Chapter 294: Thousand Miles Across the Border Killing and Breaking into the Building

Crushed stones floated in the darkness, emitting a fluorescent glow, forming the shape of a grand hall.

Under the Nine Nether Hall, in the faint light of the underworld, countless figures slowly drifted out of a dark river.

They were all snakes. Though there was nothing for them to rest on in the air, they slithered as if on solid ground. Their sandpaper-rough scales brushed against the darkness, making a faint sound like a bamboo skewer piercing an eggshell.

They roamed the netherworld, converging towards the Underworld Hall.

These snakes were all the souls of feathered serpents.

The wings on their backs were broken, giving them a fractured beauty. They gathered outside the grand hall.

Inside the hall, a woman's shrill scream suddenly erupted from the stone cracks.

The battle in the Underworld Hall was nearing its end.

Ning Xiaoling stood before the Dragon Mother's corpse, turning to gaze back.

Mu Lingtong's last wisp of divine soul hovered in the air. She was like a slender needle, attempting to unexpectedly pierce Ning Xiaoling's vital points, but the white cat's appearance foiled her scheme. Mu Lingtong's attack froze in mid-air, as Ning Xiaoling had already deployed a dual defense of spiritual power and mental energy, blocking her.

Mu Lingtong looked at the young girl's beautiful, serene face. She couldn't imagine that after living for hundreds of years, she would ultimately fall to a girl barely twenty years old.

Ning Xiaoling, on the other hand, involuntarily recalled the old fox in the imperial city of Zhao. Back then, it had split into six divine souls, escaping one after another. When it fought the Witch Lord and her master at Qifeng Lake, it was only at the half-step Purple Court realm.

When Mu Lingtong's physical body shattered, she had reached the peak of the Fifth Path, just like the Red-tailed Elder at his prime. Therefore, the power she could currently wield was merely that of a half-step Purple Court.

Moreover, Ning Xiaoling's Purple Court realm was unusual.

Rather than focusing on Mu Lingtong's sneak attack, she shifted her curious gaze behind her, staring at the bristling white cat on the ground. "Di Ting... why are you here?" she asked, curious.

The Fish King scoffed, thinking, *Since you call me Di Ting, isn't coming to the Underworld like coming home?*

Mu Lingtong also looked at the culprit who had disrupted her surprise attack. "You're called Di Ting?" she asked.

The Fish King rolled its eyes, thinking, *How are you even dumber than Ning Xiaoling! A crooked beam leads to a crooked pillar. No wonder a large sect like the Ancient Spirit Sect, with such abundant fishery resources, fell into the peril of destruction.*

"Meow-aow..." The Fish King bared its teeth and let out a cry. It cautiously stared at the woman's remnant soul, unsure if she had any other tricks up her sleeve.

She was the Underworld Empress, a woman who had climbed out of the purgatory beneath the Underworld Hall. No matter how weak she was, this was still her domain.

Ning Xiaoling also focused her mind.

She stared at Mu Lingtong.

Mu Lingtong's last wisp of divine soul hovered, like the shadow of a feathered serpent.

Ning Xiaoling's body sank slightly as her hand rested on the sword scabbard at her waist.

It was an ordinary bamboo scabbard; even the Sect Master hadn't found it strange as she carried it.

From the slender scabbard, a slender, jet-black blade slowly emerged.

Mu Lingtong narrowed her eyes.

Despite her disbelief, she recognized the blade at a glance.

"Shentu?" Mu Lingtong's voice was cold.

Ning Xiaoling didn't care about the blade's origin. It was simply a good knife that was easy to use and felt close to her. During the Great Spirit Valley Competition, it not only guided her but also severed the head of the feathered serpent, Qu Wu.

A sense of despair arose in Mu Lingtong.

It wasn't that she had no backup plans, but rather a despair regarding this young girl's fortunate encounters.

When Qu Wu was slain, he had looked at Ning Xiaoling with the same thought.

