Chapter 1138 - Secrets of the Black Plume Pavilion

Everyone stood in disbelief. The Spirit Jade Pavilion sent no cultivators to the Heaven Profound Realm, only a few to the Earth Profound Realm.

"Fight with everything we have!" Ji Yuan growled, his eyes icy as he swiftly formed a series of hand seals. The Rakshasa Finger manifested in the sky, a forbidden technique exclusive to the Profound Cloud Sect's sect master.

Yu Tai summoned a massive, three-meter-long axe and hurled it skyward, unleashing a devastating force that ripped open the heavens and formed a swirling vortex of destruction.

Both men exhausted all options and attacked with full force.

"You think such pitiful tricks can stop me?" Liu Wuxie scoffed.

He leapt into the air and brought down the Heretic Blade toward Yu Tai.

At that moment, the Heavenly Dragon Seal materialized above, releasing a wave of dragon aura that blanketed all of Astral Glory City.

The overwhelming pressure frightened the spectators, and they retreated in panic.

"What a powerful blade technique!" several bladesmen cried out.

When Liu Wuxie unleashed the Origin Blade, countless weapons flew out from their interspatial rings and hovered mid-air.

Panicked cultivators in the crowd cried out, "What's going on? Why is my life-bound artifact losing its spirituality?!"

The crowd could feel their artifacts' spirituality draining into the Heretic Blade.

"Liu Wuxie's blade has become the sovereign of all weapons," a Heaven Profound Realm cultivator remarked.

Only a true sovereign commanded such allegiance. With a single thought from the Heretic Blade, all the weapons turned against Ji Yuan and Yu Tai.

The Heretic Blade absorbed a massive amount of spirituality and gleamed brilliantly. Forging a heaven-spirit artifact required not just rare treasures, but immense spirituality.

"Sky-Splitting Axe!" Yu Tai shouted, unwilling to wait. Liu Wuxie's blade aura grew stronger by the second, nearly breaking him.

Above, Ji Yuan's Rakshasa Finger descended like a giant cauldron.

Everyone in the Heavenly Dao Society held their breath. Even though Liu Wuxie had already slain Miao Hanxuan and the Five Elemental Sect's ancestor, Ji Yuan and Yu Tai were seasoned Heaven Profound Realm veterans—much harder to kill.

Just then, the Heavenly Dragon Seal flared, transforming into a divine dragon that roared through the skies.

"A dragon?!" gasps erupted as all eyes turned upward.

The Heavenly Dragon Seal had fully recovered, and it was refined into a heaven-spirit artifact.

The divine dragon's aura overwhelmed the Rakshasa Finger, cracking it apart before it shattered completely. Liu Wuxie's dominance in both laws and true essence had completely overwhelmed them.

"Die!" Liu Wuxie charged at Ji Yuan, vanishing into the air and reappearing before him in the blink of an eye.

The divine dragon's suppression and Liu Wuxie's assault flowed seamlessly together.

Realizing the danger, Ji Yuan tried to flee, unwilling to face Liu Wuxie head-on. He knew that Liu Wuxie's physique alone could crush Heaven Profound Realm cultivators.

However, retreating now would cost him all momentum.

Meanwhile, the Origin Blade pinned Yu Tai in place.

Liu Wuxie no longer needed to control it directly.

"Annihilation Fist!" Liu Wuxie roared, slamming his fist forward.

A destructive tide surged like a tsunami, roaring toward Ji Yuan.

Just as the strike was about to land, a shadowy figure flashed across the battlefield.

Liu Wuxie received a warning from both the Ancestral Tree and the Heavenly Dao Book; a hidden danger was approaching.

A pitch-black sword was thrust forward at staggering speeds, following an erratic and deadly trajectory. The attacker had refined his assassination technique to the extreme, enough to slay a second-level Heaven Profound Realm cultivator.

Cultivators gasped, realizing that a powerful assassin had been hiding among them all along. Now, Liu Wuxie faced a decision—kill Ji Yuan and receive the attack, or dodge the assassin's blade.

A rational cultivator would dodge without hesitation.

"An assassin from the Black Plume Pavilion... you finally showed yourself," Liu Wuxie said coldly. He suspected that they would interfere in today's battle.

"Dark Spirit!" Liu Wuxie shouted.

Though he hadn't fully mastered the Darkness Dao Art, he still summoned a portion of its power. Darkness surged like an ink tide, consuming the space and erasing Liu Wuxie's presence.

