A True Sword Master, Chen Xin's Dao Heart Crumbles!

The ultimate technique he had once considered perfect suddenly seemed riddled with flaws before that simple thrust from the Imperial Preceptor.

There were so many openings it was practically a sieve!

"They were all wrong..."

Chen Xin's eyes snapped open, and a low, muffled groan escaped his throat.

A thread of crimson blood ran down the corner of his mouth.

His Dao heart had been damaged!

He had only listened to a lecture and watched the most basic sword-thrusting motion.

A mighty level ninety-six peak Douluo.

Yet the sword principles that pointed straight to the source of the Great Dao had crushed his sword heart by force, making him cough blood on the spot!

At the same time, on Douluo Continent outside the screen.

Inside the great hall of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, panic instantly erupted.

"Uncle Sword!"

Ning Fengzhi looked at Chen Xin coughing blood on the screen and was so frightened that even the jade walnuts in his hand dropped to the floor.

"How could this happen?"

"That Imperial Preceptor clearly didn't even use vital qi. How could Uncle Sword be injured?"

Bone Douluo Gu Rong was also filled with shock.

He knew this old partner far too well.

Chen Xin had been proud and unyielding all his life, his sword heart as solid as bedrock.

What could make him cough blood on the spot was definitely not some physical attack.

It was the despair of having his faith collapse, of having decades of bitter cultivation overturned completely!

On the training field of Shrek Academy.

Tang San stared fixedly at the Sky Screen, his back already soaked with cold sweat.

He suddenly understood why that yellow-clothed girl had been able to break the Lijiang Sect's sword technique with a single chopstick.

Why Qin Mu could instantly kill a sword cultivator with a rusty butcher knife.

Because cultivation in that world had long since broken free from the barbaric stage of simply comparing strength.

They had integrated techniques into daily life, and woven arithmetic and the laws of heaven and earth into combat.

On the plaza of the Imperial Academy, a light breeze passed, stirring the hems of over ten thousand students and the city's commoners.

In this quiet, peaceful place, while everyone was immersed in the mysterious atmosphere where mathematics and sword principles intertwined, the muffled groan from the back row sounded especially jarring.

Chen Xin spat out a mouthful of blood, splattering it across the bluestone slabs before him, a shocking sight.

His back, which had once been as straight as a pine, was now slightly hunched.

The aura around him was in utter disorder, a backlash brought on by the collapse of his faith and the damage to his Dao heart.

Several nearby commoners of Yankang were startled and turned their heads one after another, looking worriedly at this white-haired elder who had suddenly coughed blood.

On the lecture platform.

Yankang Imperial Preceptor put down the withered branch in his hand.

He stopped his lecture, and his gentle gaze passed through layer after layer of the crowd, landing with perfect accuracy on Chen Xin in the corner of the back row.

Then the Imperial Preceptor rose from his prayer mat, brushed the dust from his green robe, and walked down the wooden steps of the lecture platform at an unhurried pace.

He carried no overbearing pressure, nor did he have the guards beside him go and verify the identity of this unfamiliar old man.

He was like an ordinary teacher who had seen a student fall ill in class, walking steadily in Chen Xin's direction.

But in the eyes of everyone on Douluo Continent outside the screen, this scene took on a completely different meaning.

Heaven Dou Empire, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Inside the magnificent council hall, a suffocating sense of panic and despair now filled the air.

Bang!

The pair of precious jade walnuts in Ning Fengzhi's hand smashed heavily once again onto the hall's white jade floor, polished smooth as a mirror.

The jade walnuts shattered, fragments flying in all directions and cutting into the expensive carpet nearby.

But this sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, who normally would not change expression even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, did not so much as glance at them now.

He shot up from the red sandalwood chair that symbolized the sect master's authority.

Because he had risen too quickly, his body swayed violently, and he nearly pitched headfirst to the floor.

"Sect Master!"

The trusted disciples waiting at his side hurried forward to support him, only for Ning Fengzhi to shove them away.

Ning Fengzhi's usually refined and easygoing face had turned utterly bloodless, as pale as a sheet of dried rice paper.

His eyes were fixed on the Sky Screen projected in midair.

Watching Yankang Imperial Preceptor, dressed in blue robes, walk step by step toward Chen Xin, Ning Fengzhi's breathing turned ragged, his chest heaving violently.

"It's over. Uncle Sword is in danger..."

Ning Fengzhi's voice was terribly hoarse, as if a handful of rough sand were lodged in his throat.

His mind went blank. A vast terror, like an invisible hand, clenched tightly around his heart.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was known as the number one support sect under heaven, wealthy enough to rival nations.

But behind all that splendor, what truly propped up this enormous sect and kept the outside world from daring to covet it in the slightest were the two Titled Douluo within the sect.

