In the Central Domain’s Left Three Thousand, for thousands of years, Yashan and Kunwu had been revered as the supreme powers.

Unlike Yashan’s aloof temperament, Kunwu always displayed the bearing of an ordinary renowned righteous sect—whether from the scale of Kunwu’s Eleven Peaks, the number of disciples they recruited, or their habit of maintaining balance and order among various factions. Especially after that battle in the Yin-Yang Realm eleven jiazi ago, when Yashan lost a thousand cultivators while Kunwu “through a stroke of fate” preserved most of its strength in that conflict, it had undoubtedly become the foremost sect in the Central Domain during the subsequent six hundred and sixty-plus years. Whether in terms of reputation or actual power, it had left the former Yashan far behind.

This river bay within the Nine-Headed River was the sacred ground that countless cultivators dreamed of reaching.

The deeper the foundation of a great sect, the more it could reveal itself when facing crisis.

But at this moment, it was ultimately useless.

With the Yin-Yang Realm war restarted, the elites of all major sects had undoubtedly been dispatched by their respective factions. An extremely small portion was stationed at Mingri Xinghai and the Eastern Extreme Ghost Gate, while the vast majority had already followed Master Hengxu into the Extreme Domain to battle the Eight Directions Hell Palace.

Those left to guard the sect were mostly insufficient in strength.

Kunwu was no exception.

Each of the Eleven Peaks housed four to five hundred people, with most of those at Nascent Soul cultivation and above having already departed. Even if some skilled defenders had been left behind, how could they possibly contend with Qu Zhengfeng and this group of desperate criminals from Mingri Xinghai?

Moreover, Qu Zhengfeng had prepared well in advance.

In such a chaotic place as Mingri Xinghai, though many had entered the Extreme Domain to participate in the Yin-Yang Realm war, even more cultivators had remained. Their strength might not be particularly high, but it was more than sufficient to deal with the current Kunwu.

Human figures fell from the sky like flying swords, landing atop each peak.

Kunwu’s twelve-layered mountain protection formation hastily activated. In the past, it had been a symbol of impregnability—once opened, it could make countless evil demons and heretical cultivators tremble in fear, not daring to approach.

But now, what greeted them was merely a sword strike from above!

“Rumble!”

The massive Yashan sword rose high, as if to pierce the heavens. Its towering sword momentum, before even falling, caused the surrounding void to tremble, making even the waters of the Nine-Headed River roar in agitation!

When the sword fell, six layers of the great formation were already broken!

An elder of Kunwu who was inside the formation, attempting to repair it in time, was instantly injured by the impact of more than half the formation being destroyed, his Nascent Soul completely shattered!

Without someone to control it, no matter how sophisticated a formation might be, it was merely a dead object. Moreover, in its thousands of years of existence, when had Kunwu ever encountered such a great catastrophe?

Too long in peaceful times, they had forgotten the cruelty of the cultivation world.

Countless disciples questioned the attackers, asking how they dared to assault Kunwu, but what answered them were nothing but bloodstained swords and blades!

None below Foundation Establishment would be killed, none above Golden Core would be spared!

Among the three thousand-plus people in the Kunwu sect, more than half were slaughtered in the blink of an eye.

During the mutual attacks and defenses of spiritual power techniques as both sides clashed, the once lush forests fell to the ground, pavilions and towers collapsed with thunderous crashes, and even the waterfall cascading down the mountainside ran red with blood!

Under the fierce assault, the protective formation continuously contracted.

Finally, it could only huddle atop Kunwu’s main peak, centered around the One Crane Hall, protecting the remaining thousand-plus disciples within the formation.

Among them were over a hundred Kunwu disciples who had joined not long ago, all with cultivation not exceeding Foundation Establishment. They were shielded by senior brothers, martial uncles, and martial elders of higher cultivation, their young faces still bearing traces of naive innocence. This shocking change had occurred so suddenly that the fear and confusion in their eyes were still difficult to conceal.

Especially when they saw the leading cultivator…

It was actually the former Sword Emperor of Mingri Xinghai who had once defected from Yashan—Qu Zhengfeng!

He walked up the mountain path step by step, while the other Mingri Xinghai cultivators who had finished their slaughter on the other main peaks gradually returned, following behind him.

