Ling Tian Sword God

BOOM!

Black Chonghou and the Black-robed Man struck each other with a palm in mid-air, then each retreated over a dozen paces to land on a rooftop.

They had exchanged over a hundred moves, yet no victor had emerged. At their level, the differences in strength were minute, making it difficult to truly determine a superior. Furthermore, the Black-robed Man was in no way inferior to Black Chonghou in any aspect. What’s more, he had even acquired a Half-Saint Level Cultivation Technique from the Undying Old Demon.

After Black Chonghou landed, his expression turned grim. He glanced around, only to see that his army of 50,000 experts had been scattered and thrown into disarray, forced into a desperate state by a mere 1,000 Azure Guards. The defenders of Dark Sky City, seeing the tide of battle turn, grew more active and launched their counterattack. Thus, the situation had unexpectedly turned against him.

Just as Black Chonghou’s expression soured, he suddenly sensed an approaching danger. He jerked his head up, looking towards the sky, and saw that the Puppet Warship had aimed its cannon at him. A destructive wave of energy was rapidly converging at the cannon’s muzzle.

A destructive attack, thick as a crimson laser beam, shot out from the Fire Source Cannon, plummeting straight towards him.

The moment before the beam of light struck, Black Chonghou narrowly dodged the fatal attack with a swift flicker of his body.

BOOM!

The instant Black Chonghou dodged, the entire building was blasted to smithereens, leaving behind a massive crater.

Damn it, has the Warship been breached already? Black Chonghou’s face became even more grim. Although he had anticipated that the Puppet Warship wouldn’t hold for long, the speed at which it had fallen was far too quick.

It’s incredibly powerful. Ling Chen observed the smoking crater on the ground, a hint of astonishment in his eyes. Though he had witnessed the power of the Fire Source Cannon before, the intensity of this blast still surprised him. If Black Chonghou hadn’t reacted quickly enough, he would likely have been reduced to ashes by now.

”Continue the attack! Aim at the Black Market’s army and fire a few more shots,” Ling Chen commanded.

His words had barely faded when the second shot boomed out, landing in the crowd with the speed of a thunderbolt and instantly annihilating over a thousand people. This single blow shattered all morale within the Black Market’s forces.

At this moment, a body was thrown off the Puppet Warship—it was Linghu Yi’s corpse.

”The Chief Rudder is dead!”

The Black Market experts felt a chill run down their spines; even someone as strong as Linghu Yi had met such an end.

In an instant, the morale of Black Chonghou’s army plummeted, and panic spread among them.

”Retreat!” Black Chonghou’s eyes flashed. Despite his extreme unwillingness, he had no choice. The tide had turned against them. If he didn’t retreat now, he feared even he would not be able to escape unscathed.

”Attack!”

With the Azure Guard as the vanguard, the defenders of Dark Sky City quickly followed, pressing the attack. This was the time to press their advantage and expand their victory.

The Sky Apex Realm experts who had been fighting Elder Tianhong and the others on Bright Moon Terrace also retreated, leaping onto the backs of their Flying Monsters.

”Black Chonghou has retreated!”

The Black Market elders all breathed a sigh of relief, their faces showing the look of those who had narrowly escaped death. What they had feared would be a disastrous outcome had unexpectedly concluded with them safe and sound.

Ultimately, it was Ling Chen who had intervened, saving everyone in Dark Sky City, preserving the Black Market’s resistance forces, and defeating Black Chonghou. Both Ling Chen’s power and the might of the Cyan Robe Association had thoroughly impressed them.

”Junior Brother, what’s the plan next?” Liu Feiyue asked, turning to Ling Chen beside him on the Puppet Warship.

”Our swords will point to Black Devil Island, allowing us to completely control the entire Black Market,” Ling Chen declared, gazing at Black Chonghou’s routed army. This battle had practically wiped out all of Black Chonghou’s elite forces. Of their 50,000-strong army, likely less than 30% would survive. After this battle, Black Chonghou’s power was bound to decline. Completely annihilating the remaining forces and capturing Black Devil Island shouldn’t be too difficult. One could even say it was merely a matter of time.

With the Azure Guard leading the charge, conquering territories should not be too difficult.

”Controlling the Black Market is equivalent to controlling half the wealth of the Five Kingdoms. Then, using the Black Market’s wealth, we could cultivate even more death soldiers. Unifying the entire Martial World would then no longer be an empty dream,” Liu Feiyue said, looking calmly at Ling Chen.

”I’m not interested in unifying the Martial World.” Ling Chen shook his head. His pursuit was in the Martial Arts, not absolute power. If he were to pursue a position, it would be that of Martial Arts Supreme, not some hegemon or overlord of the Martial World.

”Your temperament is indeed identical to Master’s,” Liu Feiyue remarked, a reminiscent smile touching his lips. ”He too, despite clearly having the strength to unify the Martial World, had no interest in power, even scorning the title of Martial Arts Supreme.”

The Cyan-robed Guest? An image of the Swordsman in Cyan Robes surfaced in Ling Chen’s mind. Truth be told, he had always held a degree of reverence for the Cyan-robed Guest, yet also found him enigmatic. Who knows where the Cyan-robed Guest is now? Could he, like the Black Market Master, have fallen prey to Shentu Yan’s insidious schemes? Unlikely. For someone as elusive as the Cyan-robed Guest—a man like a divine dragon, showing its head but never its tail—only Heaven likely knew his whereabouts.

Next, they just needed to have the Azure Guard and the Black Market’s resistance forces join together. They could advance all the way and capture Black Devil Island within a few days.

Taking Black Devil Island meant occupying the entire Black Market.

After that, they would need to consider how to deal with the Divine Intent Sect and Shentu Yan.

The flames of war spread quickly throughout the Black Market.

Black Chonghou’s forces were in constant retreat, their situation verging on a complete rout along all fronts. Yet, Black Chonghou’s reinforcements never appeared.

In less than half a month, all strongholds surrounding Black Devil Island had been seized by the Azure Guard and the resistance forces.

「Endless Sea Region, Black Devil Island.」

「Black Market Headquarters.」

In the main hall, Black Chonghou paced back and forth, his expression anxious.

”My Lord!” At this moment, a man in black entered the hall, bowing and clasping his fist in salute to Black Chonghou.

”How is it? Is there any news?” Black Chonghou asked hurriedly.

”This is Master Shentu’s reply.” The man in black took out a sealed letter from his clothes and handed it to Black Chonghou.

Hurriedly opening the secret letter, Black Chonghou scanned its contents, and a smile immediately spread across his face. So Brother Shentu already had a plan!

”Go and prepare according to the contents of this letter. We are to implement the plan.”

”Yes.” The man in black took the secret letter and then retreated.

Hmph, brat! You want to occupy Black Devil Island and control the entire Black Market? I’ll give you a massive surprise! A strange smile emerged at the corner of Black Chonghou’s mouth.