"You dare get distracted?!" The black dragon snorted sulfur from its nostrils, thick black smoke billowing from its ears. It seethed inwardly—if so, then strike while he was dazed and take his life!
With a whip of its tail, it swooped down from a high ridge. Its lone remaining dragon wing served as a sail; catching the astral wind high above the Ninth Heaven, it plummeted toward its opponent like a bolt of black lightning.
Qin Ming drew his gaze back from the black pagoda. The green leaf bearing him aloft in the night sky had dimmed, and he was slowly descending toward the ground.
For now, having unleashed a strand of Longevity sword intent from the World-Abiding Scripture, he could not use the technique again for a short while.
"Barbaric lizard, you still dare bare your fangs?" Qin Ming gave a soft rebuke and slashed out a five-colored sword baleful aura. Like a resplendent, multicolored galaxy emerging into existence, it carried a vast and majestic weight.
Capitalizing on his distraction, the black dragon had already arrived, crashing down like a black mountain peak. A behemoth weighing tens of thousands of jin plummeting from the night sky at high speed was indeed terrifying.
Moreover, its entire body clanged and rang. Its scales flared open, piercing light bursting through the gaps as fire and lightning surged violently from within.
Fierce rage burned in its eyes. It would have accepted being called a savage dragon, but barbaric lizard?
Dust and smoke billowed to the heavens across the area with a deafening roar. Boulders weighing hundreds to thousands of jin shattered and flew in all directions. Lightning gouged through the earth, and flames melted the surface into slag.
The five-colored sword baleful aura surged upward, instantly cleaving through sheets of thunder and fire. It carved a crisscross of bloody furrows across the black dragon's flesh, shattering scales and sending dragon blood splashing everywhere.
Driven mad with bloodlust, the black dragon fought desperately. Its mental field roared, and a sword of the mind slashed outward, desperate to obliterate the opponent who had shorn off its wing.
It erupted on every front, from flesh to spirit. From its maw tumbled garbled syllables—draconic speech—stirring a surge of mysterious particles that blasted toward its foe.
With his left hand held behind his back, Qin Ming truly carried the composure and transcendent grace of a sword immortal. Advancing against lightning, flame, and the particle stream, he carved a path with pure yang sword radiance.
"Aaargh..." The black dragon howled in agony. If this went on, it would be torn to pieces.
In an instant, it performed a dragon's armor shed. Countless scales detached, seemingly cast of dark gold, hovering in the night sky. They burst with dense black gleams, clanging and howling as they shot toward the opponent like ten thousand swords unleashed at once.
Pushing against the torrent, braving the lightning and razor-sharp scales, Qin Ming deployed his pure yang flying sword. Dense sword qi materialized in the night sky; the powers of the Five Elements cycled, weaving a vibrant tapestry of colored clouds that was even more terrifying than the dragon's ten thousand swords.
Even the thunder and fire were smothered and snuffed out by the sword baleful aura, and the dark-gold scales were continually hacked to smithereens.
Seizing that momentary reprieve, the black dragon vanished from the spot. Its massive form shrank abruptly, shifting into human guise.
He was surprisingly handsome, with long black hair streaked with blood. No longer bearing an enormous black dragon snout, he had a nearly flawless fair face and eyes bright as stars.
Blood stained his body, though he was far from mortally wounded. The scales shed moments before had merely been an outer layer; his true scales now formed a dark-gold battle suit over his body. Clenching a dragon halberd, he charged in to kill.
"Huh?" Aboard a wooden boat, the Great Red Dragon took one look and promptly wheeled back around.
Striking with his sword, Qin Ming also spotted it and called out, "What, changing your mind?"
The Great Red Dragon said, "It's not out of the ques—bah, spit! It's not a female in male disguise after all. What's the point of keeping around such a handsome male drake? If they're not our kind, their hearts are sure to be divided. Just a fire lizard-dragon. Cut him down!"
