Great Secret Realm—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Under the blood-colored sky, the sound of bones cracking echoed from the depths of the rift.
The entire secret realm trembled violently under the impact of terrifying demonic aura.
A thousand-foot-tall bone demon tore through the mountain wall and crawled out of the abyss, its bony frame entangled with blood vessels and flesh, with the ribs tightly gripping the remains of cultivators.
The bone surface was crisscrossed with dense sword marks, indicating the ferocity of the previous battle.
“Sage old man! I hid in this great secret realm, and you still want to exterminate me?”
Zhang Yibai did not respond. The True Wu Yin-Yang Twin Swords in his hands buzzed and trembled as they swept toward the joint of the bone demon’s left leg like a tidal wave of light.
“Break!” With a cold shout, the pale bone leg snapped.
The Bone Great Saint staggered and fell to his knees in the boiling lava pool, the ghost fire in his eye sockets blazing like torches as he roared, “I hate it! I hate it! I was just a step away from becoming a half-step demon immortal, and I had been hiding in this sunless secret realm to cultivate diligently. Yet, these three old dogs still came in to kill me, even launching a sneak attack while I was in seclusion!”
“Foehn Demon Suppression!” Master Fenye shouted as he leaped into the air, his bronze skin gleaming with golden luster.
The nine-ring tin staff in his hand emitted a brilliant Buddhist light, transforming into nine golden rings that encircled the Bone Great Saint’s neck.
The crimson Sanskrit characters on his robe detached from the fabric and condensed into thirty-two red lotus flames in mid-air, burning the demon body of the Bone Great Saint with sizzling sounds.
Yuyiao Zhenren gently waved her sleeves, the Ice Spirit Cold Needles transforming into dragon-like forms circling the battlefield.
This usually aloof Lady of the Jade Pool revealed a hint of a smile in her words, “The True Wu Empty Sword Intent is indeed worthy of its reputation. If not for Fellow Daoist Zhang driving this Great Saint out of the ancient tomb, this wench would have never discovered the weak point of this beast…”
Seeing the Bone Great Saint trapped and already at the end of his strength, Zhang Yibai felt secure and relaxed his tense nerves.
However, before Yuyiao Zhenren could finish speaking, a sudden burst of cold light erupted from her fingertips. The Ice Spirit Cold Needles that should have trapped the Bone Great Saint instead rained down on Zhang Yibai’s acupoints.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The change happened too quickly. Zhang Yibai sensed the danger and immediately retracted his sword, forcibly twisting the sword’s momentum to protect his heart meridian. His true qi surged backward through his meridians, causing a sweet taste of blood to rise in his throat.
The Yin-Yang Twin Swords formed an impenetrable net in front of him.
But this was no ordinary move by the Lady of the Jade Pool, Yuyiao Zhenren! Both she and he were at the Transcendent stage, and although most of the cold needles were blocked, seven of them pierced through the sword net and deeply embedded themselves in his right shoulder’s Tianzong acupoint.
At the same time, a fierce wind struck from behind. It was Master Fenye who had unexpectedly positioned himself behind him, pressing his palm with the red swastika onto Zhang Yibai’s back!
Bang!
A crimson lotus flower bloomed on Zhang Yibai’s back.
His moon-white robe exploded, leaving his back torn and bloody!
“You—, puh… cough cough…”
Zhang Yibai staggered and knelt on one knee, blood dripping from his mouth and instantly turning into mist.
He suddenly looked up and saw the Bone Great Saint silently dissipating in the lava pool, the ghostly blue fire in his eye sockets turning into two obedient snakes that slithered into Yuyiao Zhenren’s sleeve.
Master Fenye’s benevolent expression peeled away bit by bit, revealing a smug grin, “True Person Zhang, do you like the treasure we prepared for you with Yuyiao Zhenren?”
His fingertips ignited with red lotus karma fire, burning through Zhang Yibai’s final protective golden light, “Back then, you disagreed with our plan and said it would harm the natural order… Zhang Yibai, the sky is falling! What does natural order matter when the sky is collapsing? Those with different paths cannot work together. To ensure the success of our future plans, we can only send you on your way!”
Yuyiao Zhenren stepped lightly onto the ice crystals, her jade hairpin transforming into a three-foot-long green sword.
The sword blade reflected the cold glint in her eyes, “The flesh and spirit of a Transcendent cultivator, combined with a spirit-infused treasure like the True Wu Sword, is enough to open the Heavenly Gate.”
Two bronze soul lamps flew out of her sleeves, one containing the soul fire of the Bone Great Saint and the other empty.
Clearly, she had prepared a ‘coffin’ for Zhang Yibai long ago.
“So that’s why this Bone Great Saint suddenly exposed his position a few years ago, and deliberately went into seclusion!” Zhang Yibai laughed bitterly.