A deafening

boom

followed, along with a scream filled with agony.

"Liu Wuxie, I won't accept this!" Ji Yuan howled as his body exploded into a bloody mist.

Liu Wuxie had evaded the assassin's strike with darkness and landed his Annihilation Fist, ending Ji Yuan's life.

The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron appeared and devoured Ji Yuan's remains.

A black shadow hovered mid-air, its features hidden. It stood like a silent phantom not far from Liu Wuxie.

"You're the first ever to dodge my sword," the shadow said, its voice unnervingly both male and female.

"If I'm right, your master is the Spirit Jade Pavilion's pavilion master. And you... You're the one behind the Black Plume Pavilion," Liu Wuxie replied icily.

He had confirmed his suspicions when the Spirit Jade Pavilion's elites failed to appear, but an assassin from the Black Plume Pavilion was here.

No one ever identified the Black Plume Pavilion's leader. They raised assassins by abducting orphans and forging them into emotionless killers.

The shadow trembled, stunned that Liu Wuxie had uncovered his identity.

"What? He leads the Black Plume Pavilion?" Gasps swept through the crowd.

Shrouded in mystery, there were rumors that the Black Plume Pavilion could rival the two great academies.

No one could accept it. The Spirit Jade Pavilion had long been standing as the greatest merchant power in the True Martial Continent. Though they weren't a conventional force, no one could overlook their foundation.

The three sects reeled from the revelation. The Spirit Jade Pavilion, once known as a powerful merchant force, had just been exposed for nurturing the most hated faction on the continent.

"Liu Wuxie, we've all underestimated you," the shadow finally said.

The admission confirmed it. The Spirit Jade Pavilion's master had been nurturing assassins through the Black Plume Pavilion.

"Back when your people ambushed me on the road to Eternal Spirit Mountain, I suspected that someone had leaked my location. Only the Spirit Jade Pavilion could've known. And the Black Plume Pavilion has assassins everywhere," Liu Wuxie said calmly.

"You're right. We even planted assassins inside your Liu Clan," the shadow admitted. There was no point in hiding now.

Liu Wuxie showed no surprise. He knew assassins had infiltrated every major sect and clan. No one knew how many assassins the Black Plume Pavilion had nurtured throughout history.

The Black Plume Pavilion's fall would free its assassins, but while it was standing, they would remain bound to the pavilion.

"I always wondered how the Black Plume Pavilion is managing to survive. Assassins need vast resources. Now it makes sense—Spirit Jade Pavilion has been supporting them all along," muttered an elderly cultivator.

Grooming assassins required a vast amount of resources, and the Black Plume Pavilion had neither assets nor mines. People had always wondered how they were surviving, but now, the truth was out.

"That's why they want Liu Wuxie dead. They knew the Heavenly Dao Society would threaten their empire one day," another Earth Profound Realm expert added.

"That's why the Black Plume Pavilion will disappear from the Central Plains today," Liu Wuxie said, eyes locked onto the shadow. He absorbed Ji Yuan's power, which strengthened his aura, but he still hadn't broken through to the ninth-level Earth Profound Realm.

"Liu Wuxie, you can't kill me alone," said the shadow.

He acknowledged Liu Wuxie's strength, but he believed that it wasn't enough. Raising his pitch-black sword, he unleashed countless sword auras in twisted trajectories, forming a deadly web across the sky.

"Ancient God-Demon Sword!" he shouted, unleashing his deadliest strike.

Boundless ancient power surged across the battlefield and transformed the sky above the Heavenly Dao Society into a world of chaos and thunder.

The pressure was intense even from ten thousand meters away.

Liu Wuxie knew he couldn't afford a misstep. The shadow had studied every dao technique Liu Wuxie had mastered. Even the Annihilation Fist was probably not enough.

Unlike Ji Yuan, the assassin had reached the second-level Heaven Profound Realm, bordering on the third level. Killing him wouldn't be easy.

Just then, Liu Dashan and Liu Dazhi arrived with the Liu Clan's army.

"Big Brother, is the Liu Clan safe?" Xu Yilin asked.

"It's safe for now. Ancestor is stabilizing her breakthrough and can't fight yet," Liu Dashan replied.

"When she's ready, she'll wipe out the rest of the enemies."

"Good," Xu Yilin nodded as they both turned their eyes skyward.

Above them, the black web of sword aura had closed in on Liu Wuxie. He had to act soon, or Liu Wuxie would be slain where he stood.