Chapter 666

"Old bastard, get out!"

The Wu clan elder was struck by a sword in public, and several Wu clan-born Divine Clarity Realm elders immediately formed a formation to protect themselves, shielding all the younger clan members in the center.

The elders of the other families did the same.

Those clans with more than three Divine Clarity Realm elders each formed different formations and stood ready. Those like the Chu clan, which had only one or two Divine Clarity Realm elders in the family, called upon friends and teamed up with old acquaintances to set up formations.

Moreover, several extremely powerful old monsters hovered high in the air, their eyes like lightning scanning all directions.

One Linghu clan old monster who had reached the sixth heaven of the Divine Clarity Realm formed hand seals, and strands of subtle yin wind flew out continuously from his side, instantly enveloping the entire military city.

Under his yin wind's scrutiny, even the tiniest speck of dust drifting on the breeze was constantly within his perception.

In the military city, everyone from the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom side, from Linghu Qingqing down to an ordinary mount, was clearly detected—except for Dao Xiaoke, who could not be found at all.

A cold snort sounded, and the Yang clan matriarch of the Jiangmen, a white-haired, red-faced elder lady wearing a king's robe, tightly gripped a dragon-headed cane in her left hand and held aloft a mass of flowing, crystalline glaze light in her right.

The glaze light, about a chi in diameter, emitted boundless faint rays, instantly illuminating tens of thousands of li of void in all directions. Under this universal glaze illumination, all things became transparent, and ordinary eyes could easily see thousands of zhang deep underground.

The faint light rapidly contracted inward, swiftly gathering from tens of thousands of li radius down to the size of the military city.

The smaller the area covered by the light, the stronger its strange penetrating effect became; gradually, the glaze light surged like tidewater, making heaven and earth bright and clear. Under the intense glaze light, every detail of the crucial formation hubs in Longchi City was laid bare, and all the minutest, most hidden runic seals were clearly exposed to everyone.

This is a secret treasure of the Yang clan inheritance, the 'Azure Glazed Glass,' capable of peering into the nine heavens and gazing down into the Yellow Springs, and it is the best at breaking all concealment and evasion techniques. If it were not for the Azure Glazed Glass having no offensive power, its quality would rival a state-protected divine artifact.

Yet, under the glaze light's coverage, no suspicious trace could be seen.

The Yang clan matriarch furrowed her brows and said in a low voice, 'Could it have fled?'

As the matriarch spoke, several Yang clan elders behind her nodded slowly; they had full confidence in the Azure Glazed Glass, which in countless wars the Yang clan had fought had repeatedly turned the tide and shattered the enemy's ambush traps.

A pitch-black, lightless sword suddenly thrust out of the void, straight toward the matriarch's nape.

A Yang clan elder clad in heavy armor and holding a pair of octagonal plum-blossom hammers snorted coldly: 'Damn it…'

The two heavy plum-blossom hammers swung, emitting two strange howls; two strands of pitch-black divine light rolled like dragons, one before and after, smashing toward the void behind the sword's tip.

With a 'Boom,' the two plum-blossom hammers heavily collided, warping and collapsing the void within a radius of about one li, sending waves of overwhelming primordial magnetic force surging and ravaging, simultaneously inflicting terrible blows on all metallic objects within that range.

The Yang clan, counted among the elite of the Jiangmen in the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom, aside from the matriarch and this active elder, had six other Yang clan elders strike simultaneously; swords, spears, halberds, and various divine weapons transformed into a sky-full of cold light, blanketing the void.

With a 'Pfft,' while the Yang clan elders here were fighting fiercely, among the three Divine Clarity Realm elders from minor families who were jointly keeping watch over ten li away, one whose cultivation matched Chu Jiang's—also a first-heaven Divine Clarity Realm elder who had ascended less than eighteen hundred years ago—let out a miserable wail.

The pitch-black long sword stabbed into his nape and pierced out his throat; as it jerked upward, trying to split his skull, a Chaotic Net Umbrella descended from the heavens, instantly setting the earth, water, fire, and wind into turmoil, throwing the void within dozens of li into chaos.

The Linghu clan old monster's yin-wind search continued, the Yang clan matriarch's Azure Glazed Glass still exerted its power, and together with the Chaotic Net Umbrella's indiscriminate frenzied assault, amidst the twisting void a faint, almost imperceptible shadow finally came into view.

In an instant, countless attacks descended upon that faint shadow.

The Hou clan elder of the junior Jiangmen, who had taken a sword to a vital point, was even more valiant; he let out a low roar, his hands turning black as iron, and when he smashed them together, blazing flames erupted.

With two 'Dings,' the Hou clan elder seized the sword blade that had pierced his throat and clung to it desperately.

Countless attacks descended, the pitch-black sword blade suddenly vanished, and that faint shadow fled at a terrifying speed from the area covered by the Chaotic Net Umbrella.

The Hou clan elder spurted a jet of blood from his throat, his hands continually dripping blood; as countless attacks were about to strike him, the many attacking elders shouted in unison, and the assault capable of utterly destroying the military city instantly vanished.

