Chapter 373: Sword Passes Tianhu Peak

The great river, momentarily halted, churned beneath their feet, frozen solid by Zhou Zhenyue's sword intent.

Dust splattered Liu Junzhuo's snow-white tunic. On her left chest, blood slowly bloomed like an embroidered peony, a vibrant, bewitching stain against the white fabric.

Beside the shocking broken peaks, the two most powerful women from the Sword Pavilion stood on rocks and ice shards, their pupils already blinded by the blinding, daylight-bright swords.

Since it was still night, the sword light, though extremely distant, shone with a dazzling, blinding brilliance.

"How can this be..." Liu Junzhuo murmured, clutching the half-charred bamboo sword.

Zhou Zhenyue reacted first. She said nothing, her brows tightening sharply, like narrow blades.

*Crack!*

The profound ice beneath Zhou Zhenyue's feet instantly shattered. She burst through the river surface, her form rising sharply into a shimmering arc, and sped eastward.

Liu Junzhuo clutched her chest wound. Without waiting for it to heal, she took a deep breath, ready to rise and pursue.

Just then, amidst the shadowy peaks, a golden light, like an opening eye, flared, instantly brightening the night.

"Senior Sister, be careful!" Liu Junzhuo instinctively warned, a bad feeling rising within her.

Zhou Zhenyue also sensed an arrow's light closing in.

Yet, she was confident in her lightning-fast movements, believing no archer, no matter how skilled, could hit her at full speed.

But events once more defied her expectations.

In a blink, the rapidly spinning arrow, now blazing with blinding golden light, was upon her.

Her protective sword intent clashed with the arrow's force, erupting in a shower of golden sparks that illuminated her frosty features like spun gold.

Zhou Zhenyue remained far calmer than Liu Junzhuo.

She couldn't comprehend how the arrow reached her, but her sword instinctively flashed out, precisely intercepting its tip.

"Break!" Zhou Zhenyue sharply commanded.

Two crimson lights spread out, forming an intersecting cross that slashed toward the arrow.

The golden arrow was instantly obliterated into fragments, and the lingering sword energy cleaved the hilltop beneath them.

Recalling the arrow's trajectory, Zhou Zhenyue's lips parted slightly, and a hiltless flying sword shot forth, piercing the sky. It hurtled towards the arrow's origin, a terrifyingly straight, thin silver line of light, capable of piercing flesh and bone.

The sword flew, then hummed as it returned, having found no target.

Zhou Zhenyue found it even more incredible.

How exactly did that arrow reach her?

In the time it took for the arrow to strike, Liu Junzhuo had caught up. They exchanged a look, both suppressing their shock, then flew their swords eastward to aid their two junior brothers.

Amidst the Tianhu Peaks, great waves surged.

Ning Changjiu gazed at the peak, where the chilling aura was thinning, watching both figures fly eastward. He breathed a sigh of relief, summoned the Golden Crow, swallowed the divine bow, then casually conjured several sword strikes to cut down several tall bamboos, which he quickly bound into a raft.

The Sword Pavilion's defenses were meticulously designed; using spiritual power to fly his sword would almost certainly lead to detection.

The bamboo raft was quickly finished. The river before him was an estuary, with the current flowing towards Tianhu Peak. He sat on the raft and silently drifted across the river, choosing the path closest to where Liu Junzhuo had been.

With her now diverted by Siming, he could pass through unimpeded.

The river current carried him into the dark embrace of the peaks, like a lone, drifting leaf.

He closed his eyes, but his Lunar Eye remained open, observing Siming's situation, ready to draw his bow and provide assistance at any moment.

In the east, the light of dawn had already faded.

Under the shroud of darkness, killing intent spread at an even more terrifying speed.

Amidst booming explosions, peak after peak, sculpted by the gods, erupted, sending high-speed shrapnel flying—each shard like a deadly blade.