Qin Ming realized the Great Red Dragon possessed an extraordinarily fierce sense of male rivalry. Could this beast truly be the mount of Pugong's silk book method patriarch? Just what sort of personality did that living sage possess?
"You red worm, just you wait!" The handsome man into whom the black dragon had transformed glared like daggers. Even mid-assault, he didn't forget to shoot venomous glares at the Great Red Dragon, his dragon teeth grinding loudly.
Qin Ming did not get careless. The savage dragon's performance exceeded his expectations; in the critical moment, it truly dared to stake its life, and it had even blocked his sword radiance.
Around the black-haired man swirled a terrifying ring of draconic qi, suffused with blood light seeping from his flesh. Melded together, the boiling aura mounted a total defense against the sword baleful aura.
The black dragon refused to retreat, unleashing the colossal strength of the dragon clan to head-on clash with the pure yang flying sword.
"That's actually the legendary dragon Morgalon! To think he's been driven to this point—the sword cultivator's strength far exceeds our expectations!"
In front of the towering black pagoda, several figures of considerable pedigree whispered among themselves.
In truth, knowing how formidable "One Sword" was and still daring to step into the ring against him was proof enough that this black dragon was extraordinary.
His dragon soul roared, his mental field resonating with his physical flesh. Divine runes surfaced across his skin, condensing into an even hardier, impregnable layer of scales. Maintaining human form, he fought with all his might using the dragon halberd.
Compared to an ordinary black dragon, this version—gradually undergoing sacralization under the threat of death—almost seemed like an entirely different species.
In the end, Qin Ming unleashed seven types of sword baleful aura, deploying them repeatedly before piercing that sacralized armor. He severely wounded the maddened black dragon and felled it into a pool of blood.
Before the towering black pagoda stood many genuine youths. Someone stammered in disbelief, "Lord Morgalon, a black dragon standing in the God-Connecting Realm, was actually brought down so forcefully... his life is no longer in his own hands!"
Qin Ming even caught faint snippets of their murmurs. This was a dragon of the Sixth Realm, shrouded in countless legends in distant lands.
Qin Ming searched it for the precious leaves suspected to come from the Tree of Immortality, but found nothing, gaining only a jet-black weapon: the dragon halberd.
By now, the black dragon had reverted to its true form, soaked in blood yet still stubborn, showing no intention of bowing its head.
Qin Ming offered no words. Seven radiant beams of sword baleful aura descended one after another, stabbing into its four limbs, its tail, and the cheek on one side of its head. Piercing straight through flesh and bone, they pinned it firmly to the ground.
Then, as Qin Ming stoked the lightning-attributed sword baleful aura, crackling with blinding electric arcs as it pointed down toward the creature, the recalcitrant black dragon folded before he could even speak. It immediately softened its posture and shouted, "I'll ransom my life with longevity leaves!"
"Stab it!" the Great Red Dragon yelled from afar.
The beings by the black pagoda had long been unable to sit still, calling out one after another, begging Qin Ming to stay his hand—evidence of just how prominent the black dragon was.
In the end, the opposing side delivered three longevity leaves before Morgalon's life was ransomed.
For only a single precious leaf, Qin Ming naturally wouldn't release the dragon, while three leaves was the absolute limit; the other side was unyielding as well, refusing to let him extort them without limit.
"Who will fight me?"
"I am willing to meet the legends from afar with bare hands!"
...
When Qin Ming turned around, he found Tianzun, the Giant Spirit God, and the Bodhi Saint all stepping onto the field. Dropping all pretense, they vied to issue challenges.
Next, the Heavenly Immortal, Changxi, and others joined in.
They had used different names across different realms, but with several intensely fierce duels underway, they were recognized despite altering their identities.
Soon, the sickly youth tied with Qin Ming for first place, "Withered Tree Greening in Spring," also stepped onto the field carrying his green wooden staff.
They had all come for the longevity leaves.
Even experts ranked between tenth and twentieth rowed forward on wooden boats, spirits high and burning with desire for those green leaves imbued with immortal traits.