And Sword Douluo Chen Xin was the sharpest sword of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, its most unshakable guardian deity.

Ning Fengzhi still remembered when he had first taken the position of sect master, how many forces outside had watched them like tigers eyeing prey.

It was Uncle Sword who had carried that Seven Kill Sword, one man and one sword, and left rivers of blood outside the sect, forcibly carving out an era of peace for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect with his fearsome name.

In Ning Fengzhi's heart, Chen Xin had long since been more than just an elder of the sect. He was the senior who had watched him grow up. He was family.

But now, that Uncle Sword who had been invincible in his eyes his entire life had merely listened to one lecture and ended up coughing blood, gravely wounded, his Dao heart collapsed.

And that terrifying Imperial Preceptor, hailed as the "number one beneath the gods," who could casually use a single tree branch to enact the laws of heaven and earth, was walking toward Uncle Sword.

"What is he going to do?"

"Uncle Sword is an outsider. What flows inside his body is soul power, not the vital qi of that world at all."

"That Imperial Preceptor's realm is so high. As long as he gets close, he'll definitely notice something wrong with Uncle Sword."

Ning Fengzhi paced back and forth through the spacious hall, cold sweat sliding down his cheeks without stopping and splattering onto his luxurious robes.

All kinds of worst-case guesses flashed wildly through his mind.

On Douluo Continent, if the sect master of a major sect was giving a lecture and a top-level expert of unknown origin, from a completely different cultivation system, suddenly slipped in among those below...

There would only be one outcome.

They would be treated as a spy from a hostile force and killed on the spot without question!

"Old Bone! Hurry and think of something!"

Ning Fengzhi turned his head and grabbed the wrist of Bone Douluo Gu Rong beside him, his knuckles turning white from how hard he squeezed.

Bone Douluo Gu Rong looked as if he had been struck by lightning too.

That old face of his, like withered tree bark, usually always carried a cynical, mocking smile, but now it had been replaced by a deep sense of helplessness.

He and Chen Xin had fought all their lives and argued all their lives.

To outsiders, the two of them were irreconcilable, ready to clash the moment they met.

But only Gu Rong himself knew that this was the unique way the two old brothers communicated.

When it truly came to a matter of life and death, they were brothers who could entrust their backs to each other without the slightest reservation.

"Fengzhi, calm down!"

Gu Rong grabbed Ning Fengzhi's shoulder in return, his voice as heavy as a mountain.

"That is another world! A higher-dimensional world we can't even touch!"

"Right now, apart from watching, there's nothing we can do!"

Gu Rong turned his head, his deeply sunken eyes fixed on the blue-robed Imperial Preceptor in the Sky Screen.

Beneath his wide black robe, his skin-and-bone hands had already clenched into fists, yet there was still nothing he could do.

"That old bastard is usually as proud as a rooster. How did his sword heart break so easily today?"

Gu Rong gritted his teeth, a sheen of tears rising in his eyes.

He stared tightly at the Imperial Preceptor's approaching steps, having already prepared himself for the worst.

If that Imperial Preceptor really killed Chen Xin...

Then half the sky of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would collapse.

Outside the hall, hundreds upon thousands of Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciples had also gathered on the square, looking up at the Sky Screen.

Hearing the sound of porcelain shattering and the sect master's frantic cries from within the hall, a thick shadow fell over every disciple's heart.

Some of the younger female disciples could not help covering their mouths, quietly sobbing.

At the same time...

In Spirit City, a thousand li away from Heaven Dou Imperial City.

Inside the Pope Palace, which symbolized the highest power and glory of Douluo Continent, the scene was entirely different.

The light inside the great hall was somewhat dim.

Bibi Dong sat upright on the papal throne inlaid with countless gemstones.

She wore that incomparably luxurious purple-gold papal robe, the Nine-Curve Purple-Gold Crown on her head, and held the papal scepter that symbolized supreme authority in her hand.

She watched Chen Xin cough blood on the Sky Screen, looking weak and withered, and watched Yankang Imperial Preceptor press closer step by step.

On Bibi Dong's stunningly beautiful, majestic face—one that always carried an icy air—a dazzling smile slowly bloomed.

In that smile, there was not the slightest worry, only the pleasure and cruelty of a scheme about to succeed and a great hatred about to be avenged.

"Good! Very good!"

The heavy papal scepter in Bibi Dong's hand struck the dark-gold floor hard twice.

The crisp impacts echoed through the empty great hall, carrying an excitement that could not be concealed.

Below the steps, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo Gui Mei exchanged a glance, both seeing the wild joy in each other's eyes.

Yue Guan took a step forward.

His face, maintained even more delicately than a woman's, was piled with a fawning smile. He raised an orchid finger and gently tidied the long hair at his temple.

