Chapter 434: Sword Saint

Time within the Divine Painting Pagoda rewound four thousand years.

That was the era when the Six Primordial Gods had just descended upon the Mother Star. The Dark Lord had not yet arrived from the Dead Star Domain to shroud the sky. Humans and demons faced the native ancient gods on this nascent star, living primitively and struggling for survival in the cracks.

But for civilization, it seemed to be a beginning.

Si Ming sat on a tree stump, a newly built wooden house behind her. Her hands rested on the edge of the stump as she looked up at the sky. Her light-colored long hair cascaded to the ground, coiling and piling, imbued with the fresh scent of grass and trees.

Birds chirped on the branches, and white clouds drifted leisurely overhead. Whenever a gentle breeze brushed her face, Si Ming would remember the night she sailed through a thousand peaks in Jade Scepter Peak, lost in a daze.

If one were to indulge in such beauty, perhaps all worries would simply vanish.

Suddenly, a pair of hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who?"

A girl's voice chimed.

Si Ming's red lips curved slightly. She said softly, "Xiao Li, you're really bored."

Shao Xiaoli released her hands and sat down next to Si Ming. She gently rested her head on the woman's lap, watching the scenery drift by in the sunlight, and grumbled, "It's been three days. What exactly are we doing here? If we stay any longer, I'll forget we even have enemies!"

This was their third day in the historical illusion of the Divine Painting Pagoda.

They had built a courtyard, settled in, and spent their days eating, sleeping, and sunbathing. Occasionally, they would go out and fight fierce demon gods, just to stretch their muscles.

During these leisurely days, many times when Shao Xiaoli gazed at the white clouds, she almost believed they were in a time of peace, having survived the calamities, living secluded in the mountains.

Si Ming pinched her cheek and said, "Isn't it good to be relaxed? Do you want to be fighting and risking your life all day long?"

"Of course it's good," Shao Xiaoli said, catching Si Ming's hand that was pinching her cheek. "But why do you look so unhappy, Sister Si Ming?"

"Hmm? Why would I be unhappy?" Si Ming asked, puzzled.

Shao Xiaoli smiled faintly: "Master and Grandmaster ran off together and left us here. Can Sister Si Ming really be happy about that?"

"They're on important business," Si Ming glared at her. "We must prioritize the bigger picture, understand?"

Not far away, Lu Jiajia was hanging clothes. The slightly damp white robes spread out, billowing like waves in the wind with a rustling sound. The sunlight slanted down, reflecting dazzling white light off the fabric.

Listening to their conversation, Lu Jiajia turned her head, standing where the eaves met the sunlight and shadow. She tucked a wind-blown strand of hair behind her ear and showed a bright smile.

Shao Xiaoli and Si Ming sat on a tree stump by the pond, speaking in low voices.

Suddenly, another pair of hands covered Si Ming's eyes. These hands were incredibly soft and furry.

"Meow meow meow meow meow?"

A voice came from behind.

But Bai Zang clearly didn't receive the same treatment as Shao Xiaoli.

"I'll guess your head!"

Si Ming reached back, grabbed the dragon bone chain, and yanked the white cat forward.

Bai Zang stared at Si Ming with a somewhat innocent look, thinking, "I, the dignified Palace Lord of the Silver Snow Palace, am playing a game with you, and yet I'm still despised." Her paws fluttered as she meowed incessantly. The 'king' character on her forehead looked meek, more like a mere decoration.

Si Ming held grudges. She still vividly remembered how Bai Zang treated her like a prisoner during their journey to the Yuangfu Divine Temple in Broken Realm City.

These days, whenever she had a moment of leisure, she would find an excuse to bully Bai Zang.

For example, yesterday's reason for beating Bai Zang was that Bai Zang couldn't snap her fingers. Bai Zang vehemently protested, "How can there be a cat in this world that can snap its fingers?"

Now, after being severely bullied, Bai Zang was thrown outside, tied to a tree, with the task of guarding the house.

Bai Zang never imagined she would fall to such a state; this was truly a tiger reduced to snatching food from dogs in a desolate plain.

Bai Zang silently lay beneath the tree. Sunlight, filtered through the leaves, dappled her tabby fur, and her round ears perked up. She curled her body, turned her head, and listened to the conversation and occasional laughter of the three beautiful women inside, letting out soft meows.

Four thousand years ago...

