The left side of Daoist Butterfly's face was a mangled mess of flesh and shattered bone. Bone fragments were blasted away by sword light, leaving his cheek bloodied and disfigured.
The sight stunned everyone present.
The scales covering the five-colored strange beast gleamed faintly, its massive body tensing as it thought to itself, *This newly made Daoist brother of mine is done for.*
"This..." The hearts of the Celestial Clan experts trembled in disbelief. Daoist Butterfly, a figure of exceedingly high status, had actually been heavily wounded, his blood splashing into the night sky.
No one had anticipated this. Daoist Butterfly had been pierced clean through and was bleeding profusely; if this continued, he might truly be slain by "One Sword" before both armies.
That beam of nine-colored sword baleful aura was terrifying beyond measure. Had it deviated just a fraction more, it would have struck Daoist Butterfly directly between the brows with catastrophic consequences.
"Brilliantly struck!" Pei Shuyan, Zhuo Qingming, and the others could not help but shout in acclaim. Having gained a moment to catch their breath, they had already pulled out the blades and spears lodged in their bodies.
Even grandmasters of exalted standing were thoroughly invigorated, roaring their approval.
Yao Ruoxian's beautiful eyes shone brightly as she stared at the back of "One Sword," comparing him to the acquaintances she knew. From his physical frame to his spiritual presence, she scrutinized both, yet found no points of resemblance.
Daoist Butterfly's entire body went taut, his scalp tingling with dread. He executed teleportation after teleportation, for an even greater crisis was fast approaching—something far more terrifying than the sword light itself.
In adversity, his mind was exceptionally clear. He knew that if he failed to evade this, he would plunge into his darkest hour.
*Chi!*
The nine-colored sword baleful aura blazed with brilliance, resembling a bridge anchored across a bitter sea to the other shore. It could deliver a soul, or it could instantly close the distance between two worlds.
Daoist Butterfly was locked in place, unable to shake off the sword light. He was forced to endure selective blows, blood constantly spraying from his body as flesh and bone were hewn apart.
Light rain fell intensely around him. Several times he attempted to transform, only to be forcibly suppressed by the sword light. He was clearly preparing a profound art, his runic flames surging skyward.
He was turning into a butterfly, attempting to fight in another form.
Yet he was pierced through again and again, his sacred metamorphosis violently interrupted.
Qin Ming's hunch had been correct: Daoist Butterfly's alternate form was indeed far more formidable, endowed with forbidden methods that would prove exceedingly dangerous if unleashed.
The nine-colored sword light plowed through the night sky, accompanied by tragic plumes of bloody radiance.
Daoist Butterfly's expression shifted drastically. Even consecutive teleportations failed to shake off his pursuer. The golden threads concealed within the sword light, initially sluggish, had grown increasingly agile.
This time, he had already begun to sanctify himself. His feather robe fluttered and his hair shone, while his shattered cheek and pierced flesh rapidly restored themselves.
Yet in the very next instant, wisps of golden silk hidden within the sword light ruthlessly skewered him. At the same time that his form and spirit suffered grave damage, his entire body froze momentarily.
In that split second, he was bound, scarcely able to move.
It was as if a cluster of golden needles had pinned an ordinary bug to the ground.
Decisive as ever, Daoist Butterfly chose to molt preemptively, detonating himself to break free of the golden threads. In truth, he feared an even denser barrage of golden silk would pierce him, leaving him thoroughly subdued.
Having mastered the *Undying Silkworm Scripture*, he possessed an innate undying trait spanning both flesh and spirit. His torn form and spirit coalesced anew in the distance.
Sparing no cost, he forced his sanctification.
Bathed in radiant rain, the avatar of the Demonic Butterfly manifested. His physical body shone brilliantly, wreathed in the light of an ascending immortal.
Qin Ming rode the wind, his sword intent vast and surging as variegated colors reflected the power of nine distinct domains, sweeping forward.
