[Fantasy] Cultivation and Desire for a Slave Wife (Complete) - Chapters 37-39 (End)

Chapter 620 [The Four Swords of Zhuxian]

Silence, a deathly silence. It seemed that in that instant, the entire sky was reduced to a single point—the point where the spike and the blade met. It

felt like an instant, yet also like an eternity. Suddenly, a blinding light erupted from the point of contact, a blazing sun-like light that forced Yang Fan to close his eyes in fear.

The scorching white light swept across the earth, spreading outwards from the point where the blade and spike met, engulfing the entire sky in an instant. For a moment, the sky was nothing but a white light; nothing else existed.

Under these circumstances, Yang Fan and his companion retreated rapidly, avoiding the intense light. Although the light wasn't enough to harm them, the obstructed vision made them feel out of control.

While Yang Fan wanted to launch another attack within the light, the blinding brilliance made it impossible for him to lock onto his opponent. Since they couldn't attack the opponent, they naturally couldn't be attacked either. Therefore, as Yang Fan retreated rapidly, the monster also had the same thought, retreating quickly as well.

The dazzling light came fast and retreated even faster. Before Yang Fan and the monster had retreated far, the light slowly dissipated, just like the sun setting and darkness descending upon the earth again. In the blink of an eye, all the light disappeared without a trace, and the entire sky returned to its previous state.

However, this time, as the light faded, the mine where Yang Fan and the monster were located strangely lowered by several feet, and even the ground seemed to have sunk a section, looking as if it had been forcibly sheared off by an unknown force, appearing extremely eerie.

However, before Yang Fan could even be surprised by these things, the monster's next attack was already approaching.

The monster's wings, which had been twisted together, suddenly opened up, like a celestial maiden scattering flowers, and scales fell from its wings one after another. The scales didn't fall to the ground; instead, they floated in mid-air around it.

Then, a flash of golden light, and the scales transformed into countless incredibly sharp small swords, their tips all locked onto Yang Fan. The next moment, these small swords, like a meteor shower, shot towards Yang Fan!

"Damn it!"

Seeing the wave after wave of sword rain, Yang Fan couldn't help but curse. With his keen eyesight, he could naturally see that those small swords weren't real swords, but rather formed from pure sword energy. The problem was that each of those small swords contained an extremely pure element of metal!

Metal, one of the five elements, inherently represents killing, resilience, and invincible sharpness. Now, with the addition of metal energy to these sword energies, each of these small swords possessed the sharpness of a peerless divine sword. The combined sword formation's attack power was almost indistinguishable from that of a divine sword!

Although Yang Fan's methods were endless and his combat power astonishing, he was still far from the Hunyuan Realm. How could he possibly compare to the strike of a divine weapon comparable to a Hunyuan Realm expert? Therefore, upon seeing the power of this sword rain, he couldn't help but feel an urge to curse.

However, cursing aside, if he couldn't dodge this sword rain, he probably wouldn't even have the chance to curse. Therefore, at the same time as the opponent launched the sword formation, he raised his entire body's defense to its maximum and actively met the sword rain head-on.

Facing this sword formation, Yang Fan knew that he couldn't avoid it, and with the monster's strength, its speed was no less than his own. He couldn't escape even if he wanted to. So, he had no choice but to fight with all his might.

"Want to compare swordsmanship? Fine, in that case, take a few of my moves!"

"Sword Sweep Across the World!"

"One Sword Cuts the Universe!"

"..." "

Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Source!"

Yang Fan used the demon blade in his hand as a sword, unleashing all the sword moves he knew in one breath. Instantly, streaks of sword energy shot into the sky, and beside him, longswords formed from condensed sword energy also appeared.

However, these longswords, while significantly larger than the opponent's smaller swords, lacked the enhancement of the element of metal. Therefore, in terms of destructive power, the smaller swords were superior. However, they had the advantage of larger size and far greater numbers.

*Ling! Ling! Ling!*

In an instant, this place once again became a world of swords. Sword energy flew everywhere, sword blades crisscrossed, and sword light flowed. Every second, sword energy was destroyed, and new sword energy was created. The ground and the mines were riddled with craters from the powerful destructive force of the sword energy, and the ground that had just been leveled sank deeper again. This world suffered an unprecedented devastating blow!

Suddenly, the opponent's smaller swords, formed from scales, abruptly shrank. The thousands upon thousands of smaller swords suddenly coalesced, instantly forming four killing swords.

Each sword emanated a chilling killing intent, an almost tangible killing intent that sent shivers down Yang Fan's spine. Through that killing intent, Yang Fan seemed to see flashing blades and blood shadows, endless mountains of corpses and bones, surging seas of blood, and boundless killing intent.

Now, he was almost certain that the monster's intent did not originate from itself, but from the four killing swords before him. It was just that these four killing swords had been hidden within its body, making them undetectable.

These four swords were neither gold nor iron nor copper, their forging material unknown. But Yang Fan was certain that these four killing swords were far superior to the smaller swords he had encountered before, because they possessed a physical form, rather than being mere energy bodies composed of sword energy and metallic power.

"My swords are forged using the same method as the ancient divine weapons, the Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter. They are forged from the essence of the five metals, tempered by the fire of the earth's core, quenched by the water of a frozen pool, and then nurtured with eighty-one kinds of the world's most deadly poisons and eighty-one kinds of rare spiritual herbs. When they emerge from the furnace, even an enlightened immortal must sacrifice themselves for them. Once this sword is drawn, no matter if you are a Great Luo Immortal or a Vajra Arhat, you will likely be utterly destroyed, body and soul!"

At the same time as the four killing swords appeared, a thought traveled along them to Yang Fan's heart. Clearly, this was the monster's thought.

"The Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Fan was slightly taken aback. He was naturally familiar with the ancient divine weapons that had existed since the beginning of time, in legends.

The Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter were the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, the Immortal Trapping Sword, and the Immortal Severing Sword. The activation of the Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter required the coordination of the Heaven-Reaching Sword Formation; the combination of the two was called the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation.

This formation is truly the most powerful killing treasure in the Three Realms and Six Paths, requiring four people of the same level to break it. However, the killing aura of this sword formation is too strong to suppress fortune, which is the only weakness of the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation. This is why the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation cannot be considered a Primordial Treasure.

Primordial Treasures are existences that surpass divine artifacts, and are a realm unattainable even by those in the Primordial Chaos Realm. No one knows what this realm is, because since ancient times, apart from the legendary great being who spread the Three Thousand Great Daos and created heaven and earth, no one has ever stepped into that realm. "

Neither copper, nor iron, nor steel, once hidden beneath Mount Sumeru, not forged by the reversal of Yin and Yang, yet tempered by water and fire. The Immortal Slaughtering Sword is sharp, the Immortal Slaughtering Sword is deadly, the Immortal Trapping Sword emits red light everywhere, the Immortal Severing Sword's transformations are infinitely wondrous, even the Great Luo Immortal's robes are stained with blood."

This poem describes the four swords of the Immortal Slaughtering Sword. This kind of divine artifact, which is infinitely close to a primordial treasure, would be a top-tier magical weapon even in ancient times, let alone now. Only a handful of other divine artifacts in the world could rival it.

For example, the so-called treasures of various holy lands are mostly just low-grade divine artifacts. Divine artifacts are also divided into different grades, with the lowest being called low-grade divine artifacts. After that, there are mid-grade, high-grade, top-grade, and supreme divine artifacts.

However, all these divine artifacts belong to acquired spiritual treasures and are quite different from true primordial spiritual treasures.

The *Gaozi Yishu* (高子遗书), in its section "Huiyu Liuyi" (会语六一),

states, "What one possesses in life is innate; what one is capable of is acquired. Without innate, there is no acquired; without acquired, there is no innate." Innate refers to the fundamental nature of the universe, the origin of all things, specifically the embryonic period before the birth of a human or animal. The *Yizong Jinjian* (医宗金鉴), in its section "Shanbu Mingyi Fanglun Yi" (删补名医方论一), in its commentary on "Treatment of sudden collapse of Yin

, Yang, Qi, and Blood" (治阴气血暴脱等证), notes, "What comes before birth is called innate; what comes after birth is called acquired. Innate Qi resides in the kidneys, bestowed by one's parents; acquired Qi resides in the spleen, transformed from food and water." Therefore, the essential difference between innate and acquired spiritual treasures lies in the fact that innate spiritual treasures are naturally formed, nurtured by heaven and earth, absorbing natural essence and undergoing countless cycles of reincarnation. Acquired spiritual

treasures, on the other hand, are artificially created. In reality, the true difference between innate and acquired spiritual treasures lies not in their power, but in the fact that innate spiritual treasures, nurtured by heaven and earth, possess a trace of intelligence from the moment of their formation. This intelligence, like that of a human, can continuously grow and improve.

While acquired spiritual treasures may develop sentience upon reaching a certain level, this sentience is fixed and cannot be increased. Therefore, the growth potential of innate spiritual treasures far surpasses that of acquired ones.

The Four Swords of Zhuxian are among the top-tier innate spiritual treasures. Above innate spiritual treasures lies the innate supreme treasure. The word "supreme" is composed of "one" and resembles a bird flying downwards, signifying the highest and ultimate state of existence. Thus, the innate supreme treasure represents the pinnacle of magical treasures in the world.

However, to become an innate supreme treasure, besides the primary factor of its existence since the creation of the world by Pangu, there is another crucial factor: it must contain primordial purple qi to be considered a true innate supreme treasure!

Primordial purple qi refers to the purest qi between heaven and earth, containing the laws of heaven and earth, and is the foundation for sainthood. Before the creation of the world by Pangu, it existed alongside the Heavenly Dao, which is composed of forty-nine streams of purple qi. Mastering even one stream of purple qi allows one to break through the Heavenly Dao and instantly become a saint!

According to records, among the innate treasures that appeared in ancient times were the Pangu Banner, the Taiji Diagram, the Chaos Bell, and the Qiankun Cauldron. Originally, the Four Swords of Zhuxian were also considered innate treasures, but the Zhuxian Sword Formation was too violent and unable to suppress the fortunes of major sects.

Therefore, its then-owner, the Tongtian Sect Master, extracted the Primordial Purple Qi from it. His original intention was to purify the killing intent of the Zhuxian Sword Formation, but unexpectedly, after the Primordial Purple Qi was extracted, the Zhuxian Swords not only failed to purify the killing intent, but instead, they were downgraded from innate treasures to innate spiritual treasures.

Among the remaining innate treasures, the Pangu Banner possessed the power to create heaven and earth, and its single-target attack power ranked first in ancient times, even capable of breaking through chaos. The Taiji Diagram could pacify wind, water, fire, and earth; wherever it passed, water, fire, and earth were pacified. Furthermore, legend has it that when the Taiji Diagram was in operation, a golden bridge would extend from its center; those who entered it would be reduced to ashes.

The Qiankun Cauldron is renowned for its superior defense; anything refined by it can be transformed from acquired to innate. The Chaos Bell, combining offense and defense, can suppress heaven and earth. It was wielded by the ancient Donghuang Taiyi, and it was because of this bell that the demon race was able to dominate the primordial world in ancient times. However, during the great war between the Wu and Yao tribes, Donghuang Taiyi died a violent death, and the Chaos Bell disappeared without a trace.

Some say that the Chaos Bell was shattered by the combined efforts of the twelve ancestral witches of the Wu tribe, scattering its fragments throughout the world. Others say that the Chaos Bell, having lost its master, returned to chaos, awaiting the appearance of a destined person. Still others say that Donghuang did not die, but sacrificed himself to the bell, becoming its spirit, thus achieving immortality alongside the bell!

Regardless of the interpretation, the Chaos Bell's prestige still surpasses that of the Taiji Diagram, only slightly weaker than that of the Pangu Banner!

Besides these, there is another legendary innate treasure called the Chaos Green Lotus, known as the most perfect magic weapon. However, because it was too perfect, it incurred the jealousy of the heavens and was destroyed, transforming into countless other magic weapons, all top-tier innate spiritual treasures.

The object wielded by this monster is a replica modeled after the Four Swords of Zhuxian, the most powerful ancient innate spiritual treasures. In fact, such replicas are not the first. Since ancient times, many martial artists have used ancient divine weapons as prototypes, forging weapons according to their methods.

Among them, the most famous is the Demon Emperor Bell of the Demon Emperor Palace, modeled after the Chaos Bell of Donghuang Taiyi, the only innate spiritual treasure forged by a human.

Although this artifact is an acquired treasure, it ranks very high among divine artifacts. Aside from the mysterious and unpredictable Buddhist artifact, this artifact shines brightly in modern times, arguably the best of all divine artifacts. Unfortunately, it was ultimately destroyed in the Dragon-Slaying Calamity.

Moreover, legend has it that when the Demon Emperor was forging the Demon Emperor Bell, he added a fragment of the Chaos Bell, which he had obtained by chance, to it. This allowed the Demon Emperor Bell to break through the limits of the acquired realm and enter the ranks of innate spiritual treasures. The monster's replica of the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords, though far from reaching the level of an acquired spiritual treasure, is undoubtedly the supreme among magical artifacts. After all, its original form was the ancient and mighty Four Immortal-Slaying Swords. Although it is a replica, Yang Fan has never seen such a powerful magical weapon before. His demonic blade is like the difference between a newborn infant and a giant in front of it…

Chapter 621 [Primordial Clear Thunder]

“Linlinlin!”

Four longswords suddenly appeared around Yang Fan in the instant he was stunned, locking onto his four sides, but without attacking him.

“The Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation? Without a formation, what is a sword formation?”

Seeing this reaction, Yang Fan immediately understood. This monster, though it forged four replicas of the Four Swords of Zhuxian according to the original forging method, failed to create the Heaven-Reaching Formation. This is because a formation differs from a weapon; it's not simply a weapon in the traditional sense, but a combination of weapon and formation.

While the forging method of the Four Swords of Zhuxian was extremely demanding, the method itself has been passed down. However, the formation within the Heaven-Reaching Formation diagram has not been preserved. Therefore, this monster could only forge swords, not the formation diagram.

Consequently, while the four replicas possessed considerable power, they were far inferior to the Zhuxian Sword Formation, and lacking the diagram, their power was completely unleashed. Therefore, the monster's intention in wielding these four swords was not for combat, but to restrain Yang Fan.

Having learned from the previous battle, the monster understood that Yang Fan's speed was comparable to its own; therefore, if Yang Fan didn't want a direct confrontation, it couldn't attack him. The only way was to fix him in a specific space, preventing escape and giving itself a chance.

It must be said that although this monster was enormous, it was incredibly clever. While the power of these four replicas couldn't compare to that of divine artifacts, they were enough to trap Yang Fan. This made escape almost impossible for Yang Fan. It

wasn't that he couldn't escape, but rather that to do so would require time to break the four swords, leaving him wide open and giving the monster a perfect opportunity to attack—virtually suicidal. Therefore, at this moment, he had no choice but to face the monster head-on.

"Roar!"

Just as the four swords locked onto the surrounding void, the monster launched another attack on Yang Fan. With a roar, it spewed forth streams of flame, which swirled in the air, forming long dragons of fire that surged towards Yang Fan.

"Boundless Blood Sea!"

Facing the oncoming fire dragons, Yang Fan didn't hesitate. He swung his demonic blade, and a blood-red blade light, almost solidified, slashed out from it, forming a demonic blade shape dozens of times larger in mid-air, which then slashed towards the fire dragons.

"Boom!"

The enormous demonic blade cleaved down, striking one of the fire dragons. However, it didn't extinguish the fire dragon. On the contrary, the fire dragon seemed to be drawn in and was actually absorbed into the blade.

Vaguely, one could see the fire dragon enter the blade's body, seemingly sucked into a world of blood, where waves of blood surged and blood energy soared to the heavens. The fire dragon struggled incessantly, but unfortunately, it was outnumbered and outmatched

. Under the suppression of the blood sea, the fire dragon's flames were eventually extinguished, and the fiery dragon vanished... The move proved effective, and Yang Fan naturally followed suit. He hadn't expected the demon blade to have such a function. In an instant, amidst the flashing blades and blood-red shadows, all the fire dragons were devoured by the demon blade. The moment the last fire dragon was devoured, Yang Fan suddenly felt an extremely pure fire energy flow into his body through the demon blade. Upon entering his body, his own fire essence instantly strengthened several times over, as if it had received a powerful tonic.

However, just as the fire dragon dissipated, its breath once again spewed out huge jets of water. These jets condensed into cone-shaped spikes in mid-air before piercing towards Yang Fan.

"As the saying goes, 'It is impolite not to reciprocate.' Since you attacked me with fire, then taste the power of my flames!"

Seeing the ice-shaped spikes attacking him, Yang Fan's mind stirred. His newly strengthened fire essence, activated by the Nine True Words, instantly connected with the five elements of fire in the world. Suddenly, walls of fire appeared before Yang Fan.

There were nine walls in total. Normally, with Yang Fan's strength, he could only condense a maximum of three, but with the strengthening of his fire essence, the number of walls increased accordingly. As the saying goes, fire can overcome water, and water can extinguish fire; the two are mutually reinforcing and restraining. Since the opponent used fire, he would extinguish it with fire!

Sure enough, Yang Fan's method immediately proved effective. The cone-shaped spikes suddenly pierced through several walls of fire, but each time they passed through, they were significantly melted by the high temperature. By the time all nine walls had passed, they were almost negligible, and Yang Fan could break them without much effort.

Seeing that the cone-shaped spikes were useless against Yang Fan, the monster roared again in fury. As soon as its roar subsided, massive boulders suddenly rained down on Yang Fan's head, and the ground beneath his feet cracked open, splintering out spikes—some made of mud, others of wood.

These boulders, spikes, and stakes locked Yang Fan at both ends, seemingly trying to crush him into a pulp while also riddling him with holes.

"World-Destroying Thunder, Annihilation!"

Faced with this situation, Yang Fan dared not be careless. He activated the Nine Heavens Vast Thunder Technique in full force, unleashing a World-Destroying Thunder. Instantly, the entire sky was engulfed in a sea of lightning.

It was as if the world was being destroyed; the moment the lightning struck, nothing remained. Coupled with the cracked earth and falling meteorites, the scene resembled the apocalypse!

The power of the Nine Heavens Vast Thunder Technique after breaking through to the seventh level was being truly displayed for the first time today. It was no longer just streaks of lightning, but rather a devastating onslaught. The moment the true energy circulated, a vast ocean of lightning appeared, within which flashed humanoid bolts of lightning—the legendary "Thunder God" lightning power, found only in the Primordial Pure Thunder, possessing its own hierarchy. The lowest level was like electricity used for lighting, the most basic form. Above that

were the concepts of First-Level Lightning, Third-Level Pure Thunder, Sixth-Level Vast Thunder, Ninth-Level Divine Thunder, Purple Sun True Thunder, Primordial Pure Thunder, World-Destroying Heavenly Thunder, and Chaos Thunder God.

First-Level Lightning, Third-Level Pure Thunder, Sixth-Level Vast Thunder, and Ninth-Level Divine Thunder didn't have a clear distinction; aside from differences in power, they were similar in appearance.

However, starting with Purple Sun True Thunder, both power and appearance began to change. Purple Sun True Thunder, like Purple Sun True Qi, emitted purple energy from the east, flashing with lightning; its power was vastly different from that of Ninth-Level Divine Thunder.

Above the Purple Sun True Thunder lies the Primordial Pure Thunder, even more powerful, which can even produce "Thunder Gods." These Thunder Gods are not merely legendary figures, but rather beings whose lightning possesses sentience and takes on human form. However, the Thunder Gods born from the Primordial Pure Thunder are not true Thunder Gods, but merely "machines" with human forms; they lack true intelligence.

Only the Thunder Gods born from the World-Destroying Heavenly Thunder possess a trace of intelligence, but this innate intelligence is imperfect, merely a sliver of spirituality. Even so, the World-Destroying Heavenly Thunder's power, due to the existence of these beings, is dozens of times greater than the Primordial Pure Thunder.

This is because of the difference between having and lacking intelligence. One is a being unable to think independently, while the other is a being with its own thoughts; the difference between them is immeasurable!

The beings born from the legendary Chaos Divine Thunder possess intelligence almost identical to humans, and these Thunder Gods have another name: Chaos Thunder Gods!

Legend has it that the Chaos Divine Thunder only appeared before the creation of heaven and earth, before chaos was divided. After Pangu separated heaven and earth, this Chaos Divine Thunder completely disappeared, because this lightning destroys all things; nothing can withstand its bombardment, let alone be controlled by anyone!

This Chaos Thunder God can be said to be the true ruler of heaven and earth before the separation of chaos. The reason why innate treasures like the Pangu Banner are called treasures is because they were forged in this Chaos Divine Thunder, imbued with a trace of chaotic energy. Therefore, they kill without incurring karmic consequences, and their power is immense!

The lightning that Yang Fan previously mastered was the Purple Sun Divine Thunder, but after breaking through the seventh level of the Nine Heavens Vast Thunder Technique, he began to come into contact with the Primordial Clear Thunder. Having never used the Primordial Clear Thunder before, he discovered this time that its power was incomparable to the Purple Sun Divine Thunder.

It can be said that the power of any single bolt of Primordial Clear Thunder is the sum of the power of thousands upon thousands of Purple Sun Divine Thunder bolts!

The moment the Primordial Clear Lightning appeared, the monster's attack instantly crumbled. The spikes and meteorites were pulverized before they even reached Yang Fan. Not only that, but the humanoid lightning bolts within the Primordial Clear Lightning, after destroying the meteorites and spikes, automatically began to bombard the monster. It seemed they wouldn't be satisfied until they destroyed the culprit.

"Roar!"

Seeing the humanoid lightning bolts attacking it, the monster let out a strange cry. All things in the world have an innate fear of lightning. While this monster was unafraid of ordinary lightning, was this ordinary lightning? It was Primordial Clear Lightning!

Primordial Clear Lightning, according to legend, is a tribulation that only peak Void Returning Realm experts attempt to break through to the Primordial Chaos Realm. In other words, only Primordial Chaos Realm experts might be able to withstand this Primordial Clear Lightning; those below the Primordial Chaos Realm, no matter how powerful, could not withstand it.

Although this monster was incredibly powerful, its cultivation far surpassing Hong Zhentian's, it was still a long way from truly reaching the Primordial Chaos Realm. Therefore, upon seeing the Primordial Clear Lightning, it couldn't even muster the thought of resistance; its only thought was to flee as far as possible!

Moreover, at this moment, it showed no sign of underestimating Yang Fan. In its view, anyone capable of controlling the Primordial Clear Lightning was at least a Primordial Chaos Realm expert. This kid had definitely been playing dumb before.

"Trying to leave now? Too late!"

Using the Primordial Clear Lightning for the first time had been extremely taxing on Yang Fan; in fact, it had consumed more energy than all his previous attacks combined. Therefore, his face was unusually pale.

However, Yang Fan knew that if he couldn't defeat the monster in one fell swoop, making it realize that he wasn't a Primordial Chaos Realm expert at all, but merely a facade, then he and Nalan Qingcheng would be truly in danger.

Just as Yang Fan was speaking, the humanoid lightning bolts of the Taiqing Divine Thunder seemed to be under command, actually forming a profound array that trapped the monster within.

"Heavens, is this still the Taiqing Divine Thunder? How come it even uses arrays? Damn it, watch me separate my four beasts!"

For the first time, the monster spoke in human language.

However, along with its human-like voice, its enormous body suddenly expanded rapidly. Its already several tens of feet tall grew even larger, reaching a height of a hundred feet in the blink of an eye.

Just as Yang Fan thought it was about to launch a powerful attack, its massive body suddenly exploded with a bang. Immediately afterwards, four enormous figures suddenly appeared in the sky.

To the east was a hundred-foot-long azure dragon, to the west a white tiger, to the south a vermilion bird, and to the north a black tortoise. They were actually the legendary Four Divine Beasts!

"No wonder this monster looks so strange; it's truly a combination of multiple animals!"

Seeing the four divine beasts suddenly appear in the sky, Yang Fan immediately understood. No wonder this monster's tail looked like a dragon's tail, its wings like phoenix wings, its head and feet like a tiger, and its back like a tortoise shell—it was a combination of the Four Divine Beasts.

Now, Yang Fan finally understood why this monster's defense, attack power, and speed were so monstrous; it was because it combined the most powerful advantages of the Four Divine Beasts!

"How could the Four Divine Beasts really exist in this world? Aren't these things supposed to be nonexistent? What's going on?"

Yang Fan had always believed that the Four Divine Beasts were nonexistent, merely figments of human imagination. But unexpectedly, he had actually witnessed their existence today.

"Wait, they don't seem to have physical bodies? Hmm..."

Suddenly, Yang Fan noticed something unusual about the Four Divine Beasts. He discovered that they didn't have physical bodies; instead, they were formed from clusters of energy condensed together.

"They were actually formed from the condensation of the Five Elements energy! That's right, I know now, they must have developed sentience from the origin of the Five Elements True Qi, thus transforming into the form of the Four Divine Beasts. You know, all things have spirits, even trees can cultivate into demons. With such concentrated Five Elements energy here, it's not surprising that a few sentient beings would emerge. But how can they merge into one? Logically speaking, they should all have their own independent thoughts, how can they coexist as one?"

Chapter 622 [Heavenly Dao Altar]

"The Four Saints separate, each occupying one of the four directions, guarding the world, I alone am the king! The Four Saints return to their positions!"

Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Vermilion Bird, the four monsters split into four, simultaneously let out a long roar, and at the same time, a series of profound and incomprehensible incantations came from their mouths.

The four defensive items of the Immortal Executioner, lying across the sky, seemed to be stimulated by the incantations, trembling incessantly, and the four divine beasts suddenly transformed into four beams of spiritual light, flying into the four swords.

Boom! Like an ancient seal being broken, the four divine swords emitted a blinding sword light, crimson like a tide. Their tangible killing intent seemed capable of piercing space and striking beyond the heavens.

"So what if it's Primordial Lightning? With the Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter in hand, even without the array diagram, I can still slay the world with my primordial spirit! Break!"

As this thought spread, the four divine swords pierced towards Yang Fan with the speed of meteors. It seemed they knew that to break the Primordial Lightning, they must first eliminate Yang Fan, the culprit.

The Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter, stimulated by the primordial spirits of the four divine beasts, were fully activated. Furthermore, as they interacted, a trace of divine artifact aura appeared. The surfaces of the four swords even flickered with lightning, clearly indicating that their power had triggered a lightning tribulation.

Divine artifacts, like humans, undergo lightning tribulations during their evolution, similar to the breakthroughs in a martial artist's cultivation. Moreover, generally speaking, the lightning tribulations of weapons are far more powerful than those of humans.

Weapons are, after all, objects of slaughter. They were inherently incompatible with the Great Dao, and when they developed sentience, they were rejected by the Great Dao. Therefore, when they evolved, the Great Dao would unleash its most intense wrath, attempting to destroy them. Unlike humans, whose Heavenly Dao, though ruthless, always leaves a glimmer of hope

, weapons developing sentience is like plants and animals becoming demons—both are defying Heaven and blaspheming the Great Dao, naturally incurring its wrath.

The four divine swords were already at the pinnacle of magical artifacts, just a hair's breadth away from becoming divine artifacts, revered as innate treasures. Now, provoked by the monster's life and driven by its primordial spirit, their potential was fully unleashed, showing a faint sign of breaking through the limits of magical artifacts and becoming divine artifacts.

Furthermore, Yang Fan's activation of the Nine Heavens Vast Thunder Technique, unleashing Primordial Clear Thunder, further propelled the four divine swords towards undergoing a tribulation of lightning.

"Truly, heaven is on my side! Not only do they not flee, but they even intend to unleash the Four Swords of Zhuxian to kill me? Little do they know that the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique inherently possesses the ability to trigger tribulations? Moreover, these four divine swords are already on the verge of evolution. I'll take this opportunity to seize these four divine swords!"

Seeing that his opponent not only didn't flee but instead unleashed the four swords to attack him, Yang Fan was not alarmed but delighted. With his keen eyesight, he could naturally see at a glance that the Four Swords of Zhuxian had reached the pinnacle of magical artifacts. As long as they underwent the tempering of tribulations, they had the potential to evolve into divine artifacts.

Ever since he first saw these four divine swords, Yang Fan had had the idea of acquiring them for his own use. Now that he had this opportunity, how could he let it slip by?

After breaking through to the seventh level of the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique, he could not only control divine thunder like the Primordial Clear Thunder, but he could also subtly activate the thunder technique, causing others to passively undergo tribulations. In other words, he could communicate with the tribulations in the dark, causing them to be struck by lightning ahead of time.

Consider this: for martial artists, a tribulation of lightning is inherently a matter of life and death. During the tribulation, they must be fully prepared, equipping themselves with countless magical artifacts and spiritual herbs, and requiring decades of time to mature before they can even survive.

Even then, they are severely injured after the tribulation, requiring a long recovery period. During this time, their cultivation level will plummet to its lowest point. Therefore, a tribulation of lightning is a nightmare for martial artists!

