Immortal of the Ages

Once Holy Son Chu spoke, turmoil bloomed in the hearts of those from the Azure Spirit Sword Sect. “How audacious these Forbidden Tower folks are, daring to utter such impudent words!” Their thoughts rippled with silent umbrage.

“You Chu Family whelp!” Ning Yan’s face instantly turned three shades colder, “Spout nonsense again, and even if Xiao He protects you, I'll sever that insolent tongue of yours!”

With these words, a vast and overwhelming magic power surged from her, forcing both Holy Son Chu and Elder Fan to step back, chests feeling as if they were being crushed by a mountain, breath caught in their throats.

“Oh, how amusing, Great Sword Venerable Ning,” Holy Son Chu quirked an eyebrow, a sardonic smirk playing across his face, “A senior bullying a junior?”

“Begone!” Ning Yan's voice sliced through the air, cold and unyielding.

“Heh heh...” Holy Son Chu chuckled darkly, eyes concealed a depth of malicious coldness.

“Holy Son Chu, it seems Great Sword Venerable Ning is unaware of the horrifying existence this lad has offended, eh?” Elder Fan whispered into his ear.

“Heh heh.” A continued chuckle from Holy Son Chu.

“With her here, today’s plan to butcher Yun Xiao is foiled,” Elder Fan whispered.

“Ning Yan? Merely a Great Sword Venerable, daring to suppress me with magic power?” A venomous glint flickered through Holy Son Chu’s eyes, “Fine! Let her bring this little beast back to Sword Heaven, and make a thorough fool of herself!”

“Alas, we arrived too late to save the family of Ye Tiance,” Elder Fan lamented.

“Just being here was enough,” Holy Son Chu remarked indifferently.

“Wise words from the Holy Son.” Elder Fan offered a complimentary smile.

Their whispers ceased, and Holy Son Chu sharply lifted his head, eyes gleaming as he stared at Ning Yan and Yun Xiao.

He suddenly applauded, laughing heartily, “Excellent! Splendid! Congratulations to Great Sword Venerable Ning for bringing back a prodigy to Sword Heaven. Perhaps when he achieves great things, he might help Sword Heaven topple the Forbidden Tower? You will be hailed as a hero of Sword Heaven!”

“Heh heh...” Elder Fan also laughed, his expression mocking, reveling in the unsaid.

“At the very least, he is not inferior to you!” Ning Yan retorted, a hint of defiance in her voice.

“Inferior to me? Fine! I'll give him three years, let’s see if he can catch up to me.” Holy Son Chu chuckled, “Shall we establish a three-year promise, to give him a chance to slap my face?”

“Holy Son Chu, do not underestimate a young pauper,” Elder Fan quipped cheerily.

“Is such a measly life worth it?” Holy Son Chu, having finished laughing, glanced contemptuously at Yun Xiao and shrugged his shoulders. They were simply waiting for Ning Yan to escort someone back to Sword Heaven to make a fool of herself!

No more sarcasm was exchanged, and the two turned to leave.

“Holy Son Chu!” At this moment, the perpetually silent Yun Xiao suddenly shouted.

“What is it?” Holy Son Chu turned back, eyes chillingly regarding him.

“You think you can just walk away after passing wind?” Yun Xiao asked.

Upon these words, Ning Yan paused, taken aback! This was the Forbidden Tower's Holy Son! He was on the brink of leaving; why stir the pot now?

The folks from Azure Spirit were equally startled, their hearts skipping a beat.

Holy Son Chu's mood immediately soured. A vein popped on his forehead and his face darkened.

“Yun Xiao, you really won't cry until you see your own coffin! Today, someone spared your miserable life, yet you don’t cherish it, instead seeking your own demise, is that it?” Elder Fan’s tiger-like eyes glared, taking a step forward, his Mid Origin Core Realm power imposingly suppressing Yun Xiao.

Simultaneously, his grave voice addressed Ning Yan, “Great Sword Venerable Ning, this child, relying on your protection, dares to disrespect even the Forbidden Tower’s Saint. How utterly brainless? Do you still admire him?”

The underlying message was clear. This man was bound to spell major trouble!

"Yun Xiao, shut your mouth!" Ning Yan turned and glared at him.

"Kneel and apologize to Holy Son Chu! Otherwise, you'll be leaving without a pair of legs today!" Elder Fan shouted. They were about to leave! And now they'd been insulted like this? Yun Xiao was begging to be killed!

