"I heard that Chu Liang from the Mount Shu Sect had conquered the Misty Waters City and eliminated a few allies of the Penglai Supreme Sect in succession. He even killed Yang Shenlong," said a youth in a conical hat and white robes with a sword strapped to his back.

"That was why there was a wave of foundational qi surging from the direction of the Misty Waters City that night?" another person remarked in surprise.

This was a hidden cave, where several youths dressed similarly as sword cultivators hid. They were the team from the Sword-Hanging Kingdom of the West Sea.

News traveled slowly within the illusory realm. It was already the sixth day, and they had only just heard about Misty Waters City's fall. They had yet to learn that Chu Liang was now paralyzed.

"It seems it will be tough to eliminate the Mount Shu Sect in this Assembly of Immortal Sects," another person said with a sigh.

"How can you speak of defeat when you haven't even started fighting? What kind of attitude is this?" a rebuke sounded in the deepest areas of the cave.

A tall young man strode out from within, revealing that his entire left arm was missing.

There was only one arm.

"Crown Prince!"

"Crown Prince, is your injury alright?"

"…"

This youth looked plain and honest. He looked like a reliable and trustworthy person. As soon as he emerged, the others seemed to relax, as if they had regained their backbones.

"The divine technique of the Greater-Yin Cult is sinister. It was constantly eating up my tendons and muscles so I had to peel away the cold poison with my sword qi. And now, I am completely fine," the young sword cultivator who was referred to as the Crown Prince said calmly.

His words left his teammates momentarily stunned.

The cold poison clung to his bones and flesh, and removing it with his sword qi felt like scraping it from his very bones. Within the depths of this illusory world, the pain was just as intense as it would be in reality.

Did he really do this alone in the deepest area of the cave during this time? Without even making a single grunt?

"But in doing this, won't your left arm…" someone couldn't help but ask.

"I naturally lost my left arm. But if I want to recover quickly, this is the only way," the young sword cultivator shook his head. "Once we leave the Divine Mirror of the Eight Trigrams, everything will return to normal, so it's no big deal."

His casual attitude only made his teammates admire him more, marveling at what a true warrior he was.

This young man was none other than the only son of the West Sea's Sword Emperor Chen Erniu[1], and the current Crown Prince of the Sword-Hanging Kingdom. When he was born, the Sword Emperor had intended to name him Chen Sanyang[2], but the ministers collectively objected, as the name made him sound like the emperor's younger brother.

The Sword Emperor was quite disgruntled, thinking,

That's just how we name people in our family. My father was even named Chen Dagou

[3]

, and no one ever said we sounded like brothers!

Fortunately, he wasn't a tyrant who refused to listen to advice, so after some discussion, he changed his son's name to Chen Kaitai.

Perhaps it was because his son was born after he had reached the eighth realm that Chen Kaitai nearly perfectly inherited his father's talent in the Dao of the Sword, achieving a cultivation far beyond others his age.

Though he was unrivaled among the youths of the Sword-Hanging Kingdom, upon entering the stage of the Assembly of Immortal Sects, he still encountered formidable opponents.

Recently, they had encountered the Greater-Yin Cult's team. Although they managed to kill two of its members, the disciple who looked more beautiful than most women severely wounded Chen Kaitai. As he was the backbone of the Sword-Hanging Kingdom team, his teammates had to abandon gathering soul crystals to retreat with him in a hurry.

"Time is indeed running out, so it's no wonder the Crown Prince is so anxious," a sword cultivator said. "With only two days left, there aren't many teams left in the illusory realm, and we still need quite a number of soul crystals. We must hurry."

Someone else then added, "Though few teams remain, each one likely possesses a large number of soul crystals. We might only need to defeat one team to gather enough to advance to the next round."

"Indeed." Chen Kaitai nodded. "Let's go out and hunt for soul crystals."

He took the lead, stepping out of the cave and transforming into a streak of sword light that shot through the air with a sharp whistle. Three more beams of sword light followed closely, not daring to fall behind.

By transforming into sword light, they could move with incredible speed. However, this method of travel was highly conspicuous. If time had not been so pressing, they would have avoided scouting the surroundings in such an conspicuous manner.

But before they had flown far, Chen Kaitai sensed a commotion ahead. He quickly descended to the ground, raised his hand, and said, "Stop."