Yet now, Yang Fan can trigger a tribulation of lightning on an opponent without their knowledge. Facing the wrath of Heaven, what chance does an unprepared enemy have of survival?

Therefore, this function of the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique is absolutely heaven-defying, a supreme weapon for cunning. It's just that Yang Fan's cultivation level is too low to fully activate it. If the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique were to suddenly reach its eighth level, he could even kill those already on the verge of tribulation without lifting a finger. If he reached the ninth level, he could even trigger the tribulation of a Primordial Chaos Realm expert, causing them to be annihilated in the lightning tribulation.

The Nine Heavens Vast Lightning Technique could also be called the Nine Heavens Vast Lightning Tribulation. Yang Fan, who cultivated the Nine Heavens Vast Lightning Technique, was completely the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao, acting on behalf of Heaven and upholding its principles. In a sense, he had completely stolen a trace of the Heavenly Dao's laws, thus surpassing the Heavenly Dao itself. This shows just how powerful and heaven-defying the Nine

Heavens Vast Lightning Technique was! Originally, although the monster's cultivation was close to the Primordial Chaos Realm, it was still far from the true Primordial Chaos Realm and far from transcending the tribulation. Even with Yang Fan's seventh level of the Nine Heavens Vast Lightning Technique, he couldn't trigger the monster's tribulation. Yet, the monster actually entered the Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter.

These four divine swords, no one knew how they were forged, were even more powerful than the original, just a hair's breadth away from becoming divine artifacts. In addition, such divine weapons were far more likely to trigger lightning tribulations than martial artists. Therefore, Yang Fan decided to take the risk!

If successful, slaying the monster would be a minor matter; he would obtain four peerless divine weapons, and might even be able to forge them into divine artifacts. In this way, he would truly have the qualifications to challenge the major holy lands.

As his thoughts raced, Yang Fan acted without hesitation, unleashing the Primordial Clear Thunder at full power to strike the four divine swords. At the same time, he also activated the Nine Heavens Vast Thunder Technique to its strongest state, beginning to communicate with the ethereal tribulations within the Heavenly Dao…

Boom! Just as Yang Fan intended to communicate with the Heavenly Dao tribulations through his mind, a deafening roar, like a thunderclap, resounded in his mind. In that instant, Yang Fan felt as if his brain had exploded, and an indescribable pain instantly spread throughout his body.

What does it mean to be pierced by a thousand swords? What does it mean to be in unbearable pain? In this instant, Yang Fan finally had a perfect understanding. He had always thought that with his willpower, no suffering in this world could move him, but in this moment, Yang Fan almost collapsed from the pain.

Never before had he so wished that he could faint, but at this moment, his consciousness was so clear that he even experienced every tiny detail of the pain, which was deeply imprinted in his heart! It felt

like an instant, yet also like tens of thousands of years. Just when Yang Fan was about to give up, something seemed to be opened in his mind, and his consciousness suddenly arrived in a strange space...

This was a space composed entirely of chaos, without light, without darkness, without sky, and without earth; there was only a blurry chaos. Yang Fan didn't know how he had arrived here. He could clearly see everything before him, yet he felt as if he didn't exist. He couldn't feel anything about himself—not his physical body, not his primordial spirit, not even his heartbeat. All he felt was a strange clarity that allowed him to "see" everything here.

Yang Fan saw, deep within the chaos, a colossal altar. This altar was as large as hundreds of stars; Yang Fan couldn't even describe its size in words. He only knew it was vast and boundless, seemingly omnipresent. No matter how Yang Fan moved or from what angle he looked, he only saw the same single point.

The entire altar was made of some unknown material, ancient, majestic, and boundless. It was covered with the marks of time, giving the impression that it had existed eternally, unchanging since time immemorial.

Lightning crackled and flashed across the surface of the altar. Through the lightning, Yang Fan seemed to see countless humanoid beings moving within it, forming neat ranks like an army, guarding this land.

In the very center of the altar floated two equally enormous and indescribable artifacts. One was a colossal iron hammer, short-handled and heavy. The other was a long nail, four-sided, pointed at the front and thick at the back, extremely sharp at the tip and square at its thickest point—remarkably similar to the Thunder Hammer and Thunder Drill used by the Thunder God in mythology, only its size was hundreds of trillions of times greater!

Yang Fan could vaguely see countless blurry figures imprinted on the surfaces of these two colossal artifacts. Among them were human figures, animals, plants, weapon-like forms, and even countless other forms that Yang Fan had never seen or heard of before. In short, it encompasses everything and is incredibly complex. However, whether it's people, animals, plants, weapons, or other strange and unusual things, there's always a line of small characters below them—undoubtedly their names and descriptions.

Yang Fan also noticed that the colors of these characters varied: some were white, some gold, some black, some blood red… almost no two colors were exactly alike.

Buddhism speaks of cause and effect, Taoism speaks of non-action. Cause and effect are linked; non-action leads to all actions. Cause and effect refer to karmic conditions and consequences; what causes you sow in your past life, you reap in this life; good deeds bring good results, evil deeds bring evil results. The Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 1, "The retribution for good and evil follows like a shadow; the cause and effect of the three lifetimes cycle without fail."

As for non-action leading to all actions... Du Guangting stated: "The principle of non-action is truly profound. Non-action does not mean being unmoved by being drawn in, pushed away, forced, or touched; remaining steadfast and unyielding, or tightly bound and unscattered. Rather, it means that one's private desires do not interfere with public justice, one's cravings do not distort the true path, one acts in accordance with reason, establishes merit based on resources, does not boast of one's achievements, and does not claim fame for one's accomplishments."

What is action? Action is "existence"—all thoughts, intentions, and actions are "action." What is "non-action"? The mind knows that action is "emptiness"—this action is non-action. Lao Tzu said: "Without action, there is action; without affairs, there is affairs; without flavor, there is flavor." This speaks of the true nature of things. Thus, non-action is "acting with the mind knowing emptiness," which is "the mind not being attached to appearances" or "not clinging to anything." Non-action does not mean not seeking to achieve anything; it simply means that everything should "follow the seasons, the nature of the land, and the heart of man," and not violate "the seasons, the nature of the land, and the heart of man" by acting based on subjective desires and imagination.

First seek the path of action, then the path of non-action, and finally the path of non-existence. Only then can one achieve profound enlightenment in the pursuit of truth.

The color of these characters, in Buddhist terms, represents cause and effect. Everyone's conduct is different; some accumulate good deeds, some commit evil. Based on their conduct, the color of the characters displayed on these characters varies.

Those with names as white as snow are undoubtedly those who have accumulated good deeds; thus, what is displayed here is merit, which can offset many calamities when encountering tribulations.

Conversely, those with names in blood red or black are undoubtedly those whose hands are stained with blood, those who are utterly evil. When encountering tribulations, they will become even stronger.

This is the so-called cause and effect, the foundation of the Heavenly Way. Of course, this is not true for everyone. For example, those with golden characters represent those martial artists who defy the heavens; they are remembered, and once they reach a certain point, the heavens will send down tribulations to stop them.

It is said that Heaven's Way is ruthless, but in reality, it merely follows an unchanging law. If you follow that law, it is compassionate; if you defy it, it is ruthless. Therefore, Heaven's Way is both compassionate and ruthless!

This colossal altar is the seat of Heaven's laws, recording the words and deeds of all things in this world. When you violate it, it will unleash calamity.

Of course, not everyone who makes a mistake will be punished. Only those who truly violate the laws will be punished by lightning tribulation, like martial artists such as Yang Fan. Their cultivation is inherently against Heaven's will, and in the martial world, people readily resort to violence at the slightest disagreement; who hasn't taken a few lives? Coupled with their defiance of Heaven's Way, their tribulation appears so fierce.

Of course, as the saying goes, "The Great Evolution is fifty, its use is forty-nine," meaning that while Heaven punishes martial artists, it doesn't completely deny them a chance to survive. If you can withstand its wrath even once, you can gain a period of rest and even receive the approval of the Heavenly Dao over time, thus obtaining even more powerful energy!

The Heavenly Dao, reincarnation, and karma are too profound for Yang Fan to fully comprehend. He only suddenly understood these things when he communicated with the will of the Heavenly Dao and saw this altar.

However, this enlightenment will be of immense benefit to his future cultivation. Generally speaking, only martial artists at the Primordial Chaos Realm or above can truly come into contact with the laws of the Heavenly Dao.

In fact, the Primordial Chaos Realm is the process of comprehending the laws of the Heavenly Dao; the deeper the comprehension, the stronger the cultivation. When one fully understands the two words "Heavenly Dao," one will step into another, higher realm.

Yang Fan, however, is still in the Returning to Emptiness Realm, having only recently comprehended his domain, yet he has already begun to come into contact with the two words "Heavenly Dao." In this way, his starting point is already much higher than others. If he doesn't break through to the Primordial Chaos Realm, that's fine; but if he does, he will surely become an unparalleled existence that shakes the heavens and earth, a name that astounds everyone!

Chapter 623 [The Will of Heaven]

Heaven! What is Heaven? In oracle bone script and bronze inscriptions, "Heaven" is a small figure with its head emphasized, originally meaning "head," later extended to mean "heaven." Heaven is the Dao, Taiyi, nature, the natural universe. Heaven has a deified and personified concept, referring to the highest god.

Dao! What is Dao? From the character itself, it is a phono-semantic character, composed of "辵" (chuò, meaning "walk") and "首" (shǒu, meaning "head"), with "首" also serving as a phonetic component. "首" refers to "head," and "辵" refers to "walking." Together, "辵" and "首" represent "walking from the beginning." The Great Dao of the Universe: The Great Dao is disordered yet orderly; this is the Dao. It refers to the objective laws and trajectories of motion, the laws of motion.

Combined, this is the Dao of Heaven. The world must have its rules; this is the Dao of Heaven. The so-called Dao of Heaven is the rule of all things, the principle of all things; all things have certain rules.

The Way of Heaven is to diminish the excess and supplement the deficiency. Therefore, throughout the Three Realms and Five Elements, the entire universe operates according to its own laws. The Southern Dipper governs life, the Northern Dipper governs death; all living beings cycle through the Six Paths of Rebirth, experiencing both joyful birth and blessings, and tragic death and natural disasters. Mortals look up at the heavens, unaware of the sun and moon's resting and the changing of the seasons. In the netherworld, all things follow their own causes and conditions; the constant is the "Way of Heaven." Heaven has a will, and the Way of Heaven and human affairs are interconnected. Changes in celestial phenomena are caused by human good and evil, and are also omens of human fortune and misfortune. This is the so-called "interaction between Heaven and humanity"!

This altar before us is the so-called will of the Way of Heaven. On it are records of everyone's good and evil deeds, their merits and demerits. As the saying goes, where there is yin, there is yang; where there is righteousness, there is evil. A person, whether righteous or wicked, intentional or unintentional, will commit evil deeds, and these will all be recorded by the will of the Way of Heaven.

What Yang Fan needed to do was communicate with the will of Heaven, triggering the records of the four replicas of the Immortal Execution Sword and the evil side of the monster. Heavenly punishment would then automatically descend to punish them!

This matter sounded simple, but in practice, it was extremely difficult. It was tantamount to cheating under the very nose of Heaven. If Heaven discovered this, not only would it not bring down Heavenly punishment, but Yang Fan himself would certainly be the first to be punished.

Therefore, when communicating with Heaven, one must conceal the secrets of Heaven in order to communicate with Heaven and bring down Heavenly punishment. Originally, this was simply impossible, because even a powerful expert at the Primordial Chaos Realm could not do this. However, Yang Fan possessed the Nine Heavens Vast Thunder Technique. With this heaven-defying divine skill, the seemingly impossible finally had a sliver of hope.

Silently circulating the Nine Heavens Vast Thunder Technique, Yang Fan found himself transformed into a humanoid bolt of lightning, instantly appearing above the altar!

Observing the Heavenly Dao Altar up close, Yang Fan couldn't help but marvel at the vastness of the Heavenly Dao and his own insignificance. Before this altar, he was so tiny, not even an ant.

Beside him, countless densely packed humanoid lightning bolts darted about, like well-trained armies, each with its own specific task. Fortunately, they didn't notice Yang Fan's approach, which reassured him somewhat amidst his fear.

Carefully observing his surroundings, Yang Fan cautiously made his way towards the center of the altar, finally reaching its edge without major incident. However, just as one problem was solved, a new one arose…

Looking at the densely packed projections and characters on the altar, Yang Fan was overwhelmed. It contained countless figures and names, almost encompassing the existence of every living being in the entire universe. Finding the monster and the shadows of the Four Swords of Zhuxian within it was like searching for a needle in a haystack!

But just as Yang Fan was struggling, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. He immediately visualized the monster and the four divine swords in his mind, and instantly, the images of the four divine swords and the monster appeared on the altar before him.

The next moment, Yang Fan transformed into a bolt of lightning, striking them both. As the lightning struck them, the giant drill above the altar also revealed their forms, and then the giant hammer slowly began to strike the drill. At that very moment, Yang Fan's consciousness suddenly returned to his physical body…

The instant his consciousness returned, Yang Fan realized that he had been wandering in the void for an unknown amount of time, but in reality, he had stopped at that moment. The four swords were still in the posture of thrusting towards him, with the distance unchanged by half a millimeter.

"Could it be that that spacetime has no concept of time?"

A strange thought suddenly popped into Yang Fan's mind, but upon reflection, he became even more certain of this strange conjecture.

Those who reach the Void Returning Realm begin to grasp the power of space, starting with the crudest spatial force and gradually approaching the realm of domains. When they achieve mastery of the Void Returning Realm and step into the Primordial Chaos Realm, their spatial force evolves into the laws of space.

In other words, those at the Primordial Chaos Realm control laws that transcend the power of space. The distinction among those at the Primordial Chaos Realm is based on the strength of their mastery of these laws. Similarly, as those at the Primordial Chaos Realm continuously engage with the laws of space, when they achieve mastery of these laws, they encounter a completely new concept: the law of time!

The law of time is far more wondrous than the law of space. Mastering the law of space allows one to travel freely between multiple spatial realms, but mastering the law of time allows one to distort space and time itself!

Mastering the law of time allows one to distort time, slowing its flow or accelerating it. That is to say, in this special space, a hundred years outside might only have passed an hour inside, or an hour inside might have passed a thousand years outside.

At its extreme, the law of time can even be used to freeze time, making it eternally frozen in that moment. For example, the place Yang Fan just encountered was very likely a distortion of the laws of time, causing him to be eternally frozen in that instant. This meant that while he did many things inside, time outside remained unchanged.

The laws of time transcend what the Primordial Chaos Realm can grasp. Therefore, mastering the laws of time, in other words, breaks through the limits of the Primordial Chaos Realm and enters a completely new level.

Moreover, the wonder of the laws of time lies not only in their ability to alter time, but also in their ability to travel back to the past or to the future. This is what is meant by time travel.

However, time travel cannot be achieved solely through the laws of space and time. It requires a complete integration of the laws of space and time, using the laws of space to travel while simultaneously using the laws of time to alter time, freely switching between the present, past, and future.

This realm truly transcends the Six Realms and Five Elements, truly escapes the cycle of reincarnation, and rises above the Great Dao. Because at this level, nothing in this world can suppress them; they can even create a completely new world, establish new laws, and become true creator gods!

However, in this world, those who can master the laws of space are pitifully few, let alone the laws of time. Throughout history, almost no one has ever come into contact with the laws of time, let alone attempted to merge the two to reach that mythical realm!

Back when Yang Fan first entered the ranks of martial artists, his cultivation was merely at the embryonic breathing stage. The Refining Spirit realm was his goal, and the Returning to Emptiness realm was considered the ultimate goal for a martial artist. As for the Primordial Chaos realm, he had no concept of it whatsoever.

But now, the Refining Spirit and Returning to Emptiness realms are long gone in his eyes. He has not only come into contact with the entirely new realm of Domain, but the Primordial Chaos realm is no longer so unattainable; in fact, it is no longer his goal. After coming into contact with the will of Heaven and the Heavenly Punishment, his vision has long since transcended the shackles of the mundane world!

The sea of learning is boundless, and the path of martial arts is equally endless. Who knows if there might be other, even more advanced realms existing above the laws of time and space?

Of course, Yang Fan now isn't so unrealistic, constantly thinking about fields he can't even reach. But at the very least, he's set new goals, developed a more long-term passion for striving, and understood that the Primordial Chaos Realm isn't his ultimate goal. In this respect, his insight and vision far surpass other martial artists, even those at the Primordial Chaos Realm. Their aspirations are far greater than Yang Fan's. Therefore, his future achievements are destined to be higher than theirs, because what they pursue is on a completely different level!

It's like someone who aspires to be the world's richest person from childhood versus someone without ambition; their future achievements will inevitably differ. While the person aspiring to be the world's richest may not actually become so, their life will definitely be better than the other's!

Of course, having goals and aspirations requires a hundred or even a thousand times more effort than others; otherwise, it's all just wishful thinking, mere empty talk. Everything needs to be put into practice!

"Before the will of Heaven, I can neither sense the existence of space nor time. It seems that in that place, there is no such thing as time or space. Come to think of it, people often say 'Heaven is watching what people do,' isn't this precisely the omnipresence of the Heavenly Dao? Perhaps the will of Heaven is right beside us, but we simply cannot perceive its presence!"

With this thought, Yang Fan suddenly felt a sense of clarity. He had been fixated on the will of Heaven, fixated on that unique place he had just witnessed, unaware that he had entered a dead end. If he couldn't break free, it was destined to become his inner demon, affecting his future achievements.

He didn't realize that if he continued to relentlessly pursue the location of the will of Heaven, he had already fallen behind. Over time, it would give him the mindset that the Heavenly Dao was insurmountable. In this way, no matter how high his future achievements, they would always be suppressed by the Heavenly Dao, unable to surpass it, let alone transcend it!

Just as Yang Fan's thoughts raced, the four divine swords had already pierced around him. Watching the swords draw ever closer, a slight smile appeared on Yang Fan's lips, and a flash of lightning flickered in

his eyes… In that instant, four silver bolts of lightning, like shooting stars from outer space, appeared out of nowhere, tearing through the mysterious space and striking the four divine swords.

Boom! The four bolts of lightning acted like fuses detonating bombs, instantly turning the entire sky into a sea of lightning, as if the end of the world had arrived.

Amidst the endless, boundless sea of lightning, flashes of light flickered, streaks of lightning darting about like coiling dragons. Through the lightning, Yang Fan could vaguely see orderly ranks of humanoid lightning armies searching the depths of the sea of lightning…

“Primordial Tribulation? No! How could such a terrifying calamity descend? Heavens, are you playing a cruel joke on me? How could my cultivation possibly trigger a Primordial Tribulation? Even if these replicas of the Four Swords of Zhuxian meet the requirements of a great calamity, can they not become divine artifacts simply because they are replicas? You must know, every divine artifact is unique in the world…” The

monster’s terrified voice echoed across the entire sky. It was true; every divine artifact was unique in the world, and it was impossible for two identical weapons to exist. But because of the existence of ancient divine weapons like the Four Swords of Zhuxian, these replicas could never become divine artifacts.

Because every divine artifact is recognized by Heaven and Earth, its mark etched by the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao may tolerate people provoking its dignity, but not repeatedly.

As the saying goes, within the Heavenly Dao, there is always a glimmer of hope. Though the Heavenly Dao is ruthless, it always offers one chance, but once used, it cannot be used again.

Therefore, since there is already one supreme divine artifact, the Four Swords of Zhuxian, the Heavenly Dao will absolutely not allow a second identical one to appear.

Of course, this doesn't apply to all artifacts. Only after reaching a certain level will the Heavenly Dao impose restrictions. This level is the Primordial Chaos Realm. Those in the Primordial Chaos Realm have severely provoked the majesty of the Heavenly Dao; their existence is intolerable to the Great Dao and to Heaven and Earth. Therefore, the Heavenly Dao punishes them upon their advancement.

Similarly, divine artifacts are the same. They are divine artifacts precisely because they contain the word "divine." Gods are omnipotent beings as perceived by people, the creators of heaven and earth and all things, and the spirits of those they worship after death.

Of course, the meaning of divine artifacts is not like that. In the eyes of martial artists, divine artifacts are magical weapons of immense power, capable of destroying the heavens and the earth. Most importantly, divine artifacts have developed their own sentience. In the eyes of martial artists, the power of a true divine artifact is no less than that of a powerful expert at the Hunyuan Realm; if the two were combined, they would be absolutely invincible!

Chapter 624 [Five Elements Spiritual Objects]

Originally, there was already a supreme divine artifact, the Four Swords of Zhuxian, in the world. These imitations of the Four Swords of Zhuxian could not be upgraded to divine artifacts. However, because of Yang Fan's existence, using the divine power of the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique to communicate with the will of Heaven, the Four Swords of Zhuxian had the possibility of being upgraded to divine artifacts.

However, every cause has its effect. If Yang Fan forges another divine weapon from the Four Swords of Zhuxian today, then, in the unseen realm, he will have formed a karmic bond with the original supreme divine weapon. Between the two divine weapons, only one can survive. In other words, if Yang Fan obtains this divine weapon, he will inevitably have a life-or-death struggle with the person who wields the other divine weapon, and only one of them can survive…

The Way of Heaven cannot be defied, and the will of Heaven cannot be deceived. Even though Yang Fan changed the fate of this replica of the Four Swords of Zhuxian today with the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique, he cannot change it forever; he can only distort fate for a certain period. The will of Heaven will one day descend and destroy those who defy it. Yang Fan has only postponed that day!

Moreover, because of Yang Fan's intervention, he has become entangled in this karmic bond and will be unable to extricate himself. This is the aftereffect of defying the will of Heaven and stealing fate, and it is also the flaw of the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique.

However, is there any way to avoid this? Tell me, in this world, besides the Nine Heavens Thunderclap Technique, is there any other cultivation method that possesses this function?

Perhaps there is, perhaps there isn't. But regardless, the power of the Nine Heavens Thunderclap Technique is undeniable.

Thinking of the Nine Heavens Thunderclap Technique's power, Yang Fan couldn't help but wonder about its origin. This Nine Heavens Thunderclap Technique was passed down to him by his master, who said it was his family's inherited technique.

Previously, not understanding the power of the Nine Heavens Thunderclap Technique, Yang Fan didn't pay much attention to it, but as he learned more about it, he increasingly discovered its heaven-defying nature.

If this technique was truly inherited, then who were his parents? What methods did they possess to possess such a powerful technique? Or rather, how powerful was their family to have such a heaven-defying technique continuously passed down? It's said that a common man is

innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime. With such a powerful technique, wouldn't others covet it? Wouldn't they have any designs on it? Yet it hasn't been lost, which means those others are all gentlemen? Or was the enemy too weak? No, it only proves how powerful his family is, possessing such a powerful technique that others dare not covet it!

In the past, Yang Fan had thought about his parents and relatives, but for various reasons, he didn't have much affection for them, not even a hint of goodwill. All he felt was anger and hatred—hatred for abandoning him, anger at giving birth to him but not raising him.

But now, because of the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique, Yang Fan suddenly realized that perhaps things were far more complicated than he thought. Perhaps a huge conspiracy was hidden within. After all, his parents possessed such a peerless divine skill as the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique!

Perhaps something unexpected happened when he was born, forcing them to abandon him, or perhaps they had some unavoidable hardship…

This mystery seemed to be unraveled only by his master, because his master had said that he was entrusted to his care by his parents. In other words, only his master knew what had happened back then.

However, Yang Fan had asked his master about this issue more than once, but the master always said the time wasn't right, and everything would be told when the time came.

As time passed, Yang Fan had long since put the matter out of his mind, but now, he suddenly had an urge to return to the desert immediately and ask his master about everything.

However, even though Yang Fan was eager to return home, the problem at hand had to be dealt with first. The moment he saw the lightning descending from the sky, Yang Fan retreated a thousand miles away, avoiding the tribulation from a great distance.

Yang Fan knew perfectly well that although he had cultivated the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique and successfully summoned heavenly lightning, his current strength was insufficient to directly confront the tribulation of a Primordial Chaos Realm expert. Especially the tribulation during the advancement of a divine artifact, which was far more powerful than the tribulation of an ordinary Primordial Chaos Realm expert!

Furthermore, neither people nor magical artifacts could rely on external forces during tribulation; others couldn't help, and even being too close could result in being passively affected. Therefore, not only did Yang Fan have no intention of helping the magical artifact through its tribulation, but even if he did, he wouldn't rashly intervene.

As for Nalan Qingcheng, she chose to stay far away from Yang Fan and that strange opponent. She knew that with her current strength, she couldn't intervene in such a battle; going in would not only fail to help Yang Fan but would also hinder him.

"Yang Fan, are you alright?"

Seeing that the situation was settled, she returned to Yang Fan's side. Although she didn't know why the lightning tribulation had suddenly descended from the sky, she didn't care about that. What she cared about was Yang Fan's safety.

This was Nalan Qingcheng—daring to love and hate, loving madly and hating thoroughly. She wouldn't become coy or hesitant because of her initial confirmation of a relationship with Yang Fan, nor would she hide her inner concern because of it.

"It's alright, let's just watch the show. How it ends depends on what happens next. If it can't withstand the lightning tribulation, then it will only turn to ashes. If it survives, a brand new divine artifact will appear in the world, and one day, it will surely rule the world!"

Feeling the overwhelming power of the lightning tribulation emanating from the replica of the Four Swords of Zhuxian, Yang Fan took a deep breath, as if trying to absorb all the abundant lightning elements in the air into his body.

"By the way, Yang Fan, do you know what kind of monster that was? How could it be so strange, capable of multiplying into four? And possessing four independent divine senses simultaneously?"

Although Nalan Qingcheng was far away during the battle, she still saw everything clearly. Therefore, she also witnessed the monster transforming into four divine beasts, hence her question.

"If I'm not mistaken, that monster wasn't a true demonic beast!"

After a moment's thought, Yang Fan slowly said.

"Not a true demonic beast?"

Nalan Qingcheng was taken aback, then asked, "Then what was it?"

"Qingcheng, do you remember the four mysterious regions we passed through before?"

Instead of answering her question, Yang Fan asked her in return.

"Of course I remember. At the beginning, there was a vast forest, with nothing but vegetation. The second was a boundless ocean, also with nothing but water. The third was a world of fire and volcanoes. The fourth was a desert. And the place we are in now is a world of metal. Forest, ocean, volcano, desert, metal, could it be..."

Nalan Qingcheng suddenly stopped speaking.

"Indeed, the forest represents the element of wood, the ocean represents the element of water, the volcano represents the element of fire, the desert represents the element of earth, and metal represents the element of metal. The five combined are metal, wood, water, fire, and earth!"

"The reason that monster could split into four wasn't because it cultivated some heaven-defying technique, but because it was inherently composed of five parts!"

"Inherently composed of five parts? How so?"

"All things in heaven and earth possess spirit. Under certain specific environments, many spiritual beings arise, just like those demons and spirits that only develop intelligence after tens of thousands of years. Similarly, that monster is the same. Let's tentatively call these five special spaces the Five Elements Land." "

The Five Elements Land is abundant with the energy of the five elements. When we walk through it, we gain a trace of the five elements' origin within us. And since this place has existed for countless millennia, it's not surprising that spiritual beings arise from the energy of the five elements. And this monster is clearly created from the energy of the five elements."

"However, when they were created, they weren't directly the monsters. Instead, they were spirits of earth, water, fire, wood, and metal. These spirits cultivated themselves over time and eventually developed their own forms, which are the appearances of the four divine beasts of China." "

Perhaps it was due to a thirst for power, perhaps due to territorial disputes, or some other reason, that the five spirits clashed. Eventually, by chance, the five elements merged, transforming into the monster's form."

"I don't know how they fused, but they were able to share a common thought when they were together, and yet each had its own independent consciousness when they were separate..." "

Five elemental spirits? According to you, each of the five elements produces a spirit, so there are only four: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Vermilion Bird, right? What about the other one? Was it devoured by them?"

Hearing Yang Fan's explanation, Nalan Qingcheng had a new question.

"Hehe, the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Vermilion Bird represent the five elements of wood, earth, fire, and water respectively. As for metal, it's not that it lacks sentience, but rather that it didn't transform into a divine beast; instead, it chose another form!"

"You mean... those four swords?"

"That's right, exactly. Those four divine swords aren't just four simple swords; they're formed from the metal element. It's just that I don't know how it did it, but it actually cultivated a real physical form, unlike the other four spiritual beings, which are ultimately virtual, just a wisp of spiritual energy!"

"I understand. You mean the five spiritual beings formed from the five elements are combined. They use metal as a base to forge a true form, transforming into replicas of the Four Swords of Zhuxian, while the other four, based on the relationship between the ancient divine weapons, the Four Swords of Zhuxian, and the Tongtian Sword Formation, are preparing to refine themselves into a sword formation, thus uniting the sword and formation, breaking the shackles of heaven and earth, and becoming true divine artifacts?"

"Given the current situation, this explanation is undoubtedly the most reasonable. The Five Elements Spiritual Creatures, though spiritual beings, are not true living beings; they cannot possess a real body. Therefore, they have chosen another path. After all, while divine artifacts lack the word 'artifact,' they are a far cry from spiritual beings."

