Everyone was stunned.

From the Extreme Domain to Shijiu Zhou, who could have imagined that such a colossal creature would suddenly emerge! Almost everyone was shocked speechless!

It was a comparison of size!

It was also a comparison of power!

The Extreme Domain side had absolutely no knowledge of someone like Fu Chaosheng, thinking that Shijiu Zhou had finally brought out their trump card. But heaven knows that Shijiu Zhou was actually even more bewildered than them. Though they knew of Fu Chaosheng’s existence and his special identity—originally a demon, who had once had a conflict with Lu Song, the master of the Tongling Pavilion—they had never seen a Kunpeng before!

Such a sky-obscuring, sun-blocking form—who could not be terrified by it?

Most people widened their eyes, feeling a dreamlike sense of disorientation in their hearts. A few powerful cultivators could still maintain their composure, but secretly they all drew sharp breaths. Wu Duan, the third direct disciple of Master Hengxu of the Kunwu sect, who had once personally witnessed a similar scene at the shores of the Great Dream Reef in the Western Sea, suddenly recalled that past moment.

Riding the Kun away…

So not only was the green-robed youth from back then still here, but even that Kun, as large as a floating island yet showing only a fraction of itself above water, was also present.

Recalling Jian Chou’s seemingly ordinary reaction at that time, and comparing it with the obvious trust and closeness that the mayfly had shown toward Jian Chou recently, he couldn’t help but develop a strange and intriguing doubt—

When exactly had this person and demon first met?

Standing in front of Wu Duan were Fudao Shanren and Master Hengxu. Fudao Shanren showed no particular change, only letting out an inexplicable laugh. Master Hengxu, however, slightly frowned, and in his inscrutable eyes, the shadow of that massive Kunpeng in the sky cast several shades of gloom.

All the cultivators on the battlefield, at this moment, each had their own thoughts.

But Fu Chaosheng, who had caused all this commotion, had not yet realized the impact he had created—or perhaps, even if he had realized it, he wouldn’t have cared.

He glanced at Qu Zhengfeng, who stood proudly at the peak of the storm.

Qu Zhengfeng’s dark black robes fluttered in the wind, his bearing giving off a feeling identical to Fu Chaosheng’s.

It was merely closing a watchtower—it didn’t cost him half an ounce of effort.

However, the moment Fu Chaosheng and the Kunpeng appeared, he had no intention of taking action. He simply stood at this height in the firmament, looking down. Looking down at the tens of thousands of ghost soldiers in formation from the Extreme Domain, looking down at the ever-changing battle situation below, and also looking down at the several powerful cultivators from Shijiu Zhou who had yet to make their move, a hint of mockery floating in his eyes.

The seas turn into mulberry fields, years flow and change!

How many people in the world could still remember the magnificence of the Kunpeng?

Its dignity and power had gradually been buried by the river of time along with the passing years, becoming nothing more than a few insignificant legends recorded on thin paper pages in human records!

The Kunpeng spoke no words, but Fu Chaosheng could clearly sense them.

Because his heart, his bloodline, seemed to harbor the same deep unwillingness, the same passionate refusal, roaring and boiling!

His gaze withdrew from Qu Zhengfeng. At this moment, he was too lazy to bother with this Star Sea Sword Emperor who should have come to help after being rescued by him. He simply looked straight ahead!

The Eight Palace Yama Kings of the Extreme Domain—how could they be mediocre?

The Kun’s massive tail had merely used its enormous strength to sweep the two of them away, smashing them down onto the wasteland of the Extreme Domain, leaving only minor injuries.

In such an urgent situation, whose reactions wouldn’t be quick?

Lord Wu Guan and Lord Dushi had both come under Lord Qin Guang’s orders, already knowing that changes would inevitably occur on the frontline battlefield. But no matter what, they were still a step too late and ultimately failed to arrive in time!

When they arrived, the watchtower had already been closed!

The cultivators from the Extreme Domain and Shijiu Zhou relied on different powers for their cultivation. Once the watchtower was closed, the earth force and yin essence would become scarce and would inevitably be covered by the spiritual qi of heaven and earth from Shijiu Zhou. How could there be even half a chance of victory in this battle?

So in the very instant they were swept away and knocked back by the Kun’s tail, both men felt the same stern resolve in their hearts.

