At the highest point of the Jade Capital, a young Daoist, a lotus crown perched atop his head, leaned against the railing, his eyes narrowed in a smile. With nothing better to do, he decided to quietly observe the world below. Hopefully, the ladies of the Five Cities and Twelve Towers below would see him as someone touched by celestial grace.

Lu Chen looked towards a tall city palace. Someone had just received a decree from the Sect Leader and set off, riding the wind to Upper Purity Pavilion to meet Lu Chen. Some Celestial Sovereigns had keenly noticed this person’s “ascension” trajectory, envying his fortune. After all, being able to ascend to the Upper Purity Pavilion and overlook the entire Five Cities and Twelve Towers was an honor, indicating he had entered the Sect Leader’s sight and that his path to the Great Dao was promising. Lu Chen waved at the cyan-robed figure, laughing, “Yang, Little Heavenly Sovereign, over here, over here.”

The young Daoist landed lightly, standing respectfully in the corridor. He gave Lu Chen a Daoist salute. “Yang Ningxing of the Spirit Treasure City greets Sect Leader Lu.”

Lu Chen smiled, waving his hand. “No need for formalities, no need. How many times have I said it? Just call me Martial Uncle. Since you and Chen Ping’an are sworn brothers, that makes us bosom buddies! There are no outsiders here, so who are you being polite for? Isn’t that the way it is?”

This Yang Ningxing hailed from the Cloud Firmament Palace of the Profound Ascendancy Department in the Northern Ju Continent. He had come to the Azure Profound Heaven through the Five-Colored Sky Passage, and had ascended to the heavens in one step. Having just arrived at the Jade Capital, he had become a nominal disciple of Senior Brother Yu. And since Spirit Treasure City was Senior Brother Yu’s proving ground, Yang Ningxing now cultivated within Spirit Treasure City. Though young, his seniority was impossibly high.

Yang Ningxing still kept his head lowered. “I dare not.”

Lu Chen frowned, lecturing him. “Don’t be like that, Martial Nephew. It’s so boring that way. The black-robed scholar who plotted against Chen Ping’an time and again was much more endearing.”

Yang Ningxing raised his head, hesitating for a moment. “May I ask why Sect Leader Lu summoned this junior today?”

Lu Chen chuckled. “Nothing as serious as you think. I just wanted to show you the scenery, to fulfill my duty as your Martial Uncle.”

Although Yang Ningxing was completely bewildered, he dared not ask further questions.

Lu Chen extended two fingers, flicking them at Yang Ningxing’s brow. Instantly, the latter’s eyes turned golden. Yang Ningxing felt dizzy, and even though he tried his best to suppress the ripples in his Dao Heart and the shaking aura of his entire microcosm, he still couldn’t help but sway his head gently. He reached out to support his forehead with the back of his hand, then grabbed the railing with the other, barely managing to steady himself. Lu Chen laughed. “Don’t be nervous. I’ve temporarily opened your Celestial Eye, allowing you to borrow some of the Jade Capital’s vision. What I see, you see.”

Indeed, as Sect Leader Lu had said, Yang Ningxing discovered that what he saw was “Yang Ningxing”.

Lu Chen turned around, looking towards a high tower, known in the Jade Capital for its beauty, where “peach blossoms leaned against the clouds on the horizon.” A flock of green phoenixes soared through the clouds, and Daoist officials strolled through the woods, their faces like jade.

For Lu Chen to observe the scenery of the world was simple. With his own cultivation and the advantage of being stationed in the Jade Capital, he could take in all the people and sights of the world, even down to the finest details, as if they were right in front of him. But to specifically find a certain person, to pinpoint their whereabouts, especially those enlightened individuals who were skilled at concealing the secrets of heaven, wasn’t exactly like finding a needle in a haystack, or a fruitless waste of effort, but it was still quite difficult and extremely laborious. And Lu Chen was known for being lazy. Besides, the Jade Capital had an Observation Tower, dedicated to monitoring the movements of cultivators at the peak of mountains all over the world, but even it wasn’t without its oversights. The world was full of all kinds of illusions, profound and mysterious.

Lu Chen had first taken a trip to the Emerald Pearl Grotto-Heaven, setting up a stall in the small town for more than a decade. Then, not long ago, he had taken another trip to the Sword Qi Great Wall and the Wild Desolate Heaven. It seemed like just a nap, plus a blink of an eye, and the Azure Profound Heaven had become even more unrecognizable.