Adversity isn't terrifying; what's terrifying is a desperate situation where fate is not on your side.

Many years ago, Mu Lingtong fell into this place and, relying on numerous coincidences, luck, and her great perseverance, crawled out of that terrifying purgatory. Collapsing unconscious before the hall, she finally gained the Underworld Hall's recognition and was crowned Empress. Now, it seemed the roles were about to be reversed.

Ning Xiaoling had no further thoughts. Her broken blade's edge pointed directly at Mu Lingtong's last divine soul.

She no longer used those delicate, refined sword techniques. Instead, she relied purely on instinct, gripping the blade with both hands. Covering vast distances in a single stride, she chopped down fiercely. The arc of the blade glowed distinctly as she put nearly her entire body weight into the attack.

Mu Lingtong, however, would not simply wait to be slaughtered.

Ning Xiaoling's blood-red blade light illuminated Mu Lingtong's divine soul, only to be swallowed by a kind of darkness.

That darkness came from feathers.

Countless feathers.

They were the wings of feathered serpents.

All the feathers, like butterflies fluttering in the air, clung to the blade, absorbing its light. The spiritual power contained within Mu Lingtong's divine soul poured out, and her soul surged upwards towards the grand hall.

Ning Xiaoling's hand, gripping the blade, sank. She gritted her teeth, twisted her hand sharply, and with a shake of the blade, the darkness fell away like rust.

The Fish King looked up, gazing in the direction where Mu Lingtong had vanished.

The Underworld Hall's height was unknown, and it was shrouded in gloom.

Then, outside the grand hall, countless eggshells seemed to shatter, and huge dark figures glided forward. The Fish King felt a spine-chilling cold on its back and abruptly darted forward, scrambling to hide behind Ning Xiaoling.

Outside the hall, many feathered serpent souls, suspended in the darkness, glided forth.

They were pieced together from remnant souls, their cultivation not high, yet they resembled an army of thousands pressing down.

Above the Underworld Hall, Mu Lingtong's last wisp of divine soul resided within the skin of a feathered serpent. It struck down vertically like lightning, its snow-white scales opening and closing with a sound like clashing steel.

Mu Lingtong intended to crush Ning Xiaoling before the throne using the power of thousands of remnant feathered serpent souls.

Even if the girl's cultivation was high, she could never kill so many feathered serpents without the right method.

Then, Mu Lingtong's last hope was shattered.

She watched Ning Xiaoling calmly grip the blade, changing to a peculiar sword move.

There was no way she could mistake that sword move.

It was the opening stance of the "Sword of Restraint and Calamity," a sword technique specifically designed to combat feathered serpents, which she had created with Xuan Chi years ago.

The conflict at Luoshu Tower had subsided.

In the Valley of Divine Rift, Tianzang lost its heart.

All the minerals it had stolen from this star were returned, and its corpse began to swell.

The density of the gigantic dragon's rock armor was originally aggregated by the divine heart, exceeding the star's inherent physical limits. Now that the divine heart had departed and its final power vanished, the rock density within its already immense body collapsed, continuously expanding, returning to its original size.

Seeing Tianzang's corpse about to transform into a towering peak blocking their path, Ning Changjiu and the other two quickly used their movement techniques to cross over its continuously expanding body.

After crossing the peak, in just a few breaths, the ancient deity's body had almost transformed into the world's most continuous mountain range, occupying the former site of Luoshu Tower, encircling the divine edifice in its center, with only two spire-like layers visible. Tianzang's body, embedded in the earth, continued to swell, pushing the ground apart to form a massive rift valley.

Ning Changjiu observed the changes in Tianzang's corpse after its death and couldn't help but exclaim, "There's an ancient saying that deities' bodies transform into mountains and rivers after they die. It seems that was no exaggeration."