It's important to understand that true divine artifacts not only possess a spirit, but this spirit can also cultivate. While the Five Elements Spiritual Creatures can also cultivate, it is undoubtedly much slower than the spirit of a divine artifact.

Countless years have passed before they progressed from the initial stage of spiritual awareness to the Void Returning Realm. They know that without a fortuitous encounter, they cannot advance any further. To take another step, they must either cultivate a human form or choose the path of a divine artifact.

Undoubtedly, transforming into human form is far too difficult for them, perhaps even impossible. Therefore, they can only settle for the path of divine artifacts.

However, they are completely unaware of the rules of Heaven, unaware that Heaven does not allow two identical divine artifacts to exist. Therefore, although their replicas had reached the edge of becoming divine artifacts, they were ultimately unable to take that final step.

It could be considered both a blessing and a curse. Millions of years of expectation and pursuit had finally been realized today; they should have been happy, but they couldn't feel any joy. This was because they hadn't brought this tribulation upon themselves, but had passively endured it.

The difference between "active" and "passive," though only a single word, was indescribable.

Faced with the overwhelming might of heaven, faced with each bolt of lightning that seemed capable of utterly destroying them, they finally understood how terrifying the divine artifact tribulation truly was—it gave them no chance whatsoever, determined to completely annihilate them!

In truth, what they didn't know was that while ordinary magical artifacts, when upgraded to divine artifacts, possessed great power, they were far less powerful than theirs. The reason their tribulation lightning was so powerful was twofold.

First, because Yang Fan had initiated this tribulation, forcing them to passively endure it, and simultaneously imbuing it with a trace of heavenly punishment. Naturally, its power was far greater.

Second, because the world already possessed the four Immortal-Slaying Swords and this supreme divine artifact. Now, however, another identical divine artifact was to be added. This was unacceptable to the Heavenly Dao, an act that was tantamount to deceiving the Heavenly Dao twice and stealing destiny twice. Consequently, the Heavenly Dao's wrath was even stronger, and the descending tribulation lightning was twice as powerful as when the four Immortal-Slaying Swords underwent their tribulation!

These two reasons were the fundamental basis for the immense power of the tribulation lightning of these five elemental spiritual objects. However, even Yang Fan only had a partial understanding of all this, let alone the five elemental spiritual objects. Therefore, at this moment, they could only desperately resist the thunder, daring not to have any other thoughts...

Chapter 625 [Failure at the Last Moment]

The divine might was vast, the heavenly thunder was incessant, the great calamity of the divine artifact, a calamity unique to those at the Primordial Chaos Realm, its power was immense. This was the wrath of the Heavenly Dao, the punishment of the Heavenly Dao, an extreme dissatisfaction with those who defied the Heavenly Dao. If

one crossed this threshold, then one could soar freely among the mountains and leap freely in the sea, leaping over the Dragon Gate, no longer bound by the Heavenly Dao, mastering the primordial power of the universe, immortal, living as long as the heavens and as long as the earth.

Conversely, if one could not cross this threshold, then one could only be annihilated by the wrath of the Heavenly Dao, one's soul scattered, one's body and spirit destroyed, with no possibility of survival.

This was the consequence of defying the Heavenly Dao. To rise above the Great Dao and the Heavenly Dao, one must be prepared to die at any time, and be prepared to bear the wrath of the Heavenly Dao at any time.

This is a path filled with allure and longing, yet also a perilous one-way road. Only by breaking free from the shackles of heaven and earth, and the constraints of the Heavenly Dao, can one enjoy the fruits of victory. Otherwise, every step is fraught with danger and trepidation, with the constant possibility of death.

Even the most powerful imitations of the Four Swords of Zhuxian, and the most powerful Five Elements Spiritual Objects, are like a floating leaf in a storm under the wrath of the Heavenly Dao, constantly in danger of being destroyed by the tempest.

All spiritual objects possess incredibly heaven-defying opportunities, enjoy great fortune and blessings. If nothing unexpected happens, their cultivation will be smooth sailing, without any obstacles. However, precisely because they enjoy heaven-defying luck, when they rebel against the Heavenly Dao, the Heavenly Dao's wrath becomes even stronger and more monstrous. It seems that only in this way can it vent its anger towards the traitors.

Thunder roars, lightning flashes; even from a great distance, the powerful aura of the tribulation lightning, capable of almost destroying the world, still makes Yang Fan feel a sense of dread. He seriously doubted how many times he could withstand the wrath of Heaven and the onslaught of lightning if he were to go up there!

"It seems that these Five Elements Spiritual Objects are going to be completely annihilated in this sea of lightning. What a pity for this divine artifact!"

Feeling the increasingly powerful tribulation lightning, Yang Fan couldn't help but shake his head inwardly. Although the Five Elements Spiritual Objects were his enemies, seeing them completely annihilated under the Heavenly Dao still made him feel a sense of regret.

"Boom!"

Just as Yang Fan sighed, an even more powerful sea of lightning descended from the sky, crashing into the four divine swords.

"Ah! I am not reconciled, I am not reconciled! So many years of cultivation, so much time spent building up, what was it all for, what was it all for? Is it all just for nothing in the end? I am not reconciled, I am not reconciled..."

Instantly, a thought containing boundless rage emanated from the four swords. Even from this distance, Yang Fan could clearly feel the boundless resentment, unwillingness, and powerlessness!

It hated the injustice of heaven, the unfairness of earth, and why the heavens, having bestowed upon it a destiny defying the heavens, would punish it in this way. It was unwilling, unwilling that countless years of cultivation had amounted to nothing. It was powerless, facing an insurmountable divine punishment, utterly helpless except to watch itself be destroyed.

Fueled by resentment, unwillingness, and powerlessness… at the moment of its destruction, the Five Elements Spiritual Objects unleashed unprecedented potential, achieving a state of unity of the Five Elements. From then on, there were no more Metal Spiritual Objects, Earth Spiritual Objects, Fire Spiritual Objects, Water Spiritual Objects, or Wood Spiritual Objects, nor any Five

Elements Spiritual Objects combined. Only four divine swords radiating unparalleled killing intent remained!

At the final moment, they merged into one, becoming part of the four swords, rather than merely fusing into the blades when needed. From then on, there were no more Five Elements Spiritual Objects, only four unfinished divine swords.

However, although the Five Elements Spiritual Creatures reached an unprecedented realm at the final moment: the state of unity of the Five Elements, tragically, the Heavenly Dao sensed this the instant they entered this realm and unleashed an even more powerful wrath.

Thus, their newly merged consciousness, before it could fully integrate, was destroyed by the Heavenly Dao's fury. What remained was only boundless resentment and bitterness, a resentment so intense that even the Heavenly Dao's wrath could not extinguish it. This demonstrates the utter frustration and unwillingness the Five Elements Spiritual Creatures felt at the last moment…

However, the replicas of the Four Swords of Zhuxian, originally unable to withstand the Heavenly Dao's wrath and destined for complete destruction, were given a glimmer of hope by the addition of the Five Elements Spiritual Creatures.

The Five Elements Spiritual Creatures, their origin still being the Qi of the Five Elements, simply absorbed this Qi, eventually condensing into form and cultivating into spirits. It can be said that these creatures are imbued with the rich energy and essence of the Five Elements.

Now, with the Five Elements spirits merging into the four divine swords, naturally, all this energy of the Five Elements is absorbed by the four divine swords. In this way, the four divine swords receive the fusion of the Five Elements essence, like a drop of life-giving energy in despair, instantly activating their potential.

Of course, this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that the undying resentment of the Five Elements spirits has also merged into the four divine swords. That resentment cannot even be eliminated by the wrath of Heaven, making it almost indestructible. With their addition, the four divine swords are strengthened again, and they also possess a trace of undying will.

Although the wrath of Heaven can still severely damage the four divine swords, it can no longer completely destroy them. Thus, as long as they can completely withstand the heavenly tribulation, then the four divine swords will be reborn, and a brand new divine weapon will appear in the world!

"Lin!"

At the instant the five elemental spirits were destroyed, two blazing beams of light suddenly shot from Yang Fan's eyes. He stared intently at the four divine swords, his intense desire palpable to anyone.

Indeed, at this moment, Yang Fan had the urge to claim the four swords for himself. Previously, he hadn't had this thought. Firstly, the four divine swords already had owners, being one with the five elemental spirits; even if he killed the spirits, he couldn't obtain them.

Secondly, he had prematurely triggered the heavenly tribulation upon the four swords. Furthermore, these were replicas, meaning they had no chance of becoming divine artifacts and would only be completely destroyed in the tribulation.

Therefore, although Yang Fan greatly admired the four divine swords, even somewhat coveting them, he knew he couldn't obtain them. But now, however, he saw a glimmer of hope…

Through a series of coincidences, the five elemental spirits completely merged into the four swords, their own consciousness extinguished by the wrath of heaven. Thus, at this moment, the four swords were completely ownerless. At this moment, anyone who infuses their will into the four swords can instantly become their master.

Because at this instant, the four swords are like newborn infants; although they possess their own consciousness, they are completely blank slates. Whoever writes their name on these slates will then belong to them.

However, while the idea was good, the Heavenly Tribulation was currently at its strongest. Even if he could get close to the four swords and imprint his divine sense into them, he wouldn't be able to withstand the punishment of the Heavenly Dao's wrath. He might even be dragged into the Heavenly Tribulation himself, following in the footsteps of the Five Elements Spiritual Objects.

Therefore, although Yang Fan was tempted, he didn't act—not because he didn't want to, but because he simply dared not!

However, sitting idly by was never Yang Fan's style. He wouldn't give up as long as there was a glimmer of hope; he would strive for it. With a flick of his wrist, a chillingly cold sword appeared in his hand. It was the demon sword he had seized from Yagyu Saburo!

Stroking this demon sword Muramasa, considered the number one divine sword of Japan by the Japanese, Yang Fan had tamed it and it had become its new master. He had even infused a trace of his primordial spirit into the blade. However, this sword was too strange and malevolent, and Yang Fan rarely used it. But now, Yang Fan had a new idea.

"This sword is called the Demon Sword because of the word 'demon.' Since its forging, it has drunk the blood of countless people, its murderous aura no less than any divine weapon. Its killing power rivals even the true Four Swords of the Immortal Slaughtering Ceremony."

"These four divine swords before us, though possessing only murderous aura, lack the nourishment of real blood, and this is their only flaw. However, in this space inhabited by the five elemental spirits, apart from themselves, what other living beings exist, let alone the possibility of sacrificing blood to the swords?"

"And the bloodthirsty aura of the demonic blade can perfectly compensate for this. Especially its demonic nature; if integrated into the four swords, then the future achievements of these four swords will certainly be no less than the true Four Swords of Zhuxian. In particular, because of their excessive killing power, the Four Swords of Zhuxian have never been able to become innate treasures, while the demonic function of the demonic blade can refine the killing power. Therefore, if possible, these four divine swords might be able to break the fate of the Four Swords of Zhuxian and become true innate treasures. In that case, these four divine swords will become the true orthodox ones, and the ancient divine weapons, the Four Swords of Zhuxian, will become anomalies..."

It must be said that Yang Fan's idea was perfect. Indeed, the reason why these four divine swords could not resist the heavenly tribulation was not for any other reason, but because they lacked the nourishment of blood, and in fact, they had never drunk blood since they were forged.

What are weapons used for? Some say they are for self-defense, some say they are for physical fitness, but their true purpose is to kill enemies. Therefore, a truly peerless divine weapon must have slain countless enemies and drunk its fill of blood. Only by being nourished by endless blood can it be forged into the strongest divine weapon.

Yet these four divine swords have never tasted blood since their appearance. Thus, although their inherent requirements have reached the level of a divine artifact, they have consistently failed to withstand the heavenly tribulation for this very reason.

Now, Yang Fan intends to temper the four swords with the body of the demonic blade and nourish them with its spirit. While this may seem somewhat opportunistic, it undoubtedly compensates for the swords' shortcomings.

Furthermore, and crucially, the demonic blade contains a trace of Yang Fan's undying battle spirit. If the demonic blade is integrated into the four swords, then Yang Fan's will will be invisibly imprinted upon them. In this way, once the four swords survive the heavenly tribulation and become divine artifacts, they will belong to Yang Fan, and no one else will be able to take them!

With a gentle flick of his wrist, Yang Fan's demonic blade, like a serpent, slashed across his left palm, instantly drawing forth a stream of crimson blood like a fountain erupting from the ground. However, before the blood could even disperse, it was absorbed into the blade.

As the blood flowed in, the blade, now infused with fresh blood, shimmered and trembled, like a demon king awakening, emanating an aura of malevolence and eeriness. This aura even made Yang Fan, who wielded the blade, appear strangely unsettling.

"This blade is indeed bizarre. I wonder how that Japanese forged it back then? But this malevolence can perfectly compensate for the shortcomings of the four divine swords. With blood as a sacrifice, with souls as a guide, go!"

With that, Yang Fan hurled his right hand, and the demonic blade Muramasa transformed into a streak of light, piercing towards the four divine swords deep within the lightning tribulation.

"Go!"

At the same time, Yang Fan grabbed Nalan Qingcheng and vanished from their spot with a whoosh, retreating thousands of miles before stopping.

"Boom!"

Just as Yang Fan threw the demon blade, it seemed as if the Heavenly Dao sensed something, splitting off a bolt of lightning that instantly struck the spot where Yang Fan and Nalan Qingcheng had been standing. Fortunately, they had moved quickly, otherwise, they would have been swept into the lightning tribulation.

However, this was not the end. Before the attack had even landed, the sea of lightning began to churn, as if it had discovered someone had provoked its dignity. Locking onto Yang Fan again, an even more massive bolt of lightning surged and brewed within the sea of lightning, seemingly intent on annihilating the one who had insulted its dignity in one strike.

"Damn it, this heavenly tribulation is really hard to deal with. No wonder no one dares to help others overcome their tribulations. Once you get involved, you're caught in its clutches, and there's no way to avoid it. Luckily, I was prepared!" "

Yin Yang Reversal Bewitching Array, activate!"

A large array instantly appeared around Yang Fan and Nalan Qingcheng. This array was obtained from the inheritance of the Pure Light Joyful Buddha.

This grand formation has no offensive or defensive capabilities; its sole purpose is to isolate energy flow and deceive the heavens. Once activated, no one in the world can pinpoint its location. When the Pure Light Joyful Buddha was passing on his teachings, he was ostracized and frequently hunted. Therefore, he created this formation, which not only bewilders others but also isolates energy flow, making it impossible for even the most skilled diviners to determine his location.

Later, after attaining Buddhahood, the Pure Light Joyful Buddha further improved and strengthened this formation, even deceiving the Heavenly Dao. Yang Fan dared to intervene in the Heavenly Tribulation because of this formation. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to intervene.

Chapter
626 [Weapon Refining]

"Lin!"

The moment the Yin-Yang Reversal Bewitching Formation activated, amidst the ripples of energy barely perceptible on the skin, Yang Fan and Nalan Qingcheng suddenly and mysteriously vanished from their original spot.

"This Yin-Yang Reversal Bewitching Array is truly wondrous! It can actually isolate auras and conceal heavenly secrets. With this, we can completely disregard the laws of heaven!"

At the same time, Yang Fan and Nalan Qingcheng, though still standing in place, felt as if, in that instant, they were no longer within the Six Paths of Reincarnation, nor within the Yin-Yang Five Elements. It was as if they had transcended the constraints of heaven and earth, no longer existing in this world, but in a space parallel to this world yet not intersecting with it.

However, they could still see and feel everything happening in the real world, yet they felt an indescribable constraint throughout their bodies. The feeling was like a burly man who was originally carrying a thousand pounds of weight suddenly being able to carry a heavy load again—an indescribable comfort throughout his body.

"Is this the feeling of breaking free from the shackles of heaven and earth, and transcending the Great Dao? This feeling is indeed comfortable. Only a supreme expert like the Pure Light Joyful Buddha could create such an array. Only someone who truly feels transcending the Great Dao and is no longer bound by the Six Paths of Reincarnation can create such an array!"

"However, it's a pity that this Yin-Yang Reversal Bewitching Array can only temporarily escape the Six Paths of Reincarnation and be free from the constraints of the Heavenly Dao. Once the array fails, one must return to reality. If one could stay in this state for a long time, comprehending the Primordial Chaos wouldn't be difficult at all! Moreover, the consumption of this array is truly excessive."

While marveling at the power of the Yin-Yang Reversal Bewitching Array, Yang Fan couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. Although this array allowed him to temporarily experience the Primordial Chaos Realm, it had a drawback: one couldn't stay in it for long. Furthermore, the consumption of this array was too great. In just a few minutes, not only had nearly a third of his Yuan Qi been consumed, but almost half of these rare and precious materials had also been used up. If he continues like this for a long time, all the rare and precious materials he has collected over this period of time will probably be used up.

Indeed, this was the case. His previous trip to the ancient tomb had yielded countless rare and precious materials, but he had just used them all to set up an array, and now they were being consumed at an extremely rapid pace. While marveling at the array's power, he couldn't help but feel a pang of regret…

The lightning tribulation in the sky hovered incessantly in mid-air. Originally about to descend, the tribulation, having suddenly lost its target, seemed unwilling to give up, lingering in place for a full quarter of an hour before returning to the sea of lightning.

However, it seemed that Yang Fan had angered it; unable to find its target, the tribulation turned its wrath upon the uninvited demon blade. Bolts of lightning, far more powerful than the Four Divine Swords, struck the demon blade like meteors.

The demonic blade, once shimmering with crimson light and gleaming with a chilling aura, was now covered in lightning under the relentless bombardment of heavenly tribulations. The blade emitted mournful cries, seemingly filled with resentment towards this inexplicable calamity.

Suddenly, without Yang Fan's command, the demonic blade abruptly turned, slashing towards the heavenly tribulation as if attempting to cleave the sea of lightning in one strike.

Within the demonic blade, streaks of crimson light, mixed with sharp blade energy, shot skyward, condensing above into a gigantic demonic blade a hundred times larger. Once formed, the demonic blade slashed towards the heavenly tribulation.

Boom! Seeing the demonic blade dare to resist, the heavenly tribulation seemed utterly enraged. It temporarily abandoned its bombardment of the four divine swords, concentrating all its power on the demonic blade.

The sea of lightning churned, and the heavenly thunder roared—the scene was beyond description! As if an entire sea of lightning had pressed down, in that instant, the heavens and earth lost their color, the sun and moon lost their light, and the blood-red demonic blade was instantly submerged by the sea of lightning.

Yang Fan and his companion, hidden in the void, saw the demonic blade shatter like glass within the sea of lightning, turning into specks of bloody light. Even the demonic blade itself shattered the moment its shadow broke.

*Zheng!* The moment its demonic body shattered, the demonic blade let out a miserable scream, and then completely turned into fragments, disappearing without a trace…

Immediately afterward, from where the demonic blade shattered, a sky full of bloody light suddenly surged forth, like a sea of blood descending upon the world. The entire heavenly tribulation was instantly dyed blood red, as if in extreme resentment, the blood-red light gathered and did not disperse, clinging tightly to the heavenly tribulation.

At the same time, a surge of primordial energy, powerful enough to eclipse the heavens and earth, overflowed from the sea of blood, reaching directly to the sky. It even carved a giant hole in the sea of lightning, soaring beyond the nine heavens…

“Such powerful resentment! This primordial energy is on a completely different level compared to the resentment of the five elemental spirits before, like the difference between a drop of water and an ocean. And this killing intent, this stench of blood… It seems I underestimated the demonic nature of this demonic blade! It can even reverse the heavenly tribulation, and even break the shackles of heaven and earth, escaping into the outer world. However, with this evil power, the chances of the Four Divine Swords succeeding have increased even further…”

The heavenly tribulation had already given up locking onto Yang Fan and his companion, so they no longer needed to use the Yin-Yang Reversal Bewitching Array to hide. They quickly dismantled the array. While grieving the loss of their spiritual objects, Yang Fan was deeply shocked by the demonic energy that surged forth after the demonic blade shattered!

At the same time, just as the demon sword shattered, deep within the Yasukuni Shrine, where the defeated elements of World War II were being honored in Japan, a sculpture suddenly exploded, turning into countless fragments. Unbeknownst to anyone, within the fragments, an almost transparent red light suddenly emanated.

Suddenly, a large amount of black mist surged from the ground of the Yasukuni Shrine, instantly enveloping the entire shrine and making it impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face...

"Roar!"

At the same time, an extremely angry roar suddenly came from deep underground. The roar was like the wrath of a demon king from the deepest hell, or the call of the Grim Reaper. It was cold and terrifying, and it also made the entire country of Japan tremble...

"What's going on? Why did the Muramasa statue suddenly explode?"

"What's with that black mist? How can there be black mist in broad daylight? Is the end of the world coming, or has the Eastern superpower attacked?"

"Is it a terrorist attack? What's with that roar? Why is it so terrifying? It seems to be coming from underground. Is there a peerless demon king underground? My God, does the entire country of Japan live on top of the demon king?"

The entire country of Japan was instantly plunged into extreme panic. Some people said that the Eastern superpower had attacked while they were not paying attention, while others said it was an attack by a terrorist organization. Still others, because of their history of being bombed by nuclear weapons, even said that the Eastern superpower had launched nuclear weapons at them because of some problem!

Some even say that a peerless demon king is sealed beneath the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan, and now that the demon king has awakened, all of Japan is about to become its food… Regardless of the reason, the sudden upheaval at the Yasukuni Shrine has plunged all of Japan into chaos.

Meanwhile, a secret base within Japan is gathering the true power brokers and titans of the country. These individuals, though not political figures or business tycoons, wield the power to alter the very fabric of Japan with a single word. In essence, they are the ones who truly control all of Japan!

"News has just arrived! The Muramasa statue enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine has shattered. Muramasa was the master craftsman who forged the demon sword. A trace of the sword's aura remains within the statue. Its destruction means the demon sword has been ruined!"

"This demon sword was originally in the possession of Yagyu Taro of the Yagyu family. However, it's rumored that recently, a descendant named Yagyu Saburo took it to the East, where it was stolen by a martial artist named Yang Fan. It's said that Yagyu Taro was planning a grand scheme and deliberately sent the demon sword eastward. Now that it's destroyed, I wonder what Yagyu Taro's expression will be!"

"Regardless of Yagyu Taro's expression, the destruction of the demon sword concerns the fate of the entire nation. The demon sword itself is nothing special, but you all know what lies beneath Yasukuni Shrine. The demon sword's evil power originates entirely from there. Now that the sword is destroyed, that power cannot be transmitted, and thus, the fate of our nation cannot continue!"

"Indeed, the fortune of Japan comes entirely from the dragon vein beneath the earth. However, this dragon vein was forcibly taken back from the east; it does not belong to Japan. It can only be suppressed by the power of extreme evil."

"Deep beneath Japan lies a sleeping ancient evil god. This secret was discovered by Muramasa when he was forging a demon sword. The sword is evil because Muramasa stirred up that evil energy within it during the forging process. Therefore, the reason we can suppress that dragon vein now is entirely because a wisp of Muramasa's consciousness is sealed within a statue at the Yasukuni Shrine, thus stimulating a wisp of the evil energy of that sleeping ancient demon god, thereby suppressing the dragon vein!"

"But now, the statue is destroyed, and Muramasa's last remaining wisp of spirit has vanished. As a result, the dragon vein, without the suppression of evil energy, will eventually fly back to the east. If that day comes, Japan's demise will not be far off!"

"Indeed, the reason why Japan has been able to survive to this day is because it forcibly seized the dragon vein of the East, thereby seizing its fortune. But if we lose the dragon vein and the support of fortune, how can a small Japan withstand the supreme fortune of a great Eastern power?"

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"What can we do? We can only find another way to reactivate the evil spirit to suppress the dragon vein, while also finding the root of the problem!"

"Indeed, since the Yagyu family delivered the demon sword to that Chinese boy, then the Yagyu family must be involved in this matter. I think we should split our forces and investigate the Yagyu family while simultaneously targeting that Chinese boy. I think we should capture him directly and demand to know the whereabouts of the demon sword! Mr. Abe, what do you think?"

The man called Mr. Abe appeared to be a middle-aged man around forty years old, with a pale complexion that gave him a sickly appearance. He was also extremely thin, dressed in black, and sitting there, he was almost invisible unless he spoke.

When someone asked him about himself, the Japanese man, referred to as Mr. Abe, slowly raised his head. His face was so thin that it was just skin and bones, and his eyes, like those of a venomous wolf, emitted a chilling light.

"There's an old Chinese saying: 'Every cause has its effect.' Since that dragon vein was brought by the Easterners, let them deal with it themselves!"

"Teach them to solve it? Mr. Abe means... let those people on Mount Fuji handle this?"

"Isn't that a bad idea? Those people are not to be trifled with, especially since even Amaterasu is with them."

"Hmph, at our level of cultivation, do they really think there's anything divine about them? If it weren't for those ignorant people relying on these unfounded beliefs to rule, I would have destroyed that Amaterasu long ago!"

"That's right, those Easterners think they can enslave us, but little do they know, we are also using them to fight against those martial arts practitioners in the East. Rumor has it that they were a demonic sect driven out of China's martial arts world. If we hadn't taken them in, they would have been wiped out long ago. A bunch of stray dogs, yet they want to lord it over Japan."

"Stop yelling here. Why are you all so quiet in front of them? Hmph, could you have accomplished this without their help? You should know they have a Tengu-level expert; one hand from them is enough to wipe you all out!"

Mr. Abe sneered at the Japanese people's discussions.

Surprisingly, his sneer immediately silenced the previously chattering crowd. It seemed his words had struck a nerve; they were speechless and could only lower their heads in silence…

On the other side, as the demon sword was destroyed and demonic power surged into the sky, it finally enraged the heavenly tribulation. From the sea of lightning, humanoid lightning armies appeared, charging towards the demonic energy. In the blink of an eye, the demonic power that had held the upper hand was instantly destroyed and forced back to the vicinity of the Four Gods.

Just then, the four divine swords, which had been struggling to breathe under the pressure of the heavenly tribulation, suddenly regained their vitality the instant the demonic energy was about to touch them. The four swords instantly plunged into the demonic energy and began frantically devouring the demonic energy overflowing from the demonic blades!

In a mere instant, the demonic energy was completely absorbed, leaving nothing behind. However, even Yang Fan and his companion didn't notice that at the moment the four divine swords devoured the demonic energy, an almost tangible evil force suddenly descended from the sky, instantly piercing through the thunderclouds and entering the four divine swords. With the addition of that evil force, the four divine swords suddenly shone with immense sword light…

Chapter 627 [Chaotic Sword Refining]

Sword energy surged, divine swords crisscrossed. After the demonic energy inside the demonic blades was absorbed by the four divine swords, a surging sword energy immediately emanated from the four swords. At the same time, the surface of the swords seemed to be stained with blood, turning a deep crimson. And within that crimson, there seemed to be a captivating power, a feeling that it could suck one's soul into it at any moment.

Having absorbed all the essence of the demonic blade, the four divine swords finally ceased passively accepting the heavenly tribulation and began to move about, dodging while actively attacking!

What surprised Yang Fan most was that they actually formed various sword formations to counter the tribulation: the Heavenly Remnant Four Symbols Formation, the Big Dipper Seven Stars Formation, the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams Formation—all sorts of ancient, once-powerful formations were deployed to resist the heavenly tribulation.

Thus, although the heavenly tribulation was fierce, each wave of attacks was neutralized by the four swords. At this rate, it was almost certain that the four swords would survive the tribulation. Seeing that the most dangerous moment for the four swords had passed, Yang Fan couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

He couldn't help but worry; he had long considered the four swords as his own possessions, even abandoning magical artifacts like the demonic blade to allow them to circulate, and expending countless rare and precious materials—all for the sake of the four swords reaching their full potential.

Now, seeing that his efforts had not been in vain, and that the four divine swords were about to overcome the heavenly tribulation and become divine artifacts, and that he himself would soon possess a true divine artifact, how could he not be excited?

The tribulation was long and arduous. Although the four swords had passed the strongest moment of the tribulation, the tribulation continued for three days and three nights. For three days and three nights, Yang Fan and his companion remained motionless, guarding the four swords as they passed the tribulation. Although they knew that nothing else would disturb them here, they dared not be careless in the slightest.

Moreover, guarding the divine swords through the tribulation for three days, experiencing the entire process of the heavenly tribulation, was immensely beneficial to them. This was a great tribulation at the Primordial Chaos Realm; witnessing it would greatly benefit their future cultivation.

Finally, at the very moment the third day arrived, the heavenly tribulation began to subside. As if knowing it could not overcome the divine swords and could not stop their advancement, the Heavenly Dao chose to give up, reluctantly acknowledging their existence.

However, just as the heavenly tribulation was about to retreat, the four divine swords suddenly launched their most powerful attack. Simultaneously, a resounding sword cry rang out from the four swords. The four divine swords suddenly merged into one, transforming into a single, chillingly powerful killing sword, magnified dozens of times, and with a whoosh, slashed towards the sea of lightning. It seemed the relentless attacks of the heavenly tribulation over the past three days had finally enraged it. At this moment, it unleashed its strongest counterattack, determined to cleave the sea of lightning in two!