Three figures weaved through the chaos, their sword intents like phantom blades, clashing and ringing amidst the plummeting rubble, akin to exploding metal firecrackers.

The third and fourth senior brothers were defeated faster than expected.

Siming was a true cultivator at the pinnacle of the Five Paths. In this world, besides the rare demon kings and true immortals, who else possessed the right to challenge her sword? The seventh master of Luoshu Tower, for instance, had been directly slain by her on Tongjie Peak.

Siming's figure moved with proud, piercing swiftness.

The Yulei Sword, clutched in her hand, erupted with unimaginable light. Wherever its blade swept, falling stones accelerated and decelerated, creating an intricate rhythm in their chaotic descent.

She had previously battled the Golden-winged Great Peng and the Nine-Spirit Yuansheng, both ancient beings who had lived for millennia and stood at the pinnacle of the Five Paths. After experiencing the profound mysteries of life and death, how could the Five Paths swords of these juniors still impress her?

Siming's icy eyes glowed, brimming with sword energy. Behind her divine robe, a cold moon was delineated, making her hair shimmer like threads of ice.

The third and fourth senior brothers were exhausted from resisting. The Sword Pavilion's rules and their own pride prevented them from retreating, but Siming's oppressive sword was like mountains and oceans, even stronger than when their own Senior Sister had trained them.

How could someone ranked only fourth in the world possess such terrifying sword intent?

Siming looked at the sword light approaching from a distance and smiled faintly.

Like the netherworld melting into the night, Siming's figure vanished in an instant.

In a flash imperceptible to the naked eye, the third senior brother's sword was snapped in two, his robe sleeves ripped. Struck by a sword, he flew backward, then was pummeled by successive falling rocks, steadily losing ground.

The fourth senior brother fared even worse; his chest took a solid sword blow, and his body, flung back like lightning, slammed directly into a mountaintop.

The sword pierced his lower abdomen, pinning him to the cliff face.

Cracks appeared on his body, and the cliff face behind him crumbled, sending him plummeting into the river.

"Junior Brother!" the third senior brother shrieked through gritted teeth.

Siming's sword, however, pressed closer again.

The third senior brother's sword was broken. He frowned, attempting to directly reach out and lock the blade with his own sword bone.

*Thwack!*

His sword bone failed to lock the blade.

The sword pierced his palm and hurtled towards his glabella.

He felt no pain, only his pupils constricting sharply. Having never faced death so closely, he experienced its taste for the first time, and the fear in his heart nearly shattered his dao heart.

In the nick of time, a cold light descended from above, intercepting the sword.

Zhou Zhenyue had arrived, with Liu Junzhuo close behind.

Liu Junzhuo saw their fourth senior brother struggling to rise amidst the river's rocks and their third senior brother with a pierced hand, realizing both were incapable of fighting for the time being.

Liu Junzhuo knew, deep down, that she herself could not have instantly defeated two Five Paths powerhouses.

Was the gap between the world's seventh and fourth most powerful truly this vast?

Zhou Zhenyue's expression was even graver than hers.

Zhou Zhenyue stood before the third senior brother, seizing the white sword light in her hand and crushing it with a fierce squeeze.

She stared coldly at Siming's seemingly ephemeral figure in mid-air. "Are you the Ancient Spirit Sect Master?" she asked.

Liu Junzhuo also looked at her, and the silver-haired, black-robed woman filled her vision. Though she was reluctant to admit it, her initial reaction was one of astounding awe.

How could there be a woman so perfect, almost otherworldly...

She had always considered herself a peerless beauty, yet before Siming, she couldn't help but feel a pang of inferiority.

This was not an emotion one should feel during a life-or-death battle.

Liu Junzhuo knew her sword heart had been turbulent lately. In a battle between masters, even a slight lapse in concentration could have irreversible consequences.

Siming stood suspended in the air, countless elements flowing invisibly around her. Her silver hair danced rhythmically, her brows tinged with a luminous silver that cast a blade-like chill upon her serene face.