Masked by the nine-colored sword baleful aura, countless golden threads surged ahead, piercing the curtain of radiant rain.
Daoist Butterfly's expression twisted in horror. Why could he not shake him off? Across the void, he seemed to have been preemptively ensnared by a peculiar adhesive force.
Onlookers had not yet perceived anything amiss, assuming Daoist Butterfly had stabilized his footing. The moment the Demonic Butterfly avatar emerged, winds howled, clouds churned, and heaven and earth lost their color as sacred rain flooded the sky.
"Daoist Butterfly was actually driven to this point? Is he about to unleash that combo for the finishing blow?"
The other grandmasters of the Celestial Clan conversed through conscious voice transmissions. They kept their discussions concealed to prevent the opposing camp from overhearing and complicating the situation.
They knew well that this was Daoist Butterfly's second metamorphosis. That forbidden realm had three distinct tiers: Insect, Butterfly, and Immortal!
Once fully prepared, the trinity could sweep through opposition like withered weeds. Within the same domain, it was capable of slaying gods and buddhas alike.
However, executing such a forbidden art was arduous. Beginning as an insect, sanctifying into a butterfly, and culminating in the nebulous form of an immortal required time to gestate; it could not erupt instantaneously.
This time, the sword light was extraordinarily blinding, as if tens of thousands of golden rays had blossomed, or a brilliant sun had erupted outward, casting countless shimmering threads over the space ahead.
Daoist Butterfly endured wave after wave of searing agony. Though his sanctification had begun and his Demonic Butterfly avatar had manifested, his body was still pierced through, leaving him soaked in blood.
He could not set foot into the forbidden realm. He was barred from executing the supreme trinity of Insect, Butterfly, and Immortal, forcibly disrupted time and time again.
To be hindered and suppressed repeatedly was a wretched experience. Daoist Butterfly vomited blood, his form and spirit battered.
Worst of all, he was now pinned in place by the golden threads.
With a humming resonance, the void trembled as Qin Ming swung his sword in a sweeping arc.
With a thunderous *bang*, Daoist Butterfly was blown apart on the spot.
Moreover, the golden threads swarmed in greater numbers this time, intent on piercing every shard of his spirit to bring him down once and for all.
Every faction held its breath. Everyone recognized that this battle had reached its decisive pivot.
Daoist Butterfly's soul convulsed with acute dread. Visions of his own doom flashed before his mind. He could not afford to be trapped here; even with his undying traits, he would be ground into oblivion.
To have attained such heights, he was undeniably extraordinary. A flash of profound spiritual clarity struck him, and cold dread gripped his core as he realized the situation was far graver than he had envisioned.
"Sacrifice a life, escape!"
Daoist Butterfly decisively cast his art. A luminous silhouette of an insect emerged, bearing the calamity in his stead.
Yet the scapegoat insect proved utterly futile, disintegrating in the blink of an eye.
He realized the flaw himself. What should have been a dazzling mass of essence was currently dull and lifeless—it had already been expended recently.
*When did I burn a life beforehand?* Daoist Butterfly was bewildered. He had possessed no memory of it.
He cast his technique once more. A butterfly shadow materialized, a radiant mass that lit up the entire sky. Teeming with spiritual vitality, it seemed as though a second Daoist Butterfly had manifested, taking his place to bear the brunt of the disaster.
Meanwhile, Daoist Butterfly's true body vanished from the spot, fleeing the battlefield.
"This..." The Celestial Clan was stunned. Had Daoist Butterfly truly been driven to the brink of doom, forced to sacrifice a life to save himself?
They all knew Daoist Butterfly possessed three lives more than ordinary cultivators, granted by that forbidden domain and corresponding to Insect, Butterfly, and Immortal.
Not only had he failed to execute his three-tier killing art, he had even been forced to sever his butterfly life?
After such a catastrophic defeat, even if he regrouped, he would be unable to deploy that trinity forbidden art for quite some time.
Qin Ming tore through the butterfly shadow and cast it to the Yellow Silk Canopy.
