Chapter 93 - 75: Grandmaster Meets His Death

Chapter 93: Chapter 75: Grandmaster Meets His Death

"If you ask me, this person is just putting on an act."

"I heard him clearly. He said ’Sword Comes,’ but did any of you see a single sword respond?"

"Everyone here is a First Grade master. If we let a little brat scare us off with a single phrase, wouldn’t we become the laughingstock of the world if word got out?"

Someone sneered, trying to incite the crowd to attack.

But as soon as he finished speaking, he quietly slipped behind the others.

The world is never short on fools.

"Where did you crawl from, you little brat? Stop your act! In terms of age, anyone here could be your grandfather. Now get down here!"

An old marshal, brandishing a large spear and wreathed in wind and thunder, shattered the green bricks underfoot. He charged toward Su Chen like a roaring gale, his approach heralded by a sonic boom of immense power.

In an instant, all eyes were fixed on Su Chen.

They wanted to gauge the depths of his power.

CRACK!

The large spear snapped in two.

As for the old marshal, not a trace of him remained.

A Peak First Grade master had fallen, just like that.

"What happened?"

Everyone was horrified.

It was too fast!

The old marshal had died so quickly that no one had even seen the man on the tower make a move.

"No!"

"He didn’t move at all."

"The wind!"

"It was the wind!"

"When he said ’Sword Comes,’ it wasn’t that no swords answered. The entire sky of wind... it all became the swords he summoned!"

"The old marshal died in the wind!"

someone realized, crying out in alarm.

In that moment, the nearly one hundred First Grade masters from both Zhou and Liang—a dense, dark crowd of them—all took a step back in unison, their faces paling as they stared at the endlessly howling wind above.

’Absolute First Grade?’

’If this isn’t Absolute First Grade, then who is?’

The wind that filled the sky of the three-hundred-li Imperial City, the wind that soared three hundred zhang high—with a single cry of "Sword Comes," all of it had become swords in this man’s hand.

"This person! Who... who in the world is he?"

"Why have we never heard of him...?"

Even the ten-plus Peak masters present felt their spirits tremble. Their faces changed, and their voices shook.

A single Wind Sword had felled a Peak First Grade master.

And this gale filled the entire sky.

Even if less than one percent of it formed Wind Swords, it would be enough to annihilate every last person in the Imperial Palace.

If this man so wished, the sky-blotting gale could descend. Even with over a hundred First Grade masters gathered here, representing the court, the Jianghu, and more than half the powerhouses in the world—what could they possibly do?

Not a single one of them... would survive!

"I said, the fighting ends today!"

"Who agrees?"

"And who objects!"

From atop the high tower, the youth who was watching the wind and admiring the moon spoke the same words as before, but now they carried an entirely different weight.

Which of the First Grade masters present wasn’t at the pinnacle of power—a Grand Sect Leader, a Noble Family Leader, a prodigy in their youth, a titan who now commanded the world?

But what did it matter?

At his words, prodigies bowed their heads and titans lowered their gazes.

No one dared to speak.

And yet, no one left.

"Very well."

"We shall grant this Sword Immortal some face and spare the dog lives of you Liang remnants."

Sikong sneered as he stepped forward.

Although he was only a Peak First Grade, he was the Seal Supervisor, a confidant of the Flame Emperor, and backed by imperial authority. Even Peak masters had to listen to him to some extent.

"Bastard!"

"Who said you could leave!"

"Today, we will first extinguish your Great Zhou’s Imperial Blood and slaughter everyone in this Imperial Palace, just to show your Flame Emperor the consequences of breaking his promise!"

"The severing of Great Zhou’s Imperial Blood and the establishment of a New Dynasty is the grand tide of history! The incident at the Imperial Mausoleum that devoured more than half of Great Zhou’s foundation was a sign of Celestial Will."

"You’re a mere First Grade! Even if you are an Absolute, you cannot stop the tide of history!"

A Peak master from Great Liang roared. He was dressed in black, with black hair and a black beard, but his eyes were dim, and he exuded an undeniable aura of encroaching death.

BOOM!

A terrifying Saber Intent erupted.

The Perfect Intent was like a wolf among sheep, slaughtering wantonly. In an instant, a Peak First Grade was severely wounded, and ordinary First Grade masters fell.

Here, at the apex of the Human World, a First-Grade Minor Grandmaster who wasn’t a Peak master was no different from an ant.

"I... do not have much time left!"

"It is only death! What is there to fear?"

"WHAT IS THERE TO FEAR!"

The black-robed Peak master roared.

BOOM!

A clap of thunder and wind exploded.

"You reckless fool! You’re courting death!"

From the Great Zhou camp, another Peak master roared in fury, wreathed in wind and thunder. He unleashed his own Perfect True Intent and pressed forward to meet the attack.

In that moment, below the Heaven-Ascension Tower, Killing Intent surged once more.

"Kill!"

"Annihilate Zhou!"

The roars echoed.

There was wind, rain, thunder, fire, and ice. Saber Intent and Sword Intent clashed, as did long spears and short halberds.

Nearly a hundred First Grade masters descended into Chaos, once again locked in a brutal melee.

Wherever they passed, palaces and pavilions were either reduced to rubble, ground into dust, or burned to ash.

It was a spectacular scene of destruction!

Even the world-shaking battle that had brought about Great Liang’s downfall, a battle that involved a Grandmaster, couldn’t compare. There were simply too many First Grade masters here.

A First Grade master was a Junior Grandmaster, the pinnacle of the world.

And here, there were nearly a hundred of them.

