Supreme Sword Exalt

Meanwhile, the War Prince slowly rose to his feet and sighed softly. “After all these years, it’s time to make an end to it! Elder Cen, I’m leaving what’s below to you.”

Elder Cen nodded. “Rest assured.”

He flickered, then vanished. Since his cultivation level had fallen, he couldn’t intervene in a battle above the Saint realm.

The Tiansheng Hall’s master felt a bit panicked. It’s starting just like this? What about the Luoheng Holy Land? What about the Fu family? What about Western Extreme Holy Demon Sect? Why haven’t I seen a single person? Did Mengyou set me up?!

He forced himself to ask, “Fellow Daoist, didn’t you say there were still... ahem, still reinforcements? Why don’t we wait a bit longer? That way our chances would be better—”

However, Yun Zhan shook his head. “This battle is dangerous. Even if we had help, I’m afraid it won’t change anything... Fellow Daoist, I’m already extremely grateful that you came. I certainly won’t let you fall into danger. If things go wrong, you can leave on your own.”

With that said, dragon qi faintly rose from him. He took a step and vanished without a trace.

The hall master grew even more panicked. Danger? Leave? Didn’t Mengyou say we were here to earn a favor? She never told me any of this! Damn that girl! Is she trying to screw over her master?!

***

In the Great Flame Military Camp, the border army had long since assembled. Then, the edge of the sky was dyed purple, and waves of scorching intent descended upon them. Every soldier’s gaze grew resolute as their battle intent soared.

In this battle, there would be no success and no survival. Even so, they would rescue Vanguard Gu and completely annihilate the barbarian tribes! It was a fight to the death!

Zhao Mengyou furrowed her brow at the surrounding guardians, feeling a bit uncomfortable. “Elder Li, on the battlefield, life and death are determined by fate. Once the fighting starts, don’t worry about me. Just... just kill as many barbarians as you can!”

What she didn’t say out loud was, “Also, we must rescue him without fail!”

Like her hall master, Elder Li and the others felt weary. How did our Holy Maiden end up like this?

***

In the distance, a flash of light streaked across. Elder Cen landed beside Feng Xi and gave her a slight nod. In an instant, a clear, resonant phoenix cry rang out.

Feng Xi’s voice reached everyone’s ears. “Great Flame Border Army, follow me into battle!”

In the next moment, the zither melody began to play, ringing sharp and clear. Unlike its usual melodious and gentle tone, it now carried the clang of weapons and the stirring, grand aura of slaughter. The border soldiers felt their battle intent surge, and even their combat strength seemed to rise.

They shouted without pause.

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

The border soldiers transformed into a mighty torrent. Like a sharp sword, they plunged straight into the barbarian tribes’ vitals.

***

Within the War God Hall, the four remaining elders had received word from the front lines. They were shocked and enraged, issuing orders one after another.

In countless years, this was the first time they had to mobilize everyone and fight to the death. Even though the barbarians’ strength far surpassed that of the Great Flame Empire, the elders still found themselves scrambling.

A dragon’s roar echoed, and an ancient, primordial dragon’s might faintly reached their senses. It was the Flame Emperor! He was about to storm War God Hall with his Feather Transformation realm cultivation. The elders went pale.

Just then, Yun Ao landed before them.

The elders quickly bowed, secretly sighing with relief. “Hall Master!”

Yun Ao remained impassive. He hadn’t expected that someone like Gu Han could provoke such a massive backlash. Still, arrogant by nature, he didn’t regret his earlier actions.

One of them said cautiously, “Hall Master, what should we do now?”

Yun Ao was calm. “It’s simple. They seek benevolence, so I’ll grant them just that. Send a word. All barbarian tribes are to mobilize fully and annihilate the Great Flame Border Army completely! The Flame Emperor is seeking death.”

With a flick of his sleeve, Yun Ao vanished.

Thus, the elders once more carried themselves with the dignity of Saint Realm powerhouses.

“Send the order!”

“All tribes, attack with full force!”

“Keep invading the Great Flame border army here in the Northern Domain!”

***

Ten thousand li away, a thousand-zhang purple dragon writhed ceaselessly. The Flame Emperor stood on top of its horns, faintly translucent. With a single sweep of its long tail, the dragon covered a hundred li, racing toward the War God Hall.

Its purple flames had taken on a faint hint of black. They dripped down along the way, becoming a vast sea of purple fire with a single gust of wind. Everything within that sea of fire was burned to ash.

Suddenly, the purple dragon roared and stopped. Opposite it, Yun Ao slowly materialized from nothing.

He looked at the Flame Emperor and frowned slightly. “Yun Tian, do you really want to die?”

The Flame Emperor’s eyes were hazy with purple as his dragon-shaped mark flickered relentlessly. “Return him.”

Yun Ao smiled. “Too late. I’ve already refined him.”

In that instant, the emperor’s purple flames surged explosively, spreading to Yun Ao. “Then you’ll pay with your life!”

The two had known each other for too many years. From friends, to rivals, and now to mortal enemies. Their understanding of each other ran even deeper than their understanding of themselves. No more words were needed.

The purple dragon focused. An ancient, primordial dragon’s might descended, completely drowning Yun Ao’s green flames. Then, the dragon raised its head, swallowing Yun Ao in one gulp.