"So, everyone's finally here," Siming stated blandly, surveying the two severely wounded male disciples and the two Sword Pavilion beauties.

"Where is Ning Changjiu? Where is he?" Zhou Zhenyue demanded.

Siming lightly tossed the Yulei Sword, which danced gracefully around her. She looked at Zhou Zhenyue. "Are you about to say that if I hand over Ning Changjiu, you'll spare my life?"

Zhou Zhenyue's face remained cold and silent. Only her cascading sword intent unfurled in layers, forming dragons and phoenixes that coiled around her.

Siming reached out and re-gripped the Yulei Sword. Her aura suddenly surged, and in the vast sky, the moon seemed to merge with her, radiating a deep, silver light.

"If you step aside now, I can spare your lives," Siming said.

"Arrogant words!" Zhou Zhenyue retorted, stepping forward. The ancient sword in her sheath roared like a lion.

Hearing the lion-like roar of the sword, a look of ferocity appeared in Siming's eyes.

"Sword Pavilion..." Siming's voice was icy. "Today, I'll teach you where the true pinnacle of human swordsmanship lies."

Like an exploding moon, silver radiance unfurled across the vast sky, spreading into a boundless sea. Siming's black divine robe stood out against the silver glow, and her silver hair seemed to be woven into the very fabric of the sky.

In a single thought, the firmament transformed, and myriad phenomena surged forth.

Siming raised her sword high, as if plunging it into a fiery forge. A boundless silver sea clung to the blade's tip, slowly descending with her movements.

A terrifying pressure descended upon the two Sword Pavilion disciples.

Yet, they did not retreat a single step.

Zhou Zhenyue gripped her sword hilt and drew her blade with a sudden flourish. A silver sword-dragon coiled and soared, and she, moving like a dragon, swung her sword towards the sky.

Liu Junzhuo, too, cast aside distractions and calmed her heart. With one thrust of her sword, the "Sun and Moon in the Pot" realm unfolded. Standing in darkness, she locked onto Siming's energy and struck with lightning speed.

In the vast sky, a sword battle erupted instantly. Rivers of sword-fire, scorching the heavens, spread out, transforming into a canopy of brilliant, multicolored clouds.

Tianhu Peak is a renowned scenic area in the Central Lands, named for its peaks resembling *hù* – ceremonial tablets. Ascending its summit during the day would evoke the solemn beauty of courtiers bearing *hù* before a monarch, a sight once praised by countless immortals for its imperial grandeur.

Now, however, these jade-like peaks were shattering one after another in the crimson light.

It was as if, in the imperial court of a dying dynasty, all officials were silent, and only beautifully robed singing girls danced gracefully, their vibrant skirts and fiery passion overwhelming the empire.

The river surged turbulently.

Ning Changjiu sat in his small boat, riding the waves, watching the sky-engulfing sword-fire from the darkness hidden by the peaks.

A terrifying aura imperceptibly enveloped the entire world. Distant colossal peaks were being pulverized one after another, and rolling boulders crashed into the water, creating waves that threatened to fill the great river.

The bamboo raft drifted downstream, approaching Yuhu Mountain.

Southern Continent, the Abyss.

The place where Lu Jiajia once built her hermitage for cultivation was now overgrown with weeds. The wooden figure carved with Ning Changjiu's name had long decayed, and the small aerial array on the ground was washed away by rain, barely recognizable.

In a few years, everything here would vanish, leaving only the stories to endure.

Today, a visitor arrived outside the thatched hut.

It was a white-haired girl in a white dress, her face incredibly youthful. Her body appeared to be a condensed form of light, each step she took eroding the surrounding darkness.

Baizang had finally projected herself into the human realm.

She stood at the edge of the abyss, then bent down, invisibly picking up a feather.

A crow feather.

"Sin Monarch," Baizang identified, recognizing the divine essence within the feather.

The Sin Monarch had once entered the abyss and returned without success; no one knew the details of that venture.