"Indeed, it was said that after the Candle Dragon died, it became the winds and fires of heaven and earth, and after Xuanze died, he became the raging waves of the ocean," Siming nodded and said. "Now, this is a massive ore mountain. With Luoshu Tower ownerless, people from all over the Central Plains will flock here. The stones extracted and refined from this place could yield hundreds of thousands of true divine weapons."

Lu Jiajia had no interest in these ancient myths. She worried, "It will take us at least a month to reach the Ancient Spirit Sect. Can Xiaoling... wait for us?"

"There's no time," Ning Changjiu sighed, "but we must go anyway."

Siming said, "She wields the authority of the Underworld Lord... I think that girl's destiny is no worse than yours. You don't need to worry too much."

"I hope so," Ning Changjiu said, lacking confidence.

Lu Jiajia gently reassured him, "Xiaoling is a little fox; she should have nine lives."

"A fox?" Siming questioned.

Ning Changjiu explained, "Xiaoling's innate spirit is a fox."

Siming mused for a moment, then said, "You two go to the Ancient Spirit Sect first. I'll catch up with you later. If you encounter danger on the way, just hold them off and wait for me."

"Where are you going?" Ning Changjiu asked.

Siming replied, "Tongjie Peak."

"Tongjie Peak?" Ning Changjiu found the name familiar, as if he had heard it mentioned before.

Siming didn't offer further explanation. She smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, I won't run away. Although the master is a bit detestable, the mistress is quite adorable."

Lu Jiajia couldn't help but recall the days she was bullied by Siming in the Luoshu world. If it weren't for the more urgent matter at hand, she would have settled accounts with Siming right then and there.

She glared at Siming.

Siming looked at her beautiful face and, before parting, couldn't resist reaching out to embrace her.

Lu Jiajia's expression softened considerably, and she leaned into the embrace.

They hugged for a while.

Siming gently instructed, "The demon cores you swallowed in Luoshu, though not true spiritual energy, are indeed one of the essences condensed from Luoshu's spirit. They are greatly beneficial for stabilizing your divine soul realm and enhancing your mental power. On this journey to the Ancient Spirit Sect, do not neglect your cultivation. Strive to fully integrate them within a month and reach the peak of the Purple Court realm as soon as possible."

Lu Jiajia felt warmth in her heart as she listened to the instructions, nodding, "I won't be negligent."

Siming smiled faintly, "That's right, after all, you have your husband constantly urging you on."

At this, Siming's eyes curved, and she involuntarily recalled Lu Jiajia kneeling on the ground, confessing her mistakes to Ning Changjiu. Mimicking Lu Jiajia's tone, Siming leaned close to her ear, as if nibbling her earlobe, and whispered, "Perhaps it's because husband hasn't forged his sword in too long, causing Jiajia's sword heart to be less enlightened. Husband, don't be negligent in the future; you should often discipline Jiajia... Ah."

Siming let out a soft moan, her delicate body bending slightly. Between the silver strands of hair that covered her cheeks, her expression was a mixture of pain and pleasure.

Ning Changjiu looked at her, thinking, *She's trying to trick people again.* He raised his hand and said to Lu Jiajia, "Jiajia, I didn't do anything. Don't let this enchantress deceive you again."

Lu Jiajia's eyes shifted, and she said, "I did it."

Ning Changjiu was speechless.

Siming pleaded for mercy. Lu Jiajia ruffled her silver hair and gently tapped her forehead, saying, "Don't bring this up again."

Siming reluctantly agreed, thinking, *If Ning Changjiu weren't here, I'd overpower Lu Jiajia with my spiritual energy and teach her a good lesson until she was obedient.*

This couple truly was her bane.

Lu Jiajia looked at Siming's exquisite face. Although annoyed by her teasing, she felt more respect. The two spoke in low voices for a while, then embraced and parted.

Siming headed in the direction of Tongjie Peak.

Ning Changjiu and Lu Jiajia rode their swords towards the Ancient Spirit Sect.

Ning Changjiu said, "If we take a detour, it will delay our arrival at the Ancient Spirit Sect by another half-month."