After that, Yang Ningxing “followed” Lu Chen’s gaze, swift as an arrow, passing through layers of clouds, like a swiftly flying bird surveying the earth. He saw the outline of a continent’s map, then the mountains and rivers stretching like dragons and snakes, then a majestic city with a strong dragon vein, and finally a royal-decreed Azure Parasol Temple…

“The world, Bing Province, Azure Divinity Dynasty, Azure Parasol Temple. The world shrinks, man expands.”

Lu Chen shifted his gaze slightly, smiling. “That group of Five Tombs youths are over here, in the Golden Jade Dojo’s Dao Seed Cave. You must visit this place when you travel in the future. The Rice Thief Wang Yuanlu, and the Martial Warrior Qi Gu both came from here. However, the elegant Ya Xiang, Yao Qing, is not in the capital right now, he went to guard the cultivation of the celestial couple, Zhao Ge and Xu Jun. The Azure Divinity Dynasty is also one of the few places that build temples, hiding a purple-robed monk with very skilled swordsmanship, who is the now-famous Jiang Xiu. Jiang Xiu’s swordsmanship is so high that he can go toe-to-toe with your Master. Jiang Xiu’s appearance this time is in accordance with the times and the trend, probably to ask for an explanation for the Buddhist Dharma of the mortal realm from our Jade Capital.”

“This is Ru Province, Scarlet Gold Dynasty, Crow Mountain.”

“This Scarlet Gold Dynasty, just because it has a ‘Teacher Lin’ and a Crow Mountain, has a flourishing martial fortune, unsurpassed in the world. Lin Jiangxian came to our Azure Profound Heaven as a guest, I wonder what he’s seeking.”

Hearing this, Yang Ningxing asked curiously. “Sect Leader Lu, could this Teacher Lin be a Qi Practitioner?”

After coming to the Azure Profound Heaven, even in the Spirit Treasure City, where the Daoist officials are quite conceited, everyone speaks of Lin Jiangxian with respect.

Lu Chen smiled. “Speaking only of this life, Lin Jiangxian is not a Qi Practitioner, and even less so a Sword Cultivator, but is… a Swordsman?”

“Sun Daochang of the Profound Metropolis Temple, the reason why he has that saying of ‘Ashamed to be before Teacher Lin’ is both a kind of mutual appreciation, and not excessive praise, but because Lin Jiangxian can really fight, very well! The other few heavens, together with that female Martial Goddess Pei Bei of the Vast Expanse Heaven, the ‘Number One’ of these three heavens, is different from the meaning of Lin Jiangxian’s ‘Number One’. The ‘Number One’ of Lin Jiangxian of the Azure Profound Heaven can only truly be the ‘Number One’. The gap between the ‘Number Two’ of the world and Lin Jiangxian is as large as the difference between the Ascendant Realm and the Fifteenth Realm. The gap between Zhang Tiaoxia and Pei Bei is far from being so exaggerated.”

Yang Ningxing was puzzled. “A Swordsman?”

Lu Chen nodded. “Because with or without a long sword in hand, there are two Lin Jiangxians.”

“It’s just a pity that there are countless martial artists in the Azure Profound Heaven, but none have the qualifications to make Lin Jiangxian use a sword.”
Let’s take another look at this Youzhou. The snow here is always exceptionally heavy, and this year is no exception. The snowflakes are almost the size of fists. See that ancient battlefield ruins? The baleful aura is intense, practically soaring into the sky! If it weren’t for the combined efforts of the Huayang Palace of Dipulmonary Mountain and the Yang Clan of Hongnong, each with their own masters guarding their respective areas, willing to sacrifice the cultivation of an Ascension Realm cultivator every thousand years, a rebellion of a million Yin soldiers would have erupted long ago. It’s said that the Yang Clan produced a peerless beauty of devastating allure some years ago, at the prime age of sixteen. Look, with her hair being combed beneath the crystal curtain, her languid posture, beautiful, truly beautiful. And that fullness against the spring stool… and how white that arm that holds the mirror is. Wait, why can’t I see her face clearly? The Hongnong Yang Clan is being really unkind; they’re guarding against thieves!”

Yang Ningxing couldn’t bring himself to engage in such antics and had already closed his eyes, but found it was useless. Whatever Lu Chen saw, he saw as well.

“Nephew Yang, listen to your uncle’s advice, from one who’s been there: once your Daoist arts are higher, don’t indulge in this kind of thing too often. It’s too mentally draining and a major taboo in cultivation.”

