Immortal of the Ages

"They're coming!" Shangguan Yu's brows knitted together in concern.

"Lil Ran, they carry corruption with them. We cannot let them near the Grand Hall, let alone the Hall of Heroes!" Grandpa Qin declared angrily. The Hall of Heroes, situated behind the Grand Hall, held the ancestral plaques of the Sword Pavilion's past generations.

"Aunt Yu, I leave the disciples of the Sword Pavilion in your care." Senior Sister Zhao's beautiful eyes were filled with the resolution of death. She looked back at the boy in white, her tone fierce, but her heart soft, "You must go with her!"

The boy pursed his lips and finally nodded with a small smile. He had agreed!

A sigh of relief eased Zhao Xuanran's tense heart. With this settled, she had no more concerns. Her black gown fluttered as she rose on her Sovereign Sword. Her heart held but a single resolve! Even in her feminine form, she would defend the Sword Pavilion to the death!

Hum! Hum! The last four elders of the Sword Pavilion, filled with rage, also ascended on their swords, hurtling toward the thousand Divine Sea Realm Sword Cultivators, like moths to flame!

"Sword Venerable, will Senior Sister Zhao, my grandfather, and the others... die?" Qin Tong’s tears fell like rain, her voice filled with desolation.

After a moment of silence, Shangguan Yu said, “Yes.” She did not want to deceive these young ones. They would die! They were destined to die!

Tonight, just like that day in the Cloud Nation, the enemy sought a changing of the dynasty. Not only did they want the Sword Pavilion destroyed, but they also wished to tarnish its name. Perhaps because of Ye Guying, Zhao Xuanran would not be killed, but who could prevent her death to make a statement?

"They will die to block those corrupt bastards at the base of the Sword Pavilion mountain, to prevent them from desecrating graves, destroying the Grand Hall, and dishonoring our ancestors…” Cai Maomao's eyes were red as blood. He couldn’t bear it anymore!

“No! After three years, as a man of honor, how can I skulk and steal life?” Saying this, he gritted his teeth and looked around, “Where is Junior Brother Yun?!”

Whoosh! Everyone turned their heads. The white figure beside them had vanished.

“It’s bad!” Shangguan Yu’s face changed. Yun Xiao was the last hope of the Sword Pavilion. Zhao Xuanran had placed all her hopes on him, not blaming his impulsiveness today. If even this hope was extinguished tonight, her and the four elders’ death would be meaningless!

“Zhao Jianxing!” Shangguan Yu’s heart thumped wildly. With tear-filled eyes, she glanced towards the Grand Hall. "You must protect them..."

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Before the foot of the Sword Pavilion mountain, five resolute rays of sword light cut through the air, forcing the halt of the approaching thousand Divine Sea Sword Cultivators. With two booming thuds, thousands of powerful sword masters elegantly land on the ground. Their eyes cold and mocking, they gaze upon the five figures before them.

A young woman in a black gown, a blind old man, and three steadfast elders—this unlikely quintet dares to confront a thousand-strong army of sword cultivators?

“The Sword Venerables are conducting business. All unrelated persons, clear out!” the Seventh Sword Venerable, Zhang Jian, swept a cold look over the five. His voice was loud, but he was a coward hiding behind the many.

Others like Ye Tiance and Yao Manxue also maintained a safe distance. They valued their lives too much, fearing the final strike of Zhao Jianxing. They opted to manipulate the situation from afar, hoping to vex Zhao Jianxing to death from a distance. Wouldn’t that be perfect?

However, they did not expect Zhao Xuanran and her companions to block them so far from the Grand Hall.

“Ignorant and foolish!” Ye Tiance, with his hands behind his back, coldly watches the woman in the black dress, chuckling in disdain.

“She probably thinks Ye Guying still cares for her, and so her life is precious?” Yao Manxue sneered, thinking she understood women the best.

“What should we do?” Zhang Jian and Liu Xuan urgently asked Ye Tiance.

“Then let's make the announcement here!” Ye Tiance declares, waving his hand grandly.

