Chapter 2034: The Actor

A poem, a sword; a sword, a song!If this isn't Ba Zun'an, then what is it?

Sheng Xin's expression grew more solemn. Even though he knew that if Ba Zun'an himself had truly arrived, he wouldn't have brought the Ancestor God's Calamity of Annihilation with him. Yet, the lingering pressure from the "One Step to Zero" technique was palpable, and even a faint resemblance to Ba Zun'an in the distant figure was enough to unnerve him.

Clang!

Before anyone could ponder further, the sound of a sword hummed from beyond the heavens. Two frosty paths, originating from the Eastern Domain, cleaved heaven and earth apart, carving a void in between. From a distance, a figure in a green robe and white cloak seemed to stride closer on the clouds, yet offered no time to discern its face.

With a mere gesture, the names of myriad spirit swords and the surging power of renowned swords were summoned by the Ancestral Tree Sword Hemp, coalescing behind him into a colossal, sky-spanning frost giant sword that completely captivated everyone's minds.

"No-Sword Technique, Third Realm: Frost Blown Mountain!"

The Third Realm!

Undoubtedly, it was a power of the Third Realm, reaching the level of an Ancestor God's combat strength. This sword, astonishingly, was yet another Third Realm technique to dazzle the world, following Ba Zun'an's 'Grand Dream of a Thousand Autumns' and 'World-Toppling Sword Bones.' It materialized above the Sword Burial Mound in the Eastern Domain, turning nothing into something, then vanished as the sky-wide frost, like a dragon's roar, swept through the Central Domain, shattering into wind. When it reappeared, it had already crossed the vast Eastern Sea, freezing endless currents, and materialized before the Holy Ancestor's Manifestation.

Crack—

The Holy Ancestor's Manifestation had barely begun to move when its entire body suddenly trembled, its actions interrupted by the chilling frost aura. Though clearly not frozen into an ice sculpture, the Holy Ancestor's Manifestation's movements inexplicably slowed by tens of thousands of times.

"Obstructing my magical invocations?"

Sheng Xin was horrified, discerning the madness within this sword strike. With every breath he took, frosty particles formed from sword energy were inhaled, jamming the invocation of spiritual techniques, incantations, heavenly principles, and more. Every step he took, his muscles, soul, and even divine will were filled with invisible ice crystals, slowing his movements by an estimated factor of ten thousand. And when he focused his mind inwards to seek out these hindrances, those seemingly tangible forces transformed into intangible presences. Unseen, untouchable.

Unless, within a short time, one could discern the essence of this sword strike and cultivate the Way of Nothingness to the same level as its wielder. Otherwise, this sword could not be broken!

The frosty sword pointed directly at the Holy Ancestor's Manifestation's brow, piercing fiercely, intent on forcing Sheng Xin to retreat from the Time-Space Passage. Sheng Xin, however, let out a long roar, his fighting spirit ignited instead.

"But what can it do to me?"

How could an Ancestor God of 'Returning to Zero' be forced back so easily? Since he couldn't invoke his dao methods, he would activate the Three Holy Ancestor Weapons to see whether the No-Sword Technique's Third Realm was stronger, or if his Three Holy Ancestor Weapons were superior.

"Go!"

The Primeval Mother Coffin beneath his feet flipped over, instantly expanding to ten thousand zhang, blocking the frosty sword and slamming fiercely forward. With a ripping sound, the colossal frosty sword, seemingly weighing ten thousand jun, shattered upon impact. In the next instant, the sword rematerialized, its front and back still tangible, but its middle void, seemingly "passing through" the Primeval Mother Coffin's impact.

"No-Sword Technique!"

"This is the true essence of 'nothingness'; it doesn't confront the sharp edge directly!"

"The No-Sword Technique's Second Realm, 'Heaven Forsakes,' interpreted absolute yang by forsaking myriad forms of daylight. But this 'Frost Blown Mountain' is yin to the extreme; it can even ignore the Primeval Mother Coffin?"

The colossal frosty sword bypassed the Primeval Mother Coffin and directly impaled the Holy Ancestor's Manifestation's brow. With a ripping sound, it shockingly pierced directly through the Holy Ancestor's Manifestation's skull in front of all present.

The Five Domains instantly erupted in an uproar. Through their visions, they could see that as the Holy Ancestor's Manifestation was wounded, a bloodstain also appeared on Sheng Xin's brow at the Time-Space Passage, with black-gold blood trickling down.

"Sheng Xin... wounded?!"

