The pitch-black night sky was torn apart by a nine-colored sword light, causing the clouds to burst into scatterings.
The black flame phoenix's vision went dark, racked by excruciating agony. At first, he saw blood splashing before his eyes, and then his sight fractured into pieces. His protective divine flames, his undying runes—all of them failed.
He realized that in all likelihood, his head had just been blasted apart by a single sword strike.
Subconsciously, he manifested an arm, but could find no head to clutch.
High in the sky, blood-stained feathers fluttered about, drifting down like withered leaves as the black flame phoenix's massive, headless body plummeted, engulfed in raging flames.
Though the flame of his consciousness had also been pierced by the sword light, it had not yet extinguished. As the saying went, a Pure Yang will was difficult to destroy; it let out a shrill, mournful cry, brimming with agony and terror, but above all, a desperate plea for help.
His physical body had been cleaved apart by a single sword strike, impervious to all his defenses. In a single stroke, seventy percent of his will to fight had been worn away—how could he possibly resist?
Within the Night Mist Sea, Qin Ming rode the astral wind, suspended high in the heavens without falling. His golden armor shone resplendently as he slashed out once more with a sky-tearing, nine-colored sword light.
The black flame phoenix wailed. His consciousness, swirling with divine fire, boiled over as he fought back desperately. The pitch-black clouds re-forming across the sky were scorched red, radiant with tragic brilliance.
He shrieked in agony, "Aaargh—!"
His mental field was pierced through and visibly dimmed. Although a grandmaster's will was tough to extinguish, that depended entirely on what sort of opponent they faced.
Right now, Qin Ming was giving his all, treating this as a battle of life and death and aiming to resolve it as swiftly as possible. His majestic sword intent swept forward like pulling up rotten weeds, gouging straight through the creature's soul light.
The black flame phoenix had "undying" in his name, yet who could truly be immortal? He felt his strength abruptly drop by a massive margin.
His grandmaster will dimmed considerably once more. Tough as it was, it tried to reassemble, but there was no longer any chance to turn the tables.
When Qin Ming's third sword struck downward, the brilliant sword light diverged into thousands of dazzling strands, so dazzling they froze the black flame phoenix's Pure Yang consciousness stiff.
Streaks of sword light, like colorful ribbons or translucent spider silk, spread across the Night Mist Sea, warping and collapsing the entire void to ensnare and bind all things.
The black flame phoenix's soul light was bound tight, helpless to struggle. With a flash, Qin Ming collected it and silently swept it into a large umbrella.
"Praise be to the Sword Immortal! Many thanks for the feeding!" The Yellow Silk Canopy fluttered with immortal aura. The alluring figure surfaced on the canopy's fabric, offering a graceful curtsy, her words far sweeter than before.
It had already returned to the fifth realm and could now share Qin Ming's burdens.
Qin Ming let out a breath of relief. He silently appraised the fight: in an ordinary exchange, it would likely have taken dozens of moves to slay this black flame phoenix.
Though somewhat weary, killing the enemy so cleanly and decisively was well worth it, as it precluded any chance of other grandmasters intervening or mounting a rescue.
"I must not underestimate the grandmasters of the supreme factions," Qin Ming reminded himself. If he happened across a great grandmaster, he would turn on his heel and leave immediately—such entities were not to be provoked yet.
The grandmasters he had encountered were almost all in the early stage; higher-level beings were not very active. Under normal circumstances, during an era when Dao rhymes surged violently, great grandmasters suffered severe physical complications and dared not lightly enter the fray.
The black flame phoenix's massive headless corpse plummeted from the night sky into the dense primeval forest below, where black firs and silver maples towered over a hundred meters tall.
Branches snapped and foliage flew as many towering trees were smashed, and the ground cracked open, revealing a subterranean fire spring glowing with shimmering red light.
Qin Ming touched down, immediately harvesting the grandmaster-level strange bird's super wondrous blood. To him, this represented not only military merit, but also crucial sustenance for breaking through boundaries.
In the distance, the experts of the Yujing faction stared in dazed disbelief. Was this the top-ranked One Sword? Slaying a grandmaster in three strikes, looking as if he were merely taking a leisurely stroll.
