Outside Snake Valley.
In the dark ridges of the night, cold armor shimmered and weapons clattered. From time to time, the warhorses pawed at the ground, letting out low neighs.
"Hiss!"
On a certain mountain peak, a white-bearded veteran general sat firmly in a general’s chair, resting with his eyes closed. He seemed completely indifferent to the commotion in the distance.
Standing beside him were four or five warriors in heavy armor, some with sabers at their waists, some holding spears, and others carrying swords on their backs. Each was imposing and stood as still as a bell.
Suddenly, a silver-armored young officer ran up the mountain like the wind, dropping to one knee.
"Reporting to the Grand Marshal! In Snake Valley, the people of the Blood Demon Cave have begun to fight."
The old general remained motionless, slowly uttering two words.
"Continue scouting!"
"Understood!"
After the young officer left, the old general raised his hand and beckoned to his side. The warrior with the saber understood immediately.
"Grand Marshal."
"What about the men who entered?"
"According to your orders, two thousand men are at the very front of the army formation."
The old general slowly opened his eyes, staring into the vast darkness toward the cold light flashing occasionally in the distant Snake Valley. He said gloomily, "Tell those below to stay sharp. Not a single mosquito is to be let in, and not a single fly is allowed to fly out."
"Understood."
The old general waved his hand and murmured, "All of you may leave. I want to be alone for a moment."
The four or five heavily armored guards vanished into the darkness.
The old general was left alone on the mountain peak.
Min Zhan clasped his hands into fists and propped up his chin. His blade-like eyebrows lowered as his deep gaze stared into the distance from narrowed eyes, radiating a chilling intent.
He suddenly sneered. "Resurrection? Hah... only a useless fool like you would believe in such a thing. Even if it truly existed, how could it be achieved by two scraps from the Blood Demon Cave? Ridiculous!"
Min Zhan.
The Grand Marshal of Yecheng.
He had served three generations of Yecheng Sovereigns and was one of the participants in all of this.
However, from start to finish, he was merely an executor, ordered to assist the two individuals.
He had always been extremely disdainful of the idea of using the essence blood of baby girls to awaken a beast core and revive the ancient calamity Xiushe to throw the Northern Borders into chaos.
He had even sent secret reports to his Master more than once, advising caution.
Unfortunately, his Master was young, ambitious, and ignorant of the world's depths. Thus, he chose to believe the two individuals, foolishly attempting to expand his territory and reign supreme through this method. How laughable.
The Wendao Sword Sect.
They had occupied Fanzhou for ten thousand years. Even if the Sword Ancestor had vanished, how could people like them hope to shake the sect? Let alone whether Xiushe could even be revived—even if it were, what of it?
Within the Wendao Sword Sect, there were five whole ancestors at the tribulation transcendence stage.
They could arrive in an instant.
Xiushe would fall all the same.
In the end, they had fallen into the trap of Cangwu.
He knew that in this conspiracy, whether successful or not, Yecheng would be a discarded pawn. Naturally, he would not sit around waiting for death.
Now that the Wendao Sword Sect had dispatched a nascent soul cultivator to investigate, the exposure of the matter was inevitable.
Since his Master was foolish and refused to listen to his words...
All he could do was minimize the losses.
Within three days...
Whether Xiushe lived or not, he would ensure that not a single blade of grass remained within a hundred miles of Snake Valley.
The people of the Wendao Sword Sect must die.
And those scraps from the Blood Demon Cave shouldn't think of living either.
Since ancient times, history has been written by the victors. The words of the survivors are the truth.
He would wipe himself clean.
He would also wipe his Master clean.
This was the plan he had devised from the very beginning.
Thirty thousand Black Iron Cavalry had already surrounded this place. Those inside were destined to have no escape.
——————
Inside Snake Valley.
Xu Xian was attacked from both sides. With nowhere to hide, he dove headlong into the cold pool.
"Trying to run?"
"Force him out!"
The demonic cultivators surrounded the entire cold pool, locking their killing moves onto the deep waters and unleashing them recklessly.
Soon, the shore was flooded by the lake water, and the fish and shrimp in the lake suffered collateral damage.
Taking advantage of the moment Xu Xian drew everyone's attention, Song Qingshu and the five members of the Supervision Hall controlled their flying swords, carrying the infants out of the fray. They headed straight for the exit of Snake Valley, and the immortal sword Wait was among them.