Boom! The sea of lightning, which had just begun to recede, seemed to sense the provocation of the divine swords. Suddenly, the lightning array instantly unleashed boundless lightning once more, striking the four swords.

However, after three days and three nights of relentless lightning tempering, the four divine swords were already familiar with the trajectory of the heavenly tribulation. Moreover, the tempered divine swords were no longer the same as before.

Especially during these three days, they not only completely absorbed the spiritual energy of the five elements through the heavenly tribulation but also completely refined the demonic power of the demonic blade. In this way, the four divine swords finally possessed the full killing aura of the Four Swords of Zhuxian, making up for their previous innate deficiencies and even unleashing a demonic power.

In a sense, the four swords at this moment had already surpassed the true power of the Four Swords of Zhuxian at this moment. In particular, the four swords at this moment, except for the final hurdle, had fully possessed the functions of divine artifacts.

Therefore, the fate of a divine artifact, which was inherently known for its killing prowess, striking with all its might against the fading and almost completely obliterated heavenly tribulation was already sealed!

The seemingly powerful lightning struck the sword, yet not even a spark was ignited, as if it had narrowly avoided every lightning strike. Finally, the divine sword struck the sea of lightning!

Rumble! As if the heavens and earth were splitting apart, mountains collapsing, and seas drying up and rocks crumbling, the longsword, with the force of rotten wood being pulled apart, instantly cleaved the sea of lightning in two. That wasn't all. The longsword that cleaved the sea of lightning suddenly multiplied into countless thin swords, like a school of fish, weaving through the lightning and devouring the scattered heavenly lightning.

Like a giant whale being devoured by fish and shrimp, the once-mighty heavenly tribulation, now subdued by the four swords, had no chance to retaliate, instantly swallowing the lightning.

The sea of lightning dispersed, and the entire sky instantly returned to clarity, as if the heavenly tribulation had ended. However, the four swords did not abandon their offensive, continuing to circle in the sky, as if waiting for something.

"It's here!"

Sure enough, not long after the heavenly lightning disappeared, a large section of the void above the four swords suddenly collapsed silently, as if swallowed whole by something. And in that collapsed place, a bottomless black hole appeared.

From within the colossal black hole emanated a chilling light, seemingly connecting to a realm beyond the heavens, exerting an invisible pressure. Even Yang Fan felt a sense of unease at this moment.

He knew that the most crucial moment for the Four Swords had arrived. If they could overcome this hurdle, the Four Swords would become true divine artifacts, truly breaking the shackles of heaven and earth and transcending the Heavenly Dao. But if they failed, then all their previous efforts would be nothing more than a mirage, a reflection in the water…

A colossal black hole spun ceaselessly, its interior rippled with powerful spatial forces, resembling a giant teleportation array connecting to some mysterious dimension. Spatial storms surged from the depths of the black hole, yet as they approached its apex, they seemed imprisoned by some force, unable to break free and enter this realm. Spatial

storms are among the most terrifying calamities in the universe. They are formed by the distortion and collision of spatial forces. Just as the collision of hot and cold air currents creates lightning, the collision of two spatial forces, due to their different properties, produces a series of reactions, and this spatial storm is one of them.

Simply put, a spatial storm is like a tornado; it leaves nothing but barren land in its wake, destroying houses and trees alike. Where a spatial storm passes, stars fall, countless planets are annihilated.

It can be said that any powerhouse below the Primordial Chaos Realm has no power to protect themselves within this spatial storm; a mere gust of wind will shatter their soul and spirit. Even a powerful expert at the Primordial Chaos Realm must be careful to deal with this spatial storm. If one is accidentally struck by it, even with the indestructible body of a Primordial Chaos Realm expert, it will be difficult to withstand. This shows how dangerous this spatial storm is.

In a sense, those so-called extraterrestrial meteorites are the work of spatial storms. However, spatial storms are extremely difficult to form, and their formation process is extremely demanding, requiring a space with extremely unstable space to form. Therefore, it is rare to see spatial storms on Earth.

But now, due to the Four Swords' tribulation, a passage has been strangely opened. And this passage seems to connect to a place with extremely unstable space, where spatial storms rage... Fortunately, this spatial storm seems to be hindered by some mysterious force; otherwise, the Four Swords wouldn't need to undergo tribulation and would have been destroyed directly!

At the moment when the spatial power condensed to its peak, suddenly, a sound like a heart breaking was heard. Yang Fan clearly saw something around the black hole continuously shattering.

Immediately afterward, a tremendous force surged from the black hole, like a dragon emerging from the sea. Streams of hazy, misty, indistinct gas, their color unclear and indescribable, suddenly poured out of the black hole, instantly obscuring the space where the four swords were located, turning it into a chaotic, indistinguishable zone. Even Yang Fan, the moment he was enveloped by the mist, not only could he not see the four swords with his naked eye, but even his divine sense could no longer hold onto them…

“The most crucial process of the chaotic energy, is it finally about to begin?”

His gaze fixed on the chaotic space, Yang Fan did not panic despite losing his divine sense control over the four swords. On the contrary, he stared expectantly at the chaotic space, as if trying to memorize every step of the process…

Legend has it that, for both divine artifacts and powerful beings at the Primordial Chaos Realm, the most crucial part of their tribulation is not the heavenly punishment, but the cleansing of the chaotic energy.

Chaotic energy is the gas produced before the creation of heaven and earth, before the separation of chaos. It is the primordial power of the universe, and all things originate from chaos.

The Chaos Qi is a supreme existence that surpasses the Primordial Purple Qi. In other words, the Primordial Purple Qi originates from the Chaos Qi. However, the Primordial Purple Qi contains fragments of the Heavenly Dao, while the Chaos Qi contains nothing. This does not mean that the Chaos Qi is of a lower level than the Primordial Purple Qi; on the contrary, the Primordial Purple Qi contains fragments of the Great Dao, while the Chaos Qi is the very foundation for the formation of the Great Dao!

Of course, the difficulty for the Chaos Qi to generate the Great Dao is beyond description in terms of time. But since the Primordial Purple Qi originates from Chaos, its level is clearly extremely high.

Whether it is a divine artifact or a powerful being in the Primordial Chaos Realm, they are all supreme existences that surpass the Great Dao. Therefore, before they reach this level, the Heavenly Dao, in addition to punishment, will also send down a test, and this so-called test is to withstand the cleansing of the Chaos Qi.

Only by withstanding the cleansing of the Chaos Qi will the Heavenly Dao recognize you and believe that you can withstand the fragments of the Great Dao. This is analogous to a container; before use, it needs to be tested to ensure it meets the standards. If it doesn't, even if Rong Ji is forcibly stuffed inside, it will only cause Rong Shun to burst and break.

Similarly, the role of chaotic energy in the heavenly tribulation is that of the one who has completed the test. If one withstands its cleansing, then one is qualified to grasp fragments of the Great Dao. Moreover, after being cleansed by chaotic energy, both one's physical body and soul will undergo an unprecedented transformation. The physical body will become immortal, and the soul will be connected to the Great Dao and coexist with the Heavenly Dao, becoming an immortal being. In

fact, the reason why those in the Primordial Chaos Realm are so powerful is that they have undergone the cleansing of chaotic energy, so that while their physical bodies are immortal and their souls are indestructible, they also contain fragments of the Great Dao within their bodies.

And these fragments of the Great Dao are the laws of space. The extent to which one masters the laws of space comes from the fragments of the Great Dao, and the fragments of the Great Dao come from the strength of one's own physical body. In other words, the longer one spends cleansing oneself in the chaotic energy, and the more thoroughly one withstands its cleansing, the more perfect one's physical transformation becomes. This results in the more fragments of the Great Dao one can contain, and naturally, the higher one's achievements will be!

Legend has it that Shakyamuni meditated in the Great Chaotic Energy for eighty-one days, ultimately reaching the supreme realm beyond Hunyuan. The Demon Emperor of the Demon Emperor Palace also tempered himself in the chaotic energy for forty-nine days, almost becoming another supreme expert to attain enlightenment after Shakyamuni.

Ordinary Hunyuan realm experts are already quite remarkable if they can endure a few hours in the chaotic energy. At most, they can persist for three to five days. If they force themselves to continue, their physical bodies will be burst apart by the chaotic energy, and they will be reduced to ashes…

Now, the four divine swords have survived the heavenly tribulation and have ushered in a crucial moment for their transformation. And this process is the most important one. The longer it endures in the chaotic energy, the greater its future achievements will be, and it's more likely to evolve into a Primordial Spiritual Treasure, or even a Primordial Supreme Treasure, completely surpassing the Four Swords of Zhuxian!

Conversely, it will only become an ordinary divine artifact. In the future, it will be reduced to ashes under the swords of the Four Swords of Zhuxian, destined for the cycle of cause and effect.

"One hour, two hours, three hours... one day, two days, three days..."

Time passed imperceptibly, but Yang Fan and his companion showed no impatience. On the contrary, as the days went by, their expressions grew increasingly excited...

"One week!"

"Two weeks!"

"Three weeks!"

"One month! A whole month! This exceeds the time countless Primordial Realm experts endure when advancing to the Primordial Realm. I wonder how many more days these four divine swords can last!"

A month passed in the blink of an eye, and Yang Fan's expression grew increasingly excited. If he weren't afraid of disturbing the tempering of the four divine swords, he almost couldn't help but roar to the sky.

What does it mean to endure in the chaotic energy for a whole month? It's important to know that, among the recorded experts at the Primordial Chaos Realm, only Shakyamuni and the Demon Emperor spent more than a month tempering themselves in the chaotic energy. As for other recorded experts, only Shakyamuni's ten disciples each persisted for ten days to half a month in the chaotic energy. Other Primordial Chaos Realm experts lasted at most three to five days, and some even only a few hours.

Now, the four divine swords have actually persisted in the chaotic energy for a full month! What does this mean? It means they have surpassed most Primordial Chaos Realm experts, becoming the third being after Shakyamuni and the Demon Emperor to persist in the chaotic energy for more than thirty days!

"Thirty-one... thirty-two... thirty-five..."

However, this was not the end. Time continued, and the four divine swords continued to temper themselves in the chaotic energy. Finally, on the sixth day, the thirty-sixth day, the chaotic energy finally showed a slight change...

Chapter 628 [Strange Phenomena of Heaven and Earth]

Boom! From each of the four divine swords, a devastating sword light shot forth, soaring into the sky and piercing through the chaotic energy. Simultaneously, an immense aura, powerful enough to command the worship of all things, emanated from the four divine swords, filling not only this space but also the entirety of China and the entire Earth.

Lin! Lin! Lin! Suddenly, four colossal swords piercing the clouds appeared in the sky above the South China Sea. These four swords, entirely formed from condensed gas, appeared almost real, radiating a chilling killing intent. That almost tangible killing intent caused the entire Pacific Ocean to fall silent instantly. All marine life froze, seemingly frozen in place, or perhaps in a state of worship. Even the sea monsters that had been fighting to the death just moments before stopped.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

At the same time, as if sensing something, powerful auras surged forth from Fengxia Mountain, Cangmang Mountain, Guifu Mountain, Moon Shadow Lake, Peach Blossom Forest, Wanyao Valley... all the famous mountains, rivers, and lakes unknown to the world within China.

Ordinary people were unaware of the existence of these famous mountains and rivers, but those in the martial arts world knew exactly what these places represented. These places were all sacred grounds coveted by countless martial artists. For example, Fengxia Mountain connected to the headquarters of the Lingbao Qinxin Sect: the Lingbao Realm!

Cangmang Mountain connected to the headquarters of the Demon Emperor Palace, the Demon Realm, while Guifu Mountain was the sacred ground of the Youming Shigui Sect, the Ghost Realm... In other words, these places that suddenly emitted overwhelming auras were all major sacred grounds of the martial arts world.

Eleven powerful auras soared into the sky, echoing the auras of the four divine swords above the East Sea. None of them yielded, each releasing their strongest aura, seemingly wanting to compete with the divine swords.

Just then, from Mount Fuji in Japan, an extremely powerful aura surged forth. This aura seemed poised to overtake the others, its powerful burst almost suppressing the other twelve auras. Simultaneously, the aura transformed, suddenly splitting into two distinct auras, which then intertwined, ultimately forming a gigantic black and white bell in the sky!

Boom! As if sensing the provocation emanating from the bell in Japan, the eleven auras in the distant east suddenly began to stir. Immediately afterward, various ancient artifacts appeared in the sky like mushrooms after rain…

Above Sunset Mountain, where the Pure Yang Sect was located, a bronze furnace engulfed in blazing flames suddenly appeared in the sky. The moment the furnace appeared, even the blazing sun seemed to lose its color, leaving only the enormous furnace as the sole focus of the entire world.

Meanwhile, at the location of the Ghostly Devouring Sect of Ghostly Mount Guifu, a giant banner slowly rose—the Ghostly Soul-Summoning Banner, the sect's most prized treasure. The moment the Ghostly Soul-Summoning Banner appeared, the world lost its color. The divine furnace that had just occupied the area above seemed to be suppressed; its light suddenly dimmed, and its temperature seemed to drop slightly. The sun in the sky regained its light.

However, the Ghostly Soul-Summoning Banner had only just appeared when, in another part of the sky, a scene of celestial maidens descending to earth suddenly appeared. There, countless celestial maidens danced gracefully, appearing and disappearing in the clouds. Faintly, melodious songs could be heard, creating the grandeur of a celestial abode.

As the celestial maidens danced, the ghostly energy on the Ghostly Soul-Summoning Banner seemed to have met its nemesis, its aura becoming restrained, no longer daring to be as blatant as before!

Immediately following, the Heavenly Dao Yin-Yang Sword of the Qingxiao Dao Sect, the Moon Sound Demon Qin of the Yueyin Sect, the Twelve-Petaled Lotus of the Baihua Sect, the Heavenly Heart Bell of the Tianxin Pavilion, the Eight Trigrams Spiritual Furnace of the Lingbao Qinxin Sect, and the Carefree Heartless Fan of the Xiaoyao Sect—the sacred artifacts of the various holy lands—all appeared one after another. In an instant, the entire land of China was filled with divine might, and the powerful aura made the whole earth tremble!

After the divine artifacts of the various holy lands appeared, a vast and resounding bell tolled, its sound like the rising sun, bringing life to all things; yet, like the afterglow of the setting sun, it brought silence to all things. Two completely different sensations suddenly appeared, seemingly so eerie, yet everything sounded so harmonious!

The Demon Emperor Bell—when it rings, all things live; when it stops, heaven and earth perish! Apart from the Great Thunderclap Temple, the Demon Emperor Bell, the most powerful artifact in the world, finally revealed its true form...

In an instant, apart from the Great Thunderclap Temple, the supreme artifact of Buddhism, the treasures of various holy lands appeared one after another. More than ten powerful auras swept across the heavens and earth, causing all things to succumb and the world to lose its color. In that instant, whether martial artists or ordinary people, whether from China or Western countries, everyone was thrown into chaos…

“What’s going on? What are those phantoms? How come so many strange things suddenly appeared in China? That terrifying aura is even more unsettling than the combined power of dozens of atomic bombs. What’s going on? Is China about to start World War III?”

“The end of the world! The end of the world! It’s definitely the end of the world! Any one of those auras is enough to destroy more than ten times the size of Earth. Combined, they will destroy the entire solar system. What is that great Eastern power trying to do?”

“God! Look, it’s God appearing! It’s God appearing! It’s the gods of China appearing to protect China! It must be that Japan has been causing trouble lately, which has displeased God, who is now punishing Japan!”

"What's going on? Why are there such strange images appearing on Mount Fuji? And why are there so many unusual phenomena in the East? Investigate! Investigate quickly! We must find out what's going on as soon as possible! Send people to Mount Fuji to ask what's happening. We can't let the Chinese make the first move. Even if there's to be a war, it should be our Great Japanese Empire that strikes first... "

These were the voices of ordinary people and government officials from all over the world. The unusual phenomena in the East instantly caused panic in countries around the world, and for a time, almost the entire world's attention was focused on the East. However, as the instigators of all this, the government officials of China were also completely clueless about the matter. The places where the unusual phenomena were reported were nothing special in normal times. They couldn't even compare to famous mountains and rivers like Mount Tai or Mount Hua. Therefore, if there were to be unusual phenomena, they should be coming from Taoist or Buddhist holy sites like Mount Tai or Mount Emei. Why were unusual phenomena appearing in these places? What's most troubling is that scientists can't analyze these anomalies, and even satellites can't lock onto the images. From satellite view, everything looks normal, yet these anomalies are visible to people all over the world! Therefore, when the anomalies appeared, all of China's secret forces—whether members of the Dragon Group, guardian dragons, or other secret forces—were mobilized, rushing to the scene as quickly as possible to investigate the truth. While the whole world was in chaos, the major holy lands were also plunged into inexplicable panic… "What's going on? Why did the ancestral artifact suddenly manifest? Who activated the ancestral artifact, awakening its dormant spirit?" In that instant, even the patriarchs of the Primordial Chaos Realm who had been in seclusion in the major holy lands were awakened and appeared at the center of their respective holy lands. "The power of ancestral artifacts is beyond the reach of ordinary people. Even we need several of us working together to briefly activate their spirits and awaken them, but we can't achieve a complete awakening like this. Only the intervention of the Ancestral Master can truly awaken an ancestral artifact; otherwise, no one can do it." " Indeed, activating an ancestral artifact is impossible for one person alone, let alone activating the ancestral artifacts of all the major holy lands simultaneously. Such a scene was only witnessed during the Great Calamity of the Dragon Slaying, when the Demon Emperor Bell unleashed its divine power, passively activating the ancestral artifacts of the various holy lands."

"Could it be that the Demon Emperor Bell has unleashed its power again? But who else besides the Demon Emperor could fully activate it? Moreover, during the Dragon Slaying Calamity, the Demon Emperor Bell was almost broken. Although it was later repaired by the people of the Demon Emperor's Palace, its power was far less than before!"

"Also, the Demon Emperor Bell was clearly activated last, meaning it was also drawn up by some force... Right, a powerful aura suddenly rose above the East Sea, could it be..."

"Could there be ancestral artifacts in this world that we don't know about? But even if there are, no one in this world can unleash the power of an ancestral artifact!"

"Furthermore, since the Dragon Slaying Calamity, we have been severely injured and heavily suppressed by the Heavenly Dao. Normally, we can only enter deep seclusion to avoid being affected by the Heavenly Dao. But now we have suddenly awakened. And we can't even feel the pressure of the Heavenly Dao. In other words, the Heavenly Dao is currently being obscured by some force... But who in this world hasn't obscured the Heavenly Dao? The Demon Emperor couldn't, and neither could Shakyamuni..."

"Indeed, I also sense that the Heavenly Dao is currently being obscured, which is why we can move freely. Otherwise, as soon as we awaken, the Heavenly Dao will sense our presence and unleash boundless heavenly tribulations. But now, we can't sense the Heavenly Dao's existence at all."

"It seems that the problem lies with those four divine swords above the East Sea. Let's go, let's go see..."

Almost simultaneously, dozens of figures appeared above the East Sea, and these people were all Hunyuan level experts from various holy lands. These experts were men and women, young and old, and they usually remained in deep meditation, never waking up unless their sects suffered a catastrophic disaster. But now, they were all gathered together. If anyone in the martial arts world saw this scene, they would surely die. Not for any other reason than that these hundreds of people present were all genuine Hunyuan level experts!

Hunyuan level experts have always existed only in legends; it can be said that no one in the world has ever seen their existence. They only know that the highest realm of martial arts is the Hunyuan realm.

Leaving aside the Primordial Chaos Realm, even the Returning Void Realm is considered an ancient existence. In the martial world, any expert at the Refining Spirit Realm is a super master. The Returning Void Realm is practically invincible. As long as they don't provoke those who are detached from worldly affairs, they are generally invincible.

But now, everyone here has the cultivation of the Primordial Chaos Realm. Although their cultivation levels vary, the highest reaching the sixth or seventh level of the Primordial Chaos Realm and the lowest at the first or second level, they are still Primordial Chaos Realm experts. Looking at these people, any one of them could turn

the world upside down, let alone nearly a hundred of them. These people combined could destroy the entire solar system universe.

"Everyone, a strange phenomenon has appeared in the sky, causing the ancestral artifacts of the various holy lands to be passively activated. And the source of all this is the power of these four divine swords before us. I wonder what everyone's thoughts are on this?"

At this moment, an old man in the crowd spoke up.

This man was dressed in a Taoist robe, embroidered with Tai Chi and Bagua diagrams on both the front and back. He had white hair and a white beard, and carried a Taoist sword on his back, also marked with a Tai Chi symbol. His white hair was coiled on top of his head, and his white beard reached past his chest. At first glance, he resembled a reclusive sage, exuding an air of otherworldly elegance

. Behind him stood more than ten other Taoists, also dressed in robes. Standing in front of them, he possessed an air of dominance, and judging from the expressions of the Taoists behind him, they were all completely subservient to him.

This man was none other than Master Qingxu, a grandmaster-level figure of the Qingxiao Taoist sect. Legend has it that he was the last disciple of the sect's founder, Master Yuxu. Despite his current frail and aged appearance, this man's cultivation had already reached the eighth level of the Hunyuan realm. His mastery of the Taiyi Shangqing Technique was unparalleled; rumors circulated that, aside from his master, he was the only one in the entire Qingxiao Dao Sect with the potential to cultivate the Taiyi Shangqing Technique to perfection. Moreover, he was the most promising among those present to reach the ninth level of the Hunyuan realm. Across all the holy lands, only a handful could rival him!

Upon Qingxu Daoist's speech, the various holy lands, which had been engaged in lively discussion, all fell silent. Finally, another elderly man dressed as a Daoist stepped forward.

His attire was very similar to Qingxu Daoist's, except this old man wore hemp clothing and even straw sandals. His appearance was out of place among the assembled crowd, yet no one dared to underestimate him.

His cultivation was only at the fourth level of the Hunyuan realm; while not the lowest among them, he was certainly not among the top. Logically speaking, with his cultivation level, he shouldn't have had any say in this place, which is at the fifth or sixth level of the Hunyuan realm. However, when he came out, no one present dared to rebuke him. They even subtly stepped back to make way for him. Even Qingxu Daoist nodded slightly to the old man when he saw him.

Chapter 629 [A Show of Force]

"Tianyi Zhenren of Tianxin Pavilion has also appeared! It's rumored that Tianyi Zhenren is the only master in Tianxin Pavilion to have cultivated the Tianxin Undying Heart Technique to the state of oneness with Heaven and Man!"

"Indeed, the Tianxin Undying Heart Technique of Tianxin Pavilion emphasizes embodying the will of Heaven above and harmonizing with the way of humanity below. At its peak, it allows one to achieve oneness with Heaven and Earth, oneness with Heaven and Man, and oneness with the Way of Humanity. If one can achieve oneness with Heaven and Man, one can glimpse the secrets of Heaven, discover a sliver of divine wisdom, avoid calamities, and appreciate Heaven's grace. This Tianyi Zhenren is the only expert in Tianxin Pavilion to have cultivated the Tianxin Undying Heart Technique to the state of oneness with Heaven and Man. If one were to advance further and reach the state of oneness with the Heavenly Dao, one could comprehend the will of Heaven and become its representative!" "

Now that Tianyi Zhenren has made his move, things will surely come to a conclusion!"

"Shh, don't disturb Master Tianyi's calculations. Master Tianyi has a habit of not allowing any sound around him when he's calculating. If we disturb him, we'll become the common enemy of all the holy lands!"

"..."

This old man in hemp robes was practically the living ancestor of the Tianxin Pavilion. Moreover, he and Daoist Qingxu were from the same era, now considered living relics. Therefore, upon his appearance, the various holy lands fell silent.

It wasn't that the people of the holy lands respected him, but rather that this Master Tianyi was a contemporary diviner, his knowledge of mechanics and calculations unparalleled. No one present could match him, and he was also the true leader of the Tianxin Pavilion. Therefore, while the people of the Tianxin Pavilion might not be the strongest in cultivation, they were unmatched in the art of divination, their calculations unfathomable, able to foresee the past and future. Thus, the people of the Tianxin Pavilion held a status even higher than those of the Lingbao Qinxin Sect.

Each holy land had its own strengths. The disciples of the Free and Unfettered Sect excel in the art of divination and strategy; the Spirit Treasure Heart-Cleansing Sect is most adept at producing spiritual elixirs; the Heavenly Heart Pavilion stands out in divination and fortune-telling; and the Moon Sound Sect is unparalleled in music, their melodies capable of killing silently and invisibly, truly bizarre.

As for the other sects, the Clear Cloud Dao Sect is a legitimate Daoist sect, the Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect focuses on cultivating Yin spirits, the Pure Yang Sect focuses on cultivating Yang spirits, the Hundred Flowers Sect emphasizes nature, the Demon Emperor Palace is a place for demon cultivators, and the Yin-Yang Harmony Sect focuses on dual cultivation… Each of the major holy lands has its own strengths, and each possesses the capital to stand out in its respective field.

On the surface, the major holy lands appear harmonious, but in reality, they are constantly at odds, not only divided into several groups, but also divided into righteous and evil factions, each unwilling to yield, leading to frequent clashes.

Right now, all the major holy lands have gathered in the East Sea. Sects like Qingxiao Dao Sect, Tianxin Pavilion, Lingbao Qinxin Sect, Xiaoyao Sect, and Chunyang Sect, though operating independently, are actually forming a secret alliance. Meanwhile, Youming Shigui Sect, Yueyin Sect, Baihua Sect, and Zhiyu Palace have also formed an alliance. The Yin-Yang Hehuan Sect, however, stands at a distance. Although they have also come to the East Sea, they seem wary of the major holy lands and haven't approached. As for the Demon Emperor Palace and the Buddhist sect, no one has come. It's unclear which side they belong to.

However, despite their occasional friction, they are now very cooperative. Seeing Tianyi Zhenren emerge, everyone makes way and retreats, giving him time to contemplate and deduce.

"Sword energy crisscrosses, occupying four directions, forming an irregular angle, yet in reality, they are one. These four swords appear to be four, but in fact, they are one. In other words, this is the supreme aura emanating from a set of divine artifacts."

"Four swords...four swords...could they be the ancient divine weapons, the Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter? No, the Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter transcends the realm of ordinary divine artifacts, almost becoming innate treasures. A single trace of their aura is enough to destroy ordinary divine artifacts. While the divine artifacts of the various holy lands are indeed extraordinary, none have reached the level to rival the Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter."

"So, these four divine swords are not the Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter. But why are their auras so similar? Could there be other types of divine swords in the world? But that doesn't make sense; the Heavenly Dao wouldn't allow it! Moreover, even if there were, who in this world could fully activate a divine artifact? Furthermore, to trigger the simultaneous activation of all other artifacts, all passively activated?"

"Right, according to ancient records, when a new divine artifact appears, the heavens and earth tremble, and all artifacts resonate. Could someone have forged a new divine artifact?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible. Leaving aside the difficulty of forging divine artifacts, it requires at least the peak of the Primordial Chaos realm to succeed. The materials needed for a divine artifact are simply impossible to collect."

"The materials for forging divine artifacts disappeared from the world long ago during the Great Change of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, apart from the divine artifacts passed down from their ancestors, the major holy lands simply cannot collect the materials needed to forge divine artifacts."

"Moreover, in ancient times, the supply of divine artifacts had already reached saturation, even breaking the balance of the world. Heaven, sensing this, sent down a great calamity, destroying countless divine artifacts and altering the destiny of Heaven, making it impossible to forge them. Even advancing to the Primordial Chaos realm was greatly suppressed. In ancient times, one in ten thousand cultivators could reach the Primordial Chaos realm, but now, not one in a million can break through. Especially in the last thousand years, the suppression from Heaven has become even more severe; those who can break through to the Primordial Chaos realm can be counted on one hand!"

"Those of us cultivated to the Primordial Chaos Realm before the world changed. But it is precisely because of this that we are completely suppressed by the Heavenly Dao, making it difficult to advance our cultivation, and some may even be unable to break through for life."

"However, it is also for this reason that those who broke through to the Primordial Chaos Realm after the great upheaval of the world possess combat power capable of fighting ten, or even a hundred, of their own level. Take the Demon Emperor, for example; he was the one who went the furthest on the path of martial arts after breaking through to the Primordial Chaos Realm after the great upheaval of the world. During the Great Calamity of the Dragon Slaying, the reason he was able to single-handedly resist the major holy lands was not only because of his own powerful cultivation, but most importantly, because he broke through after the great upheaval of the world!" With

the great upheaval of the world, the suppression of the Heavenly Dao's laws became even stronger. The path of cultivation is inherently defying the heavens; therefore, the stronger the suppression, the greater the rebound. For example, with a weight of ten kilograms, the spring's elasticity is only ten kilograms. But if the weight is increased to one hundred kilograms, although the spring is difficult to rebound, once it does, its elasticity will be dozens of times greater than before.

