Chapter 854: One Person, One Sword, Battling the Nine Heavens

A supreme elite who had opened his own Unique Path had just manifested a statue of Confucius.

As soon as the statue appeared, an overwhelming aura of righteousness filled the air.

The world became clear and bright!

The lady in blood-red robes chewed on her sugarcane twice and then spat it out. She glanced at Prime Minister Yuan and smiled, saying, "A scholar with a backbone. How impressive."

Prime Minister Yuan said, "Please enlighten me."

With that, the grand statue behind him bent down and threw a punch toward the lady in blood-red robes.

The statue's scholarly aura enveloped everything up to thirty thousand meters away!

Scholars were no ordinary people in the Great Zhou.

Those who excelled in their studies had an inner aura of talent. Their words could shine brightly and affect the world. The words of a great scholar could illuminate the heavens in a light that could rival sunlight and moonlight.

In the face of the thirty-thousand-meter aura of talent, the lady in blood-red robes raised her saber horizontally.

Bang!

The lady in blood-red robes was pushed back a hundred meters.

The aura shattered!

At this moment, Prime Minister Yuan threw another punch. As the punch was thrown, the world seemed to bow. An aura of talent stretching a hundred thousand meters!

The lady in blood-red robes lady blocked with her saber again.

Bang!

The lady in blood-red robes was pushed back three hundred meters, and the space around her shattered.

Prime Minister Yuan took a deep breath and clenched his hands tightly. Then, he relaxed and opened his palm, revealing an ancient ruler.

"The Righteous Ruler!" someone exclaimed in the crowd.

The Righteous Ruler was one of the three supreme artifacts of the Great Zhou, and it was made from the Confucian forefather's aura of talent. It was being nurtured daily by the aura of Confucian disciples.

Once the ruler was out, all evil within the Great Zhou would be vanquished.

On the city wall, Dao Jun next to Zhou Fan solemnly asked, "Your Highness, what about His Majesty?"

Zhou Fan said in a deep voice, "The arrangements have been made."

Dao Jun nodded and then looked at Ye Guan. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "Why is Young Master Ye still asleep?"

Zhou Fan looked down at Ye Guan in her arms and said softly, "He is gravely injured."

Dao Jun nodded. Then, he seemed to have thought of something and walked over to Yi Nian, who was licking a candied hawthorn.

"Young lady, do you know about his Tianxing Flame?"

Yi Nian turned to look at Dao Jun.

Dao Jun said, "You know, right?"

Yi Nian nodded.

"What do you think of this? If we find ourselves completely overwhelmed, how about you take out Young Master Ye's Tianxing Flame and pretend to be from the Tianxing Civilization? Maybe we can scare off the Evil Dao Alliance by doing that."

Yi Nian blinked and didn't speak.

Dao Jun asked, "Can you do it?"

"Good idea!" Yi Nian nodded.

Dao Jun nodded as well, and then he looked at the lady in blood-red robes in the distance with a touch of helplessness in his eyes. She was just too strong—so strong that he could only hope that Yi Nian could succeed in pretending to be from the Tianxing Civilization and scare the lady in the blood-red robes away.

After taking out the Righteous Ruler, Prime Minister Yuan took a step forward and swung the ruler down.

Prime Minister Yuan's aura of talent covered a million meters of land, expanding in the blink of an eye!

He was in the Great Zhou, so he was blessed with the aura of countless scholars. With the help of the Righteous Ruler, his aura of talent managed to cover a million meters of land.

The vast aura of talent surged toward the lady in blood-red robes as if it were a tsunami.

The star field boiled!

The lady in blood-red robes narrowed her eyes slightly. She stepped forward and slashed down with her saber.

Boom!

The colossal aura of talent shattered, breaking into countless streams of light that dispersed into the heavens and the earth.

Prime Minister Yuan’s grand statue of Confucius shattered as well.

A million meters of talent was Prime Minister Yuan’s limit; it was also the limit of the grand statue of Confucius.

The lady in blood-red robes retreated a thousand meters away. Just as she stopped, the blood-red saber in her hand shattered, scattering into countless fragments.

The lady in blood-red robes was forced to retreat a thousand meters away, but she remained unscathed herself!

Despair flitted across Prime Minister Yuan's eyes. A million meters of talent couldn’t harm the lady in blood-red robes at all.

How were they supposed to fight her?

Prime Minister Yuan turned to the wounded Ci Tian below. Seeing Prime Minister Yuan’s look, Ci Tian's expression changed dramatically.

Damn, why are you looking at me? Do you really think I can still fight?

Fortunately, Prime Minister Yuan didn’t make Ci Tian fight again, but he turned to look at Zhou Fan next to Ci Tian.

Zhou Fan slightly nodded, “Next, let’s have the Great Zhou handle it.”

Prime Minister Yuan stepped back and moved to the Great Zhou city walls.

The lady in blood-red robes glanced at the falling fragments of her blood-red saber and smiled, “Not bad.”

Then, she looked down at Zhou Fan and said, “The Great Zhou is pretty strong, but it's not much.”

Boom!

Just then, a terrifying aura swept across everyone from the distant horizon, and a middle-aged man appeared in midair.

The middle-aged man was dressed in a white robe and cloth shoes, striding forward with an extraordinary presence.

Zhou Fan was somewhat surprised to see the man, and it was all because she couldn't recognize him.

Zhou Fan turned to Prime Minister Yuan.

Prime Minister Yuan's expression was solemn as he said, “He is Gu Shence, the commander of the Shence Army. He once followed the ancestors of the Great Zhou. It’s normal that you don’t know him, as he rarely comes back to the Great Zhou.”

