Immortal of the Nine Realms

The matter was set in stone!

Every eye could only watch in dead silence as Half Saint Fang walked unhindered upon the path to become a Saint.

Within the surrounding mist, the hidden Limit Breaking from the rival factions looked completely ashen, their faces pale as clay.

"Hahaha! The Old Man has achieved Sainthood! The Fang Clan is destined to reach unprecedented heights of prosperity!" Fang Cangyou burst into a thunderous, ringing laugh.

The Limit Breaking experts from the allied Wang and Shi Families similarly broke into broad, sweeping smiles. By that point, everyone knew their gamble had paid off flawlessly. Though the Fang Clan had been actively hunted under the Luoxue Alliance's bounty, the remaining Saints of the realm were sharp and discerning. They had deduced the Flame Race's insidious plot the moment the pieces were laid out.

Without anyone realizing it, a dozen new figures had quietly materialized atop the deck of the Chaoxian Tower. Their arrivals were entirely soundless, devoid of any spatial ripples. When the lower-ranking cultivators finally perceived their presence, looks of sheer shock flashed across their faces, followed instantly by deep, reverent bows. No one dared to utter a single word to break the sacred silence.

Fang Chen's expression shifted subtly. These are the hidden Half Saints of the various neutral factions... they've finally shown their faces now that the outcome is safely secured.

Everyone in Zanglong City, atop the Chaoxian Tower, and throughout the endless shifting mist focused their gaze on Half Saint Fang. Bathed in the absolute reverence of tens of thousands of souls, he stepped firmly and unhurriedly into the true domain of a Saint.

***

Unable to withstand the suffocating joint spiritual pressure released by the Saint Wandao and the other Saints, Saint Jinyang, Saint Luoxue, and Saint Chiyan had no choice but to retreat a few miles back.

"I must say... why on earth is your Flame Race so incredibly eager to deliver gifts to our doorstep?" Saint Jinyang shot a highly disgruntled, resentful side-glance at Saint Chiyan.

"It is your own Human Saints who possess the petty hearts of villains, using them to gauge the noble intentions of gentlemen!" Saint Chiyan sneered icily, his gaze remaining locked onto Fang Lie.

Yet, despite his boiling fury, he no longer possessed a single tactical option to disrupt the ascension.

"You had a literal golden opportunity to add an extra true Saint to your people's ranks, yet you refused it out of pure paranoia, cooking up ten thousand absurd justifications. What a pathetic joke."

Saint Jinyang chuckled softly. "Sigh, people have always told me that my brain doesn't function very sharply. Now that I look at it, it seems they were right. I was spun around in circles by your people's schemes."

He turned to Saint Luoxue. "You have always been sharper than me. Did you already anticipate the terrifying domino effect this arrangement would trigger? Did they promise you an even bigger compensation, prompting you to willingly sacrifice the foundational bedrock of our race just to cooperate with the Flame Race?"

"You misunderstand me. I only realized that specific angle a moment ago," Saint Luoxue replied flatly, her tone detached. "Before this, just like you, I genuinely believed this transaction yielded massive benefits for our people. Now it seems... there truly is no such thing as a free lunch beneath the heavens."

"Is that so?" replied Saint Jinyang, entirely noncommittal.

Fortunately for them, both were true Saints. Even if they had been briefly led by the nose by the Flame Race's machinations, it did not fundamentally impact their personal standing. At worst, they would face a few verbal rebukes from their peers, and it was a triviality that couldn't scratch a single hair on their bodies. The only variable that required a modicum of wariness was handling Fang Lie after his breakthrough fully settled.

Even once Fang Lie becomes a Saint, he will still require a considerable period of seclusion to fully consolidate his new cultivation, Saint Jinyang reasoned silently. My ascension took place ages before his. Even if he chooses to bring a grievance to my doorstep, I can easily suppress and repel him.

With that reassuring thought, Saint Jinyang quietly watched Fang Lie's breakthrough as it entered its final stages, entirely abandoning any lingering desire to interfere.

In the blink of an eye, an entire month bled away. Throughout this month, the gathered crowd bore witness to the steady, rhythmic escalation of the pure white aura enveloping Fang Lie. It climbed from a subtle ripple into an absolute, overwhelming crescendo.

Then, right as the aura reached its absolute zenith, an incredible phenomenon occurred. Everyone suddenly lost the visual capacity to perceive Fang Lie.

The blinding white light radiating from him had soundlessly dissolved into nothingness. He was clearly still suspended right there in the empty void, yet their spiritual senses could no longer detect even a shred of his existence. It was as if he had integrated entirely into the fundamental laws of reality. Even the dozens of powerful Half Saints present on the tower registered looks of profound awe and reverence.

"He succeeded! This is an absolute confirmation!"

"Our Human Race has officially gained another true Saint!"

The atmosphere within Zanglong City exploded into a boiling frenzy. Countless cultivators cheered with wild excitement. To have the supreme fortune of witnessing the birth of a true Saint was a historical milestone that only an infinitesimally small fraction of lucky souls would ever experience in their lifetimes. Observing the subtle shifts in the laws during Fang Lie's ascension would provide an invaluable foundation for their own future paths of cultivation.

"The old man made it," murmured Fang Cangyou, his face glowing with a brilliant smile.

Fang Cangyue similarly allowed a rare, soft smile to grace her lips as she stared up at the solitary figure hanging in the heavens. From the Limit Breaking Realm down to the minor cultivators of the Three Foundation Realm, every single member of the Fang Clan camp cheered in unbridled ecstasy.

Conversely, the neutral Half Saints who had chosen to stand by the Fang Clan felt a profound envy blooming in their chests. To them, it always seemed like they were only half a step away from becoming Saints, yet that half-step represented an absolute, impassable chasm that many would fail to cross even if they spent ten thousand lifetimes trying.