Bai Zang looked at the terrifyingly tall towering trees ahead. The sounds of massive beasts running around made it impossible for her to sleep peacefully.

Four thousand years ago, she had just been born, confined with a group of wild cats, fighting them for food. Back then, she was still somewhat afraid of sunlight, not daring to leave the dark, damp cell, and had not yet climbed a tree for the first time, nor had the ambition and zeal of a tiger grown within her.

Now, this world was once again laid out before her. She was no longer a high and mighty deity, and a sense of melancholy over the passage of time inevitably arose in her heart.

As Bai Zang reminisced about her glorious past, the forest ahead collapsed in succession. A great demon, shaped like an ancient bull, tore through the trees and emerged, its face ferocious.

This was an era of chaos. In three days, Lu Jiajia and Si Ming had slain countless demons.

The ancient bull, corrupted by demonic energy, glared at the humble courtyard, let out a low growl, and with its four hooves thudding, walked towards it.

Bai Zang licked her paw, thinking, "Finally, I can stretch my muscles."

But the ancient bull didn't even glance at her.

Bai Zang meowed for a long time before the ancient bull finally turned its head and noticed the small creature tied to the tree.

It rolled its eyes, its expression dismissive. As its head turned, its horn sliced across, like a true giant blade, instantly tearing the tree in half.

The treetop, along with half the trunk, was torn away, and sunlight streamed down, illuminating Bai Zang's angry pupils.

"Huh? Not scared senseless yet?"

The demon bull paused, thinking, "This must be a newborn tiger cub unafraid of bulls."

Its muscular body rippled slightly. A trembling roar seemed to emanate from its body, transforming into lightning that sprayed from its nostrils and mouth. The giant bull twisted its body and brought its hoof down on the tiny tiger, intending to crush this disrespectful life into pulp.

The massive bull's hoof descended.

But the demon bull froze. It found that what it had stepped on didn't feel like a cat, but an indestructible pebble. Even with all its might, it couldn't press its hoof down further. On the contrary, its muscles trembled under a powerful opposing force. Before it could react, its hoof, along with its entire body, was forcefully lifted.

Then, staggering, its massive body toppled sideways onto the ground.

The demon bull still didn't know what had happened, only seeing a flash of white in its peripheral vision. The white cat's claws had extended from its paw pads, swinging through the air. The claw wind surged like sword qi, instantly pressing down on the demon bull's body, cutting through its skin, tearing its muscles. In a scream of agony, blood gushed forth.

Bai Zang landed lightly, not bothering to look at the bull that didn't know its place.

Shao Xiaoli heard the commotion outside and came out with a cleaver to collect ingredients. Bai Zang looked up at the direct sunlight, silently untied the chain holding her, held it in her mouth, then tied herself to another tree, and went back to sleep in the shade.

In her sleep, she meowed a couple of times, seemingly complaining that Ye Chan Palace and Ning Changjiu hadn't returned yet.

At this moment, on the snowy mountains of the Northern Kingdom, Ning Changjiu and Ye Chan Palace stood side by side, gazing together at the crystal-clear world surrounded by snow-capped peaks. The celestial lake, cradled by the mountains, was like a bright, clear mirror.

"That lake was built by you for Xi He back then," Ye Chan Palace said, pointing to the snow mountains that resembled a pristine world.

Ning Changjiu nodded.

He had this memory. He had tried to persuade Xi He to go to the human world with him, but Xi He, with the stubbornness of a pampered young lady from a noble family, found the human world impure and refused to go. So, he had carved out a lake in the purest place specifically for her to bathe. Yet, even so, Xi He had still eventually come to the human world, and thus this lake had remained silent in the icy wilderness for thousands of years.

Ye Chan Palace withdrew her gaze from the lake. The gold in her pupils had faded, and now, her right eye seemed to bear golden dark patterns, like a brand.

The girl, once lovely and pretty, now looked more like a deity walking among humans.

They walked together on the mountain ridge, their reflections faintly visible in the distant lake.

"Is this the northernmost point of the world?" Ning Changjiu asked, looking out from the cold snowy mountain.

Ye Chan Palace nodded. "Yes, this is the quietest place in the world."

Ning Changjiu asked, "Does Master like it here?"

Ye Chan Palace didn't answer, simply saying, "This mountain range has been affected by several major battles, and its foundation is already unstable. If you and Xi He hadn't come, this celestial lake would probably have been buried by the collapsing snow mountains."

