Chapter 897: One Sword Strike

Jimo Ku watched as Ye Guan disappeared into the distance. "Little Lan, he shows no mercy to his enemies. I fear that troubles will only increase."

Jimo Lan shook his head. "Brother, you're wrong."

Jimo Ku looked at Jimo Lan.

"If he hadn’t killed Wuma E, the troubles he'd have to face would have multiplied," Jimo Lan explained, "If you let others think that you're easy to bully, they'll do everything to bully you. By decisively killing Wuma E, those in the shadows have become cautious."

Jimo Ku responded gravely, "But he's made an enemy out of the Wuma Clan. They won't let this go easily, especially since Wuma E was killed in broad daylight. You know how much the Wuma Clan values their reputation, just like the Tianwu Clan."

Jimo Lan remained calm. "Brother, how does the Wuma Clan compare to the Evil Dao Alliance?"

Jimo Ku hesitated and then replied, "If it were during the Wuma Clan's peak, they'd be comparable to the Evil Dao Alliance, but now, they're no match."

"And he's not even afraid of the Evil Dao Alliance," Jimo Lan calmly said, "Why would he fear the Wuma Clan?"

Jimo Ku fell silent.

Jimo Lan softly added, "If I'm not mistaken, the Evil Dao Alliance has probably decided to visit them."

***

The Eighth Hall Master had decided to return to the Tenth Hall of the Evil Dao Alliance upon parting ways with Ye Guan. No, he had been waiting for the Evil Dao Alliance to seek him out, but there hadn't been any response from the Evil Dao Alliance.

Something was clearly wrong here. The Eighth Hall Master paced back and forth inside the hall, and his eyes were full of worry.

It wasn't that he wanted to betray the Evil Dao Alliance; he simply knew that staying with them meant certain death.

The conflict between the Evil Dao Alliance and Ye Guan was irreconcilable.

Two consecutive Hall Masters had fallen at Ye Guan's hands, so how could the Evil Dao Alliance let that go? More importantly, the Evil Dao Alliance wanted to rescue the Evil Dao from the True Universe, and Ye Guan was an ally of the True God.

The conflict couldn't be resolved, and he had decisively chosen to switch sides.

That lady in a plain skirt's strength... T

he thought of her made him tremble. The mere idea of becoming her enemy filled him with despair, but when he thought about how he was on Ye Guan's side, he felt incredibly safe.

Sometimes, a change in direction was enough for someone to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Rumble!

Just then, the spacetime in front of the Eighth Hall Master trembled slightly.

The Eighth Hall Master opened his palm, and a voice emerged from the spacetime before him.

The Eighth Hall Master took out a communication talisman and said, "Yes, sir."

With that, he transformed into a streak of black light and disappeared.

***

An old man stood respectfully inside the grand hall of the Wuma Clan in the Wuma World.

A middle-aged man was sitting in front of him. His name was Wuma Xiao, and he was the Great Elder of the Wuma Clan.

As one of the Nine Clans of Zhaowu, the Wuma Clan had learned from their past mistakes and had gotten extremely cautious, leaving only a few members to operate outside while their true base remained hidden from outsiders.

They were doing this to protect themselves against the Tianxing Civilization.

For years, Wuma Xiao had led the clan in honing their skills outside; their goal was to revive the family and return to their former glory—no, it wasn't just their goal. It was the common goal of the Nine Clans of Zhaowu.

Just then, Wuma Xiao asked, "In just one sword strike?"

The old man nodded. "Yes. In just one sword strike."

Wuma Xiao stared at the old man and asked, "Why did you not stop him?"

The old man solemnly replied, "That young man's sword was too fast, and Little E was too close to him. I didn’t have any time to intervene."

"That's not what I meant," Wuma Xiao said, his eyes turning cold. "Why did you not stop him from seeking out that young man in the first place?"

The old man hesitated before replying, "I did try to stop him, but Little E thought that the young man was merely bluffing, so he wanted to test him."

"Foolish!" Wuma Xiao roared, "The Evil Dao Alliance has put out a bounty of five hundred Eternal Crystals for that young man's head. How could he be just an ordinary individual?"

The old man lowered his head slightly, remaining silent.

Wuma Xiao shook his head. "Utterly foolish."

"He's an arrogant young man," the old man gravely said, "He showed no respect for our Wuma Clan at all."

"And what do you think we should do?" Wuma Xiao asked coldly, "Send our clan’s experts to kill him?"

The old man hesitated before asking, "Are we just going to let this go?"

Wuma Xiao slowly rose and walked to the hall's entrance. "What do you think of that young swordsman?"

The old man thought for a moment and then replied solemnly, "His talent is monstrous, but I don't believe his father is truly beyond the Path Creation Realm."

Wuma Xiao asked, "Why do you think so?"

The old man replied, "If his father were beyond the Path Creation Realm, that would make him part of a Tier Five civilization. Aside from the Tianwu Clan and the Tianxing Civilization, there are no other Tier Five civilizations."

The Wuma Clan once had a powerhouse beyond the Path Creation Realm, but they were later annihilated by the Tianxing Civilization, which was the reason behind the Wuma Clan's decline.

