? Why am I injured? And why did it feel like my body was about to burst just now? Could the power unleashed by the 'Entry' have been too strong, while my body was too weak? Like the wooden sword before, once the power exceeded what my body could bear, I couldn't withstand it and suffered a backlash?"

Thinking this over, Shen Zhou gritted his teeth. "Looks like I can't put off cultivating any longer. I have to get started right away. Damn, that hurts!"

But for now, it wasn't over.

Since he'd already put on such a grand show, he might as well keep it up to the end.

So Shen Zhou forced down his discomfort and walked over to the Qin Family's elders as if nothing were wrong. Then he pointed his sword at the three of them. "Now, who else wants to give it a try?"

Looking at Shen Zhou, who had displayed an invincible presence, Qin Changlin said with a bitter smile, "I never expected you to be so compatible with the Taixuan Sword. If I said we'd already decided to treat you as an honored guest, not only marrying Mingyue to you but also doing everything we could to help you reach the peak of the martial path, could you pretend what just happened never took place?"

Shen Zhou's face remained expressionless. "Could you, if you were in my shoes?"

Qin Changlin fell silent, then gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

One wrong move, and the whole game was lost.

The strength and potential Shen Zhou had displayed with the Taixuan Sword were more than enough to prove he was the person the Qin Family had been looking for.

But because of their momentary greed, they had ruined their relationship with him. They had truly lifted a rock only to drop it on their own feet—serving themselves right!

Shen Zhou then lowered his sword and said coolly, "I won't pursue what happened just now. Consider it repayment for the sword you gave me. From now on, neither I nor the Taixuan Sword will have anything more to do with the Qin Family. Take care of yourselves!"

After making a clean break with the Qin Family, Shen Zhou turned and walked over to the Three Little Ones. He asked if they were all right, then the four of them left the Qin Family together, without the slightest hesitation.

As they watched the four walk away, regret spread through the hearts of everyone in the Qin Family.

"If we hadn't targeted him earlier, would he have helped the Qin Family rise again?"

"I never imagined he could unleash Celestial Firmament Realm battle power with the Taixuan Sword. And that's while he still doesn't know how to cultivate. If he becomes stronger, what would the Five Great Families have to fear?"

"Alas... It's too late to say anything now."

Behind the crowd, Qin Mingshu looked at his elder sister, Qin Mingyue, with a complicated expression.

His sister had always been proud and devoted to the martial path. But now she had been defeated in one move by a young man who had almost become her fiancé. Would she regret it?

After the battle, Qin Mingyue stood quietly beside the ruins. There was no regret in her eyes. In fact, a faint smile even lingered at the corners of them, though deeper still, hidden beneath that smile, was a chilling madness.

Just as the Qin Family members were cleaning up the wreckage, an elderly figure suddenly appeared beyond the ruins.

The figure leaned on a greenwood cane, dressed simply. Her snow-white hair was pinned up with a single wooden hairpin. When she came close, she asked, "What happened here?"

Everyone turned to look. The moment they saw who it was, joy spread through the crowd, as if they had found their pillar of support. In unison, they cried out, "Grand-aunt..."