Chapter 852: Secret

A single sword strike. Fate Breaker. The jade-colored, stone-like longsword slashed out a single arc of sword light. The motion was simple, and the sword light ordinary. But the effect was anything but that.

The annihilation beam from the Mother of All Beasts met the sword light head-on, and in that instant, it was as if spring wind had met gentle rain. The beam dimmed, disintegrated, and completely vanished from the world.

The annihilation field surrounding the Mother of All Beasts was also cleaved apart. The Thirty-Third Heaven gradually began returning to normal.

“That sword again... Why is it still here?” The Mother of All Beasts released a mental scream, filled with fury and fear.

It had once been sealed by this very sword, in a place without light. It had been buried in darkness, enduring immense loneliness and humiliation. It had been the most terrifying chapter of its long life.

What was even more terrifying was the fact that, even now, it could barely muster the will to fight against this sword. Back then, the sword hadn’t even been wielded by its true master, but a woman. Even so, it had sealed the beast.

Yet now, from the resonant hum of the sword, the beast sensed a Dao resonance far deeper than what that woman had once possessed.

Can it be... that the sword's wielder now is the true master? No. That wasn’t it.

It had once caught a distant glimpse of the sword's true master. It was a human far too terrifying to describe. If the real master had truly descended, there would be no need for such elaborate maneuvers. Just a single glance from the master would have been enough to reduce it to ashes.

The golden vertical pupil of the Mother of All Beasts examined Li Xiaofei, golden patterns within it swirling and flashing like an enormous wheel of fate, calculating and unraveling something in silence.

Li Xiaofei gripped the sword in his hand tightly. The Heavenly Pillar was a sword. Ximen Qianxue had never told him about that. The Blood-Drinking Sword had never left. It had always been there.

But even for Li Xiaofei, as the second-generation wielder of the Dual Sacred Body of Blade and Sword, gaining the full acknowledgment of the Blood-Drinking Sword, and truly unleashing its power, was anything but easy.

Any divine weapon, especially an Emperor’s Armament, could not be wielded by those without immense courage, perseverance, and wisdom. Moreover, it possessed its own spirit. To be recognized by it, one had to align with the essence of its soul. The Blood-Drinking Sword had been forged by the Sword Immortal Emperor after attaining the Dao. It was an Immortal Emperor weapon.

Every inch of its blade carried the fearless battle will of the Sword Immortal Emperor, his lifelong resolve to defend the human race across the stars, and his noble faith to protect his loved ones even at the cost of his life. Thus, to gain the sword’s recognition, one had to resonate with its soul.

Ximen Qianxue had posed a single question to test Li Xiaofei. If Li Xiaofei had backed down in the face of difficulty, then it would have meant that despite being the bearer of the Dual Sacred Body of Blade and Sword, he was not the right person, not for Heaven, not for her, and certainly not for the Blood-Drinking Sword.

But Li Xiaofei’s answer was flawless. He gave everything he had; his body, his mind, and his energy. He poured his essences, his body, spirit, and soul, entirely into the Heavenly Pillar. Even in the face of death, he had never let go of the sword. And so, he was acknowledged by the Blood-Drinking Sword.

The destroyed flesh was nothing but filth. The evolving bones were merely the beginning. Through the power of blood-drinking, his flesh and blood were restructured within the Thirty-Third Heaven, bursting forth with new vitality.

Li Xiaofei had never actually died. Thus, it could not be called a rebirth. The same had applied to Tan Qingying and the Black Emperor. The two of them, in fact, had turned misfortune into blessing. This ordeal had given them the chance to have their physical bodies refined by the Blood-Drinking Sword. They had acquired flawless Dao bodies. With their cultivation preserved, their future potential was now boundless.

At the same time, with the addition of Black Emperor and Tan Qingying, who had contributed their flesh, blood, and spiritual energy, the awakening of the Blood-Drinking Sword had far surpassed initial estimates.

At this moment, the Blood-Drinking Sword was nearly in its complete form. The aura it emitted now was vastly more powerful than during its previous revival. It was enough to stand toe-to-toe with the newly unsealed Mother of All Beasts.

Li Xiaofei did not feel that the sword had imbued him with some immense power, nor did he sense any sword spirit communicating with him. It didn’t even seem like it was trying to control him.

It simply felt like an ordinary sword in his palm, no different from a wooden sword, a steel sword, or an iron sword. It was only because he bore the Dual Sacred Body of Blade and Sword that any sword in his grasp felt like an extension of his own body. He could wield them all with natural ease.

The only difference was that this Blood-Drinking Sword grew heavier with every passing moment. After he had unleashed that last strike, it had momentarily lightened. But now, it was quickly growing heavy once more.

It seemed to be absorbing energy from the heavens and earth, accumulating the force and principles of the Dao, making its weight increase. Li Xiaofei gripped the sword and looked at the Mother of All Beasts across from him. Then, he slowly raised the blade. He had both hands gripping the hilt, since it felt as though he were lifting an entire mountain. He tried channeling his true qi into the sword.

He had prepared himself for rejection or resistance from the Blood-Drinking Sword. But to his surprise, it was completely smooth. The sword let out a long and satisfied hum, then began to shimmer with a strange dual-colored light of gold and silver.

One side of the blade gleamed silver. The other side shone gold. The entire Thirty-Third Heaven was soon bathed in those two brilliant, mysterious, and profound colors.

The Mother of All Beasts let out a low roar. It sensed danger. As one of the highest-level Reapers in the Primal Faction, its instincts for survival and combat were now screaming with alarm, urging it to retreat. Its massive body shifted slightly backward. But Li Xiaofei would never give it the chance to escape.

Whoosh!

