Immortal of the Ages

Yun Xiao turned around, his eyes blazing with fury. His anger was monumental. With his Heaven Burial Sword Soul held high, he roared at the Sword Cultivators from the Forbidden Tower, "How dare you slaughter hundreds of my Sword Heaven brethren?!"

The Sword Heaven assembly gasped. The sight of hundreds of their own dead was heart-wrenching.

"What does it matter if we killed a few nobodies?" A Sword Cultivator from the Forbidden Tower retorted, his own anger rivaling Yun Xiao's. Instead of retreating, he charged, "Tonight, unless you all are trampled underfoot, you won't recognize who truly rules the Sea of Swords!"

Those words boomed like thunder, shaking every Sword Heaven disciple to their core.

Yun Xiao stepped forward, pointing defiantly at the Forbidden Tower, rallying his fellows, "We Sword Cultivators are born free. Can we forever bow to others, endure their trampling, suffer their insults? Today, we flatten the Forbidden Tower, and for our valiant fallen, we dare to challenge the heavens! Attack!"

Just as he finished, the furious Forbidden Tower Sword Cultivator lunged like a wild tiger into the ranks of Sword Heaven, striking down all in his path.

The entire assembly of Sword Heaven erupted.

"Stop, halt the fight!" One of the Ancestors of Sword Heaven, Murong Li, screamed, his face contorted in anguish. But amid the chaos, his pleas went unheeded.

"Yun Xiao!" Murong Li stormed up to him, eyes ablaze, "Did you incite this conflict on purpose? What's your agenda?"

"What conflict? I'm just giving our Sword Lord a leg up, pushing Sword Heaven to be number one in the Sea of Swords!" Yun Xiao retorted with a spark in his eye.

Murong Li's eyes bulged as they fixed on Yun Xiao's sword, spotting the two Sword Rings. "Those are Lin Chen's Sword Rings! How did they end up on your sword?" he thundered.

"No need for theatrics! Obviously, they were bestowed upon me by the Sword Lord!" With the entire crowd as witness, Yun Xiao brandished the Heaven Burial Sword Soul, which held both the Thousands Waters Lure Sword Ring and the Ghostly Inferno Sword Ring. With fiery determination, he proclaimed, "I owe a debt to Lin Chen! The Sword Lord wants me to fulfill Lin Chen's legacy with these Sword Rings and topple the Forbidden Tower!"

"The Sword Lord gave him the five-thousand-year-old Sword Rings!"

"I told you guys, Yun Xiao is the Sword Lord's very own son!"

"He must've been conceived with Ning Yan!"

Everyone knew Lin Chen was sired by Xiao Yu, who hailed from the Forbidden Tower, making him a power to be reckoned with in Sword Heaven. Given that Yun Xiao had also wiped out potential allies like Holy Son Chu and Xiao Xing'er, the crowd was struck with realization—the Sword Lord was playing the long game.

"What is the Sword Lord diverting the Tower Lord's attention for?"

Seeing the Forbidden Tower Sword Cultivators wreak havoc, killing indiscriminately and targeting Yun Xiao, the tens of thousands from Sword Heaven, their vision clouded with rage, couldn't take it any longer, especially after spotting those two Sword Rings on Yun Xiao's sword.

"Attack!"

"Show them the might of Sword Heaven!"

"We're in the tens of thousands; what's there to fear?"

"Fight! Fight today! Kill their thousands! Slay the Tower Lord! Then storm the Forbidden Tower and drag out Ye Guying to face our collective wrath!"

"From the heavens above to the earth below, only Sword Heaven stands supreme!"

Yun Xiao surveyed the scene, and the killing had truly begun. He laughed. "Damn, this warms my heart!"

However, from the Forbidden Tower's thousand, at least three hundred Sword Cultivators had their eyes locked on him, directing their Flying Swords in a ferocious assault on his position.

WHOOSH WHOOSH! Hundreds of Flying Swords rained down like a violent storm, leaving a trail of blood and bodies in their wake.

"Kill Yun Xiao! Destroy Sword Heaven!"

The hate-filled voices of the Forbidden Tower Sword Cultivators resonated like an ear-piercing sword song.

"Heh." Yun Xiao retreated deep into the crowd of Sword Heaven supporters.

There, in the midst of the crowd, he spotted a young girl in a goose-yellow skirt. It was Lin Lin! She looked dumbstruck, watching in disbelief as two factions that once treated each other like brothers were now engaged in a bloody battle.