He thought it was his chance to kill the Bone Great Saint and gain the power of virtue to comprehend the Empty Sword Intent.
Originally, he wanted to keep it all to himself, but Fenye and Yuyiao insisted on accompanying him.
Well, then, let’s be generous, and share it together.
But… his time was running out!
But…
His bloodied fingers suddenly plunged into his chest, crushing something.
Brilliant golden light burst from between his fingers, and the dome of the secret realm began to float a magnificent Taiji diagram.
“I have comprehended the Yin-Yang Empty Sword Intent for three thousand six hundred years… But I have never used my soul as a sword, unleashing that true sword that approaches the Yin-Yang Dao principle!”
The ground shattered into a deep abyss under the terrifying pressure, and Zhang Yibai’s body plummeted toward it, his tattered robe fluttering wildly.
Suddenly, his tightly shut eyes opened.
One yin, one yang; one bright, one dark.
The Dao flowed within.
“Today, I, Zhang Yibai, will use this broken body to send both of you… to your deaths!”
He hung upside down above the abyss, his blood-stained white robe moving without wind.
The True Wu Sword hovered three inches above his brow, with the yin-yang fish patterns floating on its blade.
“After three thousand years of contemplation, today I truly understand the Empty Sword Intent!”
He smiled bitterly, wiping the golden blood from his mouth. When his finger brushed the sword edge, his entire right arm suddenly burst into black-and-white flames.
The fire patterns on Master Fenye’s chest convulsed wildly, and the nine-ring tin staff melted into molten gold before it could even be raised.
“Quickly retreat! This is…” His scream was cut short as Yuyiao Zhenren’s Ice Spirit Cold Needles were erased by some unknown force.
A thousand-foot-wide Taiji array appeared beneath their feet, corresponding to the already dual-colored dome of the secret realm.
The yin fish swirled with black fog that devoured life, while the yang fish radiated scorching light that pierced through the void.
Zhang Yibai transformed into a beam of sword light, and the secret realm began to warp and collapse around him.
Wherever the Yin-Yang Empty Sword Intent passed, space seemed to be splashed with thick ink, and the rule chains groaned under the strain of breaking.
Master Fenye howled, tearing open his chest to retrieve the Buddha bone relic, while Yuyiao Zhenren unleashed her life-bound magical weapon to resist, even willing to burn her essence blood.
—This was the first time in a thousand years that they had been forced to destroy their foundation.
“Yin-Yang Empty Sword, dispel illusions and reveal truth!” The burning soul infused the sword blade, and the True Wu Twin Swords vanished into nothingness the moment they were thrust forward.
There was no sword light, no sword sound.
Only the harmony of the Yin-Yang Dao resonated with the primordial chaos.
In that instant, time and space seemed stretched into eternity.
Master Fenye saw his body simultaneously rotting and rejuvenating in the yin and yang energies, his flesh cycling between withered bones and infants; Yuyiao Zhenren’s life-bound magical weapon shattered inch by inch, revealing her gradually aging face in the black ice.
Both heard Zhang Yibai’s cold laughter in their ears.
“Let me see… what the scene beyond the Transcendent stage looks like?”
Everything in the secret realm was utterly obliterated in the black and white waves.
When the chaotic currents subsided, the mountains within ten thousand miles were polished smooth like mirrors, all plants, trees, sand, and stones frozen in the state they were in when struck by the sword energy.
Master Fenye knelt at the center of the mirror, his right side remaining youthful while his left side was already in the throes of death. Yuyiao Zhenren hung upside down a hundred feet in the air, her lower half fused with ice crystals, her three thousand strands of hair turning silver.
“Cough… cough… Zhang Yibai, this old dog… he had already understood…” Master Fenye’s blood had not yet touched the ground when it dispersed into dust under the sword intent.
“He actually refined the cycle of rebirth into his sword intent…” Yuyiao Zhenren opened her eyes in the black ice, her expression equally grim.
Their foundations had been permanently eroded by the Empty Sword Intent, making further progress impossible in this lifetime.
Unless… they reincarnate and possess new bodies!
“Well, it’s better this way. Zhang Yibai is dead, and no one else can stop us now.” Master Fenye stood on the mirror reflecting the sky, taking a deep breath and tearing off the decaying half of his body without flinching, “We should go back…”
Yuyiao Zhenren sat up from the black ice, her white hair slowly turning black again, though her face remained aged, hidden under a veil, “Wait until the secret realm opens… Unfortunately, within this great secret realm, ten thousand miles of silence have wasted countless resources.”
…
Meanwhile, in the Cangyun Realm.
An unnamed deep pool suddenly boiled, and a phantom sword shadow broke the water’s surface.
On the tip of the sword, entwined by yin and yang energies, faint soul fire flickered.
…
…
How could my True Wu Emperor die so easily?