That poise, that calm and unruffled demeanor, seemed to radiate a brilliance that surged to the heavens. It instilled an involuntary sense of security, convincing them that so long as he was here, every opponent could be resolved.
Searching the black flame phoenix, Qin Ming found a storage pendant containing a void teleportation talisman. Fortunately, he had opened with his ultimate trump card, blowing the opponent's head apart in a single strike and leaving no chance to employ the talisman.
"Everyone, thank you for your hard work. Have this as a midnight snack," Qin Ming said, leaving the black flame phoenix behind for the experts guarding the border.
He turned sharply, looking toward the crimson forest.
The black flame phoenix's cries had naturally alerted the grandmasters on the opposing side.
The monster covered head to toe in silver scales had already come striding over. But upon witnessing the colossal avian corpse fall, he halted abruptly in his tracks.
Farther away, the silver-haired female grandmaster had also appeared. After witnessing the terrifying sight in the night sky, she spun around and fled without the slightest hesitation.
"Were they the ones stirring up trouble?" Qin Ming asked.
"That's right!" the experts on the border affirmed in unison. Remembering the covert sneers and mockery from earlier, their hearts still smoldered with indignation.
Qin Ming crossed the border without hesitation, charging straight toward the opposing side. He had known beforehand that the phoenix, the silver-scaled monster, and the silver-haired female grandmaster were the true instigators; even the earth ox had been seduced into the field by their machinations.
Looking back, the silver-scaled monster of the Abyss civilization saw that the silver-haired female grandmaster had broken into flight and was vanishing in the blink of an eye. Without a word, he stepped on runes and fled, as if teleporting.
Clusters of silver flame were left behind on the ground. Clearly, this Abyss grandmaster was extraordinary, possessing immense strength. Yet facing a sword cultivator who had achieved the Perfection of Seeing Nine, he could muster no will to fight at all. This was wisdom distilled by predecessors across generations: one had to retreat.
Such was the terrifying reputation forged in history by sword immortals through battles against the foreign domain gods.
"Eight colors make one matchless; nine colors make one supreme! How did I end up running into him?" The silver-scaled monster cursed himself for not being born with extra legs.
Behind him, a frigid sword intent closed in, making the silver scales over his entire body open and shut with clanging metallic rings. Vital essence surged from every pore as he pushed his flight to the limit.
Yet a chill ran down his spine as he felt his pursuer close the distance with a mere flicker.
Qin Ming appeared above the clouds and mist, treading empty air. He seemed completely calm, advancing at an unhurried pace, and caught up without expending much effort at all.
*Chii!*
As the nine-colored sword light descended, the silver-scaled monster leapt from a mountain peak, diving into the woodland. The mountain's summit was sheared clean off by the vast sword qi.
Yet he could dodge for a moment, but not escape the subsequent sword lights. He had already been overtaken.
The silver-scaled monster halted and prepared to fight for his life, shouting, "A so-called supreme sword cultivator—aren't you just a grandmaster right now as well? Let me test your mettle!"
There was no suspense in this battle. Observers saw the forest below submerged in nine-colored sword qi, pouring down like boundless divine fire, with sword intent surging like a tsunami.
The entire primeval dense forest was shredded to pieces, and low rocky hills collapsed in an instant. The grandmaster-level silver-scaled monster roared as all his sturdy scales blew apart and tore away from his body.
In moments, his body—reputed to be as hard as Vajra—was punctured front to back by sword qi, riddled with daylight, before detonating with a thunderous boom.
"No super wondrous blood. It seems this depends on the species. Lineages whose ancestors produced innate gods, fiends, or top-tier true spirits are far more likely to yield such blood essences."
Qin Ming felt a touch of disappointment. The silver-scaled monster had attained this height through personal cultivation; the bloodline of his origin was not particularly strong.
Perhaps if the silver-scaled monster had one day reached the pinnacle and undergone full "apotheosis," he too could have become a source of wondrous blood.
His storage bracelet showed he was nowhere near as wealthy as the black flame phoenix.
"Still, it's the bracelet of a grandmaster. Healing medicine, an Abyss body-refining manual, day gold... not bad at all, far richer than I was at the start."
