Lingxiao Peak is the leader of the Immortal Alliance.
This place, the power centre of the cultivation world, is perpetually shrouded in mist and filled with the calls of cranes. However, the tranquility of this sacred land has been shattered today. The Southern Heavenly Gate, crafted from ten-thousand-year-old agarwood and deep-sea refined gold, is emitting an ear-splitting tremor.
"Hold on! Form the Ten Thousand Swords Immortal Slaying Formation!"
Behind the Southern Heavenly Gate, ten thousand elite sword cultivators stand ready. They are the Immortal Alliance's ultimate trump card, each possessing cultivation levels above the Golden Core stage. Ten thousand swords are unleashed simultaneously, their spiritual light blotting out the sky and forming a powerful sword energy barrier that can withstand floods and ferocious beasts.
Suddenly, the void shatters like a mirror.
A thousand-foot-long, purple, crescent-shaped saber beam erupted instantly. This strike made no sound because it severed the physical continuity of space directly.
The flying swords, the pride of ten thousand sword cultivators, froze on contact with the purple light and shattered like fragile, withered branches. Even the supposedly 'unbreakable' golden pillars of the Southern Heavenly Gate were smoothly sliced in two by this single strike.
"All troops, charge! Leave no one alive!'
As Xiao Wuchen's blade pierced the gate, the three thousand Thunder Dragon Riders surged towards the enemy ranks through the gap torn by the blade's light, like a purple meteor shower.
Accelerated by the electromagnetic field, the cavalry's charge transcended the limits of divine perception. The sword cultivators only saw a flash of purple light before feeling a cold, sharp pain in their throats.
Leng Wuxue's vanguard charged straight into the heart of the sword cultivators' formation. These cavalry were killing and absorbing; with each slain sword cultivator, the lightning on their armour intensified.
In the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the area in front of the Southern Heavenly Gate became a battlefield of carnage.
Xiao Wuchen walked step by step towards the Lingxiao Palace at the highest point, stepping over shattered sword fragments and his white robes. Behind him, three thousand iron cavalrymen were suspended in mid-air, blocking off Lingxiao Peak completely. Any streak of light attempting to escape would be shot down instantly.
Inside the palace, Xuanhe Zhenren slumped on the sect leader's throne. Looking at the blood-soaked Thunder Demon God approaching from outside, the sect leader's seal clattered from his hand to the ground.
'Lu Qingyun... If you don't come out of seclusion... the Immortal Alliance is finished...'
Xiao Wuchen stepped into the palace, dragging his long sword behind him and leaving a charred mark on the white jade floor. He pointed the sword directly at Xuanhe Zhenren's throat.
'He can't save you. No one in this world can save you.'
Despite the fall of the Southern Heavenly Gate, the last remnants of the Immortal Alliance's dignity — the Twelve Silver-Clad Enforcers — still stood before Xiao Wuchen. All of these twelve were at the late-stage Nascent Soul realm. Their feet were planted on star-level formations and their silver chains wove into a massive web of cause and effect in the air.
"You wretch! How dare you act so presumptuously in this sacred Lingxiao realm!'
They roared in unison, golden light swirling on their chains as they transformed into countless Sanskrit characters that pressed down upon Xiao Wuchen. This was not just a spiritual attack, but the Immortal Alliance using the 'Heavenly Dao Luck' accumulated over three thousand years to weaken Xiao Wuchen's will.
The white light beneath Xiao Wuchen's helmet remained unmoved; the Returning Void Horse-Slaying Blade in his hand emitted a teeth-grinding scraping sound.
'Heavenly Dao Luck? This kind of luck, gained through betrayal and treachery, dares to suppress me?"
Xiao Wuchen's figure vanished instantly, transforming into twelve identical streaks of purple lightning that appeared simultaneously behind the twelve enforcers.
'Don't come any closer! This Immortal-Stabilising Mirror is an ancient artefact with the power to stabilise the universe and imprison anything within it!" Master Xuanhe's voice was sharp and frantic.
Xiao Wuchen stopped and tilted his head. 'Stabilise the universe?'
Casually waving his hand, he transformed a bolt of purple lightning into a sharp arrow that headed straight for the Immortal-Stabilizing Mirror. The white light collided with the purple lightning, triggering a violent explosion. Thick smoke billowed as Xiao Wuchen braved the aftershocks, which were powerful enough to tear apart a Nascent Soul, and strode towards Xuanhe Zhenren.
Ignoring the defensive barrier of the Immortal-Stabilizing Mirror, he extended his gauntlet, covered in dark red patterns, and grabbed Xuanhe Zhenren by the neck.
'Three thousand years ago, you were merely a sword-bearer by Lu Qingyun's side.'
Xiao Wuchen's icy, devoid-of-human-warmth voice rang in Xuanhe's ears.
'It was the spiritual herbs of the Great Qian that nourished you; it was the cultivation techniques of the Great Qian that built your foundation. And when you betrayed your lord, did you ever imagine this day would come?'
