Chapter 1323 - Perfect Timing

A solemn silence descended upon heaven and earth. The mountains and rivers stilled.

The middle-aged Daoist in the feather coat arrived beneath the firmament, faced the distant Su Yi, and inclined his head in greeting. “Sword cultivator Mu Yun’an of the Red City Daoist Sect greets you, Fellow Daoist.”

A rain of immortal light flowed around him.

When his feet hit the ground, sword qi surged around him, as radiant as divine gold. It transformed into a sword diagram written on the sky, making him seem even more like a god or immortal.

The other revenants’ expressions were instantly much more reserved. There were even hints of dread on their faces.

The Red City Daoist Sect!

They were among the greatest factions of sword cultivators of the ancient era, and numerous earth-shaking immortals of the Dao of the Sword had emerged from their ranks. Their foundations were deep and firm.

In life, Mu Yun’an had been among their unparalleled sword cultivators.

“A member of the Red City Daoist Sect...” Sword Immortal Qingshi looked a bit dazed as numerous memories arose.

As one of his era’s top experts of the Dao of the Sword, he naturally knew how terrifying the Red City Daoist Sect’s foundations were.

A long, long time ago, they said, “The Red City is home to nine immortals of the sword. Their reputation extends throughout both mortal and immortal skies!”

This was because, at its most dazzling, the Red City Daoist Sect had nine true sword immortals at the same time!

“No wonder I felt he looked familiar as soon as I laid eyes on him. So, he’s from the Red City Daoist Sect,” whispered the Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha.

In ancient times, there were numerous sects of sword cultivators of all stripes. However, only a few factions stood at the pinnacle.

And the Red City Daoist Sect was one of them!

Rumor had it that the Red City Daoist Sect’s sword cultivators had even established a faction in the Immortal Realm, and that they ruled over their own territory!

Alas, during the End of the Dharma, even factions as mighty as the Red City Daoist Sect took devastating damage and all but disappeared into the long river of history.

“Fellow Daoist Su’s found himself a truly powerful foe this time,” whispered Sword Immortal Qingshi.

The Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha nodded.

Meanwhile, Su Yi looked Mu Yun’an up and down. “If you please.”

Mu Yun’an subtly inclined his head and stepped forth.

He was tall and upright, and his Daoist robes billowed around him. As he stepped forward, a mysterious diagram of the Dao of the Sword rose beneath his feet, dazzling and eye-catching.

And all around him, terrifying sword intent soared into the heavens, piercing the dome of heaven.

Boom!

Everything shook on all sides.

The crowd watched in a daze. It seemed as if a massive city had risen around Mu Yun’an, connecting heaven and earth.

Within the city, sword immortals were as numerous as trees in a forest. They danced through the air, displaying all manner of wondrous sword arts.

And in the skies above the city gates, there hung an immortal sword. Its hilt soared into the heavens, while its tip pointed at the earth. Flames blazed around it.

There was a name carved on the hilt in characters the size of a fly’s head: “Red City!”

Clang!

The humming of a sword echoed throughout heaven and earth.

The illusory city of sword immortals suddenly transformed into a rain of light and disappeared. Only the immortal sword hovering above its gates remained. It suddenly soared into the air and landed in Mu Yun’an’s grip.

Mu Yun’an’s presence immediately transformed once more. It was as if he’d gripped a blazing sun. He was like a sword immortal traversing the skies, his sword intent like the fiery light of dawn, blanketing the entire stretch of heaven and earth!

“The Red City Refining Suns Sword Scripture!” A strange look appeared on Sword Immortal Qingshi’s face. “This Mu Yun’an has actually mastered the most difficult of the Red City Daoist Sect’s sword scriptures!”

The Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha looked impressed too. Rumor had it that this script originated from an incomplete immortal tome of the Dao of the Sword. It practically seized fortune from the heavens, and it was full of supremely lofty mysteries!

