"The ninth Holy Son, Li Cangtian, has actually issued a challenge to the Divine Son who emerged three years ago."
"That's not all. Holy Son Cangtian also wants to challenge the other eight Holy Sons. He's going to fight nine peerless heavenly prodigies all by himself!"
"The ninth Holy Son, Li Cangtian, has opened nine Life Palaces and possesses the Heavenly Hegemon Body. That physique can rival the Ancient Sacred Body, and its combat prowess is extraordinarily powerful!"
"The Divine Son emerged less than three years ago. Even counting the five years he spent gestating in the golden cocoon, he's only eight, rounded up."
"Holy Son Cangtian, on the other hand, is already ten. His cultivation has reached the Creation Realm, and he commands the power of Creation. For him to fight the Divine Son now is a little too unfair!"
"The Li Lineage has always let strength do the talking. If both sides suppress their cultivation to the same realm, then whoever has the greater combat prowess will be the leader of the younger generation!"
"..."
In less than a day, news that Li Cangtian intended to challenge the Divine Son and the other eight Holy Sons had spread throughout the Li Lineage, and countless members of the younger generation came rushing over.
By now, the area around the island in the Immortal Lake was packed with Li Lineage prodigies, a bustling sea of heads.
Everyone whispered and chattered among themselves, discussing the battle with the Divine Son.
On a bluestone slab outside the Immortal Pavilion.
Li Cangtian sat cross-legged, purple lightning rumbling within him. Heavenly blood Qi enveloped his entire body, and his form became one with heaven and earth.
Wisps of Heavenly Immortal Flame curled around him. His bearing was otherworldly, like that of an ancient emperor!
Li Cangtian ignored every word spoken by the younger generation outside; none of it could affect him in the slightest.
He had sworn to carve out a world of hope for his younger brother with his own hands!
Inside the Immortal Pavilion.
Following the directions provided by the Divine Son's token, Li Xunyuan arrived at the Sword Graveyard Land.
The Sword Graveyard Land was also where the Li Lineage had placed the lifebound swords of its members through the generations.
Though called the "Sword Graveyard," the actual Sword Graveyard had nothing to do with a graveyard.
Towering ancient trees stood in dense ranks within the Sword Graveyard, covering the entire graveyard.
The branches and leaves of every ancient tree shone with immortal light, crimson as the evening clouds and breathtakingly beautiful.
Gentle Sword Qi also flowed around the ancient trees, then transformed into an ocean of the Sword Dao that roared forth and surrounded Li Xunyuan.
As a gentle breeze drifted through, the branches and leaves rustled and swayed softly, shimmering beneath the vast sky like stars filling the heavens.
Li Xunyuan stood in the center of the Sword Graveyard, enveloped by the ocean of the Sword Dao.
From it, he felt a gentle presence like a spring breeze, as though a kindly elder in his family were stroking his cheek.
But when he examined the ancient trees in the Sword Graveyard closely, he discovered that every branch and leaf on them had actually been formed from a sword!
They were densely packed, as numerous as stars, all flowing with immortal radiance beyond counting!
Li Xunyuan saw swords of every kind on the ancient trees; they encompassed everything one could imagine.
At the easternmost end of the Sword Graveyard hung a bronze heavy sword. Its blade had no edge, its supreme craftsmanship appearing crude!
The sword was wreathed in yin and yang Qi, while the presence of three great Daos manifested around it, accompanied by an immortal force capable of suppressing all things!
At the westernmost end of the Sword Graveyard was a blood-colored divine sword. Ghosts and monsters of Fengdu were inscribed on its blade, bloody light flowed over it, and Sha Qi filled the air!
When Li Xunyuan gazed closely at it, he could vaguely see a scene of destruction within: the heavens bleeding and all living beings perishing!
The Sword Graveyard also contained flawless immortal swords as clear as glass, ancient swords of severed emotion that extinguished the seven emotions and six desires, and Heaven Evolution Swords that manifested all things in heaven and earth...
Though these swords all looked extraordinary, none of them were Li Xunyuan's cup of tea.
That was because he had spotted a very peculiar weapon in the Sword Graveyard: a crescent-bladed halberd that looked as though it had been cast entirely from red gold. Dazzling and brilliant, it rested in the void at the very center of the Sword Graveyard.
