Ye Fan held the blood-dripping immortal sword aloft and called out in a voice that rang like a great bell — a sound that pierced through to the very bones of the ears, carrying with it an inviolable majesty and overwhelming momentum.

Rolling, rolling…

Liu Feng’s severed head tumbled away. Blood spurted high. His physical body did not fall — it attempted to reconnect his head — and his primordial spirit even tried to wrench itself free, ascending toward the sky.

But he managed only a few convulsions before his body suddenly detonated. His head burst with a dull sound into a spray of blood, and his primordial spirit never managed to break free.

This was the killing energy of the immortal sword — once it entered a body, not even a Great Sage could be spared. There was only a fallen death. A single thread of the emperor’s aura obliterated every last vestige of life within him.

“Feng’er!” Liu Mingde cried out, his eyes going red, watching helplessly and unable to do a thing.

“Little uncle!” The young man of about twelve or thirteen cried out as well, his gaze like a wolf’s — vicious and fierce — fixed on Ye Fan, grinding his teeth to powder.

A clan’s hope had been extinguished. A magnificent, newly ascended Great Sage had fallen. They had assumed his primordial spirit would manage to escape — and yet both body and spirit had been utterly destroyed.

Throughout the city, everyone trembled beneath the power of the emperor’s weapon, their hearts filled with deep shock. A heaven-defying Great Sage — just gone like that? A supreme ancient weapon had appeared out of nowhere and changed everything, sending a chill through every heart.

“The immortal sword — the supreme divine weapon refined by the Spiritual Treasure Heavenly Venerable — bearing within it the most terrifying will between heaven and earth, an immeasurable killing energy.” Some elder among the crowd said in a low, trembling voice.

This weapon was something exceptional. Setting aside the overwhelming destructive power it achieved when combined with the formation diagram — the immense killing energy it contained on its own alone was enough to make anyone’s heart pound.

It was said to be one of the weapons from antiquity with the most concentrated killing energy — one that very few weapons across all of history could be said to equal.

The sword’s body was a dark crimson color — without particular luster — yet it carried a terrible force of total, sweeping slaughter. A single stroke from it felt as though it could cleave the sky itself in two.

This immortal sword was steeped in ancient character, yet its destructive power was immense. The scenes of slaughter carved into its surface — of battles that had pierced into the immortal realm — were said to have been inscribed directly from those ancient events.

Its killing intent had shaken the ages — from antiquity to the present — and the legends surrounding it were so tangled and contradictory that no one could say with certainty which parts were true and which were fiction.

“Weren’t you still a little short before? How have you managed to wield this killing sword now?” Pang Bo exclaimed in surprise.

Over the past twenty years, they had spent enormous effort refining it. The sword was extremely dangerous — even with Ye Fan possessing the Scriptures of Universal Salvation left by the Spiritual Treasure Heavenly Venerable, he still could not wield it with complete freedom. There had always been some degree of resistance and disconnect between them.

Yet now he had somehow fully unleashed it, able to use it to cut through everything. It had to be understood — this was an emperor’s weapon. One wrong step, and it could easily turn on its wielder.

“This final checkpoint is something special. The materials used to cast this entire city are extraordinarily rare — and Ziyue has drawn upon all of the city’s source energy to help Ye Fan.” Ji Haoyue transmitted in secret.

Pang Bo was astonished, his heart surging with excitement. “After this resonance has been established, Ye Fan will be able to form a lasting connection with this sword. He will be able to use it freely going forward.”

Ye Fan gripped the sword in one hand, dragging its blade low behind him as he advanced in long, sweeping strides — bearing down on Wang Tianyu. He had made his decision: he was going to cut through everything. Even if Great Sages stood in his path, they would fall.

Wang Tianyu’s expression changed sharply. This time, genuine fear crept into him. Though he was a Great Sage — standing among the mightiest of the current age — the weapon of an ancient Great Emperor still filled him with dread. No reasoning could help with that.

The weapons of the ancient Great Emperors each contained the spiritual will and intent of those supreme beings, imbued with their invincible Dao. No outside force could contend with it.

“Wait!” Wang Tianyu bellowed. An immortal sword like this bearing down on him — he could not withstand it. Without a way to dodge it, he would almost certainly fall here.

Ye Fan’s expression was ice-cold. The immortal sword in his hand still dripped with blood. He did not slow for even an instant — the void twisted under the pressure as he raised his hand, the blade arcing in a sweeping downward slash.