"Lin Lin, my love! get out of here!" Yun Xiao suddenly bellowed, charging towards her.

"My love? What!?" Lin Lin thought she had misheard. Why would he call out to her like that, especially in front of such a vast crowd?

The young man in white broke through the throng, getting closer and closer.

"Yun Xiao..." Suddenly, Lin Lin caught a glimpse of his cold, icy stare. Fear prickled at her scalp, and she quickly tried to retreat. But it was too late.

Yun Xiao, trailed by hundreds of Flying Swords, appeared right before her. "Run!" As his voice trailed off, a Forbidden Tower Flying Sword pierced through Lin Lin's body.

Blood splattered in the air!

THUD! Lin Lin was thrown back, landing heavily on the ground, her face pale, her chest covered in blood.

"Yun... Yun Xiao, why..." Her vision blurred, and she reached out with trembling hands, trying to grasp the young man before her.

"If I weren't strong enough, your family would've played me to death long ago. So you ask why?" Yun Xiao scoffed, leaned over, and with a sharp twist, snapped her neck.

"Y-you…" Lin Lin's eyes widened in shock, forever frozen in fear as the light disappeared from her eyes.

In the blink of an eye, Yun Xiao cradled her lifeless form, his eyes blazing with fury. He let out a heart-wrenching roar toward the Forbidden Tower's Sword Cultivators, "Dogs of the Forbidden Tower! You've slain the one I cherished. Our enmity is now boundless!"

A chill ran down the spines of countless Sword Heaven Sword Cultivators.

Their faces drained of color. They glanced to see the once vibrant young woman now limp in Yun Xiao's embrace, a flower wilted too soon.

"The daughter of the Sword Lord... slain by those from the Forbidden Tower!"

"They're too audacious! Too brazen! Absolutely domineering!"

Initially, some from Sword Heaven hesitated to draw their swords. But witnessing this, their suppressed anger surged, filling their minds with rage.

"Why are you all just standing there? Fight!"

"Do we just stand here and await our doom?"

With swords drawn and emotions flaring, who could remain impartial?

The death of the young woman galvanized every Sword Heaven Sword Cultivator into the fray, quickly outnumbering their foes ten to one.

They soon realized that the Forbidden Tower's numbers weren't as vast and in this chaotic melee, they weren't invincible.

Flying Swords were everywhere!

Even the mightiest could be taken unaware, a sword unexpectedly piercing them from behind.

"Tonight, we wipe the Forbidden Tower off the face of the Sea of Swords! Tomorrow, Sword Heaven shall reign supreme!" Leading the charge, Yun Xiao didn't hold back. He carved a path through the crowd of Forbidden Tower combatants, each strike exacting revenge for the fallen lady.

Amid the screams and clashes, the transformation from a boisterous gathering to a bloodbath took only moments. Yun Xiao's swift actions turned this conflict between two once-brotherly forces into a horrific scene of carnage.

"Time to leave!" Blue Star urged Yun Xiao.

Without another word, Yun Xiao knew. The Sword Lord and Tower Lord must've heard the outside commotion.

"Let's call it a day." Surveying the devastation around him, bodies littered the ground from both the Forbidden Tower and Sword Heaven. The losses in such a short time were staggering. Tens of thousands of spectators were left speechless.

Whizzing through the chaos, Yun Xiao deftly maneuvered into the throng. Suddenly, he spotted Ning Yan. She didn't engage in the battle but stared at Yun Xiao, her eyes tinged with an added touch of fear.

"I'd advise you to leave now, or your end will be grisly," Yun Xiao coldly dropped the warning.

"Oh!" Ning Yan's face paled, promptly reacting. She darted into the shadows, escaping the nightmare that unfolded.

Yun Xiao skillfully maneuvered his Sovereign Sword just above the ground, darting away from the battlefield with a swift grace. With a flourish of his white sleeves, he disappeared into the shadows. Behind him lay a gruesome scene—bodies scattered everywhere, the ground saturated with blood.

As the adage went, ten steps, one kill; traveling miles without leaving a trace. Once the deed was done, depart in silence, keeping both achievements and fame concealed.

"Halt!" No sooner had Yun Xiao left the battlefield than two furious voices erupted from within Sword Heaven. In the blink of an eye, both the Sword Lord and the Tower Lord stepped out. The devastation they witnessed before them nearly took their breath away.