If one had a powerhouse beyond the Path Creation Realm, then one's universe region was a Tier Five civilization.

Wuma Xiao was silent for a long time before saying, "What about that Tianxing Flame?"

"It has to be fake," the old man replied, "Even if his father were beyond the Path Creation Realm, he wouldn't be able to subdue the Tianxing Flame, so it has to be fake. But I have to admit... the Tianxing Flame in his hand looked incredibly real. It even startled me."

"It doesn't matter," Wuma Xiao said, shaking his head slightly. "There is clearly something wrong here. Until things become clear, we should remain as observers."

The old man hesitated for a while before asking, "How about the Soul-Devouring Beast that is still in Ye Guan’s hands?"

The Soul-Devouring Beast!

Wuma Xiao's expression darkened. The Soul-Devouring Beast was the Wuma Clan's guardian spirit, and it was a force to be reckoned with once it matured.

Fuck!

Wuma Xiao glared coldly at the old man, barely resisting the urge to slap the latter in the face.

The old man knew that he had made a mistake, so he dared not say something.

Wuma Xiao retracted his gaze and solemnly replied, "If our entire Wuma Clan seeks revenge, won't we be playing right into the Evil Dao Alliance’s hands? I think you should hone your critical-thinking skills rather than just focus on cultivating, Third Elder."

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Wuma Xiao was still feeling frustrated. If the old man weren't dumb, he wouldn't allow Wuma E to go after Ye Guan, and the Wuma Clan wouldn't be in such an awkward position right now.

"But if we don't make any moves, what will the outside world think of us?" the old man asked.

Their reputation was at stake. Although they had declined, they were still one of the Nine Clans of Zhaowu, and they couldn't allow anyone to look down on them. They had to save their reputation. If the Wuma Clan were to show no reaction, people would laugh at them.

Wuma Xiao suddenly asked, "How many Path Creation Realm experts do we have here?"

"Except for the two of us, only four."

"Mobilize them all."

"To kill Ye Guan?"

Wuma Xiao glared coldly and asked, "Are you trying to send them to their deaths?"

The old man had no idea what to say.

Wuma Xiao said, "Mobilize them all; tell them to unleash their auras and make a big commotion."

The old man asked, "And then?"

"Conceal your auras and wander around for a month before returning," replied Wuma Xiao.

The old man was stunned.

Wuma Xiao looked up at the sky and calmly said, "We may not be able to truly seek revenge, but we still have to put on a show."

"Those bastards are all waiting for us to stick our necks out. They’re dreaming if they think we're going to do that. Do they think we're a bunch of idiots or something?" Wuma Xiao said with a cold light in his eyes.

The old man was speechless.

Moments later, four terrifying auras erupted from the Wuma World. They shot out of the Wuma World and headed straight for the Ascension World.

The four auras were incredibly powerful, shaking every star field in their way and sending waves of astonishment throughout the universe region. Soon, news of how the Wuma Clan had dispatched Path Creation Realm experts to seek revenge on Ye Guan spread throughout the Ascension World.

***

Ye Guan had finally reached the Second Heaven. He needed many battles to hone his sword intent, sword techniques, and his divinity. He was still slightly short of achieving "pure" divinity.

Ye Guan's short-term goal was reaching that realm, as reaching it meant an explosive increase in his strength. Of course, he was not in a hurry; he was advancing one step at a time.

As soon as Ye Guan set foot in the Second Heaven, the space before him trembled violently.

The next moment, it split open, and a middle-aged man in plain robes walked out of the rift.

The middle-aged man had long hair draping over his shoulders, and he was very handsome.

However, Ye Guan's attention was on the sword in the middle-aged man's hand.

A swordsman?

Ye Guan was slightly surprised.

The middle-aged man stared at Ye Guan without saying a word. Moments later, he vanished into thin air.

Rumble!

The spacetime around Ye Guan shattered, and thousands of swords rained down on him like torrential rain.

Ye Guan was shocked, and he immediately unleashed his sword domain to stall for time.

Boom!

The swords were stalled for a moment; Ye Guan took advantage of that to unleash his sword intent.

Boom!

A kaleidoscope of sword lights manifested, engulfing both swordsmen.

Just then, a resonant sword cry echoed, and a streak of sword light tore through the kaleidoscope of sword lights.

Boom!

Ye Guan was blasted thousands of meters away.

Just as he stopped and stabilized himself, a sword was already descending toward him.

Buzz!

A sword intent shot up from Ye Guan, blocking the descending sword.

Swoosh!

However, the middle-aged man took advantage of that delay to appear in front of Ye Guan. Then, he brought his two fingers together and slashed out vertically followed by a swift horizontal slash.

BOOM!

The spacetime before Ye Guan was obliterated as two sword lights flew toward him.

A radiant golden light erupted from Ye Guan—Diamond Body!

Undeterred, the middle-aged man pressed forward with his right hand.

Two swords manifested, and they slashed out.

Crack!

A grotesque noise echoed, and Ye Guan watched in disbelief as his fleshly body cracked open, sending blood to splatter everywhere.