Chapter 1028: A Single Blade of Leaf

That sword was not the Divine Daughter’s personal sword alone. It was more as though, through that strike, she had awakened the final resistance of the Northern Frontier Divine Mountain against those so-called deities.

The power of the entire divine mountain, one of the four strongest sects of that era, had been utterly powerless in the face of such a apocalyptic calamity.

Before those so-called deities, these powerful cultivators often seemed no different from insignificant ants. And yet, even so, they had never seemed to choose surrender. Knowing full well they could not win, they still threw themselves into battle without hesitation.

Because there was no retreat.

That will had not dissipated even now after experiencing thousands of years.

The Demon Emperor was not one of those so-called deities. His cultivation realm had not reached such a level. When faced with this sword, he felt the threat of death, and thus fear arose within him.

No one is without fear. Even the most powerful existence, when faced with the possibility of being erased, will instinctively feel fear.

And once fear is born, it inevitably drives one to act in ways to preserve their life.

Just like the Demon Emperor at this moment. The towering dharma idol no longer carried its previous calm. The demonic beasts within its emperor robes all surged out at this moment, blocking the path of that sword.

But before that sword, those ancient ferocious beasts had become incomparably weak. They were not its match at all and were quickly defeated one after another, collapsing before it.

One by one, they dissipated.

Sword light illuminated heaven and earth, as though it could even illuminate a river of time itself.

The Demon Emperor’s vast demonic qi was as insignificant as a small patch of demonic clouds in front of that sword.

Slice!

The sword struck the Demon Emperor’s dharma idol. Demonic qi surged forth from the dharma idol, only to be instantly cut apart. After that, the dharma idol was forced to directly face the sword.

But that sword was incomparably sharp. Its terrifying sword qi directly shattered the head of the dharma idol.

And then the Demon Emperor’s dharma idol began to collapse in an irreversible manner.

The demonic qi of this ruler of myriad demons shattered violently. The demonic qi falling from the collapsing dharma idol was quickly dispersed as well. If this continued, the Demon Emperor might even have his body completely severed by that sword.

What was even more likely was that this ruler of the Demon Domain would die here on this divine mountain.

If that truly happened, then for the human race it would undoubtedly be the greatest event in the world, as it would mean the darkest cloud pressing over them would finally disperse.

But just as that sword continued to descend, the Demon Emperor’s true body suddenly vanished.

This ruler of myriad demons disappeared abruptly, as though he had never been here at all.

The Demon Emperor’s dharma idol remained, still breaking apart and scattering fragments, but beyond that, there was no longer any trace of him.

The Divine Daughter stood high in the sky, her face pale.

Although that sword was enough to severely injure or even kill the Demon Emperor, the consumption it had taken from her was also extremely great.

In that instant, heaven and earth fell into complete silence.

Autumn raised her head. There was no emotion in her eyes, nor on her face. But in her heart she understood one thing very clearly: her Royal Father had been defeated.

Although father and daughter were no longer as close as they once were, in Autumn’s heart, the Demon Emperor, her Royal Father was still a godlike existence.

But at this moment, he had still been defeated.

Perhaps he had only lost the battle and managed to escape because of it, but the Demon Emperor had left, while Autumn remained.

Autumn smiled and glanced at Chen Chao.

Chen Chao smiled as well, feeling delighted. Because at this very moment, the Demon Emperor was gravely wounded. Even if he had not died, it did not matter. An existence like him would need a very long time to recover from his injuries. That meant they had been given plenty of time, and during that time, they could accomplish many things.

This was a very good thing.

Yu Xiyi muttered, "Damn it, one sword nearly killed the Demon Emperor. Isn't that even stronger than the Sect Master?"

Chen Chao shook his head and said, "No..."

He had only said a word when a terrifying surge of demonic qi suddenly appeared, shooting toward Chen Chao as though intending to kill him on the spot.

The Divine Daughter frowned and hastily struck out with a sword, shattering that strand of demonic qi and protecting Chen Chao. But in the next instant, a giant hand stretched out from the lakeshore, reaching toward the divine medicine in the flower garden.

There was no doubt that it was the Demon Emperor's doing. Perhaps the ruler of myriad demons had not been as seriously injured as they had thought. After lying in wait for a moment, he had used a diversion, making the Divine Daughter believe his target was Chen Chao, when in reality, it had always been the divine medicine.

But the Divine Daughter merely wore a cold expression as she struck out with another sword strike.

The terrifying sword light scarcely paused in the air. In an instant, it crossed a vast stretch of space and slashed toward the Demon Emperor's giant hand.

With a thunderous roar, the Demon Emperor's giant hand was severed. A streak of black light shot up from the ground, soaring into the heavens before disappearing from the world.

The Divine Daughter did not pursue him.

Yu Xiyi, on the other hand, actually wanted to chase after him with his sword and beat a drowning dog. If luck favored him, he might even earn an unparalleled military achievement that no one else could ever obtain.

If he managed to kill the Demon Emperor, then this Great Sword Immortal Yu would truly surpass every sword immortal in history and become the one and only.

Chen Chao coughed, "Don't be an idiot."