Ye Chan Palace's ethereal voice was diluted by the cold wind. In the silent celestial lake, two figures suddenly vanished, like dragonflies flitting across the water's surface.

The snow mountains rapidly faded from view, like dandelions carried away by the wind.

In a blink of an eye, they arrived in the Northern Abyss.

They didn't stand on the cliff of the Northern Abyss but went directly to the seabed.

In the coral sea, tiny fish, cloaked in brilliant colors, darted past them. Ye Chan Palace looked around, the golden light in her right pupil drifting like liquid in the water.

The seabed was full of rare life. Occasionally, mollusks and large, sharp-toothed fish swam overhead, their gigantic tails swinging like hammers. But they paid no heed to Ning Changjiu and Ye Chan Palace, as if unsure who was a mere illusion and who was real.

The hem of Ye Chan Palace's black dress fanned out like a flower in the water, and her slender feet, encased in cotton socks, stirred up splashes. She moved like a fish, gracefully gliding through the vibrant and eerie underwater world.

"What exactly is Master looking at?" Ning Changjiu asked.

"Looking at the true world," Ye Chan Palace said, her golden pupils shimmering.

Ahead, suddenly, many large mountains rose from the ground.

"There's no ocean on Moon Prison, nor scenery like this," Ye Chan Palace said.

"The invisible immortal mountains and sea of clouds are also not earthly sights," Ning Changjiu replied.

Ye Chan Palace lightly landed on one of the large mountains. The mountains here had turned into lairs for sea serpents.

"This used to be land, but it was swallowed by a tsunami," Ye Chan Palace said, gazing at the dark, submerged mountains.

Ning Changjiu hummed in acknowledgment and said, "Further ahead is the deep sea. Does Master still want to go?"

"Yes."

Ye Chan Palace gently held down the hem of her skirt, which was lifted by the current, and nodded in assent.

In a blink of an eye, they arrived at the bottom of the sea.

Beneath the deep, dark water, they both looked up. The sea surface shimmered and undulated in the gloom, appearing incredibly distant.

"If humans originated from the bottom of the sea, what would it have felt like for them to cross ten thousand fathoms of deep sea and see the starry sky for the first time?" Ye Chan Palace asked softly.

"Perhaps it would be the same feeling as an immortal ascending, crossing the sky, and seeing the vast universe for the first time," Ning Changjiu replied.

Ye Chan Palace hugged her knees, the undercurrent stirring her skirt.

She was so tender and perfect... In this dark space with only two of them, they were like primal humans, who might conceive a tribe in the unknown depths of the sea, except their descendants would never be as flawless as they were.

In moments of quiet, countless thoughts often flickered through one's mind.

"I really like it here," Ye Chan Palace said.

"Me too," Ning Changjiu said gently.

"If only we could stay in the human world forever." Something soft seemed to be touched in Ye Chan Palace's heart.

"One and a half billion years haven't crushed us. I believe one day we will walk out of the deep sea," Ning Changjiu said. In his words, the entire world was a deep sea.

"Yes," Ye Chan Palace said. "I believe that too."

The two of them gazed into the distance in peaceful silence.

Ning Changjiu suddenly felt that the girl beside him seemed a little unusual.

He turned and looked at her. The girl was actually trembling slightly in the lonely seawater.

"Master, what's wrong?" Ning Changjiu asked.

Ye Chan Palace looked at him and said, "I... I'm so cold."

Their figures were no longer in the deep sea.

The next instant, they had crossed the seawater and a thousand-foot lone mountain, arriving above the clouds.

White birds chirped sweetly, flying with them across the sky.

"Is Master still cold?" Ning Changjiu asked.

"It won't be cold near the sun," Ye Chan Palace said.

Ning Changjiu looked at her serene face, always feeling that she was trying to express some strong emotion, but any emotion, after being filtered through her, became clear and diluted.

Ning Changjiu gently held her hand.

The last time he held her hand like this seemed to be three thousand years ago.

It was a pair of hands so delicate and soft, almost boneless, and extremely small. Ning Changjiu dared not exert any force, only gently holding them. The proud and mysterious Immortal Monarch Chang'e now appeared fragile and indescribably vulnerable, like a young vine just breaking through the soil.

Ning Changjiu looked at her occasionally upturned lips and asked, "What are you doing?"

Ye Chan Palace lowered her head and said, "I'm learning to express myself."

