A hidden world lay within.
Peaceful and bright, it was a little village apart from the world, like the haven described in "The Peach Blossom Spring."
The sunlight was warm, utterly devoid of the eerie, sinister air at the entrance.
A stream flowed through it, and a ten-thousand-year-old tree grew in the village center. It looked as ordinary as any mortal village.
Its residents, however, were unusual. Nearly all were elderly, with few middle-aged people and no children in sight.
The elders all had kindly faces and heads full of white hair, seemingly unconcerned with worldly affairs.
He Xian stood among the field ridges and walked toward the village center. Before long, people had gathered all around him.
"Child, where have you come from, and what do you wish to do?" the eldest among them asked kindly.
"I am of the Crane Clan, and I aspire to lead the younger generation of our realm. That is why I have come expressly to experience your clan's prowess!" He Xian replied with a smile as well, getting straight to the point.
The elder's eyes suddenly became unfathomably deep, impossible to look into directly. Two gleaming heavenly blades seemed to appear within his black pupils, their edges so keen they could sever two great realms and bring forth primordial chaos anew.
At the same instant, Elder He moved.
"Do not be nervous, fellow Daoist. We of the Heavenly Blade Mantis would never stoop to bullying the young with our elders," the old Supreme said quietly.
Coming to someone's door to challenge them was a provocation, no matter how prettily one phrased it.
The dignity of an Emperor Clan could not be challenged. It seemed the Heavenly Blade Mantis had remained secluded for so long that the outside world thought they could no longer hold their blades.
An Emperor Clan was an Emperor Clan, supreme above all.
This was the common understanding throughout the Foreign Realm.
"Son of the Crane Clan's founding ancestor, you still have a chance to take back what you just said. Otherwise, even if you die in our ancestral grounds, your founding ancestor will be powerless to do anything." A middle-aged man of the Heavenly Blade Mantis spoke, his tone domineering and direct.
He had laid bare He Xian's identity.
"I have no regrets!" He Xian looked the middle-aged man straight in the eye, unsurprised.
The people surrounding He Xian no longer maintained their goodwill.
A disgrace-this was an enormous insult to the Heavenly Blade Mantis.
"Good, good, good. Go summon Heavenly Blade!" the middle-aged man ordered.
"Heavenly Blade" was a special title. Only the most extraordinary descendant of the Heavenly Blade Mantis could bear it, for it had been their founding ancestor's title.
He Xian grew more alert as he watched the departing figure.
His tranquil battle blood finally began to run hot. He had a premonition that a world-shaking battle was coming.
It was a terrifying intuition born of the king blood within him.
On the horizon, the great sun slowly sank. Evening had come, and crimson clouds blazed with brilliant light.
He Xian waited quietly, his expression unchanged.
Despite the Heavenly Blade Mantis's constant, terrifying pressure, his body did not move an inch.
Elder He's expression had already turned grim.
At last, beneath the sunset clouds filling the sky, a demonic young man strode toward them. His frame was slender, and with each approaching step, he seemed like an unparalleled demonic blade, honed for a thousand lifetimes and about to emerge into the world. His thick purple hair framed a gaze that made the flesh of one's face sting as though being sliced.
Though he was young, he was enough to set the hearts of many elders pounding with fear.
The young man called Heavenly Blade had an unrestrained gaze, wildness spilling from his pupils.
"Are you the one who came to provoke us?" he asked, staring at He Xian.
"I am." He Xian accepted that description without denying it.
Coming to their door to demand a battle was a provocation.
He intended not only to provoke them, but to crush every opponent.
"Very good. Then take a strike from me." The demonic young man spoke, then attacked with overbearing directness, turning his palm into a blade.
His entire arm seemed to become a heavenly blade with its edge fully bared. Savage blade energy surged into the clouds as he chopped straight at He Xian's forehead, seeking to cleave him in two.
Clang!!!
He Xian met it head-on with his own palm, unleashing boundless golden light.
"Oh?" Surprise appeared on Heavenly Blade's face.
But it quickly turned to satisfaction.
"You are very good. You are worthy of being my opponent!" Heavenly Blade roared with laughter, his hair whipping wildly as the demonic blood within him boiled. It had been far too long since he had met a decent opponent. Even within his own clan, few could take one of his strikes without shedding blood.
"Come, let us fight over there!" He was a battle fanatic.
He Xian naturally had no reason not to follow.
He had come here for a bloody battle.
The two arrived at a stretch of level ground.
"Your name?" Heavenly Blade demanded with brazen arrogance, as though he could already see his inevitable victory.
He Xian's expression was cold. That arrogant attitude had stirred his anger.
"Once this battle is over, you will know my name. It will be carved into your flesh and blood."
He Xian suddenly took a great stride forward, closing in for close-quarters combat. He likewise turned his palm into a blade and unleashed a world-shaking surge of blade energy.
He had studied blade techniques as well.
The blow struck the fellow's left shoulder.
"You dare!" Heavenly Blade seemed enraged by the strike.
Rumble!
Their fists struck flesh. In an instant, palm met palm and leg met leg, golden hair and purple hair whipping wildly through the air. Suddenly, both their cold voices rang out at once.
"One blade before the demon, ninety thousand miles."
"Indestructible Golden Body, illuminate all beneath heaven."
The former seemed to transform into a demonic blade that could cleave heaven and destroy earth, while the latter seemed to become a sun. In a single instant, they exchanged hundreds upon thousands of blows, each ferociously intense, so fast that one had to use the Heavenly Eye to follow them.
But everyone in this valley was an unparalleled expert. Their naked eyes were enough.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
The battle continued. As their fists and feet crossed, they actually produced the terrifying spectacle of heaven collapsing and earth sinking. This should have been impossible. Only Supremes could casually shatter the void; it could only mean that their offensive power was far too astonishing.
More terrifying still, blade energy and golden light constantly spilled from their clash, manifestations of their attacks pushed to the utmost.
Their duel was accompanied by astonishing visions.
Chaos energy flowed, and one vision after another appeared. A clash like this was already beyond the reach of ordinary beings.
Still more terrifying visions emerged. All light vanished in every direction, and ghosts wept and gods howled between heaven and earth, as though the two had fought their way into a land of ultimate evil.
Yet in the Foreign Realm, such manifestations were perfectly normal. Even the Great Dao could be seen directly.
"Very good. You have set my blood boiling!" Heavenly Blade laughed wildly. An intensely soul-seizing blade intent radiated from his entire body. Having fought this far, both knew there was no need to probe any longer. It was time to unleash their forbidden secret arts.
Indeed, despite fighting until the heavens split and crumbled, neither had used his full strength.
At the very least, He Xian had not even used the three forms of the Grass Character Sword Art.
"You are stronger than Chi Menghong!" He Xian assessed objectively.
"Chi Meng? A member of the Red King Lineage? Hahaha!" Heavenly Blade laughed.
The Red King Lineage enjoyed a formidable reputation in the Foreign Realm, its king hailed as the fiercest Immortal King.
No one would feel insulted by a comparison to that lineage.
"I will take that as praise! Since ancient times, our Heavenly Blade Lineage has never been weaker than any other." Heavenly Blade was gathering his power, his aura climbing to an extreme height. He was not saying these things merely to make conversation.