"We can't afford to delay," Lu Jiajia said.

Ning Changjiu said, "This journey requires us to pass through Dianhuan Sect."

Lu Jiajia replied, "I'm still a hair's breadth away from the Fifth Path. Sister Siming also told me to hone myself well."

Ning Changjiu said, "In the matter of Luoshu Tower, Dianhuan Sect was also an accomplice. If they hadn't sealed the mountain with the Immortal Slayer Pavilion, we wouldn't have been trapped in the Sea Kingdom for so long."

Lu Jiajia's expression was resolute. "Then let's cut our way through," she said.

Ning Changjiu nodded.

Outside the colossal peak of Luoshu Tower, a snow-white sword silhouette, enveloped in brilliant fire, streaked across the sky, paralleling their path towards the Ancient Spirit Sect.

The first group of obstructors they encountered were not cultivators from Dianhuan Sect, but from another organization: the Slaughter King's Court.

Behind the collars of their garments, hidden by their hair, each had a red pattern—the King's Court emblem.

This was a mysterious organization active in the Central Plains. Many cultivators had been silently killed by them, and those who sought to destroy the Slaughter King's Court to exact revenge eventually disappeared without a trace. The assassin organization had deep and intricate roots, and several of its Sword Masters were unfathomably powerful.

The King's Court had even issued threats to the Sea Kingdom, vowing to abduct the most beautiful Dragon Mother and make her their chief consort.

In the Luoshu Tower incident, the Slaughter King's Court's strongest assassins were also deployed.

They had received a list and guarded fixed locations outside Luoshu Tower. As soon as a person on the list appeared, the Slaughter King's Court was obligated to kill them.

However, they did not know that their greatest patron, Luoshu Tower—one of the four great towers of the Central Plains—had already fallen.

The divine tower had stood for a thousand years without falling, but it collapsed overnight. No one would believe such a thing.

As the King's Court assassins moved to intercept the two rainbow silhouettes in the sky, Ning Changjiu and Lu Jiajia offered no explanation, directly clashing with sword energy.

The assassin lurking on the cliff had entered the Purple Court realm many years ago and was hailed by the Slaughter King's Court as one of its Sword Masters. Over the years, he had crossed several levels to kill powerful enemies, becoming a legendary figure within the King's Court. The sword wounds on those he killed were always on their backs.

But in recent years, he felt his power had reached a bottleneck. He believed he needed a different way of killing; he wanted to break through his limits and cleanly sever his enemies' heads in a frontal assault.

When the white rainbow pierced the sky from the direction of Luoshu Tower, a long-dormant fervor was ignited within him.

He knew they must be fugitives expelled by the Luoshu Tower Master.

The assassin stepped out of the shadows. He held not a sword, but a great saber. Spiritual energy poured into the saber, making its blade so dazzling it resembled a mighty sun, radiating an aura of overwhelming righteousness.

This was something he had never experienced before.

Ning Changjiu stared at the person blocking their path and charged forward. As he raised his empty hand, the surrounding strong winds poured into his loosely cupped palm. The Golden Crow within him shrieked, and sunlight converged towards him, splashing onto the sword formed by the long wind, scattering into a dazzling brilliance.

Ning Changjiu, as if wielding a greatsword, struck down through the air. The sword sliced through the air, and the blade, already formed by wind, instantly unleashed a tempest of wind like a mountain roar and sea surge. The furious wind resembled a monarch's wrath. With his back to the sun, he looked like a celestial god descending from the sun, wielding his sword.

The assassin looked up and was horrified to find that the light on his blade had been instantly stolen by his opponent, losing its luster.

Years of experience as an assassin allowed him to suppress his fear. He aimed at his opponent's vital point, gripped his sword like a saber, and swung it down.

But Ning Changjiu's sword was too fast. The wind-sword brushed away the killing intent of his opponent's blade. Sword energy, like a keen edge, sliced through burning charcoal, sending sparks flying in streams amidst the strong wind.

