Chapter 421. The Worst Reunion (2)

"Evil Valley Master?!"

Yun Guang flinched nastily in shock. Even before he could rush out to assist, however...!

WHOOSH!

Wu Qu beat him to the punch. Although not nearly as fast as the Preceding Heaven Sword Technique, his blade still made a straight beeline toward the Dark Heavens Association Lord's arm, which had shoved the Evil Valley Master's head into the ground at unbelievable speeds.

"Wu Qu," the Association Lord said, grinning as if he was happy to see the Sword Demon. However, his eyes didn't match the smile on his lips. "Even though this is supposed to be our fated reunion, the first thing you did was swipe your sword at me. I'm rather disheartened."

He definitely didn't sound disheartened at all. What followed afterward was a clash of swords accompanied by the noise of a vase shattering on the floor.

Claaaaaang!

The Association Lord had released the Evil Valley Master's head, stood up tall, and blocked Wu Qu's strike with his own sword in the proverbial blink of an eye.

"The... Preceding Heaven Sword Technique!" Yun Guang cried out as his lengthy gray brows quivered. Once perfected, this technique guaranteed a sword of such peerless swiftness that later forms, which were usually slower, could catch up to earlier forms, or even overtake them.

Yun Guang would have had a hard time believing his eyes had he not heard the explanation from Wu Qu earlier.

Now is the time!

Yun Guang clamped his mouth shut and rushed forward to join in the assault.

The rule of the duel between generals had been thrown out some time ago. Then again, the Association Lord himself told the others to attack him at the same time, hadn't he?

Besides, Yun Guang still remembered joining forces with Jing Bai and still being pushed back during his first encounter with this monster, anyway. Those memories had already convinced him to try everything and stop at nothing to win.

Fwhoosh!

A sword containing Grafting and Reflection shot forward as if it were sliding on ice from Wu Qu's other side toward the Association Lord's neck.

"More cheap tricks, I see."

The Association Lord slapped Wu Qu's sword away. Then, he completely ignored the momentum heading one way and flicked his elbow joint to fling several sword strikes in the other direction.

What a terrifyingly swift sword that is!

Even with Yun Guang's dynamic visual acuity, he barely managed to track the Association Lord's sword movements.

Such swiftness! Also, the underlying basis of Wudang's martial arts, Grafting and Reflection, has bad compatibility with techniques of extreme swiftness.

Many thoughts flitted in and out of Yun Guang's mind at that moment.

Wudang's martial arts focus on brushing aside the incoming attacks or redirecting them back to the origin via the principle of Grafting Flowers. However, all of it will be meaningless if the enemy is too swift, not giving me enough time to apply the techniques.

Not only was the Dark Heavens Association Lord's martial prowess considerable, but his compatibility with Yun Guang was also rather terrible. It seemed that luck was not on Yun Guang's side today.

Even so...!

Yun Guang's calm, pure eyes, as placid as the surface of a sleeping lake, reflected the sight of an oncoming warped space.

Grafting Flowers!

His Manifestation of One's Path distorted the laws of nature. The oncoming sword's trajectory was forcibly altered. The same thing also happened to the formless qi enveloping the blade.

The distortion in space resulted in the sword deviating from its original direction. The weapon ended up thrusting at an unintended spot in the air instead.

If I can't catch up to his speed, all I have to do is distort the space ahead of time!

No matter how swift a sword was, it would be pointless if it couldn't land. That wasn't all, either; the combined assault hadn't ended yet.

Craaaackle!

The Dark Heavens Association Lord sensed iciness enveloping his back. His senses weren't lying. The moisture in the air had frozen over, and the surrounding temperature plummeted precariously. There was no need for him to glance behind him to figure out what happened.

The one targeting him from behind was the master of the North Sea Ice Palace, Leng Yuefei! Her Frigid Pale Divine Palm glowed in pure white while closing in on him.

"I shall acknowledge you," said the Association Lord.

His sword strayed from the intended trajectory. Meanwhile, the enemy's blade accurately flew toward the artery in his throat. And then, there was the Frigid Pale Divine Palm closing in on him from behind, too.

"O the absolute masters called the Empyrean Overlords."

There was a reason the Seven Empyrean Overlords were called "Empyrean Overlords."

"Indeed, you are all powerful."

