Reaping the harvest

A soft sigh rang out, drawing every gaze.

Above the Cangyun Sect, a figure stood shrouded in black robes, his face hidden, yet the sight made everyone's expression darken.

He had severed Qianluo's arm with a single sword strike. Anyone could tell he was a Nascent Soul expert, and one with terrifying Sword Dao cultivation.

"The Nighttime Madman!"

Luo Tian cried out in shock. He would have recognized the man even if he had been reduced to ashes.

This was the man who had dragged him out of bed in the dead of night and ground him against the floor.

But Luo Tian had never expected him to intervene when the Cangyun Sect was in peril. Even more shocking was that he had already entered Nascent Soul.

A Nascent Soul expert had been hiding in the sect all this time. The thought made their hair stand on end.

Unlike those of the Cangyun Sect, everyone else had a change of expression.

The Cangyun Sect had shocked them time and again, leaving them unable to settle their emotions.

"Who are you, sir? Do you intend to interfere and make an enemy of our Divine Firmament Sect?" the man from the Divine Firmament Sect asked.

Lu Changsheng felt helpless. He had not expected another Nascent Soul expert to appear either, leaving him no choice but to act.

Yet faced with the man's challenge, he slowly said, "Can you speak for the Divine Firmament Sect?"

"I am from the Divine Firmament Sect..."

"If you can't, shut up. You're disturbing me!"

Lu Changsheng snapped, not bothering to waste words on him.

The man's expression darkened. "Such arrogance! Do you truly hold the Divine Firmament Sect in such contempt?"

Clang!

As those words fell, Lu Changsheng offered no reply. He raised his hand and formed a sword seal. With the ringing of a sword, a streak of Sword Qi swept across the sky, moving as though to cleave the nine heavens as it slashed forward.

The Divine Firmament Sect man's Law Power surged out, all his strength pouring forth. The crimson bead also shone, blocking the strike.

Although he withstood it, he was driven back a hundred zhang, his body smashing through the mountainside.

Countless boulders and clouds of dust immediately came tumbling down, and shock appeared in his eyes!

"The ninth layer of Sword Dao!"

His voice almost trembled as he stared at Lu Changsheng in disbelief.

That dazzling strike stunned everyone around them.

The Sword Dao was difficult to cultivate. The ninth layer alone made countless geniuses shrink back, unable to reach it in their entire lives. The legendary translucent sword heart was even more like a heavenly chasm, barring the path of countless sword cultivators.

The shock in the Divine Firmament Sect Nascent Soul expert's eyes turned to terror.

All his earlier pride vanished. He knew full well that he was no match for this man. His Sword Dao alone was enough to kill him more than a hundred times over.

Without the slightest hesitation, without even another word, he turned to flee!

Lu Changsheng said nothing. With a raise of his hand, Sword Qi swept through the heavens. One whistling sound after another rang out as it tore across the firmament, slashing toward the heavens.

He was still holding something back and had not used his full strength, displaying only the ninth layer of Sword Dao.

The man sensed it and tried to block, but his Law Power was shattered and his body pierced through, leaving him utterly powerless to fight back.

Even among those at the same first layer of Nascent Soul, how many could withstand such a terrifying sword cultivator?

As one man was slain, Qianluo's expression turned to terror.

Clutching his severed arm, he kept retreating, looking over in panic.

"Senior, I mean no harm. I only..."

Splat!

Lu Changsheng could not be bothered to say more. He raised his hand and swept it down, sending Sword Qi flying and slicing off Qianluo's head.

Everyone looked over, seeing only a bloom of blood.

Nor did he stop there. His Law Power surged in every direction, blasting apart those who had charged out of hiding earlier and scattering them in clouds of bloody mist.

His attacks were decisive and ruthless, without the slightest restraint.

The sight imprinted itself in the eyes of everyone from the Profound Heaven Sect. Never had they imagined that the Cangyun Sect was hiding such a terrifying existence.

The Cangyun Sect Patriarch was also lost in a daze.

Luo Tian's face was filled with shock.

All his earlier resentment toward Lu Changsheng vanished.