This was also why Baizang was so cautious.

She cupped the crow feather in her palm, gazed at the plunging expanse of the abyss, and once she was certain no one would disturb her, she finally stepped forward.

The plunging expanse seemed to embrace her.

Baizang descended into the Time Abyss.

Beneath her feet lay a vast, flat sea of sand.

Within the sand sea, countless nether-spirits lay buried deep, none daring to emerge and glance at her.

Baizang, too, paid them no mind.

With a light step, she entered the deeper reaches of the Time Abyss.

The torrent of time washed past her, leaving no discernible effect.

With another step, she reached the cluster of honeycomb-like chambers.

She examined the chambers, confirming their true form was a brain—the Time Abyss was indeed the head of the headless god.

Baizang extended her hand towards the chambers.

The materialized time within the chambers slowly flowed out, struggling to reach her palm.

This liquid-like time was, in fact, the brain fluid of the headless god.

Baizang clutched the 'brain fluid' in her hand. She attempted to absorb it but found herself incompatible.

Baizang frowned.

"Yuanfu, Leilao, Quanlin, Yuanjun?" Baizang articulated the four names.

Compared to the Sin Monarch's initial assessment, she had removed Tianji from the list.

She chose not to forcibly assimilate them.

She was the Divine Master of the Silver Snow Palace, the world's sovereign, but to her, Severed Realm City was an entirely new territory.

Most importantly, the Unobservable One had forcibly concealed many secrets here with their authority. If she were to investigate aggressively, she risked a backlash from this realm.

But she was not in a hurry.

She still had a month.

This was ample time to uncover the secrets of Severed Realm City.

Baizang lightly lifted her foot, and with a single step, reached the exit of the Time Abyss.

She glanced at the headless statue of a crowned god on the wall, then stepped out of the light curtain.

Severed Realm City was still shrouded in darkness.

In the royal palace, Shao Xiaoli, draped in a red gown, slept diagonally, propped on her elbow. In her dream, she saw countless stars, particularly the one in the central position, which shone like a magnificent gem.

She always remembered what Ye Chu had once told her about her star destiny:

"At your birth, the White Ape Star and Jade Rabbit Star were your companion stars, both comets, and the Luo River Goddess Star resided in the primary position."

The Luo River Goddess Star...

Shao Xiaoli felt this star was uniquely hers.

She reached out, wanting to touch it, but her dream abruptly ended.

She opened her eyes to see a sudden light illuminating the spot in the pond where the jade branch was hidden.

"Master..." Shao Xiaoli immediately rose.

The light in the pond vanished as strangely as it had appeared.

A shiver ran through her; she had a distinct feeling the jade branch was trying to warn her.

Following her intuition, she ascended the royal palace's highest tower, feeling uneasy, to gaze into the distance.

Suddenly, Shao Xiaoli caught sight of a discordant flash of white.

It... appeared to be a person.

Her heart immediately constricted. She ducked, hiding behind a pillar.

This sensation of fear was familiar; two years prior, when the Sin Monarch arrived at Severed Realm City and she first saw that black robe, the same intuition had arisen within her.

Even more terrifying, as she looked at the white figure, it slowly turned and met her gaze.

The four words, 'certain death,' were etched onto her heart.

The heavenly light over Tianhu Mountain faded before dawn arrived.

The battle continued.

In the arduous battle against the two Sword Pavilion senior sisters, Siming, though not visibly at a disadvantage, also saw no clear path to victory. In a clash between Five Paths pinnacles, she had never intended to truly kill her opponents on Tianhu Peak, as doing so would inevitably demand a heavy price from her.

To her, it wasn't worth it.

The only true adversary she acknowledged was the Sword Saint himself.

"I heard you were once a divine official of the God Kingdom?" Zhou Zhenyue parried an incoming blade, then horizontally slashed her own sword towards her opponent's throat. "The God Kingdom fell, so you were exiled to the human world?"