Beneath the black pagoda, some external beings were primarily infuriated by "One Sword" and wanted nothing more than to topple him. Yet as the clamor of challenges grew louder, a number of them stepped forth to accept battle.
As the scale expanded, the bouts grew increasingly fierce and bloody. The top ten rankers fared relatively well; their records were solid, and more importantly, they could protect themselves.
However, among those ranked between twentieth and thirtieth, several Yujing experts fell in rapid succession.
The foreign beings suffered similarly, with deaths and injuries of their own.
Many people sobered up. Seeing "One Sword" calmly dispatch his foes and reap longevity leaves, they had assumed the top entities in the opposing camp weren't as formidable as they looked. Once they took the field themselves, they realized how wrong they were.
"The Heavenly Immortal, the Bodhi Saint... they all won decisively! Heavens, someone got four leaves in a single fight?!"
After a wave of desperate clashes, casualties mounted on both sides.
As time went on, Qin Ming discovered to his regret that acquiring leaves from the Tree of Immortality was becoming far more difficult.
The two sides gradually fell into an unspoken understanding: no one carried longevity leaves onto the field anymore. If defeated, bystanders off the field could send in a precious leaf to ransom their life.
Initially, Qin Ming had set a "high standard" where three leaves were needed to ransom a life, but it soon degraded to one leaf per life.
Meanwhile, if someone from Yujing suffered a crushing defeat and was overpowered, they could also trade rare treasures to spare their life.
No one had anticipated that the bloody atmosphere would soften and turn strangely "cordial." Although they still fought tooth and nail, they would hold back at the critical moment to ask if the opponent wished to ransom their life first.
The land floating amidst the night mist was drenched in blood and littered with severed limbs, yet both factions exercised whatever restraint they could, making for a truly bizarre scene.
Qin Ming was dissatisfied. Up until now, he had gathered only seven longevity leaves. Although that was the largest haul among everyone, it remained far short of what he desired.
Most critically, no one came to challenge him anymore.
He sensed figures near the black pagoda spying on him in secret, clearly harboring designs on him yet holding back to probe his depth further.
Qin Ming knew full well that the other side harbored exceptionally dangerous adversaries—such as the Lord of Yujing, who could never be confined solely to the second realm.
In truth, many found the battlefield rather strange, for up to now, only beings of the third realm had been dueling and shedding blood.
This was largely because "One Sword," as the top ranker of the third realm, had made a forceful entrance and slain several prominent foreign experts in succession, drawing the focus of both sides and turning this realm into the primary theater of battle.
However, that mattered little.
Many understood that practically none of the top-tier powerhouses on the field were genuine youths.
These old monsters who dominated the rankings occupied top positions across the first realm through the higher stages. Switching to another realm for battle would merely pit the very same people against one another.
"Who will fight me in the fifth realm?" A foreign entity stepped forth to open a new arena.
Although grandmasters from Yujing stepped up to answer, the clashes were limited to one or two pairs of experts. The main battleground remained in the third realm.
The dozens-of-stories-tall black pagoda resonated with a voice: "Perhaps we should switch to another method for our friendly exchange."
Characters surfaced on the New Board: "What do you propose?"
The black pagoda said, "If war breaks out between two civilizations, single combat holds little meaning; it must be large-scale, bloody warfare. Why not loosen the restrictions..."
The New Board communicated in written characters: "Very well. Let it take place within the ruins. However, you must keep your people in check—no violating the rules. Battle at whatever tier one belongs to."
The black pagoda glowed and retorted, "Your side is packed with old monsters; barely any are genuine youths! You are the ones who should worry about breaking rules. How do you have the gall to lecture us?"
The New Board responded, "Right back at you. Some of those 'elderly youths' on your side have wrinkles deep enough to clamp a sparrow."
...
A moment later, Qin Ming received word that he no longer needed to worry about a lack of opponents.