Wang Tianyu dodged with all the speed he had — but the sword energy was like a vast ocean rolling forward, cascading down in an immense wave that could not be fully avoided. Trapped inside the city, his room to maneuver was limited — he could not escape without restraint.

At this critical moment, he opened his mouth and expelled a great flag — snapping fiercely in the wind. This was the weapon that had made his name feared — radiating a terrifying holy might, as though it were a second version of himself.

Crack!

The result sent a chill through every body present. With just one sword stroke, Ye Fan split the Great Sage’s flag pole in half, and every last law and principle ceased in that instant, cut short all at once.

Then — with a tremendous boom — the great flag detonated. It was completely destroyed, shattered by that single wave of force — reduced to the finest dust.

How could anyone fight against this? With the emperor’s weapon in hand, Ye Fan was near-invincible. Who could stand against him? It was simply not something a human body could resist — unless one had borrowed another emperor’s weapon of their own.

“What do we do?” Everyone was anxious. What had been meant to be a grand and assured elimination of Ye Fan — a certain success, a severed head delivered — had somehow spiraled into this.

Wang Tianyu was shouting aloud now, trying to buy time. He was full of regret. He had never imagined that a Saint King could push someone like him — a Great Sage — to such a desperate position.

Yet Ye Fan wore a faint, cold smile at the corner of his mouth. There was no possibility he would stop now. These people had just been trying to take his life — there was no chance he would give them a moment to catch their breath.

Whoosh!

A line of sword light blazed — brilliant and blinding, its spirit shooting toward the sky — slashing straight downward. This time, Wang Tianyu spat a mouthful of refined blood from his lips, transforming it into a Dao body to take the blow on his behalf.

But it was useless. The sword light still descended — and his other arm went flying, severed clean away. This was the result even with his divine speed.

With a crash, half of his body detonated — blood mist and shards of bone spraying in all directions.

An emperor’s weapon cannot be resisted!

Even for a Great Sage it was true — even when not struck directly, even when only a grazing afterwave touched them, the assault was beyond reckoning. Even those far below the level of a Great Emperor would be unable to endure it.

Wang Tianyu was pale with terror. In all his years, standing at the apex of the martial path, he had long since forgotten what fear felt like — and now he was experiencing it again. He cried out in fury and defiance, stumbling backward in rapid retreat — yet his body was splitting apart inch by inch. The grazing wave of energy that had caught him, though only a single thread, carried undying killing intent that was now consuming his blood and bones.

With a sharp sound, a tiny blue figure screamed and shot out from his skull — his primordial spirit fleeing. His physical body crumbled and was torn apart by the afterwave, soaked in blood.

With a tremendous crash, Wang Tianyu reconstituted his physical body in the distance. It had to be said — Great Sages were extraordinarily fearsome, defying all normal logic. With only a primordial spirit and a few drops of refined blood remaining, they could conjure a new body from nothing.

Yet waiting for him still was the immortal sword. Ye Fan had locked onto him and was not letting go — raising the sword for another downward slash.

Thud!

A spray of blood shot three thousand feet into the air. Life and death turned on a single breath. It was lamentable — one of the Great Sages struck by misfortune again and again. This time, he was cleaved clean in half at the waist — his upper body flying away, shooting out tens of thousands of yards before dissolving into a puddle of blood.

His upper body carried the full force of the killing energy. Wang Tianyu was obliterated!

His lower body, though damaged, managed to survive — one leg remained, with no killing energy taking root — but it was not wholly annihilated either.

“He is dead — another Great Sage is dead!”

Everyone felt a chill ripple across their skin, raising their hairs on end. This immortal sword was too terrifying — armed with the world’s most potent killing energy, it had destroyed one of the elder Great Sages.

“This…is beyond belief.” People trembled in shock, retreating without cease, with no idea what to do. Many of them very nearly collapsed where they stood.

Ye Fan had also paid a steep price for all of this. The emperor’s weapon devoured divine power — but fortunately his vital energy was like an ocean, and moreover this city was no ordinary place. He had been able to draw upon a great deal of life essence from it. Beyond that, Ji Ziyue had been assisting him, channeling a vast flood of life essence into him through the weave of interlocking laws.

With this sustaining him, he had not been drained dry of his holy power — and on top of that, the Transposing Script had been restoring him, keeping him firmly within the realm of the undefeatable.