Siming wielded her authority over time, her figure flickering like a flame, appearing and disappearing. The next instant, she was behind Zhou Zhenyue, gripping her sword with a reverse grip, unleashing a brilliant strike towards her spine.

"You still have the leisure to ask about my origins?" Siming asked coldly.

Liu Junzhuo's flying sword, launched from her brow, struck Siming's blade tip, deflecting it. Zhou Zhenyue had also turned, conjuring a myriad of swords with a single thought that illuminated the long night as they plummeted towards Siming like a colossal dragon.

"You surely know who destroyed your God Kingdom, don't you?" Zhou Zhenyue said coldly. "Are you now going to betray what you once guarded and become an accomplice?"

Siming regarded the myriad swords as nothing.

As the killing aura descended like a giant sword of divine punishment, her body moved with nimble grace. Within her temporal authority, she moved like a fleeting phantom, untouched by a speck of dust, even having the leisure to grasp the sword-light of the colossal dragon with a backhand grip, reversing its power to strike its own head.

Siming shattered the colossal dragon and said, "The king was unjust, so my Master descended to punish him, severing his head and fracturing his authority. It was truly satisfying. You, a mere junior, are short-sighted. What do you understand?"

Zhou Zhenyue's brows furrowed deeply. With a wave of her hand, she established a sword domain, trapping Siming within its confines.

"Traitors will never be tolerated by heaven and earth!" she stated coldly.

Siming strolled leisurely within the sword domain. While forcing back Liu Junzhuo's sword, she controlled Yulei, sending it like a meteor hurtling towards Zhou Zhenyue.

Siming replied with a cold laugh, "You've never encountered the true Dao of Heaven, yet you are infatuated with it. How utterly foolish! You are a human being, not a celestial dog!"

Zhou Zhenyue's expression grew stern. She bit her finger, dabbed the blood on her glabella, and her essence blood condensed, transforming myriad great swords into a single, unified entity.

"I think you're the dog with a broken spine!" Liu Junzhuo retorted coldly, her sword sealing off the moonlight above. She coordinated with her senior sister, aiming to trap Siming so her sister could deliver a devastating blow.

Siming turned her head, staring at Liu Junzhuo with chilling killing intent.

"I was speaking to your senior sister. When did it become your turn to interrupt?" Siming scoffed coldly, shaking her robe and raising her hand towards the sky.

The darkness Liu Junzhuo's sword had cleaved was grasped in Siming's hand and hurled back at Liu Junzhuo.

The vast sky pressed down. Liu Junzhuo couldn't evade it and was driven by the attack, falling towards a mountain peak.

Zhou Zhenyue's massive sword, as vast as a celestial vessel, also materialized in the air.

Siming looked at the sword and extended a finger.

Intricate patterns, like silver filigree on a black lacquered vase, reappeared on her divine robe.

"Suppress!" Siming commanded, her voice authoritative.

Heaven and earth stilled, and the colossal vessel halted before her.

But behind her, Liu Junzhuo quickly cleaved through the oppressive darkness, unleashing a bright sword-light that slashed towards Siming's back.

Siming did not block.

An arrow flew from the south.

Outside Tianhu Mountain, Ning Changjiu, now safely past by boat, again drew his Solar Phoenix Azure Feather Bow from his small vessel.

Liu Junzhuo, wholly engrossed in the battle, failed to detect this arrow in time.

She sealed her sword and swung back to block.

Her sword cleaved the arrow.

Yet, half of the arrowhead passed by the blade, piercing her chest squarely.

She had been struck by another arrow.

This shouldn't have been a severe injury.

But she had left her back exposed to Siming.

Siming, risking some backlash from sword energy, abandoned blocking the senior sister's sword. Her body plummeted swiftly, power gathering at her fist, and she delivered a plain, brutal punch straight to Liu Junzhuo's back.

Liu Junzhuo managed to turn and barely block the strike, but she was sent flying, crashing directly into a large peak.