After deliberation, both sides agreed to each dispatch thirty experts, scattering them across the ruins to wage an unscripted, chaotic battle.
Following a brief respite, fighters from both sides entered the grounds. The lineups were formidable; whenever someone revealed their true visage, gasps of astonishment rippled through their respective factions.
Others remained shrouded in black robes, red cloaks, and the like, concealing their faces.
"'One Sword,' 'Withered Tree Greening in Spring,' 'Heavenly Immortal'... they've all entered the field. That should be enough to overturn the opposing crowd, right?"
"Don't be blindly optimistic. If the Lord of Yujing makes a move, or if there are beings even stronger than him, things could end horribly."
"Let's just hope these entities aren't top disciples from the ancestral court of that great foreign organization. Otherwise, our side is doomed to lose!"
Some felt rather pessimistic. Their camp lacked direct lineages personally nurtured by Yujing; in truth, none of them had ever entered that supreme inverted city hanging overhead.
The grotto-heaven ruins spanned a vast area, resembling a continent floating amidst the Night Mist Sea, yet it was battered and crumbling.
Beyond broken walls and collapsed buildings, vast swathes were scorched black, as though ravaged by unimaginable tribulation qi. Many mountains had been melted by fierce heat, then flash-frozen by Nether chill.
Once the experts from both camps were introduced, they were scattered far apart, but the tension only mounted.
Standing in the depths of the ruins, Qin Ming discovered that this grotto-heaven had been breached by external force. Before him yawned an abyss swirling with night mist.
After careful inspection, he confirmed that this was a massive hole punched through the original grotto-heaven. Anyone falling through here would likely plummet from high above the Ninth Heaven, piercing the cloud layer to smash directly into the earth below.
"With my current cultivation, though I still can't truly fly, I can ride the wind for short bursts. Even if I fell from the Ninth Heaven, I shouldn't plummet to my death, right?"
Then he smacked his forehead. Right now, borrowing a vessel in the form of a stone effigy, he was here via spirit wandering; he had no reason to fear falling at all.
Besides, with his ever-prudent attitude toward survival, he constantly kept a parachute pack on his person; even if his physical body were here, he wouldn't fear unexpected mishaps.
It was mainly because the Cui clan old woman had once blasted him down from high in the sky, causing him to shatter to pieces upon crashing into the Fourth Peril—an experience that had left him traumatized.
Suddenly, terrifying ripples erupted in the distance, leveling an entire peak. Clearly, top-tier powerhouses had abruptly engaged in an explosive battle.
"Cough..." Tiangang coughed up blood. A top-ten expert on Yujing's side, he was now scorched black from head to toe, with a gaping hole punched through his chest.
Crossing the night mist, the Heavenly Immortal arrived immediately, only to find the battle had already concluded.
"I've been crippled for the time being," Tiangang sighed.
"Who was it?" the Heavenly Immortal asked.
"Completely enveloped in black robes. He struck with violent fury, and I couldn't stop him at all." Even Tiangang himself found the outcome hard to accept.
Had the Heavenly Immortal arrived a moment later, his fate would have been grim.
"Could it be the Lord of Yujing?" The Heavenly Immortal wore a solemn expression.
Tiangang shook his head. "I never fought the Lord of Yujing; I don't know if it was him."
Soon, Guanghan—now known as Changxi—appeared on the scene as well.
...
"Hm?" A warning bell rang in Qin Ming's heart. Though he saw nothing, he suddenly sensed mortal danger approaching.
He shifted sideways in a flash, altering his position repeatedly. Flitting like a god or demon through the ancient grotto-heaven ruins, he left behind afterimage upon afterimage.
Yet the threat clung to him. Even after fleeing over a dozen li across the barren, scorched earth, the prickle of danger did not abate; if anything, it grew more suffocating.
Qin Ming stopped, standing motionless.
Rubble covered the ground; not a speck of dust rose, nor did the air ripple. Yet Qin Ming sharply perceived a lethal peril descending upon him.
