At the moment Huang Zhen and Zhu Lu were drinking tea and listening to the ballad beneath the vines on the mountain path of Huayang Palace, Zheng Juzhong and Liu Xiang were stepping through the mountain gate archway, entering the territory of Fallen Mountain.

Ancient ruins, new battlefield.

Upon the land, gullies already crisscrossed, and the landscape was scarred. Fist intents, sword qi, and martial fortunes were mixed together, the heavens and earth in chaos.

It was as if the entire Azure Heaven had begun to totter, and the baked and melted glaze-like Dao rhymes were dripping down into the human world.

Two figures brushed past each other. Jiang She twisted his wrist, and the body he had struck in half behind him split into two in the air.

Even though Jiang Shangzhen had witnessed similar scenes countless times, his mood remained strange. They say cultivators are no longer human, so what about our mountain lord?

Cui Dongshan’s face was expressionless, merely staring intently at Jiang She. There were truly no flaws, and this pervert was truly a pervert.

Ten thousand years have passed, times have changed. After a joint execution, the so-called Martial Ancestor’s title has become undeserved, leaving only the title itself, receiving no incense for ten thousand years.

His Yin spirit has not yet returned.

An eleventh-realm martial artist, five parts of martial fortune are fighting within his human body’s world, forcing Jiang She to simultaneously resist external threats and pacify internal turmoil.

He is also being suppressed by Zheng Juzhong’s Great Dao in an invisible manner.

Beside him, Wu Shuangjiang is still eyeing him like a tiger, waiting for an opportunity.

But even so, Jiang She is still fighting so that An, a being of divinity, can only parry and cannot retaliate.

His Dharmakaya is towering. Jiang She’s massive golden body stands in the center of the battlefield ruins, pounding the soft, mud-like barrier of the Azure Heaven with his bare hands, constantly testing the resilience of Wu Shuangjiang’s talismans.

Wu Shuangjiang clicked his tongue in wonder. If left unchecked for a long time, Jiang She might truly break through the heavens.

An had just taken a punch from Jiang She’s true body and had finally stood firm, only to have half of his body completely exposing golden bones. To be precise, his divine body, which was devoid of flesh and blood, had countless golden threads broken by Jiang She. Fortunately, relying on this divine body, he was completely at a disadvantage but not in a deadly situation.

As Jiang Shangzhen, who had witnessed the entire fighting process firsthand, he went from being on tenterhooks, facing perilous situations, seeing unbearable sights, and feeling heartbroken, to desperately stabilizing his Dao heart, trying to observe the fight with a detached perspective, and finally becoming completely numb. Jiang Shangzhen didn’t know how to describe this one-sided “martial practice.”

Wu Shuangjiang suddenly spoke, smiling, “Senior Jiang, since the outcome between you two is clear but you can’t determine life and death, why not both take a break?”

Jiang She retracted his Dharmakaya and said, “Just chat a few more sentences, leave your last words.”

The three parts of martial fortune that dared to defy their superior were about to be completely suppressed by Jiang She.

Of course, Jiang She’s greatest fear was the silent Zheng Juzhong.

An and Jiang She distanced themselves, and Jiang She also took control of the formation-breaking spear.

Temporarily at leisure, Wu Shuangjiang flicked his sleeve, “Since we’re giving, they’re all yours.”

Four imitation swords streaked towards An like a gale, finally pointing downwards and circling around An.

The imitation swords had already been stripped of all restrictions by Wu Shuangjiang and were temporarily ownerless.

An was a little puzzled and more worried. Without the four imitation swords, would Wu Shuangjiang lack killing power?

After all, Wu Shuangjiang’s original intention in refining the imitation swords was to make up for the lack of killing power when discussing the Dao with Yu Dou.

Wu Shuangjiang explained, “This is the reward you should receive for protecting the Dao. Don’t worry about my lack of killing methods.”

Cui Dongshan whispered, “Sir, it’s a hot potato.”

They were certainly extremely precious, after all, they were the next-best genuine artifacts after the four Immortal Swords. It’s believed that Wu Shuangjiang spent countless heavenly materials, earthly treasures, time, and Dao cultivation to refine them. An ordinary Ascended realm cultivator, even if they only possessed one of these imitation swords, would probably wake up laughing in their dreams.

As expected, Wu Shuangjiang smiled and reminded, “Taking them or not has its pros and cons. If you take them, the benefits go without saying. You are a sword cultivator and know that possessing them has infinite wonderful uses, far beyond just having four sharp weapons. Although they are severely damaged and difficult to repair, requiring some essence, qi, spirit, and immortal money, you will definitely profit.”

