Heaven and Earth Knew No Peace!

"Madman..."

Shen Yu cursed inwardly.

Could the Dongyuan Sect truly be so heedless of death that it dared wage war against his Xuanyuan Sect over an outer disciple?

Utterly unreasonable!

Although several elders had promptly summoned their spiritual power to protect Song Yan, that instant of oppressive might still left blood spilling from his mouth.

The might of Foundation Establishment. Such surging, overwhelming spiritual power and force...

Merely facing Foundation Establishment already felt like a frog at the bottom of a well beholding the bright moon. He dared not imagine what realms lay above Foundation Establishment...

Amid his tangled thoughts, Song Yan suddenly realized that the situation had become entirely different from what he had imagined.

He had thought this was a contest and transaction between two sects, negotiations using an insignificant figure like himself as their fulcrum. Yet now...

It had escalated to the point of all-out war with the Xuanyuan Sect...

Did the Dongyuan Sect... truly cherish its disciples this much?

Hum-

Just as the two sides stood locked in confrontation, an ancient, austere sword hum suddenly rose beside their ears.

Towering Sword Qi swept across the heavens, cleaving the ten-thousand-mile clear sky above the Dongyuan Sect's gates in two!

In an instant, the entire Dao-Entering Terrace fell utterly silent.

Every cultivator on the terrace, whether a Dongyuan Sect disciple or elder, or a member of the Xuanyuan Sect, felt time stop at that moment!

"Where did this junior come from..."

A distant voice rang out from Dragon Head Peak, echoing throughout the Dongyuan Sect.

"I had only just emerged from seclusion when I heard this chirping and shameless boasting..."

"Such pointless noise."

The voice sounded like a cold spring striking jade, yet it shook the Xuanyuan Sect cultivators until their Qi and Blood churned.

The sword light spanning heaven and earth abruptly contracted. The scattered Sword Qi grew fine as gossamer, yet in their eyes, it possessed the might to drag the celestial river and overturn the universe.

Unstoppable!

The Xuanyuan Sect cultivators stood frozen, not daring to move a fraction.

Before them, a cloud waterfall of Sword Qi divided them from the Dongyuan Sect cultivators.

Trembling.

They looked up.

Above the Dongyuan Sect, that Sword Qi had forcibly torn a rift through the vast sea of clouds. Surging Sword Qi swept up the mist within the rift and poured down.

Wherever the Sword Qi passed, mountains, clear skies, and rushing rivers faded into gray-white ink wash.

Looking up, the Xuanyuan Sect cultivators felt heaven and earth darken, the sun blotted from sight.

"..."

Everyone fell silent.

They stared blankly at that streak of Sword Qi spanning the cloudy sky.

One sword stroke cleaved the clouds...

Heaven and earth knew no peace!

"Go back and tell Lou Zhengze."

"If the Xuanyuan Sect wishes to wage war, then come and fight. There is no need for these childish games that waste everyone's effort..."

The voice was leisurely, yet the Xuanyuan Sect cultivators were drenched in sweat.

The Dongyuan Sect had only one cultivator in the Golden Core Realm.

The Dongyuan Sect's master, Daoist Li Jun.

Chen Linyuan!

"This disciple of mine may have mediocre aptitude, but he cultivated diligently in the outer sect and never stirred up trouble."

"You made him a pawn without cause, and now he has lost all his cultivation. Truly pitiful..."

"Prepare some compensation and send someone to deliver it."

"..."

The Xuanyuan Sect cultivators looked ashen, each remaining silent.

It was not that they did not wish to argue. Rather, faced with the might of this cloud waterfall of Sword Qi, they feared that opening their mouths would bring the agony of ten thousand swords piercing their hearts.

"If you do not answer, I shall take that as your agreement."

"It grows late..."

"I will not see you out."

The moment the words fell, the Xuanyuan Sect cultivators vanished without a trace. In another blink, they were outside the sect gates.

"..."

Only as that terrifying sword pressure gradually dissipated did the Xuanyuan Sect cultivators' taut nerves slowly relax.

Facing a Golden Core cultivator...

Never mind those Dongyuan Sect disciples-even Foundation Establishment cultivators like them had never had such an "opportunity" before.

"..."

Shen Yu remained silent, his expression dark.

A deathly silence hung over the Xuanyuan Sect group.

The elder named Chang Ziyi looked spirited and quite young. Perhaps he had never suffered such humiliation before, for he immediately snorted coldly and shouted:

"Today, we have experienced the might of the Dongyuan Sect's master!"

"However, today's matter is not yet settled! We shall return another day to demand..."