"Not good, there are others!"
"Stop them! Don't let them escape!"
The enemy split off a portion of their forces to intercept.
"Elder, they've snatched the babies!"
"Quick, get the children back!"
Faced with the pursuit, the group couldn't spare a hand to block them. Fortunately, the opponents were also afraid of harming the infants and did not use lethal strikes, aiming only to stop them.
Ten miles away from the cold pool, Song Qingshu gazed down and unleashed a sword strike, cutting down a large patch of giant bamboo with a crash.
In the dense bamboo forest, an open space the size of a playground appeared in the blink of an eye.
"Put the children down."
"Understood!"
The group controlled their flying swords to lower the wailing infants onto the clearing. Wait seemed to have gained sentience, landing and then returning to its original size.
Once the infants were on the ground, the sword didn't hesitate for a second. It turned around and vanished into the sky, heading straight back to the deep pool.
An immortal sword has a spirit; it went to protect its master.
Song Qingshu and the others also landed. After placing the infants they were carrying onto the ground, Song Qingshu summoned his Qingshuang sword with one hand. Gripping it tightly, he thrust it violently into the ground.
"Formation... activate!"
Sword qi rippled outward.
In an instant, a sword formation condensed, protecting the three thousand infants and forcibly blocking the pursuing demonic cultivators outside.
Song Qingshu’s arm wound burst open because he had overtaxed his cultivation to activate the formation. He spat out a mouthful of warm blood that splashed onto the ground, his face turning as white as snow.
"Martial Uncle Song, are you alright?"
Song Qingshu gripped the sword hilt tightly and gritted his teeth. "Leave this place to me. Go quickly and support the Little Grand-Uncle!"
"Understood!"
Feng Shisan summoned his life-bound spirit sword and held it in his hand.
"Let's go."
The other four followed closely behind, resolutely charging out to engage the demonic cultivators who were catching up.
"Charge through!"
"Kill these bastards!"
Though the five of them had only just begun to recover from heavy injuries and their auras were unstable, their eyes were red with fury as they crashed through the battlefield.
Several foundation establishment cultivators couldn't dodge in time and were cut down one after another.
"Attack together!"
"Stop them!"
Several core formation experts among the pursuers took the initiative to meet them, using all their techniques to entangle them.
One of them issued a command: "We'll hold them off. The rest of you, go and snatch back the baby girls!"
"As you command!"
The demonic cultivators acted in an orderly fashion. One group continued to besiege Xu Xian at the cold pool. Among those who had chased them out, the core formation cultivators held back the five men, while the foundation establishment ones charged toward Song Qingshu's sword formation.
"Break the sword barrier first!"
"He’s heavily injured and won't last long. Everyone, attack together with full power!"
Song Qingshu gritted his teeth, not hesitating to burn his essence to power the sword formation. He shouted in a low voice, "You think you can break my formation? You’re dreaming!"
For a time, the bamboo forest under the moon fell into chaos.
Sword shadows and blade lights flashed.
Thunder rumbled and lightning snaked across the ground.
The battle within the grotto-heaven grew increasingly fierce, causing the entire mountain to shake. At the cold pool, Wait returned to protect its master. Xu Xian, who had been choosing to avoid the brunt of the attacks, gripped Wait once more, his eyes gleaming with a fierce light.
"Now, it's your turn to avoid my edge."
He erupted from beneath the water, his sword directly shattering a demonic cultivator's defense and cleaving him cleanly into two pieces.
Blood splashed under the moonlight.
Xu Xian ascended into the air to continue the fight.
"Die."
"All of you, die!"
Among the demonic cultivators, there were those with broad experience. One immediately noticed that Xu Xian’s sword was an immortal weapon and shouted loudly.
"Careful! The sword in his hand is an immortal sword!"
Suddenly, the entire area was shocked.
An immortal sword.
How many such blades existed in the world?
The strength of an immortal sword lay in its ability to easily pierce through another person's true qi defense.
Even in the hands of a mortal, it could sever the head of a foundation establishment cultivator.
They finally understood why this person was only at the foundation establishment stage yet could kill so many of their brothers in succession.
However, the crowd did not retreat because of this. Instead, they became exceptionally excited.
"Holding an immortal sword... this kid must be the Child of Fortune of the Wendao Sword Sect. Brothers, here is our chance to make a name for ourselves. Get him!"
"Leave him alive!"
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