Therefore, those who broke through to the Primordial Chaos realm before the great upheaval of heaven and earth were less suppressed by the Heavenly Dao, resulting in less breakthrough power and smaller achievements. After the great upheaval, however, the Heavenly Dao's restrictions intensified, making breakthroughs extremely difficult. But once a breakthrough was achieved, the accomplishments were destined to be extraordinary!

The same applies to divine artifacts. After the great upheaval, the laws of the Heavenly Dao changed, making it impossible to forge new divine artifacts under such circumstances. Because heaven and earth do not allow it; unless one can alter the laws of the Heavenly Dao and obscure the secrets

of heaven, even a powerhouse surpassing the Primordial Chaos realm cannot forge a divine artifact… Originally, this True Man Tianyi had already guessed the truth, but unfortunately, he was forced to deny it when he was only a hair's breadth away from the truth. In fact, this cannot be blamed on True Man Tianyi; after all, the most impossible thing he said had become possible.

Altering the Heavenly Dao, defying fate, and obscuring the secrets of heaven are not only things that powerhouses surpassing the Primordial Chaos realm cannot do. Even those from the Heavenly Heart Pavilion who mastered the Heavenly Heart Undying Heart Technique, reaching the state of oneness with the Heavenly Dao and becoming its representatives, could only follow the will of the Heavenly Dao and spread its decrees; they could not alter the will of Heaven and Earth, let alone obscure the secrets of Heaven or change its trajectory.

Therefore, True Person Tianyi was absolutely certain that no one could forge a divine artifact. But then Yang Fan appeared, this extraordinary being who cultivated the Nine Heavens Thunderous Technique and possessed a powerful, overpowered ability. Add to that his heaven-defying luck, and his fortuitous encounter with divine materials collected over tens of thousands of years by the Five Elements Spiritual Objects.

Thus, he possessed the perfect combination of timing, location, and human advantage. What True Person Tianyi called impossible became possible, and even a fact…

Just as when a Primordial Chaos Realm expert advances, it causes disturbances in Heaven and Earth, altering the laws, which are then perceived by other Primordial Chaos Realm experts, who then know that someone has advanced to the Primordial Chaos Realm.

The same applies to divine artifacts. When a divine artifact survives its tribulation and becomes a divine artifact, its presence is sensed by other divine artifacts, regardless of distance. When the newly created divine artifact emits its aura, the other divine artifacts are also triggered, automatically activating and releasing their own auras.

Firstly, they want to inform the other of their existence. Secondly, they want to use this opportunity to establish their authority. Just as there is competition between people, there is also competition between divine artifacts. In the real world, if someone threatens one's position or infringes upon one's interests, that person will try every means to suppress and exclude that person, and will first give them a show of force to let them know they are not to be trifled with.

Divine artifacts are the same. When they sense something that could threaten them, they immediately release their aura to inform the other party. Therefore, as soon as Yang Fan's divine artifact was completed and its aura spread, the divine artifacts of the various holy lands were stimulated and immediately "came to life," wanting to give the other a show of force!

However, this was something not only Yang Fan was unaware of, but also the various holy lands. Even Master Tianyi had only gleaned a glimpse of it in ancient texts, and while he had some guesses, he dared not be certain. Therefore, the activation of the divine artifact and the anomalies in the heavens and earth threw the various holy lands into complete chaos.

Although they didn't know exactly what was happening, they were certain of one thing: an unknown divine artifact had appeared!

Another divine artifact had appeared—what did this signify? Perhaps to ordinary people, it wouldn't seem significant, but the various holy lands wouldn't see it that way. Why could they rise above the rest of the martial world, why could they become the supreme martial arts realm, the holy lands worshipped by thousands? Was it because of their strength?

No, in terms of overall strength, the various holy lands were indeed very strong, but they were far from invincible. Looking across the vast land of China, there were sects and schools whose overall strength could rival theirs, such as Wudang and Shaolin, ancient sects whose foundations were not much less than theirs.

But why can the Shaolin and Wudang sects be called sacred martial arts lands, while those like Shaolin and Wudang can only be considered super sects and not sacred lands?

The reason is simple: they lack a sacred artifact!

"Divine" implies formlessness and infinity, while "artifact" implies synthesis. Formlessness combined with formlessness is called a divine artifact. A divine artifact is capable of destroying heaven and earth, devouring all things, containing boundless power and possessing endless wondrous uses. It can split the heavens and earth, traverse the void, contain all things, or absorb stars and change the moon. Some even say that obtaining a divine artifact grants immortality and eternal life…

In short, divine artifacts are incredibly mystical. They are beyond the comprehension of mortals. They possess unfathomable power, impossible for ordinary people to contend with. Even a master of the Hunyuan realm, without a divine artifact, is utterly powerless against one possessing one.

Therefore, sects like Shaolin and Wudang, despite their strength, are overwhelmed by the pressure from the other sacred lands because they lack a divine artifact. Take the Yin-Yang Harmony Sect, for example. They were always seen as a thorn in the side by the major holy lands, constantly suppressed. Yet, why didn't they suffer annihilation, only retreating to Fusang? And why didn't the major holy lands continue their suppression? The reason is simple: the Yin-Yang Harmony Sect possessed the Yin-Yang Harmony Bell!

They feared that if pushed too far, the sect would resort to desperate measures, or that the sect, enraged, would use the power of the divine artifact to sweep through the holy lands. Although they also possessed a divine artifact, they couldn't guarantee that all their disciples wouldn't be affected by its residual power!

Take, for example, the Demon Emperor's Palace. During the Great Calamity of Slaying the Dragon, the Demon Emperor was besieged by various holy lands and ultimately disappeared. Logically, adhering to the principle of "cutting the weeds at the root, letting them grow back in the spring," the holy lands should have gone all out and destroyed the Demon Emperor's Palace in one fell swoop.

However, they didn't do so, not out of mercy, but because although the Demon Emperor was gone, the Demon Emperor's Bell remained. They dared not take that risk…

This shows how important a divine artifact is to a sect. Now, a divine artifact has suddenly appeared in the world. What will happen? What will become of it? Will the balance of the martial world be broken? Will the balance between the various holy lands be disrupted? Furthermore, what if another sect obtains this artifact? Would

n't that mean that in the near future, another new martial arts holy land will suddenly rise, and the other holy lands will be powerless against it? They might even have to stand on equal footing with them, and the other sects might even have to share their resources?

How could that be possible? Imagine having a piece of meat snatched away from your mouth – who wouldn't be happy about that?

Therefore, no matter what happened, this divine artifact cannot fall into the hands of outsiders. But similarly, it cannot fall into the hands of any one faction. Imagine, originally each of the major holy lands only had one divine artifact, so none could do anything to the others. But if suddenly one faction possessed two, how could the other holy lands suppress them? Wouldn't that make them dominant?

The divine artifact hasn't even appeared yet, the outcome is still undecided, but the major holy lands have already begun scheming and open and covert struggles. An invisible storm has quietly unfolded among the major holy lands because of this mysteriously appearing divine artifact…

Chapter 630 [Each with Their Own Hidden Intentions]

Master Tianyi still stood beneath the four divine swords, muttering to himself. But he didn't notice that the major holy lands, which had originally formed a circle, had quietly split into several camps. Clearly, in a very short time, the parties that had previously allied with each other had reached some kind of agreement.

Although they didn't understand why a divine artifact had suddenly appeared in the world, no holy land intended to let anyone else obtain it. However, they clearly knew that it was almost impossible for any one family to monopolize it. Therefore, they formed an alliance. How to distribute it after obtaining it was a matter for later; the most important thing now was to seize the artifact.

The reason they hadn't acted, besides lacking absolute certainty, was another crucial reason: they were still unsure of the artifact's true location. They all knew that what they saw now was merely a phantom of the artifact; such artifacts would never reveal their true form to the world. Moreover

, this matter was shrouded in mystery from beginning to end, and no one would act without absolute certainty. As the saying goes, "He who strikes first wins, he who strikes last suffers," but now it was the opposite; whoever acted first would undoubtedly be the one to suffer. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, no one would stand idly by and watch their prize be snatched away; the first to grab it would inevitably become the enemy of all!

"Master Tianyi, have you figured out anything yet?"

After a long while, seeing Master Tianyi still muttering to himself endlessly, someone finally couldn't help but ask.

Stroking his white beard, Master Tianyi seemed to ponder for a long time, carefully choosing his words before slowly speaking, "If I'm not mistaken, a divine artifact will be born. Moreover, the power of this artifact far surpasses that of ordinary divine artifacts; it is a weapon of slaughter!" Upon hearing

this, everyone was astonished. Wasn't this obvious? If it weren't for the birth of a divine artifact, how could it have caused such a reaction from the ancestral artifacts of the various holy lands? Anyone with a modicum of common sense would know this. As for the power of this artifact, just looking at the killing intent it exudes, one knows that this sword is definitely a weapon of slaughter.

These two points are obvious even to the most knowledgeable people in the martial arts world, let alone those from the various holy lands. Now, the so-called greatest sage under heaven, Master Tianyi, had only reached this conclusion after much deliberation and careful consideration!

If not for the other party's long-standing reputation, many would have already been itching to curse. Even so, countless people couldn't help but roll their eyes and scoff at his words.

Master Tianyi observed the reactions of the people from the various holy lands. However, he remained completely unperturbed. As the saying goes, different people

have different opinions, so why bother arguing with them? However, among those present were also true wise men. They understood the hidden meaning in Master Tianyi's words. Especially those living ancestors familiar with Master Tianyi's habits and from his own era. After hearing Master Tianyi's words, they all frowned and began to ponder.

They knew that Master Tianyi wouldn't speak without reason, much less utter such idiotic words in this situation. Yet he spoke them, and with such seriousness; either he had lost his mind, or there was a deeper meaning behind it.

However, they preferred to believe their own minds were failing rather than believe that the wisest man in the world could ever be so senile. Therefore, they all tried to guess the other layer of meaning in his words.

"Brother Tianyi, do you mean you're not sure what's really going on?"

After much thought, Master Qingxu finally asked.

"That's right. I've read countless ancient and modern books. While I wouldn't claim to be an encyclopedia, there's nothing in this world, from ancient times to the present, that I don't know. But what happened today is truly bizarre and contradicts the records in ancient texts. Therefore, I dare not make any hasty conclusions!"

said Master Tianyi.

"What do you mean?"

The speaker was not Master Qingxu, but another middle-aged man. This man had a red face and ears, deep-set eyebrows, and large eyes that shone like lanterns. His hair was a fiery red, making him appear from afar like a burning flame.

This man was a full six zhang tall, his upper body bare, revealing muscles like coiled dragons. In this crowd where everyone else was dressed in an air of otherworldly elegance, he stood out as a complete oddity. Yet, when he appeared, everyone present involuntarily made way for him to stand beside Master Qingxu and Master Tianyi. Moreover, his sudden outburst showed no displeasure from either Master Qingxu or Master Tianyi. This clearly demonstrated that he was no ordinary person! Furthermore,

judging from his appearance, he seemed to be the type with an extremely volatile temper, prone to violence at the slightest provocation. However, the occasional glint of shrewdness in his eyes revealed that his mind was far more complex than his outward appearance suggested!

"Master Chunyang!"

When the burly man reached Master Tianyi's side, Master Tianyi performed the etiquette expected of an equal before speaking.

"Judging from the situation here and the changes in the ancestral artifacts of the various holy lands, I dare say that someone has forged a new divine artifact. This has caused unusual phenomena in heaven and earth, with the divine artifacts interacting. However, since ancient times, the world has undergone great changes, and the laws of heaven have been reversed, making it impossible to forge divine artifacts in the world anymore. This is not only something I know, but I'm sure you all have not given up on forging divine artifacts over the years. However, I would like to ask, has anyone successfully forged one?"

Upon hearing what True Person Tianyi said, the various holy lands all turned their gazes to others. Clearly, what True Person Tianyi said was not an exaggeration. And this point could be said to be an open secret among the various holy lands.

What an additional divine artifact represents is something that everyone present understands better than anyone else. Therefore, while developing, the various holy lands have spared no effort in collecting materials and have spent huge sums of money forging divine artifacts. However, over the years, none of them have succeeded, which confirms the saying that this world no longer allows the birth of new divine artifacts.

Therefore, if someone were to suddenly claim that so-and-so had forged a divine artifact, absolutely no one would believe it. Those present had all devoted nearly half their lives to such endeavors, only to return empty-handed. Now, someone claiming success was inevitable; they naturally wouldn't believe their own experiences. That's precisely why they immediately dismissed this possibility!

Seeing the silence of the various holy lands, True Man Tianwang continued, "Indeed, all the holy lands must know that this world is currently unsuitable for forging divine artifacts. Therefore, the current situation has absolutely nothing to do with this conclusion. I had also guessed the same way before. However, the current situation is exactly the same as the scene described in ancient books when a divine artifact is first formed. That is why I am puzzled!"

"Of course, it is not only when a divine artifact is first formed that there are celestial phenomena. When a divine artifact is fully activated, it will also cause celestial phenomena. However, I would like to ask you all a question: in this world, is there anyone who can fully activate a true divine artifact? Therefore, the possibility of this is pitifully small."

"As for other possibilities, the most likely one is that a divine artifact that existed in ancient times is sealed here. Now that the seal is loosening, this divine artifact is about to break free. And this is the most likely possibility I think, besides the rebirth of a divine artifact!"

At this point, True Man Tianyi stopped and turned his gaze back to the crowd.

"A divine artifact has broken free of its seal? Indeed, that's the only possibility. It must be a divine artifact sealed away by some powerful being from ancient times, now about to break free. As for the creation of a divine artifact, that's impossible. We, too, cannot forge a divine artifact even with our entire lives' blood and sweat, let alone anyone else. If you ask who in this world can forge a divine artifact, only someone with our resources could possibly do so. As for others, they can't even gather the materials, let alone forge one!"

"Here, there must be an ancient divine weapon sealed. An ancient divine weapon! Its true power is certainly no weaker than the ancestral artifacts of the major holy lands. You must know, this ancient divine weapon was forged by an ancient powerful being. And the seal has only released a trace of its aura. That means the true power of this divine artifact is even greater than that. Doesn't that mean the power of this divine artifact might surpass the Demon Emperor Bell, or even the legendary Great Thunderclap Temple? Is it a primordial spiritual treasure?"

"A Primordial Spiritual Treasure? Impossible! You must know that the divine artifacts of the major holy lands today are merely Acquired Spiritual Treasures. Even the Demon Emperor Bell is only an Acquired Supreme Treasure. It's a far cry from a true Primordial Spiritual Treasure. Primordial Spiritual Treasures, not to mention now, were incredibly rare and sought-after even in ancient times!"

"A Primordial Spiritual Treasure! We must get it, we must get it! With this Primordial Spiritual Treasure, what need is there for ancestral artifacts? With just one Primordial Spiritual Treasure, we can completely sweep across the major holy lands. You know, why could Buddhism sweep across the Three Thousand Realms back then? Wasn't it because the Buddhist divine artifact, the Great Thunderclap Temple, was a Primordial Spiritual Treasure? One Primordial Treasure is worth more than a hundred

Acquired Supreme Treasures! We must get it, we must get it, we absolutely cannot let anyone else get it..." As soon as Master Tianyi finished speaking, streams of divine thoughts began to intertwine. As greedy thoughts surged, one conspiracy after another was brewing...

Taking in everyone's expressions, a cold smile, imperceptible to others, flashed in Master Tianyi's eyes. Then, he dropped another bombshell!

"Gentlemen, you all surely know the true power of ancient divine weapons. Moreover, I dare say that the true power of this artifact before you is no weaker than any of the ancestral artifacts you possess. Even the Great Thunderclap Temple, the supreme artifact of Buddhism, is not as powerful as this artifact. Because, if I am not mistaken, this artifact is a supreme artifact at the peak of the Innate Spiritual Treasure realm, only a hair's breadth away from becoming an Innate Supreme Treasure!"

"What? Peak of the Innate Spiritual Treasure realm? An artifact only a hair's breadth away from becoming an Innate Supreme Treasure? Innate Supreme Treasures are things only saints can possess! Although it is not a true Innate Supreme Treasure, the difference between the peak of the Innate Spiritual Treasure realm and an Innate Spiritual Treasure is indescribable!"

"No, this artifact must be mine! Anyone who tries to take it from me, one word: kill!"

"This artifact is mine!" "This artifact is mine!"

"I want this artifact!" "Even if I cannot obtain this artifact, I cannot let other sects have it. Since it cannot be used by me, I can only destroy it!"

"What we can't have, no one else can have either. Hmph, anyone can fish in troubled waters!"

"..."

Sure enough, Master Tianyi's words immediately escalated the already frenzied emotions of the various holy lands to another level!

"Master Tianyi, is there any basis for your statement?"

Seeing the usually composed elders of the various holy lands now displaying the greedy expressions of bandits, Daoist Qingxu sighed repeatedly, while also trying to salvage the situation.

Of all those present, Daoist Qingxu was undoubtedly the one who understood Master Tianyi best. He knew that this Master Tianyi, revered as the greatest sage in the world, was also a master schemer. Such a person would never willingly reveal secrets if they didn't benefit themselves.

Yet now, Master Tianyi was repeatedly stirring up trouble among the various holy lands. On the surface, he seemed to be clearing up doubts for everyone, but Daoist Qingxu knew that things were definitely not that simple. This Master Tianyi certainly had some ulterior motive.

However, this idea had no basis; it was merely Qingxu Daoist's conjecture. Therefore, he couldn't directly refute the other party. Moreover, if he stood up to object at this moment, not only would he not convince everyone, but they would also think that he wanted to monopolize the divine artifact and was doing it on purpose.

Therefore, Qingxu Daoist could only place his hopes on Tianyi Zhenren, hoping that the other party was not as he thought. However, what Tianyi Zhenren said next left Qingxu Daoist speechless.

Then Master Tianyi continued, “What evidence is needed for such a matter? Everyone here is renowned, and your cultivation is astonishing. Can’t you sense the power of this divine artifact? I suggest you all try to perceive it yourselves!”

“Indeed, with our cultivation, what could possibly be hidden from us? The Primordial Chaos Realm is already beyond the Heavenly Dao; our perception of the unknown and the truth are almost always accurate. Moreover, judging from the aura emanating from this artifact, even if it's not a peak-level Innate Spiritual Treasure, it is definitely an Innate Spiritual Treasure, far surpassing the power of ordinary divine artifacts!” Just as

Master Tianyi finished speaking, another sinister voice suddenly came from the crowd…

Chapter 631 [Ghost King]

This suddenly appearing person looked exactly the opposite of the burly man from before. He was no more than a meter tall, thin as a rake, with a hooked nose, venomous eyes, and a pointed, monkey-like face—extremely ugly. He was dressed in an exaggeratedly large black robe, making him look like a bamboo pole covered with a piece of black cloth.

His voice was particularly offensive—hoarse, shrill, like a wolf's howl or a snake's hiss. Anyone who heard it was guaranteed to lose their appetite for three days. However, no one present dared to mock him; instead, they all stepped back, seemingly deeply afraid of him.

"Ghost King? I didn't expect you to still be alive?"

Upon seeing this man, Master Qingxu's expression darkened. As the saying goes, good and evil cannot coexist. The Qingxiao Daoist Sect always considered itself righteous, while this Ghost King was the patriarch of the Youming Devouring Ghost Sect; naturally, enmity between them was inevitable. Therefore, Master Qingxu's expression turned grim upon seeing him.

"Old man Qingxu, how could I not be alive if you're not dead? Don't forget what I'm called? Ghost King, Ghost King, the king of all ghosts. Since even ghosts fear me, how could I possibly die?"

The Ghost King's sinister voice echoed eerily, and as he spoke, he had already arrived in front of Daoist Qingxu.

"Hmph, Ghost King, the Ghost Howl Soul-Seizing Technique you practice while asleep was created by the first sect leader of the Netherworld Ghost Devouring Sect, the Underworld King Chi Yifeng. Unfortunately, this technique is too sinister, so no one can master it. Moreover, practicing it only makes one look neither human nor ghost. Chi Yifeng tried his best to improve it, but he could never fulfill his wish. Judging from your appearance, you've probably already reached the eighth level of the Ghost Howl Soul-Seizing Technique, right? If you go any further and reach the ninth level, you'll probably really become a Ghost King. So I advise you to abandon your cultivation as soon as possible and enjoy the rest of your life!"

"Old Qingxu, don't underestimate your cultivation. When it comes to your tongue, if you consider yourself second, no one dares to claim first! I must admit, in verbal sparring, I have to admit defeat. But Old Qingxu, you say my Ghost Howl Soul-Seizing Technique has drawbacks, doesn't your Taiyi Shangqing Technique have them too?"

"The Taiyi Shangqing Technique takes the five elements of metal, wood, fire, earth, and water as its foundation, transforms them into Yin and Yang energies, and finally unifies them to refine the Shangqing Qi. However, this technique is too domineering. If one were to unify the five elements, it would inevitably cause hidden injuries within the body. If one were to further transform the five elements into Yin and Yang energies, it would further damage the source of life, leaving a wound on the Great Dao. Not only would one be unable to reach the pinnacle of martial arts, but one would also risk one's life at the slightest touch."

"And you, old man Qingxu, have already transformed the five elements into Yin and Yang energies, and are even showing signs of unifying Yin and Yang energies into the Taiqing Qi. It seems that you are about to master the Taiyi Shangqing Technique. But in fact, you are already nearing your end!"

"However, since I am known as the Ghost King, if you become a wandering ghost after your death, out of consideration for our many years of friendship, I will take you in and keep you by my side!"

"Furthermore, old man Qingxu, since you're already nearing your end, why are you getting involved in these matters? Even if there truly is a primordial treasure here, what good will it do you? You're already a dying man, so why are you fighting with us? Primordial treasures belong to the capable. I think I, the Ghost King, should reluctantly take it!"

As he spoke, the Ghost King suddenly stretched out his right hand, his hand so thin it was just skin and bones, looking more like a skeleton. However, as the Ghost King moved, his hand suddenly lengthened and continued to enlarge. In the blink of an eye, his hand had enlarged a hundredfold, resembling an eagle's claw, reaching for the four longswords in the sky. Clearly, he wanted to take all four swords for himself!

"You dare, you brat?"

Daoist Qingxu had long anticipated this move, so the instant the Ghost King attacked, he forcefully slapped his back. The longsword on his back rang out, instantly unsheathing itself and transforming into a sword light that slashed towards the Ghost King's hand.

Just as Master Qingxu drew his sword, a Taiji diagram formed by Yin and Yang energies faintly appeared behind him. Yin and Yang energies also swirled around the sword. Although it didn't possess a particularly imposing aura, Master Qingxu's attack was a full-force strike. If the Ghost King still wanted to seize the treasure, he would inevitably have his arm severed by the sword.

Although at their level, severed limbs and arms would regenerate instantly, a certain amount of vital energy would still be lost. Moreover, losing an arm in front of so many people would be a major loss of face. Furthermore, the Ghost King was merely testing the waters. He knew that the four sword shadows before him were not the true form, and the true divine artifact was still hidden somewhere, yet he still attacked.

Firstly, he wanted to make his stance clear: the Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect wanted this treasure, and others should not interfere; those who did would become his enemies. Secondly, he wanted to use this opportunity to test the power of the four divine swords, thus judging the credibility of Tianyi Zhenren's words.

Don't be fooled by his rashness in rushing forward and seemingly agreeing with Tianyi Zhenren's views. In reality, he didn't completely believe Tianyi Zhenren. Tianyi Zhenren could deceive others, but not the Ghost King. His cooperation was merely a ploy to stir up trouble and create chaos.

While divine artifacts were tempting, they weren't tangible objects presented before them. For beings like the Ghost King, immediate gains were paramount. They trusted their own eyes and ears more; they wouldn't rashly pursue unseen benefits.

Whether divine artifacts were actually present was irrelevant; what the Ghost King needed was a catalyst, a trigger to ignite a war among the various holy lands. Once the holy lands were in chaos, they would have the opportunity to gain even greater benefits. And this catalyst was the innate spiritual treasure that Tianyi Zhenren had mentioned.

Of course, the Ghost King had another purpose in making his move: to grasp a trace of the four swords' aura and deduce whether they were truly innate spiritual treasures. At

their level of cultivation, their knowledge, experience, and spiritual perception had reached an inhuman level; they could completely deduce the truth from a mere trace of aura. Although he didn't hold out much hope, if there truly was a divine artifact, the Ghost King wouldn't mind having another one…

"The Profound Heaven Slash? I say, old man Qingxu, do you really think you can stop me with this? We've been rivals for a lifetime; don't you even know my methods? Netherworld Soul-Locking Hand, break!" As

he spoke, the Ghost King's elongated arm suddenly changed 180 degrees, transforming from a claw into a fist, not grabbing at the four swords, but instead blasting towards the longsword launched by Daoist Qingxu.

"Bang!"

A sword cry rang out; caught off guard, Daoist Qingxu's longsword was sent flying a hundred feet away by the Ghost King's punch. After repelling the opponent's longsword, the Ghost King did not pursue, but instead reached for the four swords in mid-air at an even faster speed.

"Since you know we are old rivals who have fought for a lifetime, Ghost King, do you think I will fall for your trick so easily? Taiyi Shangxin Jue, Five Elements United, Yin and Yang Interchanging, Sword Severing Five Elements, Yin and Yang Defying Heaven, Five Elements Reverse Light Slash!"

However, just as the Ghost King made a move, the longsword he had blasted away suddenly thrust back at him at a speed exceeding the speed of light. During the thrust, the longsword continued to enlarge, and the five elements' energy swirled around its blade, while the yin and yang energies circulated continuously. The yin and yang five elements' energy protected the entire longsword in the center, like viewing flowers through mist or the moon's reflection in water. Under the backdrop of the yin and yang five elements' energy, the entire longsword appeared exceptionally majestic!

If Yang Fan were present, he would have noticed that the five elements' energy surrounding the longsword was actually more vast than the five elements' energy of the five elements' spiritual creatures that he was fighting. However, while the Five Elements Qi emanating from the Five Elements Spiritual Object wasn't as vast as that emitted by Daoist Qingxu, it was purer and more refined in quality.

Almost the instant Daoist Qingxu spoke, the longsword pierced the Ghost King's enlarged hand once more. This time, however, the Ghost King wasn't so lucky. His arm was instantly pierced by the longsword, but after penetrating three inches into his flesh, it couldn't go any further. At that moment, the

Yin-Yang Five Elements Qi on the longsword, with lightning speed, surged into the Ghost King's body through the wound.

"Ah! Old man Qingxu, you've used explosives!"

Just as he was about to touch the phantoms of the four longswords, the Ghost King felt a numbness in his arm, and a surge of righteous energy suddenly rushed into his body, beginning to destroy his life force. In an instant, half his arm was destroyed.

The Ghost King's cultivation method was an extremely Yin and evil art. While Master Qingxu's Taiyi Shangqing Technique had its flaws, it was a genuine Taoist technique, possessing a righteous energy. This righteous energy, though unable to destroy everything like the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique, naturally possessed a destructive power against Yin and evil. When this destructive power entered the Ghost King's body, it was like a drop of water falling into a pot of boiling oil—it immediately exploded!

However, the Ghost King was a decisive and ruthless individual, cruel not only to others but also to himself. Upon discovering that Master Qingxu had introduced a Yin-Yang Five Elements energy into his arm, he didn't hesitate, pointing his fingers like a knife and slicing through his other arm. The elongated arm severed instantly.

The next moment, blood spurted out. However, the Ghost King didn't even frown; instead, his face was grim as he stared at the severed arm on the sea surface.

The arm, suddenly severed, seemed to possess a spirit, tumbling and twisting in mid-air, as if it were about to coalesce into a form.

However, within the arm, visible ripples twisted incessantly, like constantly writhing serpents, constantly moving within its meridians. During this movement, the arm's attempts to coalesce were repeatedly thwarted.

After a few breaths, the arm gradually quieted down, ceasing its writhing, and finally, with a bang, exploded. But the next scene wasn't one of flying blood and flesh; instead, the entire arm turned to ashes, transformed into energy, and vanished into the world.

The instant the arm vanished, a black and white aura suddenly shot out from it, rapidly heading towards Master Qingxu…

“You destroyed my arm, and now you want to take it back? Leave it here!”

Boom! A surge of murderous intent erupted from the Ghost King's body, and a jet-black ghostly aura burst forth, enveloping the aura that had emerged from the arm.

“Roar!”

Like the roar of ten thousand ghosts and the chaotic dance of demons, the black aura emitted inhuman roars. The black and white aura was instantly enveloped, and then completely annihilated!

“Retract!”

As the black aura was retrieved, everyone realized that the arm the Ghost King had just severed had somehow grown back. And it was exactly the same as before; no matter how you looked at it, there was no difference.

A powerhouse at the Primordial Chaos Realm had long since reached the stage of flesh and blood regeneration. Let alone an arm, even if the entire body was destroyed, as long as there was a drop of blood left, the body could be restored. Not to mention it was just the loss of an arm.