Gu Shence?! Zhou Fan was shocked. She was actually familiar with him. After the Great Zhou was established, the Founding Ancestor had built a Merit Tower that housed eighteen distinguished contributors, and Gu Shence was one of them. He was even ranked third.

The Shence Army was named after him as well.

However, the legendary Gu Shence disappeared after the Great Zhou was founded. The Shence Army was mobilized a few times, but he never returned.

Zhou Fan truly didn’t expect that he'd return to face this crisis.

The top-tier supreme experts in the shadows saluted and exclaimed, “Greetings, Commander Gu!”

Zhou Fan shouted, “Members of the Imperial family! Salute.”

With that, she bowed deeply toward Gu Shence.

The members of the Great Zhou Imperial family followed suit, bowing deeply.

Gu Shence! The founder of the Great Zhou had once issued an edict. "Any member of the Great Zhou Imperial family who sees Gu Shence should act like they've encountered His Majesty the Emperor."

The Great Zhou citizens were immensely excited to see him. It was their first time seeing such a legendary figure!

Gu Shence walked slowly to stand before the lady in blood-red robes. He stared at her and said, “In red attire, with a sugarcane in hand... Ji Xiaojian. One person, one sword, battling the nine heavens.”

Ji Xiaojian took a bite of her sugarcane and smiled. “Have you attempted the Ascension Battles?"

Gu Shence nodded.

Ji Xiaojian asked again, “How many heavens did you reach?”

Gu Shence replied, “I reached the Second Heavens.”

Ji Xiaojian’s lips curled slightly. “And you dared to come here?”

Gu Shence pointed to the Great Zhou behind him and said, “The country is in danger. How can I not return?”

“I’ll kill you once I'm done with this sugarcane,” Ji Xiaojian said.

Gu Shence nodded slightly. He glanced at the figure of Ye Guan, held by Zhou Fan in the distance, and said, “I’m somewhat surprised. Ji Xiaojian, you actually came to hunt down a Divine Dao Realm swordsman.”

Ji Xiaojian shook her head, “My target isn’t him. I’m here to find the True God. He's related to the True God, so I guess I should deal with him as well.”

“Are you talking about the True God who has suppressed the universe tribulation of her universe region for like a million times now?”

“Yes.” Ji Xiaojian nodded. Then, she glanced at Zhou Fan down below and smiled. “I’m quite surprised that the Heir of the Great Zhou is willing to go to such lengths to protect that brat. I guess she’s taken a liking to him.”

Gu Shence glanced at Zhou Fan and remarked, “Since she is the Heir of the Great Zhou, she must be pretty competent. I trust her and her judgement.”

Ji Xiaojian nodded. “The Great Zhou is courageous. This is going to be an interesting fight.”

Gu Shence smiled and said, “I’m also looking forward to seeing the sword of Ji Xiaojian, who has fought until the Third Heaven.”

Gu Shence opened his palm, and a dark jade-colored spear appeared in his hand. The spear's spearhead had a blood-red hue.

Ji Xiaojian took another bite of her sugarcane and said, “You’re not worthy of me drawing my sword.”

She then spat out the sugarcane and added, “I’m not insulting you. I’m stating a fact.”

Gu Shence stared at Ji Xiaojian and said, “Guide me, please.”

Ji Xiaojian finally finished her sugarcane. She didn't draw her saber or sword. Instead, she stepped forward and delivered a simple punch toward Gu Shence.

A simple punch!

However, Gu Shence’s expression changed drastically in an instant because the punch was pulling him into Ji Xiaojian’s unique path.

Ji Xiaojian was suppressing him with her unique path!

Gu Shence’s eyes closed as the world became silent around him.

The next moment, Gu Shence thrust his spear forward.

Boom!

The spear seemed to contain the power of a myriad of worlds, and a thick killing intent erupted from his spear as well. Then, they all transformed into a wave of energy made out of Gu Shence's unique path, sweeping toward Ji Xiaojian.

A confrontation of unique paths!

One spear!

One punch!

Each was its own path!

The fist and the spear collided in midair, but there was no earth-shattering explosion as imagined; there wasn't even any sound at all.

Everyone stared intently at the horizon.

Just then, Ji Xiaojian withdrew her fist.

Crack!

A crisp noise echoed, and under everyone’s watchful eyes, the spear in Gu Shence’s hand shattered, turning into countless fragments.

Gu Shence’s fleshly body began to disappear bit by bit like snow meeting the blazing sun.

The Great Zhou experts were shocked.

Gu Shence was defeated and with a single punch at that!

It had to be known that Gu Shence was a Path Creation Realm, but he was defeated with a single punch?

Moreover, the lady in blood-red robes hadn't even used her saber. If she had drawn her saber... the experts of the Great Zhou were in despair.

Zhou Fan stared intently at the lady in blood-red robes in the distance.

Just then, she realized something—the lady in blood-red robes had never taken them seriously at all.

She had always been playing with them!

Zhou Fan squeezed her eyes shut, and she started to feel a bit afraid.

The lady in blood-red robes possessed strength beyond her comprehension.

Dao Jun and the others became extremely solemn. The lady in blood-red robes' strength had surpassed their understanding.

They were in the same cultivation realm, so how come she was so much stronger than them?

They couldn’t figure it out.

Gu Shence muttered, “As expected of Ji Xiaojian, who has reached the Third Heavens...”

Gu Shence's figure became ethereal, and he vanished when a light breeze swept past him.

Gu Shence was no more!

Ji Xiaojian turned to Zhou Fan in the distance and smiled. "Girl, how about I give you another chance? As long as you give up on the man in your arms, I will leave and guarantee that the Evil Dao Alliance will no longer trouble the Great Zhou. Furthermore, I can even take you as my disciple. Rest assured, I, Ji Xiaojian, keep my word.”

Everyone present looked at Zhou Fan.