“The disadvantages are also not small. If you use them against someone in the future and someone with intentions sees them, it’s tantamount to confirming your alliance with Sui Chu Palace. Of course, even if you are caught red-handed, it won’t be easy for White Jade Capital to be free in recent years.”

An flicked his sleeve and unhesitatingly collected the four priceless imitation swords, saying, “Take them, why not take them.”

Taibai, Daozang, Wanfa, Tianzhen. Each unrefined Immortal Sword contains an ancient and orthodox Dao lineage.

Therefore, each imitation sword is Wu Shuangjiang’s deconstruction and reconstruction of those four Dao lineages, like four detailed exegetical works annotating and interpreting the ancient heavenly Dao. As long as An holds all the imitation swords, in his future cultivation years, the process of repairing and refining the imitation swords will be like reading four wordless heavenly books. What great benefits will he gain from opening them?

At the same time, An also has a unique innate advantage: he and Ning Yao are Dao companions and can come into contact with the Immortal Sword “Tianzhen.”

He himself also possesses a piece of the Taibai Immortal Sword’s tip, which he refined into the long sword “Night Wanderer.” What’s more, his fellow townsman Zhao Yao has a quarter of the Taibai. Calling him Martial Uncle now is out of affection, calling him National Preceptor in the Great Li court in the future is his duty.

Previously, Wu Shuangjiang led the sword challenge against White Jade Capital. The four imitation swords lost their grade. Using them against Jiang She was like chicken ribs; instead of being completely shattered by a few of Jiang She’s punches, it was better to give them to An and gain a good reputation.

Jiang She laughed heartily, “Zheng Juzhong, the capable work harder, the strong gain more. It’s a matter of course. The title of Martial Ancestor, Jiang She’s Dao and life, you gentlemen can take them yourselves, provided you can leave this place alive!”

Zheng Juzhong nodded in greeting.

Jiang She looked at Wu Shuangjiang, “Unexpectedly, on our path, there is such a powerful figure like you. How fortunate. It’s just not likable, really not likable.”

Wu Shuangjiang smiled, “You are too kind.”

In the柳荫地道场, where birds chirped and flowers fragrant, resembling an immortal realm, Jiang Shangzhen laughed, “Martial Ancestor Jiang, you aren’t secretly a fifteenth-realm cultivator, are you? We might end up being taken down in one swoop instead of surrounding and killing you.”

Cui Dongshan, who was holding the fort in the small heaven and earth of the ancient Shu great marsh, spat repeatedly, “Unless he takes us all down in one go, this fellow won’t have a chance to enter the fifteenth realm.”

Jiang Shangzhen rubbed his hands and said, “Then I can rest assured. I am willing to be the vanguard general and dare to be the first to attack.”

Cui Dongshan grinned and reminded, “Don’t be cut down by Old Ancestor Jiang after just a few rounds, offering a good head for nothing, boosting others’ morale and diminishing our own prestige.”

Jiang She glanced at them, shook his head, with both self-deprecation and mockery, saying, “Truly, any Tom, Dick, or Harry can sit at the table and eat now.”

If Xiao Mo and Bai Jing interfered, one quasi-fourteenth-realm sword cultivator and one Ascended realm consummation, their qualifications and killing power were evident and indeed not to be underestimated. They were acceptable, but these two immortals in front of him? What are they?

Cui Dongshan said angrily, “Chief Zhou, this fellow praised me for having nine lives and called you, True Monarch Collapse, a dog. Can you bear it? I don’t appreciate it. How about we team up and collapse him?!”

Jiang Shangzhen, who styled himself True Monarch Collapse, was composed. Having walked the Jianghu, he had the ability to accept insults. “These aren’t even considered insults now.”

If being insulted could increase one’s Dao cultivation, Jiang Shangzhen would probably be in the fourteenth realm by now.

Jiang Shangzhen asked Cui Dongshan with his mind voice, “We’re both surnamed Jiang, he isn’t one of my ancestors, is he?”

Cui Dongshan said mischievously, “What’s the big deal? I bully my master and you destroy your ancestors. We’re good brothers!”

Jiang Shangzhen rubbed his chin, “That’s true.”

Cui Dongshan laughed, “Last time I asked you to rush to the Great Quan Dynasty to beat up Old Man Pei Min, and you became the chief enshrinement. This time, aren’t you going to get a position as a Deputy Mountain Lord of Fallen Mountain?”