Besides,

who said there were no Grandmasters in this battle?

With the world unified, the fortune of the lands surged. Su Chen would never underestimate the foundation of a Dynasty, even a fallen one...

’It seems the blood feud between Zhou and Liang cannot be resolved by sheer force alone.’

Atop the Heaven-Ascension Tower, Su Chen sighed.

He turned around.

Instead of watching the chaotic battle between nearly a hundred Junior Grandmasters, his gaze drifted beyond the Imperial City.

Outside the Imperial City.

On Cyan Mountain, within a pavilion,

an old man set down his teacup. He wore sackcloth robes, his feet were bare, and his hair was like withered grass. With deliberate steps, he began walking toward the Imperial Palace, toward the Heaven-Ascension Tower.

Each step covered a hundred zhang.

Where he passed, there was wind, and there was also snow.

That night,

it began to snow in the Imperial City.

The endless sword wind that had swept through the entire city was, at this moment, completely suppressed by the blizzard.

Because a Grandmaster had arrived.

"What?!"

"Since the unification of the world, after Long Xuanjun, Great Liang has produced another Grandmaster?"

"It’s over!"

"Great Zhou is finished!"

At that instant, the battle halted. All the First Grade masters from Great Zhou, whether they were Peak or ordinary, turned deathly pale.

Beneath a Grandmaster, a First Grade master is but an ant, to be killed as easily as flicking away dust.

This was no empty saying.

"Quick, go to the Imperial Mausoleum... bring Lord Long Xuanjun!"

A Peak master tried to flee.

The next instant,

the blizzard descended. He froze in place, his Vitality gone, turned into a lifelike ice sculpture.

The Great Liang contingent, however, showed no joy. Instead, their faces were filled with sorrow.

A Peak master fell to his knees, wailing.

"Senior Brother."

"I... I have failed you."

"I never thought..."

"that it would actually require you to act..."

"WAAAH!"

He was seventy-five years old, with one foot in the grave, yet this dignified Peak master was now sobbing, his face a mask of grief.

"We honor Elder Yun’s sacrifice!"

The First Grade masters of Great Liang all made way, their eyes filled with reverence.

Wherever the cloth-robed man passed, First Grade masters bowed in respect.

Just like that,

the swirling blizzard took the place of the endless sword wind, taking control of the Imperial Palace, and indeed, the entire Imperial City.

「Atop the Heaven-Ascension Tower.」

Elder Yun and Su Chen each took a corner, sitting cross-legged under the moonlight.

Neither spoke first.

Only a few wisps of sword wind still struggled stubbornly against the blizzard, an anomaly that filled the city and made even the First Grade masters stare in astonishment.

"A First Grade master commands True Intent and borrows the Power of Heaven and Earth to reach the Peak."

"When True Intent reaches Perfection, one is a Peak master."

"An extremely strong individual among Peak masters can be called an Absolute."

"When Perfect True Intent gives birth to a ’Domain,’ one becomes a Grandmaster!"

"This is the Domain of Wind and Snow, Elder Yun’s Grandmaster Domain. What can a mere Absolute First Grade use to resist it?"

The First Grade masters of Great Liang sneered, while those of Great Zhou were terrified.

They were all waiting for this battle to end.

After a long time,

the very last wisp of sword wind was extinguished.

"Was it worth it?"

Su Chen asked, looking at the man’s Longevity Fire, which now flickered like a dying candle.

"I have been obsessed with cultivation my entire life. But my aptitude was poor. I never understood right from wrong, nor did I understand the Human World..."

"At ninety, I still hadn’t reached First Grade. Back then, when Emperor Liang destroyed Xuanyang, I could only watch. My junior brother took me into hiding, and I couldn’t help him at all."

"At ninety-five, my junior brother rebuilt Xuanyang. I was a Peak master with True Intent Perfection, but I still couldn’t help him much..."

"At ninety-eight, my junior brother was overjoyed. Xuanlong Emperor had recognized the Three Sects, and there was hope for our Sect to rise again. My junior brother was happy, so I was happy, but I still hadn’t helped him..."

"The world was unified, the fortune of the lands erupted, and I became the second Mortal Grandmaster. But it was too late. I was already a hundred years old..."

"A human lifespan is a hundred years. Grandmasters are no exception."

"But I am very happy."

"Before I die, I can finally help my junior brother!"

Elder Yun’s eyes were bright, his expression earnest, as if what awaited him after this battle was not the end of his life, but the perfection of it.

"If you fight me, you will die," Su Chen advised.

"You are very strong, I know,"

Elder Yun nodded seriously.

"But,"

"I do not want to disappoint my junior brother! I will help him by killing you."

At this moment, he stretched out a hand.

Instantly,

the world seemed to change color.

The boundless blizzard coalesced into a palm of wind and snow—a five-hundred-zhang-wide colossal hand that blotted out the sun as it pressed down on Su Chen.

Upon it was the full force of his Wind and Snow Domain!

The Grandmaster had made his move.

"Beneath a Grandmaster, a First Grade is an ant. The same is true for an Absolute First Grade."

"He’s dead for sure!"

one of the Liang People’s First Grade masters exclaimed in ecstasy.

The next instant,

his ecstasy froze.

Su Chen had also made his move.

An even more terrifying blizzard gathered, surging like a tempest, blotting out the sky, and crashing forward like a tidal wave.

This was Su Chen, an Extreme Realm First Grade, wielding his Perfect Wind Snow True Intent!

It was... not one bit weaker than the Grandmaster’s Wind and Snow Domain.