“Let’s look at Yongzhou. This is the smallest state in the Azure Billow World, similar to Treasure Bottle Continent in the Vast World. Isn’t that interesting? This used to be my Daoist site in the early years, and now there’s also the Fish Talisman Dynasty. The young Empress Zhu Xuan is creating a universal ritual, building a lotus root shrine atop that water-bound mountain range, a shrine with a national treasure inside, and outside, an old camphor tree that can divine the fortunes of the four states.”

“This Zhu Xuan is such a fickle woman! When she was young, she hooked pinkies with me, vowing undying love for a hundred years, saying she would marry Brother Lu when she grew up. Now she’s blossomed into a graceful young woman, but she’s gone back on her word! Alas, is it that all beautiful women like to make promises they don’t keep?”

“Yongzhou, the Mountain of Self-Dispersal, has a Supreme Ancestor named Long Xinpu, who loves to spread songs and prophecies, but has always been enamored with that scion of the Xuandu Temple. Such devotion, not at all like a Qi cultivator who seeks eternal life. This Yongzhou, you see, was once the birthplace of the Rice Thief lineage. But back then, those registered Daoist officials weren’t belittled as ‘Rice Thieves.’ At their peak, the number of Daoist officials and those candidates destined to be registered was as high as a million! Yang Ningxing, do you know what that number means?”

Zhu State is filled with feather-clad Daoists.

Qi State, Xuandu Temple. Also one of the states that Lu Chen visits most often, just one Daoist temple.

Yin State, Two Capitals Mountain and Great Tide Sect, they just formed a marriage alliance. That Sister Zhaoge with the Daoist name Restoration Survey, is truly a good match. She’s sacrificing herself to this extent, willing to abandon her own Daoist arts, even at the cost of falling from her realm, just for the possibility of her ghost cultivator companion, Xu Jun, to have a chance to be among the first to occupy a seat among the fourteenth realm cultivators.

At the entrance to a heavily guarded cave within the Great Tide Sect, Yao Qing suddenly looked up, smiling, shaking her head as if to remind Headmaster Lu not to spy on this place.

Lu Chen was stunned, then immediately flew into a rage, jumping and cursing, “Are there so few eccentric and talented people in the world that only I would be so idle!”

Within Youzhou, a purple-robed monk who treads snow without leaving a trace was chanting loudly, “Discussing profoundness within a thatched hut, expounding on virtue on a meditation cushion, beyond this, nothing else matters.”

As if detecting a trace, the monk turned his head and smiled, looking towards White Jade Capital from afar. With a wave of his hand, the sword light exploded in the world, severing that gaze on the spot.

Lu Chen clicked his tongue in wonder, “Nephew, did you see that? Jiang Xiu’s swordsmanship is amazing, isn’t it? My eye for talent is always accurate! Do you believe that if Jiang Xiu were to strike with all his might, a single sword light could reach White Jade Capital?”

Yang Ningxing was speechless.

In a secluded mountain, snow pressing down on green bamboo, a handsome young man left the Misty Glow Grotto of Zhenyue Palace and chose this place to eat a pot of winter bamboo shoots stewed with salted pork. Two women sat at the table, one with dark skin, a wooden hairpin in her hair, hemp clothes and straw sandals, and the other was more in line with the general image of a fairy, dressed in a emerald green Daoist robe, radiating Daoist energy.

Lu Chen smiled and introduced the three to Yang Ningxing, “Little Headmaster Zhang Fenghai, Lü Bixia, or rather, the loose immortal Nie Bixia, and Shi Xingyuan.”

Zhang Fenghai suddenly put down his chopsticks, wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb, and smiled, “Headmaster Lu, long time no see.”

A moment later, Zhang Fenghai picked up his chopsticks again, indicating that the gaze had already withdrawn.

The last scene Yang Ningxing saw was the Year-End Palace, Stork Tower.

Lu Chen smiled, “What a ‘literary’ Gao Ping, a scholar discussing military matters on paper, a defeated general dare not speak of courage.”

Lu Chen sighed and casually wiped it away, removing the temporary borrowed supernatural power from Yang Ningxing.

Drinking mountain dew to nourish breath, martial aura transformed into the light of sun and moon.

Human Realm Marriage Shop, Worldly Matching Mountain, Cai Daohuang, later revered as the “Old Man Under the Moon who ties the knot,” once managed a Register of Marriages.

Lu Chen had personally confirmed one thing in the Glazed Pearl Grotto Heaven: that Register of Marriages, “useless when useful, extremely useful when useless,” was no longer in the hands of the old man who ran the shop of happy occasions in the small town. Unsurprisingly, this matter was also the behind-the-scenes work of Old Man Yang of the apothecary.

