At the summit of a certain mountain on the Main Peak, Ye Xianyu stood alone, dressed in a white robe.
Her long hair drifted in the wind, and her cool eyes gazed indifferently out beyond the misty clouds of the mountains.
Heaven, earth, man...
It was like a landscape painting in ink!
Behind her, two figures landed one after another.
When they exchanged a glance, it was as if everything had already been said.
“Sect Master!”
“Sect Master!”
The two bowed with their hands clasped.
Ye Xianyu’s voice was calm as she asked a question she already knew the answer to. “Elders, what brings you here?”
The two hesitated before speaking, lowering their heads to look at each other, their eyes full of evasion.
It was as if neither was willing to be the first to speak, to utter the truth that even they themselves found impossible to accept.
Ye Xianyu watched the world beyond. Above One Sword Gorge, the clouds that shrouded the area year-round were rolling and churning, as if a giant mouth from the abyss was slowly devouring them.
Ordinary disciples had not noticed yet, but she knew very well that the sect-protecting formation was dissipating.
She spoke, breaking the silence.
“Toll them.”
Only two words, yet they carried a weight of helplessness and sorrow.
Toll them...
But once the bells rang, the whole world would know. The eight swords of the Wendao Sword Sect had returned to the mound, and the Five Patriarchs had all fallen.
Ye Xianyu said to herself, “Keeping the mourning a secret might fool the mortals, but it won’t fool the saints.”
The two understood.
To say nothing of the divine abilities of saints that could peer into the heavens and earth, once the Five Patriarchs fell, those old monsters who were already secretly coveting the Wendao Sword Sect would never fail to notice.
Since it would be known either way, it was better for the Wendao Sword Sect to take the initiative and announce it to the world.
This would prevent the other worlds from thinking that the Wendao Sword Sect lacked the confidence to stand.
The Immortal Pavilion Elder pondered for a moment and asked, “How shall we toll them? We await the Sect Master’s instructions.”
Should it be twelve tolls?
Or...
Ye Xianyu thought for a while and said slowly, “Add them up and toll them all. Keep the intervals; it is the rule Master set, and we should see it through to the end...”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
The two turned to leave. On the verge of parting, they looked at each other, wanting to say something but not knowing where to begin.
In the end, they only forced a strained smile at each other.
And went their separate ways.
Ye Xianyu remained on the mountain. She closed her eyes in the wind, waiting for the bells.
“Dong!”
“Dong!”
“Dong!”
The bell of Tianjian Peak rang.
The bell of Zhujian Peak also rang.
The ancient bells of the two peaks resonated alternately. Every disciple in the sect looked up, silently counting...
One,
Two,
Ten,
Twenty...
Thirty...
The tolls were piercing to the ear. Eventually, even they themselves could not remember exactly how many times the bells had rung.
However,
they understood clearly,
that the bells today were all death knells.
The thing they least wanted to see had happened after all.
When the tolling finally ceased,
an elder on the Main Peak cried out in loud grief.
“The Five Patriarchs have fallen! The eight swords have returned to the mound!”
The disciples of the Wendao Sword Sect lowered their heads in a silent, heavy stillness.
Though there was sword qi that could make the green mountains bloom with spring, the cold wind of autumn felt so desolate.
An older disciple whispered, “This day has finally come.”
A young disciple spoke in a daze, “How could this be...”
On that day,
the entire Wendao Sword Sect was steeped in sorrow.
However,
after a brief period of grief, the entire sect began to move.
Disciples hurried back and forth, busy with their own tasks. Though no orders had been given, every one of them was preparing for war.
The disciples of the Elixir Hall were refining large quantities of Vitality Pills, blood-stanching pills, Qi-Recovery Pills...
The disciples of the Forging Hall stopped their forging and descended the mountain en masse, swarming into the Mission Hall to take on evacuation missions.
Under the organization of the elders, the disciples of the Formation Hall set up slaughter formations one after another before the mountain gate.
The Merchant Hall provided an unlimited supply of materials...
Everyone was busy!
It continued even as the sky turned yellow and the autumn moon hung high.
...
That night,
in Fanzhou, five stars fell into the Great Void, unseen by the common people.
In the Central Plains, the Demon Abyss, the East Desolation, and the North Sea, countless powerful beings emerged from their caves or stepped out of their pavilions...