“Yes!” Although the faces of the arriving thousand Divine Sea Sword Cultivators varied, they answered in unison. Among them, quite a few were once disciples of the Sword Pavilion. Thousands faced the Sword Pavilion, their expressions solemn.

“Make the announcement!” Ye Tiance commanded, his gaze stern, looking towards the far away Grand Hall where the candles flickered. In unison, their voices shook the night sky, resonating throughout the Azure Spirit mountains.

“Zhao Jianxing, Sect Master of Azure Spirit, is immoral and unethical, instigating his direct disciples Zhao Xuanran and Yun Xiao to murder in the streets, taint, and loot. Thousands have witnessed this. The evidence is irrefutable!”

“To cleanse the Azure Spirit Laws and rectify the reputation of all Sword Cultivators, us Sword Venerables collectively decided to remove Zhao Jianxing from the position of Sect Master. Starting today, Swordking Ye Guying will assume the role, and the First Sword Peak will replace the Sword Pavilion, establishing the Azure Spirit orthodoxy!”

Waves of voice spread, a sound of righteousness trembling the countless trees of the mountains. A familiar scene—defaming for eternity, distorting black and white, a change of dynasty.

This chant of thousands would spread throughout Azure Spirit, reaching the thousand mundane realms. Ordinary disciples and people of thousands of countries, knowing little about the events in Azure Spirit, would accept this as the final judgment, the legacy of the Sword Pavilion tarnished for centuries. Much like how within the Cloud Nation, Yun Xiao was still bearing the blame for nurturing demons that killed tens of thousands.

Before the thousand-strong crowd, Zhao Xuanran heard this, and immense rage surged in her eyes, reminiscent of the day Yun Xiao was wrongly killed. Words were pointless at this point.

A Sword Soul morphed into a black Palm Sword in her hand. She grasped it, and twenty layers of black Sword Aura whirled around it like a raven bird, emitting piercing cries. The power of her Divine Sea and the Sword Soul merged in her Dantian, the rage of soul and spirit uniting as one!

The noble Zhao Family of Azure Spirit. For generations, they had been righteous Immortals of the sword. At twenty-two, Zhao Xuanran reached the Establishment Divine Sea Realm, standing on equal footing to Wu Wu, Yao Manxue, and other Sword Venerables. She was a worthy successor to her valiant forebears.

Under the night breeze, she held her sword, standing before the mountain base of the Sword Pavilion, facing the thousand Sword Cultivators. Although she remained silent, the sharp edge of her blade and the fierce determination in her eyes broadcasted a clear message to the thousand there: Here stood the noble Zhao Family of Azure Spirit! It’s either you die, or I perish!

“Heh heh.” Ye Tiance, Yao Manxue, and others coldly laughed. However strong the mantis arm, can it really stop the chariot?

“Hear my command!” Pointing towards the Sword Pavilion with a stern face, Ye Tiance declared, “Zhao Jianxing is a failure in education, a disgrace to his name! The ancestors of the Sword Pavilion have handed down nothing but calamity. They are unworthy of being called heroes'! The Sword Venerables have decided. Tear down the Grand Hall and obliterate the Hall of Heroes!”

“Our Seventh Sword Peak is willing to execute this order!” Zhang Jian hurriedly declared.

“Good!” Ye Tiance laughed.

“I propose establishing the ancestral temple of the First Sword Peak as the new Hall of Heroes! Using the ancestral spirit plaques of the First Sword Peak to represent the spirit and bone of Azure Spirit!” Yao Manxue suggested with a raised eyebrow.

“Agreed!” Many nodded their heads.

Chen Dong and Li Chenlong, ostracized and pushed to the side, saw this group's shameless audacity with anger in their eyes. Most of all, they felt helpless! They had been marginalized!

“Begin!” Ye Tiance could not wait to establish his glory anymore.

“Lil Xue, you lead the people to suppress Zhao Xuanran!” Ye Tiance arranged.

