The Abruptly Halted Battlefield

On a nearby peak, a young cultivator turned his head to look at the people around him when, all of a sudden, he felt the area beside him fall silent.

He turned back in astonishment and asked, "What happened? What's going on?"

"Dead!" the companion beside him muttered.

"What's dead? Who?"

"A Grandmaster!"

"A... Grandmaster? Are you joking? This hasn't even begun yet... huh?"

At last, he clearly saw the situation below.

Chu Wusheng leapt over and caught Jiang Hongguang's corpse. Seeing the wound that had pierced through his head from the right eye, he felt ice spread through his entire body and a chill run down his back.

This was terror!

How many years had it been? Since becoming a Grandmaster, he had almost never experienced this emotion again.

This was a Grandmaster, one of the people standing at the very pinnacle of the Great Gan Dynasty—yet he had been slain in the blink of an eye! It looked no different from the gap between them and Origin Scholars.

Facing the existence on the mountain, Chu Wusheng could scarcely summon even a shred of fighting spirit. There was only deep fear.

Qin Wuya raised his head toward the mountaintop, gravity in his eyes. Being able to kill Jiang Hongguang meant that person could kill him with a single sword strike as well!

From this moment onward, it seemed the entire landscape of the Great Gan Cultivation World was about to change.

Above the waterfall, the linen-clad old man stood dumbstruck, his mouth hanging open to reveal a mouthful of large yellow teeth.

From his position above, he could clearly see everything on the opposite cliff. He had watched that Flying Sword leave the Scenery Pavilion, then return to the Scenery Pavilion.

He could not be certain whether anyone else was hidden in the shadows, but with such cultivation—virtually invincible—why would there be any need to hide?

If so, then the young man opposite was the one above the Grandmaster realm on North Spring Mountain?

Gu Yuanqing himself was equally surprised. He had never expected one sword strike to kill his opponent. The power of Sword Control was, after all, too weak. Even the most powerful First Sword was only at the level of the Profound Martial Ninth Layer.

That strike just now had been more of a test. He had even prepared for the man to charge up North Spring Mountain, ready to fight him with his own cultivation.

"It seems I still underestimated the control a North Spring Mountain Master has over his domain. Even a Grandmaster has no power to resist this ability. The so-called Mountain Master is not merely a title. Perhaps it truly means the master of an entire mountain. Whether Mountain Observation, Object Control, or these hidden abilities, all are extensions of the power behind this title."

At this moment, Gu Yuanqing's understanding of binding a domain became clearer. Faintly, he began to grasp a trace of what lay hidden behind this ability.

Observe a mountain and know the mountain; one's consciousness could merge with it as one.

Object Control was control over objects, just as a person controlled their own body.

The Empowerment of these abilities was gradually guiding him toward mastering the mysteries contained behind the title of Mountain Master.

All manner of thoughts surged through his mind. His insights from Mountain Observation and Object Control continuously intertwined in his thoughts, as though something could be pierced through with a single poke.

Gu Yuanqing took a deep breath and suppressed all those thoughts deep within his heart.

Clearly, now was not the time to ponder such matters.

He braced both hands on the railing of the Scenery Pavilion and looked down, meeting Qin Wuya's eyes.

Though they were hundreds of zhang apart, they could still clearly see everything about each other.

Qin Wuya's face was expressionless and his demeanor indifferent, yet his eyes contained a sharpness and edge like a sword that could sever all things, stabbing painfully at one's eyes.

"This is Sword Intent at great completion—the will nurtured through standing at the pinnacle of the sword path for decades!"

Gu Yuanqing did not look away, even as that concealed Sword Intent seemed to rush along their locked gazes and invade his consciousness.

The next moment, Sword Intent erupted from Gu Yuanqing's body and soared into the sky, as though answering the challenge from afar.

A flicker of doubt passed through Qin Wuya's eyes. He withdrew his gaze, and his Sword Intent vanished without a trace. Looking at Chu Wusheng, the Sword Demon, he said blandly, "If you were the man you were fifty years ago, your mind would not have been thrown into such chaos by this. It seems your sword has grown dull."

Chu Wusheng froze. He lowered his head to look at Jiang Hongguang's corpse, then at the heavy sword in his hand. An inexplicable sense of sorrow and desolation rose from his heart.

The next moment, he sheathed the sword on his back, carried the corpse, and leapt toward the top of Hongyan Mountain Waterfall. Only when he was nearing the summit did he turn back and roar, "Qin Wuya, when your limit approaches sixty years from now, I hope you will still remember what you said today!"

When Chu Wusheng reached the top of the waterfall, he lifted his eyes and saw the linen-clad old man.

At first, he paid him no attention. Only after darting dozens of zhang past did something suddenly occur to him.

He turned his head back, only to find that the old man atop the Green Stone had already vanished.

"Was it him? Could I have seen wrongly? He cannot possibly still be alive!"

Filled with doubt, Chu Wusheng sped away, stepping across the treetops.

Deputy Commander of Divine Eagle Guard Yuan Yingsong arrived at Qin Wuya's side.

"Senior, were those two men just now... both Grandmasters? May I ask who they were?"

"Old Man Tianzhu Jiang Hongguang of Star Sea Valley, and Sword Demon Chu Wusheng of the Heavenly Fiend Sect!"

Yuan Yingsong said in shock, "Those two? Weren't they both already over two hundred years old?"

"They were merely lingering on in wretched existence."

The Sword Intent around Qin Wuya had fully withdrawn, and he once more regained the air of a refined scholar. He looked again toward North Spring Peak and said indifferently, "There is no longer any need for me here!"

With a sweep of his long sleeve, he darted onto the treetops and drifted gracefully toward the royal capital.

"Farewell, Senior!"

Yuan Yingsong clasped his fists in salute. Only after Qin Wuya had gone far away did he raise his head to look toward North Spring Mountain. He had followed all the way here and had happened to witness Jiang Hongguang's death.

A Grandmaster had died beneath a sword just like that. Even he could hardly believe his own eyes.

Still, he also breathed a sigh of relief. After this, surely few would dare trespass onto North Spring Mountain again.

At the same time, the martial artists watching from the surrounding mountains looked at one another in bewilderment.

"This... the battle between Grandmasters ended just like that?"

"I suppose so. They've all left!"

"Damn it, I've been living out in the wind and dew around North Spring Mountain for nearly ten days, and after seeing a few figures, it's over just like that?"

"You've got it good. At least you saw Grandmasters. Look at those people."

They turned to look and saw several people running in their direction.

Before they even arrived, they shouted from afar, "Brothers, has the battle between Grandmasters begun yet? Can we see it from this mountaintop?"

Someone burst into laughter. "You're too late. Go back."

"So it's a Hu Family brat. Don't try to fool me."

No sooner had he spoken than he saw many people on the mountain unfold their Movement Techniques and leave one after another, leaving him rooted to the spot in a daze.

Gu Yuanqing watched Qin Wuya's figure disappear beyond the mountaintop, and a trace of regret suddenly flashed through his heart.

Had I known this would happen, I should not have acted like that. I should have let that man come up. That scene just now must have frightened everyone below. The chance to fight a Grandmaster is gone just like that. In this real world, who knows whether I will ever have such an opportunity again.

Ah, forget it. At least after this battle, North Spring Mountain has become peaceful again. I no longer need to worry constantly about someone sneaking up here. They are only Grandmasters—there will always be encounters with them in the Spiritual Mountain Trial. There should have been quite a few Grandmaster-level figures in the history of the North Spring Sword Sect as well. Perhaps Old Man Tianzhu Jiang Hongguang will also be imprinted into the Spiritual Mountain Trial.