Chapter 1411

Deng Shu was deeply troubled, so much so that every morning when he opened his eyes, large clumps of hair remained on his pillow. At first he blamed his bedmate for shedding hair excessively and tried some herbal remedies to compensate, but after taking several more wives and concubines, he realized it was his own hair falling out.

Yufeng Tower had fallen into a difficult situation.

A hundred years ago, the Shangqing Sect inexplicably made a grave error, causing the Tianhuo Sect to reclaim the immortal artifact, the Slaughter Sword. At that time, located downstream of the Shangqing Sect, the Yujing Hui, Fenghuang Valley, and Baiya Tower—these three second-rank sects—acted decisively, merged into one, and renamed themselves Yufeng Tower. They then launched a counteroffensive against the Shangqing Sect and were subsequently gifted an immortal artifact by the Tianhuo Sect. This could be called the greatest event in hundreds of years, unmatched in prominence.

Yet, within pleasure lies the path of death; within adversity, how could there be no means of survival?

Times have changed, and now a century has passed since the countercurrent. Yufeng Tower's position as a first-rank sect has been firmly secured, its blood treasure output far surpassing the past, and the combined strength of the three sects has risen to a new level. Yet within Yufeng Tower, problems have gradually emerged.

Back then, the opportunity was rare, with favorable timing and conditions. Moreover, the sect leader of Yujing Hui, Yu Baiyi—this peak Sixth Realm cultivator, noble in character and broad-minded—took the lead, earning the sincere respect of all. Thus, harmony was achieved, and the three families merged naturally and inevitably.

The only regret.

Although Yu Baiyi possessed great strength, this also indicated his advanced age. Furthermore, having led the charge against the Shangqing Sect and sustained severe injuries, he fell into a deep slumber—much like the Old Ancestor of Jiuyi Mountain, who was struck into unconscious sleep by the River God Sect's sect master. After the battle, he did not even last two years before sinking into slumber.

This sleep could be fatal.

Originally a spontaneous uprising, in just two short years, the three sects had not yet fully integrated!

Dragons do not dwell with snakes. Though the three major second-rank sects had differences, the gap was not significant. There were several Sixth Realm powerhouses, but Yujing Hui suddenly lost its pillar, causing its strength to plummet. Only Yu Baiyi's junior disciple, Yu Zhengchu, remained—a Fifth Realm powerhouse struggling to hold the line. Within Yufeng Tower, the situation had become dominated by the two powerful factions of Fenghuang Valley and Baiya Tower.

The faction that had contributed the most and subdued others through one method now weakened, integration remained incomplete, and benefits naturally shifted toward the other two sides. Naturally, the disciples of Yujing Hui were dissatisfied, and this dissatisfaction further intensified the difficulties of integration. Underlying contradictions then forced the upper echelons into rifts.

After a hundred years, someone had already shouted the slogan "When the tree grows large, divide the roots; each returns to their own home." Even rumors spread that Fenghuang Valley and Baiya Tower had secretly allied, preparing to eliminate Yujing Hui's sole powerhouse, Yu Zhengchu. Once Yu Baiyi awoke, it would be four against one—equally not difficult—allowing them to completely absorb Yujing Hui. Although Yufeng Tower's strength would decline, looking across the world, four clear-minded powerhouses already represented an aspiration unattainable by any second-rank sect, let alone considering they possessed the immortal artifact "Slaughter Sword," unlike the former state of the Shangqing Sect.

Among second-rank sects, perhaps only the newly risen River God Sect was somewhat unruly, yet Yufeng Tower did not even regard them as worthy of attention—having defeated merely one unskilled Eighth Realm powerhouse, and that was all. Weak as ants.

Deng Shu was the personal disciple of Sect Master Yu Baiyi. Unaware whether the recent rumors of turmoil and the annexation of Yujing Hui were true or false, and lacking in strength, he could only live in constant fear. Such annexation meant that lower disciples would mostly be unaffected, while the upper echelons would surely suffer misfortune.

Back when the three merged, Yufeng Tower brimmed with vitality, the scene of myriad things flourishing still vivid before his eyes.

How could it have changed so drastically in just a blink?

"Ah…… Master, disciple is dull and talentless, with no ability. Only my uncle alone struggles to bear the burden. I do not know when Master will awaken, resolve the crisis. If only our Yujing Hui could produce another powerhouse, just like the River God Sect's sect master…… "

Deng Shu sighed, stood by the mountain stream, watched the blood creek trickle, washing over the rocks. The blood-colored stream collided, splashing back and churning into white foam, stirring once again his longing for his master.