"All Forbidden Tower Sword Cultivators, cease!" the Tower Lord roared, bringing a semblance of order to the chaos.

"And Sword Heaven, halt as well!" The Sword Lord scanned the devastation below. Corpses from both sides lay scattered. An icy chill gripped his heart. They had merely engaged in a brief private discussion atop the Jade Sun Tower. How had everything escalated so quickly?

At their commanding shouts, the blood-thirsty combatants gradually simmered down.

HUM! The Sword Lord, Tower Lord, and Madame Xiao swiftly moved to the center of the two factions. The sight of the dead almost tore their faces apart with anguish. Their hearts bled.

"What happened?" The Tower Lord's anger was palpable as he turned to his Forbidden Tower Sword Cultivators

A middle-aged man in blue stepped forward, his voice quivering with rage. "Tower Lord! That brat from Sword Heaven provoked us first. He desecrated the heads of Xiao Yuan and the other four Great Elders. And then he killed Xiao Qiang, inciting this conflict. We couldn't stand for it..."

The faces of the Tower Lord, Sword Lord, and Madame Xiao darkened like a stormy sky.

On Sword Heaven's side, Ancestor Ning stepped forward, his voice filled with grief. "Sword Lord! It's these Forbidden Tower folks. If they only targeted Yun Xiao, then so be it! But then took out their frustrations on others. They even..."

"They even did what?" The Sword Lord's heart raced, dreading the answer.

"Those Forbidden Tower bastards even assassinated Lin Lin with a Flying Sword!" Ancestor Ning said with a tremor in his voice.

"What?!" The revelation struck the Sword Lord and Madame Xiao like a sledgehammer. Their hearts filled with pain.

The Tower Lord's eyes narrowed, "Where's Yun Xiao?"

"He seems to have escaped amidst the chaos," a Great Elder from the Forbidden Tower named He Shujian replied.

Meanwhile, when the Sword Lord and Madame Xiao discovered Lin Lin's lifeless, fear-frozen body, they fell to their knees, their grief echoing in a heart-wrenching wail.

First they lost a son! Now, a daughter!

The crowd watched this tragic scene, a tingling sensation crawling up their scalps. They were unaware of the matter of the sword bone, so even now, they were oblivious that Yun Xiao was just toying with the Sword Lord.

"Sword Lord! This isn't our fault! It's the Forbidden Tower! While you were negotiating, they struck us down ruthlessly! They killed your daughter!" Ning Que took a deep breath, his gaze fiery as he addressed the tower's master, "We had the upper hand. Perhaps we should..."

"Silence!" Madame Xiao barked, her eyes a blazing red.

Beside her, Sword Lord Lin Qingfeng cast a cold glare at Ning Que, a murderous intent lurking in his eyes.

Caught off guard, Ning Que stammered, "Sword Lord, you gifted those two five-thousand-year-old Sword Rings to Yun Xiao. You've always protected him. Wasn't he fighting for you?"

The recent battle had proven that Sword Heaven had become even stronger.

"Exactly! This is our moment to strike down the Forbidden Tower! If Ye Guying emerges..." Ancestor Ning voiced anxiously.

While father and son were considering pledging their allegiance to the Sword Lord and Yun Xiao, the mere mention of the five-thousand-year-old Sword Rings shattered the already wounded hearts of the Sword Lord and Madame Xiao.

THUD! Both collapsed, blood spilling from their mouths.

"Huh?" Ancestor Ning and Ning Que were stunned. What on earth was happening?

The five-thousand-year-old Sword Rings had been stolen by Yun Xiao from Lin Chen's grave... What did that imply?

The one percent chance the Sword Lord had gambled on was now gone!

In that moment, the couple fully realized that ever since the murder of the three Sword Princelings in the Ancestral Sword Hall, they had been played by Yun Xiao all along.

This perfectly coincided with the time the Sword Lord gave Yun Xiao the Sword Heart Spring and the Heart Eroding Bone poison.

"Reporting to the Tower Lord, we of the Forbidden Tower have suffered 391 deaths, 181 severely wounded, and the rest have minor injuries..."

The Forbidden Tower's casualty report was in. More than half were casualties!

"Reporting to the Sword Lord, Sword Heaven has suffered 2,535 dead and 872 severely wounded..."

Upon hearing this, the Sword Lord spat another mouthful of blood.

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