Every person was stained with blood.

They wore varied clothing, both men and women, mostly from Mingri Xinghai—hundreds of people, not one of them decent.

Gu Qingmei’s cultivation had now surpassed Nascent Soul. Though her natural talent wasn’t exceptionally high, her father Gu Pingsheng was after all a Kunwu elder, and with spiritual pills and wonderful medicines piled up for her use, achieving Nascent Soul within a century was not particularly difficult.

For this Yin-Yang Realm war, she had originally wanted to go together with Xie Buchen.

But Gu Pingsheng said the Extreme Domain was an evil place, with dangers everywhere on the battlefield, and would absolutely not let her go. He forcibly ordered her to stay within the mountain gate and behave herself.

When today’s events began, she was just about to sneak down from the back mountain, but before she could leave the mountain gate, she saw countless fierce attacks falling upon Kunwu.

Unlike the newly initiated disciples, Gu Qingmei was well-informed and experienced.

She hastily flew on her sword from the back mountain, shielding a group of disciples with lower cultivation behind her. When she looked up at Qu Zhengfeng and their eyes met for the first time—that extremely calm gaze—she felt her heart and courage turn cold, her sword-holding hand trembling. But even more terrifying was that she actually discovered many unusual faces among the crowd behind him. Looking at their clothing and appearance, though they had been disguised, she could still make out traces of the demonic path!

“Qu Zhengfeng, you despicable villain! You dare to assault our mountain while Kunwu is vulnerable, and even collude with these evil demons and heretical cultivators from the southeastern wilderness! Do you really think Kunwu is easy to bully?!”

The area in front of One Crane Hall was flat. On Gu Qingmei’s beautiful face, terror, anger, and contempt flashed simultaneously. Claiming to be Gu Pingsheng’s daughter, before the several elders beside her could speak, she had already resolutely given the order!

“Sever the mountain gate, open the Heavenly Moat!”

Most of the several elders guarding Kunwu’s mountain gate had high cultivation but insufficient combat power, though working together they could indeed control the formation. But now the mountain protection formation had been half-destroyed by Qu Zhengfeng’s single sword strike when it first appeared. To “open the Heavenly Moat” would be tantamount to cutting off their own retreat and would require great effort.

But in the current situation, how could they hesitate any longer?

Opening the Heavenly Moat merely cut off their connection with the outside world. News of Kunwu’s crisis had already spread the moment it occurred, and their fellow disciples fighting in the Extreme Domain would surely return as quickly as possible. If they hesitated now and didn’t open the Heavenly Moat, seeing Qu Zhengfeng’s current state of madness, he would certainly exterminate them all!

“Open the Heavenly Moat!!!”

The leading white-haired elder holding a wooden staff, his eyes blood-red, shouted loudly and raised both hands high.

The other elders simultaneously formed hand seals!

“Rumble…”

In this instant, the earth truly shook and the mountains swayed!

The entire main peak of Kunwu seemed to transform into a fragile celestial pillar, tottering precariously under the powerful arms of a giant!

The mountain protection formation suddenly contracted another layer, stopping before One Crane Hall. Then the mountains collapsed and the earth split—the entire main peak of Kunwu actually cracked open from the front mountain!

A massive chasm appeared before One Crane Hall!

Within the Heavenly Moat, wild winds howled and endless spiritual power formed into thunder and lightning, forcibly creating a terrifying barrier as high as the sky itself between Qu Zhengfeng’s group and One Crane Hall!

But at the same time, this barrier also completely surrounded One Crane Hall, turning it into an isolated island cut off from the outside world, making even the absorption of heaven and earth’s spiritual energy difficult.

Few knew that the original Kunwu was not some blessed paradise.

Very, very long ago, it had been a place pervaded by miasma, with treacherous mountains and dangerous waters. Moreover, there was a split mountain of extreme peril, from which lightning and evil spirits emerged.

For tens of thousands of years, even cultivators could rarely venture there.

It wasn’t until the White Crane Great Emperor appeared, sitting in meditation, slaying all evil spirits, and using his great power to merge the split mountain peaks, that today’s main peak came to be. Over the subsequent tens of thousands of years, his descendants and inheritors built a sect on this site, calling it “Kunwu.”