"Not a true soul!" Little Huang grumbled in displeasure.
"Just you wait! I'll settle this with you next time!" Far away in the sky, Daoist Butterfly glanced back. Suppressed and thoroughly indignant, he resolved to step into the trinity realm directly within the Crimson Forest before venturing out to kill his foe next time.
However, maintaining that state for an extended period was exceptionally difficult, which posed its own dilemma.
Qin Ming pursued him immediately. Although this opponent had been heavily injured by the sword baleful aura, surviving his sword strikes was proof enough of the man's terrifying caliber.
Furthermore, Daoist Butterfly's sanctification clearly had subsequent stages. Leaving him to develop unchecked would likely make him extraordinarily troublesome to deal with later.
Unwilling to leave problems for the future, Qin Ming pursued him aboard his sword.
*Hm?* His heart sank as he noticed an anomaly.
Daoist Butterfly glanced back at him, a faint crimson glint flashing deep within his eyes.
*Has this man been parasitized?*
Qin Ming felt a chill run through him. To parasitize a host without the host even realizing it was a frighteningly profound method. Had all traces of the confrontation even been wiped clean from his memory?
With a flicker, Daoist Butterfly activated a teleportation talisman, plunging into the Crimson Forest and escaping back to his own territory.
Wary of what lay within, Qin Ming had no intention of crossing the boundary.
He scanned the area for other opponents. Where had the five-colored strange beast gone?
Qin Ming looked around, finding no sign of it.
A grandmaster informed him, "That totem beast turned tail and ran before Daoist Butterfly even lost!"
Qin Ming frowned. Earlier, that massive five-colored creature had sounded so righteous and impassioned, spouting grand speeches, yet when the critical moment arrived, it had fled faster than anyone!
Not only that, but several other grandmasters from the opposing camp had also vanished.
"Kill!"
Without waiting for Qin Ming's signal, the experts of the Yujing camp charged forward together, pursuing the retreating forces of the Celestial Clan, the Abyss civilization, and the Totem camp.
The moment Daoist Butterfly showed signs of defeat, the opposing forces had begun withdrawing, though they were nowhere near as perceptive as that handful of grandmasters.
Qin Ming had dearly wished to slay that five-colored strange beast, but the beast had proved the most craven of all, fleeing before everyone else.
With "One Sword" taking the field, the balance across this region had completely flipped, turning into a one-sided rout.
Pei Shuyan, Zhuo Qingming, and Yao Ruoxian, despite their heavy injuries, captured a group of enemies. The fourth-realm cultivators surrendered without putting up a fight.
Grandmasters dominated the skies, pinning them down so thoroughly that their psychological defenses shattered.
"You dare resist?"
A few stubborn fourth-realm experts from the Celestial Clan and the Abyss civilization preferred death to surrender, only to be crushed into mist.
Yao Ruoxian, Pei Shuyan, Zhuo Qingming, and the others had believed they were doomed today. Never did they imagine they would end up launching a massive counteroffensive, reaping fleeing foes left and right.
Qin Ming joined the pursuit as well, gathering resources for the Yellow Silk Canopy while harvesting super wondrous blood for himself.
Eager for vengeance, several grandmasters from Yujing pressed their attacks frantically. Compounded by the fact that the enemy's apex grandmasters had fled early, the intense skirmish did not last long before drawing to a close.
Spears were planted in broken mountains, blood stained the cracked earth, and raging fires devoured the dense primeval forest. Though they had repelled the invaders, smiles were few and far between.
How could a great war unfold without casualties?
Many of their fellow disciples and elders had fallen across this ravaged wilderness.
Even several grandmasters had lost cherished friends, their spirits plunged into sorrow.
Many among the younger generation wept openly, as some of their kin and companions were now nothing more than corpses.
An elderly grandmaster of the Newborn path cradled a severed torso, murmuring, "Old Wu... Sigh, you ended up leaving before me after all. We agreed to see who could live longer, yet who would have thought your life would end so prematurely?"