Zhou Qingyu also turned to look, his eyes brimming with brilliance. Such mastery of the Sword Dao was the very realm he had always pursued.

Now that he had witnessed it with his own eyes, his heart filled with wistfulness and could not settle for a long time.

After Lu Changsheng's intervention left two Nascent Soul experts fallen and numerous Core Formation cultivators dead, he looked toward Luo Tian.

"Deal with the rest yourselves!"

"Thank you, Senior!"

Luo Tian was excited.

In contrast, the people of the Profound Heaven Sect looked ashen.

They wanted to sue for peace, but the situation no longer afforded them that chance.

Even the greatest backer they thought they had had been cut down with a single sword strike. What did they have left to fight with?

Lu Changsheng said no more. He raised his hand, swept up the two Nascent Soul corpses, and took a step, vanishing into the night.

He no longer had the inclination to bother with the many slain Core Formation cultivators. Instead, he left the Cangyun Sect's territory directly and traveled across Cang Province.

He had more important things to do.

Since he had already acted, he might as well see it through: storm the Profound Heaven Sect and the Thousand Net Sect, overturn both traditions, and eliminate any future trouble entirely. While intimidating those harboring ill intentions, he could also take possession of the two sects' assets along the way.

If grass was cut without removing its roots, it would grow again when the spring wind blew. He would not allow himself to be threatened.

That night, all of Cang Province knew no peace.

Blades flashed and swords glinted, blood filling the sky.

The path of cultivation was arduous to begin with, and deceit and treachery were already commonplace.

Over a few resources, people turned their blades on one another. Sects fought openly and schemed in secret, while many rogue cultivators watched like hungry tigers, just as the Cangyun Sect had witnessed.

But after this night, the division of power in Cang Province was destined to be rewritten.

Of the three powers that had stood like the legs of a tripod, only the Cangyun Sect remained. All the resources of an entire province would fall into its hands.

As Profound Heaven Old Ghost was torn apart by the Cangyun Sect Patriarch, his body destroyed and his soul slain, the Profound Heaven Sect suffered a crushing defeat.

Its sect master was blasted to death by Luo Tian, and not one of its Core Formation cultivators was spared. Few of those who had besieged the Cangyun Sect remained.

Even those who escaped with their lives were destined to know no peace. The Cangyun Sect would settle accounts with them one by one, whatever the cost.

Moreover, with the Nighttime Madman's appearance and his help in freeing the Cangyun Sect from danger, the disciples' morale soared, and all their past resentment toward him vanished.

Thinking about it carefully, although he had plagued the sect for ten years and beaten who knew how many people, no one had ever been seen injured. Instead, he had pushed everyone to cultivate in a roundabout way.

Once everything settled, the Cangyun Sect mobilized and charged toward the Profound Heaven Sect.

This matter was destined to have no peaceful resolution. They intended to erase this faction completely.

But when they arrived, they discovered that the sect had already been razed and its treasury looted clean.

Everyone frowned and set off for the Thousand Net Sect, only to arrive a step too late again. The sect had been breached, and everyone had long since fled.

All its stored treasures and resources, medicinal fields, and weapons were gone.

Even several mountains had been overturned, and the earth's spirit veins had been drained clean.

The people of the Cangyun Sect exchanged looks.

"Someone beat us to it?"

"Who would still dare pick up our spoils now?"

At that, they more or less understood. Most likely, that man had acted.

Regardless, the Cangyun Sect had won a resounding victory in this battle and would become Cang Province's sole overlord.

After finishing everything, Lu Changsheng returned to Qingyun Peak and lay there at leisure.

He had turned both sects upside down and taken all their resources.

But they only amounted to a little over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones combined. It was rather paltry, not even as much as he had earned from Ning Yuxin.

On reflection, though, it made sense. Raising so many people in a sect always cost a considerable sum.

He had also stripped clean everything on the two Nascent Soul patriarchs. Selling it for a little over a hundred thousand would be no problem at all, bringing his windfall to over three hundred thousand in an instant.

And he would no longer have to suffer hardships while cultivating. The sect was about to grow powerful, its territory would expand, and he would have more places to plunder. Suddenly, he felt the future held promise.