For them, losing an arm was merely a loss of vital essence, which could be recovered quickly with a little training. So this loss was nothing to the Ghost King. However, being publicly forced to cut off his own arm by Daoist Qingxu was an indelible humiliation for him!

Although he had also destroyed a trace of the vital essence that Daoist Qingxu had infused into the sword, and he himself had only lost a little vital essence, if calculated this way, neither of them had suffered a loss, and neither had gained any advantage. But from a public appearance perspective, the Ghost King was at a disadvantage. Even though he and Daoist Qingxu had lost roughly the same amount of vital essence, outwardly it appeared that he had been forced to cut off an arm, while Daoist Qingxu had lost nothing.

"Old man Qingxu, it seems you're truly tired of living. Fine, it's been hundreds of years since we last fought. Today, let me see if your Taiyi Shangqing Technique has improved at all!"

After regaining his composure, the Ghost King didn't continue attacking the four swordsmen, but instead turned the battle to Daoist Qingxu.

"Since you want a fight, I'll grant your wish. Don't worry, even if my Taiyi Shangqing Technique hasn't improved, it's more than enough to deal with you. Perfect timing, this old Daoist also wants to witness the ultimate power of your Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect's Ghost Howl Soul-Seizing Technique!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

With that, the Ghost King took a step and instantly disappeared from the spot. The next moment, Daoist Qingxu's figure also vanished from the spot...

Chapter 632 [Melee]

"Daoist Qingxu and the Ghost King went to fight in the Outer Heavens, what are we waiting for? Seize the divine artifact!"

"Kill!"

"..."

As soon as Daoist Qingxu and the Ghost King left, the once calm East Sea was suddenly churned into towering waves. Almost simultaneously, people from various holy lands rushed towards the four sword energies above the East China Sea.

In an instant, sword flashes, shouts of battle filled the air, and all sorts of energies soared into the sky. The sudden burst of power shot straight into the heavens, instantly destroying countless celestial bodies…

“Emergency! Emergency! Satellite M has been suddenly attacked by an unknown force. The central system is damaged and will lose contact in three seconds…”

“Report! Satellite 16 has lost contact, suspected of being attacked by an unknown force!”

“The Sun Satellite has been destroyed!”

“…”

Meanwhile, in various corners of the world, countless countries simultaneously received SSS-level alerts. Although their locations differed, the messages they received were identical.

At the same time, Japan also received urgent intelligence, plunging its high command into panic.

Six of their satellites launched into space had been destroyed in quick succession. Not only that, news had just arrived that their Self-Defense Forces deployed above the East China Sea had suddenly lost contact with them. This sudden turn of events threw the entire nation of Japan into chaos.

"Can anyone tell me what's going on? How did our satellites suddenly lose contact, and what happened to the Self-Defense Force at sea?"

In the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo, the Japanese Prime Minister was furiously beating around a group of government officials.

"Your Excellency, do you think this could be the work of the Eastern superpower?"

someone below spoke up. This person was none other than the Japanese Minister of Finance, who held the reins of the treasury.

"Bullshit! Let me ask you, if it were you, could you destroy all six of our satellites simultaneously without anyone noticing? Not even the United States, let alone the East, has that capability. It's not just about land; in space, do you think the East is stronger than us?"

"Put that aside, take the Self-Defense Forces for example. Don't you know how much combat power we've deployed in the East China Sea? Let me tell you, we have four 7900-ton destroyers, six 3670-ton destroyers, one 6600-ton Luhai-class destroyer, two 4000-ton Jiangkai-class frigates, and six 4000-ton Jiangkai II-class frigates—a total of one relatively advanced surface warship patrolling the East, in preparation for a counterattack from a major Eastern power."

"Don't say the East doesn't have the strength. Even if they did, it would take at least three carrier strike groups to defeat us, not to mention we have two US carrier strike groups escorting us. Do you think the Eastern superpower has the strength to swallow us up? Even if they mobilized their entire Eastern Naval Region, they couldn't defeat us in a short time, let alone be completely annihilated!"

Upon hearing the Chancellor of the Exchequer's words, the Prime Minister roared.

"Your Excellency, according to the news that just came in, the two US carrier strike groups have also disappeared. The US just sent a message asking if we had detected their carrier movements. Not only that, all the satellites they deployed to monitor the Eastern superpower have been destroyed. Moreover, satellites from many other countries have also been attacked to varying degrees..."

Just then, the Foreign Minister spoke up.

"What? The American carrier strike group has also disappeared? Quickly, investigate! These two carrier strike groups were invited by us. If they disappear within our jurisdiction, who will take responsibility if the US blames us?" Hearing the

Foreign Minister's words, the Japanese Prime Minister could no longer remain seated and stood up, roaring.

"Prime Minister, according to information from the US, they were heading in that direction after receiving a distress call from our Self-Defense Forces, but lost contact with them as soon as they approached the area. They suspect it was the Eastern superpower!"

At this moment, the Japanese military official also spoke up.

"The East again? How could the Eastern superpower have such strength? Destroying two carrier strike groups simultaneously? Moreover, destroying the satellites as well? Has their strength reached the point where they can wage space war? Impossible, absolutely impossible! What are you standing there for? Investigate now, investigate immediately!"

"Hey!"

Seeing the Prime Minister's irrational behavior, everyone present dared not stay any longer and fled.

"It's over, it's all over!"

Seeing everyone leave, the Prime Minister, who had been furious just moments before, seemed to have suddenly lost all his strength, collapsing to the ground, staring blankly ahead...

At the same time, a similar scene was unfolding in the United States, far across the ocean. Due to the escalation of the issue between China and Japan, they had dispatched two carrier strike groups and a large number of agents to patrol the East China Sea. But just now, they suddenly lost all contact with them. Not only that, but even the numerous satellites they had launched over the years to monitor China were all destroyed.

This was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for the United States. They, who had always prided themselves on being the world's number one power, had never suffered such a loss before. But at this moment, the situation was unclear, and they dared not rashly advance eastward. The only way was to put pressure on Japan and use Japan to find out the truth. Regardless, they certainly couldn't afford to suffer this loss...

Little did they know, all of this was due to the combined attack of the patriarchs of the various holy lands. A powerhouse at the Primordial Chaos Realm, if unleashed at full power, would be absolutely earth-shattering. While not enough to destroy a planet, annihilating a region would be effortless. How much more so when hundreds of Primordial Chaos Realm powerhouses joined forces?

Although these attacks were all aimed at the four sword shadows in the center, not truly a combined attack, even so, their power was enough to destroy the heavens and the earth. The aftershocks alone ensured that no living being survived within a thousand miles.

The Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the American carrier strike group had come to investigate the sudden disturbance in the East China Sea. However, their luck was truly exceptional; they arrived precisely at the moment when the experts from the various holy lands were jointly seizing the divine artifact.

It should be noted that while the various holy lands were united, it was a struggle, not a conspiracy. Since it was a struggle, there was naturally conflict. The aftershocks of this battle were enough to destroy an aircraft carrier ten or eight times over.

This is precisely why the battle between the Ghost King and Daoist Qingxu took place in the Outer Heavens. Otherwise, if the two had fought with all their might in this world, it would have inevitably caused immense suffering and loss of life!

The satellites in space were also accidentally destroyed during their battle. With their cultivation at the eighth level of the Mixed Origin Realm, they were practically at the pinnacle of martial power in this world; destroying ten or eight satellites was perfectly normal for them.

However, neither of them realized that their seemingly casual actions had inadvertently defused a huge threat to China. This also caused Western countries to underestimate China's strength, thus providing a tremendous platform for China's future development. Therefore, from this perspective, the two did a great deed.

However, their true intention was not so. The Ghost King and Daoist Qingxu were not only the strongest, but also, in fact, the de facto leaders of both the righteous and evil factions. With them present, the opposing side was wary, and the battle for the divine artifact was never supposed to escalate.

Their deliberate provocation stemmed not only from personal favors but also from a desire to use the situation to restrain the other side, creating an opportunity for them to seize the artifact.

Even a reclusive figure like Master Qingxu, detached from worldly affairs, couldn't resist the temptations of a primordial treasure. Moreover, even if they couldn't obtain the artifact themselves, they couldn't allow it to fall into the hands of the Ghost King. If the Ghost King got it, given his actions, there would be widespread suffering, and Master Qingxu's holy land would certainly suffer a terrible fate.

Therefore, he used this opportunity to restrain the Ghost King and send him to fight in the Outer Heavens.

The Ghost King shared the same thought. He knew that with Master Qingxu present, even if the other side didn't seize the artifact, they wouldn't allow it to fall into his hands. While his overall strength was slightly weaker than the opposing alliance, as long as Qingxu wasn't present, his side still had a chance to succeed. That's why he was so eager to settle their score with a battle.

Sure enough, with the leaders of both the righteous and evil factions gone, both sides acted without restraint, launching attacks on the four sword shadows.

They weren't unaware that the four sword shadows weren't divine artifacts; however, at this moment, no one dared to lag behind. Gaining even the slightest advantage would greatly increase their chances, while the slower side would inevitably fall behind. Therefore, even if it was just a wisp of a sword shadow, they had to seize it with all their might…

While the Ghost King and Qingxu Daoist were locked in a fierce battle in the Outer Heavens, the various holy lands were in chaos, and the Western countries were in a state of panic, Yang Fan, the instigator of this event, was completely unaware of everything happening outside. Because at this moment, all his attention was drawn to the four swords that were about to become divine artifacts.

Watching the four divine swords slowly emerge from the chaotic energy, the smile on Yang Fan's face grew wider and wider. He knew that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the four swords had successfully passed the heavenly tribulation and become divine artifacts. In other words, with his assistance, a divine artifact had actually been forged!

Forging a divine artifact—this is something even a Primordial Chaos Realm expert cannot accomplish! Only those who have glimpsed a realm beyond Primordial Chaos can successfully forge one. The ancestral artifacts of the various holy lands are not actually forged by themselves, but rather obtained from divine artifacts lost in ancient times. It is because of these divine artifacts that these martial arts holy lands have developed into their current state.

And now, Yang Fan, at the mere Returning Void Realm, has actually forged a divine artifact. Although the Five Elements Spirits account for 99% of the credit, without him, this divine artifact would not have been successfully forged. Furthermore, this divine artifact belongs to him. How could he not be happy? How could he not be excited? Seeing that the

four divine swords are about to be completely completed, and a divine artifact of his own is about to be born, Yang Fan is extremely excited, and his palms are sweating with tension.

Moreover, this divine artifact has actually survived for a full thirty-six days in the chaotic energy. It is clear that the future achievements of these four swords are destined to be extraordinary.

Of course, this doesn't mean that the power of these four swords, once they become divine artifacts, will surpass that of the divine artifacts of the major holy lands. This depends not only on the user's strength but also on the artifact itself.

In fact, divine artifacts can be cultivated; the stronger the artifact spirit, the more powerful the artifact. Conversely, the weaker the spirit, the more powerful the artifact. These four divine swords are only newly formed divine artifacts, their artifact spirits just created and not yet cultivated . How can they compare to the divine artifacts of the major holy lands?

It's like comparing a newborn child to an adult. Although the child's initial achievements are greater than the adult's, the adult could easily crush the child with a single finger at birth.

In other words, while the growth potential and other aspects of these four divine swords far exceed those of the divine artifacts held by the major holy lands, their current power is far inferior. However

, just as the blades of these four divine swords were about to fully emerge from the chaotic energy, a sudden change occurred…

Boom! A world-destroying aura suddenly appeared, filled with murderous intent. Its powerful force made it difficult for Yang Fan to breathe.

Simultaneously, as if a celestial passage had opened, four sword energies, like meteors from outer space, streaked across the sky, passing through layers of arrays, and instantly appeared above the four swords.

"That's... the true Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter!"

Seeing the four sword energies suddenly appear, Yang Fan endured the burning pain in his eyes and stared intently at them, finally making out their form.

Although they were sword energies, they were in the shape of longswords. And they looked exactly like the four divine swords. Connecting this with everything that had happened before, Yang Fan suddenly understood.

These four sword energies must be the true sword energies emitted by the Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter. The Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter must have sensed that someone had forged four swords identical to themselves, stealing their fortune, and thus descended from an unknown space with sword energies, intending to completely destroy this imitator.

Not only does the Heavenly Dao forbid the existence of two identical divine artifacts, but the artifact itself also forbids the existence of another version of itself. This is because the divine artifact's existence stems from breaking the Heavenly Dao and seizing a sliver of the world's fortune. If another version were to appear, it would inevitably compete with itself for the mysterious Heavenly Dao fortune, thus stealing its fruits of victory. How could it accept this?

The only solution is to completely destroy the one who stole its fruits of victory. Only by destroying the other can it stop the other from stealing its fortune. Otherwise, once the other has completely stolen its fortune, it will be the moment the other replaces it…

05-03

Chapter 633 [This Sword, Not That Sword]

The four swords had just survived the Supreme Divine Artifact Tribulation and undergone the cleansing of chaotic energy. Originally, everything for Yang Fan seemed settled. Who would have thought that the true crisis for the four swords was only just beginning!

At the last moment, the Four Swords of Zhuxian, this invincible magical artifact at the peak of the Innate Spiritual Treasure realm, just a hair's breadth away from becoming an Innate Supreme Treasure, actually separated a wisp of invincible sword energy, which set off from the Void Realm, traversing endless time and space, and unleashing devastating killing intent.

"Damn it!"

Although he had never witnessed the true Four Swords of Zhuxian, Yang Fan still had a clear understanding of the supreme killing intent that had already become famous in ancient times. He knew that let alone the Four Swords, a newly promoted divine artifact, even the Great Thunderclap Temple, revered as the foremost divine artifact in the world, could not withstand the sword energy of the Four Swords of Zhuxian. Even a wisp of sword energy was beyond what the Four Swords could currently withstand!

"Damn it, I just created a divine artifact, and you actually want to destroy it. One day, I'll destroy you with my own hands! Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, I'll fight to the death!"

In this critical moment, Yang Fan didn't have much time to think. He knew that with the power of the four swords, they were definitely no match for the sword energy of the Four Swords of Immortal Execution. Only by blocking it himself could he give the four swords a chance to survive.

Boom! The Nine Heavens Thunderous Technique was activated at full power, and behind Yang Fan, humanoid lightning bolts appeared, looking like a vast army, their momentum indescribably immense.

However, just as Yang Fan was preparing to unleash his full power, the four sword energies suddenly turned and vanished from his sight in an instant, as if they had fled in fear of Yang Fan...

"What... happened?"

Staring blankly at the four sword energies that suddenly "escaped," Yang Fan was stunned and couldn't react for a long time.

He had prepared to be seriously injured and unleash his full power, but at this moment, he lost his target. It was like when a man and woman were having sex, and the woman suddenly ran away just as the man was about to ejaculate, leaving him with a body full of bullets but nowhere to release them. This feeling was extremely uncomfortable.

"Pfft!"

This time, Yang Fan really suffered internal injuries. The Nine Heavens Thunder Technique, which had been operating at full speed, suddenly stopped abruptly. The clash between the sudden movement and the stillness caused him to cough up blood.

Fortunately, the pain subsided considerably after spitting out the blood, leaving no hidden injuries. Otherwise, if he hadn't coughed up the blood and had forcibly suppressed it, Yang Fan might have appeared unharmed, but his very essence would have been damaged, requiring a period of recuperation to recover.

However, at this moment, Yang Fan had no time to concern himself with his physical condition. Instead, he focused all his attention on the four longswords in mid-air.

He couldn't understand what had caused the sword energy of the Four Immortal Execution Swords to suddenly retreat. Although he had just jokingly said that they had been scared away by him, Yang Fan wasn't so arrogant as to believe that the Four Immortal Execution Swords would actually retreat because of him.

Beings like the Four Immortal Execution Swords, let alone him, would fight even against a true innate treasure, and would never retreat without a fight. But they retreated when facing him, so Yang Fan knew the problem couldn't be with him. Since it wouldn't be with him, the only possibility was the four swords themselves…

Outside, while Yang Fan was pondering this, chaos reigned in the East Sea.

The powerful figures of the Primordial Chaos Realm from the various holy lands, though vying for the swords, weren't actually going all out. They knew these four sword shadows weren't true divine artifacts. Their actions were merely to provoke the divine artifacts, forcing them to reveal themselves, at which point the battle would begin.

Divine artifacts, like Primordial Chaos Realm experts, possessed their own dignity and pride, and wouldn't tolerate provocation. The powerful figures from the various holy lands had grasped this point. If the opponent revealed themselves, they had a hundred ways to subdue them; but if the opponent remained hidden, they wouldn't be able to find their hiding place. This method, though simple, was direct and effective.

As expected, the moment they made their move, the four previously silent sword shadows suddenly blazed with intense light. Simultaneously, four sword energies filled with killing intent descended from the sky, charging towards the people from the various holy lands!

"They've arrived! The divine artifacts have appeared!"

Sensing the almost tangible killing intent of the four sword energies in the sky, the people from the various holy lands were not alarmed but rather delighted. They assumed that their provocation had taken effect, unaware that this sword was no longer the same!

These four sword energies were precisely the four sword energies that had originally attacked the four swords themselves. However, just as they approached the four swords, they suddenly felt powerful auras taunting them.

As innate supreme spiritual treasures, how could the Four Swords of Zhuxian have ever been provoked like this? Moreover, these were beings who were like ants in their eyes. This humiliation even surpassed the matter of someone imitating them or stealing their fortune. Therefore, almost without thinking, they instantly abandoned their original targets and charged towards these provocateurs.

The four divine swords forged by Yang Fan were originally imitations of the Four Swords of Zhuxian; in a sense, they were merely avatars of the Four Swords of Zhuxian. Now that someone had provoked the four divine swords, the provocation sensed by the Four Swords of Zhuxian was even stronger than that sensed by the swords themselves. It was precisely for this reason that the Four Swords of Zhuxian changed their target.

It must be said that the people of the various holy lands were truly taken advantage of. However, it was also because of them that Yang Fan and the four swords were spared a fatal crisis. Otherwise, the wrath unleashed by the Four Swords of Zhuxian would not only have targeted the four swords, but he, the swordsmith, would have also been affected. Therefore, from this perspective, the people of the various holy lands were all his benefactors, and he should properly thank them.

However, even if he wanted to thank them, they might not accept it. On the contrary, if the people of the various holy lands knew that they had unwittingly helped Yang Fan with such a great favor and were instead subjected to the wrath of the Four Swords of Zhuxian, they would probably devour Yang Fan alive. As for Yang Fan, he naturally wouldn't thank his enemies...

However, the people from the various holy lands were unaware of all this. Sensing the boundless killing intent suddenly descending from the sky, they only assumed that the divine artifact, provoked by their presence, couldn't resist revealing itself. In an instant, they all rushed towards the killing sword in the sky, displaying their unique abilities and power, even using every ounce of strength they had!

"The divine artifact belongs to our Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect! No one can take it from us! Ghost Howl Soul-Seizing Formation, Heavenly Net, Ten Thousand Ghosts Roar, Open for us!"

The people of the Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect were the first to move. Because when the Ghost King left, he had secretly transmitted a message to them, telling them to seize the opportunity. Now that they saw the divine artifact appear, how could they not make a move?

A figure from the Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect instantly set up the Heavenly Net Formation, gathering the power of the entire sect to condense a pitch-black ghost hand to grab at the killing sword in mid-air, wanting to seize the divine artifact in one fell swoop and then fly away.

However, how could the people from the other holy lands just stand by and watch them seize the divine artifact?

"If you want to take the divine artifact, first ask if the people of my Qingxiao Dao Sect agree! Taiyi Four Symbols Sword Formation, slash!"

As expected, the Qingxiao Dao Sect had anticipated this move. The moment the Youming Devouring Ghost Sect members moved, a Dao sword imbued with the power of the five elements slashed towards them.

"That's right, you want to seize the divine artifact? Did you ask us first?"

At the same time, a blazing sun suddenly rose from the location of the Chunyang Sect, hurtling towards the Youming Devouring Ghost Sect like a missile.

"Trying to outnumber us? Did you ask my Zhiyu Palace first? Azure waters surge, lotus blossoms bloom in pairs, annihilate them!"

However, the sun was only halfway up when it was suddenly blocked by an endless expanse of azure water. As the saying goes, water and fire are incompatible; upon meeting, chaos erupted.

"Since you don't want the divine artifact, then my Lingbao Qinxin Sect will reluctantly accept it! Sleeve Universe, seize it!"

At this moment, the Lingbao Qinxin Sect members also joined in. The Lingbao Qinxin Sect wasn't particularly strong in combat, but they excelled in alchemy. Since alchemy inevitably involved collecting pills, the Lingbao Qinxin Sect's "Sleeve Universe Technique" was incredibly effective at collecting magical treasures.

"Since your Lingbao Qinxin Sect is so reluctant, then let my Moon Shadow Sect take your place!"

However, just as the Lingbao Qinxin Sect was about to act, melodious zither music suddenly rang out. Simultaneously, ripples spread out, actually sending the giant sleeve conjured by the Lingbao Qinxin Sect flying.

"Brother Zhuo, we're here to help you! 'Fragrant Rain and Mist, Distant Mountains and Clouds,' Wind-Fixing Spell, freeze it!"

As they spoke, a giant talisman suddenly appeared, instantly freezing the flung sleeve. Empowered by the talisman, the giant sleeve ignored the zither music and once again enveloped the killing sword in the sky.

"Since even the Xiaoyao Sect, which emphasizes cultivating the mind and entering the Dao, and whose members cannot cultivate the Dao heart, has participated, my Baihua Sect cannot remain aloof! Since there is music but no dance, then let us present a sky full of flowers for our fellow Daoists. Fragrant flowers and dancing butterflies, butterflies filling the sky!"

"Hehe! How could such a grand martial arts event be complete without my Yin Yang Hehuan Sect? Moreover, such a divine artifact is not something any one sect can easily possess. It seems we should also grab a share!"

Seeing that even the Baihua Sect had joined in, the members of the Yin Yang Hehuan Sect, who had been observing from afar, no longer had any other reservations and simultaneously attacked, grabbing at the killing sword in the sky.

In an instant, magical treasures filled the sky, and the sounds of battle shook the heavens. The entire East Sea was almost shattered by their attacks. Since they were going all out to seize the divine artifact, there was no such thing as holding back. All the major holy lands used every ounce of their strength. The techniques they used were all the most treasured and powerful skills of their respective sects.

However, despite the fighting and the chaos, it wasn't a mindless, indiscriminate battle. It was an organized and disciplined contest. Moreover, two alliances were subtly forming. One was led by the Qingxiao Dao Sect, and the other by the Youming Devouring Ghost Sect.

The Yin-Yang Harmony Sect, on the other hand, sometimes sided with the Qingxiao Dao Sect, sometimes withstood the Youming Devouring Ghost Sect, not wanting either side to gain the upper hand. Clearly, they wanted to reap the benefits.

However, the people of the various holy lands weren't fools and naturally wouldn't let the Yin-Yang Harmony Sect achieve their goal. Besides, their objective was also the divine artifact. Therefore, although the various holy lands were still engaged in fierce fighting, a very strange phenomenon occurred: there were no casualties. It was less chaos and more like a contest!

However, at this moment, a profound, desolate, cold, and piercing thought suddenly reached the ears of everyone present.

"Who has awakened my slumbering soul? Who has profaned my dignity? Who has stolen my destiny? Who has stolen the secrets of heaven... No matter your reasons, no matter your excuses, no matter your grievances, those who disturb my slumber must be punished!"

"Slay the Immortal, Slaughter the Immortal, Traps the Immortal, Annihilate the Immortal, emerge! Destroy these lowly humans who dared to defy you, and wash away your shame with their blood!"

"Boom!"

Before the people of the various holy lands could even understand what was happening, the four killing swords in mid-air suddenly blazed with crimson light. At the same time, from each killing sword, countless more killing swords suddenly flew out, instantly filling the entire sky and turning it into a world of swords.

And as soon as those killing swords appeared, they poured down like a torrential rain, swarming down upon the people of the various holy lands!

"Ah! What's going on? Why is this divine artifact suddenly attacking us? Impossible! I've never heard of a divine artifact attacking people on its own initiative!"

"What? The Immortal Slayer Sword, the Immortal Slayer Sword, the Immortal Trapper Sword, and the Immortal Annihilator Sword? Could it be the legendary Four Swords of Immortal Slayer? Heavens! They're the legendary artifacts that were just one step away from becoming innate treasures. How could we possibly control such divine artifacts? Just a trace of their killing intent would be enough to wipe us all out. Heavens, we're still fighting over them here! Aren't we courting death?"

"The Four Swords of Immortal Slayer! They're actually the Four Swords of Immortal Slayer! We must obtain them! Once we have them, we can instantly dominate the world and make all the holy lands submit!"

After this thought reached them, the people from the various holy lands also reacted. However, their reactions were quite different. Some were panicked, some were overjoyed, some were half-joyed and half-worried, and of course, some were completely in a frenzy, completely disregarding the impending rain of swords.

However, one person's reaction was different from everyone else present. That was True Person Tianyi, Yueyue!

"As expected, it's the Four Swords of Zhuxian. Hmph, how could we possibly dare to touch such divine artifacts? Fortunately, I had the foresight to prevent the people of Tianxin Pavilion from getting involved."

"Haha, you'd better bear the wrath of the Zhuxian Ancient Sword! This time, even if you don't die, you will be severely weakened. And the rise of my Tianxin Pavilion is also caused by your greed!"

"Let's go!"

The only ones who didn't join the melee were the group from Tianxin Pavilion. Not only did they not participate, but under the leadership of True Person Tianyi, they withdrew from the battle early on. Now, seeing the sword rain about to fall, True Person Tianyi revealed a smug smile, waved his sleeve, and led the entire Tianxin Pavilion away from this place...

Chapter 634 [Omen]

"Boom!"

Just as the various holy lands were ready, the sword rain also fell from the sky. In an instant, the battle cries filled the sky, and sword energy crisscrossed. Although the rain of swords was incredibly fierce, none of those present were weaklings. Countless sword energies were shattered, transforming into streaks of crimson energy, instantly staining the entire sea and sky red.

A powerful, ancient aura swept across the heavens and earth, accompanied by a pervasive killing intent and towering waves of blood. In that instant, it seemed as if they had returned to an ancient battlefield, a scene of clashing swords and galloping horses, littered with corpses. Those from the various holy lands seemed to witness a war between gods and demons, a war between witches and monsters!

But no matter where they were, they could always see four divine swords unleashing their power and might. With each flash of sword light, countless corpses fell. Like reapers of life, they left no trace of life in their wake!

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Billions of lives surrender, millions of gods and demons become our soldiers! Slay immortals, kill immortals, trap immortals, annihilate immortals! Slaughter all living beings, slaughter all immortals, slaughter all gods!"

At the same time, a powerful thought resounded once more. The rain of swords in the sky suddenly vanished, replaced by four long swords stretching for countless miles. At a glance, only their tips were visible; the blades and hilts reached straight into the sky, seemingly traversing the endless universe.

The millions of swords disappeared, leaving only four, yet the pervasive killing intent in the world did not diminish but rather increased. In fact, that powerful killing intent pressed down so hard that even the experts at the Primordial Chaos Realm could hardly breathe.

"Such a powerful killing intent! Even from this distance, it feels like we're right there. The people from the various holy lands are right in the middle; they must be suffering terribly."

A thousand miles away on the sea, Master Tianyi gazed at the four longswords piercing the sky and couldn't help but sigh.

"Grandmaster, with such divine power, this artifact must be incredibly strong. If our Tianyi Pavilion obtains it, we can definitely change our image in the eyes of the holy lands, proving we're not just a bunch of charlatans with utterly insignificant strength. But why don't you allow us to seize it ourselves, Grandmaster?"

Beside Master Tianyi, an older man bowed and asked him.

Given the man's age, even if he was a few years younger, they should be treated as equals, given their similar appearance and attire. Yet, the man addressed him respectfully as Grandmaster, a scene both comical and bizarre.

However, this was true for both Master Tianyi and the others from Tianxin Pavilion. They showed no expression whatsoever, as if they were already used to it all.

"Hmph, what do you know? With your meager cultivation, how could you possibly comprehend the mysteries within?"

Tianyi Zhenren said displeasedly upon hearing someone question him.

"Yes, yes, yes, what the Ancestral Master says is true. The Ancestral Master's Heavenly Heart Undying Divine Art has long been perfected, and he has even cultivated it to the realm of oneness with heaven and man. Tell me, in this world, who can surpass the Ancestral Master in this path of heavenly secrets?

This disciple is ignorant, and begs the Ancestral Master to enlighten me." The old man, having been reprimanded by Tianyi Zhenren, should have been furious, but not only did he not retaliate, but his face also showed not a trace of dissatisfaction, and he even nodded obsequiously.

"Do you know what this divine artifact truly is?"

Stroking his beard, Master Tianyi nodded in satisfaction before continuing, "These four divine swords are the legendary Immortal-Slaying Swords, Immortal-Slaying Swords, Immortal-Trapping Swords, and Immortal-Severing Swords!"

