Starting With 100 Million Lives

"No..."

Daoist Venerable Yue Tu only had time to say that one word in the end.

Then, with terror in his eyes, he was directly swallowed by that terrifying Sword Dao World.

The Sword Dao World is, by its nature, formed by fusing the Sword Heart and then releasing it many times over.

A Thirteen Layer Sword Dao World, its power is far more than just several or a dozen times stronger.

This isn’t Emperor Sword Star; the opponent can draw on the Dharma Realm, can mobilize other Origins, their power is no longer restricted.

But correspondingly, Jiang Cheng’s Sword Dao World’s might could also be fully unleashed.

He also had Law Space as support, and could mobilize other Origins.

With that one sword, the entire Challenge Space seemed to experience a cycle from creation to Destruction.

In an extremely brief instant it was grand and magnificent, dazzling beyond compare.

But that was only from an outsider’s perspective.

Those within it could feel nothing but ever-present killing intent seeping in from every crack.

In the blink of an eye, it carried an unstoppable crushing momentum, with completely annihilating the enemy as its sole goal, launching wave after wave of attacks.

Under the near-endless cyclical bombardment of that Sword Dao World, Daoist Venerable Yue Tu was actually already shattered on the seventh wave of attacks.

By the thirtieth wave, he had Fallen.

As for the countless waves of attacks after that, they were purely whipping a corpse.

When everything finally settled, Daoist Venerable Yue Tu had long since vanished.

Whether his Immortal Body or Divine Soul Thought, all of it had been completely emptied by that attack just now, without leaving the slightest trace.

Not even the Tier Six Dao Armor, which had lost its infusion of Immortal Power, was spared; it turned into a riddled, tattered wreck, no longer of any value.

This made Brother Cheng’s heart ache terribly.

So that strike really was overkill, even the loot got destroyed.

Meanwhile, everyone at the sidelines had automatically entered a petrified state.

For a long while they couldn’t snap out of it.

Only after a good while did a question slowly rise in everyone’s hearts—what was that just now?

At that grand event on Emperor Sword Star, almost everyone had gone for the Sword Heart and Sword Dao, and ninety-nine percent of those present were Sword Cultivators.

Add in the fact that there was a Divine Monarch presiding, so everyone knew their stuff.

But at this duel between the two Sects of Duan Yang Dao, many people simply weren’t Sword Cultivators.

Even among the Sword Cultivators, a large portion had never touched that level of Sword Dao.

Those who had stepped into that Domain were mostly only at the Third to Fifth Layer of Sword Dao...

They simply didn’t dare believe that what they just saw was also a Sword Dao Realm.

"What exactly happened?"

When activity gradually returned inside the arena, the Elders and disciples on Wuding Palace’s side exploded on the spot.

"Wasn’t Daoist Venerable Yue Tu holding the advantage?"

"Yeah, how did he suddenly get killed?"

"What happened?"

"What was that final sword?"

"Daoist Venerable Yue Tu should still be alive, right? He must still be alive!"

The vast majority of them simply hadn’t understood that one sword of Thirteen Layer Sword Dao Realm.

And the few who did understand were still in shock.

Daoist Venerable Zhiyan, Ao Xiao Daoist Venerable, and Silver Quan Daoist Venerable all used swords.

Their Sword Dao Realms were at the Fifth Layer, Sixth Layer, and Eighth Layer respectively.

So right now the way the three of them looked at Brother Cheng was like they were looking at a monster.

Just how many layers of Sword Dao Realm was that just now?

If they hadn’t miscounted, it should be Thirteen Layer, right?

Yet how was that possible?

Never mind that Jiang Cheng was a Celestial Venerable; even if he were a Daoist Venerable, it would still be hard to believe.

After all, among Daoist Saints, Sword Cultivators who reach that level are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Their heads were now filled with existential doubt.

The reaction on Mowu Sect’s side, however, was entirely different.

Jiang Cheng’s victory meant Mowu Sect had taken yet another round.

And this round, he’d taken down a Daoist Venerable!

Mowu Sect’s dedicated Song and Dance Ensemble, once they sobered up, quickly began performing, whipping up an incredibly heated atmosphere.

The others also erupted in cheers, venting the shock pounding in their hearts.

"My god, that Sect Leader Jiang is actually that strong?"

"Seeing a Celestial Venerable take the field, I thought beating a Celestial Venerable opponent would already be great, but he actually beat a Daoist Venerable?"

"Note, he killed him! Not just defeated him!"

"Exactly, a clean and decisive kill of a Daoist Venerable in a challenge like this is extremely rare."

"I finally understand why Sect Leader Lin Jing had so much confidence in him."

"What kind of Immortal is this guy?"

"This still counts as a Celestial Venerable?"

"Could he be a Daoist Venerable in disguise?"

"At this rate, we might actually have a real chance of winning."

"Sect Leader, wise and mighty!"

In that moment, Mowu Sect fell into a frenzy.

Before today’s challenge began, they were still steeped in a grave-visiting gloom, each of them mourning like they’d lost their parents.

No one thought there was even the slightest hope of victory in today’s challenge.

As for Sect Leader Jiang, whom Daoist Venerable Lin Jing had been extolling for days, they were extremely dismissive.

They simply didn’t believe a mere Celestial Venerable could accomplish anything in this challenge.

If Daoist Venerable Lin Jing hadn’t forcibly backed him, a Celestial Venerable wouldn’t even have had a chance to appear in this Sect challenge, alright?

And yet now...

They’d just been collectively slapped in the face.

But the slap felt great; they wished they could take a few more.

After the intense cheering, some questions also surfaced in their minds.

How exactly did he win just now?

To this end, a bunch of Elders and disciples swarmed to interview their "expert" from before, Fan Lei Daoist Venerable.

"Didn’t you just say Sect Leader Jiang was doomed to lose?"

"Yeah, didn’t you say that beneath Daoist Venerables all are ants, totally incomparable?"

"Once Law Space appears, a Celestial Venerable can’t resist—so what do you call what just happened?"

Fan Lei Daoist Venerable could clearly feel the change in everyone’s attitude toward him.

Before, every sentence they spoke to him came with a ’Senior Fan Lei’, and they always addressed him as ’you (formal)’ rather than ’you (casual)’.

Damn it, just because that brat took down a Daoist Venerable, I’m suddenly worthless?

From little sweetheart to an old hag?

You people are way too real, aren’t you?

Yet facing so many doubts, Fan Lei felt that it wasn’t just his importance dropping, even his authority had taken a hit.

If he didn’t explain a bit, they might think this genuine Daoist Venerable was just plain trash, knowing jack shit about the ’Daoist Venerable level’.

"Ahem, I just didn’t expect his Law Space to be that solid."

This line was also the truth.

Before this, he hadn’t known Jiang Cheng had a Dharma Realm.

And if Brother Cheng hadn’t had a Dharma Realm, then even with a Thirteen Layer Sword Dao World just now, he would still have had a hard time winning.

Because Sword Dao without Law Space and Origin’s support wouldn’t have enough power to break Daoist Venerable Yue Tu’s Dharma Realm defense.

"Besides, Daoist Venerable Yue Tu was way too careless, completely unprepared for that kid."

"If he’d taken it more seriously, not acted so high and mighty, he wouldn’t have lost that miserably."

He definitely wasn’t going to praise Jiang Cheng.

He simply attributed Brother Cheng’s victory mainly to Daoist Venerable Yue Tu’s underperformance.

One wonders, if Daoist Venerable Yue Tu knew of this down in the netherworld, would he feel comforted?