Half of the Register of Marriages had long fallen into the hands of Liu Qi. The reason the latter traveled to foreign lands with his friend Cao Zu, from the Vast World to the Azure Billow World, was most likely for the remaining half of the Register of Marriages. Is it that Zhaoge? After all, this female Daoist’s registration is with the Heavenly Facing Woman.

Liu Qi’s actions are not a helpless move after being caught.

The greatest feature of Liu Qi’s poetry is that it laments for all the lovers in the world who ultimately failed to become family.

Therefore, attempting to tie the knot for all lovers in the world with the “entire Register of Marriages” does indeed fit Liu Qi’s path.

Fallen Phoenix Mountain Bamboo Building, Treasure Bottle Continent martial artist Cui Cheng, the old man considered himself a scholar his whole life, and only took in two disciples, both unofficial, but accidentally taught boxing to the point where they both reached two realms.

Lu Chen sighed deeply.

It’s not that martial artists are not free, it’s just that Cui Cheng stood at the top long ago.

Sunrise and sunset are both sword techniques.

Lin Jiangxian, formerly known as Xie Xin’en, is also a masked name.

The real name is probably written in the secret files of the Sword Qi Great Wall Summer Resort.
The old Hidden Official was Xiao Xun, the new one is Chen Ping’an. The old Censor was Hao Su, the new one is Qi Shou.

In the Sword Qi Great Wall’s ten thousand year history, among the three sword cultivators with official titles, only the Sacrificial Official, whose whereabouts and fate remain unknown, has always remained unchanged.

Noticing that Headmaster Lu was lost in thought, Yang Ningxing retreated three steps, bowed respectfully, and softly asked, “Headmaster Lu, should this junior take her leave?”

Lu Chen snapped back to reality and chuckled, “Together, together.”

With a single hand supporting the railing, he vaulted over, heading towards the Divine Firmament City.

The current city lord of Divine Firmament City is Jiang Yunsheng, still in the form of a young Daoist acolyte.

The previous city lord, Yao Kejiu, Daoist name “Mimicking Antiquity,” ultimately failed to return home.

Fine blossoms are like old friends, to not drink is to empty the cup oneself; alas, old friends are not like flowers.

On the city walls of his hometown, a young sword cultivator named Fang Ai found the wooden handle of the whisk left behind by Yao Kejiu.

Only he and Dong the Talisman Maker chose to stay in Divine Firmament City among the Five Cities and Twelve Towers. The other seven sword cultivators dispersed into the remaining towers of the White Jade City, soon becoming formal Daoist officials, each with their own lineage.

This wooden handle was Yao Kejiu’s sole relic.

Seeing the old object, Lu Chen felt as if he were seeing an old friend. Therefore, he often came to Divine Firmament City to drink with the young man.

Today at the table, Fang Ai was pouring wine, insisting that the red-faced Headmaster Lu drink another bowl.

Headmaster Lu held the wine cup with both hands, turning his head, repeatedly saying not to pour any more wine, he couldn’t drink it, any more and he’d be drunk, no, no, no, enough, enough…

Alright, one thing led to another, and no matter how slowly he poured, the cup was filled.

Dong the Talisman Maker came to freeload some wine today. Lu Chen’s wine was worth some spirit stones.

As for Fang Ai and Lu Chen’s dance of pouring and refusing wine, Dong the Talisman Maker was used to it. The two often behaved this way.

Perhaps it was like what Chen Ping’an said back in the day, drinking without pushing wine was boring and not lively.

Of course, that was because that wine shop was opened jointly by Chen Ping’an and Die Zhang. If the wine table didn’t push wine, how could the sales be good?

Lu Chen lowered his head to look at the overflowing bowl of wine, sighed mournfully, then raised his head to complain, “Look, it’s filled again. Don’t do this next time, or I won’t come the next time, next time.”

Fang Ai nodded and smiled, “Won’t happen again.”

When he first arrived at Divine Firmament City, Fang Ai was truly a young lad.

Lu Chen sipped the wine, shivered, then squinted and smiled, “Good wine, good wine.”

Lu Chen crossed his legs, leaned against the stone table, and asked, “Fang Ai, do you want to sit in the top spot in Divine Firmament City in the future?”

Fang Ai said, “Let me become the deputy city lord first.”

The implication was, of course, that he wanted to be the city lord.

