Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

The clash erupted without the slightest warning. Yet it felt as though Lu Kangnian had been waiting for this moment all along—not only him, but every disciple of the Daxia Sword Sect.

Their voices roared like thunder as they charged into the skies, an unstoppable tide of sword light and killing intent. Their momentum was like ten thousand troops charging forth, as if they had long been waiting to battle.

Power surged through them. Each cultivator’s aura blazed so fiercely that even the distant onlookers were struck speechless. Of the thousand who rushed ahead, several hundred had already reached the Golden Core Realm. And among them, the number of Nascent Soul experts far exceeded that of the Mo Family.

A sharp gleam flashed through Shen Ye’s eyes. He had not expected the Daxia Sword Sect’s foundation to have become so formidable. Such strength was enough to make every other sect in the Northern Territory retreat in fear.

Who would have thought that the Daxia Sword Sect, silent and reclusive for so many years, had quietly transformed into such a colossal force?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sky vanished beneath a storm of multicolored spells and sword light.

Lu Kangnian stepped forward once, and in that instant, the barrier around Mo Zhiyuan and his companion shattered. A vast pressure burst outward, like mountains upon mountains crashing down from the heavens.

In a single breath, the two felt their chests caving in, as though crushed beneath a great peak. Even breathing became a struggle. Their bodies bent under the weight, and their defenses crumbled rapidly.

Lu Kangnian stood tall, sword in hand, his gaze cold and indifferent. His voice was flat, stripped of emotion. “Today’s Daxia Sword Sect is not something just anyone can trample.”His words were calm, like a statement of fact, yet they sent tremors through the crowd. No one dared to breathe. Lu Kangnian no longer resembled the courteous, rule-bound man of old, but a sovereign overlord: decisive, ruthless, and absolute.

Qin Xian and Ling Daoyan were beside him, but they remained silent, merely choosing their opponents and drawing them into their respective domains.

From the moment the sect’s barrier was broken, Lu Kangnian had resolved to bare the Daxia Sword Sect’s fangs. Their target was the Mo Family, one of the most powerful forces in the Eastern Territory.

Mo Zhiyuan’s mind reeled. Bent beneath the pressure, sword in hand, he forced his bloodshot eyes upward to glare at Lu Kangnian.

He had never ‌taken the Daxia Sword Sect seriously. Even though their blades once reached the Purple Sun Pavilion, he had dismissed it as luck and the Purple Sun Pavilion’s weakness.

But now, humiliation and fury burned through him.

The crowd’s mocking stares seared his face like fire. Blood filled his eyes. His body trembled as he forced himself upright, inch by inch.

Silver armor shimmered with shifting runes, releasing its own aura to resist the crushing weight of Lu Kangnian’s domain. As he straightened his back, a torrent of terrifying power surged from within.

“Daxia Sword Sect? Today, I will erase your sect from existence!”

Boom!

His aura exploded, climbing wildly. Lu Kangnian narrowed his eyes, a trace of solemnity flashing within.

He slowly raised his left hand and beckoned with a finger.

A white-robed figure shot from the crowd. It was Tu Kui, clad in robes embroidered with golden patterns. With a flash, he seized Mo Zhiyuan’s companion by the throat and flung him hundreds of zhang away.

Tu Kui laughed madly. “Come on, I’ll play with you!”

Now that he had stepped into the Divine Transformation Realm, Tu Kui showed no fear, even before an opponent who had cultivated for centuries longer. His aura was domineering, and his tone even more brazen.

Mo Zhiyuan could only admit that he had gravely underestimated the Daxia Sword Sect.

The intelligence in his hands was two and a half years out of date. During that time, the Daxia Sword Sect had remained in seclusion, its true strength hidden even from the Intelligence Pavilion.

With a flash of light, Mo Zhiyuan summoned a jade casket carved from high-grade spirit stones. His eyes glinted as he retreated a hundred zhang in an instant, crushing the casket to reveal a pale-blue pill.

He tried to swallow the pill, but then the earthen domain’s pressure multiplied severalfold. His heart lurched. His hand, raised toward his mouth, slowed as though sinking into quicksand.

“A gravity domain?! How could he possibly comprehend such an incredible ability?!”

Whoosh!

Lu Kangnian’s figure vanished, reappearing before him in a flash. His sword came down in a storm of slashes. How could he allow Mo Zhiyuan to swallow the pill before his eyes?

Mo Zhiyuan snarled. He knew Lu Kangnian would never give him the chance. Vital force raged through his body, surging against the barrier of a higher realm.

“Is he insane?! He’s trying to break through in the middle of battle!”

“Tsk, I can’t tell if that’s confidence or desperation!”

“He has no choice! Look—the Mo Family is getting crushed. If he doesn’t break through now, he’s finished!”

“You’re right. They came here so aggressively, stirring up the entire city. If they’re beaten back now, it will be the greatest humiliation imaginable!”

The spectators’ whispers were like slaps across Mo Zhiyuan’s face.

Clang! Clang! Boom!

Mo Zhiyuan unleashed his full strength, his domain clashing violently with Lu Kangnian’s gravity domain. The two figures streaked through the sky, sword light weaving and colliding in blinding arcs.

Both were masters of the sword, their duel fierce and evenly matched.

Below, the disciples of the Daxia Sword Sect fought like madmen. For two and a half years, they had trained under the projection stone left by Li Guanqi, and their fighting spirit now burned like wildfire. Yet even in their frenzy, they followed the sect’s teachings. The moment they suffered a serious wound, they fell back into the safety of the sect’s wards.

The battle raged above, blood raining from the heavens. The Mo Family’s disciples were left trembling, shaken to their very cores by the Daxia Sword Sect’s ruthless might.