Linghu Buhuo descended from the heavens holding the Chaotic Net Umbrella, with earth, water, fire, and wind swirling around him; the gloomy divine light and the Azure Glazed Glass's glaze light mixed together, as if cold water were poured into hot oil, producing a strange transformation.

The entire void boiled, twisted, and undulated; moreover, several elders versed in arcane arts released probing techniques, slightly distorting the heavenly laws in the region of space where the military city lay.

Trying to catch a fish hidden in the deep sea by boiling the whole ocean would work just as well.

Inside the military city, myriad-man formations collapsed one after another, countless soldiers fell from the air and vomited.

The warped laws directly threw the soldiers' internal mana into chaos, their five viscera and six bowels churned and surged, and even their souls suffered a tremendous impact.

Amidst the chaos in the military city, Dao Xiaoke's laughter suddenly rang from the void: 'Not bad, this net umbrella—its power is extraordinary; back when the Great Jin still existed, I'd never heard the Linghu clan possessed such a treasure…'

What a treasure, what a treasure—it can stir earth, water, fire, and wind, almost having the power to open up a small world… Such a treasure, taking it as my Dao clan's clan-protected treasure is just right. Killing, seizing treasure—how splendid.

Amidst the turmoil in the military city, Wu Tie also emerged from his garrison residence.

Wu Jin, Wu Yin, and Wu Tong, the three brothers, led hundreds of Wu clan retainers stationed on the ground, forming arrays and readying themselves with utmost caution.

Wu Tie hovered at a low altitude a hundred zhang above the ground, left hand gripping the God-Striking Whip, right hand holding the Cold River Sword, his aura restrained and unobtrusive as he stood there, looking about.

By day, Wu Tie publicly beheaded Dao Wu; at night, Dao Xiaoke rushed into the military city to go on a killing spree, and Wu Tie sensed that Dao Xiaoke might be targeting him.

Therefore, be careful, be extra careful.

While the elders were unleashing their methods, throwing the void into utter chaos, Wu Tie's body flickered; a short strand of hair fell from the nape of his neck, silently becoming his likeness, while his true form shrank to the size of a mustard seed, hiding inside that doppelgänger's ear canal.

A sword silhouette suddenly appeared in the void, slashing straight at Linghu Buhuo's neck.

Beside Linghu Buhuo, three heavily armored elders appeared at once, raising heavy shields to block the sword silhouette; simultaneously, a thunderclap rang out in the void, and a three-night divine thunder as thick as a water jar descended from the heavens, striking toward the spot where the sword silhouette sat.

The sword silhouette landed on the heavy shield, silently and without force.

An elder holding the heavy shield solemnly warned: 'Fake, be careful.'

The three-night divine thunder had been unleashed, but it struck nothing, instead slamming solidly into the ground.

With a tremendous roar, a stretch of barracks beneath the lightning vanished in an instant; the earth was torn open into a pit a hundred zhang wide and nearly a hundred li deep. On the pit walls, faint crimson pure yang spirit fire could be seen burning, scorching soil and stone into a continual 'hiss' as they melted into magma.

Likewise, sword silhouettes appeared throughout the military city.

Not only were the elders of the various Jiangmen targeted, but out of hundreds of sword silhouettes, fewer than one-tenth struck the Divine Clarity Realm elders, while the rest slashed down upon the younger generation of each family.

Linghu Buhuo and company shouted 'Shameless!' and hastily deployed measures to shield their own juniors.

'Found you!' Amidst the uproar inside the military city, an ecstatic laugh came from behind Wu Tie, and then countless black sword gleams, like venomous snakes bursting frantically from a serpent's nest, tore through the void soundlessly, severed the world, and enveloped Wu Tie's doppelgänger in a tiny realm tens of zhang across, composed entirely of sword light.

Just one strike, and Wu Tie's doppelgänger was completely shattered.

Such a short strand of hair, in an instant, was mutilated tens of thousands of times by the razor‑sharp sword edge, leaving not a single fragment.

Dao Xiaoke cursed: 'Is this the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art? What divine power, what transformations!'

Before his words faded, the God-Striking Whip sprang forth from nowhere, and purple light and golden glow filled the void, sealing it.

Within the purple light and golden glow, a faint, indistinct figure could barely be seen—so faint that ordinary eyes, and even the spiritual eyes of some Divine Clarity Realm elders lacking sufficient cultivation, could hardly perceive it.

Such a faint figure, moreover, was slipping away at great speed from the void sealed by the God-Striking Whip.

The Cold River Sword rang with a sharp cry, and a river materialized out of thin air; within the river, ripples followed the tracks left by the earlier black sword gleams, counter‑attacking back toward their source.

Wu Tie's sword Dao has reached perfection; the sword to him is already a kind of instinct.

Dao Xiaoke's sword aura was like the footprints of a clumsy elephant in the snow; Wu Tie could easily follow those traces even with his eyes closed, locating Dao Xiaoke's true body.

Within each trace of the black sword aura lay a hundredfold, a thousandfold of water‑wave sword marks that coiled and surged forward.

Unlike Dao Xiaoke's strange, twisted, evil, ruthless sword intent, Wu Tie's sword traces were vast and endless like the great Yangtze River, his sword momentum surging mighty and upright, bearing the heroic spirit of a battlefield slaughter.

