Severed rivers, shattered peaks, flattened forests—a complete and utter wreck lay everywhere...
It was like a battlefield where Ancient Divine Spirits had once waged war. The entire landscape was scarred and desolate, bleak beyond belief.
At the heart of these ruins...
Mysterious glimmers of spiritual light representing the Laws surfaced in Jiang Chen’s mind.
The world began in chaos.
All was chaos. An endless expanse of darkness, with not a shred of Light to be seen.
Suddenly...
A flash of Spiritual Light appeared, tearing through the chaotic world.
A landmass appeared in the void. It stretched on and on for untold billions of miles, forming the great earth.
An endless, boundless earth!
In the Celestial Vault, where chaotic storms had been raging, a Blazing Sun, white clouds, and a blue sky abruptly appeared. Against the blue sky, the white clouds slowly turned dark, and trickling raindrops began to fall. The drops gathered into a torrential downpour, linking heaven and earth like a curtain of pearls hanging between them.
The raindrops fell upon the earth, converging into streams. The streams flowed into rivers, and the rivers merged to form the great sea!
The world was now nourished by "water," the mother of all things!
Giving birth to life!
The wind began to blow, carrying seeds to scatter across the land.
But it could also become a merciless, destructive storm, leaving nothing but barren land in its wake.
The sun and moon took their turns.
With day came night. When night descended, the world could only fall silent in the Darkness. And then, fire appeared!
The appearance of flame symbolized the birth of one civilization after another!
The world continued to evolve...
’Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind... The gentle yet relentless wind; the temperate yet torrential water; the warm fire, filled with Destructive Power; and the omnipresent, solid foundation of the world—earth!’ These scenes flooded Jiang Chen’s mind as he entered a state of epiphany.
This...
This was the wondrous effect of Jiang Ziyou’s Profound Yin Body!
A Top-grade Furnace Cauldron!
It was no exaggeration!
Amidst this epiphany of chaos evolving into a world, the Wind, Water, and Fire Sword Intent Jiang Chen had previously mastered were constantly growing and advancing.
They had already risen from Tier Two Advanced to Tier Three Junior.
More importantly, his comprehension of the earth also allowed him to reach Tier One.
’The earth... solid, vast. Its greatness comes from its capacity to hold all things, to accept everything...’ During this wondrous epiphany, Jiang Chen continuously deepened his comprehension, constantly elevating his Earth Sword Intent!
Tier One Middle Level!
Tier One Advanced!
Tier Two...
Only when his comprehension of Earth Sword Intent reached the Tier Three Junior level did Jiang Chen finally hit a bottleneck.
’To use earth as the foundation and fuse water, fire, and wind into one...’
Jiang Chen began to fuse the great Sword Intents.
The path he pursued was the Strongest Sword Dao, which required him to completely comprehend and fuse the nine great Sword Intents: Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Space, Life, Death, Time, and Chaos. Before this, Jiang Chen had only mastered the Wind, Water, and Fire Sword Intent. But after acquiring Jiang Ziyou’s Profound Yin Body, he had an epiphany, not only raising the Wind, Water, and Fire Sword Intents to the Tier Three level,
but also mastering the Earth Sword Intent!
He had now fully comprehended the Four Great Sword Intents of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind.
Unfortunately...
By the end of his epiphany, Jiang Chen still hadn’t been able to fuse the four great Sword Intents. After all, fusing Sword Intents was an act that defied the heavens; it was far, far too difficult!
BOOM!
The vision before his eyes shattered. Jiang Chen jolted and returned to his senses.
He slowly opened his eyes and sensed that the surrounding Spiritual Qi of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind had become incredibly active, as if they shared a natural affinity with him. A smile touched Jiang Chen’s lips. "Looks like it wasn’t a dream. I really did comprehend the Earth Sword Intent. Now that the Four Great Sword Intents of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind have all reached the Tier Three level, I’ve taken a crucial step forward on the path of the Strongest Sword Dao!"
With all four Sword Intents elevated to the Tier Three level, Jiang Chen’s combat prowess had risen to a whole new level.
It was a blessing in disguise!
"Ngh..."
A low whimper sounded from beside him.
Jiang Chen froze, then looked to his side. His expression faltered, his sharp brows knitting tightly together. His gaze was incredibly complex. ’Jiang Ziyou? I... I actually... with her... Fuck, what a fucking mess.’
He slapped his forehead, recalling how he had lost control after being drugged with the Seven-Step Bewitching Powder.
He couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.
Just then, Jiang Ziyou also began to stir. She paused, stunned for a moment, before her senses returned.
She didn’t panic and lose her composure like an ordinary girl would.
With a dark expression, she straightened her tattered clothes. Her furious eyes, filled with cold venom and killing intent, shot toward Jiang Chen. "Jiang Chen, you stole my Primordial Yin and ruined my pure body! Senior Brother Lan will never forgive you! I’ll have him tear you to shreds! Nowhere in heaven or on earth will you find anyone to save you!"
