"The Chi Long devours Dragon Qi. If you can lure Xu Yunfan to the arena, Penglai Pavilion is willing to provide the Nine Nether Cold Iron Chain to bind his feet."
The words were spoken by a figure that gradually emerged from the shadows. This emissary from Penglai Pavilion was shrouded in a cold, damp sea mist. Its skin was not human, but covered in fine, blue-black scales.
Though its facial structure was humanoid, gill-like slits extended from behind its ears down to its neck. As it breathed, they opened and closed, faintly revealing a crimson mucous membrane within.
Its ten knuckles were abnormally large, and its fingertips extended into sharp, translucent bone claws.
Most unsettling were its vertical pupils. A black line split the center of its golden irises, and when the pupils contracted, they reflected a distorted play of light and shadow, just like a snake’s.
The green-robed Daoist from the Profound Daoist Sect stared intently at the Penglai Pavilion emissary, his gaze like a torch, and let out a cold snort.
"A Demon Fiend. Aren’t you afraid you’ll just drop dead on the spot one day?"
The Penglai Pavilion emissary’s vertical pupils shifted slightly to look at the Daoist from the Profound Daoist Sect. The corners of its mouth curled back, revealing two rows of sharp teeth.
"Fairy Yun Lan was the Pavilion Master of our Penglai Pavilion. With her dead, Penglai Pavilion will not let this matter rest."
A pressure like a furious tide from the deep sea suddenly erupted from the Penglai Pavilion emissary. Wisps of sharp Gang Qi seeped from the seams of its blue-black scales.
Seeing this, the Empress laughed. "I just want him torn limb from limb!"
Night had fallen. Xu Yunfan stood inside a nameless pavilion in Jade Capital City, his cold gaze sweeping over a young girl in brocade robes whom he had knocked unconscious.
The pavilion’s carved beams and painted rafters indicated its owner was either rich or noble. Perhaps it was the private residence of a Vice Minister of the Six Departments, or maybe the courtyard home of some Prince.
Outside the window, the faint sound of the night watchman’s clapper mingled with the clang of the Imperial City Department’s patrolling Iron Armor, yet no one noticed the disturbance in the pavilion of this great, red-gated estate.
Xu Yunfan stood atop the pavilion, looking at the fires still burning in the distance.
Under the moonlight, the shattered walls and ruins of three of Jade Capital City’s marketplaces etched deep silhouettes against the night.
The Black Tortoise Martial Arts Arena in the central square was long gone. In its place was a crater hundreds of feet wide, its cracked edges spreading like a spiderweb into the surrounding streets and alleys.
This was the result of the aftershocks from Xu Yunfan’s fierce battle with the three Supreme Grandmasters.
From amid the ruins, a few suppressed sobs could occasionally be heard.
An old woman rummaged through a pile of rubble for her belongings, only to find half of a Peach Wood Comb, severed by Sword Qi.
A child huddled beneath a remaining pillar, tightly clutching a dust-covered cloth tiger.
The air was thick with the scorching smell of sulfur, left behind by the Great Sun True Flame that Venerable Lieyang, Chu Sheng of the Jiuyao Sect, had detonated before his fall.
And the eerie blue Ice Crystals frozen on the ground were a testament to the bone-chilling final strike of Penglai Pavilion’s Fairy Yun Lan.
Xu Yunfan slowly closed his eyes and let out a breath of Dirt Qi.
He had deliberately contained the aftershocks of his Ten Extremes True Qi at the Black Tortoise Martial Arts Arena, even using his True Qi as a barrier to shield the surroundings, but he still couldn’t completely prevent the destruction.
’I can only wait until this is all over. Once the Taoist Sect is in control, I can make amends.’
"Troubled?"
A voice as hoarse as scraping rusted iron sounded from behind him.
There was no need to turn around. Xu Yunfan’s senses had already mapped out the newcomer’s silhouette.
Beneath a mess of gray-white hair, a pair of hawk-like eyes, sharp as an unsheathed sword, belonged to none other than Dugu Jiu, the one who had hidden himself at the bottom of the Sword Burial Abyss.
At this moment, Xu Yunfan no longer feared Celestial Sword Dugu Jiu. If the timing were better, he would have even wanted to fight him to see where his own limits lay.
"Elder Dugu, have you experienced something like this before?"
Xu Yunfan turned, leaning on his Shaking Mountain Sea-Suppressing Hammer with both hands.