The entire area was in uproar. Everyone was astonished by Mu Yun’an’s terrifying display of power. Even the revenants looked on with dread.

He was just too strong!

Mu Yun’an was obviously “only” on par with a Nascent Divinity Transcendent, but Su Yi’s earlier opponents—Qin Hongyu, Qiu Shaochi, and Liang Guan—all paled by comparison.

Meanwhile, Su Yi’s eyebrows rose as he sensed intense pressure assailing him right in the face.

This didn’t scare him. On the contrary, it delighted him.

After refining that Nine-Colored Lotus Pod seed, his strength had obviously increased. He was now a hair’s breadth away from the late-stage Oneness Realm.

Facing an opponent like Mu Yun’an at a time like this filled Su Yi with certainty that his cultivation would break through in this very battle!

Boom!

Mu Yun’an attacked. His sword swept through the air and descended in a simple slash.

Great heights of the Dao were supremely simple. That went for swordsmanship too.

When one’s attainments in the Dao of the Sword reached lofty and profound heights, they could transform even the old and rotten into something wondrous.

This type of charm was on full display in Mu Yun’an’s slash.

His sword wasn’t real. Rather, it was condensed from his cultivation base, and it blazed with radiant light, illuminating the nine heavens.

Su Yi didn’t hesitate. He swung his sword and met Mu Yun’an’s slash head-on.

Boom!!

The Laws of Profound Ruin flowed around him, filling his sword intent. He now resembled the blue curtain of heaven, with unsurpassed divine majesty seemingly capable of blanketing and suppressing an entire landscape.

When these two starkly different sword intents clashed——

Heaven and earth abruptly dimmed. The crowd felt a stinging pain in their eardrums, and everything went white before their eyes. All of them felt as if their hearts and souls were under attack.

The power affected all of the World King spectators, even those watching from a distance. It left them seeing stars and shaking from head to toe. They almost couldn’t help but fall over.

Even the revenants looked stricken, and they instinctively moved further away.

Boom——!

That entire stretch of sky seemed to crumble as it descended into complete upheaval.

As that destructive power ran rampant, the crowd watched as Su Yi and Mu Yun’an launched into fierce combat!

It was like a clash between unparalleled immortals of the sword. One seemed to wield the sun itself, incinerating heaven and earth. Misty firelight soared into the air.

The other was like the blue curtain of heaven blanketing and suppressing the Human Realm. His sword force was like the heavens, vast beyond measure.

Every time they clashed, the resulting aftershock swept outward like a windstorm, directly shattering their surroundings.

The World Kings didn’t even dare to use their divine senses to spectate for fear that the aftershock would damage their souls.

Even the revenants watched solemnly, circulating their cultivation bases. Only then could they block the destructive currents of sword qi.

“He’s just too strong! It’s true; every Red City Daoist Sect sword cultivator is more terrifying than the one before. They really are a peak orthodoxy that once gave rise to numerous sword immortals,” someone sighed.

“Everyone knows how strong Mu Yun’an is, so this isn’t strange. What’s really terrifying is his opponent! Can’t you tell? Not even Mu Yun’an can take him down quickly!” someone whispered. “If we weren’t seeing it with our own eyes, who’d dare believe that a Oneness Realm World King could be this heaven-defying?”

“This is surely connected to his mastery of reincarnation. After all.... By reincarnating and starting over, you can correct and improve your own path!” someone said with a conflicted look on his face. “If things go on like this, how could he fail to forge a supremely powerful Dao?

“Perhaps it’s for this reason that the Contract of the Gods prohibits reincarnation from existing in this world,” said someone else. Jealousy and helplessness were written all over his face.

......

“I truly would never have guessed that Fellow Daoist Su’s attainments in the Dao of the Sword had reached such unbelievable heights.” Sword Immortal Qingshi was visibly stunned and unable to keep calm.

As a sword cultivator, he was naturally well aware of how astonishingly impressive it was that Su Yi could compete with Mu Yun’an in swordsmanship.