The moment they hit the ground, they quickly reacted!

They couldn’t retreat!

They had to quickly seize the watchtower and reopen it—only then would there be a chance of victory in this battle!

So the two of them used almost the fastest speed to react, actually bouncing up from the deep crater they had been smashed into, attacking toward the watchtower’s direction once more!

But how could it be so easy?

Fu Chaosheng appeared before them without warning, positioned squarely in their path!

“Bang!”

Both sides had come prepared. Almost the instant they met again, they began fighting, starting their magical combat!

Another battle between powerful cultivators erupted thunderously!

The situation across the entire battlefield became extremely chaotic for a time.

The watchtower had been closed by Qu Zhengfeng. The large amount of earth force and yin essence previously extracted formed storms on the surface, raging toward the surroundings. The earth force and yin essence throughout the entire Ghost Gate battlefield began to grow sparse.

Fu Chaosheng brought the Kunpeng to battle Lord Wu Guan and Lord Dushi with great satisfaction. Nearly half of the ten thousand ghost soldiers who had previously rushed toward the watchtower under Lord Taishan’s orders were caught up in the storm, while the remaining majority suffered attacks from the Yashan and Xinghai sect cultivators who had originally been near the watchtower.

A gray marten leaped out from the crowd, its form rapidly enlarging. When it opened its mouth, it could swallow dozens of ghost soldiers, causing screams and wails that shook the clouds.

Naturally, Shijiu Zhou’s side wouldn’t miss such an excellent opportunity and pressed forward in full force!

This was clearly a divide-and-conquer tactic!

Lord Taishan had worried about this early on, so after ordering a troop of ghost soldiers to reinforce the watchtower, he quickly realized he had fallen into a trap and issued orders for the ghost soldiers to retreat.

But by then it was too late.

Since Jian Chou had laid out such a strategy, she had placed Lord Taishan in a difficult dilemma at every turn. The more difficult it became, the more hesitation there was, the easier it was to make mistakes!

On the main battlefield, Shijiu Zhou and the Extreme Domain were originally evenly matched.

However, once this point was exploited—using a feint attack on the watchtower and employing a false “surround Wei to save Zhao” strategy to force the opponent to split off part of their army’s strength—it weakened the Extreme Domain’s power. With Xie Buchen’s ability to assess situations and adapt, and the steady presence of various powerful cultivators from Shijiu Zhou, how could they not win?

“Boom!”

Another silver-white sword light slid down from the sky. After experiencing the previous complex layers of changes, this sword had shed its former ferocious killing aura and revealed a detached quality that seemed out of place on the battlefield.

But its power was equally shocking!

From beginning to end, Lord Taishan had never been able to escape Jian Chou’s attacks. He was also surprised by the sudden appearance of Lord Wu Guan and Lord Dushi, instinctively realizing that the appearance of these two Yama Kings must represent some major change. Moreover, because of the Kunpeng’s shadow that suddenly covered overhead, he inevitably became distracted.

He and Jian Chou were originally evenly matched.

His cultivation was two small realms higher than Jian Chou’s, but her natural understanding of combat could already compensate for part of that gap. Moreover, with the strangely versatile sword in her hand, full of malevolent killing intent, it added several points of weapon advantage for her, so she could barely fight to a draw!

In such a dangerous situation, being distracted—what difference was there from seeking death?!

With a “puff,” the vast sword qi crashed into his mountain-like massive body. Though his extremely strong defense blocked most of the force, the remaining portion still terrifyingly penetrated his body!

That feeling was like being hammered into mud by a plank!

Lord Taishan’s enormous body, enlarged by summoning his dharma body’s power, was actually forced to shrink several sizes by this single sword strike. Beyond being terrifying, it inevitably gave people a comical feeling.

Ever since seeing Fu Chaosheng take action and witnessing the Kunpeng’s abilities once again, Jian Chou’s heart had completely relaxed.

She had naturally been distracted too, but recovered much faster than Lord Taishan.

This sword encountered almost no resistance and succeeded easily, truly making her feel some excitement from the bottom of her heart. She smiled with amusement and said, “His Highness Lord Taishan, as a sword-testing stone, seems rather unwilling to cooperate.”

Sword-testing stone?

Cooperate?!

