Legend of Swordsman

Faraway at the Ancient Sect of the Firmament Territory!

Silence reigned with an despotic authority across the fastness of the stronghold of the Sect.

The disciples of the Sect, including the Palace Masters of the Dao Palaces, have all left to take part in a hunting tournament at the Heavenly Peak Valley. There was but one person who remained in the stronghold.

Perched atop the peak of a mountain, Xuan Yi was, clothed fully in white, gazing at the boundless skies above him with his hands held behind him.

The message from Xue Lingtian who was far away at the imperial city of the Tang Empire came to him with the speed of light.

“Crack!”

A crack appeared in the air before him suddenly.

The crack was a mere minuscle crevice in the fabric of Space, yet it had adjoined with the surroundings of the imperial city of the Tang Empire despite being leagues and leagues away.

“So it comes, finally?” Xuan Yi murmured as his gaze slowly shifted to the crack. His gaze sharpened instantly.

It was the stare of a predator regarding its prey.

“That is your cue, Sect Master.”

With a simple voice, Xuan Yi uttered his instructions. His voice rang magically from all corners of the stronghold.

There was a brief moment of stillness and peace within the stronghold as Xuan Yi’s voice faded. Then came a voice, deep and ancient, as if the voice of an entity of archaic origins from another dimension, rumbled slowly.

“You are certain that you require me to act?” The rumbling voice asked.

“Yes.” Xuan Yi answered, his head dipping slightly.

“Very well. Remember the pact between us.” The ancient voice groaned once more.

“Naturally. You will be able to go to wherever you wish after this battle.” Xuan Yi smiled and pointed at the crack in the air before him, saying, “I have opened the portal for you. You may go.”

“Very well. Leave the rest to me!”

The ancient voice echoed through the hallways of the stronghold. Just then, the floors of the stronghold began to shake violently.

The violent tremor, coupled with the cacophony of collapsing structures and construction, clamored wildly as if the entire stronghold had been utterly tossed and overturned.

Disaster! An apocalypse!

In only a fraction of a second, the stronghold of the Ancient Sect had been reduced to mere rubbles and debris.

It was fortunate that most of the disciples of the Sect had left for the hunting tournament lest they would have been caught in the disastrous calamity of destructive which could have claimed a great many of their lives.

Far away atop the mountaintops, Xuan Yi surveyed the spectacle from his seat with indifference.

Of the entire Ancient Sect or even the Eternal World, Xuan Yi was the only one who knew that there slumbered a gigantic behemoth beneath the stronghold of the Sect.

And after many long years and ages of rest, the monster had truly awakened!

“Bang!”

With a deafening crash, a huge, golden arm, stronger than even a mountain, stretched from the depths of the underground.

The huge golden arm slammed into the ground and lifted the monster up with the crashing din of collapsing mountains and terrain. Finally the huge monster got to his feet.

Towering at more than 1,000 feet, the skin of the hulking giant glowed with a deep shade of gold. Destructive strength pulsed in the veins of his sturdy limbs as he stood motionless. Yet the mere sight of him was enough to invoke fear and panic.

This huge giant studied the crack in the continuum of Space before him with his stern and alert eyes. His arm reached forth, clutching tightly at the edges of the space rift. Summoning his strength, the giant ripped and tore at the crack!

“Swoosh…”

With his sheer might, the giant had enlarged the crack into a huge blackhole that he could now step into.

“We will meet again, Xuan Yi!”

As he spoke, the giant stepped into the theshold of the pitch-black darkness and disappeared.

A thin smile lined across Xuan Yi face who had witnessed everything.

At the front lines of the battlefield at the imperial city.

Despite scoring a hit on Jian Wushuang and pounded a hole on his chest, the soothsayer frowned with doubt.

“Have I missed his Life Core?” The soothsayer asked himself with surprise.

A practitioner or warrior of the Eternal Realm would perish and die if the Life Core of the person was destroyed. Then again, the soothsayer had failed to detect the existence of a Life Core when his blow had struck Jian Wushuang earlier.

“Could it be due to his methods of Inverse Cultivation?” The soothsayer wondered aloud.

Despite having heard of the methods of Inverse Cultivation before, the soothsayer knew only that most practitioners of the methods of Inverse Cultivation were strange and bizarre in their own right. He did not know anything more about the practice of Inverse Cultivations.

He did not know that Jian Wushuang had achieved the Eternal Realm – the third step of the methods of Inverse Cultivation, the Everlasting Realm, where his Life Core was fully assimilated by his flesh, sinews, bones and even the cells of his body.

For this reason, the third step was called the Everlasting Realm.

It was the stage where his life would never diminish as long as his physical body endured.

“Damn you!”

A sharp and furious cry rang deep into the ears of the soothsayer. Gripped by intense fury and rage, Leng Rushuang threw herself towards the soothsayer.

Even the old soothsayer could not help but grimace at the stabbing cold as he braced himself and fought against his assailant.

Many warriors yelled and bellowed at the sight of Jian Wushuang being severely injured; some cheer jubilantly while some cried with concern and dismay.

The warriors of Emperor Xiao’s forces grew angered and distressed where as the warriors of the forces of Emperor Leng applaued with glee and delight.

“Is Jian Wushuang dead at last?” Emperor Leng murmured, her gaze turning sharp suddenly with anticipation.

The one person who had most welcomed the death of Jian Wushuang, would be none other than Xia Mang himself!

“Hahaha! Dead now, are you? Jian Wushuang! Are you finally dead?” Xia Mang screamed with joy as he burst into a maniacal laughter.

“Good, really good!”

“A country bumpkin such as you from a small and weak Sect of a miniscule domain dare compete with me for a woman!”

“What makes you think you are worthy of competing against me?”

In his frenzied state of joy, Xia Mang’s delirious roars boomed across the front lines loudly.

However, suddenly…

“Watch out, Young Master!” An angry voice called out to him.

The loud cries restored a brief moment of clarity to Xia Mang who recognized the voice. It was one of the warriors of his clan, the Xia Clan. Yet, the voice had instead puzzled Xia Mang.

Due to Leng Rushuang sudden burst of strength, Xia Mang had earlier retreated to the edges of the battlefield. He was certain that there were no enemies around him and he was in no immediate danger.

But why was his kin frantically warning him of danger…

Xia Mang was dazed in thought when he noticed a huge shadow looming over him.

“Is the sky turning dark?” Xia Mang lifted his head absent-mindedly.

His eyes widened with shock as his head raised. A gigantic, dark golden foot, with a monstrous immensity that dwarfed even a mountain, loomed over him. He had no inkling as to where did the gigantic foot had came from but the mere sight of its enormity left him speechless and frozen with panic.

For reasons unknown, the gigantic, golden foot seemed to be falling right on him.

“No!”

Xia Mang burst into the most shrilling howl he had made in his life, before he was instantly crushed by the huge foot a split second later.

“Bang!”

A flash of thunderbolt thundered imperiously.

The ground of the whole imperial city shook violently.

The huge, dark golden foot fell upon Xia Mang, smashing into him and reduced him into no more but a mass of flesh, viscera and blood!