"Hm?"
Jiang Chen frowned, and the last shred of guilt he felt toward Jiang Ziyou vanished completely.
He sneered. "Even now, you still think this is all my fault?"
"You’re right. The fact that things have ended up like this is entirely your fault."
Jiang Ziyou’s gaze was dark as she ground her teeth. "How wonderful it would have been if you had just accepted your place as a good-for-nothing, taken the money I offered, and retired to the countryside to live out your days? But no, you just had to seek revenge, and now you’ve dragged me down to this! I won’t forgive you even in death. You’re dead meat! No one can save you!"
"Haaaah..."
Jiang Chen let out a long breath.
He rose to his full height.
He looked down at Jiang Ziyou from above and said calmly, "I don’t blame you for looking down on me, nor do I blame you for heartlessly abandoning me when I was at my most vulnerable. But what you never, ever should have done was steal my Saint Martial Order. It was my only hope of finding my father, yet you sought to strip it away from me."
"From start to finish, I have never wronged you, Jiang Ziyou. But you, time and time again, have tried to have me killed!"
"This is how I, Jiang Chen, operate: I will not attack unless provoked. But if someone attacks me—I will surely retaliate!"
"Today, let’s settle the score between us!"
He made a beckoning gesture in the air.
A sharp Sword Aura cut through the air as the Spirit-Slaying Sword, which had fallen nearby, flew back into Jiang Chen’s hand.
He held the Spirit-Slaying Sword, his gaze cold as he looked at Jiang Ziyou, and said calmly, "Jiang Ziyou, if there is a next life, I hope you remember this: Heaven and Earth will not forsake the loyal and righteous, but for the disloyal and treacherous, Heaven and Earth—WILL! NOT! TOLERATE!"
His sword swept through the air.
An peerless Sword Aura descended from the heavens.
Jiang Ziyou’s expression finally changed. She had assumed that since Jiang Chen had taken her body, he would spare her life out of some lingering sentiment.
That was why she had spoken those words just now.
But now...
She finally understood that Jiang Chen wouldn’t show the slightest hesitation!
Heaven and Earth will not forsake the loyal and righteous, but for the disloyal and treacherous, Heaven and Earth will not tolerate!
Those twenty-two words were like twenty-two claps of thunder, exploding in her ears.
"If I’m going to die... I won’t let you get away with it..."
Her face filled with despair, Jiang Ziyou looked at Jiang Chen with pure venom. She took out a Communication Token and let out a hysterical roar, "The one who killed me is—Jiang Chen..."
BOOM—
The peerless sword light slammed into the ground.
The entire earth trembled violently, as if it had been torn in half. Amidst the Sword Aura, Jiang Ziyou’s body was shredded into a bloody pulp and instantly buried within the fissure that had opened in the ground.
RUMBLE...
Countless boulders and broken layers of earth tumbled down, burying her deep underground!
"Jiang Ziyou, the grievances between us end here and now!"
Jiang Chen took a deep breath, rose into the air, and transformed into a streak of Flowing Light as he fled into the distance.
「At the same time.」
In the distant Fourteenth State, a towering, black-haired youth in blue robes held a bloody head in one hand. A cold smile was on his face as he surveyed the mountain of corpses and Sea of Blood before him when suddenly, his expression changed.
With a flick of his wrist, a Jade Scroll appeared in his hand.
It was a purple Jade Scroll, but it had already shattered, turning to dust.
"Jiang Ziyou is dead? No... No..."
The youth’s eyes instantly turned crimson, filled with despair and rage as tears of blood streamed down his face. "I went to such great lengths to cultivate her to the Heavenly Destiny Seventh Stage! I was just about to reap the rewards and break through to the Union Palace! Jiang Chen! Jiang Chen... By killing Ziyou, you have severed my path on the Martial Dao! I am now your mortal enemy! Roooar!"
Lan Haichen tilted his head back and roared, like an enraged Ancient Wild Beast, his long black hair whipping wildly in the wind.
"Pfft..."
His whole body convulsed as he spat out a mouthful of blood. His face turned deathly pale, and his black hair began to turn snow-white at a speed visible to the naked eye.
A head of silver hair fluttered in the wind.
His hair had turned white in an instant!
The Top-grade Furnace Cauldron that Lan Haichen had painstakingly cultivated was ultimately destroyed at Jiang Chen’s hands. How could he not be furious? How could he not be driven to madness?
"Jiang Chen... Jiang Chen..."
Lan Haichen was disheveled, his long white hair whipping about as killing intent churned madly in his eyes. "Jiang Chen, if I don’t kill you, I, Lan Haichen, swear I am no longer a man! Roooar..."