After Elder Fan spoke, his power cascaded out once more, materializing into a formidable lion, vaulting over Ning Yan and bearing down on Yun Xiao.

"Do it!" Ning Yan coldly instructed Yun Xiao. Of course, she had no wish to bring back a headstrong young man who wouldn't be disciplined!

What was Holy Son Chu's status? As a Great Sword Venerable, she could suppress him a little, but this youth was utterly out of line. If not disciplined today, then when?

"Do it?" Yun Xiao glanced at her, a delicate icy sheen in his gaze. HUM! Suddenly, the Heaven Burial Sword Soul appeared in his hand! Two Sword Rings! Twenty-nine layers of Sword Aura! With the appearance of this sword, the power of death surged.

Yun Xiao abruptly turned towards Elder Fan. "You didn't let me test my Sword Soul the other time, didn't you?" His voice was a chilling slice through bone.

"Heh heh!" Elder Fan laughed. Even at a time like this, he was still talking about the events of the Eight Swords Conclave? "Yun Xiao, as long as I'm here, you are doomed to never become a prodigy!" he declared.

"Oh, thank you for that!" After Yun Xiao spoke, the Sword Soul in his hand suddenly transformed into a Flying Sword and burst forth! The gleaming azure Flying Sword, astonishingly, sought to slay Elder Fan!

"You?!" Elder Fan was shocked. What was happening? He was forcing this kid to kneel! He hadn’t even made his move, and this kid had drawn his sword against him first? Holy Son Chu of the Forbidden Tower was standing right beside him!

"Ten-Step Scale?" Ning Yan's eyelids twitched. This was a secret technique of the Sword Pavilion. And naturally, Sword Heaven possessed it too.

"You could have lived until tomorrow, but you’re insistent on dying today?" Elder Fan roared. He suddenly drew out his Golden Lion Sword Soul. Gripping it with both hands, his eyes locked on the azure Flying Sword, and he slashed mightily! Ten-Step Scale was a technique with a formidable reputation. He was familiar with it, aware of the method to counteract it!

BOOM BOOM BOOM…! The azure sword rays detonated in ten successive explosions, sparking ten scale-like ripples in the air, spiraling murderously towards Elder Fan in a blink!

"Hah!" Elder Fan snorted coldly, and on the count of the eighth sound, the Golden Lion Sword Soul swept across. "Shatter, sword!" His confidence brimmed! He was seemingly poised to strike the azure Flying Sword, moments away from a critical hit.

BOOM BOOM!! However, that azure Flying Sword spiraled twice like a darting fish right before his eyes!

"What?!" Elder Fan’s eyes bulged, his complexion taking a drastic, pallid turn. THWACK! After spiraling, the azure sword impaled his chest, puncturing through his torso.

PUFF! A splatter of blood illuminated Elder Fan’s chest. With a pain-wrought scream, his face twisted into a visage of agony, his whole body flung backward by the might of the flying sword.

"Twelve-Step Scale?" Ning Yan was thoroughly stunned, her eyelashes quivering wildly. For a moment, she became utterly engrossed in the swordplay technique, forgetting to intervene.

“Hm?” Holy Son Chu almost got knocked over by Elder Fan. He, admittedly, was not acquainted with the Ten-Step Scale. "This Fan Jing is truly useless!" He gritted his teeth. In punishing a dog, one should be mindful of its owner!

"Today, if I don’t annihilate you, vile servant, my title as Holy Son is yours for the taking!" Just as rage was surging in the Holy Son Chu, in that instant, a white shadow whisked past him.

Yun Xiao moved to kill!

“Presumptuous child!” Elder Fan roared, suppressing the excruciating pain in his chest, and sprang up vigorously.

Yun Xiao, with an impassive demeanor, had already slain his way to his front.

Azure Dragon Squall! Second Move, Ask the Heavens!

A sword resembling an enraged dragon! The white robe unleashed a violent tempest with his azure sword, assailing Elder Fan like a tornado. Yun Xiao slashed fiercely!

KLANG! Just as Elder Fan managed to stand, the colossal force transmitted through Yun Xiao's sword sent the elder's Sword Soul flying.

“No!” Elder Fan's face paled, his eyelids twitching wildly, his mind a blank slate. The young man in white, looming before him, delivered the next sword strike swiftly, ruthlessly, and accurately.

SPLAT! The azure sword instantaneously perforated Elder Fan’s Dantian! His Origin Core was pierced by the sword tip, exploding spectacularly, obliterating the elder's back into a grotesque mesh of blood and flesh.