The purple haze in the Flame Emperor’s eyes grew stronger and stronger. Conversely, the purple dragon’s form grew smaller and smaller. In the span of a few breaths, it had shrunk to a hundred zhang in length.

Suddenly, the Flame Emperor turned pale. The purple dragon’s transformation stopped. A trace of green appeared on the dragon’s head, spreading all over it. The dragon’s eyes flashed with pain as it roared, exploding countless patches of purple flames.

Amid the sea of purple fire, that trace of green once again took form as Yun Ao. He had gained many more white hairs at his temples.

Yu Ao sighed softly at the Flame Emperor, who grew increasingly translucent. “Look at you. You can’t even withstand the power of that mark. The power you bought with your life still can’t defeat me. If you were me, would you have to struggle so hard?”

The Flame Emperor said nothing. The mark on his brow trembled without pause. Purple flames surrounded him, and his dragon coalesced once more.

Yun Ao raised an eyebrow. “You really want to die? Then you’d better hand over that mark! The ancestral dragon mark and Dragon Seal are both mine!”

The hairs at his temples visibly turned white. Green flames surged, spreading and climbing upward, encircling the Flame Emperor.

Yun Ao slowly closed in. “After all these years, my patience has run out! If you don’t hand over the mark, then Feng Kid—hmm?”

He trailed off as his gaze instantly locked onto something in the distance.

“Your reinforcements?”

***

At the border of the Northern Domain, the cries and roars of battle shook heaven and earth. Many border soldiers and barbarians were locked in a bitter stalemate. With the mystical three pills and the faint zither melody in the distance, every border soldier’s battle intent soared, and they fought without fearing death.

However, the barbarians were numerous, especially after having received the War God Hall’s orders. Barbarians from every tribe poured in endlessly from all corners of the Northern Domain, firmly blocking their border soldiers’ advance beyond the frontier.

At one corner of the battlefield, Xue Yu had turned pale, yet her melody remained steady. Although her cultivation level was low, her unique melody greatly enhanced the border soldiers’ combat strength. It was almost equivalent to having a few extra Transcendent realm peak powerhouses.

Because of this, she was under heavy protection. Yun Fan, Zhao Mengyou, Murong Yan, and Shen Xuan led a group of border soldiers in a tight defense around her, not allowing a single attacking barbarian to come within a step.

Zhao Mengyou had long sent Elder Li and the other followers to fight at the front. Though the barbarians had a fixed number of Saint realm powerhouses, their Transcendent realm powerhouses were not limited to just those in the War God Hall. Since Fatty and the others hadn’t returned yet, they had to share the burden.

Yun Fan swept his gaze across the battlefield, full of concern. Unlike the usual, the barbarians had mobilized almost their entire force. The pressure on the border soldiers was several times greater than usual. No matter how brave they were, there would come a moment when they could no longer hold on.

Suddenly, a powerful surge of vital qi broke through the front lines and descended near their group. The barbarians weren’t fools. They had long since noticed Xue Yu’s unusual role. Eliminate her first, and the border army’s combat strength would drop by at least ten percent.

In the sky above, Old Liao and the others, covered in blood from the fierce fighting, felt their hearts drop. This is bad!

Just as they prepared to come to the rescue, their opponents held them tightly, leaving them no chance to break free.

Suddenly, a phoenix cry rang out, and Feng Xi transformed into a heavenly phoenix. Twin streaks of red flames flickered in her eyes. She prepared to use her secret technique once more, forcing her way out of the encirclement to launch a rescue.

Just then, a beam of golden light fell from the sky, crashing down not far from Yun Fan. More than a dozen barbarians couldn’t escape in time and were crushed into a pile of bloody pulp.

Amid the rising dust and smoke, Fatty’s voice rang out, filled with heroic spirit. “Great Flame Empire, Heaven-Conquering Prince is here!”

Yun Fan wept tears of joy. “Brother Yulin!”

In the sky above, Li Xun also wept. My dear Fatty! You’ve finally arrived!

He hadn’t even had time to break through to the Transcendent Realm before being sent back to the battlefield. Worse, he was now being chased all over by a mob of barbarians.

This time, it wasn’t that he was being cowardly, nor was it that he lacked skills. It was just that last time, he had stolen too much of the spotlight, second only to Gu Han. Many barbarians locked onto him as soon as he stepped onto the battlefield. The moment he stepped onto the battlefield, many barbarians locked onto him. If he hadn’t dabbled in movement techniques, he would have been torn to shreds long ago.

One cry after another rang out continuously, and dozens of figures descended.

“Luoheng Holy Land, Wang Yong!”

“Western Extreme Holy Demon Sect, Zhou Ye!”

“Central Continent Fu family, Fu Youli!”

This time, it wasn’t just Fatty. It was all the top experts from the three clans. There were around thirty to forty Transcendent realm cultivators! Eight or nine of them, like Zhou Ye and Wang Yong, were at the Transcendent realm peak.

In an instant, the sky lit up with the glow of various divine abilities. As space trembled and vital qi churned, the barbarians’ Transcendent realm powerhouses were completely overwhelmed. Even Feng Xi felt the burden on her lighten considerably.