If he became city lord, he probably wouldn’t lack immortal spirit coins. The matter of sword cultivators practicing their swords was generally acknowledged as a bottomless pit. The spiritual materials consumed could pile up into a mountain.

However, Jiang Yunsheng had only become the city lord of Divine Firmament City a few years ago. Under normal circumstances, according to the old rules of White Jade City, this meant that the city lord wouldn’t be changed for a few centuries at the short end, and a few millennia at the long end. On the other hand, the deputy city lord still held some hope. For one, there wasn’t the issue of a single carrot for a single hole, like with the city lord. Moreover, as long as the reason was sufficient and could get both headmasters to nod, it wasn’t impossible to temporarily add one.

Lu Chen liked this about Fang Ai, saying whatever he thought, without being pretentious. He smiled and asked, “This poor Daoist has a brilliant plan. Do you want to hear it?”

Fang Ai quickly offered a toast, drinking one himself first.

Lu Chen wore a mysterious expression, gritted his teeth, and blurted out a single word: “Endure!”

Fang Ai twitched his lips. Isn’t Headmaster Lu just saying nonsense?

If I could endure for three to five thousand years, I could become the city lord or tower lord of any of the Five Cities and Twelve Towers of the White Jade City.

If you were truly sincere, you’d let me go to Headmaster Lu’s South China City and become a deputy city lord. If you dared to do that, see if I dared to accept.

Lu Chen asked, “Do you miss your hometown?”

Fang Ai truthfully said, “Occasionally.”

Lu Chen seemed a little surprised and smiled, “Just occasionally?”

The young sword cultivator nodded, “Just occasionally.”

He didn’t miss it often, but every time he happened to think of it, he would miss it especially.

Lu Chen lightly tapped the table with his palm, “Correct, this kind of longing is called homesickness.”

Senior Brother Yu, like a Chen Ping’an who had been to the Lake of Documents but hadn’t stayed there.

Any pit of human hearts couldn’t hold Yu Dou. It was like this in the past, and it would probably be the same in the future.

Lu Chen once imitated the Embroidered Tiger and set up a similar heart-questioning situation for his junior brother, whose Daoist name was Mountain Green.

Unfortunately, the answer sheet given by Mountain Green, in Lu Chen’s view, seemed neither fish nor fowl, neither like Senior Brother Yu nor like Chen Ping’an.

This greatly disappointed Lu Chen, but after all, he had personally led him through the gates of White Jade City. He couldn’t just wash his hands of him, so Lu Chen threw his junior brother Mountain Green into the Five Colors World.

Lu Chen put down his wine bowl, placed one hand horizontally on the table, stretched out his legs, and lightly tapped his shoes together, looking extremely bored.

Dong the Talisman Maker asked, “Headmaster Lu, it’s said in the city that the White Bone Immortal who entered the competition is one of your avatars?”

Lu Chen immediately sat up straight, straightened his clothes, looked solemn, and said in a deep voice, “Of course.”

Dong the Talisman Maker said, “Then can you beat Yu Dou?”

Lu Chen quickly picked up his bowl and took a sip of wine, while waving his hands, “Can’t beat him, can’t beat him. Senior Brother Yu’s true invincibility isn’t a boast. We’re all in the martial world, and since we’re people of the martial world, there are only names that are wrongly chosen, and never nicknames that are wrongly given.”

Dong the Talisman Maker asked, “Is Headmaster Lu a sword cultivator?”

Lu Chen thought about it, they were practically family, so he told the truth, putting his hand in front of his mouth, “This poor Daoist’s sword skills aren’t pure enough, so I can’t be considered a true sword cultivator.”

Dong the Talisman Maker asked again, “Besides the White Bone Immortal, are there any other of Headmaster Lu’s avatars among the twenty-odd candidates?”

Lu Chen chuckled, “Guess.”

Damn it, this poor Daoist really can’t answer every question.

If he continued to be questioned by Dong the Black Charcoal, he would completely reveal his hand.

Just then, a woman in palace attire arrived gracefully, smiling enchantingly, but her eyes were filled with tears, muttering, “Heartless man, faithless wretch, are you well?”

Lu Chen glanced at the woman, jumped up, put his hands on his hips, and began to curse at her for being too immoral, spitting everywhere, as if the wine he had just drunk had been wasted.

However, Lu Chen’s cursing was in some ancient language that Dong the Talisman Maker and Fang Ai couldn’t understand.
The woman halted, extending a hand towards Lu Chen, her face etched with sorrow. “Lu Lang, I ask for nothing else, only the return of my heart.”