Jiang Shangzhen took a deep breath, and there was no longer any trace of frivolousness on his face.

Joking with Cui Dongshan was just to bolster his courage.

After all, he was about to face the Martial Ancestor of the military in a life-and-death battle. Even Jiang Shangzhen, known for his audacious courage, was feeling unstable in his Dao heart.

Fortunately, Jiang Shangzhen had just acquired a freshly forged flying sword and could practice with it first.

The flying sword was the same length as his personal sword. Jiang Shangzhen held the long sword and performed a beautiful wrist flick.

This sword was obtained from a half-familiar acquaintance.

At Huangheji, a blessed land of the Jiang family’s cloud cave, the ferryman who punted the boat used the alias Ni Yuanzan. His former identity was the scholar “Lu Sheng” from the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, styled Xizhou. He was the teacher of Sui Youbian. In the past, the Pure Yang Lu Yan traveled to the Lotus Flower Blessed Land and enlightened Lu Sheng, bestowing upon him a dream of yellow millet. Not long ago, Lu Sheng received a decree remotely sent by the Old Daoist Temple Master, who also gave him a Dao formula.

Only then did Lu Sheng realize that Jiang Shangzhen hadn’t deceived him. Lu Sheng of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land and Ni Yuanzan of the Cloud Cave Blessed Land were indeed swords in their very existence.

With the Heavenly Emperor speaking, how could local inhabitants like Lu Sheng, who were living under someone else’s roof, dare to disobey?

Moreover, Lu Sheng didn’t suffer a loss. From then on, he had boundless skies and vast lands, freedom to cultivate the Dao, freedom to study, freedom of life and death. He truly became free and at ease.

Jiang Shangzhen’s expression was relaxed. He muttered to himself, “The Old Daoist Temple Master’s Dao magic is high, but he’s a bit petty. I just said a few foolish words to Ni Yuanzan, and he made Lu Sheng send a sword, making this junior go to his death.”

I have now received Sir’s sword, the sky is dark and the earth is dim, a single light bursts forth.

An waved his hand at Jiang Shangzhen from a distance, signaling that he didn’t need help for now.

Jiang She twisted his neck and looked at An in the distance.

“Don’t think that because you served as the last Hidden Official of Sword Qi Great Wall, you are qualified to contend for a high position in the military.”

“You are just Cui Can’s junior brother, ultimately not that embroidered tiger.”

“Your heart is too soft. You are only cruel to yourself, which is far from enough. When it comes to allies and close friends around you, you are still too concerned with benevolence and righteousness.”

“Wu Shuangjiang is alright, his goal is clear, and he is ruthless in his actions. He is a straightforward person after all. Can you truly glimpse a bit of Zheng Juzhong’s thoughts and the Great Dao he pursues now?”

Emerging out of nowhere, cultivating the Dao for three thousand years, and building White Emperor City, what Zheng Juzhong truly wants is indeed a big question.

“Aren’t you really afraid of the鹬蚌相争渔翁得利 scenario, where Zheng Juzhong first consumes Jiang’s Dao and then catches all of you in one fell swoop, chewing you up and swallowing you? Do you truly believe I am unaware of the truth of this ruin? Your external body, An, is a dream within a dream. His Zheng Juzhong is the heart within a heart, the belly within a belly. The superposition of the two is a prototype of a Dao on a Dao. What kind of mockingly humorous student Cui Dongshan, what kind of Chief Jiang Shangzhen who doesn’t hesitate to die? They are just illusions that are almost indistinguishable from reality, huh, you forgot about this Dao companion. With such a soft heart and womanly benevolence, what qualifications do you have to plot great schemes with the likes of Zheng Juzhong and Wu Shuangjiang?”

Cui Dongshan and Jiang Shangzhen exchanged glances.

Could it be that you are fake? Perhaps you are also fake?

Ning Yao, who had been enduring until now, rolled her eyes.

Jiang She stabbed his long spear into the ground, released his hand, stretched his muscles and bones. Real or fake, it didn’t matter.

“At that time, who else in the entire human world can hinder Zheng Juzhong’s progress on the Great Dao? Is it the Three Religions’ Ancestors who have already dissolved their Dao, or is it the Sage of Rites who must stare at that azure Dao trajectory? Or is it Yu Dou, who is busy quelling internal rebellions everywhere? Could it be the Barbarian White Marsh? Once Zheng Juzhong chooses not to hold back, he will be more than just a second Zhou Mi?”

Wu Shuangjiang smiled, “I’m almost convinced.”

