Chapter 1922 - A Wave of the Sleeve Cleanses Heaven and Earth

Xie Gu hurriedly tried to comfort him. “Calm your fury, Daoist Brother. Fearing battle and fleeing in the face of death is commonplace.”

Pei Hongjing smiled bleakly. “Ultimately, the world really has changed. Ever since we lost the Central Immortal Court, the Immortal Realm has fallen ill, and the disease has spread. We’ve rotted from the inside out!”

The crowd’s gazes dulled. It was true. The Immortal Realm had been in decline ever since it lost the Central Immortal Court. Everyone fought to their own ends, leaving the world in chaos and rife with corruption.

The people were not unified. Who was willing to fight, bleed, and die for the Immortal Realm now?

“The Eternal Night Immortal Sovereign has returned in the person of Sovereign Venerate Su. I trust that even if the Seventh Gate of Heaven falls today, he’ll recapture it another day!” Madam Xiangyun said with staunch conviction. “And I trust that he’ll reclaim and unify our territories, creating a peace that lasts for ten thousand generations!”

The crowd’s hearts shook. They couldn’t help but recall that, just a few months ago, at the Academy of Eternal Night’s opening ceremony, Su Yi had publicly announced his grand ambition. He’d promised to remove the threat of the demons of the Beyond once and for all and bring lasting peace to the Immortal Realm!

“I have faith too. That day will come!” murmured Pei Hongjing, his eyes filling with determination.

He swept his gaze across the crowd. “All of you should leave too. It’s enough that I remain behind to defend the Seventh Gate of Heaven alone!”

The others exchanged glances. A moment later, they laughed and chimed in:

“Daoist Brother, you aren’t afraid to die, so why should we be afraid?”

“Dying like this might be foolish, but defending our borders to the bitter end is our grand, righteous aspiration. How could we back down?”

“I most certainly don’t want that demon scum to think everyone in the Immortal Realm is a coward who runs from battle!”

“Every inch of our lands were paid for in blood. If we die, we die. So long as we can awaken others’ hot-bloodedness and serve as an example, our deaths will have been worthwhile!”

The rims of Pei Hongjing’s eyes reddened, and he broke into gratified laughter.

But then, a burst of uproarious laughter resounded from beyond the Seventh Gate of Heaven, echoing throughout heaven and earth. It was extraordinarily grating to the ears.

“When the Seventh Gate of Heaven falls, who will know how you died?” a Demon Sovereign said with disdain.

Another Demon Sovereign said with a sinister smile, “You want to become role models? All we need to do is announce that you clung desperately to life, surrendered, and begged for mercy. Then, after you die bravely in battle, the people of the Immortal Realm will revile you and curse your name for generations. No one will be able to cleanse your reputations!”

Pei Hongjing and the others looked stricken. Sometimes, rumors were trivial and could be disregarded.

Other times, rumors were enough to destroy a reputation built up over a lifetime!

Pei Hongjing took a deep breath and said, “Everyone, no need to concern ourselves with that. If we go boldly to our deaths, we’ll die with clear consciences!”

The crowd nodded.

Off in the distance, the Demon Sovereigns spoke once more. “No need to waste any further breath. Attack with everything you’ve got and shatter the Seventh Gate of Heaven’s defenses once and for all!”

“Got it”!

Boom!

Heaven and earth swayed. Firelight ran rampant.

Within moments, the massive, seemingly impenetrable barrier protecting the Seventh Gate of Heaven finally couldn’t take it anymore. The demons blasted open a hole!

Light scattered, so intense that Pei Hongjing and the others couldn’t keep their eyes open.

The Seventh Gate of Heaven was now completely exposed to their enemies. The demons’ fields of view were no longer obscured.

But neither Pei Hongjing nor the other Immortal Kings were panicked or frightened. They exchanged glances, laughed, and took out their weapons. All of them were determined to fight to the bitter end!

“Get them!”

The Demon Sovereigns led the charge.

Each was as ferocious as a god of war, their gazes utterly cold and utterly cruel.

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

Off in the distance, the army of one hundred thousand demons charged, their roars shaking the heavens and scattering the clouds.

When the few remaining experts of the Seventh Gate of Heaven, they couldn’t take it anymore. Their faces paled, and they visibly gave in to despair.

Is the Seventh Gate of Heaven... really going to fall?

Pei Hongjing, Xie Gu, Madam Xiangyun, and the other Immortal Kings leaped into the air, practically igniting their vital energy as they prepared to block the charge.

But in the face of the ferocious demon hordes, they seemed utterly paltry and insignificant, even ludicrous.

Like mantises trying to block chariots!

“Mere death is too good for you. I won’t give you what you want. This lofty one shall remove your heads, refine your corpses into puppets, and refine your souls into lamp oil. You’ll suffer eternal torment, never to find release!”

A black-robed Demon Sovereign was the first to charge into the Seventh Gate of Heaven, his blood-red eyes full of mockery and disdain.

Boom!

He stretched out his hand and grabbed.

Blood-red chains filled the skies and descended, thoroughly binding Pei Hongjing, Xie Gu, and the other Immortal Kings.

One move, nothing more, but all of them were defeated!

A vivid example of just how enormous the gap between Immortal Kings and Demon Sovereigns was.

In this world, nothing was crueler than boldly going to your death, only to learn that even that was beyond your power!

Pei Hongjing, Xie Gu, and the others’ expressions were bleak. They exchanged glances, and the same thought rose unbidden to their minds.