Xuanhe Zhenren opened his mouth, but could not utter a sound. He was horrified to discover that the spiritual energy within his body was rapidly draining through Xiao Wuchen's hand. Not only that, but a terrifying suction force was also forcibly pulling his primordial spirit from his sea of consciousness.
"If Lu Qingyun doesn't emerge from seclusion, then I'll use your primordial spirit as a signal arrow to knock on the door."
Xiao Wuchen suddenly exerted force with his five fingers. Xuanhe Zhenren's primordial spirit let out a shrill cry as it was ripped from his body. However, Xiao Wuchen didn't kill it; instead, he slammed it into the spine of the Guixu Zhanma Dao (Returning Void Horse-Slaying Saber).
The longsword trembled violently. Having absorbed the primordial spirit of a peak Nascent Soul cultivator, this demonic weapon erupted with a soaring crimson light, ripping off the roof of Lingxiao Palace.
Meanwhile, the sounds of battle on Lingxiao Peak gradually subsided.
The three thousand Thunder Dragon Riders had cleared the entire main peak. Leng Wuxue dragged several surviving elders to the front of the palace and threw them to the ground.
Above the clouds, the setting sun bled red. Xiao Wuchen stood on the ruins, his longsword pointing towards the forbidden area behind the mountain that was perpetually shrouded in immortal mist.
'Lu Qingyun, you've had enough of your act. Come out and face your death.'
No sooner had he finished speaking than the previously peaceful back mountain suddenly erupted with a terrifying pressure that made heaven and earth tremble — a pressure beyond mortal comprehension, truly belonging to the Mahayana stage.
When Xuanhe Zhenren's primordial spirit was forcibly sealed into the blade's spine, the auspicious cloud symbolising the 'orthodox lineage of the Immortal Alliance' above Lingxiao Palace suddenly disappeared.
It was replaced by thick, oppressive, dark purple thunderclouds.
Xiao Wuchen, carrying the Guixu Longsword which writhed like a living creature, walked across the white jade plaza which was now soaked in blood. Every surviving Immortal Alliance cultivator experienced their golden cores crack from fear upon touching his 'Domain of Annihilation'.
[System Judgement: Immortal Alliance's 'Collective Will' Collapses]
[Current Synchronisation Rate: 95%]
[Functional alert: due to absorbing too much Nascent Soul primordial spirit, the host's sea of consciousness is on the verge of going haywire.]
'General, the seal on the forbidden area at the back of the mountain has opened.' Leng Wuxue teleported to Xiao Wuchen's side; the chainsaw in his hand hummed softly.
Knocking on the Door: The Wrath of the Mahayana
A golden pillar of light, large enough to traverse the entire continent, erupted from the back of Lingxiao Peak. The sky, which had been sealed by purple lightning, was torn apart easily by the impact of the golden light, like fragile paper.
Beneath this golden light, the critically injured elders of the Immortal Alliance appeared to receive a divine blessing: their severed limbs grew back and their auras surged.
"Who disturbs my long slumber?"
An ancient and majestic voice, seemingly from the primordial era, resounded through the heavens. Each word was like a heavy mountain pressing down on the shoulders of the three thousand iron cavalrymen.
It was the true soul of the Immortal Alliance: the Mahayana-stage elder Lu Qingyun.
Although he did not appear in person, his divine consciousness had already transformed into a golden dharma image, standing a thousand feet tall and looking down at Xiao Wuchen. His eyes held no compassion, only indifference towards all things.
"Three thousand years ago, I could have wiped out your Great Qian Dynasty. Three thousand years later, you return with this broken bronze and scrap iron. What can you change?"
Lu Qingyun's golden dharma image gently raised a hand, and a finger as tall as a colossal pillar emerged from the clouds and pressed down. With that single finger, the void collapsed and all laws withered. This was the absolute control of the Mahayana stage: "Dharma of Heaven and Earth: Void Finger".
Xiao Wuchen raised his head to meet the finger, which was powerful enough to crush mountains. His armour cracked under the terrifying pressure, but his eyes burned with an even more intense purple fire.
'Broken bronze and scrap iron?'
Xiao Wuchen abruptly plunged his longsword forward.
"This is the backbone of millions of people in the Great Qian Dynasty, the undying spirit of three thousand soldiers!"
[Secret Technique of Will: Ten Thousand Hearts United – Sword of Return to the Void.
At that moment, the three thousand Thunder Dragon Riders transformed into purple streaks of light. Instead of rushing towards the golden body, they surged madly towards Xiao Wuchen, sacrificing their energy, armour and even their remaining soul power to their commander.
Behind Xiao Wuchen, a colossal phantom image of a 'headless demon god', even more ferocious than the golden body's avatar, formed from dark red mist and rose from the ground.
"Lu Qingyun, the debt of three thousand years begins with this 'avatar' of yours!"