Jiang She’s words were not alarmist provocation.

Zheng Juzhong’s expression was as usual. Jiang She’s suggestion was indeed a good one, worth considering?

Wu Shuangjiang was helpless. Mr. Zheng, please don’t scare people.

An rubbed his forehead.

Jiang She looked around and said to himself, “An incense stick is enough.”

In the military ancestral court of the Hao Ran world, along with the martial temples in various prefectures, the ancestral portraits hanging on the walls moved without wind, rustling. The painted clay statues of the accompanying famous generals in the hall also began to show subtle cracks.

Jiang She walked slowly forward, grinning sinisterly, “You ungrateful disciples and descendants, you are rebellious and like to be traitors and villains!”

An’s mind stirred slightly. The golden long sword that had been acting as a “bystander” flew through the air and was held in his hand.

Seeing this, Jiang She twitched the corners of his mouth, just walking slowly forward without saying a word, beckoning to An with his finger, come.

The long sword slashed on Jiang She’s arm, as if metal and stone intersected, splashing infinite sparks in the heaven and earth.

A hand blade chopped off An’s entire right arm.

The incomparably sharp sword tip scratched across Jiang She’s cheek, like an awl scratching glass, making a sizzling sound.

Jiang She slapped An in the face, and the sword wielder instantly lost his head.

One after another sharp golden sword qi cut through the heaven and earth. The sword light reached the Azure Heaven barrier, stirring up turbulent ripples of spiritual energy like a tide.

Jiang Shangzhen felt a sense of relief. Finally, he wasn’t the only one taking hits.

This was also the first time Jiang Shangzhen had witnessed An holding this sword.

He had thought that An holding the sword would fight Jiang She for a long time, but unexpectedly, anomalies occurred. The long sword in An’s hand flew out directly, turning into a dazzling虹光, breaking through the Azure Heaven and vanishing in an instant. Jiang Shangzhen initially mistook it for a hidden trump card. Almost at the same time as the long sword soared into the sky, Cui Dongshan saw his master seem to experience a momentary trance. Jiang She seized this opportunity and punched through An’s chest. He released his fist and stirred with his fingers, causing all the golden threads of the divine body to converge towards the chest, making An’s face contort.

Jiang Shangzhen sensed something was wrong and was shocked, “What’s going on?!”

Cui Dongshan said bitterly, “That dog Zhou Mi is causing trouble again.”

Jiang Shangzhen’s mood was heavy, and he had a headache, “What should we do?”

Cui Dongshan acted shamelessly, “What are you afraid of? We have Old Zheng here.”

Just as Jiang Shangzhen was about to feel relieved, he witnessed a scene that made his liver and gallbladder split.

Unlike Jiang Shangzhen just now, Wu Shuangjiang immediately looked up at the hole in the Azure Heaven pierced by the long sword. As it was about to close, he saw a magnificent sword light with a completely different aura, dazzling and brilliant, descending from the sky. The speed of the sword light was so fast that even Wu Shuangjiang felt his heart pound. The sword light instantly pierced through An’s head.

It was like an unimaginably long sword, just like that, “nailing” An in place.

Jiang Shangzhen was burning with anxiety, “Is this long sword also Zhou Mi’s sneak attack?”

Cui Dongshan squinted, “No.”

Jiang Shangzhen murmured, “I guess the problem isn’t big.”

Cui Dongshan said, “It’s not small either.”

An Ascended Platform that is not connected to the ground.

It’s as if it’s a slender fishing line suspended in the sea.

Countless stars, near and far, big and small, bizarre and dazzling, are suspended on both sides of this divine path.

Zhou Mi was at ease, sitting alone on the steps, with a gentle smile, looking at the tall woman slowly climbing the stairs.

He was actually waiting for the old blind man, waiting for that shrine to ascend to heaven again from here.

Zhou Mi and An are both half of one, without the slightest difference. No one can have a bit more than the other, and no one will have a bit less.

Occupying the New Heavenly Court, the well-deserved high-seated one, his form is relaxed but his spirit is weary. After all, he was blockaded by the Ancestors of the Three Religions, so Zhou Mi was not relaxed.

The one below, his form is weary but his spirit is at ease. An seems to be busy running around in the human world, deep in thought, with too many human affairs that he needs to face.

A fifteenth-realm fighting a fourteenth-realm is like a young man with strong blood and qi playing arm wrestling with a child, like playing a game.

So, a sixteenth-realm, cleaning up a few fifteenth-realms?