Before there was time to celebrate, a thunderous roar erupted from beyond the heavens. The Holy Ancestor's Manifestation exerted its full power, yet did not defend. Instead, after testing the frosty giant sword's strength with the Primeval Mother Coffin, it directly flung the Extinguishing Dao Profound Ruler far away. A similar icy-blue light and shadow swept from the Central Domain towards the Eastern Domain, fiercely striking the figure targeted by the Ancestor God's Calamity of Annihilation.

Whoosh!

But with a whisper of wind shattering, the figure of the swordsman in the green robe and white cloak also weathered and vanished. At the same time, the Ancestor God's Calamity of Annihilation cloud directly fled from the Eastern Domain, appearing above Sheng Xin's head.

"This is..."

Evidently, it wasn't Sheng Xin's turn to undergo tribulation! Rather, the tribulation cloud pursued the person, indicating that the ancient swordsman who unleashed the Third Realm sword had taken a single step to the Central Domain, right beside the Time-Space Passage.

"Wen Ting!"

The scrying visions from all families in the Five Domains simultaneously froze. They saw that beside the Time-Space Passage, Sheng Xin's brow was bleeding, his pupils dilated, and before him, a "graceful" figure spun into view. Unlike any ancient swordsman throughout history, he was indeed tall and well-built, yet his face was painted with heavy theatrical makeup. He had not arrived by sword flight, nor did he possess an ethereal, worldly-detached aura. Instead, he was barefoot, on tiptoes, with long sleeves raised high, dancing and spinning towards them, his mouth uttering operatic chants, singing loudly:

"Ah, the chilling wind and flowers,""Ah, Frost Blown Mountain!"

Sheng Xin violently struck out, reaching forward to grab Wen Ting's neck and cut off his song. With a hiss, Wen Ting's body shattered. Even the Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation that descended failed to strike his form. In a blink, the fellow appeared behind Sheng Xin, back-to-back, directly resting his head on Sheng Xin's shoulder. With his head tilted back, his water sleeves rose again, his song piercing the clouds:

"Ah, ah, this humble one sings a tune, freezing the Cloud Palace to its core."

The raised, greenish-white water sleeves struck the majestic Holy Ancestor's Manifestation. In an instant, it shockingly froze it into an ice sculpture, rendering the entire world deathly silent.

"He... sang his way out?"

This truly opened the eyes of everyone in the Five Domains. Even Sheng Xin, whose shoulder was being leaned on, turned his head to look at the ghastly pale face so close to his, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Wen Ting...This was Wen Ting?Wen Ting of the Seven Sword Immortals?

His mental state was truly... quite extraordinary. He clearly didn't resemble an ancient swordsman, but rather a concubine who had been banished to the cold palace for thirty years, gone mad, singing opera all day, oblivious to the world, utterly immersed in his own art.

"Get lost!"

Sheng Xin was enraged, his Divine Demon Eyes nearly tearing at the corners. A 'Divine Fall' strike, unleashed from close quarters, an ultimate attack long held back from hitting Void Island, directly blasted Wen Ting's mind. With a ripping sound, Wen Ting, once again, vanished into nothingness. Sheng Xin's eyelid twitched violently. A sweep of his holy sense revealed Wen Ting's figure reappearing on tiptoes before the completely frozen Holy Ancestor's Manifestation.

"Ah, ah, the heart is unsettled,""Ah, ah, the thoughts are restless,""Ah, ah, Eastern Mountain invites the sword, this humble one sings the song."

Water sleeves fluttered, striking the Holy Ancestor's Manifestation repeatedly. An eight-foot body against a thousand-zhang giant. The striking water sleeves astonishingly conjured up another expanse of frosty heaven and earth. The massive Holy Ancestor's Manifestation was already frozen into a crystalline mountain of ice, and the water sleeves then fiercely lifted the frosty giant sword that had completely pierced the Manifestation. As the sword body was lifted, the world shattered into ice crystals.

Sheng Xin let out a muffled groan, his eyes filled with shock. His Ancestor God's Conception was actually severed by Wen Ting's single sword strike.

"Presumptuous!"

Having been struck by the sword twice, Sheng Xin had already analyzed Wen Ting's combat style. From nothingness to existence, like yin turning to yang, it clearly echoed Ba Zun'an's Way of the Two Extremes, then using the 'Yi' sword method, briefly erupting with power exceeding that of a single being. Though this sword was exquisitely subtle, it was not invincible.

"In its 'nothingness' state, neither I nor the Ancestor God's Calamity of Annihilation could harm him in the slightest."

"But if he wishes to harm others, he must transition from the 'nothingness' state to 'existence'. In such a scenario, he enters an extremely vulnerable period."

"A single strike could be fatal to him!"