The wind-sword, wrapped in fire that shattered like fireworks, dispersed and exploded.

Ning Changjiu's figure did not pause, continuing to streak forward.

The assassin stood rooted to the spot, his head already severed.

He had walked into the light for the first time, and then remained in the light forever.

On the other side, Lu Jiajia had also sheathed her sword.

The corpse of another Sword Master fell behind her.

In the Luoshu world, Siming's training of her was almost hypercritical. Any slight mistake would result in a severe reprimand, creating immense psychological pressure. Thus, at this moment, even though this Sword Master was only three levels below her, his sword techniques appeared so full of flaws in her eyes that he could be instantly killed with a single strike.

Her snowy robes fluttering from the cliff, facing the fierce wind, Ning Changjiu and Lu Jiajia, one after another, charged into the Slaughter King's Court's pre-arranged encirclement.

This was the final lament of Luoshu Tower's forces.

Mountains and ancient cities were linked, one after another. Auras of slaughter clashed intermittently between them, each burst powerful enough to melt all the ice and snow from the mountaintops.

Those were all interceptions from outside Luoshu Tower.

This was Luocang Su's prior arrangement. Currently, they were guarding outside Luoshu Tower, unaware of Luocang Su's demise, still awaiting the day they would become subjects serving the Human Realm's True Monarch.

Ning Changjiu's sword became faster and faster, and Lu Jiajia's techniques became more refined. They no longer pursued any specific sword forms, opting for a path of instant kills. However, this differed from the instant kill techniques in the Heavenly Oracle Sword Scripture, which were mostly used in adverse situations. Their current strikes were executed when their essence, qi, spirit, and cultivation realms were already overwhelmingly superior.

Assassin corpses plummeted from the mountain peaks, buried in the sea of clouds.

After traversing five peaks and four cities consecutively, the Slaughter King's Court no longer dared to intercept them.

The true Sword Master of the King's Court stood in a thatched hut on the mountainside. He was already a powerful expert at the half-step Fifth Path and was confident he could intercept and kill them, yet he ultimately did not draw his sword.

Only after their figures vanished did he draw his sword and stab his own arm.

*Suffering some injury now will at least give me an explanation later...*

*These troublesome individuals should be left for Dianhuan Sect to handle. Dianhuan Sect has two great cultivators at the Fifth Path realm; they are the ancient recluses of Xuanming Mountain's cave dwellings.*

*Even if those two cultivators are at half-step Fifth Path, how could they possibly be a match for true Fifth Path realm opponents?*

The Immortal Slayer Pavilion's sword array had already been activated.

Within Dianhuan Sect's Mountain and Sea Disk, the two beams of white light traced thin, elongated lines.

The Immortal Slayer Pavilion's sword array targeted the source of those two sword lights.

The Immortal Slayer Pavilion had not yet come into view, but Ning Changjiu and Lu Jiajia already sensed an immense killing intent.

This killing intent was like a wild rabbit traversing through vegetation, suddenly sensing an arrowhead aimed at it in a snowstorm. Though the bowstring hadn't vibrated, the killing intent had already connected with their hearts, as if the moment the arrow was released, their hearts would be pierced and burst by an iron arrow.

The invisible sword array had been activated.

Ning Changjiu and Lu Jiajia exchanged a glance in mid-air, and their figures suddenly dropped.

The Golden Crow flew forth from between his brows, emitting a grand and dazzling light.

On the Mountain and Sea Disk, a golden light simultaneously flared, disrupting the Immortal Slayer Pavilion's judgment.

The old man in charge of the Immortal Slayer Pavilion frowned. Stroking his beard, he pointed an aged finger at the sand table, his fingertip covering the golden light.

In the invisible expanse, a colossal sword blade descended from the sky, striking the center of the golden light.

An explosion-like ring of energy suddenly spread out.

From within the golden light, a colossal hand reached out, directly seizing the sword falling from mid-air and crushing it.

It was the Hand of Asura.