The three beams of sword light behind him landed in quick succession.

All four of them extended their keen divine senses and detected a powerful surge of foundational qi surging ahead. It was a clear sign of an intense battle taking place.

"It's just like the saying goes: you wear out iron shoes searching, only for what you seek to come effortlessly," Chen Kaitai said with a slight smile. "This is an opportunity blessed upon us by the heavens."

…

At the center of the battlefield ahead, two fierce-looking martial arts cultivators were pursuing three delicate-looking women. The women, adept in the art of music, were far from weak as they worked together. However, without a strong and muscular fighter to protect them, they would be in grave danger if the two martial arts cultivators managed to get close.

One of the martial arts cultivators wielded a long saber, while the other brandished a massive halberd. Both had cultivation on par with the prodigies who stood at the pinnacle.

In that moment, they unleashed an overwhelming momentum, exuding a truly imposing presence.

As they fought and moved, they gradually drew closer to where the Sword-Hanging Kingdom had set up an ambush.

"We'll take down those two men first, then deal with the three women," Chen Kaitai quickly decided.

As the fight drew nearer, Chen Kaitai suddenly leapt forward, forming a sword seal with one hand. He directed his longsword to surge ahead, unleashing a torrent of sword qi that poured forth like rivers and oceans.

His teammates joined in, wielding their swords simultaneously. In an instant, a torrent of sword qi was unleashed, covering the sky.

Yet, the two martial arts cultivators under attack showed no signs of panic. As if they had anticipated the ambush, they swiftly turned their weapons and together deflected the incoming torrent of sword qi.

Similarly, the women did not seize the opportunity to strike the martial arts cultivators. Instead, they turned and launched their attacks toward the hiding spot of the Sword-Hanging Kingdom.

Chen Kaitai instantly sensed something was wrong.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

In that moment, swarms of black curse insects rose around them, encircling the members of the Sword-Hanging Kingdom, as several figures descended from above.

So we were the real targets?

Chen Kaitai thought.

By the time he realized it was a trap, it was already too late. Several disciples from the Great Astral Sect lunged at his group like ravenous wolves, killing his three teammates in an instant.

Though Chen Kaitai managed to hold them off briefly on his own, he knew he couldn’t endure for long. In his final moments, he caught sight of a monk pushing a small cart through the crowd, seated atop it was a disciple from the Mount Shu Sect, who looked gentle, delicate, and elegant.

"It's you!" Chen Kaitai shouted.

If the Sword-Hanging Kingdom had any sworn enemy in this Assembly of Immortal Sects, it was the Mount Shu Sect. They didn't expect to still fall for a trap set up by a member of the Mount Shu Sect. This was truly a bitter pill for the Crown Prince of the Sword-Hanging Kingdom to swallow.

With a final surge of power, he wielded his longsword single-handedly, sword qi swirling around him like a dragon, making it nearly impossible for anyone to approach.

Chu Liang responded with a smile.

You think you are good at fighting? So what if you are good at fighting? In this world, it's about who your allies are!

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—

After a series of deafening explosions, Chen Kaitai still collapsed after being attacked by the members of the Great Astral Sect. His body shattered, leaving scattered soul crystals on the ground.

After collecting the crystals, they counted only a dozen or so. It appeared that Chen Kaitai's group had taken a cautious approach, gathering a few crystals with the intention of hunting more aggressively in the final days.

Now that there were a total of five sects in Chu Liang's alliance, they needed at least two hundred soul crystals to make it to the next round. Although all members here were quite strong, they still had a significant gap to close.

"It seems that it will be too slow if we continue taking down these scattered teams. By then, we really need to take down tougher opponents," he mused.

Just then, Monk Pushan, who had been using his Heavenly Eye to scan the surroundings, suddenly reported, "Two groups are approaching, and both have large numbers! One is the Imperial Family with the Night Saber Sect, while the other is the Celestial King Sect accompanied by the Celestial Pivot Pavilion!"

1. Erniu being 二牛 with 二 (Er) meaning Second and 牛 (Niu) meaning Cow. ☜

2. Sanyang being 三羊 with 三 (San) meaning "Three" and 羊 (Yang) being Sheep. A similar naming style as his dad's name Erniu. ☜

3. 大狗 (Dagou) means Big Dog with 大 meaning Big and 狗 meaning Dog. ☜