His expression was desolate. He showed no outward weeping, yet his clouded old eyes and low, gravelly voice betrayed the weight on his heart.
Elders who had weathered countless hardships and storms kept their grief tightly contained, merely whispering in quiet resignation without shedding tears.
Across their long lives, they had witnessed far too many partings and sorrows.
Two other elderly grandmasters of the Newborn path walked over, carrying bloodstained remnants of armor. Their expressions were numb and their eyes dim as they sat heavily upon the ground.
"Not a bone of Old Chen remains. Only these bloodied armor fragments were left."
They spoke of another grandmaster of the Newborn path whose form and spirit had been utterly obliterated, leaving behind not even remains.
The three surviving elderly grandmasters sat there motionless for a long time. Eventually, one of them sighed, "The number of old brothers grows fewer with each passing year. How desolate it is."
"Old Wu still has faint shreds of consciousness lingering. Let us awaken him shortly and ask if he has any unfulfilled wishes."
The speaking grandmaster reached out a trembling hand, gently touching the blood-soaked partial corpse. Only a small portion of the skull and a fragment of the chest cavity remained.
In the distance, quiet sobs and heavy sighs lingered, cloaking the surroundings in a somber gloom.
Across the various battlefields near Silver River Gorge, grandmasters from every path had fallen. Even grandmasters hailing from the supreme celestial lineages could not escape their doom.
Qin Ming approached in his guise as "One Sword." From afar, he spotted the three elderly grandmasters sitting forlornly on the ground, guarding a shattered body and a pile of broken armor.
A heavy lump formed in his throat as he recognized them. When the Earth Ox Grandmaster of the Abyss civilization had raided Silver River Gorge, these elderly grandmasters had sprinted across the land to provide aid, even abandoning their physical bodies to project their spirits across the sky in a desperate bid to save Qin Ming.
In the blink of an eye, five elderly grandmasters were reduced to three.
Though he knew death was inevitable in war, sorrow still gripped his heart. Such good elders now wore withered hearts and bodies riddled with wounds.
Suddenly sensing something, Qin Ming spoke, "This senior still has lingering fragments of spiritual consciousness. Where did you discover his remains? Perhaps he can still be saved."
One elderly grandmaster shook his head. "His consciousness is shattered, with very little left. Moreover, it is entangled with the opponent's destructive Dao charm, which cannot be stripped away. He cannot be brought back."
"Let me try," Qin Ming offered.
"One Sword, do you... have confidence?" The dim eyes of an elderly grandmaster suddenly flickered with a spark of hope.
"I will do everything I can!" Qin Ming replied.
He lifted the shattered remains and followed the three elderly grandmasters to a cracked stretch of mountain earth. Resonating with the land, he immediately sensed dormant spirit shards buried beneath the fissures and within the broken peaks.
Masking his actions with the nine-colored sword baleful aura, Qin Ming manifested a trace of the longevity traits he had cultivated from the silk book method. Wisps of golden silk sank into the ground and threaded through the rock, gathering those scattered spirit shards.
Not only that, but he steadily ground away the harmful Dao charm, secretly mending the fragments.
He then channeled his power further, using the sword light to conceal his adhesive force as he drew back scattered droplets of blood and shards of bone.
Crucially, the dim spirit shards Qin Ming stitched back together were able to coalesce into a faint light of consciousness.
As for the physical form, fifth-realm grandmasters were capable of regenerating lost limbs. If the consciousness could fully recover, a year or six months of recuperation would allow the body to regrow.
"Old Wu can truly be revived?" Beside him, the three elderly grandmasters were astounded, their joy so overwhelming that aged tears nearly spilled from their eyes.
"What about Old Chen?" another grandmaster asked hopefully.
Regrettably, when Qin Ming attempted to gather Old Chen's spirit shards, they proved far too fragmented. Even gathered together, they amounted to almost nothing, wholly incapable of restoring a light of consciousness.