Clearly, Qin Ming's wealth had only ballooned after his expedition into foreign domains and his attendance at that auction; on that journey, he had dispatched multiple grandmasters.
"So fast... Silver Scale is dead too." In the distance, the silver-haired female grandmaster turned pale. Possessing no small background, she decisively activated a void teleportation talisman, not daring to waste a second as she fled for her life.
Facing someone who had achieved the Perfection of Seeing Nine, no one could blame her for fleeing from battle; it was entirely forgivable.
As for the Celestial Clan members, Abyss beings, and totem camp youths in this area who had not reached the grandmaster realm, they were scared witless, scrambling over one another to flee.
On the Yujing side, those witnessing this spectacle were left dazed. With the arrival of just one person, the adversaries along this border had completely routed?
"Pursue them! Clean up the area!" someone barked an order.
As for Qin Ming, he rode the astral wind, following in the direction the silver-haired female grandmaster had fled, pacing himself without rush.
Grandmaster-level wondrous blood, coupled with the storage bracelets on their persons, were all valuable resources. With supreme factions locked in standoff and conventional forces clashing in blood, if he didn't seize them now, when would he?
Five hundred li away, atop a great mountain, the silver-haired female grandmaster materialized. Precious as her void teleportation talisman was, it was relatively mediocre among its kind; this was the maximum distance it could traverse.
This was an outpost where youths from the Celestial Clan and totem camp were stationed, searching the surrounding sea of trees for the source of Great Yin.
The silver-haired female grandmaster asked anxiously, "Daoist Peng hasn't shown up, but what about Daoist Butterfly? Why hasn't he arrived either?"
She had come seeking reinforcement, only to find that the master who was supposed to hold the fort was absent, and there was not a single grandmaster present at this outpost.
A totem seed in the fourth realm informed her, "Daoist Butterfly arrived, but left again. An anomaly appeared three hundred li away—red clouds surged to the heavens, purple mist swirled, and the ground in that mountain forest flowed with countless mysterious characters..."
Upon learning of this, Daoist Butterfly had immediately led a group there.
They had known all along that something was unusual about this crimson forest. Its mountains, rivers, and flora were predominantly crimson, as though steeped in sunset glow and fresh blood.
The tree species, briars, and vegetation here could all be found in the outside world, and none should have borne such a crimson hue.
As they probed, practically digging five hundred spans into the earth, they seemed to have triggered certain restrictions.
The silver-haired female grandmaster pressed, "I need detailed information!"
"We weren't the ones who triggered it. Infiltrators from the Strange Insect Alliance, the cultivation civilization, the Godkin Society, and others have all entered. No one knows which group discovered it first, but word is that medicinal fragrance is wafting out..."
Other supreme civilizations and top-tier organizations pursuing the moon had initially chosen to enter the crimson forest upon their arrival, primarily because this place was unowned territory, open to anyone in principle.
Undoubtedly, if their pursuit of the moon yielded nothing here, they would ultimately have to push into the Yujing faction's enclave.
"Could it be a lost ancient herb garden?" The silver-haired female grandmaster's eyes lit up.
"It's not yet clear. In that mountain forest, characters are flowing across everything from rocks to plants, like a misty veil draped over it. It's exceedingly bizarre, and many people have already been drawn over."
The silver-haired female grandmaster suddenly thought of that terrifying figure who had achieved the Perfection of Seeing Nine behind her.
"He won't chase me all the way here, will he?" The silver-haired grandmaster looked back along the path she had fled. After all, five hundred li was not particularly far; if he truly intended to follow her, he would arrive before long.
At the thought of this possibility, her heart skipped a beat. Could her fear come true? She had never attacked that man, never provoked "One Sword." Just because she glanced at him once in the crowd, was she to be hunted to the ends of the earth? Where was the justice in that?!
The silver-haired female grandmaster set off once more, hurrying toward the mysterious land three hundred li away to rendezvous with the powerful Daoist Butterfly.
Qin Ming indeed pursued her. Having stowed away his standard golden armor, he was dressed in black robes, his hair loosely draped over his shoulders, as he explored the crimson forest.