"Uh!" Elder Fan's eyes, wide as a frightened frog's, slackened onto Yun Xiao’s sword, while a cascade of black blood gushed from his mouth. He was now incapacitated!

Yet his mind had not caught up, there remained a dazed perplexity. Holy Son Chu was right there, wasn't he?! Even Ning Yan pressured Yun Xiao! Shouldn’t this lad be trembling, kneeling? His confidence was shattered. How did it happen? A quick succession of blows, and his sixty years of dedicated cultivation was rendered useless?

Elder Fan, his body ablaze with piercing pain, stared blankly ahead, his eyes filled with disoriented torment.

With a soft sinister squelch, Yun Xiao's one hand gripped Elder Fan's neck, holding him aloft while the other firmly gripped Heaven Burial. "Elder Fan, you wouldn't let me test my Sword Soul, would you?" He leaned in, his expression as cold as frost.

"Yun Xiao, we can talk this through!" Elder Fan shuddered, a looming cloud of dread casting shadows upon him.

PUFF!! Yun Xiao’s sword punctured through Elder Fan's chest, impaling him.

"You took away the Sword Inheritance Stone, so I must use your body for the test instead, Elder Fan," Yun Xiao uttered, a chilling smile playing across his face.

"No! Please!" Elder Fan pleaded, his voice a pained wail.

PUFF PUFF PUFF! Eighteen successive stabs thundered into his chest! Elder Fan's chest resembled a hornet's nest, wholly perforated.

"Elder Fan, could you identify the rank of my Sword Soul for me?" Yun Xiao coldly quipped, withdrawing his sword only to thrust it into Elder Fan's mouth.

"Holy… Son… Chu…" With a violent shudder, and eyes dimming to a muted despair, Elder Fan's body went limp.

"In your next life, don't obstruct my Sword Soul testing!" Yun Xiao said before tossing the corpse away.

THUD! The bloody, mutilated corpse landed before Holy Son Chu, who instinctively recoiled three steps backward. Everything had transpired in a mere heartbeat. By the time Holy Son Chu could process the situation and react, Elder Fan was thoroughly killed.

"Yun! Xiao!" Holy Son Chu gazed down on the Elder Fan's corpse, fists clenched tightly, and as his head lifted, his eyes unveiled an abyss of murderous intent and fury. He was going to kill this youth before his eyes! As the Holy Son of the Forbidden Tower, this was the first time he'd faced such disrespect!

"You really won't understand the meaning of death until I teach you it personally, huh?" Holy Son Chu snarled maliciously.

"Oh, but I do. Just take a look at his chest," Yun Xiao gestured nonchalantly towards the elder.

Holy Son Chu glanced down once more, his eyes widening in abhorrence.

Eighteen stabs marked the elder, the resultant holes conveniently forming the character for death!

"Insolence!" Holy Son Chu's eyes became a sprawling canvas of crimson. "Ning Yan!" His voice, alight with a fierce inferno, swung towards the black-skirted beauty.

Ning Yan was stunned. "Yun Xiao, kneel and apologize to Holy Son Chu now!" Ning Yan scolded, her voice a shattering decree in the silence.

"No need! That opportunity is lost!" Holy Son Chu kicked aside the corpse of Elder Fan and fixed his gaze on Yun Xiao. "You mere mortal cultivator, daring to defy the might of a Holy Son. I declare now, anyone who dares to save you today will see their entire lineage extinguished once I ascend!" His words, venomous and final, were aimed at Ning Yan.

"Great Sword Venerable Ning, please give Yun Xiao a chance!" Chen Dong, his heart quivering, hastily knelt before Ning Yan.

"Please, Great Sword Venerable, grant Yun Xiao an opportunity!"

In an instant, all three thousand Sword Cultivators of the Azure Spirit Sword Sect, except Zhao Xuanran, astonishingly knelt halfway in a collective plea.

Ning Yan, her heart aflame with anger, coldly uttered, "What chance? What use is there in bringing a disobedient man to Sword Heaven? He brought this upon himself; I cannot interfere!"

Upon hearing this, despair swallowed the crowd whole.

"Everyone, stand down!" Suddenly, a serene voice rang out.

The crowd from the Azure Spirit Sword Sect lifted their heads to see Yun Xiao's burning gaze looking back at them.

"Like I said, stand down!" Yun Xiao repeated.

With a synchronized rustle, everyone promptly rose.

At that moment, Yun Xiao cast another glance at Ning Yan. Then, he turned and strode towards Holy Son Chu.