Having revived one elderly grandmaster of the Newborn path, the stifling weight in Qin Ming's chest eased somewhat.
As he walked through the region, he lent a hand wherever he could.
Gazing toward the Crimson Forest, Qin Ming looked solemn. If even someone of Daoist Butterfly's caliber could be parasitized, one could easily imagine how dire the situation was over there.
He felt the mounting pressure. After all, Daoist Butterfly was formidable, possessing forms he had not yet displayed. Today, his technique had been forcibly interrupted; otherwise, a grueling, bloody battle would have been required.
*Daoist Butterfly was parasitized... What level of Dao seed could accomplish such a thing?* Qin Ming suspected a crimson monster had likely aided the process for the parasitism to proceed so seamlessly.
Otherwise, a grandmaster like Daoist Butterfly would not have been subdued so easily, let alone parasitized without the slightest awareness.
If the Celestial Clan and the Abyss civilization discovered that their homes had been breached and their key disciples parasitized, would they not lose their minds? Qin Ming felt this region was on the brink of absolute chaos.
He felt the Golden Roster possessed frightening restraint and patience, refusing to expose the truth even now, likely waiting for the enmity within the Crimson Forest to fester even deeper.
By then, news was trickling in from other regions that the invaders from the Crimson Forest had been repelled one after another.
"Daoist Peng vanished, and two of the Abyss Kings have also gone missing. Did the Celestial Clan and the Abyss civilization suspect Yujing of being responsible, which prompted this invasion to investigate?"
Qin Ming frowned. The disappearance of these core disciples had triggered such massive turmoil.
He sat down in the mountain forest, pondering the matter carefully. His bloody clash with Daoist Butterfly had lasted quite a while, yet he had failed to bring him down directly.
Furthermore, he had learned from the captives that the man possessed three forms—Insect, Butterfly, and Immortal—capable of unleashing arts from the forbidden domain.
On top of that, a mysterious Dao seed was parasitizing Daoist Butterfly's body.
Qin Ming's brow furrowed deeply, an uneasy feeling settling into his heart. The more he turned it over, the more he felt this bug was exceedingly dangerous.
He felt the pressure. In this murky situation, he worried his realm was not high enough and his strength slightly lacking.
For a rare moment, Qin Ming felt a distinct lack of security, desperately wishing to break through another barrier to cope with the complex and perilous landscape ahead.
*Daoist Butterfly is likely a saint, a grandmaster-level saint...*
This led him to think of the enigmatic foe lurking within Yujing's territory. If the true master behind the mind monkey was also a grandmaster-level figure, he would be in considerable danger.
To others, "Slaying Through the Thirty-Six Heavens with a Single Sword" possessed extraordinary combat prowess, but Qin Ming himself harbored a sense of impending crisis, believing his cultivation was insufficient.
*There are far too many monsters and demons in this territory. I... am still not strong enough.* He wished to ascend another step as quickly as possible.
Had his peers heard these inner thoughts, they would have been left utterly dumbfounded.
Finding a secluded spot, Qin Ming activated the conch disc and attempted to contact the Golden Roster, eager to alter his "frail" state.
Before long, he actually established contact.
Qin Ming inquired tactfully whether he could redeem items with his merits in advance.
The Golden Roster replied, "The front lines are stretched thin, and colossal waves could crash down at any moment. Rare ancient herbs cannot be made widely available just yet; they must be reserved for saving lives."
Qin Ming felt a pang of disappointment.
The Golden Roster asked, "Weren't you keenest on redeeming exotic metal to forge an exotic metal saber or warhammer? Why the change of heart?"
Qin Ming perked up. "Do I have enough merits?"
The Golden Roster informed him calmly, "You're nowhere close. Could the grandmasters you killed combined compare to an Earth Immortal? Some among the older generation have personally slain multiple immortals, and they desire exotic metal as well."
