Chapter 2690 - Heaven and Earth as a Furnace, Fortune as a Smith

Beyond the God Domain, the endless spacetime was in disarray.

The three Heavenly Sovereigns auras were terrifying, and they attacked one after another, every blow shattering the void. Divine radiance swept outward.

The other Eternals hidden throughout the void had long since moved further away for fear of being caught up in the aftershock.

Xiao Jian repeatedly coughed up blood. His clothes were stained red and tattered, and his skin was deathly pale and translucent.

But he hadn’t retreated in the slightest. He still stood there, as if nailed in place, not budging an inch.

He’d already drawn most of his sheathed sword. His sword qi was searingly bright, and his sword force had blocked the Heavenly Sovereign’s attacks again and again.

That aside, his endless sword force had spread to the spacetime barrier behind him, staving off the flood of destructive power.

But this only increased the impact on Xiao Jian!

“Hah. I didn’t realize that you were so compassionate, scholar. It seems you cannot bear to see the God Domain destroyed,” Heavenly Sovereign Yaoguang said with a cold laugh.

In his eyes, Xiao Jian was severely overestimating himself. It seemed foolish to the extreme.

“Don’t say that. Caring about living things is a virtue. Fellow Daoist Xiao’s magnanimity is to be lauded. He really does strive for the benefit of all beneath the heavens,” Heavenly Sovereign Changhen said with a sigh. “If he weren’t so set on opposing us, I’d hate to kill such a distinguished gentleman of the Dao of the Sword.”

“A gentleman? Don’t make me laugh. ‘The benefit of all beneath the heavens’? What a crock of shit. Seems to me that he’s no more than a fool,” said Heavenly Sovereign Ling, his eyes glinting with mockery.

Even as they conversed, the Heavenly Sovereigns’ didn’t let up. They attacked in a pelting flurry, terrifying beyond measure.

Xiao Jian extracted another section of the sword, but doing so seemed to exhaust his essence, qi, and spirit. His hair lost its luster, and his skin cracked in numerous places, as if he’d instantly aged countless years.

But he wasn’t the least bit concerned. He just stood there calmly, pouring everything he had into drawing his sword.

What was death? What was defeat? When something mattered, he wouldn’t back down in the slightest, and when something didn’t matter, he wouldn’t let it distract him in the slightest.

His lips moved, and he murmured, “Heaven and earth are a furnace, and fortune is a smith.”

He spoke every word with great solemnity and difficulty.

The sheathed sword, meanwhile, lit up with intense light, as if awakening from a long dormancy.

The three Heavenly Sovereigns’ gazes focused.

Over the course of this continuous onslaught, they’d realized Xiao Jian’s terrifying qualities, and they naturally no longer dared to be negligent. They were trying their utmost to stop Xiao Jian from drawing that mysterious sword from its sheath.

They were certain that if he succeeded, it would have unpredictable consequences!

And none of them could tolerate that outcome.

They attacked with ever greater terrifying might. Xiao Jian finally swayed on his feet, and the spacetime barrier shook with him. It seemed it might break at any moment.

Xiao Jian frowned, but he didn’t lose heart. Even as the blood gushed from the corners of his lips in a non-stop flow, he continued, “Yin and Yang are...”

His words seemed to invoke truths of the Grand Dao. The light erupting from his longsword was instantly all the more imposing.

But this process seemed to strip Xiao Jian of his vitality. There were now hints of age on his brow.

Only his eyes remained unchanged, as calm as before.

Fortunately, although he was nearing his limit, he only had three inches left to draw. He’d soon draw his entire sword!

But it was then that a palm strike came flying toward him. It was as enormous as the starry sky, and it brought with it a windstorm of calamitous power.

It was just one strike, but Xiao Jian shook on his feet!

He swayed as if about to topple, then staggered back, flesh and blood torn in numerous places!

Most heart-palpitating of all, numerous enormous cracks appeared on the spacetime barrier behind Xiao Jian.

In other words, the spacetime barrier closest to the God Domain, the one separating it from the endless void, had cracked!

Meanwhile, a tall, thin, middle-aged man appeared. He was dressed in long gray robes, and he wore his hair in a Daoist topknot.

This was none other than Heavenly Sovereign E.

The moment he joined the fray, Xiao Jian’s already precarious situation grew all the more dangerous!

He clenched his sheathed longsword and drew it, risking damage to his vital source energy. Sword and sheath separated. He had only two inches left to draw!

“All of you, head to Five Elements Peak immediately. Seize that Dao Fruit!” bellowed Heavenly Sovereign E.

Madam Purple Blue, Meng Tianyu, and the other Heavenly Monarchs all took action practically simultaneously, shooting through the spacetime barrier and into the God Domain.

Xiao Jian’s brow furrowed, but he could no longer concern himself with such things. He continued, “The charcoal...”

He was practically forcing the words through the gaps in his teeth. Every syllable clearly took immense effort. It was as if he was exhausting his life force.

He drew another inch of sword. Now, only one inch remained!

“Hurry up and stop him!” The four Heavenly Sovereigns watched intently. They naturally hadn’t failed to realize how urgent the situation was, so they no longer held back. All of them attacked ruthlessly, using the strongest methods at their disposal.

The entire spacetime void was thrown into disarray.

The spacetime barrier behind Xiao Jian was blasted to bits. It could no longer do anything to stave off the flood of destructive power.

Everyone knew that if the aftershock reached the God Domain, it would destroy it completely.

There wasn’t even any room for suspense!

But it was then that Xiao Jian bit through the tip of his tongue.