It also helped that it was not all four swords together — only this one. That meant it did not constitute a truly complete emperor’s weapon in the fullest sense; it was lacking something. Otherwise the consumption of divine power would have been even greater.

This was not a simple matter of unleashing it. It was a matter of awakening part of its divine might.

Ye Fan gave a wave of his hand — the one remaining leg of the Great Sage flew up and was tossed toward the Ancient Golden Peng. The great bird spread its golden wings in a sweeping dive, caught it, and began to devour it.

The crowd stared blankly. That was a Great Sage’s leg.

Pang Bo sighed. “We both sat beneath the Bodhi tree and attained enlightenment — do we both share this habit as well? A fondness for cutting flesh to feed birds of prey?”

The Golden Lion and the Black Bear Sage both grumbled inwardly. How could the two even be compared? The former was about cutting one’s own flesh to feed a tiger, gouging one’s own flesh to feed an eagle — from oneself. The latter was feeding a Golden Peng someone else’s flesh — a Great Sage’s leg at that. Completely different situations.

“There is a distinction.” Pang Bo said, concluding that Ye Fan was being wasteful. That was a Great Sage’s leg, after all.

“You two truly did come from the same place.” Even Ji Haoyue could no longer stay quiet, and spoke up despite herself.

Whoosh!

A line of sword light blazed. Liu Mingde cried out and turned to flee — but where was there to run? The city was sealed. It had been closed to trap Ye Fan, and also out of fear that outside reinforcements might arrive. It could not be opened again in a short amount of time.

The Liu clan’s ancestral weapon — the City of the Dead — flew up. Liu Mingde attempted to use it to resist — but the divine weapon let out a wail and shot toward the heavens, refusing utterly to face the immortal sword. It vanished from the field of battle.

“No — stop, please do not strike!” Liu Mingde cried out.

Thud!

The only answer he received was a sword stroke. Blood shot high into the air. Liu Mingde’s head rolled from his shoulders to the ground — and then, along with his body, collapsed with a dull sound into a pool of blood. He died where he stood.

“As a law-enforcer — what face did you have left to live on in this world?”

On the other side, the young man of about twelve or thirteen — sinister light flickering in his eyes — turned and began to retreat.

A golden fist, however — like a shooting star from beyond the heavens — came suddenly crashing down. With a wet, dull sound, his entire body shattered apart, pulverized on the spot.

“You are…too ruthless!” The law-enforcer who had come with Liu Mingde cried out.

“Leave him to me.” Pang Bo flickered, becoming a ghostly shadow charging forward, raising his palm in a booming strike. The tide had long since turned completely — they now held absolute supremacy.

“It is your turn!” Ye Fan finally spoke, his gaze locking onto the silver-blooded Great Sage as he advanced.

Whoosh!

Yet Ye Fan swung the sword — not first at the Great Sage, but toward one of the city gates. A burst of blood light exploded outward, and several people died where they stood.

And then — a powerful fluctuation shot sideways at tremendous speed, retreating into the distance.

“Qi Tian — stop hiding. I detected your presence long ago, secretly sealing the ancient city. Why is it that now, of all times, you cannot wait to undo the seal? It is too late.” Ye Fan said with cold composure.

The crowd was shaken. To deal with a Saint King, they had called upon four Great Sages to act together within this city. Had Ye Fan not possessed the emperor’s weapon, his end would have been grim and certain.

“Qi Tian is here too — he is one of the human race’s Guardians of the Dao. How could he do something like this?” People murmured among themselves, deeply unsettled. This was beyond all decency.

Qi Tian’s expression was dark and overcast. He could no longer hide — Ye Fan’s Origin Heaven’s Eye had caught the trace of his true body, forcing him to reveal himself.

“As a Guardian of the Dao of the human race — to act without any sense of principle, to collude with a foreign race — what exactly are you trying to accomplish?” Ye Fan bellowed, his voice like the fury of a divine being.

Qi Tian’s face was ugly. This time, what should have been an assured and clean elimination of Ye Fan — cutting him down before he could grow any further — had turned into something like this. How had things come to this point?

“The Ancient Road has already fallen to this state — I say we might as well break it entirely!” Ye Fan bellowed.

An uproar ran through the crowd. Surely he did not mean it — if he were truly set on it, he would likely do something so catastrophic it would shake the ages.

“A great cleansing is needed on the Ancient Road — certain law-enforcers and Guardians of the Dao have become a disgrace to their own names. Some great clans are long overdue to be torn up by the roots.” Ye Fan said calmly.