Lord Taishan’s already violent temper became even more violent at this moment, and he simply couldn’t suppress it anymore.

He was, after all, the dignified Sixth Palace Yama King, a powerful cultivator in this world. Yet this female cultivator, whose cultivation was clearly lower than his, spoke as if she completely disregarded him with every sentence!

Even though he knew in his heart that this was a provocation tactic, it was hard not to fall for it.

Moreover, what he cultivated was not some moderate and harmonious path—it required exactly that fierce and violent energy!

All kinds of rage surged up from his heart, seemingly becoming tangible!

“Whoosh!”

Streaks of brilliant yellow and bright red fire light blazed from his chest, suddenly converging toward his brow. On that dark facial skin, a mass of burning flame immediately condensed!

At the same time, he shouted loudly, “What are you all standing around for?!”

His resonant voice, enhanced by his fury, had a power that struck directly into people’s hearts!

Most people didn’t understand.

Including many from their own side in the Extreme Domain.

But the various ghost generals from the Ten Ghost Clans reacted instantly—it was time to act!

“Woo—”

A shrill and fierce horn sounded!

Ten ghost generals flew up from different corners of the battle formation, reaching the center of the formation. In an instant, they had fallen into that ant-tide-like mass of ghost soldiers, making it impossible to distinguish their positions and figures.

However, the moment they merged in, thousands of dark purple lights blazed up!

Light ones like the purple qi coming from the east at sunrise, medium ones like the misty mountain smoke condensed in the dusky sky, and the dense ones like the eyes of demons leaping from the bottom of abyssal cliffs!

Like colored glaze!

Like purple lightning!

Like a giant net!

Incredibly fast, with imposing might!

Just as Lord Taishan’s words fell, the entire great formation composed of 7,321 ghost soldiers had already revealed its shape. Over seven thousand purple lights surged upward, interweaving with each other. After quickly passing through three strange trajectories, they actually converged into a single beam!

A beam of nearly pure black dark light!

If the previous various changes had left Lord Taishan no time to react, then the current change left Jian Chou no time to react!

And it left the rest of Shijiu Zhou no time to react!

Just as Jian Chou realized this formation seemed somewhat familiar, that beam of dark light condensed from purple light had already crossed half the battlefield without obstruction, striking directly down at her!

Its force was too heavy!

Its power too vicious!

She had wanted to temporarily avoid its edge at this moment, but who would have expected that Lord Taishan, standing in the air directly in front of her, would suddenly open his eyes wide at this moment!

“Buzz!”

The flame in his brow suddenly contracted toward the center, shrinking into a golden line! Accompanying his sudden wide-eyed glare, this golden line also suddenly burst open!

It was actually a golden giant eye!

That gaze was also golden, spreading out like a tangible substance, enveloping Jian Chou!

In this instant, every part of Jian Chou’s body stiffened, as if she had completely turned to stone!

No flowing of blood!

No exchange of breath!

No soft skin or flexible sinews and bones!

Her entire person was rigidly fixed in place by the gaze from Lord Taishan’s third eye, unable to move even slightly!

“Rumble!”

The dark light gathered into a thin beam!

Like a fine thread, it fell upon Jian Chou!

Above her head, it was as if countless thunderclaps had collided together. Looking up, she saw only dark light filling her vision, and all the light between heaven and earth was extinguished at this moment!

Without human control, powerful defenses become extremely fragile.

In this instant when she could neither actively defend nor lift her sword to counterattack, Jian Chou was like a lifeless stone struck by this strange attack falling from the sky!

“Puff…”

Cracked blood marks immediately appeared on her skin’s surface, like a sculpture that had been struck and was about to shatter!

A mist of blood immediately rose around her!

Before the people from Shijiu Zhou could cry out in alarm, Jian Chou had already been struck down from her high position by this attack, thunderously crashing behind Ghost Gate Pass!

“Hahaha…”

Lord Taishan finally laughed with satisfaction, thinking that under the double strike of his third eye divine ability and the ancient formation’s power, even if she didn’t die, she should be severely injured!

Moreover, at this moment, the watchtower was more important than Jian Chou!

So at this moment, he didn’t pursue his advantage, nor could he pursue his advantage. Instead, he directly changed direction and headed toward the watchtower!

At the same time, he shouted loudly again, “The watchtower!”