Ning Changjiu asked, "Learning to express yourself?"

"Yes," Ye Chan Palace said. "It's hard for me to express clear sadness or happiness, but I think they can be replaced by crying and laughing. Lately, I often practice smiling."

As Ye Chan Palace spoke, she gave a gentle, sweet smile.

Her smile was radiant and captivating; no one would find it even slightly insincere.

Ning Changjiu said, "I'm actually more curious what Master looks like when crying."

Ye Chan Palace's smile froze in the wind, and her immortal face turned calm.

She expressed no emotion, yet Ning Changjiu felt an inexplicable sense of irritation from her.

They descended from the clouds, below them lay a vast desert.

The desert world was desolate and expansive.

Ye Chan Palace gazed at it for a while, then turned and left, her footprints small on the sand, as if a little swan had walked there.

"When the Desolate River Dragon Phoenix descends, this will be her territory," Ye Chan Palace said at the edge of the desert.

"Suzaku..." Ning Changjiu thought of the god who killed Xi He. A thousand years had passed, and he could no longer feel the deep-seated hatred of that time; more often, his mind was filled with questions: "What exactly was the agreement Master made with her?"

"Just a gamble, unrelated to winning or losing," Ye Chan Palace said. "As for what she wants to do, well... it's related to the Three Thousand Worlds."

"The Three Thousand Worlds?"

"Yes. What do you think the Three Thousand Worlds are like?" Ye Chan Palace asked.

Ning Changjiu couldn't answer immediately.

He had never had the chance to visit the Western Kingdom and had not truly seen the Three Thousand Worlds.

Night fell in the blink of an eye. A false moon rose, casting a deceptive moonlight.

They continued to walk together, traversing snow, sea, desert, grasslands, and mountains, passing through every part of the world.

Finally, they crossed the Southern Wilderness and arrived at the southernmost tip of the world.

It was an ice island floating on the sea.

"I never thought there'd be such a place even further south than Nanzhou," Ning Changjiu marveled, looking at the dreamlike ice and snow world under the moonlight.

Ye Chan Palace walked in the moonlight, her steps light on the ice, like the master of a dream.

"Yes," Ye Chan Palace said. "It's said that many places in this world are replicated by the Evil Poem from ancient civilizations."

"The world is truly vast," Ning Changjiu said softly.

"Yes, with such a beautiful world, no life born here would be lonely, would it?"

Amidst their soft murmurs, they walked across layers of ice.

A long time had passed.

They had traveled for several days within the four-thousand-year-old illusion.

During these days, Lu Jiajia and Si Ming were still quietly waiting for their husband and master to return. The remaining great demons were gathering towards the eighty-one cities of the Central Land, a storm clearly brewing. The broken body of young Ke Wenzhou still seemed to be buried beneath the Central Land, his fate unknown. Yet, disciples of the Sword Pavilion had already traversed half of the Central Land and were nearing the devastated Gu Huang.

The vast starry river stretched over the ice river. Past and present seemed to converge in some sense, making even time and space feel lonely.

"This is far enough."

Ye Chan Palace tiptoed across the ice mountain at the southernmost point.

Ning Changjiu looked at the translucent mountain ahead, where an old goat lay prone.

It was Yuan Jun.

It seemed to have been waiting here for a long time.

Yuan Jun opened its eyes and stood up on the ice mountain. This was its mythical form, which it had activated, ready for a decisive battle at any moment.

"You said the Dark Lord isn't unbeatable, right?" Yuan Jun asked, looking at Ye Chan Palace.

"Yes," Ye Chan Palace replied. "I came here to verify my thoughts."

Yuan Jun asked, "And have you verified them?"

Ye Chan Palace said, "Not yet. To truly verify it, one condition is still missing."

"What condition?" Yuan Jun asked.

Ye Chan Palace said, "The Dark Lord needs to temporarily distance itself from this world."

Yuan Jun asked, "Distance itself from this world?"

"Yes," Ye Chan Palace said. "It doesn't need to be destroyed, just its influence on this world temporarily weakened."

"Nonsense," Yuan Jun sneered. "Immortal Monarch Chang'e, have you traveled the world for so many days just to come up with an impossible answer?"

"It is possible."

"Oh? Who can do it?"

"Ju Fu might be able to."

"Ju Fu..." Yuan Jun shook its head again. "Ju Fu's frail soul couldn't even break free from the Central Land's cage. How could it ascend to the Immortal Court again?"

