Ming Jian God and Jia Tianxia were both ancient gods whose fame had shaken the starry skies for hundreds of thousands of years, yet now they joined forces against Zhang Ruochen. This alone showed how deeply both Tianmu’s divine power and the six divine swords had shaken them, while also proving that they fully acknowledged Zhang Ruochen’s strength.
“Sixth!”
Zhang Ruochen’s expression remained calm. He reached out and caught the falling divine sword Sixth just before it hit the ground.
He channelled Tianmu’s divine power and poured it into the blade.
In an instant, the slender iron bar that had been covered in rust spots underwent a decaying-to-miraculous transformation. Radiance burst forth, scorching hot like a star, and with majestic might it collided head-on with the incoming Suspended Heaven Thunder-Attraction Needle.
Bang!
Space shattered inch by inch. Divine power surged and swept in all directions.
The Suspended Heaven Thunder-Attraction Needle let out a shrill screech, then snapped in half and fell into the void.
Jia Tianxia’s face changed dramatically. Heartbroken, he immediately chased after it into the void.
The needle was his strongest battle weapon, obtained through extraordinary fortune. Losing it would drastically reduce his combat strength.
Zhang Ruochen swung his sword, intending to seize the chance to deal Jia Tianxia a severe blow.
Yet the sword only rose halfway before it could no longer descend.
All the sword intent he had once comprehended through cultivating the Sword Dao seemed to vanish in an instant. His mind went blank. Holding the divine sword felt utterly awkward.
Zhang Ruochen knew this was Ming Jian God using his own formidable sword intent to suppress Zhang Ruochen’s, while simultaneously using the profound principles of the Sword Dao to seize control of every sword dao rule in this region of space.
In other words, within this heaven and earth, Ming Jian God was the only person who could wield a sword.
He was the emperor among swords.
When his will descended, ten thousand swords submitted.
Zhang Ruochen could sense that Ming Jian God commanded many sword dao profound principles. He said, “Legend states that in a mere hundred thousand years, Sword God Realm rose from beyond the top hundred in the Western Universe to twelfth place, all because it grew rich from war and seized the vast quantity of profound principles that Sword Ancestor left in the Kunlun Realm. Ming Jian God, your achievements today stem from that, do they not?”
“Any profound principle belongs to heaven and earth themselves, not to any single realm or individual. Whoever has the strength may naturally possess them.”
Ming Jian God did not deny Zhang Ruochen’s words.
Swish! Swish!
The sword domain around him evolved into a divine sword dao realm world that spread across the sky toward Zhang Ruochen.
Within that divine sword dao realm world, every sword was a mountain peak, and peaks stood in endless rows.
Since Ming Jian God had become a god, his battle record had been brilliant. He had lost only once.
To Xuan Yi.
Below the Immeasurable, in Ming Jian God’s view, as long as he held a divine sword, only Xuan Yi could claim victory over him.
Yet against Zhang Ruochen he was utterly serious. Not only did he suppress Zhang Ruochen with sword dao profound principles and sword intent, he also released his divine realm world to widen his advantage.
This was no longer about defeating Zhang Ruochen. It was about killing him and seizing the six divine swords and seven sword souls.
Only thus could he swiftly push his Sword Dao to the absolute pinnacle and challenge Xuan Yi once more.
Ming Jian God declared, “Your martial cultivation has been destroyed, so you can no longer represent the Sword Dao. You should present the divine swords and sword souls to me with both hands. Let me vindicate the Sword Dao and restore its former glory.”
The divine sword dao realm world dragged Zhang Ruochen inside. The surroundings changed completely. Sword dao rules saturated heaven and earth.
But Zhang Ruochen could not mobilise a single one of those sword dao rules. They all belonged solely to Ming Jian God.
This was his world!
“I have already unfolded my divine sword dao realm world, yet you did not flee? Do you realise that once you fall into a divine realm world, even with Tianmu’s divine power you will be utterly suppressed by me?” Ming Jian God asked.
Zhang Ruochen replied, “Do you truly believe that in your presence I cannot swing a sword at all and can only await slaughter?”
“In my presence, every sword, including divine swords, falls under my will.”
Ming Jian God held the Ming Jun Sword in one hand while reaching out with the other across the distance.
Instantly, the five divine swords circling Zhang Ruochen, along with Sixth that he gripped tightly, trembled violently and flew uncontrollably toward Ming Jian God.
A Heavenly Court god exclaimed in admiration, “Worthy of the number one sword below the Immeasurable. His absolute mastery of the Sword Dao is unmatched by any cultivator.”
“With these six swords, who knows to what terrifying level Ming Jian God’s battle power will rise?”
…
“You are not the sovereign of the Sword Dao. How dare you speak with such arrogance?”
Zhang Ruochen’s voice rang out from within the divine sword dao realm world and reached the outside.
The gods fixed their gaze and saw that Zhang Ruochen had not loosened his grip on the sword. Instead he flew forward along with it. After entering within a hundred zhang of Ming Jian God, he raised the sword high and brought it straight down.
This stroke was like a vertical line, a simple “one”.
He had mobilised no heavenly sword dao rules whatsoever, yet it perfectly harmonised with the Heavenly Dao and shattered Ming Jian God’s suppression of profound principles and sword intent.
A flash of astonishment passed through Ming Jian God’s eyes. Faster than Zhang Ruochen, he lifted his wrist and swung.
The two divine swords clashed.
Boom!
Overwhelming sword qi erupted like a tsunami from the point between them, utterly demolishing every peak inside the divine sword dao realm world and leaving a scene of ruin.
Every ray of light radiating from the divine realm world was indistinguishable from real sword qi. Pseudo-gods who peered toward it all bled from their eyes as their eyeballs burst.