They demonstrated that their illogical powers—brought to life through their will alone—weren't everything they possessed.

"However...!"

Whether it was their physical abilities or reflexes, or even their judgment, they were all different. Even their ideals or natures differed so much, yet their combined attacks still flowed as smoothly as a river.

"I am stronger than you all."

The sword containing the principles of Taiji brushed past the Association Lord's neck. Despite all the light flickering from the blade, it couldn't close that final minute gap to cut his flesh.

The time itself flowed lazily as if it were grinding to a halt. Only the Association Lord moved a little faster than everyone else. He cocked his head out of Yun Guang's sword, and then he used his left leg as the pivoting point to turn while drawing a half-circle in the air with his sword.

When this sword, scything the air from right to left, collided with the frigid palm, an incredible explosion went off.

KA-BOOOOM!

It wasn't merely the collision of one matter with another. Although not visible to the naked eye, two people's qi, as vast as great oceans after being accumulated for decades, no, perhaps even longer, crashed into each other, resulting in a powerful explosion and a thunderous boom.

"

Aaargh!

"

"

Ah!

"

Some people grunted in pain.

"

AAAHH!!

"

Those caught in the area of influence screamed desperately.

Craaaackle!

In the proverbial blink of an eye, the land of dirt and pebbles turned into a frozen wasteland, but that state lasted for only a moment. When the ripples of qi swept past it, the ice shattered into pieces and took to the skies.

It certainly was an absorbingly beautiful sight, but the spectators didn't have the leeway to sit back and enjoy the show. They were too busy retreating from the storm created, not by Mother Nature, but by mere mortals!

"...!"

Leng Yuefei was also pushed back by the impact slamming into her from the front. If it hadn't been for the walls of ice she had created just now through her Manifestation, she would have been blasted away.

Yun Guang and Wu Qu also relied on their wits to minimize the impact as much as possible.

"Opposing Heaven..." Leng Yuefei muttered while frowning deeply.

Wu Qu muttered next, "The Heaven Altering Divine Art...!"

"

Hoh-oh

?" The Dark Heavens Association Lord looked genuinely surprised just then. "You knew?"

"That is the Celestial Maiden Gate's Foundational Martial Art. But it is a technique tailored for females, not males," Wu Qu explained, his expression remaining flat. "In the distant past, the Sword Saint of Eagle Grotto inherited martial art techniques from the Celestial Maiden Gate's Little Matriarch, but as a man, he couldn't bring out their full potential. He worked tirelessly to unlock their powers and eventually developed the Heaven Altering Divine Art."

"Correct," the Association Lord replied with an icy smirk. "It does not matter what kind of power or nature it is. Even if the laws of nature govern us, this technique simply conquers and forcibly distorts them to suit its wielder. In short, it truly is a martial art to Oppose Heaven."

If one wanted to find the apropos words to describe the Association Lord, then the best words to describe him would be "Opposing Heaven."

A cultivation art was the product of academic studies designed to control one's body and mind more effectively. That meant it'd obviously affect the Manifestation of One's Path.

More importantly, his aim was similar to the concept of Opposing Heaven, too. Wasn't he aiming to destroy and conquer the

heavens

and principles called the

murim?

"Despite seeing it with my own eyes, I still can't believe it," Yun Guang muttered with a hint of lamentation.

"I am the inheritor of the Sword Saint of Eagle Grotto, and the master of the Dark Heavens. What my noble self has chosen is the limitation of humanity itself. I have chosen to alter the laws governing it," said the Association Lord.

His Manifestation of One's Path, Opposing Heaven! With it, the Association Lord could take a principle, the causality, or the outcome and distort it.

"Then, when you mistook my Dragonification as my Manifestation..." Wu Qu muttered, only for his words to drift away when he realized something.

The Association Lord nodded at him. "That's right, O Sword Demon. But you were merely borrowing the power of a dragon. You still have not discarded your origin of

being

human.

"

"Master of the Dark Heavens, have you... really broken through to the Immortal Realm?" Yun Guang asked doubtfully.

The Harmony Realm existed above the Peak and Transcendent Realms. If one succeeded in visualizing their path and even bringing it out into reality, one could finally climb to the Absolute Realm called the Coruscant Realm.

A realm after that supposedly existed, at least in theory. The people called this mysterious realm by many different titles.