Ye Chan Palace said, "Ju Fu once said that a sage appears in the human world every five hundred years."

Yuan Jun's brow furrowed even tighter. He looked at the handsome white-clad youth beside Ye Chan Palace, whose face, once feared by the Six Gods, remained silent. Yuan Jun straightened his body and said, "I know that as a projection, I can't kill you, but don't forget, there's still the Tianji Divine Kingdom in the sky. By now, Tianji should be fully prepared. It's been waiting for my signal."

Ye Chan Palace said, "You can wait a little longer."

Yuan Jun said, "What's the use of struggling in vain? Humanity is beyond saving."

Ning Changjiu, who had been silent, finally spoke. Amidst the starry ice river, he said earnestly, "If humanity cannot save itself, then the gods shall save the world."

But Yuan Jun was unwilling to wait any longer.

It lifted its head and let out a roar towards the sky.

The ice river melted, the sky distorted, and large sections of the Divine Painting Pagoda's illusion collapsed.

Ye Chan Palace's lips were tightly pursed. The Dark Lord was still watching them; she couldn't reveal the truth she had guessed yet.

She looked at Ning Changjiu.

Ning Changjiu nodded, ready for battle.

The long cry of the goat echoed in the ice river world. Ning Changjiu stretched out his hand, and thousands of miles away, Liu Xiwang flew up, her body becoming light and transparent. Sword light and sword intent diffused, responding to him, like wind gathering in his palm.

Another divine battle seemed about to begin.

But the solemn Yuan Jun suddenly frowned.

Outside the Divine Painting Pagoda, the first to respond to him was not Tianji, but Ke Wenzhou.

It wasn't the young Ke Wenzhou, but an old man with withered hair and a severed arm.

An outer body?

Could it be that the Sword Saint, who had shown incredible survival and combat power in the previous battle, was still just one of his outer bodies?

Had the Dark Lord's power truly reached this level of terror?

Ning Changjiu also noticed it.

He had considered the possibility of Ke Wenzhou using an outer body again, but he hadn't expected him to be so presumptuous!

Above the ruins of Gu Huang, the white-haired old man stood indifferently.

He held a black sword, pointing it at the sky.

"Lord Dark Lord, I have done this much, is it still not enough?" Ke Wenzhou asked.

The silent sky finally responded.

The Heavenly Dao permeated little by little.

The heavy sky, under the combined pressure of the Dark Lord and the Sword Saint, grew thinner and thinner. Then, a dark stream of light descended from the sky, crashing into Ke Wenzhou's body.

That was the true power of the Dark Lord.

Just like Yuangfu back then, he had thoroughly proven his loyalty through numerous bloody battles. For the puppet uniquely crafted by the Dark Lord in this lifetime, he was the only one qualified to become a vessel for the Heavenly Dao.

Outside the Divine Painting Pagoda, Ji Xuan witnessed a terrifying sight.

Ke Wenzhou stood in the void, his entire being almost merging with the dark night sky.

Ji Xuan immediately hurled his slender sword, and his innate Xuanze power surged out as well, but the Dark Lord's beam of light was far too powerful; his vast strength couldn't even shake it.

From behind the Divine Painting Pagoda, another person arrived on a sword.

It was Liu Junzhuo.

While the other disciples were still en route, she had soared ahead on her sword, arriving a day early.

Liu Junzhuo had seen the towering black aura from afar and had a bad premonition. It was only when she actually witnessed the scene that her heart completely tightened.

Without a word, Liu Junzhuo immediately activated the power of the Shattered Kingdom and drew her sword, striking upwards.

She could no longer convince herself that her master was a good person.

Because at this moment, her master's body was covered in dark red cracks, black aura swirled behind him, and evil energy surged around him. What else could he be but a demon?

Ke Wenzhou looked at the woman who was striking at him, shook his head, and said, "Liu Xiwang wants to kill me, and you, her senior sister, are the same?"

Liu Junzhuo's sword-holding hand trembled. She charged forward as if committing suicide, roaring, "You... so you've been lying to us all along! Do you know how much your senior sister admired you? Do you know how much the disciples revered you? How could you..."

Ke Wenzhou interrupted, "I have never lied to you. What I protect is always the Heavenly Dao, always the rules of the world."

"You demon!"

Liu Junzhuo looked at the old man, whose body was streaked with black and red blood. Her sword's edge finally drew near.