From a distance, it looked like a magnificent sun suspended in the sky, burning eternally, everlasting and undying!
"'Sword Graveyard,' as the name suggests, is a graveyard for swords. Everything placed here is a sword, so how come you're a halberd? There must be a reason for it. I choose you!"
Li Xunyuan did not play by the usual rules. Instead of choosing one of the other swords, he took down the crescent-bladed halberd.
"What a halberd!"
Li Xunyuan swung the crescent-bladed halberd with both hands. With one sweep, the heavens split, and an invincible might that could suppress all the heavens and myriad worlds pierced through past, present, and future.
The halberd was called the Heavenly Mystery Emperor Halberd. It bore the title "Emperor," but had no description of its grade.
Li Xunyuan did not know exactly what grade of weapon it was.
However, although the halberd had no grade marked on it,
when Li Xunyuan had swung the Emperor Halberd just now, he had seemingly crossed epochs past and present and traversed the vast universe, arriving in an unknown expanse of time and space.
At the end of the river of time in that expanse, he saw a peerlessly graceful figure dressed in white.
The figure's face was veiled in a hazy chaos, impossible to see clearly...
When Li Xunyuan tried to take a second look, the time and space around him shattered in an instant, forcibly pulling him back to reality.
When he tried to recall what he had just seen, he made a bizarre discovery: he could remember nothing.
It felt as though someone had erased his memories, leaving his mind blank.
He only felt that he had missed something precious.
"This halberd is no ordinary treasure!"
Li Xunyuan narrowed his eyes slightly and silently put away the Heavenly Mystery Emperor Halberd.
From the blank scene he had just forgotten, he could say with certainty that the Heavenly Mystery Emperor Halberd was no ordinary weapon-it was an extraordinary artifact!
Hum!
The doors of the Immortal Pavilion opened, and Li Xunyuan strolled out in a robe of red.
Although Li Xunyuan was only eight, rounded up, he was already beginning to grow up, like a little adult.
The youth's red robes were picturesque, his features handsome, and faint wisps of chaotic Qi curled around him.
His golden eyes manifested the laws of the myriad Daos and carried a special life Dao resonance. He had a peerless, immortal bearing!
Illustration of the young protagonist; please disregard the color of the clothes.
His appearance immediately drew the attention of everyone around the Immortal Pavilion.
"What a handsome young man!"
A beautiful young woman with skin of ice and bones of jade spoke in a coquettish voice, admiration appearing in her clear, limpid eyes.
"If I could become his Dao companion, I'd be willing even if it meant becoming a Holy Maiden of the Li Lineage!"
Another young woman with an alluring figure smiled sweetly. Her proud, snowy peaks quivered and bounced, making countless Li Lineage prodigies stare wide-eyed.
The trip wasn't wasted, not one bit!
"Do you hear yourself? How could words that cold come out of your thirty-six-degree mouth?"
Another young woman retorted, speechless.
"His cultivation is only at the Life Palace Realm, so why does he feel stronger than me at the peak of the Creation Realm?"
A young Li Lineage prodigy's expression grew grave. For some reason, he felt a pressure from Li Xunyuan as heavy as a divine mountain.
There had been only one person in the Immortal Pavilion today: the unfamiliar Divine Son personally appointed by the Ninth Ancestor.
Now that the red-robed youth had emerged from the Immortal Pavilion, his identity went without saying.
"Greetings, Divine Son!"
"Greetings, Divine Son..."
The younger generation of the Li Lineage bowed respectfully to Li Xunyuan in perfect unison.
Their voices merged into a mountain roar and ocean howl, piercing the clouds and shaking the sky!
The disciples of this generation of the Li Lineage knew how to behave.
Whoever the Divine Son was, he was not someone they could afford to offend.
"He..."
Li Cangtian opened his eyes. The moment his gaze fell on Li Xunyuan, a tremor like an electric shock ran through his soul.
"How could this be..."
The other's figure and bearing gradually overlapped with the shadowy image of karma in his mind.
In that instant, a boundless storm rose in Li Cangtian's heart. His brows knotted into the shape of the character 川, and his shock would not subside for a long time...