Clang!
A clear sword cry rang out, and a streak of sword qi slashed down like the Milky Way pouring from the nine heavens. The surrounding mountains were sliced apart like tofu, their severed faces smooth as mirrors.
The sword qi flashed past like fleeting light and shadow, too fast for anyone to see clearly. The Ji Family experts' weapons were severed in an instant, and all five elders lost their heads, their bodies tumbling from the sky.
After cutting down the five men, the sword qi continued unabated, its aftershocks plowing crisscrossing ravines through this ancient battlefield.
"Who?"
Both sides were cowed by the vast sword qi and its peerless edge.
The Demon Clan and Ji Family experts locked in battle all stopped and turned toward its source.
Ji Haoyue's expression grew solemn. An ancient bronze mirror floated above his head, hazy chaos qi swirling across its surface.
In the distance, three exalted elders of the Ji Family swiftly rushed forward and surrounded Ji Haoyue protectively, their wary gazes fixed on the ground below.
Nothing could be allowed to happen to the Ji Family's Divine Son.
A gleam rested in Yan Ruyu's palm, radiating such dazzling brilliance that no one could see it clearly.
Her beautiful eyes held a trace of complicated emotion as she watched Jiang Zhu step out from the crowd.
The battlefield, still frenzied a moment before, fell quiet in an instant. Every gaze focused on the man who had unleashed that incomparably powerful sword qi.
Jiang Zhu stood at the center of the battlefield. An enormous phantom of Nine-Leaf Sword Grass appeared in the void, its delicate blades trembling as they unleashed countless streams of sword qi, carrying an ultimate sharpness capable of tearing apart the starry sky.
"Out of respect for the Ji Family, if you leave now, I can let bygones be bygones on behalf of the Azure Emperor's Descendants."
"You little beast, the Ji Family's dignity cannot be violated! You dared kill our clansmen. There will be no place for you in the Eastern Wasteland," one of the Ji Family's exalted elders said.
"Who do you think you are, talking about showing our Ji Family respect? You dared kill our people. Today, we'll slice you into a thousand pieces."
"We'll slay this vile beast today and search his soul for that sword art. Our Ji Family will gain another supreme secret technique."
The three exalted Ji Family elders exchanged words, treating him like meat on a chopping block, theirs to butcher at will.
Jiang Zhu laughed in anger at the three of them. The Void Emperor had never bowed to anyone in his lifetime. How could he have such worthless descendants?
"Leave first!" Yan Ruyu transmitted her voice, hoping he would get away.
"Three old fossils can't do anything to me. Don't worry. Just keep an eye on the Void Mirror," Jiang Zhu replied.
"You three old fossils want to kill me and steal my art? Let's see how you manage that!"
"You little beast!" The Ji Family elder's face turned livid as he struck forward with his palm.
His palm blotted out the sky and sun, blanketing the heavens.
"You little beast, I won't crush you outright. I still need your sword art. I'll make you wish you were dead!" His voice was so faint that no one but Jiang Zhu could make out his words.
Jiang Zhu stood on the shattered ground, and a Nine-Leaf Sword Grass deity manifested from his body.
The Nine-Leaf Sword Grass within the manifestation responded, its emerald blades swaying.
The deity flew out and merged with the enormous sword grass, becoming one with it.
The enormous Nine-Leaf Sword Grass seemed to come alive. An astonishing aura bore down on everyone. As its blades unfurled, chaos qi cascaded from every tip like rivers of stars hanging upside down.
The blades swept lightly, all nine trembling in unison. Sword qi wove into a net that sliced through everything within its reach, forming an absolute Sword Domain where even light and sound seemed to be cut to pieces.
The sky-obscuring hand was instantly shredded to dust, and the Ji Family elder was enveloped as well.
Rather than alarm, delight filled the attacking elder. "Excellent! Such a powerful sword art belongs to our Ji Family by right."
As he spoke, he attacked again. Spiritual power condensed into a gigantic, sky-obscuring palm. Void Runes appeared at its center, and chaos qi flowed through its palm lines like ravines. When its five fingers closed, they could crush an entire mountain range.
The palm that blotted out the sky and sun pressed down. Space twisted at that instant, and heaven and earth sank beneath it as an indescribable pressure spread.