Over seven thousand purple lights gathered once more, and that terrifying aura instantly swept across this vast battlefield for the second time!

This time, it struck directly at Qu Zhengfeng!

The effect was almost identical to the previous strike against Jian Chou!

The only difference was that at this moment, Lord Taishan was too far from Qu Zhengfeng, and his third eye divine ability was extremely taxing to use. He simply didn’t have time to repeat the same trick in such a short period. Moreover, Qu Zhengfeng had witnessed the heart-palpitating scene of Jian Chou being struck down and was already on guard!

At that moment, he suddenly drew his Yashan sword!

The blade expanded with the wind, and when struck, it naturally became a mountain!

But he himself reacted extremely quickly, dodging instantly!

“Crack!”

A tremendous crash!

The sword qi that had become a mountain collided with that black thread-like dark light, immediately cracking like a fragile porcelain vase before finally annihilating together with the dark light!

Formation!

Just from this high, distant vantage point, Xie Buchen easily identified how this sudden terrifying attack from the Extreme Domain ghost soldier formation had been produced.

Beyond his shock, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat surprised.

He was skilled in the art of formations, and even from such a great distance, how could he not see the brilliant aspects of the opponent’s formation?

It was no inferior to his own!

Moreover, several arrangements within the formation looked like a relatively common formation style from several hundred years ago that had now been abandoned by Shijiu Zhou.

Not new, but absolutely powerful!

His brow immediately furrowed. Even though Xie Buchen was unwilling to see either Jian Chou or Qu Zhengfeng alive, if no response was made to the current situation, the opponent would definitely seize the opportunity to reverse the battle situation!

When they fought again, it would probably be too late.

So at this moment, with almost no deliberation, he directly drew the Human Emperor Sword. A sword light crossed the battle formation like a spark passing through a desolate plain, instantly igniting the great formation at the very center of Shijiu Zhou’s battle array!

Unlike the directness of the ghost soldier formation, Shijiu Zhou’s battle formation actually centered on the cultivators with lower cultivation in the middle, assisted by the cultivators from the Yin and Yang sects on both flanks. When the spiritual technique activated, what lit up was a massive Taiji yin-yang fish diagram!

The fish diagram rose higher and higher, suspended in the void!

Nearly ten thousand cultivators’ fingertips, sword tips, and blade tips all blazed with points of spiritual light, flying toward the fish diagram! The fish diagram spun rapidly, and like the opponent’s formation, it condensed these countless attacks into a single beam. But rather than striking any individual opponent, it directly blasted down at the center of the opposing battle formation!

If the combined power of seven thousand ghost soldiers from the Extreme Domain could leave powerful cultivators like Jian Chou and Qu Zhengfeng helpless to resist, then the attack condensed by nearly ten thousand elites from Shijiu Zhou, falling into the ghost soldier formation—how could ordinary ghost soldiers possibly withstand it?!

A circle of terrifying ripples spread outward from where the attack landed!

Like a blade cutting flatly through…

From inside to outside, within a hundred zhang radius, over a thousand ghost soldiers were all cut in half at the waist!

The scene at this moment was terrifying to the extreme.

There wasn’t even half a scream!

In just moments, the center of the Extreme Domain ghost soldier formation had sunk down by a large section!

After the mysterious death of Lord Chujiang, the upper crescent command token that opened the watchtower had transferred to Lord Taishan’s hands. At this moment, he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity when Qu Zhengfeng was blocked by the formation’s power to head toward the watchtower and reopen it.

Who would have expected that Shijiu Zhou’s counterattack would be so swift!

Before he could even approach the watchtower’s location, the opponent’s ripple-like attack had already arrived!

It was almost a repeat of the scene when Jian Chou was suddenly attacked earlier.

Lord Taishan also couldn’t avoid this strike and was caught by the edge of this ripple, heavily struck in the waist!

“Bang!”

He wasn’t cut in half, but his entire person was bounced backward by this suddenly appearing ripple!

The circulation patterns of all soul power within his body immediately fell into chaos!

The solid dharma body that had previously condensed around his soul immediately developed crack after crack, even causing his third golden “dharma eye” in his brow to fill with blood vessels!

He completely lost control of his body!

Lord Taishan was knocked back several li in midair, actually farther from the watchtower he wanted to reach!