His primary purpose was not to hunt down that female grandmaster, but rather to utilize his innate advantages to track down the "Divine Moon."
"Old Cloth, do you sense anything?" As he traveled, he repeatedly attempted to communicate with the exotic metal cloth, but received no response at all.
Qin Ming frowned. This was uncharacteristic of Old Cloth.
Had it encountered a ragged cloth fragment, it would inevitably emit ripples, perhaps even flying into the sky with him in tow to rush to the scene.
Could things differ from what he imagined? Perhaps the Divine Moon here was not an exotic metal cloth fragment, but genuinely involved the power of the source of Great Yin?
Whether in Wangshu City, Silver River Gorge, or upon entering the crimson forest, Old Cloth remained as placid as an ancient well, completely unlike its past behavior when nearing territory belonging to its kind.
Traveling five hundred li, Qin Ming intermittently spotted personnel from hostile factions and even came upon an outpost. Approaching in secret, he took control of several people and unexpectedly learned of an anomalous spectacle three hundred li ahead.
"A mysterious realm of mountains and rivers reviving?"
Furthermore, he had learned that the Godkin Society, the cultivation civilization, the Strange Insect Alliance, and others had entered the board, dispatching conventional forces.
"Chaos is about to engulf this region!" Qin Ming grew vigilant.
After pondering, he prepared to head over and inspect the situation.
Three hundred li was nothing to Qin Ming. Soon, he drew near that territory. The crimson forest ahead was brilliantly multicolored, interwoven with various symbols. Plants and rocks served as sheets of paper, bearing those written characters.
Many people roamed this expanse, their garments and gear bearing alien styles. There were old men brandishing white-bone banners and young men possessing golden-body dharmic manifestations—whom the Yellow Silk Canopy recognized at a glance as Nascent Soul cultivators from its homeland.
There were also swarms of silver insects, densely packed, their buzzing wingbeats warping the night sky as a cohesive whole.
Several groups ventured into that mysterious land one after another. All the flowing characters radiated kaleidoscopic light, like a misty veil shrouding the truth.
Once inside, some vanished in the blink of an eye, as though stepping into another world entirely.
Multiple supreme factions coexisted here, mutually wary, and even within the same faction, different orthodoxies guarded against one another, dividing into dozens of factions.
Each party was led by a grandmaster.
Having approached, Qin Ming kept a low profile, secretly resonating to glean as much information as possible.
Soon, he caught several valuable pieces of intelligence.
Initially, a powerful grandmaster had employed "karmic fire" against a foe and accidentally burned the mountain, revealing the anomaly within these mountains and rivers.
Qin Ming felt a tremor in his heart. Karmic fire was extraordinarily perilous, something ordinary people dared not touch. It seemed truly formidable and dangerous figures lurked among the grandmasters of the supreme factions.
"Using karmic fire as a catalyst awakened this mountain-river domain."
Various factions entered in succession, while others fled back out.
Those who returned were immediately surrounded and shielded by their own factions, barring outsiders from getting close.
Even Qin Ming was too far away to resonate, unable to pry into further details.
However, judging by how those factions dispatched people inside again, this reviving mysterious land was evidently well worth exploring, or they would not have continued sending personnel deeper.
Qin Ming waited a long time. Seeing that even fourth-realm cultivators could enter and return alive and well, he prepared to go in and take a look.
The medicinal fragrance drifting out was refreshing to the soul, making even him feel a slight surge in physical vitality.
Qin Ming felt that this might truly be an ancient herb garden.
Choosing a direction, he walked inward, cautiously maintaining his guard while trying once more to converse with the exotic metal cloth.
"Old Cloth, wake up. Do you sense anything?"
Regrettably, Old Cloth showed no ripples.
Stepping into the domain inscribed with characters, where kaleidoscopic sunset glow flowed in an anomalous fashion, Qin Ming found the mist growing denser the further he went, as if cordoning off an entire realm.
At last, as though parting a thick drapery, he stepped into the true mysterious land.
In this land, certain areas were veiled in white mist and lush with splendid trees, while others were overgrown with weeds, desolate, and strewn with rubble.
