Venerable Supreme of Myriad Dragons

Immediately, Shen Daoxing let out a low cry, "Venerable Arm!"

The muscles in his right arm suddenly bulged. Specks of black light surfaced, then spread out to cover his entire right arm.

In just a moment, Shen Daoxing's entire right arm turned a black-gold color. It shimmered like metal under the sun, brimming with explosive power.

Shen Daoxing simply lifted his hand, and the cup he was holding instantly shattered, turning to dust.

This was one of the Three Strange Techniques of the Venerable Body Refining art: the Venerable Arm. It could temporarily concentrate his physical power into one arm, granting it the strength of a Venerable Supreme's body, capable of destroying anything.

Shen Daoxing felt his right arm surge with power. He felt that in this state, he could even exchange a few blows with a master of the Refining Dust Realm.

CREAK!

Shen Daoxing pushed the door open and walked out. It was rare for him to go out, but he felt like taking a stroll.

He saw that a large, bustling crowd of outer sect disciples had gathered outside, as if something was happening.

Just then, Wan Hai happened to see Shen Daoxing come out and hastily waved him over.

Shen Daoxing walked over, a little confused. "Senior Brother Wan Hai, what's going on?"

Wan Hai suddenly adopted a dead-serious expression. "Someone may have infiltrated the Inner Mountain of our Cyan Nether Sword Sect!"

Shen Daoxing froze, slightly startled. 'What? Someone infiltrated the Cyan Nether Sword Sect!'

The Cyan Nether Sword Sect was a power that could rival the Celestial Profound Sacred Land—it might even have an edge over them. It was undeniably one of the top factions in Cangzhou, though it was different from the Celestial Profound Sacred Land.

The Cyan Nether Sword Sect focused solely on cultivation and disliked interfering in worldly affairs. Therefore, it didn't hold the same binding power over the various nations of Cangzhou as the Celestial Profound Sacred Land did.

But even so, no matter how much the Cyan Nether Sword Sect shied away from the mortal world, it had its own lines that could not be crossed. It was not an existence that any other faction could afford to provoke.

And now someone dared to sneak into the Cyan Nether Sword Sect! How audacious.

Shen Daoxing couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Senior Brother, why do you say someone has infiltrated the sect?"

Wan Hai paused, then said seriously, "Lately, I've just felt that someone has been skulking around the Cyan Nether Sword Sect. And haven't you noticed that the number of demonic beasts in Yun Meng Lake has dropped significantly? Those are all demonic beasts our sect raises ourselves! An outsider must have gotten in and is secretly hunting them! We have to investigate this thoroughly!"

!!!

Hearing this, Shen Daoxing froze. He suddenly felt the guilt of a thief caught in the act, because the person hunting the demonic beasts was none other than himself.

'Looks like I can't just hunt those demonic beasts whenever I want anymore,' he thought. 'After all, they are raised by the Cyan Nether Sword Sect.'

However, Shen Daoxing could still go explore the depths of Yunmeng Marsh. The demonic beasts there were wild and should be fair game. The only thing was, they were also far more ferocious. It was said that deep within Yunmeng Marsh, there were even demonic beasts with strength equivalent to the Refining Dust Realm.

'But now that I have the Arm of the Venerable, it's not like I don't stand a chance against a Refining Dust Realm demonic beast,' he reasoned. 'And if I can't win, I can always run away.'

As Shen Daoxing was lost in thought, Senior Brother Wan Hai took out several bells and placed them in his hands. "Here, Junior Brother, take these. They're Wind-controlling Bells. They can detect unidentified intruders. I need you to hang these bells in key locations on each of the Suspended Islands."

Shen Daoxing stared blankly for a moment before taking the bells from Wan Hai's hand with a strange expression.

"What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and hang these Wind-controlling Bells!"

Urged on by his senior brother, Shen Daoxing rose into the air using Sword Control and hung the Wind-controlling Bells high on the cliffs of the various Suspended Islands.