“Yes!” Though they all were in the Divine Sea Realm, Yao Manxue's side from the Sixth Sword Peak sent out more than thirty Sword Cultivators, marching towards Zhao Xuanran to suppress her. This allowed Zhang Jian’s men to pass over the crowd of in the Sword Pavilion and head straight to the Grand Hall!

Whoosh whoosh! A total of a hundred Sword Cultivators abruptly moved! The shame of the ages cast its shadow!

“Father!” Zhao Xuanran did not look back. She felt her father’s gaze as she gripped her sword and moved forward! A storm of blood and wind was about to ensue! Whoosh whoosh whoosh! Suddenly, not far from the two sides, a sudden blaze roared towards the sky. Boom!

“What is that?” Everyone was startled, their gaze shifted towards that direction. Atop the mountain peak, the Azure Spirit Cauldron grandly appeared! Indeed, this was the first treasure of Azure Spirit, snatched back by Yun Xiao himself!

There it stood at the peak, steadfast and immovable. Above it, fierce blue flames blazed ardently, sending forth waves of scorching heat.

“The Azure Spirit Cauldron's fire has been ignited!” According to legends, this blazing hot blaze could reduce anything to ashes, even the toughest of steel.

“Who?” Eyes of many darted to the cauldron. A youth in white, bearing a large white bundle, stood at the cauldron's edge, his expression cold.

“Yun Xiao?!” Upon recognizing him, the Sword Cultivators of the Sixth and Seventh Sword Peaks, who had just moved into action, halted in their tracks.

Yun Xiao had appeared! And he was even closer to Ye Tiance and his followers. Was he suicidal?

The fury within Ye Tiance, due to his daughter’s murder and disgrace, had not yet dissipated. He was insane to show himself here! One of Ye Tiance’s goals today was to force him out and vent his anger!

“This young man is truly brazen, unable to hide his presence even before the humiliation begins!” Yao Manxue uttered a cold laugh.

“I will capture him!” Zhang Jian volunteered, eager to show his courage. His people from the Seventh Sword Peak were the ones assigned to dismantle the Grand Hall, and naturally, he would not dare to go, leaving him with idle hands.

Only the three Sword Venerables could firmly suppress Yun Xiao, who had killed Ye Ziyan, who was at the Perfect Divine Sea Realm.

“Go!” Ye Tiance commanded, fire swirling in his eyes. He did not dare act today, keeping a safe distance, only on the alert for the light from the Grand Hall. He had feared that person for a lifetime!

“Yes!” With a sinister laugh, Zhang Jian darted towards Yun Xiao!

“Junior Brother Yun...!” Zhao Xuanran’s eyes, filled with the intent to kill, warmed at the sight of the young man in white. Still, the last thing she wanted was for him to appear. She understood his heart the best! Even in the face of this calamity, how could someone like him abandon her and leave?

“Zhao Xuanran, you cannot save him!” Yao Manxue moved again, leading over thirty elders and disciples to encircle her and attack.

All these three things happened at the same time.

Almost all the Sword Cultivators were watching Yun Xiao! He'd carried out a massacre in the day during the Grand Conclave! Then, he carried out another slaughter in the night at the Sword Cloud Walk! And after all that killing, he still dared to show his face? What sort of bravado did this disciple of the Sword Pavilion have?

“Yun Xiao, for me, the Seventh Sword Venerable, to personally deal with you, a mere sixteen-year-old disciple, you should feel quite honored!” Zhang Jian sneered with malicious delight.

“Honored? Sort of like this thing here?” With an outstretched hand, Yun Xiao fished into a large white bag beside him and pulled out a spirit plaque! Yes, he did it! On his return to the farthest First Sword Peak, Yun Xiao conveniently raided the ancestral temples of the Sixth and Seventh Sword Peaks too. After all, it was on the way! The only difference was that the people from these two peaks were not gathered in front of the ancestral temple, so with few people there, he finished the job quickly.

“Zhang He, a ninth generation ancestor, huh…? So, which generation ancestor is he to you?” Yun Xiao asked, shaking the spirit plaque.