Sheng Xin could entirely avoid the frost giant sword's slashes; he only needed to retreat. But he couldn't retreat, because even if Wen Ting used a Third Realm sword, he still had to free up one hand to deal with it. His other hand, however, dared not remove the Heaven-Earth Sealing and the blockade on the Time-Space Passage. With this passage locked, he only needed to deal with a concubine-like actor. If this passage opened, what emerged from within would be a monster no less formidable than Ba Zun'an. Sheng Xin knew well in his heart who was stronger and who was weaker!

"You intended to harm me; today's tribulation, you will not be able to overcome."

Glancing up, Sheng Xin seized upon another of Wen Ting's weaknesses. The Ancestor God's Calamity of Annihilation! While the Third Realm sword had extreme destructive power, if Wen Ting wished to continue fighting, he had to achieve Ancestorhood. If he failed to achieve Ancestorhood, how many more times could his frosty giant sword, his 'Frost Blown Mountain,' cleave?

"Extinguishing Dao Profound Ruler, go!"

With a pointed finger, the Extinguishing Dao Profound Ruler, which had reached the Eastern Domain, returned and surprisingly struck the Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation. The Extinguishing Dao Profound Ruler itself possessed the characteristic of extinguishing all dao methods. Under the Ancestor God of 'Returning to Zero''s blessing, one direct hit would turn even the Ancestor God's Calamity of Annihilation into ashes. And if the lightning tribulation was severed, Wen Ting wouldn't receive its baptism, unable even to complete his divine transformation. How then could he become a god or an ancestor?

With a whoosh, a sound of rushing wind arose. Just as the Extinguishing Dao Profound Ruler returned, it was about to smash into the Nine Heavens Ancestor God's Calamity of Annihilation. Wen Ting spun, appearing beneath the lightning tribulation. The Five Domains' scrying visions immediately focused, revealing the actor tilting his head, posing delicately, an "orchid hand" partially covering his vermilion lips, his graceful brows slightly furrowed, appearing truly pitiable:

"Ah, ah, Lord of the Clouds,""Ah, ah, resident of the Palace,""Ah, ah, the immortal's immortal brew, awaits your opening of the Heavenly Gate."

As the melodious operatic chant rose and fell, ten thousand rays of shimmering light burst forth behind Wen Ting, converging into a mysterious gate imbued with profound dao essence. Mists swirled, and the gate slowly opened. Inside, light and splendor overflowed, vaguely outlining faint, ethereal figures of ancient swordsmen, each either holding their sword askew, or glaring, or frowning in anger... Within the mysterious gate, sword intent surged like waves.

Wen Ting lightly stepped on air, his dual sleeves danced again, and the sky-wide frost reconverged before him into a frosty giant sword, directly blasting the Extinguishing Dao Profound Ruler.

Boom—

The Extinguishing Dao Profound Ruler, which was always considered unparalleled, was forcefully repelled by the frosty giant sword and sent plummeting into the Eastern Sea. This single sword strike, with its absolute power and piercing force, reached the pinnacle of excellence. Sheng Xin, however, narrowed his eyes and joined his fingers, clearly grasping the critical point of Wen Ting's nothingness-to-existence transformation. At the same time, he pointed a finger, unleashing the very move that had instantly killed Mei Sirens:

"Golden Profound Finger!"

"Master, in danger!"

Among the spectators below, Gu Qingsan of Sword Burial Mound, who also practiced the No-Sword Technique, naturally saw at a glance that his Master's nothingness-to-existence transformation had been seen through by Sheng Xin, and his heart immediately tightened. However, contrary to expectations, Master, who should have simply shattered into wind and vanished to temporarily avoid the brunt of Sheng Xin's finger, did not retreat a single step. Instead, after his sword pinned down the Extinguishing Dao Profound Ruler, he surprisingly turned his gaze towards the Demon Ancestor, his face grim, seemingly ready for a direct confrontation:

"Ah, ah, the Heavenly Gate opens,""Ah, ah, profound mystery comes forth,""Ah, ah, the sword within this humble one's heart, parts the clouds and breaks the mist."

His water sleeves rolled up and coiled around his wrists. Wen Ting joined both hands into a sword-finger gesture, and as the Golden Profound Finger shot towards him, he pressed his palms together and pointed remotely towards Sheng Xin's main body beside the Time-Space Passage. This was not a head-on clash, nor an attempt to defend by attacking. Instead, he allowed the Golden Profound Finger to pierce his throat, intending to seize the momentary recoil after Sheng Xin's finger unleashed its power, and direct his attack towards Sheng Xin's left arm, which was maintaining the Heaven-Earth Sealing.