Golden light obscured the figure. The Asura's gigantic palm, the size of a house, repeatedly pierced through the light, striking with its fist at the swords falling like rain.

In Ning Changjiu's mind, Qiu Ziguan's Sword of Ascension and Li Heyun's Dragon-Slaying Sword, flying from afar, simultaneously flickered within his sea of consciousness. Luoshu might be fake, but history was real. The sword intents of those Fifth Path peak experts surged in his mind. The Dao methods he cultivated in his previous life, buried deep in his memory, were also unearthed, all transforming into countless swirling sword shadows.

The suppression of constantly facing potential death and obliteration while traversing the chaotic world within Luoshu Tower was entirely released at this moment.

The darkness of the Immortal Slayer Pavilion loomed like oppressive black clouds. Before the darkness fully descended, under the Golden Crow's spread wings, a bright arc of sword light had already cleaved outwards.

The old man no longer hesitated. He could feel that these two reckless, arrogant individuals were about to crash into the tower.

All the sword intent poured forth, like ten thousand arrows unleashed simultaneously.

The sky full of jet-black sword shadows pressed upon their pupils like swarms of insects.

But there was no darkness that the Three-legged Golden Crow could not illuminate.

Ning Changjiu, shielded by the Asura's body, soared skyward with dozens of distinct sword intents. Concurrently, the authority of time unfurled, slowing the arrows' descent to their extreme limit.

Lu Jiajia was already prepared. She distanced herself from the temporal authority's affected area and activated the sword spirit's fusion with her body, which was akin to a divine weapon. This corrosive power was like inescapable rust on steel; the sword energy was extensively eroded and reversed.

Lu Jiajia stood motionless in the air, one hand with fingers joined before her brow, the other with fingers joined below her palm. Her sea of consciousness, having absorbed the essence of Luoshu, became even more profound and vast, mirroring all the sword shadows filling the sky.

The woman, arriving later but striking first, ascended against the sky, her snowy robes carrying insect-like sword energy, and slammed into the Immortal Slayer Pavilion.

This tower, reputed to be capable of slaying any Purple Court realm cultivator, encountered such a massive obstacle for the first time.

Lu Jiajia flew with her sword across the snow-covered cliff bridge, and the cultivators guarding the bridge all moved aside.

The snow on the cliff was instantly sliced apart.

A rain of swords descended, washing over the entire building.

The Mountain and Sea Disk shattered, and the Immortal Slayer Pavilion was paralyzed.

Lu Jiajia stood on the rooftop on her tiptoes, confronting the cultivators rushing from all directions.

Those cultivators still couldn't understand why these two lunatics dared to trespass into the sect. Not only was Dianhuan Sect one of the eight great divine sects of the current era, but furthermore, their backing was the invincible Luoshu Tower...

As Lu Jiajia stood holding her sword, Ning Changjiu, clad in white and bearing the Asura Dharma Body, had already breached the tower.

The shattered Mountain and Sea Disk was sliced in half by a single sword strike.

The unstoppable sword energy shredded the old man's grizzled hair.

Outside the tower, the cave dwellings of Xuanming Mountain shook violently.

The cave dwelling's door slowly opened, and a booming, bell-like voice emerged majestically: "Who dares to trespass on this mountain without permission?"

All the white snow on the mountain was shaken off.

Antlered deer stepped out from the snow, and white cranes flew over the pines.

From within the deep cave dwelling, the figures of two old men emerged. Both had entered the Fifth Path, and their innate spirits, a deer and a crane, had also cultivated to a nearly indestructible and invincible state.

"Xuanming Mountain?"

Siming, returning from Tongjie Peak, also arrived outside Dianhuan Sect. Her bare, snow-white feet were on the snow-covered ground, and her dark robes and silver hair were as usual. However, as if due to the bitter cold, a soft, beautiful fox fur draped around her neck.

"Indeed, an old acquaintance," Siming murmured, stepping into the snow and walking away.