Hum-

A streak of Sword Qi shot from the heavens faster than lightning. Before he could react, it landed squarely inside Chang Ziyi's mouth and circled without cease.

"Ah! Mmph..."

The frenzied Sword Qi ravaged his mouth, shredding his tongue, yet its strength was just enough to allow his Foundation Establishment spiritual power to repair and restore it automatically.

Thus the Sword Qi kept slicing Chang Ziyi's tongue and mouth apart, blood gushing in torrents.

"I am in an excellent mood today and have no wish to commit further slaughter..."

"However, from this moment until you return within the Xuanyuan Sect's mountain-protecting formation, if you dare utter another word, you need never return."

He actually dared to strike!?

Only when Chang Ziyi was on the verge of unconsciousness did he halt the circulation of spiritual power within his body, allowing the Sword Qi to slice his mouth and tongue into a pulp.

Shen Yu dared not linger any longer. Sweeping his broad sleeves, he took the Xuanyuan Sect cultivators and fled through the air.

He did not even dare utter the word "go."

Within the Dongyuan Sect.

Song Yan suddenly felt a chill run through his body, as though an invisible gaze had seen straight through him.

"Among the cultivators of this world, there is no such distinction as innocent or villainous..."

"In fighting and killing, so long as you do not betray your true heart or needlessly incur karmic burden, a kill is a kill. Why conceal it?"

"This matter is concluded."

"Elders, come to Lingxiao Hall and speak of the many incidents that occurred during my seclusion."

The elders bowed from afar toward Dragon Head Peak. "We obey."

The surrounding disciples gradually dispersed, but Song Yan still stood rooted to the spot, gazing at the sword scar in the distant sky...

This was the Dongyuan Sect's master, Daoist Li Jun.

The Dongyuan Sect differed somewhat from the other great sects-indeed, it could be called very different.

Anyone who took the trouble to peruse the history of the Chu Kingdom's cultivation world would discover that most founders of the other five present-day great sects had only possessed Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation.

Later generations of disciples had painstakingly built up their sects over long ages, their mountain domains gathering the spiritual beauty of the land, before great Golden Core Realm cultivators finally emerged.

Of the six great sects, the oldest was Transformation Crossing Temple in Chen Prefecture, established eight thousand years ago.

Most of the great sects' founding patriarchs had already passed away.

But the Dongyuan Sect was different. Daoist Li Jun had only arrived here some three hundred years ago, established his mountain domain, and founded his sect.

Only a few generations had passed throughout the sect.

He was a living founding patriarch...

The sects of the Chu Kingdom, great and small, had actually kept their eyes fixed on the Dongyuan Sect's blessed land all along.

First, the Dongyuan Sect openly had only this one Golden Core Realm cultivator, and in recent years, no one had heard of any unusual phenomena accompanying a Dongyuan Sect cultivator's breakthrough into the Golden Core Realm.

Second, breaking through to the Golden Core Realm added three hundred years to a cultivator's lifespan, allowing them to live for roughly five hundred years.

When Daoist Li Jun traveled here back then, his strength had already been at least at the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm.

How difficult was it to cultivate to the Golden Core Realm?

In a remote, barren land like the Chu Kingdom, the record for the youngest breakthrough into the Golden Core Realm belonged to a cultivator called Qingyan True Person.

He had entered seclusion to attempt his breakthrough at one hundred and twenty-six, and after three years, attained the great path of the Golden Core at one hundred and twenty-nine.

Unfortunately, he later left the Chu Kingdom on his travels and vanished without a trace. The small sect he had originally belonged to, called the Purple Source Sect, had long since been destroyed as well.

Even if Daoist Li Jun possessed equally outstanding talent, he should now have been around four hundred and thirty years old.

Everyone was guessing that Daoist Li Jun had little lifespan remaining.

But today's sword stroke would likely make the surrounding sects watching like hungry tigers abandon those unrealistic notions for the time being.

"..."

Song Yan lowered his head.

He was not certain whether the sect master's words had been directed at him, but whether they had or not, what he said was right.

No one was innocent.

In this world, where mighty experts truly could summon clouds with a turn of the hand and rain with another, weakness and helplessness were themselves a sin. What innocence was there?

Without strength, just as the sect master said, one was nothing but a straw dog, an ant...

Nothing but a piece on the boards of the various sects and powers, a plaything in the palms of mighty experts!

One day...

Song Yan raised his head. There was no resentment or malice in his eyes, only calm and resolve.

One day...

One day, I will attain the Great Dao, no longer borrow the protection of others, and become the master of my own fate!

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