Man and sword became one. A stream of light cut through the void in the blink of an eye, and arrived beside the Mother of All Beasts. Its speed began to slow, but only slightly, as it encountered resistance from the annihilation field radiating from the beast.

It was just a moment’s delay. The Mother of All Beasts let out a howl of pain and rage as the sword light cleaved across its back. A wound stretching tens of kilometers appeared.

Pale golden blood sprayed from the gash, cascading downward and forming floating golden lakes in the air beneath them. The Mother of All Beasts was wounded.

Li Xiaofei urged the Blood-Drinking Sword into action once again. The countless golden lakes suspended in the sky surged with threads of golden essence, all swiftly converging upon the Blood-Drinking Sword, merging with it, then vanishing into its blade.

Blood-drinking. The sword was drinking the blood of its enemy. The blade began to swell. It was clear that the blood of the Mother of All Beasts was one of the rarest and most potent elixirs under heaven, it was fueling the sword's strength at an exponential rate.

This time, Li Xiaofei finally sensed it, there was an overwhelming and irresistible force awakening within the sword. He felt as insignificant before that power as dust before a blazing star. He felt utterly dwarfed by its scale.

The Blood-Drinking Sword took control of the battle. It released a series of long, resonant cries as it finished absorbing the golden blood from the void, and its might surged once more.

Li Xiaofei, gripping the sword, was pulled along as it darted through the sky, weaving back and forth in streaks of light. Each time they passed the Mother of All Beasts, the blade carved another colossal wound into its massive body, each one stretching hundreds of kilometers.

Against the sword’s relentless assault, even a being as powerful as the Mother of All Beasts could barely mount a defense. In just moments, its vast form was covered in fresh, gaping wounds.

In the distant, crumbling Doushuai Palace, Little Aunt’s eyes widened.

Something isn’t right. Something is very wrong.

Based on all known records, the Blood-Drinking Sword should not have held such an overwhelming advantage against the Mother of All Beasts.

Even in the Battle of the Southern Heavenly Gate, when Ximen Qianxue, the master of the Doushuai Palace, wielded the Blood-Drinking Sword and sacrificed the blood of countless celestial soldiers and generals, she had still failed to completely destroy the beast. In the end, she had perished along with many others. It was only through the collective might of the entire Heavenly Court that the creature had been sealed away.

But now? Even though her own cultivation realm was far from sufficient, she could still feel the shadow of death swiftly closing in on this monstrous being.

“This is not surprising.” A faint, near-transparent silhouette, like a mirror’s reflection, appeared suddenly and without warning beside Little Aunt.

As the shadow spoke, its gaze drifted toward the distant battlefield. Its expression was calm and serene, as though a heavy burden had finally been lifted.

“Xi... You are Lord Ximen!” Little Aunt was startled, then overjoyed.

A surge of uncontrollable excitement rose in her heart, and she immediately offered a respectful salute. She had never imagined that Ximen Qianxue would appear at such a moment.

Ximen Qianxue, the master of Doushuai Palace, was a legendary figure in the third generation of Heaven. She had lived in seclusion within the Thirty-Third Heaven’s Doushuai Palace ever since Heaven had been rebuilt, rarely appearing at public celebrations, and seldom showing up in any official media over countless years...

Yet her prestige was second only to the Five Great Immortal Emperors. To Little Aunt, who was one of the seven Celestial Maidens under the Western Queen Mother and a female official of Heaven, merely witnessing such a legend as Ximen Qianxue was an immense honor, even though she had no direct affiliation with Doushuai Palace.

“There is no need for formalities. I am but a lingering trace of thought,” Ximen Qianxue replied, her expression gentle and composed.

But admiration and reverence burned brightly in the eyes of Little Aunt. Known for her cold demeanor and few words, Ximen Qianxue now spoke voluntarily, as if unraveling a riddle. Her voice was calm and deliberate.

“This battle today... has been in the making for hundreds of years. Its outcome was written from the beginning. The Mother of All Beasts that stormed Heaven is nothing more than a fattened pig raised in our backyard.”

Little Aunt was startled. She thought,

Could it be that the defeat of the past had merely been part of a greater plan?

But regardless of the reasoning, the fall of Heaven had been shocking from any angle, with consequences that were undeniably severe. It had led to chaos in Chongque City, the collapse of the Hundred-Thousand Base Planet Plan, and had thrown the human race into a severely disadvantaged position on the Star Battlefield. It was a setback that had lasted for hundreds of years...

If such immense losses had been endured for the sake of this larger scheme, then what was it they were seeking? Just how world-shaking must that goal have been?

The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became. She dared not imagine further. Then, Ximen Qianxue spoke again, “The Eight Trigrams Furnace is now in your hands. Do you know its secret yet?”

Little Aunt was taken aback, but quickly shook her head. The Eight Trigrams Furnace was indeed in her possession, but she had only used it in a rudimentary way to resist the Ruos and the resurgent Mother of All Beasts. She had never fully refined it, and, truthfully, she didn’t believe she could, or should, refine such a supreme treasure.

“Look,” Ximen Qianxue said, gently sweeping her hand in front of her.

Silver specks of light scattered like snowflakes through the void, forming a projection of space before them. It was a scene of the ruins of Heaven. Eternal flames burned without end, engulfing every corner of the once-glorious palace.

The grand, majestic structures that Little Aunt remembered, symbols of Heaven’s power and authority, and the crowning achievements of the Galactic Human Martial Civilization, had all collapsed into rubble, reduced to ruins, forever scorched by the undying flames.

The fire had been burning for over three centuries. And it still had not gone out. Little Aunt looked confused. She didn’t understand why Ximen Qianxue was showing her this scene.

“Back then,” Ximen Qianxue said slowly, “the Eight Trigrams Furnace was shattered. Its sacred fire spilled out, scattering across the ruined wreckage of Heaven.”