"Congratulations, Your Holiness! Joyous congratulations, Your Holiness!"

Yue Guan's voice was sharp and thin, carrying a feminine softness.

"That Sword Dao Chen Xin usually relied on his level ninety-six cultivation and that broken sword of his to trip up our Spirit Hall's expansion more than once."

"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect relied even more on him and Gu Rong backing them up, throwing their weight around in the Heaven Dou Empire and repeatedly refusing our recruitment."

"Now he went looking for death himself and ran off to that terrifying world."

"This time he's provoked that Imperial Preceptor known as the strongest beneath the gods. I think he won't escape calamity today!"

Beside him, Ghost Douluo Gui Mei was also shrouded in a mass of black mist, letting out a hoarse, grating sneer.

"Your Holiness, this is a heaven-sent opportunity."

Gui Mei's voice seemed to drift out from hell.

"We have all seen the strength of that Yankang Imperial Preceptor with our own eyes. With any random tree branch, he can manifest the laws of heaven and earth."

"Chen Xin's Dao heart is damaged now, and the aura inside his body is in complete chaos."

"When that Imperial Preceptor walks over, once he discovers that the energy system in Chen Xin's body is different from ordinary people's, he'll definitely treat him as a heretic or a spy and erase him on the spot."

Gui Mei stretched a pale, withered hand out from the black mist and made a beheading gesture.

"As long as Chen Xin dies."

"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will be a tiger with its teeth pulled out. With only Gu Rong left, plus that good-for-nothing Ning Fengzhi who only knows how to support, they won't be worth worrying about at all."

Listening to the analysis of her two capable subordinates, the curve of Bibi Dong's lips grew larger and larger.

She rose, dragging her long hem behind her, and walked to the edge of the steps, looking down from above at the empty great hall.

Her gaze was deep and frenzied.

Spirit Hall had plotted for so many years, and the greatest obstacles to its plan to unify the continent were the upper three sects.

Especially the incomparably wealthy Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

She had originally planned that when the soul-hunting operation began, she would have to pay an enormous price to gnaw through this tough bone.

She had not expected that the heavens would actually deliver such a great gift to her.

"Pass on my handwritten order!"

Bibi Dong turned around, and the smile on her face vanished in an instant, replaced by the bearing of a queen decisive in slaughter.

"Order the Consecration Hall and the Elder Hall: all experts at the Soul Douluo level and above are to assemble immediately and await orders."

"At the same time, send carrier pigeons to the Spirit Hall hidden agents lurking in Heaven Dou Imperial City. Have them keep a death grip on every move made by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

Bibi Dong raised her head, her gaze turning once more toward the Sky Screen in midair.

Looking at the blue-robed Imperial Preceptor who was now less than three steps from Chen Xin, Bibi Dong's breathing also quickened slightly.

"As long as that Imperial Preceptor makes his move."

"As long as Chen Xin's death is confirmed on the Sky Screen."

"There will be no need to wait for any soul-hunting operation."

Bibi Dong suddenly swung her broad sleeve, her tone cold and sinister, carrying an unquestionable dominance.

"Launch an all-out attack on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect immediately!"

"Before night falls, I want that so-called number one support sect under heaven to vanish completely from the map of Douluo Continent!"

"I want Ning Fengzhi's head hanging on the walls of Spirit City!"

Across the entire Douluo Continent.

Some prayed in despair, while others sharpened their blades.

All the grudges and passions, all the schemes and calculations, were pushed in this moment to the brink of eruption by the footsteps of the middle-aged man in blue robes on the Sky Screen.

Under the fixed stares of countless eyes...

On the Sky Screen...

Yankang Imperial Preceptor finally stopped, standing steadily before Chen Xin.

Chen Xin still remained seated cross-legged in meditation.

Blood clung to the corner of his mouth, and his face was ashen.

Sensing someone approach, Chen Xin lifted his head with some difficulty and met the Imperial Preceptor's gentle, profound eyes.

His fingers tightened abruptly around the Seven Kill Sword.

He had spent most of his life struggling his way through Douluo Continent, and he knew all too well what happened at a time like this.

He was an old man of unknown origins in a nation where everyone cultivated. He had listened to their Imperial Preceptor preach the Dao, only to vomit blood on the spot and expose his true state.

In anyone's eyes, this would be seen as a grave provocation—or as a spy harboring ulterior motives.

"Kill me or carve me up. Do as you please."

Chen Xin gritted his teeth, forcing himself to hang on with his last breath.

The chaotic soul power inside him was forcibly stirred into motion, and the Seven Kill Sword let out a sword cry like a mournful wail.

Even if he knew he was no match, even if he knew the other man could crush him to death with a single finger...

As a pure sword cultivator, he could die, but he absolutely could not lack even the courage to draw his sword.