After a long while.

Deng Shu lifted his head, preparing to return home, to talk with his uncle, but he froze.

In the horizon, something seemed to be flashing—bright one moment, dim the next.

Deng Shu found it strange, did not hurry back, narrowed his eyes, and soon saw clearly: it was a shooting star—no, two shooting stars, one red, one gold! The meteors broke through the atmospheric barrier, silently and without sound, streaking across at a speed visible to the naked eye, trailing residual light, heading straight…… toward Yujing Hui?

A hundred years of conflict had nearly reshaped Yufeng Tower's interior into the original forms of Yujing Hui, Fenghuang Valley, and Baiya Tower, except their locations remained in one place, separated only by several mountain peaks.

Deng Shu held his breath, and before he could shout, the two meteors had already descended upon Yufeng Tower.

They were masters!

Coming as guests…… or……?

Deng Shu's eyes ached, as if cut by a sharp little knife.

The heavens split open.

A flash of blade light shot into the sky, obscuring the heavens and sun, surging downward in mighty waves!

At the main peak of Yujing Hui, mist swirled faintly, trees lush and dense. Yu Zhengchu and the sect elders were playing chess, discussing the revival of immortals, the predicament of Yufeng Tower, gazing into the distance—appearing as two tiny black dots.

Then, as if the image had been erased, the black dots, mountain peaks, trees…… every scene, every vista, vanished straight from Deng Shu's field of view, leaving no trace. Finally, a canyon suddenly appeared.

Boom!

Heaven collapsed, earth split, deafeningly loud.

Myriad trees were snapped straight by the airflow, the ground scraped inward three feet.

The brain let the airflow follow as if plowed through a layer, a moment of blankness.

"No. ！！Uncle! Uncle! "

Deng Shu's pupils contracted sharply, his eyes turned blood-red.

Unable to bear the terror that made him dizzy and faint, a silver light shot up from within the canyon!

Uncle??

Uncle isn't dead?

Circumstances shifted, Deng Shu overjoyed, he suddenly recalled why.

Yes, that was his uncle's special ability, 【Substitute Person Reversion】!

Capable of linking with another person, within a short time, able to graft injuries onto the other, recovering once every sixty years—equivalent to gaining an extra life. Recently, over the past hundred years, Yufeng Tower had seen no major battles, so this old ability had long since recovered......

Deng Shu's thoughts were cut short; within his dark pupils, he again saw a golden meteor with a trailing tail of light, shooting out from the canyon, colliding with the silver light, then falling downward after crossing paths.

It was that golden meteor closely following the red one!

Everything happened too fast, the distance too great. Deng Shu strained to keep his eyes open, but could not clearly see what had occurred, what the golden meteor had done—only saw his uncle suddenly dazed in the sky, silently waiting for the crimson blade light on the horizon to flash again.

No, Uncle, what happened to you?

Don't just stare blankly.

Move already!

On the mountain peak—no, above the canyon—Yu Zhengchu opened his eyes wide, lowered his gaze, and stared blankly at his own trembling pupils, watching as his lower body, severed by a hand blade, fell freely into the canyon. Countless organs spilled from the wound, yet remained tethered by fascia, bouncing up and down. His mind went blank; then, a flash of light appeared in his vision, and Yu Zhengchu realized something again, lifting his head once more.

Too late.

The silver meteor vanished into the crimson blade light, the blank thoughts drifting away with it.

Pfft!

The sky became clean and pure, the blood-colored cloud layers swept away by a single blade, nothing left behind—only that red meteor, its ferocious flame surging, shooting straight upward! "Ah! Ah!"

Deng Shu collapsed onto his buttocks, jaw dropped, jaw muscles twitching from strain, wanting to cry out but unable to make a sound. The muscles in his throat tightened from fear, constricting his windpipe, producing only mute, ah-like groans.

"It's a special life-preserving divine ability—startled me, I even thought it was the Elephant King's blade that had dulled."

Golden aura flared, Liang Qu swung his forearm, extending it straight like a line, fresh blood spraying along the path of the hand blade.

"Just arrived, not so fast, but after some polishing, the next strike will be better."

A crimson aura rose as a surging heat current rushed through his limbs and bones, leaving his whole body feeling relaxed and at ease. The Elephant King wiped his palm over the Suppression Prison Blade.