“Alas, he was born in the wrong era. Had he been born in ancient times, someone with his foundations and aptitude for the Dao of the Sword could have easily stepped onto the Path of Transcendence, making the heavens tremble. He would have dazzled even immortals, and he could have crossed the threshold of the Immortal Dao without fear of failure!” Sword Immortal Qingshi sighed deeply.

“No, it seems to me that Fellow Daoist Su was born at just the right time!” The depths of the Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha’s gaze flashed, and he said solemnly, “The Path of Transcendence will soon reappear, and the balance of power will soon be rebuilt from the ground up. Only someone like him can rule over it all!”

Sword Immortal Qingshi froze briefly, then nodded. “Well said!”

......

Splurt!

As the battle raged, blood flew through the air. Another massive wound had torn open on Su Yi’s back. His entire body was dripping with blood and riddled with wounds. His flesh was in tatters.

Mu Yun’an really was far too strong!

He, too, was a revenant comparable to a Nascent Divinity Transcendent, but Su Yi’s earlier opponents simply couldn’t compare to this unparalleled sword cultivator.

Su Yi now understood on a deep level that even amongst sentient revenants who’d had similar cultivations in life, there were enormous differences in strength.

Mu Yun’an was undoubtedly a peak figure within his cultivation boundary!

However, that only increased Su Yi’s will to fight. Even though his wounds were dire and his flesh was in tatters, he fought with ever-increasing ferocity.

When you were invincible, it was hard to avoid boredom.

Encountering a powerful opponent was the most joyous of all!

As the fierce combat raged on, Su Yi forgot himself completely. His heart and soul were both focused, pure and empty of all other thoughts.

It had been a long, long time since he’d experienced this.

And it was while he was in this wondrous, indescribable state that the long-dormant Sword of the Nine Hells trembled within his sea of consciousness, as if resonating with Su Yi’s blazing will to fight.

Minute wisps of obscure energy surged out of the Sword of the Nine Hells, spreading throughout Su Yi’s battered frame and quietly nourishing it....

He’s actually this impressive?

As they fought, waves coursed through Mu Yun’an’s heart. There was astonishment, shock, and a hint of irrepressible admiration.

Their Red City Daoist Sect had once given rise to numerous legendary experts of the Dao of the Sword. Every last one of them had left a glorious flourish on the pages of the history books.

But it was precisely because of this that Mu Yun’an realized how heaven-defying this opponent was. It was even fair to call him “unique and unprecedented!”

This was because even amongst the Red City Daoist Sect’s past generations of talented elites, it would have been nigh-impossible to find any such miraculous genius!

All of this only served to further stimulate Mu Yun’an’s will to fight.

Amongst sword cultivators, there was no greater show of respect for an opponent than fighting them with everything you had!

As the battle continued, Su Yi’s injuries worsened.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Illuminating Emptiness could no longer smile. His heart was on tenterhooks, and he was more nervous than ever before.

The same was true for Wei Shan.

“It’d be pretty easy to accept a loss to someone like Mu Yun’an,” said Sword Immortal Qingshi.

The Universal Emptiness Sword Buddha sighed. “The gap between their cultivations is far too enormous. For Fellow Daoist Su to have achieved all this is simply unprecedented. Even in ancient times, there was no one else like him! Even those descendants of immortals are slightly inferior.”

There was no doubt about it; in the eyes of these two former top powerhouses of the Path of Transcendence, Su Yi had little hope of victory.

The crowd thought much the same way. All of them could tell that Su Yi was in grave peril.

Although Mu Yun’an was injured too, none of his wounds were severe. The difference was obvious at a glance.

But against all expectations——

Mu Yun’an suddenly extricated himself from the fray!

He put away his sword and subtly inclined his head. “No need to fight any further. I’ve... lost.”

His voice contained a nigh imperceptible hint of bitterness and melancholy.

The entire area sank into silence. The crowd looked at each other, stunned.

He lost?