She walked to the step Zhou Mi was on. A head of a pseudo-supreme deity was still placed beside Zhou Mi’s feet.

It was Zhou Mi who had forcefully promoted it to one of the supreme ones before, which led to her having to come here temporarily.

However, this kind of act cannot be done twice. Zhou Mi also had his own concerns.

Zhou Mi looked down at the extremely abrupt long line of sword light in the human world and smiled, “Not bad.”

An’s true Dao hidden danger lies in the tug-of-war between humanity and divinity. As long as An is too heavily contaminated by divinity, once he crosses a certain critical point, it won’t be a gradual dissipation of humanity but a complete occupation by divinity in an instant. In other words, at that moment, An will become a supreme deity walking in the world.

That would be easy to handle.

All the problems in heaven and earth would be solved easily.

Zhou Mi was happy to see this happen.

Unfortunately, An was too cautious and set up many obstacles to prevent this situation from occurring.

“I had three possibilities in mind, such as one of them being that I devour all of An’s divinity and become a complete one.”

“In this way, it won’t be that important whether you return here or not. This is the best outcome. ‘An’ will become the true new sword wielder. You can serve as his sword spirit, or you can carry out an eternal exile in the vast void.”

The Great Dao of the New Heavenly Court is thus completed. Having entered the sixteenth realm, those three are just decorations. Even with a shrine added to fill the gap, it’s still meaningless.

Only at that moment will the world truly be turned upside down.

Zhou Mi smiled, “The worst outcome, of course, is that I am devoured by An, and he becomes one, still a new Dao. However, this possibility is extremely small.”

As for the last possibility, which Zhou Mi considered “neither good nor bad,” it was the result that Master Zou least wanted to see.

She asked curiously, “What kind of Dao do you want to create?”

Zhou Mi replied, “It must be much more colorful than it is now.”

She fell silent.

Zhou Mi smiled, “I also once advised the Heavenly Master to re-energize.”

Jiang She was apparently also a little surprised, how interesting.

It is not surprising that Zhou Mi wants to deal with An.

Another enemy actually made a move first? They certainly picked a good time.

This sword was extremely strange, as if it had an incredible innate divine ability that could suppress divinity.

An wanted to “pull out” the long sword from his head and upper body, but he couldn’t.

He reached out to try and grasp the sword body, but unexpectedly the long sword was like nothingness, like catching the moon in the water, a futile effort.

An could only maintain that posture of slightly raising his head and leaning back.

This is the swordsmanship of a pure fourteenth-realm sword cultivator.

The second and third swords arrived, piercing through An’s neck and chest respectively, each tilted and driven into the ground.

After that, streaks of sword light pierced through the Azure Heaven barrier, a single body, clustered with long swords.

An, who had always firmly believed that doing one more thing in the human world would reduce trouble, now seemed to have troubles converging, seeking hardship, truly pitiful.

Those long swords seemed to carry enormous hatred. Now that the great revenge is avenged, how exhilarating and satisfying it is.

Each time the sword tip pierced the body, the tortured person would either slightly shake their shoulder or their hanging sleeves would tremble slightly.

Jiang She, who had regained his martial arts consummation, held his long spear, concentrating all his efforts into one strike. Now is the time!

An slightly turned his head and looked towards Zheng Juzhong, who nodded lightly, now is the time.

An’s forehead was like a celestial eye opening, and a brand new sword appeared in the human world.

The third flying sword appears.

Cultivating the Dao and refining swords for over a thousand years, for a long time hidden in the vortex of the river of time, Huang Zhen, who sought the identity of a pseudo-fifteenth-realm sword cultivator, was slain. Huang Zhen by the river bank, who first met Lu Chen and Zheng Juzhong, was slain. Huang Zhen who met the descendant of the Yin-Yang fish in the Daoist temple at the bottom of Leize Lake in the Qingming world, was slain. The middle-aged Huang Zhen standing beside the deaf Daoist at the Guan Yu Pavilion on Difei Mountain, was slain. Huang Zhen who was listening to the ballad with Zhu Lu and the others on the mountain road, was slain. Huang Zhen who said goodbye to the传道人 Ma Kuxuan in Baoping Prefecture, was slain. The young Huang Zhen wandering in a foreign land and staying in an inn, was slain. The young Huang Zhen who had just left the town and looked back at the outline of his hometown on the post road, was slain… Along this long line, countless Huang Zhens were all slain at the same instant!

An leisurely stood up straight, shook his sleeves, and scattered some ash from the Great Dao tribulation and human dust. He was truly composed.