Clang! A seven-colored sword baleful aura erupted around him like the tail of the Peacock Bright King spreading open. The dazzling rainbow baleful aura flared in front of Qin Ming's left temple, deflecting an invisible arrow shaft.
Beforehand, there had been no violent surge of energy; afterward, not even a sonic boom sounded. Yet the destructive power of that invisible arrow was terrifying, causing the seven-colored sword baleful aura to flicker violently and thinning out the pure yang sword radiance.
In fact, the screen of light formed by the sword baleful aura was nearly pierced through!
Qin Ming's heart chilled. He had run into an extraordinarily formidable foe; even invoking seven colored sword baleful auras was not enough to protect him completely, forcing him to tilt his head aside at the critical instant.
"An invisible arrow condensed from spirituality and dao rhymes, tailored to extinguish a cultivator's essence, qi, and spirit!" He saw through the horrifying nature of the shaft.
At the same time, through that fleeting contact with the arrow, he pinpointed the location of his formidable adversary.
Several li away in the night mist, atop a high knoll stood a woman draped in black robes, her figure remarkably graceful. Her hands were completely empty, yet moments ago she had posed as though drawing a bow to loose an arrow.
"A true rival!" Without making a sound, Qin Ming instantly fused his Extreme Yin sword baleful aura, elevating the baleful aura to eight kinds in total harmony.
If he had a choice, he wouldn't wish to reveal this much before the black pagoda and the New Board.
Outside the ruined grotto-heaven, the New Board unfurled across the horizon, clearly projecting scenes from across the battlefield—including the perilous moment Qin Ming had just faced.
"An invisible arrow! Terrifying... how many people could possibly dodge that? Just now, even 'One Sword' was nearly killed!"
"Even his seven-colored sword baleful aura could barely stop it. That is a divine archer far transcending the ordinary!"
Across from it, the black pagoda also projected scenes within the ruins.
"Shadowless and formless, following the mind's intent, dao-rhyme arrows that never miss... She is... the God Hunter—Laylaya!"
In an instant, many before the black pagoda grew ecstatic. This was a legendary powerhouse, yet she had stepped onto the field in person to hunt the opposing sword cultivator.
"Look quickly! That silver-robed man shrouded in churning silver radiance, like a galaxy winding around him... Could he be the Grand Wizard—Karon?! He actually journeyed with us? Heavens! I grew up listening to tales of his deeds before finally stepping onto the path of the extraordinary!"
Before the black pagoda, a group of youths erupted into an uproar, stunned to see Grand Wizard Karon joining the hunt for that sword cultivator.
Within the ruined grotto-heaven, Qin Ming spun around sharply. In a single glance, he spotted the silver-robed man three li away, gazing intently toward him.
Not only that—prompted by a sudden instinct, he glanced behind him. Several li away, a red-robed figure emerged from the night mist, closing in on his location.
Then he tilted his head toward another direction and made yet another discovery: a grey-robed figure was strolling forward, already less than two li from him.
He was certain now: this was a premeditated, coordinated hunt.
"The issue must lie with those longevity leaves. When I inspected and touched them, I likely caught some unknown trace of their scent." Qin Ming's gaze sharpened. When the other side had ransomed their lives, they must have tampered with the goods.
In the span of a breath, he identified at least five top-tier powerhouses closing in from every direction.
Outside, before the towering black pagoda, the crowd cried out in astonishment before buzzing with wild excitement.
"Heavens! Every single one is a supreme legend, yet they entered the field together just to hunt down one person!"
"What right does that sword cultivator have to warrant multiple legendary figures hunting him down together?!"
They were certain that no matter how powerful this sword cultivator was, he was doomed. Trapped within a lethal snare, he could never escape this calamity.
Within the battered ruins, sword qi surged before Qin Ming into the highest heavens as if to pierce the sky itself. He muttered to himself, "Ganging up to hunt me down? As if my sword lacks edge!"
Chapter 445