As countless sword traces howled down from the sky, Dao Xiaoke seemed to see a great river, within its waves countless spear‑and‑shield soldiers forming ranks that rolled over him.

Dao Xiaoke's sword always gave the feeling of being lone and weak.

And Wu Tie's sword, to put it bluntly not very respectful toward Linghu Qingqing, possessed the majestic aura of an emperor, a pure sovereign's sword that teaches people through sheer momentum and force, using absolute positive power.

"This brat!" Dao Xiaoke cursed: "Playing with swords in front of this old man, you're still too green!"

Wu Tie's sword intent was strong, his sword momentum even more grand and overbearing, but his sword intent lacked sufficient killing intent.

After all, despite having undergone many battles' baptism, how many enemies has Wu Tie personally slain? Whereas Dao Xiaoke, merely by slaughtering innocent tribesfolk in the underworld, numbers in the tens of millions.

In Dao Xiaoke's view, a sword lacking sufficient killing intent and murderous aura is soulless.

A single streak of incredibly ruthless black sword aura surged straight upstream against Wu Tie's sword‑momentum river.

Just as Wu Tie could follow the sword aura's traces to track down Dao Xiaoke, Dao Xiaoke, who has immersed himself in the sword way for tens of thousands of years, is even more of a master in this regard.

The black sword aura tore the void, emitting a sharp sound that caused countless soldiers below the Womb‑Storage Realm in the entire military city to have their eardrums shatter and collapse unconscious.

For a moment, the ground of the whole city was littered with unconscious mid‑ and low‑rank officers, while in the void countless Womb‑Storage Realm commanders covered their ears and uttered painful cries.

Wu Tie only felt his vision go dark, as if countless demons were howling at his ears, dancing wildly around him, extending sharp claws to tear him to shreds—not just his body, but to rip his soul apart and devour it.

With a great shout, Wu Tie's Divine Fetus, far stronger than an ordinary person by unknown multiples, released boundless light; all the visions before him vanished completely, and he stepped forth, the size of a mustard seed, easily catching up to Dao Xiaoke, whose speed had been dragged down by the God‑Striking Whip.

One punch shattered the void.

After Wu Tie's sword‑dao embodiment reached perfection, what he condensed most quickly was not the Grand Dao Embodiment corresponding to the ways of blades, spears, swords and halberds, but the Fist Embodiment.

Fist…… The many brave youths of the Wu clan have fists more terrifying than their weapons.

The Wu clan people have an obsession in their blood: weapons are merely extensions of the body; the truly most reliable and terrifying weapon is one's own flesh.

Therefore, the Wu clan youths' fists are more vigorous, pure, and direct than their weapons.

Therefore, after being beaten up by a gang of brothers, Wu Tie successfully condensed the Fist Embodiment.

One punch blasted forth, and heaven and earth changed color.

Clearly it was the realm of a Half‑Step Divine Realm, yet when Wu Tie unleashed this punch he exuded the terrifying aura of a senior Divine Realm expert who proclaims 'Heaven and earth, I alone.'

Fist intent swept across the sky, countless sword auras trembling; the myriad sword auras emitted by Wu Tie's Cold River Sword followed his punch, clinging to his fist and turning into a meteor, his heavy punch deflecting Dao Xiaoke's black sword aura and landing solidly on his body.

At the instant the heavy punch landed, Dao Xiaoke's body blurred and twisted; he sought to employ an evasion technique, turning into billions of afterimages to flee.

At that very moment, not far away, at least sixty Divine Realm elders of the Green Hill Divine Kingdom took action. Secret incantations, secret arts, talismans, and even small spontaneously activated formation disks instantly locked onto Dao Xiaoke's body.

With one person's strength, he opposed sixty Divine Realm beings of the same rank.

Dao Xiaoke's body went completely rigid; he could only roar in shock and fear: 'Kid, how could your punch……'

With a tremendous bang, Wu Tie's fist landed on Dao Xiaoke's chest.

Dao Xiaoke's back bulged with a huge mass of flesh, which then burst open, spraying a blood mist tens of li away.

Dao Xiaoke stared at Wu Tie in disbelief.

His body was hollow.

Everything inside his body was shattered to dust by Wu Tie's punch, then turned into a blood mist that sprayed out.

Such heavy injury……

Just a single punch……

"Half‑Step Divine Realm?" Dao Xiaoke trembled with both hands, trying to grab Wu Tie's fist.

"Half‑Step Divine Realm!" Wu Tie stared seriously at Dao Xiaoke, of course he would not tell Dao Xiaoke how many Grand Dao Embodiments he had condensed. Each Grand Dao Embodiment could increase his physical body's overall combat power by thirty percent……

How could you expect Wu Tie to say such a thing to others?

"I truly am a Half‑Step Divine Realm……" Wu Tie continued to gaze seriously at Dao Xiaoke: 'In your next life, don't make your body so weak, old sir; you need to nourish yourself more!'

The God‑Striking Whip came howling; Wu Tie seized the whip and lashed it down with a boom.