In the underworld, one cannot carry items; only supreme-grade and first-grade blood treasures can freely enter and exit. However, profound weapons are extensions of the martial sage's "root," regarded as limbs, thus permissible. Without a physical carrier, the feel is indeed different and requires adjustment.

"Phoenix Valley, White Tooth Tower! My Jade Capital Society will not coexist with you!"

Overwhelming grief and fury surged into his mind. In the dense forest, Deng Shu bit his teeth until they shattered, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. It must be another party's conspiracy to annex the Jade Capital Society! No, he must escape, he must flee, to avenge his master and uncles...

Within his field of vision, the golden and crimson twin meteors showed no hesitation, changed direction, and surged into Phoenix Valley again.

Deng Shu's mind went blank.

"Were they not coming for the Jade Capital Society?"

"Execution Sword!!"

A violent shout from the horizon, the heavens split again!

Another streak of crimson flowing light shot forth!

The crimson-gold twin meteors immediately split left and right, avoiding the blade. Then the gold circled around, charging toward the crimson light, while the crimson rushed backward.

"You two have great guts, defying orders not to post notices, coming to ambush—do you think my Jade Phoenix Tower has no one? Hah! Overestimating yourselves, mere fleshly bodies, daring to block a divine artifact! Die!"

Deng Shu recognized the voice—it was Mao Wen of Phoenix Valley, an eighth-stage powerhouse, the current sect master of Jade Phoenix Tower, wielding the heaven-bestowed divine artifact of the Heaven Fire Sect. What's going on? Could it truly not be Phoenix Valley and White Tooth Tower scheming, hiring assassins to deal with the Jade Capital Society?

In the sky, the golden and crimson meteors intertwined and separated, forces dividing into two paths. Deng Shu steadied his trembling legs, a glimmer of hope appearing in his eyes—could it be...

Transparent ripples spread as the golden meteor truly withstood the crimson flowing light, deadlocking in midair.

The crimson meteor traced an arc in the sky and struck directly at Mao Wen.

"Ah!"

A miserable cry—Mao Wen fell from the sky, blood pouring, his body split left and right.

The crimson meteor's aura surged again, obscuring the sky and sun, overwhelmingly pressing down on the first-grade Jade Phoenix Tower!

Inside and outside Jade Phoenix Tower, up and down, disciples, elders, and powerhouses were struck dumb with fear, shrinking back, a hot current rising in their lower abdomens.

The remaining three powerhouses had eyes nearly bursting.

Yu Zhengyi's single move felled them, leaving them trembling with fear, afraid to act immediately, until Mao Wen appeared with the divine artifact—they had thought it sufficient to prevail, believing only a divine artifact could counter another, but how could this be, how could this be...

Boom!

Invisible air waves surged and exploded.

The crimson flowing light that struck the golden meteor recoiled backward!

The divine, the divine artifact was sent flying back???

Heaven and earth fell silent. Deng Shu's lifetime-built cognition shattered in this instant as two strangers reduced him to powder, colliding into a vast blankness. "Who exactly are you, and why do you also possess a divine artifact!" The Jade Phoenix Tower powerhouse, fierce outwardly but weak within, immediately seized control of the artifact and struck at the golden meteor. "Nonsense!"

Zhang Longxiang stepped forward, blocking the opponent, and struck back with a blade.

The three powerhouses were halted by him alone, severely wounded and retreating, blood spraying from mouth and nose!

"Ah!! I have no grudge against you.........."

Liang Qu stepped into the void, ignoring the three powerhouses' shouts and struggles, leaving them all to Zhang Longxiang, while he tightly pursued the Execution Sword, flashing several jumps, suddenly reaching out, gripping the sword's blade—excruciating pain surged as the fierce cold light sliced his flesh.

If it were an ordinary powerhouse facing a divine artifact, they would already have been sliced to pieces.

But before Liang Qu.

No!

Right Long, Hong Sha!

The chaotic flood canceled most of it; the remaining cold light continued cutting, yet strangely lacked its former sharpness, utterly pulverizing the attacker in one strike. Embrace the River, Pull the Sea body!

Within the Lower Dantian, the Sentient Green light surged, the first immortal island, over half-completed, temporarily elevated.

Jin Guang surged violently.

Liang Qu gripped the blade tightly, then seized the hilt, deathly pressing down on this divine artifact, his entire muscles trembling.

Ordinary positional fruits, once refined, would have merged into one, irretrievable. Now the divine artifact lay bare before him—he did not believe, even if related to the smelting furnace, how could it be? "Ze Ding!!"

Boom!

The Ze Ding's light surged violently, its body patterns blazing brightly.