Qin Ming paused. For now, he had yet to see anything sacred or extraordinary about this place.
As he took a step and set foot on the first stone stair, a cry of pain sounded from beneath his feet, followed by loud wailing.
"It hurts so much! Please, spare your noble foot! Mercy!"
Qin Ming yanked his foot back and retreated swiftly. Looking down, he saw he had only stepped on a single blade of weed poking through a crack in the green stone steps; there was no other living creature.
Once his foot moved away, the cries ceased.
"Were you the one screaming?" Qin Ming took another tentative step, lightly touching the ordinary wild weed with the sole of his foot.
Sure enough, it was that weed. It wailed miserably once more: "It hurts so much! I'm being crushed to powder! Can't you see me?!"
Qin Ming was taken aback. Sensing it carefully, he detected no anomaly; it was indistinguishable from ordinary weeds, not an elemental spirit or demon in the least, yet it was genuinely speaking.
Whenever Qin Ming lifted his foot, it fell silent; whenever he pressed down, it cried out.
"What on earth is your deal?"
The wild weed wailed, "Stop stepping on me! Don't torture me! I'll tell you everything! I am a god! As for the past, I have no memories; I know nothing!"
Qin Ming tested it a few times and truly couldn't bear to torment it further. He moved forward, but upon stepping on a clump of briars, he brought that to tears as well.
They weren't spirits, couldn't transform, and held no magic power, yet the moment they were trodden upon, they wept and wailed.
"And what about you?" Qin Ming asked.
"I am a god too! No past, a total blank!" the briar patch whimpered.
Qin Ming tested further; across the mountains and plains, all the plants and trees were like this—any trampling provoked wailing.
His head ached. Sometimes a single step drew the bitter weeping and curses of several gods at once. Never before had he encountered gods so utterly frail.
At the same time, he heard weeping and cursing coming from the distance; evidently, people in other areas were experiencing the exact same thing.
Qin Ming lifted off the ground and rode the wind, doing his best not to touch the vegetation. He truly could not stand the weeping and wailing everywhere, which set his nerves on edge.
"I actually cultivated a second golden core here! Hahaha—!" a cultivator from the cultivation civilization laughed.
In truth, he had not spoken aloud, lurking in concealment; it was primarily because his emotional fluctuations were so violent that Qin Ming could vaguely resonate and catch fragments of his thoughts even from a distance.
"What's happening? There's something wrong with this golden core... It's transforming into a nascent soul? No, wait... I'm—about to give birth?!" In that area, an intensely enraged surge of emotion rippled out.
Qin Ming opened the Eye of the Newborn, gazing toward that ground.
It was a man who, after forming a second golden core, was actually about to go into labor.
What kind of bizarre place was this? Qin Ming's hairs stood on end. Having been single for all these years, he absolutely did not want to bear a child out of wedlock—this was far too horrifying!
He enveloped his exterior evenly in nine-colored sword light to ensure he remained isolated from the outside world, safe and sound.
"I only ate a single fruit! It was clearly recorded in the rare herb manual as extremely precious, so how could this happen?!" The Golden Core cultivator broke down completely.
Hearing this, Qin Ming secretly sighed in relief. It seemed one must not eat recklessly.
Keep my mouth shut, and don't casually reach out. After all, there are other safe miraculous herbs here, like that five-colored strange beast, Daoist Butterfly, and the like.
Before long, Qin Ming ran into several waves of people and resonated with some valuable pieces of information.
In this place, one could not pick spirit herbs at random; many had enormous problems.
However, there were also safe areas.
"In areas with architecture, the herbs are fine and can be consumed."
Qin Ming's heart grew fervent at once. If it was safe, he might be able to break through boundaries here and advance to the next level.
This territory was vast. Avoiding people along the way, Qin Ming entered an area alone and actually saw morning glow, along with red walls and golden glazed tiles.
It was an ancient temple, appearing as if it had stood for thousands of years. Though dilapidated and choked with weeds, it still emanated a sacred aura in the morning light.
"Could this be the place of my breakthrough, the sanctuary where I attain the Dao?" Riding the wind, Qin Ming caught a faint whiff of medicinal fragrance.
Chapter 547