Fury and inner terror surged forth simultaneously!

Without thinking, he wanted to change direction, intending to circle around the opponent’s attack range from the side to reach the watchtower.

However, just as his form began to move, a hoarse, blood-stained voice had already sounded from behind him—

“Lord Taishan is in such a hurry—where are you trying to go?”

Too hoarse.

As if the entire throat had been torn open, the voice leaked air like wind, yet it was extremely heavy, as if soaked in fresh blood.

The massive crater that had been smashed out seemed bottomless.

The moist earth had almost dyed Jian Chou’s clean moon-white robe a dirty black, yet when she gritted her teeth, held her sword, and walked out step by step from the edge of the crater, who would notice such trivial stains?

This robe was clearly already blood-stained!

Drip by drip, bleeding all the way, leaving a trail of mixed blood-red and dirty black in the path she had traveled…

Shocking to behold!

At her level, who would dare to casually accept a strike from a cultivator of equal or higher level while completely undefended?!

The power of seven thousand ghost cultivators gathered together had completely exceeded Jian Chou’s capabilities!

When she was struck by that beam of dark light, she had nearly shattered her entire physical shell. If she hadn’t cultivated the “Human Weapon” technique and didn’t have the Dragon Scale Dao Seal protecting her body, she would probably have already become a fragile Nascent Soul without a physical form by now!

She had newly acquired the First Line of Sky and had no opponent who could match her to test the sword, so she had stepped forward in today’s occasion that didn’t require her personal action, restraining Lord Taishan while taking the opportunity to truly test this sword’s power.

So earlier, when Jian Chou made her moves, she had still held back.

She only hoped that Lord Taishan would be more formidable, even more formidable, able to stimulate all her potential related to combat and also stimulate all of First Line of Sky’s desire for slaughter!

And now, everything was in place!

How long had it been?

How long since she had experienced this kind of pain and burning sensation of being beaten bloody all over, as if fished out of a pool of blood?

Who said that the higher one’s realm, the less one could kill across levels?

Who said that one person with one sword couldn’t face a million soldiers?

First Line of Sky’s three-fold realm!

Endless!

Annihilation!

And rebirth!

Earlier was only the first level!

She raised her sleeve, wiping away the crimson blood from her cheek, allowing the terrifying power from that previous strike to tear apart her body’s surface, leaving crisscrossing bloody marks like ravines!

In this moment when Lord Taishan heard her voice and looked back—

She had already risen with sword in hand!

It was a laugh that sounded somewhat terrifying to others: “Do you know how to write the character for ‘death’?”

The distance between them was only a hundred feet!

From ground to sky!

A straight line, arrived in an instant!

Lord Taishan only felt that his opponent was like a demon appearing from nowhere, her blood-stained figure approaching from far to near, instantly reaching before his eyes!

And behind her, she had left the phantoms of a thousand swords!

From the starting point of her flashing approach to the endpoint where her sword now pointed, the same face, the same posture, yet a thousand different phantoms, a thousand different sword-holding stances!

Were these afterimages left by excessive speed?

No, afterimages should be a continuous sequence of movements!

Did she suddenly transform into a thousand bodies?

No, there should be no cultivator in Shijiu Zhou who possessed such power that exceeded the limits of what this realm could contain!

In this moment of sudden change, Lord Taishan’s pupils contracted sharply. The instant Jian Chou’s figure pressed close, he felt the shadow of death descending.

But he couldn’t escape!

That point of red light on the tip of First Line of Sky seemed to have been soaked by the fresh blood covering Jian Chou’s body, like a fierce beast in the darkness opening its blood-red eyes!

The sharp sword qi stirred the spatial energies around them!

Lord Taishan suddenly felt the terrifying sensation he had experienced when asking Lord Qin Guang for guidance—being casually pointed at by someone and having all the space around his body imprisoned!

Like being locked in a cage, like countless mountains pressing from all directions!

At this moment, he clearly saw that this female cultivator from Yashan of Shijiu Zhou had eyes that turned dark red as she approached him!

Faintly, a strand of black qi moved from her left eye to her right eye…

Then suddenly disappeared into that line of bright red vertical mark in her brow, vanishing from sight!

That was…

A trace of indescribable shock couldn’t help but appear in Lord Taishan’s eyes, almost suspecting he was seeing things!

