Twelve Hells

Sword-Grinding Peak.

The human True Gods within Purgatory had come upon hearing of Mu Qingya's return, gathering together in one place.

The Skywood Sword was a Sword God whose name had resounded throughout Purgatory ten thousand years ago.

He was several thousand years older than Sword Gods like Lin Xuanqi. Once, with sword in hand and alone, he had stormed into the Fifth Realm, making the strongest of the foreign races tremble at the mere mention of his name.

His arrival had greatly heartened King Li, Pei Yishan, Su Wanrou, and the others.

With the rise of the Ancient Demon Race and the emergence of one Demon God after another, everyone had been left unable to eat or sleep in peace. At last, they felt the strength of the older generation and believed they could receive guidance.

But after Mu Qingya finished speaking and told them of the plight of the True Gods beyond, everyone fell silent again.

"Only nine remain?"

Su Wanrou stood atop the mountain. Her brows, which had only just relaxed, were once more shrouded in worry. "Senior Mu, of the True Gods who broke through the Heavenly Ban and left Purgatory all these years, are there truly only nine left?"

"I wish I could deceive you and tell you that isn't the case, but..." Mu Qingya placed the little wooden sword across his knees and sat on the ground, gazing at the many sword spirits emerging from the windows of the Sword Tower. With a sorrowful expression, he said, "Our situation in the starry river beyond the heavens truly... truly isn't very good."

To avoid being swept up in one net, the surviving human True Gods had no choice but to scatter across different starfields.

Only once every hundred years, or after even longer spans of