"Frost Blown Mountain, shatter!"

A beam of golden light pierced the nine heavens. Wen Ting took the finger strike head-on, a bloody hole ripped open in his neck, and half his jaw was shattered along with it. In that instant, even the Nine Heavens Ancestor God's Calamity of Annihilation trembled, evidently sensing that the tribulation-taker's body, spirit, and will were beginning to dissipate, rendering further lightning tribulation unnecessary.

Yet, a ghostly blue slash struck Sheng Xin. The sword unleashed by Wen Ting's sword-finger transformed into a slender, long frosty sword. As his own body shattered, it streaked across the sky and directly severed Sheng Xin's arm.

Splat!

Blood splattered. The Five Domains all stared in wide-eyed astonishment. Even Sheng Xin could scarcely believe that this actor was so decisive, willing to stake his life just to sever his arm. He hastily turned over, invoking his Ancestor God power to instantly transform the severed arm into an avatar, barely managing to maintain the Heaven-Earth Sealing. Above the nine heavens, Wen Ting, witnessing this, seemed to experience a final surge of life in desperation, sword light erupting from his eyes. Beneath his feet, a brilliant sword dao profound array diagram unfolded. The patterns on the diagram transformed gracefully, vaguely coalescing into trickling streams, finally forming a surging river of sword energy, upon which figures of ancient swordsmen appeared, arrayed one after another.

There were Sword Ancestor and Feng Wuchen from the ancient era; Hua Weiyang, Cheng Xue, Xiao Hei; Suoyi Ke, Taiyi Shangren, Ling Zang; Rao Yaoyao, Guyu... And finally, the figure of Ba Zun'an almost solidified!

"The Dao also comes in dreams; the verdant abode is invited from the heart.""When awakened, flowers are not yet fading; after the sword, the shadow of a solitary tower!"

As these sword verses were uttered, the people of the Five Domains felt their scalps tingle, and even Sheng Xin's mind trembled with terror.

Too familiar!Ba Zun'an's sword!Illusion Sword Technique, Third Realm: Grand Dream of a Thousand Autumns!

If he were truly dragged into the dream, Wen Ting could sever a mere Ancestor God avatar with a casual sword strike, and the Time-Space Passage would be utterly indefensible. Not to mention the figure of Ba Zun'an that had condensed above the river of sword energy. What if Ba Zun'an himself was also invited over, even if only a wisp of his will...

"Stop him!"

The Demon Ancestor gathered myriad spiritual intents, offered a drop of Ancestor Blood, and a vertical pupil-shaped pattern opened on his brow, from which dark soul light shot forth from afar:

"Soul-Fixing Eye!"

Crack—

With this strike, Wen Ting, utterly without means to retreat, was directly hit. That 'Grand Dream of a Thousand Autumns' sword, 90% complete, failed at the last hurdle, collapsing on the spot and transforming into myriad silver-white sword light.

"Primeval Mother Coffin, seal!"

Sheng Xin was truly somewhat afraid, daring not to give this fellow any more chances. Who knew if he would sacrifice something else to unleash another sword strike. The Primeval Mother Coffin moved directly from back to front, sealing Wen Ting, who was utterly without resistance, within the coffin. With the coffin lid sealed, the dust settled. The Nine Heavens Ancestor God's Calamity of Annihilation arrived with enthusiasm but departed in defeat. The lingering operatic chant that had echoed across the Five Domains ceased here, its grand design unfinished, stillborn.

"The Third Realm, could it only sever one of his arms...?"

Outside the Southern Departure Realm, Gou Wuyue, his eyelids drooping, tightened his grip on the Voice of Nulan, and sighed silently. He would not intervene. Because he saw not a shred of hope for success. Aside from the Time-Space Passage that needed guarding, this hadn't even forced out one ten-thousandth of Sheng Xin's strength. To go up would be to court death, without a single exception!

A sigh.

Beside the Time-Space Passage, Sheng Xin let out a long breath, shaken but unharmed. Even though the Ancestor God of 'Returning to Zero' had to maintain the Time-Space Passage, he had been struck head-on and lost an arm. He had once again witnessed the limitless potential of the ancient swordsmen.

However...

"This is as far as it goes."

All the final crescendos of the Five Domains had finally concluded. Turning his head, Sheng Xin was just about to reclaim his Ancestor God avatar to continue maintaining the Heaven-Earth Sealing and await the complete formation of the Tree of Memories. It was then that another furious roar exploded from below, resolute and clanging, as if driven mad by the ancient swordsman's fight-to-the-death spirit:

"Are kings, nobles, generals, and ministers born to be so?!"