Killing intent shook the heavens.
Ding.
Suddenly, a zither note resounded through heaven and earth.
Ye Qiu and the others had not yet emerged from the fissure in the saint’s grand array when they heard it clearly.
Yun Xi was startled. “The Zither Sword Immortal has arrived!”
“Who is the Zither Sword Immortal?” Real Person Changmei asked.
“The Zither Sword Immortal is the junior brother of the Wine Sword Immortal and one of the ten great elders of our Azure Cloud Sword Sect.” As Yun Xi spoke, she heard the zither music outside growing increasingly urgent, and her expression changed slightly. “This is bad. The Zither Sword Immortal is clashing with someone.”
With that, Yun Xi rushed out of the saint’s grand array first.
The others followed closely behind, swiftly exiting through the fissure. In an instant, bone-chilling killing intent blanketed the sky, sending shivers of terror through their hearts.
Ye Qiu looked up and saw a man with a full head of white hair seated in the void, an ancient zither placed before him.
His appearance resembled that of a middle-aged man. Dressed in flowing white robes, his bearing was extraordinary, as if an immortal had descended to the mortal realm.
At this moment, this white-haired man was locked in battle with the powerhouses from the three sacred grounds.
Ye Qiu glanced around again and noticed that the Wine Sword Immortal was left with only his nascent soul, protected behind the white-robed man as he healed.
As for the sixth elder of the Yin-Yang Sect and that elder from the Heaven-Mending Sect, they were nowhere to be seen.
“How did the Wine Sword Immortal end up so gravely injured?”
Yun Xi’s face changed drastically as she prepared to charge over, only to be halted by the heaven-shaking killing intent.
Boom!
The powerhouses from the three sacred grounds joined forces to bombard the white-robed man.
The white-robed man’s hands plucked the zither strings. With a ding, the zither note transformed into thunderous roars, deafening to the ears.
Ye Qiu and the others felt their eardrums on the verge of rupture and quickly retreated a full ten thousand li to observe the battle from afar.
They could not approach a fight of this calibre.
“So powerful!” Ye Qiu exclaimed in shock.
Yun Xi said, “The supreme elder once remarked that the Zither Sword Immortal could achieve sainthood within five hundred years.”
At this point, the elder from the Ancient Wastelands Sacred Ground stepped forward.
Rumble!
With one step, the void trembled violently, as if on the brink of collapse.
At the same time, intense golden light erupted from the elder’s body, dazzling and brilliant, like a divine spirit that one dared not behold directly.
Ye Qiu realised that this elder’s aura was identical to that of Tuoba Ye, whom he had slain, save for one difference: the disparity in their presences was vast.
If the elder were an elephant, then Tuoba Ye was but an ant.
As the elder advanced, his battle intent soared to the skies, resembling an invincible war god who had conquered the nine heavens and ten earths.
“Zither Sword Immortal, take a punch from me.”
No sooner had the elder spoken than his fist appeared before the Zither Sword Immortal.
It was a pair of golden fists. As they smashed forth, they radiated light like a blooming sun.
“Heaven and Earth Overlord Fist!”
The elder roared, and torrential power surged forth like raging waves and billowing storms, sweeping towards the Zither Sword Immortal and engulfing the ninefold heavens.
Moreover, as the elder’s fists struck, an overbearing aura assaulted the mind and soul, utterly terrifying.
The Zither Sword Immortal’s face remained impassive as his hands swiftly plucked the strings.
Zheng, zheng, zheng.
One after another, sword intents burst forth from the ancient zither, like dragons emerging from the depths, emitting resounding sword cries.
Fully ten thousand sword intents!
Boom!
The sword intents met the elder’s fist from the Ancient Wastelands Sacred Ground and shattered instantly. Yet they successfully halted the elder’s advance.
“Again!”
The elder from the Ancient Wastelands Sacred Ground sneered and followed with another punch.
This punch was exceedingly fearsome, akin to thunder exploding, stars plummeting, or the Milky Way bursting its banks in a cascading torrent.
The elder’s fist carried immense force and unmatched tyranny, as if even a god present would be shattered by this blow.