“T-that's my grandfather!” Zhang Jian abruptly stopped, his face instantly turning the color of a pig's liver. How did his grandfather’s spirit plaque end up in Yun Xiao's hands?

“What?” The Seventh Sword Peak’s Divine Sea Realm Sword Cultivators, who were on their way to the Grand Hall and Hall of Heroes, suddenly braked their Sovereign Swords,' looking somewhat baffled.

“Your grandfather, huh? Birthing such an unworthy descendant like you, he must be vomiting blood in his grave!” Yun Xiao laughed.

“Yun Xiao, give the spirit plaque to me!” Zhang Jian yelled menacingly.

“Give it to you? Sure!” As Yun Xiao extended his hand, intending to toss the plaque to Zhang Jian, suddenly, it slipped from his grasp, falling into the Azure Spirit Cauldron fire.

CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE! The Azure Spirit Cauldron fire instantly turned the spirit plaque to ashes.

“Oops, my hand trembled and your grandfather got burned.” Yun Xiao shrugged and raised an eyebrow, his expression playful.

“You!” Fire spurted from Zhang Jian's eyes.

“You, a dignified Sect Master's Disciple, dare to insult the ancestors of my Seventh Sword Peak?” Many from the Seventh Sword Peak coldly shouted in anger.

“Wasn’t it you who first wanted to demolish my Sword Pavilion’s Grand Hall and obliterate our Hall of Heroes?” Yun Xiao's gaze turned three degrees colder. Those who insulted others would always be insulted themselves!

“You're really asking for it…!” Zhang Jian was furiously indignant.

“Don’t be in a rush.” Yun Xiao’s hand dove back into the large white bag. This time, he pulled out seven or eight spirit plaques.

“Zhang Xiao, Zhang Yunfeng, Zhang Muyue... all your ancestors, right?” Yun Xiao smiled.

“My second uncle! My great grandfather! My great grandmother...” Zhang Jian felt as if he was struck by lightning.

“Yun Xiao!” Many Zhang Family Sword Cultivators from the Seventh Sword Peak abandoned their initial plan, their rage burning like boundless flames as they surrounded him.

Crackle crackle crackle! With a flick of Yun Xiao’s wrist, those spirit plaques fell into the Azure Soul Cauldron fire again, instantly reduced to ashes.

“So many people. Scared me, did you? It was you all who burned your ancestors' spirit plaques, don’t blame me!” Yun Xiao said nonchalantly.

“Y-you!” Zhang Jian was so angry that his eyes rolled back. The ancestors' spirit plaques!

After the ancestors passed away, a strand of their residual souls was attached to these spirit plaques, receiving the incense and offerings from the descendants. Now, all of them were gone, burned to nothingness! A great disgrace! A betrayal to the ancestors!

The most crucial part was that the Azure Soul Cauldron fire was generally used for incinerating demons and monsters! Could it mean Yun Xiao was burning their ancestors as if they were such abominations?

Witnessing this, the Zhang Family Sword Cultivators from the Seventh Sword Peak felt their faces tear and their hearts bleed internally. They had hoped their ancestors could grace the brand-new Hall of Heroes on the First Sword Peak. Now, they were indeed unworthy descendants!

"Yun Xiao, how dare you commit such an atrocious act?" Yao Manxue's voice was as cold as frost.

"Hand over all the spirit plaques!" Ye Tiance demanded coldly.

"Easy there! Don’t fret! You’re from the First and Sixth Sword Peaks, right? Let me look for yours too!” As Yun Xiao spoke, he reached in again. For a moment, his hands were full of the spirit plaques of the Ye and Yao ancestors.

"Ye Tiance, Yao Manxue, which of these unworthy ancestors are yours?” Yun Xiao laughed coldly.

As soon as they were revealed, with a flick of his hand, all were dropped again!

"Ooooooh..." On those spirits plaques, wisps of souls that had received offerings wailed as they burned in the Azure Soul Cauldron's flames.

"Insolent cur!” Both Ye Tiance and Yao Manxue felt a surge of blood rush to their heads in anger!

JL's Thoughts