What little remained of his life force instantly caught ablaze, and his hoarse, feeble voice now boomed like a gong. “All... things... are.... copper!”

Every word boomed throughout the endless spacetime void.

Xiao Jian’s sword had now left its sheath. The sword let out a low hum, while the sheath rumbled.

Xiao Jian gripped the newly revealed sword with his mangled hands and attacked.

It was just a single slash, simple as could be, but it seemed to transform the endless spacetime void into a blazing furnace burning with endless sword intent.

The flames were dazzlingly, searingly bright. Firelight swelled, full of resplendent, majestic sword intent.

Both the four Heavenly Sovereigns and the cultivators scattered across the void felt as if they stood in a furnace, suffering the torment of its searing heat.

Layers of spacetime barrier melted and broke.

The four Heavenly Sovereigns’ joint attacks collapsed and dissipated beneath that blazing sword qi.

Desperate cries rang out as some of the weaker Eternals were instantly burnt to cinders, falling apart within the blazing furnace.

Who said that Eternals were everlasting and unkillable? Beneath the furnace of that slash, they popped like soap bubbles.

Heaven and earth were a furnace, and fortune was a smith. Yin and Ying were his coal, and all of creation was his copper.

Every word echoed throughout the blazing spacetime void, like the chanting of classics or the lingering hum of a sword.

“Fortune as a smith” referred to “seizing fortune from the heavens.” “All of creation was his copper” meant that there was nothing this attack could not melt.

When this slash fell, the endless spacetime void transformed into a furnace. Everything in it was reduced to malleable lumps of copper.

Heavenly Sovereign Yaoguang retreated explosively, hands striking the air repeatedly as he tried to break through that burning sword intent.

But his hair was singed black, his features unrecognizable, like charred hunk of wood.

Shortly after, much of his body collapsed, scattering countless embers as he finally managed to break free. His figure was already pitifully indistinct.

“Break!” he bellowed, eyes wide and hideous. He condensed a seal and attacked relentlessly, terrifying beyond measure.

But in the end, that blazing sword intent tore through him, blasting him to bits. All that remained was a remnant of his soul.

Heavenly Sovereigns Ling and E were better off, but they were badly injured, too.

The former blocked that seemingly endless, burning sword intent, but the impact left him coughing up blood, his cultivation base on the brink of collapse.

The latter was run through. Sword intent had bored a hole through his chest.

Blazing sword intent burned the wound, stripping him of his life force. He wouldn’t be able to dispel it quickly.

All of this happened practically instantaneously. One slash, and the void burned. Four Heavenly Sovereigns were badly injured, and countless Eternals perished in the flames!

Even the aftershock sweeping toward the God Domain had been burnt away!

Looking up from the God Domain, it seemed that the void overhead had been enveloped in an endless sea of flames. The humming of a sword rang out without end!

The sight shook the heart and overturned the imagination.

Those Heavenly Monarchs who’d just seized the opportunity to slip past the barrier and shoot into the God Domain couldn’t help but break out in cold sweats.

Had they been any slower, they’d have been burnt to cinders, too!

“Hurry!” Madam Purple Blue gnashed her teeth, set aside all other concerns, and shot toward Five Elements Peak.

Meanwhile, the flames receded, their light dimming.

There were burns and scorch marks all over the place, and some of the Eternals’ bodies and belongings floated, scattered across the void and fused into lumps of Eternal material, like flickering meteorites.

The four Heavenly Sovereigns’ expressions were terrifyingly dark.

A single slash had injured them badly!

Heavenly Sovereign Changhen was the worst off. His clone’s body had been destroyed. All that remained was a rapidly dissipating wisp of soul.

Heavenly Sovereign Yaoguang’s clone obviously wouldn’t last, either. It looked as ethereal as a bubble, wretched to the extreme.

But all of them could tell that Xiao Jian had reached his limit!

This scholarly yet terrifying sword cultivator’s body had collapsed, and his vital energy had dimmed. His life force was rapidly drying up, and his hair and clothes were stained with blood. His face was deathly pale. It had aged dramatically and was now enveloped in death qi.

He still stood there, back upright, but it was obvious to everyone that he wouldn’t last much longer!

Most importantly, his sword and sheath had vanished. They’d turned back into a yellowed, bloodstained scroll.

When the four Heavenly Sovereigns saw this, they felt deeply reassured.

“Xiao Jian, can you manage a second attack?” Heavenly Sovereign Yaoguang shouted.

“You risked it all, but you failed to turn the tides. Why was this necessary?” Heavenly Sovereign Ling said coldly.

“Even if you destroy our clones, as you can see, the Heavenly Monarchs will soon reach Red Pine Mountain. It’s too late for you to stop them!” roared Heavenly Sovereign Changhen.

“What a pity. What a shame. How loathsome, and how awful.” Heavenly Sovereign E shook his head. “It doesn’t matter who shows up; their efforts will be futile. No one can save Su Yi now!”

They spoke with the utmost confidence and pride.

Xiao Jian just stood there in silence, expression unwavering.

He glanced down at the blood-covered scroll in his hands and whispered, “A scholar ought to be bold enough to put the world first, and sacrifice himself if need be. A sword cultivator ought to be fearless in the face of death, and live so that he can die without regrets.”

He turned his head with great difficulty, then gazed at the God Domain and the distant Five Elements Peak.

“So what if I die? He... has to live on...” murmured Xiao Jian, a complex look in his eyes.

He had the bitterness of one who’d failed to kill his enemies or prevent the sky from falling.

But he had no regrets!