"O leader of the Martial Alliance, you certainly live up to your title of Wudang's sect master, seeing how you base your standards on Taoism. Tell me, if this noble self were a follower of Buddhism, would you still label me an Immortal? No, could it be that you already believe that I am Immortal, who ascended to godhood after discarding my mortal body?"

To reach the Immortal Realm... to become immortal and a sage, one quite literally had to escape the fetters of mortality and ascend to the immortal realm or to the heavens. If the concept of the mundane world and the netherworld were real, then such a being couldn't possibly exist in this world.

"If I am to call it something..." The Association Lord mulled his next words. "Yes, since I have overcome the fetters of being human, perhaps it is correct to say the Extremity Realm."

The Harmony Realm represented the zenith of martial arts. Meanwhile, the Coruscant realm transcended human limitations. However, the Extremity Realm even transcended the concept of species and reached something far above it.

It wasn't some metaphor like being a god of archery or swordsmanship, either. It wouldn't be incorrect to say an expert at the Extremity Realm had practically reached the realm of the gods.

"But isn't that the realm of immortality?" Yun Guang muttered, his expression getting graver.

Titles like the "Immortal Realm" or the "Extremity Realm" didn't really matter. What

did

matter, however, was the Dark Heavens Association Lord's incredible strength that defied the laws of nature.

"No," Leng Yuefei finally said something to break this despair-filled silence. "It's only temporary."

Yun Guang looked at her.

"Even this Opposing Heaven is a Manifestation of One's Path in the end... is a mere expansion of the Coruscant realm, and a quasi-expansion at that. Perhaps the Extremity Realm is nothing more than—"

Leng Yuefei suddenly stopped talking and held her breath.

The Association Lord smirked. "Now I remember. I promised to rip your forked tongue out the next time we meet, didn't I?"

"Watch out!" Yun Guang urgently cried out.

The Dark Heavens Association Lord had vanished and reappeared before Leng Yuefei as if he had emerged from the ground! That was no longer in the realm of being preternaturally swift. He figuratively appeared at his destination without giving anyone a chance to obtain any visual information.

The higher one climbed the realms of cultivation, the greater the enhancement to one's physical abilities would become. This rule also applied to the Coruscant and Extremity Realms.

Not even the absolute master of swiftness, Wu Qu, could help Leng Yuefei this time.

"Leng Yuefei!"

The Association Lord reached out with his left hand while calling out the name of the North Sea Ice Palace's master. Despite not using his sword, his speed was still as fast as a streak of lightning.

If it's just a hand, not his sword, then...!

Leng Yuefei didn't panic and calmly responded.

Now, freeze up!

Crackle!

The moisture in the air froze again. Six-sided grains appeared, and then they sprouted branches to devour the surroundings like a plague.

Crack! Craaackle!

All the pieces of ice scattered on the ground instantly became one again. In the proverbial blink of an eye, the surroundings transformed into the land of ice, only seen in the North Sea region.

The Association Lord's left hand also froze along with the surroundings. His fingers, wrist, and even his arm all turned pure white.

Leng Yuefei defended herself by freezing a fixed range around her instead of targeting the Association Lord directly.

Frigid Pale Divine Palm!

While defending, she counterattacked. Extreme chill gushed out of her palm like tsunami waves to become one with her palm strike, all for the sake of slamming into the target's chest, but...

"I knew you would do that." The Association Lord smirked ominously while finally revealing his right hand.

I fell for it!

Leng Yuefei's ice-like eyes now reflected the back of her hand. And then, she witnessed a hole appearing in the center of this pure-white hand.

Stab!

The freezing chill seemingly vanished, only to be replaced by this searing pain akin to her hand burning up. Her flesh split open, and a blade pierced her hand.

No! Stop right there!

With an ardent wish, she responded by grabbing the blade with her fingers. She forced the muscles in the back of her hand to move and grip the sword, ensnaring it.

Moreover, she unleashed her Manifestation to dull the Association Lord's movements. She had to do everything in her power to stop that weapon from emerging through the back of her hand and piercing her brain.

Thankfully, it seemed Leng Yuefei's desperation had paid off. The sword stopped a mere touching distance away from her forehead.

'Now!