How could this aura appear on a cultivator from Shijiu Zhou?!

However, the next moment, those thousand different sword-holding phantoms along the hundred-foot straight line behind Jian Chou had already flashed back into her body like lightning!

With each one that returned, the sword’s momentum became more dangerous!

Though it seemed slow in description, it was actually instantaneous!

In the blink of an eye, the thousand phantoms had condensed into one, arriving before Lord Taishan in a perilous, cold stance!

Only a “puff” was heard as First Line of Sky penetrated straight and coldly through his third dharma eye in his brow, which was already covered with blood vessels!

Fresh blood immediately splattered everywhere!

Lord Taishan cultivated the Pure Virtue Demon Lord dharma body. His third dharma eye was tremendously powerful, but it was also his vital point. When pierced by a sword, it exploded completely, making him scream in agony!

“Do you know how to write the character for ‘death’?”

In this instant, endless sword intent swept through his consciousness via this sword that penetrated his brow, actually manifesting every single move and stance from when Jian Chou had fought with him earlier—a thousand moves, a thousand stances!

When one lives, countless thoughts arise!

In human life, countless desires emerge!

Yet when a sword falls from the nine heavens—

Life departs like falling flowers, so fame, fortune, and beautiful women all turn to dust and pretty faces all become skulls!

When all in the world dies, then I die!

When all in the world perishes, then I perish!

When I die, all in the world dies; when I perish, all in the world perishes!

Death is the path to one’s true heart, to the most genuine essence of this universe!

Lord Taishan couldn’t describe the terror this sword brought him. It hadn’t killed him, yet it seemed to have already erased his existence from this world, transforming him into a grain of dust among the stars of the universe, and also making him become part of the vast mountains and rivers!

Thus he easily comprehended the profound meaning of her sword—

Before death, countless forms and myriad phenomena; after death, all things become empty!

So the previous sword was like flowers blooming all over the mountainside, endlessly changing—a thousand types, ten thousand types. When it reached this realm, it suddenly became silent and still, consigning everything to death and emptiness!

First Line of Sky!

It was the lifelong dream and posthumous resentment of countless Yashan cultivators!

When Jian Chou raised her sword and struck out, she was filled with burning killing intent and rage. But when the sword entered the enemy’s body, those blood-stained eyes took on a trace of eternal sorrow.

Along with this heart, this sword, unified in silence!

Lowering her brow and withdrawing her sword, she turned slightly to the side. Her eye color had returned to deep black as she pulled out the sword, bringing forth a string of blood flowers wreathed with soul power.

Lord Taishan staggered several steps, having almost lost his soul.

That sword that had penetrated his brow and shattered his dharma eye seemed to have taken away all his intelligence. Only the strong notion that had been deeply imprinted in his subconscious moments before still controlled his actions, making him take difficult steps toward the other direction, fleeing!

Escape, get away, flee from that sword!

However, Jian Chou didn’t stop him, nor did she even glance at him. She simply raised the blood-stained long sword in her palm diagonally—

One point!

Instantly, within the vast sky, endless sword qi suddenly condensed and fell like rain!

“Swoosh…”

Falling from the boundless and gloomy sky, striking upon this barren wasteland where even weeds struggled to survive!

But not a single strand fell on Lord Taishan!

They only fell near him, at his feet, on the ground beside his feet, across this vast wilderness, blooming pale green flowers one after another.

—Sword rain blooms!

At this moment, the severely injured Lord Taishan finally collapsed like Mount Tai crumbling, falling to his knees with his back to Jian Chou, who stood behind him!

All fighting spirit was instantly extinguished!

Bathed in this sword rain, the fresh blood from his brow dripped steadily to the ground, forming a small stream.

On the diagonally pointed First Line of Sky, the blood was also washed away by the sword rain. On the sword’s body, clear as autumn water, patches of rust slowly covered its surface…

As if after this battle, this sword could be sealed away in its old sheath;

As if after this battle, this sword could peacefully gather dust and rust!

But when has there ever been an end to conflicts between people?

This sword was ultimately born for slaughter!

Even if the sword’s realm has three levels, from life to death, even if one wishes for sword rain to bloom flowers and sword edges to rust completely, it’s nothing more than a beautiful dream that the thousands of dead souls from Yashan could never realize!