Chapter 478

But Qiao Feng must die here today!

"What a pity… I finally managed to unleash this ultimate palm strike, but I never got to show it to the Great Dragon Chief, to let him correct it."

Qiao Feng watched his palm force dissipate, and in the final moment before death, this single thought flashed through his mind.

"Boom—boom—boom—!"

From high above the void, a sudden violent roar rang out.

"Ah… look, quick—why has the sky split open?"

Some of the Kesig guards looked up at the sky and saw that a crack had suddenly appeared in the void.

That crack had been no bigger than a grain of rice, but in the blink of an eye it widened to the breadth of a sword.

Countless strands of sword Qi and sword intent kept spilling out from that crack.

"What is that?"

All the Kesig guards, and even people elsewhere across the Nine Provinces, could not help but look up and watch.

"That is the Sword Realm…"

The experts of every faction recognized it at once.

Wasn't this the very same mysterious Sword Realm that had opened above Great Ming Palace earlier, and then quickly closed again?

"Why has the Sword Realm opened once more?"

For a moment, this question weighed on nearly everyone's mind.

But the next instant, they no longer needed to wonder.

From the entrance of the Sword Realm, a precious sword suddenly flew out.

That precious sword caught the wind and unfurled, drawing in countless strands of sword intent, and transformed into an incomparably enormous precious sword.

It came crashing down toward the north of the Western Xia border pass.

"You dare lay a hand on a man of my Qinglong Society? Are you tired of living?"

From high above the firmament, a cold and arrogant voice rang out.

Then came a heaven-shaking, earth-splitting roar—under that single sword strike, over half of the hundred thousand Kesig guards were killed or wounded!

The Kesig guards around Qiao Feng, including Prince Tuo Lei, were blasted so thoroughly that not even ash remained.

"This is… the Great Dragon Chief?"

Qiao Feng had been expecting certain death, yet a sword descending from the heavens had resolved his crisis.

He was overcome with emotion, and looked up toward the firmament, toward the entrance of the Sword Realm,

"Great Dragon Chief, is that you?"

"Haha! Qiao Feng, you did well! Being able to merge eighteen palms into one—you did not disappoint this seat's painstaking cultivation of you."

"Wait until this seat returns, and I shall discuss it with you further."

Ximen Wudi's voice, from high above the firmament, spread to every corner of the Nine Provinces.

Then the entrance of the Sword Realm slowly closed.

No one noticed that a strand of obscure, unfathomable sword intent had slipped out the moment the Sword Realm's entrance opened.

……

The Great Yuan Imperial Court.

"What just happened? Was that truly Ximen Wudi? And who is Qiao Feng? Where was that sword strike aimed?"

Tie Muzhen stared dumbfounded, firing off four rapid-fire questions in a row.

A sword from beyond the heavens stirred heaven and earth to thunderous轰鸣.

Could such a sword strike truly be unleashed by a human?

If that really was Ximen Wudi, is there even any point in fighting?

"Uh, Great Khan, the subordinates have just made an urgent calculation."

"Based on the angle and direction of that sword from beyond the heavens, this strike should have been aimed at the north of the Western Xia border pass."

Nearly all of Great Yuan's experts were away on business at the moment, and by Tie Muzhen's side there was only one expert left—Seeing Meng Chixing.

"Oh! The north of the Western Xia border pass—that has nothing to do with us…"

"Wait—what did you say? Where?"

Tie Muzhen was startled into sudden dread; he remembered.

"The north of the Western Xia border pass—by the timing, the hundred thousand Kesig guards and Prince Tuo Lei should be there right now."

Although this was not good news, Seeing Meng Chixing still braced himself and spoke it out.

"Ah? Tuo Lei—Father Khan has doomed you!"

Confirming the suspicion in his heart, Tie Muzhen burst into tears on the spot, clutching his head and weeping in agony.

A hundred thousand Kesig guards, and his beloved son Tuo Lei.

Under that world-shocking sword strike from beyond the heavens, how many could possibly still be alive?

306 Great Dragon Chief, are you even human?

Great Qin, Xianyanggong.

Hearing Ying Zheng gazed at that heaven-startling sword strike, speechless for a long time.

The assembled ministers were likewise dumbstruck, not knowing what to say.

After a long while, when the Sword Realm closed once more, as if nothing had ever happened.

Hearing Ying Zheng finally awoke as from a dream,

"Great Qin's greatest enemy possesses such terrifying strength—truly, this is Great Qin's misfortune…"

"Your Majesty…"

GLOSSARY:

【Qiao Feng, Great Dragon Chief, Kesig guards, Sword Realm, Great Ming Palace, Nine Provinces, Western Xia border pass, Qinglong Society, Ximen Wudi, Great Yuan Imperial Court, Tie Muzhen, Seeing Meng Chixing, Great Khan, Prince Tuo Lei, Great Qin, Xianyanggong, Hearing Ying Zheng】

The ministers hemmed and hawed, none of them knowing what to say.

This sword strike had already surpassed the imagination of any mortal.

In the Great Qin, not a single person could deliver such a sword strike.

Even Prince Zichu of Zhuangxiang, working in concert with the He Shi Bi, and using the Great Qin's dragon qi as his foundation—

Its power would still be hard to compare with this sword strike.

"Your Majesty…"

From a shadowy corner of the great hall, Zichu slowly revealed his form,

"Your Majesty need not be overly worried."

"The power of this sword strike is indeed extraordinary."

"But our Great Qin is not necessarily without any hope at all."

"Father, why have you come out?"

The moment Ying Zheng saw Zichu appear, his tone was immediately one of deep concern.

"It's nothing. The Lishan Plan has already succeeded in small part."

"The might of this sword strike alarmed even us."

"If I hadn't come out, I fear no one would have been able to enlighten you!"

Seeing that his beloved son's first reaction was concern for him, Zichu felt comforted in his heart.

"Ah! Father overestimates. Your son Zheng fears nothing."

Only then did Ying Zheng recover his true bearing as a sovereign,

"An ignorant enemy is the hardest enemy to deal with."

"Before this, the Heavenly Dao Golden List only ever mentioned Ximen Wudi in a sentence or two."

"Everyone who has faced Ximen Wudi, including that 'Ghost Valley Master' Wang Xu, has in truth been unable to speak of Ximen Wudi's true strength."

"This time is also good—this sword strike is absolutely Ximen Wudi's true strength."

"Once we have a clear understanding of Ximen Wudi's strength, we can make targeted plans."

"I believe that, under heaven, there is no one who cannot be dealt with."

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you shall never be weary in a hundred battles."

The more he spoke, the stronger the light in Ying Zheng's eyes became.

A surge of rich confidence infected the civil and military importance ministers in the court, whose confidence had previously been shattered.

"Good!"

Zichu clapped his hands and laughed,