Yun Guang and Wu Qu rushed in at the same time as if they had agreed to do so beforehand. Neither of them stopped to wonder how long Leng Yuefei could hold on to the Association Lord's sword. Rather than doing something so useless, they only cared about her holding that monster down, even if it was only for a brief moment!

Pahaaht!

The two men attacked nearly simultaneously.

"How trifling."

The Association Lord raised his sword higher. The flesh in Leng Yuefei's hand or the ice covering the blade couldn't even interfere with his movements. He didn't even have to look around. Upon sensing his blade cutting through a person's skin and flesh, the Association Lord turned around and attacked Yun Guang.

What? Me, not the Sword Demon?

Wu Qu was the absolute master of swiftness. Logically speaking, deflecting his attack ought to come first.

Are you trying to fluster me with a variable? It's not going to work!

Yun Guang reflexively used the Grafting Flowers to counter the Association Lord's attack, but then...

Hold on?! His aim... it's... strange!

He immediately realized that he had fallen for a trap. The Association Lord's sword wasn't even pointing directly at Yun Guang, nor any of his body parts. As a matter of fact, it was pointing at an empty space instead!

"Your Manifestation, I'll enjoy using it."

The Association Lord's sword began bending along with the space itself. The weapon that ought to have pierced nothing but empty air distorted and changed direction to fly in another direction!

"

Argh!

"

Wu Qu's sword, which drew such a clean, crisp line in the air that bordered on being displeasing to the eye, began wavering around like a fish swimming in water. However, that wasn't because he had activated the Dragon Emperor Gate's heavy sword.

Yun Guang cried out in shock. "Me?!"

"You... insane... bastard!" Even Wu Qu gasped and swore. Almost at the same time, his grip on his sword weakened, and the weapon slipped out of his grasp.

"

Hahaha!

"

The Association Lord guffawed. His aim had never been to fluster Yun Guang, and his sword attack earlier wasn't some unexpected mistake, either. In reality, he performed that move while calculating his distance to everyone and the angle of distortion his sword would suffer under the effect of Grafting Flowers.

"It's the end."

Having successfully pulled off that satisfying attack, the Association Lord let go of his sword. However, he hadn't given up on fighting, and he also wasn't interested in retrieving that weapon. Of course, it wasn't as if he had mastered non-sword-related martial art techniques.

After unhesitantly discarding that weapon, the Association Lord pulled the sword that Wu Qu had dropped just now. Of course, his hand hadn't extended to grab the weapon. He was merely interacting with an object from a distance, which was another method of utilizing one's qi.

"Oh, no!" Yun Guang's complexion paled instantly. It was unforgivable to hesitate, even for a moment, while fighting against an absolute master of swiftness.

No, it can't be!

A gap was made, and it was all because Yun Guang had never imagined that his enemy would exploit someone else's Manifestation this way.

"Enjoy your afterlife, O the warrior who calls himself an Empyrean."

The Association Lord smirked arrogantly before swinging his sword.

KA-BOOOOM!

The strike came down vertically. Although it looked light, the power within was definitely not. It was absurdly heavy, like Mount Tai crushing down.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

It wasn't just an Empyrean Overlord; even his grandfather joining the battle wouldn't be able to change anything. The Association Lord had no doubts that his strike would bisect Yun Guang, but...

"...!"

The smirk etched on the Association Lord's lips vanished. Even his previous relaxed air rapidly disappeared, too.

"I see."

What replaced his relaxed air was his rage. The blade of Opposing Heaven and the Dark Heavens couldn't cut the Martial Alliance Leader down, but it wasn't because Yun Guang had dodged or defended himself.

"So, you are..."

What stopped the Dark Heaven's sword was another blade emitting the scent of plum blossom.

"...Zhou Xuchuan?"

From afar, Zhou Xuchuan had seen this man. Just once, in his previous life.

"That's right."

Even now, he couldn't forget. Even now, he'd sometimes close his eyes, and this man's face would appear in his nightmares. This man, who trampled on so many heroes and Demon Heads, to stand at the apex!

"I am..."

Compared to this man, the Zhou Xuchuan of those days was a nobody.

"Empyrean Overlord."

Back then, he was neither one of the five high elders of Mount Hua nor a member of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes.

"Sword God."

Indeed, he was just an unknown disciple of Mount Hua.

"Zhou Xuchuan."