Clap!

The blade light thundered—another powerhouse was erased from heaven and earth, bones and flesh gone. Zhang Longxiang felt exhilarated in his heart, roaring toward the sky.

Three, three flood dragons—unprecedented, peerless!

Since the flood dragons existed, slaying them has been rare; never before has there been such exhilaration as today.

"Ah! Ah!"

The remaining two powerhouses watched their companion cleaved in half by a single blade, their courage already shattered.

One resisted the divine artifact, the other slaughtered them like dogs.

How could such a person exist in this world? How could such a person exist!

"Wait, wait, I surrender, I am willing to cooperate, willing to cooperate! Lord Liang!"

One of the two powerhouses defected on the spot, directly attacking his companion, even calling out Liang Qu's name.

"You!" The other powerhouse reacted, covering the wound from the sneak attack, incredulously staring at his companion.

Zhang Longxiang slightly startled, looked toward Liang Qu. He knew Liang Qu had been conducting subversion in the underworld, but this person had long been inactive, not waiting until now... In this brief pause of turning back, everyone witnessed the most terrifying scene.

The blood-red Execution Sword emitted brilliant light,

Then,

Vanished between heaven and earth.

Pop!

Liang Qu lowered his hands, blood dripping from the fingertips that had turned to white bone, falling into the gorge, blooming on a rock—he grinned, charging at the two powerhouses with a ferocious smile.

"It's over!"

A thought flashed in Deng Shu's mind.

"Didn't move early, didn't move late......" Flesh and blood on his hand grew rapidly, both painful and itchy; Liang Qu's cheeks bulged, as if his tongue were pushing, licking, and finally he opened his mouth and forcefully spat out a mouthful of blood foam, "Dragon Elephant King, five can beat four! Stronger than four!"

In the previous attempt to turn him, the "Ear Identification Technique" detected no lying from this person, showing he truly had the intention at the time, but on the spot he hesitated irresolutely; whether it was impulse then and regret afterward, he couldn't be bothered to investigate — better to give Zhang Longxiang a boost.

Zhang Longxiang understood, and also grinned at the last two Grand Masters.

"Ah!! Ah!!"

A flash of saber light.

Five Venerables!

"Frog Lord!"

"Gwa ya ya ya!! Tengen Toppa!!!"

"Chidi Ling!!"

Heavenly Fire Sect.

Wu Lingxu and Fei Taiyu were extremely busy.

However, at a certain instant, their faces turned deathly pale at terrifying speed, they gritted their teeth, and swept out of the sect horizontally.

The mortal world.

The new Venerable attacked like a sharp arrow, fiercely causing a "River Stone" to collapse and perish, shaking the world.

Great Snow Mountain, Southern Border, Great Shun...... all eight directions of heaven and earth were shocked; the Great Shun Wu Sheng immediately rushed toward the imperial capital, the Southern Border Grand Observer turned and rushed toward the Tusi Valley. It wasn't over!

Sweeping northeast, beheading one person, crashing into three "River Stones" of the Golden Wang Ting, the four directions were chaotic, fighting each other, shifting positions.

In just a moment, another "River Stone" fiercely collapsed and perished!!

In the blink of an eye, two Martial Saints fell and perished!

Skull blood vessels throbbed violently, heart blood flowed backward in fear.

Only at this moment did surplus Northern Court Martial Saints arrive at Wang Ting to support, stabilizing the situation.

"How is this possible........."

The Sage Emperor found it hard to believe. Five against one, no, excluding the sick tiger that was the newly dead dragon, perhaps it was four against one, but that is the Golden Wang Ting, equivalent to the Great Shun imperial capital; the secondary capital Nanzhili still has divine artifacts like the Emperor River Sword guarding it; the first Wu Sheng's fall could be said to be unprepared, but the second, how could two die so easily?

Will the Northern Court Furnace make a move?

Blood threads filled the old Tusi's eyes.

The Great Khan covered his severed arm, face bloodless, staring dead at the blood-red hollow that seemed like another world.

All Martial Saints trembled with fear, not daring to be alone — alone meant death!

Just then, the naked young man displaying divine might inexplicably turned his head; for the first time a ripple appeared on his ancient-well-still face, and then, under the terrified gazes of the many Martial Saints, ignoring the spatial seal, he blinked and vanished.

Blood River Realm.

Broken walls and ruins, twin crimson-gold stars standing tall above heaven.

"Frog Lord!!"

"Tai! Dragon King's Lair!!"