While on his task, Shen Daoxing saw his senior brothers and sisters arriving from off-island, one after another, riding all sorts of Magical Artifacts.

Through the haze, a constant stream of Kun Ships and Flying Boats flowed toward the Suspended Islands.

The Cyan Nether Sword Sect seemed much livelier today than usual, which left Shen Daoxing feeling a bit puzzled.

Just as he was wondering...

BOOM!

Without any warning, a dazzling beam of light erupted from the depths of the Suspended Islands, shooting toward the heavens. It pierced the clouds and illuminated the entire sky. In a daze, Shen Daoxing felt a desolate, ancient aura wash over him.

'That looks like the direction of Pengze Immortal Island.'

While Shen Daoxing was still staring in a daze, a figure sitting cross-legged within that beam of light seemed to slowly levitate upward.

It was an old man with white hair. His face was gaunt, and he was as thin as a twig, looking as if he were nothing but skin and bones. His long, white hair hung all the way down to his feet.

His eyes were tightly shut, and his body radiated a sacred light that compelled others to bow their heads in worship.

The old man continued to ascend within the beam of light, bit by bit, until he reached the great hole torn in the clouds, as if he were about to travel to another world.

But at that very moment, without any warning, the old man's body shattered like glass. It broke into countless fragments that scattered and slowly dispersed into the sky.

With his dissolution came a colossal power from within his body, which erupted in all directions. It transformed into streaks of light that shot into the distance, vanishing between heaven and earth.

Just then, a mournful, resonant voice cried out, "Ancestor Dan Chen has undergone martial dissolution!"

Ancestor Dan Chen was the Island Master of Pengze Immortal Island, a Celestial Balance Realm expert who presided over one of the Immortal Islands. He had lived for over a thousand years and weathered countless storms with the Cyan Nether Sword Sect. He had repeatedly turned the tide to save the sect from the brink of collapse. It would be no exaggeration to call him the foremost figure in the Cyan Nether Sword Sect.

Yet even a mighty expert of the Celestial Balance Realm would one day reach the end of his lifespan. When he reached the end of his life, unable to break through the Celestial Balance Realm, his mortal body was still fated to dissipate between heaven and earth.

As the saying goes, dust to dust, earth to earth. Everything returns to the world, and the cultivation one amasses in life must eventually be returned to it as well.

「That day.」

The entire Cyan Nether Sword Sect was adorned with white funeral banners. A sea of white covered every Suspended Island.

On the central main island, all the disciples of the Cyan Nether Sword Sect gathered in the plaza. One by one, they stepped forward to kowtow before the altar. Upon the altar rested Ancestor Dan Chen's final worldly possession: a cattail cushion he had once sat upon in life.

Meanwhile, inside the main hall of the plaza, the other three Immortal Island Masters were arguing heatedly.

With Ancestor Dan Chen's death, the position of Island Master of Pengze Immortal Island was now vacant.

Originally, there had been no dispute about who would succeed him as Island Master of Pengze Immortal Island.

However, by a stroke of cruel fate, Ancestor Dan Chen's most beloved disciple had died during the great turmoil that shook the Cyan Nether Sword Sect more than a decade ago.

The Pengze Immortal Island lineage was already sparse to begin with, and many had perished in that great disaster over a decade ago. The first-, second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation disciples had been completely wiped out. Very few sixth-generation disciples remained, and all of them were away from the sect on missions.

Among the youngest seventh- and eighth-generation disciples, the strongest was only at the Ninth Layer of the Earth Profound Realm. Appointing such a person as the Island Master of Pengze Immortal Island would make it difficult to win everyone's approval.

Meanwhile, the three Island Masters were arguing.

All the disciples of the Cyan Nether Sword Sect had gathered to pay their respects to Ancestor Dan Chen; even the outer sect disciples had come to the Inner Mountain.