On Ke Wenzhou's calm face, his brow subtly furrowed.

He had not expected that his disciple's sword would actually pierce through the barrier and stab into his chest.

"Is this... the power of the Yuangfu Shattered Kingdom?" Ke Wenzhou realized with a start, a trace of pain appearing on his face.

Spiritual energy and the Dark Lord's power were completely different, which was why Xuanze's attack couldn't harm him at all. But Yuangfu's power was bestowed by the Dark Lord and shared the same origin with him; they were like identical liquids that merged upon contact.

Liu Junzhuo gripped the sword tightly, trying to push it forward another inch.

In that moment, she forgot all sword techniques, only wanting to push it forward, even if just an inch!

Ke Wenzhou sighed softly.

He gripped the sword embedded in his chest, crushing it to dust. With a single thought, Liu Junzhuo let out a pained cry, her body sent flying backward, crashing into the Luo River.

Liu Junzhuo felt as if every bone in her body was broken. She struggled out of the turbulent river, wanting to fight again, but in her pupils, she saw the wound she had inflicted with all her might closing at a visible rate.

It was an indestructible body!

Ke Wenzhou looked at her indifferently and said, "I am a betrayer, so I hate betrayal."

Saying this, he raised his sword and struck at Liu Junzhuo.

In a flash of lightning, a golden light pierced through heaven and earth, appearing before her.

She vaguely guessed who the newcomer was.

The golden light met the dark divine pillar, and a massive current of light spread across the sky, pushing down both Liu Junzhuo and the entire surface of the Luo River.

Ke Wenzhou, wielding a gigantic black sword, repelled the approaching figure with just one strike.

Ning Changjiu hovered in the air, indifferently staring at the old man whose body was covered in black and red blood vessels. At this moment, Ke Wenzhou was less like a human and more like a mythical demon.

Ke Wenzhou felt the new, incredible power in his body. Summoning wind and rain, stealing from heaven and changing the sun... these once terrifying concepts now felt as simple as wiggling a finger.

Yuan Jun also emerged from the Divine Painting Pagoda.

It looked at Ke Wenzhou as if at a magnificent being and said softly, "This is the power of the Dark Lord! The darkness that shrouds us, an unbeatable demon!"

Yuan Jun stared at Ye Chan Palace and roared, "Didn't you say there was a way? Now the Dark Lord's incarnation is right in front of us; kill him!"

Ke Wenzhou looked at them calmly.

He felt this trembling power. Earth and sky became mere paper in his eyes, and all people were as tiny as insects, seemingly easily crushed. He said leisurely, "Ning Changjiu, you might defeat me as the Sword Saint, defeat everything in the human world, but you cannot defeat me now. Because this is the culmination of an entire civilization's efforts from a billion and a half years ago. Your story ends here... Ah!"

As he spoke,

His head flew off.

Ke Wenzhou felt utterly bewildered.

He was an unbeatable existence, the Dark Lord's sole incarnation.

Who could sever his neck, cut off his head?

He was incredibly, utterly confused. Was it a dream... or just a hallucination from going mad when the Dark Lord's power was infused?

Before Ke Wenzhou could figure it out, sword light flashed again—a sword light he was incredibly familiar with, so familiar that for a moment he couldn't recall where he had seen it.

From his body, his right arm also flew off, along with countless pieces of flesh.

His heart was exposed, then pierced by a sword.

The pain belatedly exploded in his sea of consciousness—a pain that being pierced by ten thousand arrows and sliced by a thousand blades could not describe.

But this pain soon ended.

Because his head was split in half by a sword!

Blood splattered.

Everything blurred.

In his last glimpse, he vaguely saw a face—a face he knew but could no longer remember.

It was a one-armed youth.

The youth held a sword, the same sword he had honed for so long in Gu Huang.

He stood in the air, looking at Yuan Jun, at Ning Changjiu, at Ye Chan Palace, and finally at Liu Junzhuo by the Luo River.

"Ma... Master?"

Liu Junzhuo stared at the scene before her in disbelief.

It was a one-armed youth, yet his aura was distinctly that of Ke Wenzhou, the Pavilion Master of the Sword Pavilion.

The young Ke Wenzhou extended his hand, continuing to receive the power infused by the Dark Lord.

He looked at Liu Junzhuo, his voice calm yet heavy:

"A sage appears in the human world every five hundred years. And now, that sage is me."