Legend of Swordsman

The winds stirred, and the clouds trembled!

Outside Mangshan County...

Eight hundred miles from the city of Mangshan County, a group of savage men riding ferocious beasts halted at the foot of the mountains. Among them, an elderly man clad in clothes sewn from animal hides slowly stepped forward. Tears glistened in his eyes as he gazed in the direction of Mangshan County. His voice quivered as he said, ”Our great ancestor, soon our Qianzu Tribe will be able to bring you home!”

”Bring the great ancestor home!” echoed a middle-aged man behind the elder, whose appearance bore a striking resemblance to him.

Instantly, the entire valley resounded with a thunderous uproar. From a higher vantage point, the entire valley was filled with barbarian warriors mounted on beasts.

The Qianzu Tribe merely took the lead, but all the tribes of the wilderness had mobilized their entire forces as well!

They were doing this for their great ancestor, and also to overthrow the Tang Dynasty.

In the western part of Mangshan County...

This area bordered the vast desert, and deep within the desert lay the connection to the northern glaciers.

There, ancient relics could be found, a sacred land for ancient Qi Refiners.

Almost all the cultivators of the Scarlet Eye Realm yearned to reach this sacred land to receive the inheritance of the Divine Eye.

However, very few managed to pass the inheritance.

But those who did were able to establish sects in the northern glaciers.

In the past thousand years, sects in the northern glaciers had dwindled, but a few super sects remained. Now, they had all gathered outside Mangshan County.

The leader of these sects wore a Daoist robe, his face as handsome as jade. Though he appeared to be a youth of seventeen or eighteen, he had lived for over a thousand years, and his strength was unfathomable.

He was the Daoist Leader of the northern glaciers, having once passed the fourth level of the Divine Eye inheritance.

With this inheritance, he had cultivated to the peak, yet he was still a step away from shattering the void.

If he could obtain that sealed power, he was confident he could ascend.

”I have waited a thousand years, and finally, the seal is breaking. I wonder which high expert has been plotting behind the scenes!” The young Daoist Leader stood with his hands behind his back, treading the void between the valleys. His steps reverberated through the air.

The surrounding space rippled.

Behind him, countless majestic warships sailed against the wind, moving through the high skies.

On the decks, rows of cultivators stood, all of them in the Golden Core stage.

There were over a thousand people in total.

Such a powerful force was enough to rival the entire Eastern Tang of the Great Tang.

One had to know that since the Dao Realm had shattered, the entire cultivation world had been in decline.

The cultivators of the Southern Heaven Realm no longer resembled true cultivators, indulging in wealth and the pleasures of the mortal world.

The Northern Ice Region, on the other hand, was too cold and heartless, resembling a traditional cultivation sect.

Only the Great Tang retained a trace of human warmth.

Thus, the most cultivators were born there, and in fact, many of the cultivators in the Northern Ice Region originally hailed from Eastern Tang of the Great Tang.

The only pity was that now, everyone had their own duties.

Though they came from the Great Tang, they had to fight for their own opportunities.

Moreover, this Tang was no longer their Tang.

It was the Tang of the imperial Li clan.

No one cared about their identity as Tang cultivators anymore.

At the same time, high above the coast of the Eastern Region, a group of cultivators in luxurious robes also stepped across the sea.

Their display was grand, and their numbers were many. Besides the Golden Core cultivators, they had even brought innate cultivators, significantly outnumbering the barbarian tribes. Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought they were here to attack the Great Tang! But that wasn’t the case. These cultivators came from the Southern Heaven Realm, from various sects worshipped by the Seven Southern Nations.

Their sects were scattered, without a core structure, a loose collection that looked grand but was actually hollow.

The seventy-six warships in the lead rose from the sea, hovering in mid-air, creating a spectacular sight.

But behind it all were Golden Core stage cultivators silently contributing their strength. Especially the massive warship in the lead, which was over a hundred meters long and wide. To keep it suspended in mid-air required a force far beyond the Nascent Soul stage. However, the Southern Heaven Realm was the weakest, and Nascent Soul stage cultivators would never waste their strength on appearances.

Thus, the burden fell on the Golden Core cultivators operating the warships.

”Those people from Tianyang Sect are truly shameless. The three of us do all the hard work, and they bask in the glory outside. I’m not happy about it!” In the control room, a burly man grumbled as he channeled energy into the warship.

Beside him, two others were using the same methods to control the massive ship.

The thin elder in charge tried to comfort him, saying, ”Enough, they paid us too much. It’s not a big deal to swallow our pride for a bit. Stop complaining, and once we get the ship over there, we’ll slip away!”

”But what if there’s a benefit?” asked a young cultivator with sharp features, unable to resist. This time, the Southern Heaven Realm had put in such effort, not just for a show, but because they had received news-a piece of information that could change the entire cultivation

world.

However, the three of them were only in the late Golden Core stage and weren’t qualified to know such secrets. They only knew that a great opportunity awaited, but what exactly it was,

they had no idea.

The thin elder’s brow furrowed at his companion’s question, and he scolded, ”Just get to work! For people like us, Tianyang Sect’s reward is already a great opportunity!”

Buzz!

Seventy-two warships simultaneously sailed towards the Great Tang’s coast, with a clear target-Mangshan County City.

In just a few days, the events in Mangshan County City had spread like wildfire, gathering cultivators from the entire Scarlet Eye Realm.

No one knew who had leaked the information.

No one cared to investigate the source either; they all chose to believe it.

That was the strangest part of it all.

.....

In Tai’an City, within the imperial palace.

In the rear garden, Emperor Guangfu Li Miao walked barefoot on the muddy ground scattered

with flower petals, enjoying the cold sensation. The Great Tang emperor found it quite

pleasurable.

”Lord Wei, I’m glad you came to see me today, but your earlier words have put me in a difficult position!” Li Miao spoke casually, strolling through the soft soil, admiring the flowers and occasionally picking one to sniff.

Wei Jiuxian stood by the corridor at the edge of the garden, head held high, completely

ignoring the emperor’s subtle reprimand.

His expression grew increasingly grim.

”Your Majesty, I care not about the people of the Northern Ice Region, but the barbarian tribes have entered Mangshan County with one hundred thousand troops, and those from the Southern Heaven Realm have gathered tens of thousands of warships on the sea. Even the mortals have come. Why is this? What does it mean? Surely Your Majesty knows better than I do!” Wei Jiuxian’s tone was neither humble nor arrogant.

He valued the Great Tang more than the emperor before him.

For the Great Tang, he would defy the emperor and even give up his position as the commander of the Zhanxian Guard. Now, with enemies invading from all sides, how could he not be anxious, even if it meant offending the sovereign?

”You’ve worked tirelessly for the Great Tang, and I’ve taken note,” Emperor Guangfu slowly

turned his head, his tone softening as he gazed at this elder statesman. He recalled the time when he had just ascended the throne, and Wei Jiuxian had stood by his side. Later, when the Rebel King attacked, it was Wei Jiuxian who protected him, allowing him to reclaim his throne. It wasn’t just the Chiyang Sect’s support; it was also the assistance of this commander.