"Immortal-Slaying Swords, Immortal-Slaying Swords, Immortal-Trapping Swords, and Immortal-Severing Swords? Could they be the legendary ancient divine weapons, the Four Swords of Immortal-Slaying?"

Upon hearing this, the group from Tianxin Pavilion screamed in disbelief.

As elders of Tianxin Pavilion, they naturally knew what Immortal-Slaying Swords, Immortal-Slaying Swords, Immortal-Trapping Swords, and Immortal-Severing Swords represented, and they were well aware of the true power of the Four Swords of Immortal-Slaying. This was precisely why they were so terrified upon hearing Master Tianyi's words.

The Four Swords of Zhuxian can be considered a supreme innate treasure, but its excessive destructive power prevents it from being classified as such. However, its true power is no less than any supreme innate treasure, making it the most powerful destructive spiritual weapon in the Three Realms and Six Paths. It requires four people of the same level wielding four supreme innate treasures to break it, demonstrating just how heaven-defying its power is!

Their astonishment stemmed from two things: the sheer power of the Four Swords of Zhuxian and the fact that such a divine artifact would appear in the world. It's important to understand that since ancient times, many renowned ancient artifacts have vanished, leaving behind only second-rate magical treasures that were not considered essential to the realm of magic. The various holy lands have achieved their current scale precisely because of these surviving second-rate magical treasures. Now, the ancient swords of

Zhuxian have reappeared in the mortal world, leaving the group of people from the Heavenly Heart Pavilion, who spent their days playing with celestial secrets, completely baffled. The reappearance of supreme artifacts in the world—is it to recreate the glory of the ancient times, or is it a

sign of a great upheaval in the world, causing these lost artifacts to reappear? If an ordinary person were to learn of the reappearance of the Four Swords of Zhuxian, they might be surprised, but they wouldn't give it much thought. But the people of Tianxin Pavilion are different. They spend their days studying the Dao of Heaven and pondering the will of Heaven; their knowledge is naturally far deeper than that of ordinary people.

They know that the disappearance of the various supreme artifacts in the ancient times was not without reason. According to unofficial historical records, at the end of the ancient era, an unprecedented upheaval occurred, the Second Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth arrived, causing the fall of many ancient powerful beings, and these supreme artifacts disappeared along with it.

Even in a more distant period than the ancient times, another great calamity occurred. Before that calamity, humans were merely at the bottom of the food chain. At that time, demons roamed freely, and gods rose up everywhere. They were the masters of the world, while humans were merely the lowest of creatures; in their eyes, humans were pitifully weak.

After the first great calamity of heaven and earth, demons and gods vanished, and humanity rose to prominence. From then on, humanity truly stepped onto the stage of history, slowly developing into the masters of the world.

However, humanity at that time was not like it is now; it was divided into distinct races, each in its own tribe, still living a life of hunting and gathering, without writing or any concept of civilization.

Later, humanity slowly developed, and in the primordial era, many astonishing geniuses emerged. Under their leadership, humanity grew ever stronger, eventually developing into two powerful tribes: the Emperor Tribe and the Chi You Tribe.

The two tribes waged a life-or-death war for true dominance. The second great calamity of heaven and earth was also triggered by the conflict between these two tribes.

Those ancient powerful beings who could overturn rivers and seas with a wave of their hands sensed the impending changes in the earth and the coming calamity. However, they also knew that after this great calamity, humanity would flourish, and the victorious side would receive the favor of heaven and earth.

Therefore, they all incarnated as members of the two tribes, assisting their chosen side, hoping not only to escape the calamity but also to seize heavenly secrets and gain the favor of the Great Dao.

However, as the saying goes, "One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand," and with victory comes defeat. In this great calamity, although humanity truly rose and flourished, countless people died, and countless ancient powerful beings perished.

As a result, almost all the ancient powerful beings disappeared during this calamity, especially those on the losing side, whose whereabouts were never seen again. The legendary weapons that shook the ancient times also vanished.

Tens of thousands of years passed, and these ancient powerful beings, along with their divine weapons, gradually faded from people's sight, becoming figures in myths and legends, believed to be mere fiction, not real.

But this is merely the perspective of ordinary people. In the eyes of true martial artists, all of this is not an illusion. For example, the people of Tianxin Pavilion, whose research focuses on this very subject, naturally know that many of the accounts in these unofficial histories are not entirely unfounded.

Moreover, through thousands of years of research, Tianxin Pavilion has discovered that these great calamities of heaven and earth are not without pattern. In the first great calamity, humanity appeared on the stage of history; in the second great calamity, humanity flourished, entering its most glorious period. As

the saying goes, things reach their extreme and then reverse; where there is yin, there is yang; where there is prosperity, there is decline. After the rise and peak, what follows is decline and destruction!

In other words, humanity developed and grew during the first great calamity, reached its most glorious period during the second, and therefore, the time for humanity's demise will be the arrival of the third great calamity!

This is the way of heaven, this is the cycle of heaven, this is the cycle of cause and effect! Just as there are no invincible generals in this world, humanity cannot forever stand at the center of the historical stage; its time will come to an end. After the most glorious and brilliant period, what awaits is a gradual decline and a bleak end. Even if there is still brilliance, it is nothing more than a lingering glow before the setting sun…

The people of Tianxin Pavilion have dedicated their lives to studying the Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth. Through the efforts of countless generations, they have finally glimpsed a sliver of heavenly secrets. They know the time when the Third Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth will arrive…

In fact, even the calamity they call the Dragon-Slaying Calamity is merely one of the many calamities within the Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth. Like the vanguard in an army, they are merely scouts used for reconnaissance; the true army has not yet arrived.

It was at that time that the people of Tianxin Pavilion sensed all of this and united with the people of various holy lands to resist the great calamity. However, at the last moment, greed clouded their judgment, causing some to turn against their own comrades, leading to a disastrous defeat.

Originally, Master Tianyi thought it was all over. But after years of dedicated cultivation, he discovered that this was not the true beginning. And today, seeing the Four Swords of Zhuxian reappear in the mortal realm, he suddenly realized that the Third Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth, a calamity concerning the rise and fall of humanity, was about to arrive!

Moreover, this calamity would not be like the previous Dragon-Slaying Calamity, which was merely a test. Since weapons of destruction like the Four Swords of Zhuxian had begun to appear and seize the fortune of heaven and earth, then those supreme artifacts that were renowned in ancient times would surely appear one after another, and even those ancient powerful beings might show themselves.

Because the appearance of the Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth not only concerns all of humanity, but even these ancient powerful beings who had long transcended the Three Realms and Six Paths would not be spared. If they choose the wrong side, they will be abandoned by the Great Dao and rejected by the Heavenly Dao. No matter how extraordinary their cultivation, their ultimate fate will be the same: demise!

Who isn't afraid of death? Even saints cannot escape the fear of death. In fact, just as ordinary people are more afraid of death the richer and more powerful they are, those with stronger cultivation are more afraid of death. Having long been accustomed to a life of turning their hands to make clouds and rain, who wouldn't be afraid of suddenly facing death?

Unfortunately, when the great calamity of heaven and earth arrives, nothing in heaven and earth, except saints, can escape it. Even saints, if they fail to seize the fortune during the calamity, will be subject to constraints in the next cycle of reincarnation when the calamity arrives, and may even perish if they are not careful.

Just like during the first and second great calamities, why did the defeated saints disappear after their defeat? Even if they reappeared, they would only do so after changing their appearance. Otherwise, they could only remain in seclusion deep within the chaos, waiting for the next era and the next great calamity before emerging to seize the remaining fortune.

Now, the appearance of the Four Swords of Zhuxian is a strong signal. Because the Four Swords of Zhuxian played the role of the defeated side in the second great calamity. Since their defeat, they have disappeared. But now, they have reappeared. What does this mean? It means that they have sensed the great changes in the world and know that the great calamity is coming. Therefore, they have begun to prepare, preparing to seize a trace of fortune during the calamity so that they can be favored by the world before the next great calamity arrives!

Therefore, when Tianyi Zhenren recognized the divine artifacts that appeared in the East Sea as the Four Swords of Zhuxian, he knew that they could not touch these divine artifacts. Moreover, no one but a saint could control such divine artifacts. Instead of fighting over this fruitless matter, it's better to go back and prepare for the coming calamity!

Because True Person Tianyi knows that this calamity won't be like the last Dragon-Slaying Calamity, where it came and went, inevitably causing a cataclysmic change. At this time, it's crucial to choose the right side. Since the people of the various holy lands are no longer of one mind, their lives are naturally irrelevant… In fact, this opportunity could be used to suppress them, seize the creation of heaven and earth, and steal the fortune of the various holy lands. By gathering the fortune of all the holy lands under one's own, the chances of Heavenly Heart Pavilion surviving the calamity would undoubtedly increase…

Chapter 635 [Blood Sacrifice to the Sword]

Above the East Sea, shouts of battle shook the heavens. However, if outsiders were present, they would be utterly shocked, because these people were not fighting for divine artifacts, but rather fighting amongst themselves!

Of course, perhaps they were also fighting for divine artifacts. But if that were the case, it should be a battle between the alliance led by the Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect and the Qingxiao Dao Sect. But now, they were indiscriminate, killing anyone they saw!

"Kill! Kill! Kill all you demons! Kill all you hypocrites! Kill you all, all of you, die! Ten Thousand Ghosts Devouring Souls*, kill!"

On the side of the Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect, apart from the Ghost King's other leader, the Soul-Hooking Messenger, seemed to have gone mad, slaughtering his subordinates.

However, his men were completely unfazed by his attacks, seemingly oblivious to his killing intent, charging down defenselessly.

Instantly, piles of corpses and flying flesh littered the ground; in just a moment, five or six people perished at the hands of the Soul-Hooking Messenger…

Yet such scenes were not uncommon; it could be said that the same thing was happening throughout the entire East Sea. People fell at the very first moment, and at every moment, people were driven mad by the carnage!

Kill! Kill! Kill! The battle cries shook the heavens, and the air was thick with killing intent. Just moments before, the East Sea had over a hundred men; in the blink of an eye, only half remained, and the number of fallen continued to rise.

"Those who offend my majesty shall be killed! Those who offend my divine might shall be annihilated! Those who violate my taboos shall die! The might of the divine artifacts cannot be violated! The solemnity of the divine artifacts cannot be profaned! Annihilate, slaughter, trap, and destroy!"

Boom!

As that thought resonated, the four giant swords suddenly unleashed a torrent of killing intent. Each sword, formed from condensed killing energy, locked onto every Primordial Chaos expert. The next moment, a flash of sword light… The entire sky suddenly returned to clarity. On the sea surface, where figures had flickered just moments before, there was nothing but the four longswords piercing the sky. Not only were there no corpses, but even the living had vanished as if evaporated into thin air!

Destruction, utter and complete destruction. Hundreds of experts at the Hunyuan Realm couldn't even withstand a single exchange against the true power of the Four Swords of Zhuxian. They were utterly annihilated, leaving not a trace, not even a drop of blood, completely evaporated.

Then, as if time had run out, the four swords that had pierced the sky gradually faded, until finally, a gentle breeze blew them away, and they vanished into the world…

“Ling! Ling!”

Just then, two figures suddenly appeared where the four swords had disappeared. These two were none other than the Ghost King and Daoist Qingxu, who had previously agreed to fight in the Outer Heavens.

However, they were different now than when they left. Their clothes were disheveled, and there were traces of blood at the corners of their mouths. Clearly, they had just experienced a life-or-death battle, and both had sustained minor injuries.

However, neither of them paid any attention to their injuries. Instead, he circled the spot where the four swords had disappeared before muttering, "What happened? I clearly felt a powerful aura, enough to destroy the heavens and the earth, suddenly descend, but why did I find nothing there when I arrived?"

"You felt it too?"

Hearing Master Qingxu's voice, the Ghost King frowned and asked.

Master Qingxu didn't hold a grudge against the man before him who had just fought a life-or-death battle with him. Hearing the man's question, he couldn't help but speak up, "Brother Ghost King, you must have felt it, right? That powerful aura, let alone you and me, even if all the people from all the holy lands combined, wouldn't be a match for it. And we rushed over as soon as we sensed this powerful aura. But all our people are gone, I'm afraid they're in grave danger!"

"So what? I say, Master Qingxu, you're not pretending not to know, are you? Everyone who came here today isn't in their true form, but merely in their primordial spirit. Just now, the Heavenly Dao suddenly changed, awakening us, but our physical bodies are still severely suppressed. We simply couldn't descend here, so everyone came here as primordial spirit avatars."

"So even if they were truly annihilated by that aura, the loss would only be a fragment of their primordial spirit. While it would have some impact on them, it wouldn't cause them much harm, and they would recover after a period of rest. I say, why are you putting on this show of being so compassionate?"

Upon hearing Master Qingxu's words, the Ghost King couldn't help but sneer repeatedly.

"Hmph, Ghost King, why are you pretending to be so indifferent? A damaged primordial spirit isn't so easily recovered from. Besides, everyone was already injured and suppressed by the Great Dao; now that their primordial spirits are damaged, isn't that adding insult to injury? And you actually say it's nothing?"

Hearing this, Daoist Qingxu's voice turned cold.

"Old man Qingxu, don't try to scare me. Do you think I'm afraid of you?"

the Ghost King said unhappily.

"Hmph, don't think I don't know. Your Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect mainly cultivates Yin Spirit, so the damage to your primordial spirit isn't a huge loss. But don't play dumb. You clearly know that what I'm talking about isn't this, but something else entirely, so why pretend you don't know?"

After a pause, Master Qingxu continued, "Judging from the aura just now, it was clearly the aura that only a Supreme Divine Artifact could emit. But since ancient times, divine artifacts have almost never appeared in the world. Yet now it has appeared. What does that mean? You can't be unaware, can you? The great calamity of heaven and earth is coming, and it cannot be stopped by one person or one sect. It concerns the safety of billions of people in the world. Do you think your Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect can remain unscathed?"

Hearing Master Qingxu's words, the Ghost King's expression also began to turn serious. With their cultivation, although they couldn't know as thoroughly as True Person Tianyi, they could still guess the general idea. Naturally, they knew what the display of power of a Supreme Divine Artifact signified, so after Master Qingxu made his point clear, the Ghost King stopped attacking him and fell silent.

"Indeed, the great calamity of heaven and earth is approaching, and the glory of humanity will come to an end. Although my Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect has always been regarded as a heretical sect by you so-called righteous people, in the face of the great calamity, neither righteous nor evil can avoid it."

"It's good that you know this. So-called righteousness and evil are merely different paths, and neither side can work together. But when the great calamity of heaven and earth arrives, no living being can escape it. Therefore, at this time, we can only stick together tightly to seize a sliver of survival in the great calamity. If we fight each other at this time, then we will only be completely annihilated in the great calamity!"

"Our strength is already very weak, and our chances of winning against the great calamity are less than one-tenth. Now, the powerful figures of the various holy lands have been injured, and their strength has been further weakened. At this time, with the great calamity of heaven and earth approaching, we are in grave danger!"

"However, my Qingxiao Dao Sect possesses a Three Talents, Four Symbols, Two Elements Sword Formation. When activated, it can utilize the Yin and Yang energies of the Five Elements of Heaven and Earth to repair oneself. However, activating this method is extremely taxing, and my sect's strength is simply insufficient to complete it. I believe the only solution now is to gather all the people from the Holy Lands to travel together to the Outer Heavens to activate this formation and collectively recover from our injuries. We must also completely dispel the injuries suppressed by the Great Dao. Only in this way will we have any power to resist when the Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth arrives!"

"Indeed, I have also heard that the Qingxiao Dao Sect possesses a natural divine formation. It can utilize the Yin and Yang energies of Heaven and Earth for its own use. Not only that, it can also isolate us from heavenly secrets and conceal us from the Great Dao. If we had this formation, we could indeed recover our full strength."

"Very well, since you, old man Qingxu, are unusually behaving like a good person, then I, the Ghost King, will also act like a gentleman. The Three Talents, Four Symbols, and Two Elements Sword Formation alone is not enough. My Netherworld Devouring Ghost Sect also possesses a formation called the Yin-Yang Reversing Heaven Chaos Divine Formation. This formation can reverse Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, obliterating the secrets of heaven. With the addition of this great formation, I believe our chances of recovering from our injuries will increase by at least 30%!"

"Wonderful! I never expected that you, Ghost King, could disregard personal gains and losses in the face of such a crucial matter. You have fought for tens of thousands of years, and I have never been convinced by you. But today, Ghost King, I have to say to you, you are remarkable! I, Qingxu, admire you!"

"Haha, exchanging a great formation for your words of 'remarkable,' I, the Ghost King, am satisfied. In that case, what are we waiting for? Let's go back and gather our disciples, and prepare to head to the Outer Heavens!"

"Alright, farewell, Brother Ghost King, see you at the Outer Heavens!"

"Farewell!"

With those words, the Ghost King and Daoist Qingxu vanished from the East Sea.

As they disappeared, the East Sea returned to its tranquility. Everything seemed to have stopped, as if nothing had happened.

Yang Fan, deep within, was unaware that without the interference of the various holy lands, that attack should have been directed at him. He had stolen the heavenly secrets and seized the fortune that originally belonged to the Four Swords of Zhuxian, causing them to unleash their fury.

However, this fury was limited; only one attack could be launched. At that moment, the people from the various holy lands, preoccupied with vying for the divine artifact, attracted the attention of the Four Swords of Zhuxian, causing them to vent their anger on the people of the various holy lands instead of Yang Fan.

It was precisely because of the presence of the various holy lands that Yang Fan was able to withstand this attack; otherwise, even if he were ten times stronger, he might not have been able to withstand the wrath of the Four Swords of Zhuxian.

However, Yang Fan was unaware of all this. Instead, he held the four longswords, examining them closely.

"What a fine sword! Truly a fine sword! I never imagined that I, Yang Fan, would one day possess a divine weapon, especially one forged by my own hand. Right, now that the divine weapon is complete, how can it be without a name?"

"That's it! I've got it. Although this sword is a replica of the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords, it wasn't made in a single stroke. It broke free from the shackles of the Heavenly Dao and seized the fortune of the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords. Therefore, it should be superior to the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords. Immortal-Slaying, Immortal-Slaying, above Immortals are Gods and Saints. So, I will call this sword Godslayer!"

"Yes, Godslayer! God and Saint are homophones but have different meanings. Although it's called Godslayer, it also implies Saintslayer. It's domineering and resounding! I'll call you Godslayer!"

After muttering the name Godslayer twice, Yang Fan felt a sudden surge of inspiration. The four longswords in his hands seemed to cheer for the name Yang Fan had chosen, emitting bursts of sword cries.

"The divine sword is newly forged, and should be sacrificed with blood. Unfortunately, there is no blood here. Then, let my blood be the sacrifice!"

As he spoke, Yang Fan waved his hand, and a straight wound suddenly appeared on his right palm. Immediately afterward, a stream of bright red blood gushed from the wound.

The moment the blood appeared in Yang Fan's hand, it seemed as if the entire space was filled with a faint, fragrant aroma. His blood had no bloody smell whatsoever; instead, it had a medicinal fragrance, as if his blood was different from ordinary blood, precious blood. And

indeed, it was so. The blood of a martial artist is vastly different from that of an ordinary person. The higher the cultivation level, the higher the value of their blood. Even a wisp of flesh at the Primordial Chaos Realm can regenerate flesh and bone; while not enough to bring the dead back to life, it is not far off.

Yang Fan's physical body was first fused with the body of a Hunyuan realm expert, and then tempered by countless heavenly tribulations. His physical strength was no less than that of any Hunyuan realm expert.

In other words, his blood was virtually indistinguishable from that of a Hunyuan realm expert, an unparalleled elixir whether used for alchemy or healing. Ordinary injuries could be completely cured with a single drop of his blood.

Yet now, Yang Fan was using his own blood to consecrate his sword. What a waste!

However, a newly forged divine sword does indeed need blood to unleash its ferocity. In fact, the strength of the first drop of blood consumed by a divine weapon will affect its future development and prospects.

It's not that the stronger the blood consumed at the beginning of a divine weapon's creation, the stronger its future power will be; rather, if the first drop of blood is strong enough, it will fully unleash the weapon's potential. This is why there is the saying of consecrating a sword with blood.

And Yang Fan using his own blood to consecrate his sword is not without precedent. Back when Gan Jiang and Mo Xie forged their divine weapons, they sacrificed themselves to create these magnificent artifacts! Similarly, the creator of the Muramasa demon sword wouldn't have earned its name without Muramasa's self-sacrifice.

Yang Fan, by using his own blood to consecrate the sword, while not quite a full-fledged sacrifice, achieves a similar effect. If successful, the power of this God-Slaying Sword will undoubtedly be formidable!

Without hesitation, Yang Fan's right hand was covered in blood, and just as it was about to drip, he grabbed all four divine swords with a single stroke. The instant his hand touched the blades,

the four swords seemed to come alive, clinging to his wounds and desperately drawing blood from him…

Chapter 636 [External Avatar]

Hiss! Yang Fan gasped in pain. The relentless draining of blood from his body by the four swords caused his head to throb.

But that wasn't all. As the swords absorbed his blood, they also emitted an extremely strange energy. Yang Fan didn't know what this energy was, but the moment it entered his body, he suffered terribly! It

was a piercing pain that made even his soul tremble. No amount of torture, no matter how agonizing, could inflict such pain. The intense pain caused Yang Fan to tremble violently, his muscles contorting in agony. His meridians appeared like uncontrolled, raging dragons, rampaging beneath his skin, and the faint sound of bones cracking could be heard.

Moreover, amidst this excruciating pain, Yang Fan's consciousness should have been somewhat blurred. Yet, aside from the dizziness caused by excessive blood loss, his mind was unusually clear. Every trace of pain was magnified countless times in his consciousness, slowly replaying itself, allowing him to clearly experience it and imprinting this feeling deeply into his mind, never to be forgotten!

At the same time, Yang Fan also felt four streams of consciousness entering his mind through his wounds. These four streams of consciousness were clear and transparent, without any impurities, like newborn infants, untouched by worldly interference.

Furthermore, these four streams of consciousness seemed to have an inexplicable innate favor towards him, radiating friendly waves upon entering his mind. The feeling was like that of a child who has lost a loved one and suddenly sees them again.

Yang Fan knew that these four consciousnesses were the weapon spirits formed after the four swords survived the tribulation of divine artifacts. Although they were divided into four, they were actually the same will. The reason they seemed so close to him was because he had incorporated the demon blade into the four swords during their formation.

The demon blade contained a wisp of Yang Fan's undying will, and after merging with the four swords, this wisp of will did not disappear but instead merged into the newly formed weapon spirit. This was why the weapon spirits of the four swords were so close to him.

Otherwise, newly formed divine artifacts and their newly born weapon spirits were disrespectful to heaven and earth; they would not submit to anyone, not even the master who forged them. Moreover, when a divine artifact reached its peak, they might even fly away.

In ancient times, there were records of people who had just forged a divine artifact only to have it suddenly fly away, leaving them with nothing.

Although Yang Fan was unaware of this, he had inadvertently infused a wisp of his will into the divine artifacts beforehand. It was precisely because of this that the four swords didn't vanish the moment they became divine artifacts. Otherwise, with Yang Fan's current strength, he wouldn't have been able to stop them if they wanted to leave.

Sensing the goodwill emanating from the four swords' will, Yang Fan endured the pain and imprinted his primordial spirit onto their consciousness. He knew that the four swords didn't truly belong to him now. If someone else obtained them, they could claim ownership simply by imprinting a wisp of their primordial spirit. Only by imprinting his soul onto the swords' spirits would the four swords truly belong to him. No matter who obtained them, even if he were killed, the four swords would not change hands.

Moreover, a wisp of his primordial spirit resided within the four swords; even if he died, his primordial spirit wouldn't dissipate but would continue to live on in another form. Therefore, in a true sense, the four swords had become an external avatar of his!

An external avatar is similar to a clone. However, an avatar is merely a physical form condensed from a wisp of thought; it lacks a true body. Like the forms that descended upon the East Sea by those at the Primordial Chaos Realm, they were formed from a single thought.

While an avatar possesses a certain degree of thought and power of the true body, it is ultimately just a mass of energy; once the energy dissipates, the avatar naturally vanishes.

An external avatar, on the other hand, is different. It is crafted from special materials using unique methods. Compared to an avatar, an external avatar possesses its own independent body and even independent thought. It can even be used for cultivation like the true body.

Furthermore, in critical moments, an external avatar can shield its master from calamities, even dying in their place to conceal the secrets of heaven. In ancient times, some powerful beings used external avatars to avert disasters for their masters. Similarly, during a great calamity in ancient times, a sage descended with an external avatar to guide the world.

Therefore, an external avatar is a completely different concept from a clone!

The Platform Sutra says, "What is meant by a thousand or even billions of avatars? If one does not contemplate the myriad dharmas, one's nature is like emptiness. A single thought of thought is called transformation. Contemplating evil deeds transforms into hell; contemplating good deeds transforms into heaven."

An external avatar was a very popular cultivation method in ancient times. However, with the appearance of the Great Calamity, this peculiar cultivation method disappeared. Now, almost no one knows how to use this method.

But Yang Fan, by chance, glimpsed the secrets of this method. He even created an external avatar using four divine swords as a foundation!

However, the external avatar he cultivated was only at the most basic level. The cultivation of external avatars is also divided into levels. The most basic level is to entrust one's primordial spirit to something, allowing the primordial spirit to be preserved.

As the external avatar advances, it gradually begins to condense into the form of a main body. At this stage, however, it's merely an outward appearance, lacking self-awareness and entirely controlled by the main body. Furthermore, this external avatar doesn't possess the strength of the main body.

Moving forward, the avatar will begin to develop its own thoughts, slowly cultivate, and gradually acquire some of the main body's strength, but at this point, it remains extremely fragile.

Only at this stage can it truly be considered a genuine external avatar. However, truly developing the avatar requires a long period of evolution.

Only when the avatar's thoughts become truly independent and it can begin to think for itself can it be considered fully formed. At this point, the avatar is indistinguishable from the main body, capable of self-thinking and self-cultivation, and even, due to its nature as an avatar, its cultivation speed may be faster than the main body.

Moreover, the avatar can possess some of the main body's special abilities. If the main body so desires, the avatar can even completely possess everything about the main body. However, regardless of the stage, the avatar is always controlled by the main body. Although it possesses its own independent consciousness, its true thinking still originates from the main body.

Only at this stage can the avatar be called a true external avatar. An avatar, due to its materials and cultivation methods, can possess one-tenth to seven or eight-tenths of the main body's strength. Because an avatar is, after all, an avatar, it cannot truly replace the main body.

However, legend has it that in ancient times, some powerful individuals elevated their avatars to a level almost identical to the main body, even to the point where it was difficult to distinguish between them.

However, whether an avatar possesses one-tenth or one-hundredth of the main body's strength, they all share one advantage: they can protect and avert calamities for their master.

Those saints of the primordial era, whose cultivation was earth-shattering and awe-inspiring, emphasized "severing the corpse to become a saint" when achieving sainthood. This refers to cutting away the three evil desires—food, selfishness, and lust—from the body, thereby achieving purity, non-action, and enlightenment.

Severing the Three Corpses means cutting off one's good thoughts, evil thoughts, and self—in other words, obsessions. When severing obsessions, one can entrust them to various innate spiritual treasures, creating an avatar with boundless power. In Buddhism, one can also entrust them to one's cultivated Dharma body, which is also incredibly powerful, though somewhat inferior to entrusting them to innate spiritual treasures… After the Three Corpses are completely severed, one reaches the Great Nirvana Realm. Then, the Three Corpses merge into one, the avatar and the original body completely merging and becoming inseparable. At this point, one can manifest countless forms, only one step away from the Primordial Dao.

The so-called Severing of the Three Corpses here actually refers to external avatars, only the terminology is different, and it is also more refined and specific.

Generally, any primordial spirit can become an external avatar. However, not all primordial spirits can be used for the Three Corpses; a corresponding primordial spirit must be separated from the original primordial spirit and entrusted to an innate spiritual treasure.

The external avatar cultivated using the Three Corpses is the strongest and most sacred of all external avatars, the pinnacle of external avatars!

The four divine swords wielded by Yang Fan originated from the Four Swords of Zhuxian, which were supremely sacred weapons of slaughter. They represented the ultimate evil and wickedness. By entrusting his primordial spirit to them, Yang Fan was, in a sense, entrusting his evil side to them.

However, the four swords were not innate spiritual treasures, and his separated primordial spirit was not purely malevolent; therefore, it couldn't be considered severing the three corpses.

But if one day the four swords grew into innate spiritual treasures, and he understood the principle of severing the three corpses to achieve sainthood, and could completely sever his evil thoughts and entrust them to the four swords, then it would be equivalent to severing one of the three corpses!

In other words, although Yang Fan was still somewhat confused, he had already begun to embark on the path of achieving sainthood through the three corpses. This path was originally only understood by those who had glimpsed the realm of sainthood. Yet he had already begun this path before even reaching the Primordial Chaos Realm, which undoubtedly made him an anomaly!