Qin Ming was dazed. How could he compete with that? Was he supposed to vie against top-tier old monsters like the Dog Sword Immortal, Zhuo Kun, the Sage, and the seven-day stackers?
The Golden Roster added, "What else did you expect? When campaigning against external foes, merit naturally hinges on enemies slain. Well, if you fell exceptional grandmasters—such as saints destined to become apex figures—your merits receive a multiplier, though not as large as you might imagine. After all, those elders slay genuine seventh-realm powerhouses, whereas you slay figures whose potential exists merely in theory. The future is far away, and none can predict what will happen; some saints might not even live that long."
It then asked, "What do you wish to redeem in advance?"
"Precious medicine for a breakthrough," Qin Ming said.
"Although herbs are wartime necessities that shouldn't be distributed casually, your performance has been outstanding. It can be considered."
Hearing this, Qin Ming immediately became spirited. He had originally held little hope, never expecting Old Jin to relent at the last moment.
"You need it urgently?" The Golden Roster knew he had broken through not long ago. Instead of taking time to consolidate his foundation, he wanted to elevate himself again in rapid succession.
"I am too weak." The moment Qin Ming opened his mouth, the Golden Roster nearly manifested just to thrash him in person.
The Golden Roster warned, "Speak normally in front of me!"
Qin Ming answered earnestly, "I'm speaking the plain truth. Facing grandmaster-tier saints and the Dao seeds of a parasitic civilization, I feel uncertain and sorely lack security."
The Golden Roster asked, "You're that wary of your opponents?"
Qin Ming nodded solemnly. "Yes. I belong to the realm faction; I wish to raise my cultivation sufficiently high so I can face this complex situation and the adversaries of every faction without fear."
"You are certain you want to exchange for medicine rather than exotic metal, correct?"
"Absolutely!" Qin Ming nodded.
Right now, elevating himself was the priority. Weapons were merely the icing on the cake; if push came to shove, he still had Little Huang and Little Cha, both capable of great utility.
The Golden Roster was at a loss for how to evaluate him. How could such a supreme prodigy claim with a straight face that he was frail?
It said, "Wait at Silver River Gorge."
"Understood!" Qin Ming was filled with anticipation.
At the same time, he asked the Golden Roster about the parasitic civilization. When would that powder keg be ignited?
"Soon," the Golden Roster replied. "When their insatiable greed drives them to infiltrate the higher echelons of the Celestial Clan and the Abyss civilization, it will erupt naturally."
Within the great chasm underground, at the fallen supreme sanctuary, there was indeed a super teleportation array. The parasitic civilization had already prepared its route of retreat.
***
Outside the Crimson Forest, Daoist Peng felt lingering terror. Had he not possessed a special liquid weapon, he might well have suffered a terrible fate.
An elder of the Celestial Clan whose eyes glowed with red light had approached him. In that instant, Daoist Peng had activated his radiant armor and crossed the sky in flight.
He realized that trial ground was deeply wrong. Back then, he had used that special weapon to obliterate a crimson monster, barely escaping danger.
When he emerged from that region, he had intended to report to the leadership, only to be targeted by a renowned elder of the Celestial Clan.
By now, Daoist Peng dared not return. He could no longer trust even his own people.
Meanwhile, Daoist Butterfly and the Thousand-Winged Cicada came together, looking at each other, faint flushes of crimson flashing deep within their eyes.
Daoist Butterfly was smoldering with rage. He planned to adjust himself to his peak state, unleash his forbidden art, and hunt down "One Sword" once more. He hoped the Thousand-Winged Cicada would back him up to handle any unforeseen circumstances.
The Thousand-Winged Cicada said, "It would be best to call the Sun Worm as well. If the three of us arrive together, we can sweep that entire region."
"Mm. First, I will heal my wounds and replenish my origin," Daoist Butterfly said, exhaling a breath of turbid air.
***
Above Silver River Gorge, a streak of faint golden mist broke through the night sky.
Qin Ming's heart leaped with excitement. His precious medicine had arrived!
Chapter 556