The mountain peak shattered into dust.

Simultaneously, Zhou Zhenyue's sword struck Siming's back.

Siming had underestimated the sword's power. Although her divine robe absorbed most of the massive blade's force, her body still took a heavy blow, causing her qi and blood to surge and her spiritual power to briefly falter. If Zhou Zhenyue were to launch a relentless, desperate assault now, Siming truly might be unable to withstand it.

Fortunately, another golden arrow arrived.

The golden arrow whizzed past, seeming to graze her skin.

Zhou Zhenyue, who had been about to press her advantage, had her eyes and brows illuminated once more by the arrow's light.

With a resounding boom, Zhou Zhenyue forcibly shattered the arrow with her sword intent, yet was still blasted backward.

From within the shattered mountain on the other side, Liu Junzhuo emerged, her mud-stained body climbing the falling boulders as if on a cloud ladder.

Her brows furrowed, her lips bitten and bloody, she burned with rage. With a casual gesture, she wielded a massive stone like a sword, and her figure, along with it, surged forward, brutally hacking towards Siming.

Siming did not engage head-on this time. Weaving through time, she skillfully evaded the sword, instead fighting and moving southward along Tianhu Mountain.

Zhou Zhenyue and Liu Junzhuo had no intention of letting her escape. They pursued her together, each unleashing their swordsmanship, enveloping Siming and illuminating the entire night sky.

Amidst the bright light, golden arrows occasionally flew, striking from tricky and unusual angles.

The archer clearly understood the art of targeting the vulnerable; almost every arrow was aimed at Liu Junzhuo.

These arrows possessed immense power; mishandling them could easily prove fatal.

Liu Junzhuo couldn't exert her full sword power, her movements were significantly slowed, and she quickly fell behind Siming.

In the chase, the peaks of Tianhu Mountain exploded one after another, like firecrackers strung on a fuse, sending up clouds of dust that obscured the sky and sun.

Zhou Zhenyue and Siming battled fiercely in the vast sky.

Their dao techniques clashed in the air with earth-shattering force.

Zhou Zhenyue truly lived up to her title as the Sword Saint's first disciple. After enduring Siming's escalating waves of killing intent, she immediately shifted from defense to offense, unleashing every sword technique she knew, quickly gaining the upper hand.

At that very moment, at the far end of Tianhu Peak, a golden light shot up from the ground.

This was Ning Changjiu's eighth arrow.

Zhou Zhenyue's offensive was once again halted.

"Sword Pavilion, I bid you farewell." Siming smiled faintly. Before Zhou Zhenyue could break free from the arrow's hold, Siming drew a circle in front of herself.

The circle resembled a sundial.

Her figure dove into it, passing through layers of illusion, and instantly vanished from Zhou Zhenyue's sight.

"You worked hard," Ning Changjiu said with a smile, looking at the woman who had appeared out of thin air beside him.

Their assailants were two women at the pinnacle of the Five Paths. Ning Changjiu, having only recently entered the Five Paths, had an unstable foundation; confronting them directly might be risky and could hinder Siming.

Therefore, Siming's and his plan was for her to distract the two, allowing him to covertly cross Tianhu Mountain in one swift move.

They had been left behind.

Beyond Tianhu Mountain, the terrain was flat and unobstructed.

"It was just a trifle," Siming said nonchalantly, hands clasped behind her back on the boat. "Those two juniors must be accustomed to a pampered life. Though their cultivation is high, their sword intent lacks centuries of refinement. I've fully grasped their abilities; they're nothing remarkable. As long as the Sword Saint doesn't intervene, our journey home should be safe."

Ning Changjiu remained silent for a moment, then sighed. "Miss Xueci, perhaps you should speak less. You're making me nervous."

Siming smiled faintly. "What is there to fear? I am your Xue'er now, not the divine official whose words were law."

At that very moment, miles away, the gates of Guyun City swung open, and the Sword Saint emerged, his sword on his back.