He was no longer the man he had been at the Sword Burial Abyss, suppressed by Sword Intent. Now that his Ten Extremes Martial Arts had reached Great Success, he even faintly looked forward to a battle with this Sword Dao legend.
A sneer rumbled in Dugu Jiu’s throat as his withered fingers traced an old scar on his hand.
It was from three hundred years ago, when he slaughtered the Northern Desert Horse Thieves.
At that time, the entire oasis had been churned into a bloody swamp by his Sword Qi. Not even infants in their swaddling clothes were spared.
By the time his sanity returned, it was already irreversible.
"A Swordsman should be like the moon reflected in a Cold Pool: perfectly clear, yet allowing no speck of dust to settle."
His voice was raspy. "This old man once sat in meditation in the Sword Abyss for thirteen years because of this, and finally understood one thing..."
The night wind suddenly stilled, and a faint breeze stirred within the pavilion, rustling the white gauze curtains.
He saw an inch-long glint of green light burst from the old man’s eyes, which made him raise a brow.
’His Sword Qi has been refined to the absolute limit.’
"If even your Sword Heart hesitates to move forward, how can you speak of severing the threads of karma?"
Dugu Jiu suddenly turned his head to look toward the Imperial City. There were still wet bloodstains in his gray hair. "As for why I came to Jade Capital..."
He grinned, revealing stark white teeth. "Someone used a fragment of the *Wansheng Sword Transformation* as bait to borrow this old man’s sword... to slay a flood dragon on the verge of transforming into a true dragon."
An intense light flared in Xu Yunfan’s eyes. The fingers he was rubbing against his Shaking Mountain Sea-Suppressing Hammer suddenly stilled.
"I wonder, which flood dragon on the verge of transforming is Elder Dugu planning to slay?"
The corners of Dugu Jiu’s mouth lifted slightly. His withered fingers gently caressed the Longsword at his waist. As his fingertip traced its length, the Divine Weapon let out a low hum.
"How could my Sword Dao be swayed by a mere fragment of a Sword Technique?"
His voice was as hoarse as stone grinding against iron, and a hint of reminiscence flickered in the hawk-like eyes beneath his messy, gray-white hair.
There are many legends in the world about fragmented True Techniques left behind unintentionally by Extreme Daoists of the Land Immortal Realm. He had chased them for nearly a hundred years, but aside from obtaining mere scraps, he had found no other trace.
Searching for Immortals, seeking the Dao.
But if there are no Immortals in the world, how can one seek the Dao?
’Xu Yunfan understood. It seemed Dugu Jiu was unwilling to fight him, or perhaps he wasn’t confident he could win.’
’With Dugu Jiu’s lifespan nearing its end, he would seize any opportunity without hesitation. That so-called *Wansheng Sword Transformation* was most likely a true Cultivation Method, just like the *Heart Sutra of Nirvana Dust*.’
"Then, Elder Dugu, why have you come?"
Dugu Jiu walked to the edge of the pavilion, rested a hand on the railing, and gazed up at the starry sky. After a long moment, he sighed softly.
"The Taoist Sect used the Luotian Grand Sacrifice to forcefully draw upon the Dragon Vein... They used Profound Yellow Qi Empowerment to raise you to the Peak of the Ninth Realm, but in doing so, they also severed the Heaven and Earth Qi Mechanism. Now, this world may become as it was thousands of years ago. The Celestial Demons are coming."
Xu Yunfan’s brow furrowed. Since he had joined the Taoist Sect, it wasn’t just Bi Yuan who had said this. He had also met some of the Taoist Sect’s Supreme Elders, and whenever the topic was raised, they seemed to be at a complete loss.
He couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, "Elder, what is the origin of these Celestial Demons? Are there any records of them in the ancient texts?"
Dugu Jiu stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the distance. "The ancient texts record very little. We only know that the ’Red-eyed Demon Lord’ who ravaged the mortal world two thousand years ago was from the lineage of Celestial Demons. Back then, Ancestral Master Chunyang used a Supreme Divine Technique to obliterate him."
"My master said that the key to attaining Longevity lies with the Celestial Demons. I don’t understand—what is the connection between the Celestial Demons and the path to becoming an Immortal?" Xu Yunfan pressed.
Dugu Jiu seemed a little surprised, as if he hadn’t expected Bi Yuan to have told Xu Yunfan the most fundamental reason.
"Of course there’s a connection. The Celestial Demons carry opportunities for us as well. They feed on us, and we, in turn, use them as a resource."