Yu Xiyi shot Chen Chao a dissatisfied look, but he truly gave up any thought of pursuing the Demon Emperor. After all, Autumn was still here. If he left, the situation would probably become a major problem.

Thinking of that, Yu Xiyi turned his head and froze.

Fucking hell... where did Autumn go?

In the blink of an eye, Autumn had disappeared, as though she had vanished into thin air.

"That woman secretly ran away? Couldn't you have given me a heads-up? Your Father was still waiting to cut down this demon princess with my sword."

Yu Xiyi complained.

Meanwhile, Chen Chao was utterly helpless. He looked at Yu Xiyi and could not even be bothered to say anything. Did the guy really think he couldn't see how the situation had been just now?

Some things simply did not need to be brought up.

Chen Chao looked toward the Divine Daughter. Her pale-faced figure descended back to the lakeshore. Looking somewhat weary, she handed the flying sword in her grasp to the white deer, allowing it to carry it away in its mouth.

Chen Chao hurriedly said, "Elder Sister's sword dao is divine indeed. You're truly the world's one and only female sword immortal!"

Yu Xiyi was stunned and looked at Chen Chao in confusion. Sucking up to her already?

The Divine Daughter shot him a glance and said irritably, "Wouldn't you have cussed me out if I hadn't risked my life to try and kill that Demon Emperor?"

Chen Chao said with complete seriousness, "How could I? Elder Sister has already done everything that could possibly be expected. As for what comes next, naturally your younger brother will take care of it."

"Now that sounds like something a human would say."

The Divine Daughter let out a breath of mist streaked with blood, "That old monster isn't easy to kill. He's far too suspicious and wasn't willing to risk his life fighting me. He thought I still had another trump card. Otherwise, none of us would have survived today. Didn't you notice that he never even revealed his true form?"

For demons, their final trump card was their true form. If they had not revealed it, then they were not truly fighting for their lives.

Chen Chao nodded with deep understanding and smiled. "After I've recovered from my injuries, there'll be a conclusion between him and me."

The Divine Daughter sighed, "He came here for that divine medicine. Even though I tried to stop him, I still failed in the end."

Chen Chao was startled and asked in disbelief, "The Demon Emperor snatched the divine medicine?"

The Divine Daughter's gaze fell upon the stalk of grass in the flower garden. It was still there, but one of its leaves had been plucked.

"He took a single blade of leaf."

The Divine Daughter shook her head, feeling somewhat regretful.

Chen Chao probed, "One leaf shouldn't be too much of a problem, right?"

The Divine Daughter let out a derisive laugh, "You think this is some ordinary medicinal herb? One leaf from a divine medicine is enough to heal all of his injuries. And yet you came asking for my entire divine medicine. Do you have any idea what an outrageous waste it would be for you to consume a whole divine medicine?"

If one were to rank all the treasures cultivators desired, then divine medicine would certainly be among the rarest of them all. The medicinal power contained within a divine medicine was so overwhelming that if a cultivator below the Fuyun Realm consumed it, there would be only one outcome: their body would be torn apart by its immense medicinal power.

As for Fuyun Realm cultivators, reaching that realm merely qualified them to consume a divine medicine. If an old Fuyun Realm cultivator whose blood vitality had withered and whose lifespan was nearly exhausted consumed one, they would be reborn, living a second life.

If there were enough divine medicines,

Then in theory, a Fuyun Realm cultivator would never die of old age.

Of course, because divine medicines grew naturally between heaven and earth, absorbing the purest essence of creation, consuming one would inevitably allow a cultivator to perceive the very origin of heaven and earth. For cultivators, this was also an enormous aid in advancing their realm.

Thus, in every era, divine medicines were the cultivation resource most coveted by cultivators at and above the Fuyun Realm.

Whenever a mature divine medicine appeared and became known to the world, a bloody storm was inevitable.

The very balance of the world could even be changed because of a single divine medicine.

Chen Chao had originally thought that consuming this divine medicine would completely heal his injuries. Now it seemed he had greatly underestimated it.

"To existences above the Fuyun Realm, divine medicines are regarded as forbidden treasures. Once many cultivators step into that realm, the very first thing they do is search for a divine medicine seedling, so that when the day comes that their lifespan is nearly exhausted, they can rely on that divine medicine to live another life."

"Any sect that possesses even a single divine medicine seedling would guard it with the utmost care and never let anyone else know of its existence."

The Divine Daughter spoke calmly as she explained just how precious divine medicines were.

Chen Chao frowned, "The Demon Emperor took one leaf. Could he use it to break through and become an existence above the Fuyun Realm?"

The Divine Daughter replied calmly, "Under normal circumstances, it's impossible, because the divine medicine hasn't fully matured, and the medicinal power contained in a single leaf isn't that great. But it's still impossible to say for certain, because that Demon Emperor is clearly a genius. A genius like him is an anomaly in any era and cannot be judged by common sense."

Chen Chao frowned even more deeply, but instead asked a different question, "Elder Sister, in a given era, roughly how many existences above the Fuyun Realm are there in the world?"

The Divine Daughter glanced at him but did not answer immediately.