This was precisely the supreme art recorded in the Void Scripture-the Void Great Hand Seal.
The Sword Domain slashed relentlessly at the palm, unleashing a series of explosive booms. The entire battlefield shook violently, as though it were about to shatter completely.
Everyone retreated at full speed, fleeing the center of the battlefield. The collision's aftershocks surged outward in every direction like a tide, and nothing could stop them.
The severed mountains vanished entirely from the ancient battlefield, reduced to dust and smoke without leaving a trace.
"Who exactly is this man? That sword art is terrifying beyond belief!" The other two Ji Family elders were utterly shaken.
He was only in the Four Extremes Realm. Could he truly fight that elder to such a degree through swordsmanship alone?
Yan Ruyu watched Jiang Zhu fight, a curious brilliance shining in her beautiful eyes, while remaining on guard against Ji Haoyue using the Void Mirror.
On the other side, Ji Haoyue wore an ugly expression. His divine physique had only just taken shape, and he had intended to test his sword against the world, only for his very first battle to go awry.
Jiang Zhu's gaze was icy. The Nine-Leaf Sword Grass swayed, unleashing myriad streams of sword qi that slashed ceaselessly at the Ji Family elder.
The void around the elder solidified, freezing the all-pervasive sword qi in place. A moment later, a mirror appeared-a weapon the elder had forged himself in imitation of the Void Mirror.
The archaic mirror suddenly fired a beam of divine light, continually destroying the hair-thin strands of incomparably sharp sword qi.
At the sight, cold lightning flashed in Jiang Zhu's eyes. The Nine-Leaf Sword Grass phantom abruptly contracted, and an incomparably radiant streak of silver sword qi appeared in his palm.
The sword qi swept past without a sound and struck the mirror. Divine light blazed with world-shaking brilliance as the silver sword light and Void Divine Light burst against each other.
Bang!
The archaic mirror shattered. Broken shards whirled through the air, plowing countless ravines across the surrounding land, dazzling silver sword light reflected in their scattered fragments.
After shattering the mirror, the silver sword light lost much of its power, but it still struck the Ji Family elder.
"Argh..." He howled in agony as blood sprayed, a wound deep enough to expose bone opening across the front of his body.
What a pity I couldn't kill him!
Jiang Zhu silently lamented the missed opportunity.
"Attack together! We absolutely cannot let this brat escape! Haoyue, activate our ancestor's weapon too. Today, we'll bury him here."
Seeing this, the other two Ji Family elders immediately ordered every member of the Ji Family to join in, intending to surround and kill Jiang Zhu before he could become a formidable enemy.
"In that case, come at me together. I'll send every last one of you to your deaths!"
Jiang Zhu looked down upon the assembled experts, utterly unconcerned by their encirclement, ready to send them on their final journey.
A bronze mirror floated above Ji Haoyue's head. Inscribed upon it were unfathomably mysterious patterns that interwove into "Dao" and "principle," giving birth to chaos and making hearts tremble.
Hearing the elder's words, he activated the ancient mirror and merged it with the bright moon behind him. Suspended high above, it trembled lightly, and a terrifying aura immediately spread.
After merging with the bright moon, the archaic bronze mirror rapidly enlarged. Chaos qi filled the air as it pressed down with majestic force.
Seeing Ji Haoyue use the bronze mirror, Yan Ruyu activated the Demon Emperor's Saint Weapon as well. Two blazing beams of divine light shone from her beautiful eyes. The golden lotus above her blue Bitter Sea shot into the sky, merging with the Demon Emperor's Saint Weapon and charging toward the ancient mirror.
The greatest sound was silent; the greatest form was shapeless. Flecks of chaotic radiance rippled outward.
It was as though nothing had happened at all.
Only after a long while did the two wielders of the Emperor Weapons begin trembling and retreating continuously. The ancient mirror flew back and fell into the azure waves, while the golden lotus withered and sank into the Bitter Sea alongside the Demon Emperor's Saint Weapon.
Without a sound, everything around them turned to ash and dissolved completely.
The terrifying sight stunned everyone, sending chills through them. Had they not been so far away, none of them could have survived.
Boom!
Just then, purple lightning descended from the heavens!
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