And the Heavenly Moat’s mountain crevice—what could be merged could naturally also be opened.

Thus this Heavenly Moat became the final protection of Kunwu’s mountain gate!

Many cultivators from Mingri Xinghai had only heard legends of the Heavenly Moat but had never seen it with their own eyes, let alone witnessed several elders perform techniques to personally open the Heavenly Moat!

Violent turbulence instantly shot up to the clouds!

Many cultivators with insufficient cultivation felt unsteady on their feet, and several unprepared cultivators were caught in the turbulence, swept into the thunderstorm of the Heavenly Moat, torn to pieces with their souls scattered!

Not only the Mingri Xinghai cultivators, but even Kunwu’s own elders hadn’t expected the opening of the Heavenly Moat to produce such tremendous power, all turning pale with shock.

But Qu Zhengfeng merely watched quietly.

Neither surprised nor amazed.

More than six hundred and sixty years had passed in a flash, yet those blood-stained events of the past remained so clear, as if they had happened yesterday.

They had waited in bitter fighting for the “allies” who should have arrived much earlier but had been delayed time and again, watching familiar faces disappear one by one into the bone-corroding waters of the Yellow Springs, gradually moving from hope to despair.

Over a thousand cultivators reduced to just over a hundred.

Few remained under Yashan’s banner, and the opposing Extreme Domain ghost cultivators were also severely damaged.

At such a time, the people from Kunwu finally arrived late. And what came was not a mighty host, but merely a small team sent to deliver a message!

The leader was Shen Juhan, Hengxu’s junior brother.

By hierarchy, Qu Zhengfeng should address him as “Uncle Shen.”

Though Shen Juhan was Hengxu’s junior brother in Kunwu, he was a young genius who had truly earned fame throughout the Nineteen Provinces. Had he not entered the sect too late, becoming Hengxu’s junior, the one sharing renown with Yashan’s Fudao Shanren might not have been Hengxu, but him instead.

It was said that the Kunwu Sect Leader of that time, who was also their master, held him in high regard.

He was handsome and talented, truly a man of distinction.

Qu Zhengfeng wasn’t familiar with him, and with the brutal fighting before them, seeing that Kunwu had only sent this small team, he inquired about the reason.

Who would have expected Shen Juhan to speak arrogantly, saying only that they had been trapped halfway and hadn’t arrived in time.

He also said that their master and senior brother had sent him to report first, but they had thought Yashan was formidable and could cope on their own, not necessarily needing their assistance. They hadn’t expected to be beaten into such a wretched state by the Extreme Domain.

The contempt in his words and his indifference to the tragic battle situation made the remaining hundred-plus Yashan cultivators glare at him with anger. Even someone as usually calm and composed as Qu Zhengfeng felt a surge of rage in that instant, his entire body turning cold.

Not to mention Yu Shanxing.

Yu Shanxing’s natural talent was not high; he was famously known in Yashan as someone with poor aptitude who relied entirely on hard cultivation. Because of this, his feelings for Yashan ran deeper than others.

Having fought all this way, watching familiar fellow disciples fall one by one on the battlefield, while Kunwu, who according to the battle plan should have arrived long ago, not only hadn’t come but now sent a messenger who regarded the sacrifices of countless fallen cultivators as nothing…

How could he not be furious?!

He immediately demanded to know what trouble Kunwu had encountered, and how even someone with cultivation merely at the Out-of-Body stage like Shen Juhan could lead people here, while the Kunwu Sect Leader and numerous elders couldn’t come to their aid.

Shen Juhan’s expression instantly darkened, asking in return if he was doubting Kunwu.

But at that moment, the Extreme Domain ghost cultivators under Emperor Song’s leadership launched another wave of attacks, apparently knowing that both sides had reached their final moments, making their counterattack extraordinarily fierce.

Who could spare attention for this group from Kunwu?

So although they had already sensed something was wrong, Qu Zhengfeng only wanted to understand the full situation afterward. Who could have imagined that the moment they turned to face the enemy, Shen Juhan behind them would raise his sword against them?

The Xuanyuan Sword was a sharp weapon. Purely as a sword, this blade was truly Kunwu’s famous sword, able to rank alongside Yashan’s Three Swords. Though Master Hengxu’s rusted sword was also renowned far and wide, its fame came not so much from the sword itself as from Master Hengxu himself.