To gaze at the High Heavens together.
Upon seeing this sight,
their expressions turned solemn.
They closed their eyes to calculate.
Their expressions turned to shock.
Someone sighed softly, the sound long and lingering.
Someone’s eyes grew red in the chilly evening wind.
Someone laughed toward the sky, the sound manic...
...
In the North Sea.
The Tushan Immortal Fox wept. “You bastard, you really didn't lie to me. That parting really was forever...”
The True Dragon let out a long cry. “Li Taibai, oh Li Taibai. You came from the heavens, yet you died before me.”
A qingluan stood by the sea cliff. “Fanzhou is about to fall into chaos...”
...
In the East Desolation.
Above the Divine Moon Pool, several Beast Gods shot down like meteors, landing before Bai Ze. Their expressions were excited, their eyes shining brightly.
Though no one spoke, the blood in their veins was already restless.
The Sword Ancestor is gone, and his four disciples are dead.
For the current East Desolation, this was a massive opportunity.
It was also
the only hope to rise and avoid following in the footsteps of the Demon Abyss.
Bai Ze felt the same, but the scene from the prophecy remained etched in his mind.
A youth wielding four swords, a sea of blood and a mountain of corpses in the East Desolation...
Should they move?
He wasn't sure if this opportunity would lead to that result,
or if seizing this opportunity could change that result.
But he knew that if they did nothing, the East Desolation might never be able to rise again in his lifetime.
That youth had entered the eighth stage, and on this trip to the Emperor's Tomb, he had even obtained the legacy.
Outside the Demon Abyss, even with a seventh-stage body, he could force back the powerhouses of the world.
The time he had left for this world was running out.
A battle of will played out in his mind before he finally said solemnly:
“Wait for the right moment!”
Several Beast Gods took their orders one after another and dispersed. Afterward, the roars of great beasts could be heard everywhere in the desolate lands.
Ten thousand years of endurance, eight years of humiliation.
The day of revenge was just around the corner.
...
Inside the Demon Abyss, the demon gods also received the news immediately, and all of them laughed heartily.
The Small Priest was especially excited, finding Jin Qing to report the good news.
“Sister, good news! Wonderful news! The five venerables of the Wendao Sword Sect have fallen, and the eight swords have returned to the mound. Our Demon Abyss will see the light of day again starting today...”
The High Priest remained silent, gazing at the distant sky.
She was conflicted.
Conflicted because all of this had come too quickly, catching her off guard.
She had waited four thousand years, always waiting for these five to fall and for the formation to collapse.
She had just reached an agreement with Xu Xian, and now it had truly happened.
What should she do?
Though she knew that a single agreement was worth nothing in the face of the world's shifting tides.
The opportunity the Demon Abyss had been waiting for had appeared.
If they attacked now, the Wendao Sword Sect would surely be overturned.
And when a whale falls, ten thousand things flourish; the Demon Abyss could also take this chance to break its deadlock.
However...
She didn't know if she should bet her hopes on Xu Xian.
The Small Priest noticed something was wrong and pressed, “Sister, you aren't going soft-hearted just because the Wendao Sword Sect stepped in to stop the saints from acting during the Emperor's Tomb affair, are you?”
Jin Qing glanced at her, and it was only a glance.
“You must not be foolish.”
“...”
In the Crimson Demon Palace.
Chi Ming looked toward the depths of the Nether Pool, in the direction of the Nether Hall, also wondering how Jin Qing would choose.
“High Priest.”
“Do you trust the world...”
“Or do you trust yourself...”
Chi Ji understood. She asked her father in a low voice, “What about you? If it were you, Father, how would you choose?”
Chi Ming answered with a question: “What about you?”
Chi Ji’s eyes were firm as she said, “Father said that I should follow the Demon Son’s lead.”
“You trust him that much?” Chi Ming asked curiously.
Chi Ji said meaningfully, “In the Emperor's Tomb, at the beginning, no one believed that he could be sweeping the world alone.”
But
he did it.
Chi Ming smiled with relief, reaching out to pat Chi Ji’s head. He withdrew his gaze and said wistfully, “I hope our High Priest thinks the same way...”
He had also given her a definitive answer.
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