Self-detonation! Better to die with honor than live in degradation!

“Everyone, this old man will be leaving ahead!” said Pei Hongjing. He smiled, but his grin was full of both staunch determination and indescribable grief.

But then, a voice rang out. “Wait!”

The voice echoed through the air, shaking the cloudy dome of heaven.

And a streak of sword qi arrived even faster than the voice. It cleaved through the air, boring through the skies with unstoppable force and shattering Pei Hongjing and the others’ chains!

Bang!!!

The blood-red light filling the sky shattered, and the black-robed Demon Sovereign staggered backward. His expression shifted dramatically.

A tall, upright figure appeared before Pei Hongjing and the others.

It all happened in a flash.

The defenders’ eyes widened, and their gazes filled with bewilderment. They almost suspected that they were dreaming.

Is that... Sovereign Venerate Su!? He’s really returned?

Meanwhile, roars still echoed through the sky, shaking heaven and earth. The demon army was still charging their way.

The black-robed Demon Sovereign and the other Demon Sovereigns leading the charge gazed at the young man in blue in astonishment. They wouldn’t have guessed that someone would intervene suddenly at this critical juncture.

“He’s....” The black-robed Demon Sovereign opened his mouth to say something when his heart palpitated with fright and his whole body went taut.

He watched as this new arrival, the young man in blue, suddenly raised his hand and swept it through the air.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

Heaven and earth dimmed.

Countless streaks of sword qi surged forth, like a tidal wave or avalanche, forming a dazzling and resplendent ocean.

Terrifying sword force burned like lava, erupting and churning within the sea of sword qi.

The sky within one hundred thousand feet of the Seventh Gate of Heaven silently shattered and collapsed.

The black-robed Demon Sovereign and his six companions looked stricken, but the roaring demonic hordes didn’t even seem to notice. They charged ahead, undeterred, their eyes shining with bloodlust.

A moment later——

The humming of a sword rang out, and the churning ocean of sword qi swept forth.

The seven Demon Sovereigns were instantly enveloped in the raging tide, their bodies offering no more resistance than paper window paneling. Even their souls shattered and went up in puffs of smoke.

In the last moments before their deaths, astonishment and terror were written all over their faces.

It seemed they found this difficult to believe. No, difficult to even imagine.

Boom!

Sword qi swept through the air, past the Seventh Gate of Heaven. The armies of the Beyond finally noticed, and their expressions froze, then filled with horror.

What’s that?

The sword qi blanketed the sky, obscuring the sun. It filled both heaven and earth!

To the charging demonic hordes, it was like the descent of the apocalypse. They felt smaller, more helpless, and more overcome with despair than ever before.

“No——!” Someone shrieked in terror, but it was already too late.

The maelstrom of sword qi swept through the demon army, scattering their forces and causing incalculable bloodshed!

Were someone to gaze down from the dome of heaven, they’d have seen an army of demons as dense as the grass on a prairie. And that sword qi was like a wildfire setting in all ablaze! Wherever it passed, the “grass” burnt to cinders and scattered to the wind!

Boom!

Countless startling rifts appeared throughout heaven and earth, spreading outward in all directions. The grand demon army suffered massive casualties, and their ranks broke. There was so much blood that it stained the skies a startling shade of red.

All of this happened in a flash.

A swing of Su Yi’s sleeves, and a flood of sword qi executed seven Demon Sovereigns and crushed a horde of one hundred thousand demons. No less than thirty thousand perished beneath this single strike!

The world was like a canvas painted in blood.

The power of that one attack overturned heaven and earth. The sun and moon dimmed, and everyone was overcome with astonishment!

Pei Hongjing, Madam Xiangyun, Xie Gu, and the other Immortal Kings stood there in a daze, completely dumbstruck.

When Su Yi first appeared, they almost suspected they were dreaming.

When they watched seven Demon Sovereigns perish and the massive demon army collapse in the blink of an eye, their minds went completely blank.

Terrifying! Too terrifying!

No words would have been enough to describe their emotions.

Meanwhile, off in the distance, the surviving demons cried out with terror and panic. Moments before, they’d marched upon the walls with terrifying, fierce momentum. Now, they were as panicked as dogs who’d lost their masters!

“How is this... possible....?”

Three terrifying Demon Sovereigns charged from the rear of the demon army, two men and one woman. Their courage had broken down, and all of them felt chills in their hands and feet.

When the barrier protecting the Seventh Gate of Heaven, they’d even felt a bit disappointed; they thought they’d wildly overestimated how difficult taking the garrison would be, and that there’d been no need for all this fuss.

The experts of the Immortal Realm were just too weak. Not one of them was a real threat!

But the moment Su Yi appeared, he waved his sleeves and suppressed everything on all sides, causing endless bloodshed.

The sight left the Demon Sovereigns dumbstruck. They were scared completely out of their wits!

The demons’ forces crumbled like an avalanche. Everywhere you looked, they were in a wretched state.

The Seventh Gate of Heaven was similarly overcome with astonishment.

Only Su Yi remained calm and composed, as if he’d casually done something utterly trivial.

When he saw that Pei Hongjing and the others were alive and unharmed, he sighed in relief and said gently, “Don’t panic, everyone. With me here, no one shall break the Seventh Gate of Heaven.”

His calm, casual words were full of soothing force as they echoed throughout the crowd’s ears.

The crowd reacted as if awakening from a dream, startled out of their reverie. When they next looked at Su Yi, it was as if they were gazing upon a god!