Qu Zhengfeng’s cultivation was not weak, but Shen Juhan was a full realm higher than him.

With a sneak attack from behind while he was already worn down from long battle, how could he resist?

Everyone around was shocked, but with Extreme Domain ghost cultivators pressing forward, even if they wanted to intervene, they couldn’t!

He retreated step by step, on the verge of perishing under the other’s sword.

At that moment, it was Yu Shanxing who blocked that fatal sword strike for him…

After this battle, the Yin-Yang Realm war temporarily ended.

The cultivation world had failed to reclaim reincarnation from Lord Qin Guang’s hands.

Yu Shanxing suffered severe injuries. The Xuanyuan Sword’s wounds couldn’t heal, and could only be suppressed with countless spiritual medicines, causing unbearable pain.

Afterward, at the Embrace Moon Hall council, he burst in with his body covered in cracked, bleeding wounds, loudly and tearfully questioning everyone: Why had this battle become Yashan’s devastating defeat? Why had so many fellow disciples who shouldn’t have fallen perished? Why could Kunwu and Yashan still coexist?!

Everyone could only hang their heads in silence.

In Embrace Moon Hall, the moonlight flowed like silk, completely still.

The cold moonlight spread across the deep, cold floor tiles, illuminating everyone’s helpless yet mournful expressions.

Yashan had lost a thousand cultivators, its elites destroyed.

Since Kunwu dared to find excuses to delay their aid, first, they couldn’t possibly admit to harboring ill intentions; second, seeking justice would inevitably lead to massive conflict.

Both being in the Central Domain, the weakened Yashan didn’t dare to gamble.

They had already lost so many, so many fellow disciples—how could they dare to easily drag the remaining survivors into this endless strife again, causing them to perish?

When Yu Shanxing left Yashan, the moon above was full, a perfect round orb, yet ultimately a dead object that couldn’t illuminate the many gatherings and partings, joys and sorrows of the mortal world.

Qu Zhengfeng remembered that he had stood in the corner of the great hall at that time.

The mountain wind brought bone-piercing cold.

In the years that followed, Yu Shanxing established the Yushan Sect, taking only one disciple, requiring his successor to pass down the three characters “Yu Shanxing” through the generations.

He wanted to use this name to witness the day when the blood debt would finally be repaid in blood.

He refused all spiritual medicines from Yashan, using only his own cultivation to resist the power of the Xuanyuan Sword. Finally unable to endure, his cultivation regressed within just a few years, and he departed this world in extreme agony.

Qu Zhengfeng still remembered that in his final moments, Yu Shanxing had gripped his palm tightly, using all his remaining strength to speak those words…

“Yashan cannot afford to fight and shouldn’t stir up more conflict. I don’t blame our sect! But Kunwu won’t even hand over Shen Juhan!”

“How can such hatred be dispelled?!”

“Today I leave Yashan, while senior brother can still use reason to suppress hatred and wait for the day when Kunwu will render justice. But what if after another three to five years, thirty to fifty years, or even three to five hundred years, there’s still no justice?”

“I only regret that this broken body, though choosing this path, cannot repay this vengeance!”

“Senior brother, senior brother!”

“You will ultimately become like me…”

His eyes had widened, the crimson depths filled with hatred carved to the extreme. In the pain wracked by sword intent and the sorrow of being unable to take revenge, the hand that had gripped his palm so tightly finally fell.

At that time, Qu Zhengfeng didn’t think he would be trapped by hatred.

It wasn’t until over four hundred years ago, when his cultivation could no longer advance no matter what, that he understood—he had always cared, just hadn’t found the right opportunity.

But eighty-plus years ago, the female cultivator called “Jian Chou” that Fudao Shanren had brought back quietly changed his situation of being trapped at Yashan, trapped by the name of senior brother…

Qu Zhengfeng stood on this side of the Heavenly Moat, across the explosive thunderstorm in between, gazing at the many Kunwu cultivators before One Crane Hall, and at the several elders opposite.

The good thing about cultivators was that their memory was too good.

Their powerful divine consciousness meant that once they had seen something or encountered someone, they would find it difficult to forget.