Lu Chen waved his sleeve dismissively. “Stop this nonsense.”

The woman’s form shifted, transforming into the likeness of an old Daoist priest.

Fang Ai gasped in shock. It seemed… to be the Dao Ancestor?! He recognized the visage from the portraits hanging in the Ancestral Hall of Divine Firmament City.

Lu Chen rolled his eyes. “Courting death.”

The old Daoist then transformed into a middle-aged Daoist priest.

Lu Chen sighed. “If you wish to fight, so be it.”

But Lu Chen quickly added, “I will also call upon my martial brother Yu.”

Finally, “it” took the form of a simple, wooden-faced youth, who reached for the wine, but upon stepping outside the confines of the stone table, he seemed to encounter an invisible wall. He bent his finger and tapped on the barrier, nodding. “Lu Chen is indeed well-versed in Buddhist teachings.”

Lu Chen warned, “Do not press your luck.”

It nodded. “Agreed.”

For cultivators, maintaining their original heart is like a ghost preserving a spark of true spiritual light.

Whether human, ghost, or immortal, all are like a lone boat adrift at sea, needing ballast, a stabilizing anchor for their Dao heart. In simpler terms, it is an obsession, the act of “carving a mark on a boat to find a dropped sword,” an exercise in futility. And according to the original “Daoist” of the human realm, this act of maintaining one’s “original nature” has given rise to several diverging, yet related, schools of thought.

And this extra-territorial demon, at its fundamental root, is, in a sense, that Daoist, or rather, a collective “shadow” of all cultivators!

Ten thousand years of dark room, a single, economical lamp.

It chuckled. “You all continue your conversation.”

Lu Chen nodded. “Let us proceed.”

Fang Ai was already on edge, but Dong Huafu, with his unflappable nature, continued, “There’s a Catch and Release Pavilion on Upside-Down Mountain, which is right next to Yu Dou’s Mountain Seal. It’s just a few steps away. Why not go to the Sword Qi Great Wall?”

Hearing this question, Fang Ai also perked up his ears, waiting for Lu Chen’s answer.

Dong Huafu’s implied meaning was simple: If you are truly invincible, why not go to the Sword Qi Great Wall and challenge the Grand Sword Immortal to a duel? If you win, who would dare deny you that title?

Lu Chen quickly poured himself a bowl of wine, needing to calm his nerves. This was a difficult question.

This Dong, always asking such tricky questions.

Lu Chen slowly sipped his wine, feeling as if he could savor a single mouthful all day.

Dong Huafu said, “If you don’t want to answer, just drink.”

Lu Chen sighed. “The Grand Sword Immortal’s union with the Sword Qi Great Wall is… awkward.”

Fang Ai interjected, “Does Sect Leader Yu feel that a contest there would be disadvantageous?”

Lu Chen shook his head. “It’s not a matter of disadvantage. Martial Brother Yu would lose, certainly lose.”

“But Martial Brother Yu doesn’t avoid the Sword Qi Great Wall out of fear of losing. If you misunderstand him in that way, you underestimate him greatly.”

“What Martial Brother Yu seeks in this life is a loss. To fight a satisfying battle, to lose with complete conviction.”

“It’s just that if Martial Brother Yu truly unleashes his full strength and engages the Grand Sword Immortal in a true sword duel, the consequences would be too great, the repercussions too far-reaching.”

Dong Huafu asked, “Could Yu Dou really cleave open the city wall with a single sword?”

Lu Chen shook his head. “Impossible.”

The Great Ancestor of Holding-the-Moon Mountain was only able to accomplish such a feat because Chen Qingdu was willingly delivering that strike, helping Flying Ascencion City journey to the Five-Colored Heavens.

One only needs to consider the later effort of several sword immortals jointly relocating a bright moon’s radiance to understand the difficulty of such a cross-world undertaking.

Chen Qingdu accomplishing this feat under the eyes of the Savage Desolate demon race was not without calculations and deductions. No matter how they looked at it, the conclusion was the same: unstoppable.

Anyone who tried to stop him would die. Perhaps only the Great Ancestor of Holding-the-Moon Mountain and Zhou Mi of the Literary Sea were exceptions.

But these two each had their own longer-term plans. It was impossible for them to directly confront Chen Qingdu head-on.

It’s like all the sword cultivators in the world, the highest of their sword arts and dao, barely reaching Chen Qingdu’s shoulder when standing on their tiptoes. How could they fight, how could they challenge him?