As Yang Fan gained a deeper understanding of martial arts, he gradually realized that while the current cultivation levels differed greatly from those of ancient times, they were still derived from those ancient levels.

Ancient times were the pinnacle of cultivation, with more detailed level classifications and distinctions between different sects, righteous and evil, immortal and demonic. The most detailed classifications were: Foundation Building, Refining Essence into Qi, Refining Qi into Spirit, Refining Spirit into Emptiness, and Refining Emptiness into Dao. Foundation

Building is a very general concept, referring to all external martial artists who haven't cultivated internal energy. Refining Essence into Qi refers to the merging of primordial

essence and primordial qi into a light, pure, and intangible substance, which can then circulate with the body's energy flow to form the dantian. Within Refining Essence into Qi, there are also the concepts of "Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown" and "Five Qi Returning to the Origin." "

Five Qi Returning to the Origin" refers to the natural and complete cessation of breathing, resulting in a soft, supple body that feels warm and comfortable without conscious effort—what is commonly known as internal breathing. At this moment, it is as if one is in a scene of gentle breeze and bright sunshine, with no wind or ripples on the water. Body and mind, heaven and earth, and all things are at peace in their "neutral" state. One is unaware of the existence or non-existence of the self; all these usual feelings and thoughts naturally vanish without a trace.

At this point, one reaches the realm of refining Qi into Shen (spirit). This is the stage of refining Qi into Shen, building upon the foundation of refining Jing into Qi, by combining Qi and Shen, allowing Qi to return to the realm of Shen. The key is to use consciousness to adjust the distribution and circulation of internal Qi to strengthen the primordial spirit.

When the primordial spirit reaches a certain level of strength and returns to its innate state, one enters the realm of refining Shen into emptiness. Refining Shen into emptiness is a state of transcendent mastery, a high-level stage of internal alchemy cultivation.

After passing the stage of refining Qi into Shen, one enters the advanced stage of alchemical cultivation. This cultivation process differs from the initial stage of "active practice" and the middle stage of "the interaction between existence and non-existence." Instead, it involves practicing non-action, entering a state of deep meditation, introspective observation, nurturing and cultivating, and refining the pure Yang spirit.

In other words, the cultivation shifts from physical to spiritual practice, from immortal cultivation to Daoist cultivation, further nurturing one's Yang spirit until it ultimately leaves the body.

Refining emptiness and uniting with the Dao is the highest level of Daoist cultivation, also known as shattering the void or void shattering, the ultimate goal of internal alchemy cultivation.

As the saying goes, the Great Dao is the parent of the void, the void is the parent of heaven and earth, and heaven and earth are the parent of all things. Therefore, reverse cultivation requires experiencing the void to align with the Great Dao. The key lies in shattering the void mind, that is, having no mind in the void, achieving a void body, and settling the body within the void, obtaining the innate void Yang spirit, merging with the all-pervading and omnipresent Great Dao, thus manifesting "hundreds upon thousands of incarnations." At this point, form and spirit are both wondrous, truly united with the Dao, and the cultivation is complete; the Yang spirit leaves the body, departs from the mortal world, resides on the Three Islands, and then "receives the Purple Edict and Heavenly Book and resides in the Grotto Heaven." This means that after leaving the body, the Yang spirit remains in the mortal world, continuing to accumulate merit and virtue. After perfecting its cultivation, it receives a decree from the Heavenly Court and ascends to the immortal realm.

Next, one cultivates for three years, nine years, a hundred years, a thousand years, a thousand tribulations, and ten thousand tribulations, until the four elements collapse, the void shatters, and nothing remains. This is the cultivation of a Great Awakening Golden Immortal with a physical body, achieving an indestructible Vajra body. This is what is known as a Great Luo Golden Immortal!

Of course, this classification is merely the one accepted by most people. Each sect has its own system of classification, and similarly, within the same realm, the standards vary from sect to sect. However, overall, this classification is the most systematic and comprehensive.

However, since the Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth, cultivators have almost completely disappeared, and the concept of immortality cultivation has vanished from the world. Even if it exists, it only exists in mythological novels. What exists in the world are merely ordinary martial artists, with the occasional appearance of a brilliant talent, but they are as rare as phoenix feathers.

In modern times, the cultivation system has been severely disrupted. However, another new classification has emerged, which is currently the most prevalent: Fetal Breathing, Qi Movement, Refining Spirit, Transforming Void, and Primordial Chaos. This is the currently popular classification!

Chapter 637 [Do Immortals Exist in This World?]

While the terminology differs somewhat between the ancient and modern ranking systems, the underlying standards are essentially the same.

Foundation Building, as the name suggests, is a period of laying a solid foundation, similar to the physical training of modern martial artists. Both involve strengthening the foundation, tempering the body, and reaching a certain level of physical strength before comprehending internal energy.

In the modern martial arts system, internal energy is called fetal breathing. This is similar to the ancient practice of refining essence into qi, both referring to transforming the body's essence and qi into qi, thereby strengthening the body.

The human body has three treasures: essence, qi, and spirit. When these three treasures are combined, one's mental state can always be at its most perfect. Both refining essence into qi and fetal breathing follow this process.

When internal energy is cultivated to a certain level, essence, qi, and spirit will transform, thus strengthening mental power. With strengthened mental power, one becomes incredibly vigorous, even capable of tearing apart a tiger with bare hands. This process of cultivating spiritual power is called "Refining Qi into Spirit," also known as the "Qi Movement Realm.

" As for "Refining Spirit to Return to Emptiness," it is now divided into two steps: Refining Spirit and Returning to Emptiness. Although different paths lead to the same goal, Refining Spirit to Return to Emptiness involves transitioning from physical cultivation to spiritual cultivation, further nurturing one's Yang Spirit until it eventually leaves the body. This is equivalent to entrusting the primordial spirit to the void of the Great Dao, as described in Refining Spirit and Returning to Emptiness.

Refining Spirit to Return to Emptiness requires nine years of profound practice, as stated in the *Zhonghe Ji*: "Nine years and three years are always fixed."

Of course, the nine years mentioned here are not nine years in the narrow sense, but rather refer to a very long period.

The so-called Yang Spirit refers to the primordial spirit, but in Daoism, Yang Spirit signifies the state of the primordial spirit becoming an immortal. In short, the primordial spirit, when first becoming an immortal, is like a newborn child in the womb—possessing human form but not yet fully formed, hence the metaphor of an infant.

Therefore, an ancient saying goes: "A child is young and not yet an adult, and must rely on the nurturing grace of the mother."

This is a metaphor for being breastfed for three years. Breastfeeding means that one's spirit and energy have already settled, and this stillness is further enhanced, to the point that one is constantly in a state of stillness without needing to exert oneself, just like being breastfed again and again, until one grows into an adult.

Once the spirit is mature, if one immediately begins the process of refining the spirit to return to emptiness, this constitutes the nine-year refinement period. If one's wish to save the world remains unfulfilled, then it is not necessary to refine for nine years; one can temporarily remain in the world to save it. If one wishes to transcend the world and ascend to nothingness, then one must return to emptiness after nine years.

The final stage of refining the spirit to return to emptiness is the refiner of the spirit. The refiner of the spirit is one who has no spirit to condense. When one's cultivation reaches this stage, one's mind is expansive, wisdom is clear, and one is well-versed in the classics of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. One comprehends past lives, foresees future fortune and misfortune, and has complete control over the earth and its rivers. One's eyes can see things thousands of miles away, and one can even unlock the treasures within one's body. Various supernatural powers, such as the divine eye, divine ear, divine perception, knowledge of past lives, telepathy, and the elimination of all defilements, manifest.

When these supernatural powers manifest, one has already entered the threshold of refining emptiness and uniting with the Dao.

An ancient saying goes, "The world's teachings that one should refine the spirit and return to emptiness are merely secondary meanings, not the supreme and true path."

This means that refining the spirit is not the same as achieving spiritual projection, and returning to emptiness is not the complete solution; therefore, one must further refine emptiness and unite with the Dao. As stated in *The Essentials of Nature and Destiny*, "The Great Dao is the parent of emptiness, emptiness is the parent of heaven and earth, and heaven and earth are the parent of all things."

Therefore, reverse cultivation requires experiencing emptiness to align with the Great Dao. The key lies in shattering the mind of emptiness, that is, having no mind in emptiness, achieving emptiness of the true self, and settling the true self within emptiness, thus obtaining the primordial, empty Yang spirit, uniting with the all-pervading and omnipresent Great Dao, thereby manifesting "hundreds upon thousands of incarnations." At this point, both form and spirit are perfected, uniting with the Dao, and the work is complete; the Yang spirit leaves the body, departs from the mortal world, resides on the Three Islands, and then "receives the Purple Edict and Heavenly Book and resides in the Grotto Heaven." That is to say, after leaving the body, the Yang spirit remains in the mortal world, continuing to accumulate merit and virtue. After the merit is perfected, it receives a decree from the Heavenly Court and ascends to the Immortal Realm. This is the so-called Realm of Shattering the Vacuum, also known as the Realm of Primordial Chaos!

However, the realm beyond the Realm of Primordial Chaos, according to the ancient classification of realms, is another level, a level belonging only to myths and legends—the level of immortals, also a world after the shattering of the vacuum!

However, the term "immortal" has always existed only in myths and legends; whether immortals truly exist in this world is still unknown.

The character for "immortal" is composed of "human" and "mountain," the right side representing a person climbing to a high place to retrieve a bird's nest. Adding the "human" radical signifies a person ascending to immortality. The clerical script for "immortal" indicates that immortals mostly reside in high places. It also refers to those with special abilities who can live forever.

However, whether immortals truly exist is unknown. As mentioned, immortals mostly reside in high places, and since they reside in high places, no one can reach them.

Tragically, while the world is unaware of whether immortals exist, both martial artists like Yang Fan and ordinary people alike yearn to become immortals. Martial artists like Yang Fan dedicate their entire lives to this goal, relentlessly cultivating for the elusive legend of immortality.

Perhaps this is the tragedy of martial artists, striving and struggling for a hollow objective throughout their lives. But it can also be said that it is precisely because of this goal of immortality that they have the motivation and direction to move forward.

Does immortality exist in this world? Perhaps no one can know the answer. Aside from ancient times, throughout history, only Shakyamuni and the Demon Emperor have reached that realm!

Immortals, also known as Primordial Golden Immortals, are beings who truly transcend the Heavenly Dao and create their own path. However, the Heavenly Dao is the foundation of heaven and earth; all living beings originate from it. To want to transcend the Heavenly Dao is a pipe dream, let alone create one's own path.

Therefore, does such a thing exist in this world? No one knows, no one can answer! Even Shakyamuni and the Demon Emperor probably could not explain whether immortals exist.

But regardless of the era, whether in ancient times or now, the ultimate goal of martial arts is to become an immortal!

Enough of this digression, let's get back to the point. Whether immortals exist or not, whether one can become a saint or an immortal after the so-called Three Corpses Slaying Sainthood, Yang Fan's decision to embark on the path of external avatars is undeniable. Moreover, this path has altered his original martial arts path to some extent…

Yang Fan himself doesn't know if this change is good or bad, but he discovered that when his primordial spirit imprinted itself on the four sword spirits, something suppressed within him seemed to be released.

The four sword spirits, originally just a blurry mass without a true form, gradually took shape as he imprinted his primordial spirit upon them, and that shape was constantly approaching his appearance.

First the form, then the facial features, and finally, even the expression was exactly the same as his, and the way he raised his fingers was incredibly lifelike, like a miniature version of Yang Fan.

Moreover, the instant the spirit's form was fully formed, Yang Fan suddenly felt a sense of relaxation throughout his body, as if something within him had vanished. He instantly entered a state of profound emptiness, devoid of joy or sorrow, where all worldly concerns were forgotten. Cultivating in this state would be twice as effective, and there would be no inner demons.

In other words, as long as Yang Fan could remain in this state, there was absolutely no possibility of him experiencing cultivation deviation or even encountering any bottlenecks in his future cultivation.

His mind and soul seemed to have been purified in that instant. He felt indescribably refreshed, and even the pain he had felt earlier seemed to vanish instantly. Or perhaps the feeling was still there, but it could no longer affect Yang Fan now.

If someone were to see Yang Fan at this moment, they would notice that his expression was indescribably serene, and behind him, a faint golden light seemed to shimmer. That golden light was the light of wisdom, the manifestation of the essence of martial arts. Under the blessing of this essence of martial arts, he would possess an invincible heart, an eternally unmoved and undisturbed heart. At this moment, he was heaven, he was earth, he was everything, he was the master of the world!

"The Way of Heaven is to take from the surplus and give to the deficiency. The Way of Man is to take from the deficiency to give to the surplus. The Way of the Sage is either inaction, non-contention, exposition, or interception. But my Way lies only in the depths of the Way of Heaven. If I know the Way of Heaven, I am the Way of Heaven; if I do not know the Way of Heaven, then there is no Way of Heaven. Only an invincible heart is needed; what do I care about Buddha or Tao!"

Boom! An invincible martial will emanated from Yang Fan's body. At the same time, the God-Slaying Sword in his hand suddenly shone brightly, and four swords flew from his palm, floating around him, protecting him at the very center. Simultaneously, the martial will he emitted actually spread out from this mysterious space, resounding throughout the world.

Ordinary people felt nothing, but in this instant, every martial artist seemed to hear Yang Fan's thunderous roar!

"What a domineering Dao! What domineering words! What an invincible Dao! Who has actually comprehended the invincible Dao? Although it is only the initial prototype, for countless millennia, no one has ever been able to comprehend this invincible Dao. Could it be that a great calamity is about to befall the world, and the one destined to face it has appeared?"

Meanwhile, deep within the chaos, countless billions of light-years away from Earth, grows a precious tree capable of covering countless worlds. Each leaf of this precious tree seems to be a world in itself, each branch a universe. The slightest tremor between the leaves generates cosmic storms, storms powerful enough to obliterate even a Primordial Chaos Realm expert.

Furthermore, the roots of this giant tree are firmly planted in the chaos, constantly receiving a vast amount of chaotic energy that flows into the tree and emanates from its leaves, forming an infinite cycle. And above this giant tree, there are even wisps of purple energy—the legendary Primordial Purple Qi!

These purple streams of energy coalesced, forming infant-like shapes, much like the fruits of a giant tree. However, these fruits were enormous, each as large as dozens of planets.

Within them lay the purest primordial energy of this world. Within this primordial energy, one could vaguely discern objects resembling weapons. Although these weapons were not yet fully formed, the aura they emitted was far more powerful than even a tenth of the might of Yang Fan's current God-Slaying Sword.

These fruits contained nothing less than innate spiritual treasures. If this were to spread, countless people would go mad for them, countless hearts would be stirred by their allure. However, these innate spiritual treasures seemed to be asleep, quietly cultivating themselves in the primordial chaos, without any movement.

This giant tree was born from chaos and grew within chaos; it seemed to encompass all heaven and earth, containing all the universes. Around the entire giant tree, three thousand giant dragons of different colors coiled, forming a massive array that surrounded the entire tree.

Each dragon exuded a powerful aura capable of destroying ten heavens and nine earths; they seemed to contain the supreme mysteries of martial arts, each a continuation of the Great Dao.

In fact, these dragons were not true dragons, but rather forms derived from the three thousand Great Daos. Each dragon represented a Great Dao law, and together they formed the Heavenly Dao order of the entire universe.

And this giant tree was the legendary World Tree. It is rooted in the depths of chaos, connecting the Nine Netherworlds below and the Azure Heaven above. At the end of the tree lies the legendary Thirty-Three Heavens: the Great Luo Heaven!

This Great Luo Heaven is the highest and most expansive heaven. The *Yunji Qiqian* states: "Mount Yujing crowns the eight directions, upon which dwells the Great Luo Heaven. Naturally, seven precious trees grow on this mountain; each tree covers the entire heaven, and eight trees cover the eight directions, hence the name Great Luo Heaven.

In the realm of Great Luo, there is no longer a true ruler, only the Great Brahma Qi, encompassing all heavens." Legend has it that this Great Luo Heaven is the place where the Primordial Great Luo Golden Immortal cultivates and resides. Only those who have cultivated to see through the Primordial Chaos and achieved Great Luo are qualified to enter this Great Luo Immortal Realm.

The meaning of Great Luo is all-encompassing. Great Luo means that all heavens and myriad realms are contained within it. And this Great Luo Heaven is the highest universe of all things.

And the World Tree is also the legendary Seven Precious Tree. The legendary Seven Treasures Tree, a primordial spiritual treasure, is also derived from the Seven Treasures Tree. This World Tree constitutes the entire universe, connecting the heavens above and the netherworld below. Its trunk supports the entire universe, serving as its backbone. The trunks, like the human skeleton, form the shape of the universe, while the leaves are individual worlds and planets. Together, they form the entire universe!

This Great Luo Immortal Realm, which should never have been inhabited by humans, suddenly saw six figures appear at the center of the World Tree in the Great Luo Heaven… Chapter 638 [The World Tree] “Did we sense it? Just now, an invincible martial intent came from the Primordial Continent. Someone must have comprehended the Way of Invincibility!” After the seven figures appeared, an old

Taoist priest in a Taoist robe and holding a whisk spoke. This

Taoist priest was handsome with clear eyebrows and white hair, but his face was ruddy. Standing there, he resembled a kind elder, without any aura. However, he seemed to be on the verge of merging into the void, and behind him, the faint voice of the Great Dao could be heard, as if expounding the celestial music of the Great Dao. "Indeed, but this aura is very weak, it seems to have only just touched the edge, and has not truly comprehended the Dao of Invincibility." At this moment, another old man spoke up. This old man was very similar in appearance to the previous one. However, the former's Daoist robe was embroidered with a Tai Chi pattern, while his robe had a Bagua pattern. If not for this, the two would not be much different. "Of course, if one truly comprehends the Dao of Invincibility, wouldn't one be only half a step away from our realm? You must know that from ancient times, the Primordial Era, the Ancient Era... or even to the present, apart from the six of us, no one else has been able to comprehend the origin of the Great Dao. Now, it is already extremely difficult for someone to even see the edge of the Great Dao, how could they truly comprehend it?" At this moment, yet another ancestor spoke up, behind whom an ancient tree stood faintly. This ancient tree, like a miniature of the World Tree, appeared so sacred and solemn. This tree is the legendary Bodhi Ancient Tree! The Bodhi Ancient Tree is one of the five great spiritual roots of heaven and earth. The five great spiritual roots of heaven and earth are the Fusang Tree, the Peach Tree, the Immortal Apricot, and the Ginseng Fruit. Among them, the Bodhi Ancient Tree grows alongside the Twelve-Petaled Golden Lotus, the Fusang Ancient Tree is the dwelling place of the Ten Golden Crows, the Peach Tree was bestowed upon the ancient Heavenly Court by the Dao Ancestor, the Immortal Apricot, due to divine jealousy, was divided into three, and the Ginseng Fruit is controlled by the legendary Ancestor of Earthly Immortals. "Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha is merciful. A great calamity is approaching, and the one destined to face it has arrived. As the worldly people say, there is only a first and a second time, but no third or even a second. This great calamity is the third great calamity, a cataclysmic event, the most severe of all!" "The first two calamities affected all living beings, but we were not among them. This time, however, all six of us are affected. When the calamity comes, we cannot avoid it. Now, the one destined to face it has appeared and comprehended the path of invincibility. In other words, if nothing unexpected happens, this person will surely become one of us in the future. Since he is the one destined to face it, we should help him and help him grow as quickly as possible!" At this moment, an old monk sitting on a golden lotus also spoke. This person had a fat head and large ears, a glass-like head, and a golden Buddha body. Behind him, twelve rays of Buddhist light swirled, making him appear exceptionally sacred. "No. The Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth is a change in the Heavenly Dao, but we have all mastered the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth and created our own paths. What do we have to fear from the Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth? My path is to seize the Dao of Heaven and Earth, so naturally, no Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth can harm me!" The old monk had barely finished speaking when another person spoke. This person was exceptionally tall, with sword-like eyebrows and a sword-like nose. He resembled a long sword drawn from its sheath, its sharpness and sword aura overwhelming, and its killing intent overflowing. Judging from his aura, it was easy to tell that this person was decisive and ruthless, and many had lost their lives at his hands. “And just now I sensed that this person actually intercepted the fortune of the Four Swords of Zhuxian and forged replicas of the four swords. In other words, he has also embarked on the same path as me.” “But you are all people who understand the Dao, and naturally know that everyone's path is different, unique. Yet this person is only walking my old path. That is to say, his future achievements are destined to never surpass mine. In that case, why should we waste our energy on this person?” “That's not how it works, is it? Even if this person intercepted the fortune of your Four Swords of Zhuxian, he might not necessarily walk your old path. In my opinion, it's probably because you believe that this person has become entangled with you because of the Four Swords of Zhuxian. That's why you reject him, isn't it?” "Indeed, we also sensed that this person intercepted the fortune of the Four Swords of Zhuxian. However, he didn't intercept it; he stole the secrets of heaven and seized creation, which is completely different from your path. Your path is about interception and forceful seizure, while his is merely taking shortcuts, not the same as your path. But the point is that he has become entangled with you because of the Four Swords of Zhuxian. Although we are untouched by karma because we possess innate treasures, your Four Swords of Zhuxian, due to their excessive use of killing, cannot become innate treasures. Therefore, this matter has entangled you in karma!" "Ordinary people don't feel much about karma. But we all know its power. At best, it damages cultivation; at worst, it changes destiny and alters one's fate. So, Tongtian, we won't stop you from settling this karmic debt. However, you just used the Four Swords of Zhuxian to settle this karmic debt." "Although you haven't severed the karmic ties, you have already taken action. If you take action again, not only will it be seen as bullying the weak, but you might also find that this karmic ties truly cannot be severed!"

"Cause and effect, cause and effect, there is no effect without a cause. Who is the cause, and who is the effect? Who can say for sure? Tongtian, I think you should think this through before you speak. But no matter what, if you want to deal with the one destined for calamity, we will not stand idly by!"

At this moment, the other two people who hadn't spoken also spoke up. These two were a man and a woman; the man wasn't particularly outstanding. However, the woman was truly breathtakingly beautiful!

She was clad in a pale pink robe, over which lay a white gauze garment, revealing her graceful neck and clearly visible collarbones. The folds of her skirt flowed like moonlight, cascading lightly to the ground, trailing more than three feet, making her gait even more elegant and graceful. Her long, black hair was tied up with a ribbon, adorned with a butterfly hairpin, with a strand falling to her chest. She wore light makeup, which only enhanced her complexion, and the faint blush on her cheeks created a delicate and lovely effect, like a flower petal. She was like a butterfly fluttering in the wind, or like pure and clear ice and snow...

"Mother Earth, you too are indifferent to worldly affairs, pursuing only your own path. When did you start studying Buddhist karma? Moreover, my actions are none of your business. Even if my Four Swords of Zhuxian are not innate treasures, compared to your Nuwa Stone, one sword is enough to cleave it in two!"

Tongtian shouted upon hearing the woman's words.

"Tongtian, this isn't just Mother Earth's opinion; it's the opinion of all of us. Although we may have different paths, we're all from the same sect, and moreover, we're essentially one. Why are you being so aggressive?"

Another elder spoke up.

"Hmph, do you think I'd really attack a junior? Let alone someone who's like an ant in my eyes, even among you, how many are worthy of my attention? What nonsense about karma! Do you think I, Tongtian, would be afraid of it? How laughable!"

With that, Tongtian didn't say another word, his figure flashing as he transformed into a sword light and vanished instantly.

"This Tongtian, for billions of years, why can't he change his temper? Alas, I wonder if it's the influence of the Four Swords of Zhuxian; his killing intent is too heavy. I'm truly worried that if he continues like this, he'll go astray!"

The elder who had spoken first remarked.

"Senior brother, don't worry. The Path to Heaven is about interception, a path of dominance. Naturally, the person exudes an extremely powerful and domineering aura, and their actions may be somewhat extreme. But this won't affect their Dao heart. Otherwise, when Master distributed treasures at the Treasure Distribution Rock, he wouldn't have given him the Four Swords of Zhuxian, a treasure of slaughter!"

another Daoist advised.

"Alas! That's true, but I'm always worried... Master, too, after the Treasure Distribution Rock, we don't know where he went. He left behind the Three Thousand Great Daos and disappeared without a trace. If Master were here, we wouldn't be in such a predicament during this great calamity!"

"Senior brother, you can't say that. Master has his own reasons for doing things. Perhaps this is a test Master is giving us. Otherwise, if we rely on Master for everything, when will we ever truly grow?"

Mother Earth suddenly said.

"Junior Sister is absolutely right. This great calamity is extremely dangerous, but for us, it's also a tremendous test. Moreover, with each calamity we experience, our strength will advance by leaps and bounds. Perhaps after a few more, we might even reach the level of our master!"

"Indeed, I think we should focus on our cultivation and await the arrival of the calamity! As for those destined to face it, let them develop on their own. Tongtian, though extremely bloodthirsty, is also exceptionally arrogant and would never harm a junior. We don't need to worry about him making any underhanded moves!"

With that, the remaining five transformed into streams of light and vanished. As the five disappeared, the top of the World Tree returned to silence once more. The leaves trembled slightly, making a soft sound, as if bidding farewell to the six...

"Good sword! Good sword! These four killing swords, though divided into four, share a unified spirit. Moreover, the four swords occupy the four directions, intertwining with me within them, forming an extremely sophisticated formation. They coordinate with each other yet remain independent; if one moves, the other four move. With these God-Slaying Swords, even against a true Primordial Chaos Realm expert, I will have a fighting chance!"

Finally, Yang Fan completely imprinted his primordial spirit onto the spirits of the four swords. The spirits of the four swords looked almost exactly like Yang Fan, only several times smaller, essentially miniature versions of him. Their expressions were lifelike, appearing quite agile and full of spirit.

Boom! The moment the imprint was placed on the spirits of the four swords, the four longswords suddenly broke free from Yang Fan's right hand, floating around him, perfectly protecting him in the four cardinal directions.

In an instant, Yang Fan felt his combat power multiply. Both his fighting and defensive abilities received a significant boost, as if he were brimming with boundless energy.

Surprised, Yang Fan immediately realized that this was largely due to the Four Swords, or rather, he had received their blessing, which caused his sudden surge in power.

Discovering this function of the Four Swords, Yang Fan was both astonished and delighted. He was astonished that the Four Swords possessed such an ability, and delighted that with their blessing, combined with their inherent power, he could now contend even against a Mixed Origin Realm expert. Unlike before, when he faced a Mixed Origin Realm expert, he no longer had even a chance to escape!

This trip to Fusang was already fraught with danger. It wasn't that Yang Fan feared the Fusang ninjas, but rather he was wary of the Yin-Yang Harmony Sect hidden within Fusang!

Yang Fan knew that even though such a behemoth-like super sect had been driven out of China by the combined forces of the various holy lands and forced to retreat to the small island of Fusang, its strength was still not to be underestimated.

For example, the Yin-Yang Harmony Bell, the sect's most prized artifact, was something Yang Fan couldn't possibly contend with. Moreover, a sect like this couldn't function without a master at the Hunyuan realm.

Yang Fan's initial plan was to operate covertly in Fusang, employing hit-and-run tactics and finding a suitable location to fully utilize the guerrilla warfare strategies invented by his predecessors. His strength at the time was simply insufficient to confront the Yin-Yang Harmony Sect head-on.

However, this recent encounter not only greatly enhanced his strength but also unexpectedly yielded a divine artifact. Thus, at least superficially, the gap between him and the Yin-Yang Harmony Sect was no longer so vast.

With the God-Slaying Sword restraining the opponent's Yin-Yang Harmony Bell, given his strength, as long as the opponent doesn't deploy a Primordial Chaos Realm ancestor, he will be invincible in Fusang. Even if they do deploy a Primordial Chaos Realm expert, unless they are a living antique of the fourth or fifth level, he might still have a fighting chance!

According to Yang Fan's knowledge, the Primordial Chaos Realm experts of the Yin-Yang Harmony Sect were either killed or wounded in the chaotic battle back then, leaving very few survivors. Those remaining were merely Primordial Chaos Realm experts who had just entered the Primordial Chaos Realm and were not qualified to participate in the great battle.

These people were only Primordial Chaos Realm experts of the first or second level hundreds of years ago. Even if they encountered a fortuitous encounter and their cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, it was already quite remarkable that they could advance even a small step in the past few hundred years.

Yang Fan estimated that with his current strength, he should be able to put up a fight against a powerhouse at the first level of the Primordial Chaos Realm, but at best, he could only guarantee a chance to escape. He couldn't possibly defeat them. After all, the gap between the Primordial Chaos Realm and the Returning to Emptiness Realm couldn't be bridged by anything else. Yang Fan's current strength was already truly extraordinary, as not everyone possessed a divine skill like the Nine Heavens Thunderclap Technique.

With the God-Slaying Sword, Yang Fan estimated that he should be able to fight a powerhouse at the early Primordial Chaos Realm with dignity. After all, the power of a divine weapon couldn't be described in just a few words.

[Last edited by collection on 5-3 18:54]

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