Upon seeing this punch, a grave expression finally crossed the Zither Sword Immortal’s calm face. He swiftly elevated his combat power to its peak.
Zheng!
The Zither Sword Immortal’s hands danced rapidly over the strings, transforming the zither notes into dense raindrops of sword intents in the air.
Three hundred and sixty thousand swords!
Each sword intent emitted white light, sharp and piercing, instilling dread in the heart.
The killing intent was world-shaking.
“Slay!”
The Zither Sword Immortal bellowed, and the three hundred and sixty thousand swords in the void slashed forward simultaneously, meeting the elder’s fist.
“Flower without substance, all show and no depth!”
The elder sneered disdainfully, his hands unleashing punches in rapid succession, bombarding the sword intents relentlessly.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang…
The sounds of collision rang out incessantly.
As the elder’s fists clashed with the sword intents, sparks several zhang long erupted in the void, creating a heart-stirring spectacle.
It had to be said that this elder from the Ancient Wastelands Sacred Ground was extraordinarily powerful. With merely his fists, he withstood the assault of hundreds of thousands of sword intents.
Especially after he pushed the Heaven and Earth Overlord Fist to its zenith, fist shadows filled the sky. These fist shadows formed an airtight barrier, repelling the sword qi and displaying overwhelming dominance.
Zheng, zheng, zheng!
The sword cries resounded once more.
The Zither Sword Immortal’s hands plucked the strings at blinding speed, beams of light surging from his fingertips. Another three hundred and sixty thousand sword intents!
Each sword intent was as thick as a water bucket, indestructible and unyielding.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.
The sword intents cleaved heaven and earth, as if capable of piercing the firmament. In an instant, they submerged the elder from the Ancient Wastelands Sacred Ground below.
From afar, Ye Qiu and the others felt a chill creep over their bodies, cold air rising unceasingly from their soles. Even at a distance of ten thousand metres, they sensed the bone-deep killing intent.
The sword gleams streaking through the void brimmed with destructive aura, plunging one into an icy abyss.
Though they were so far away, their souls trembled involuntarily. One could imagine the immense pressure borne by that elder from the Ancient Wastelands Sacred Ground.
Bang, bang, bang!
The elder from the Ancient Wastelands Sacred Ground bathed in divine light, like a god-king, ceaselessly counterattacking with his fists, shaking the void.
Pfft!
Suddenly, the elder’s body shuddered, his left arm severed clean at the shoulder, blood flowers blooming across the sky.
“Ah…”
The elder from the Ancient Wastelands Sacred Ground cried out in agony. Immediately after, several more bloody holes pierced his body from the sword intents, blood soaking his robes in a shocking sight.
“He is injured!”
Yun Xi’s spirits lifted as she said, “The Zither Sword Immortal truly lives up to being the foremost below sainthood in our Azure Cloud Sword Sect.”
The Zither Sword Immortal was about to seize this chance to finish off the elder from the Ancient Wastelands Sacred Ground when Fairy Liu from the Chaos Sacred Ground charged forward.
Clang!
The war spear in Fairy Liu’s hand pierced the void, thrusting towards the Zither Sword Immortal.
As the war spear stabbed out, endless divine light erupted, instantly stirring up flying sand and rolling stones across heaven and earth.
The Zither Sword Immortal’s hands continued plucking the strings, the zither notes coalescing into tangible killing intent in the air, resounding with earth-shattering clamour.
Fairy Liu’s face was icy cold as her body turned into a streak of light, intent on impaling the Zither Sword Immortal with her war spear.
This strike was ruthlessly vicious.
The Zither Sword Immortal persisted in plucking the strings, the sword intents formed from the zither notes weaving into a curtain of light, like the hardest shield in the world, blocking Fairy Liu’s war spear.
Suddenly, Feng Yan from the Primordial Sacred Ground made his move.
Boom!
Feng Yan first shattered the light curtain with the Yin-Yang Pagoda, then pinched an Exterminating God Needle between his fingers, aiming straight for the Zither Sword Immortal’s forehead.
Pop!
The next second, a trickle of blood flowed from the Zither Sword Immortal’s brow.