Just like now—he clearly remembered the evasive expressions certain elders had shown back then.

“Colluding with evil demons and heretical cultivators?”

Qu Zhengfeng laughed once himself. Though he clearly maintained his former calm and composed appearance, even carrying a trace of refined elegance, that black robe with gold embroidery ultimately made people feel this smile was more terrifying than a demon’s!

“I am the evil demon and heretical cultivator—what need is there to collude…”

As his words fell, he directly raised his hand and waved!

Without any apparent motion, the main peak that had split under the mountain protection formation’s influence suddenly began closing toward the center without warning!

As if all the fertile soil across these ten thousand li of the Nineteen Provinces obeyed his command!

The endless thunderstorm vanished without a trace in an instant.

Qu Zhengfeng struck down with his sword first!

But at this moment, from the far east, three sword lights raced from the distance, instantly converging together—the eldest disciple Zhao Zhuo’s Zhuoran Sword, second disciple Yue He’s Jiangliu Sword, and third disciple Wu Duan’s White Bone Dragon Sword!

The three swords immediately combined, striking toward the massive Yashan sword!

In terms of individual cultivation, none of the three—Zhao Zhuo, Yue He, or Wu Duan—was a match for Qu Zhengfeng, but with their three swords combined, they could barely match him.

With the three swords’ attack, the sword momentum naturally slowed.

Everyone looked east again to see the remnants of Kunwu who had participated in the Extreme Domain battle racing toward One Crane Hall, but Master Hengxu was at the front, his expression extremely grim.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Wang Que flew out on his sword, landing before the hall, wanting to evacuate the remaining Kunwu disciples in front of the hall and escort several elders and Gu Qingmei to safety first.

But who would have expected that Qu Zhengfeng merely glanced at him lightly across the sky full of sword light.

His right hand swept away Zhao Zhuo, Yue He, and Wu Duan’s three swords with the Yashan sword, while his left hand merely made a distant grasping motion toward the front of One Crane Hall!

“Rumble!”

The moment his five fingers closed, the entire ground in front of One Crane Hall seemed to come alive like flowing sand, rising up and converging toward the center with lightning speed!

With a tremendous sound that shook heaven and earth, the several elders and the previously arrogant and contemptuous Gu Qingmei had been crushed in the middle by this living ground, beaten into bloody paste with no trace of bones remaining!

Right before Wang Que’s eyes!

Splashing blood all over him!

And his outstretched hand hadn’t even had time to touch any of his fellow disciples…

“Houtu Seal…”

So it was Qu Zhengfeng who had obtained the Houtu Seal in that battle with the Snow Domain’s Esoteric Sect. But he hadn’t intended to use it on the battlefield fighting Extreme Domain ghost cultivators—he had been waiting for the day when he could use it to annihilate Kunwu!

Wang Que turned around holding his sword, seeing devastation and bones scattered everywhere.

Where was the peaceful, bustling Kunwu of old?!

A surge of anger rolled in his chest, impossible to suppress no matter how he tried to control it.

Yet he also knew what today’s events were for.

Standing before One Crane Hall, Wang Que felt his heart turn cold, questioning Qu Zhengfeng word by word in a loud voice: “Even if Your Majesty the Sword Emperor wants to seek justice, you could have come to our Kunwu openly and honorably! Now you launch sneak attacks and slaughter innocents—do you place the world’s justice in your eyes at all?!”

Justice?

Slaughter innocents?

Qu Zhengfeng naturally saw the mighty host of Kunwu people rushing back, but with the numerous cultivators from Mingri Xinghai and the demonic path behind him, he wasn’t afraid in the slightest. Even the cultivators from across the world racing from afar didn’t catch his attention.

“This world lost its justice long ago—I am justice! Even your Kunwu dares to speak of slaughtering innocents…”

With a flick of his finger, he brushed the fresh blood from his robe.

Though his face showed no obvious evil aura, every word he spoke was pure evil!

“Today, I kill precisely your Kunwu’s innocent!”

Only thus could he make Kunwu feel the pain that Yashan had felt in those days; only thus could he comfort the innocent souls of the thousand Yashan cultivators who had fallen in that battle; only thus could he warn the countless sects throughout the world what fate awaited those who broke faith and harmed others through conspiracy!