Screams of agony rose one after another.
“Terrifying. These two are the true representatives of the Sword Dao! No wonder the sword is king among weapons and the Sword Dao is the strongest combat path below the eternal ways.” The Lord of the Soul Realm sighed.
Xuan Yi said, “This must be the legendary Third Grade Sword Dao Saint Will that Zhang Ruochen cultivated. It can only be that. Only a Third Grade Sword Dao Saint Will could break Ming Jian God’s sword dao suppression.”
“I truly underestimated the boy. It seems Ancestor Qing’s personal move to cripple his martial cultivation was indeed far-sighted, beyond what we can match,” the Lord of the Soul Realm said gravely.
Xuan Yi shook his head lightly. “A pity. Although Sword Dao Saint Will is powerful, it remains merely saint will and has not yet transformed into divine will. Even if it did transform, he would still need a hundred thousand or a million years of comprehension and bitter cultivation to become truly invincible in the Sword Dao. Ming Jian God is currently one of the foremost Sword Dao figures under heaven. Zhang Ruochen is still far behind.”
The Lord of the Soul Realm gave a cold snort. “Relying solely on divine power is enough against ordinary great gods! Wielding divine swords, he can gain the upper hand over common Taixu great gods. But every single top-tier Taixu great god is an era-defining sovereign. Their attainment in the divine dao and their perception of the Heavenly Dao, how could a mere wet-behind-the-ears junior borrowing divine power possibly contend with them?”
“Since Ming Jian God is sufficient to deal with the boy, this seat shall enter the city and seize control of Xing Huan Tian’s planetary protective array.”
Xuan Yi replied, “No need. The Elder has already arrived!”
The Lord of the Soul Realm looked toward the sea.
The Grand Elder of the Space Temple had come ashore. With a single step he shrank the earth to inches and crossed ten thousand li, appearing beside Xuan Yi and the Lord of the Soul Realm.
The Space Grand Elder mainly cultivated spiritual and used spiritual to comprehend the mysteries of the Dao of Space, walking a different path of spatial cultivation.
Xuan Yi asked, “There will be no mishaps overseas, correct?”
“That Nether Woman is already trapped by the Thousand-Li Transverse Space Divine Array, and Fourth Elder is guarding her. She will not escape anytime soon.”
The Space Grand Elder glanced once at the divine sword dao realm world in the sky, then withdrew his gaze, paying no attention to Zhang Ruochen. A mere envoy of a Tian was nothing. In the Heavenly Court they had seen such beings before.
In the eyes of peak existences below the Immeasurable like them, only true Immeasurables and Tians deserved their awe.
The Space Grand Elder did not enter the city, but the moment he arrived, array inscription marks automatically surfaced in the surrounding heaven and earth, weaving like a spider web between sky and ground.
Further away, the array inscription marks inside Divine Goddess City also emerged.
The Space Grand Elder sighed in praise. “After the Divine Goddess Twelve Workshops operated here for over a million years, the city’s defensive array is truly formidable. Unfortunately, Yu Rumour’s spiritual is still a little weak. Otherwise, even an Immeasurable coming in person would find it far from easy to break the formation.”
The Lord of the Soul Realm gave an inward cold snort. Eighty-first-order spiritual was only “a little weak” in this Grand Elder’s eyes.
Pfft!
Yu Rumour tried to wrest control of the city’s defensive array from the Space Grand Elder, but she lasted only moments before his spiritual wounded her and froze her in space.
The Space Grand Elder raised a virtual hand and uttered one word: “Rise!”
One after another, the city’s defensive arrays re-manifested, spinning like rings of light beneath the earth, in the sky, on the walls, and along the streets.
“Worthy of the Elder. He has already analysed the arrays within Divine Goddess City so quickly!” Xuan Yi praised.
The Space Grand Elder smiled. His spiritual instantly spread out, covering the entire Xing Huan Tian macro-world, intending to use the city’s defensive array as the core to seize the planetary protective grand array.
At that moment, the expressions of the Space Grand Elder, Xuan Yi, and the Lord of the Soul Realm all changed slightly. They looked toward the divine sword dao realm world.
Boom!
The divine sword dao realm world suspended in the sky was pierced through. Ming Jian God plummeted downward, his body covered in blood.
“How is this possible?” Every god of the Heavenly Court was shaken.
Even Mandala Flower God could not help crying out the same words, for she had once crossed swords with Ming Jian God and knew exactly how terrifyingly powerful he was.
How could Zhang Ruochen, relying on the Sword Dao alone, break his divine realm world and actually defeat him?
“Careful, the Nigami…”
Ming Jian God’s divine sense transmission began, trying to warn the others.
Bang!
Half a broken stele fell and smashed onto him, hammering him deep into the ground.
On the surface, a large portion of the array inscription marks upheld by the Space Grand Elder shattered under that single blow.
In the sky, sword cries pierced the ears. Countless billions of sword qi strands gathered into six rivers of sword qi that slammed toward the Space Grand Elder, Xuan Yi, and the Lord of the Soul Realm.
Xuan Yi did not strike. He stared fixedly into the void.
The Space Grand Elder’s face darkened. He formed seals with both hands. Instantly the space before him solidified, fixing every incoming strand of sword qi and all six divine swords in place right in front of him.
Through the solidified space, Xuan Yi saw Zhang Ruochen seize the broken stele stained with Ming Jian God’s blood and charge straight toward them.
The solidified space could not stop him at all.
Wherever he passed, space split open.
From start to finish, Xuan Yi’s attention had never been on Zhang Ruochen himself. Instead he stared intently at that text-covered broken stele. Sudden understanding dawned, and he finally realised why Zhang Ruochen had been able to break Ming Jian God’s divine sword dao realm world.