Fang Lie suddenly snapped his eyes open. "Now that I have become a Saint, I shall borrow your lives to consecrate my blade."

In that exact microsecond, an incomprehensible, primal dread gripped the hearts of every single divinity expert hidden within the surrounding mist. It felt as though death itself had physically clamped its jaws around their souls.

Someone shrieked in absolute terror. "You have already become a Saint! Why on earth are you still lowering yourself to slaughter us juniors!?"

"We are also part of the future destiny of the Human Race!"

Fang Lie completely ignored their frantic pleas. He merely executed a single, utterly detached swing of his sword. An apocalyptic, terrifying sword intent erupted, instantly engulfing the heavens and the earth. One sharp, blinding sword-gleam after another swept through the eight desolations!

The figures within the shifting mist—who represented peerless, invincible immortals to ordinary people—let out agonizing, blood-curdling screeches of pure despair under the onslaught of the incoming blades. The entire sky suddenly resembled a pristine canvas brutally slashed apart. Torrents of golden, celestial blood splattered across the air like spilled ink, painting a horrific, copper-scented landscape of absolute slaughter right before their eyes!

As Fang Chen watched, it felt as though a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind and split open memories sealed away for countless years

This is... the Eight Desolation Supreme Sword Scripture ... the Seventh Sword? No, this is the simultaneous integration of all seven forms. The Immortal Suppressing Style! Fang Chen murmured inwardly, his soul trembling.

Back when he had first obtained the Eight Desolation Supreme Sword Scripture from Little Sword, he had glimpsed a fleeting vision that closely mirrored the exact slaughter taking place before him. At that time, his cultivation base had been far too weak, allowing him to only vaguely perceive that the figures hidden within the endless mist possessed terrifying, peerless auras akin to descending gods. Looking at them now, he realized that his impression had not been wrong.

Among those slain by Fang Lie's sword were genuine Limit Breaking experts and ninth-transformation immortals! An accumulation of power that would have been deemed absolutely peerless and unmatched during the later Nine Realms Era!

He had simply never imagined that he would witness the precise origin of that ancient vision at this exact moment.

I should have deduced this ages ago. The main reason I didn't was that the old master looked completely different in this era from how he did during the Nine Realms Era. Since Little Sword was intentionally arranged by the Old Man to ensure I would 'accidentally' discover it, this supreme sword scripture naturally stands as a grand divine ability he personally comprehended during the Nether Ruins Era...

Fang Chen sighed inwardly and focused intently on what would happen next.

Back then, he had only witnessed the first half of the scene before being jolted awake. He knew nothing of what followed.

At that moment, Saint Jinyang and Saint Luoxue finally snapped out of their shock. Seeing the top-tier Limit Breaking and ninth-transformation experts, the core talents under their respective commands—including Half Saint Jinwu and Half Saint Zhangxue—face imminent, total annihilation, they let out furious, thunderous roars. Unleashing their full Saint authority, they surged forward to crush Fang Lie.

Yet, Fang Lie merely directed an utterly detached, cold gaze toward them. With a casual flick of his wrist, a torrential wave of sword momentum violently whipped toward the two established Saints.

In that exact instant, both of them felt an instinctive, bone-chilling premonition of death rattle their souls!

Neither dared to linger for a single microsecond longer. With a frantic, violent sweep of their wide sleeves, they wrapped their core lineages inside their protective internal qi and instantly tore through the fabric of space, fleeing into the void without a trace!

Seeing the two human Saints abandon the field so decisively, Saint Chiyan let out a furious, silent curse. Displaying an equally absolute decisiveness, he instantly executed a secret escape technique and vanished from the sky, refusing to stay a moment longer to face the monstrous newcomer.

With the three true Saints fleeing the field, the remaining hidden experts who had failed to be swept up in their sleeves were left in a state of absolute, pathetic despair.

Saint Wandao and Saint Wanqing exchanged a brief, knowing look. They initially opened their mouths, intending to offer a word of restraint to avoid excessive bloodshed. However, the exact moment they prepared to speak, they noticed that the curtain masking the five neutral arbiters had soundlessly vanished. Instantly understanding the implicit stance of the other five council members, they chose to close their mouths and remain entirely silent.

The death of a handful of ninth-transformation experts and a few dozen Limit Breaking experts would not fundamentally cripple the foundation of the Human Race. Conversely, using their blood to paint this horrific picture would sound a massive, sweeping alarm bell for every human faction beneath the heavens! It would serve as a brutal reminder of the absolute cost of treasonous complacency.

Wang Chongsong murmured, his voice trembling with deep awe, "Unbelievable... Saint Fang has only just claimed his Saint seat... yet with a single, casual strike of his blade, he has forcefully driven back both Saint Jinyang and Saint Luoxue! What kind of incomprehensible divine ability is this!?"

This time, he was far too shocked to rely on voice transmission. His muttered words echoed clearly across the entire deck of the Chaoxian Tower.

Fang Chen spoke up softly. "This is a Sword Divine Ability."

"A Sword Divine Ability... perhaps... I too should walk the path of the sword," Wang Chongsong murmured to himself, his eyes vacant as he stared at the lingering, razor-sharp intent carved into the atmosphere.

Fang Chen went rigid for a split second. He turned his head to stare intently at Wang Chongsong before sweeping his gaze across the gathered ninth-transformation immortals, the Limit Breaking experts and the remaining Half Saints. Every single individual present had been thoroughly shaken to their core by Fang Lie's singular sword strike, their eyes reflecting a primitive, burning yearning for the supreme path of the sword.

So... it was at this exact moment in history... That Old Wang officially fell in love with practicing the sword?