The blood-colored battlefield was shrouded in a heavy, oppressive silence that made every breath feel labored.

  Jiang Li stood atop a mound of crimson earth, silver armor gleaming dully. One hand rested on the hilt of his sword planted in the ground; his tattered scarlet cloak fluttered behind him like a banner of defiance.

  There was killing intent in the air, but also a tragic grandeur.

  Yet his expression remained calm. He had chosen to guard this battlefield—he had long prepared himself for what was coming.

  High above, amid drifting mist, a palace-robed woman hovered in silence.

  Jiang Li met her gaze and felt an instinctive terror coil in his gut, the kind that only came from an insurmountable gap in power.

  He bit his lip until it bled. The sharp tang of iron filled his mouth and cleared his vision. The fear vanished.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  War drums thundered from within the fortress.

  “Prepare for battle!”

  Jiang Li’s roar rolled across the plain like a tidal wave.

  Roar!

  The gates groaned open.

  The clank of armor and the disciplined stomp of boots echoed as one.

  Three thousand Xuanwu Guards.

  Three thousand Xiang Family troops.

  Three thousand Southern Prefecture soldiers.

  Plus one thousand Heavenly Origin cultivators.

  Ten thousand warriors poured out and formed ranks on the blood-soaked plain, spears leveled, battle intent blazing.

  Outside the void, the woman’s pendant glowed softly, shielding her from Nihility Heaven’s rules. A priceless sacred-tier treasure.

  She glanced down at the army arrayed before her and sneered in disdain.

  “Ants.”

  To a Body Integration mighty one, Jiang Li was merely Infant Transformation. Even the strongest behind him—Xu Chu, Zhao Zixu—were only Golden Core or Foundation Establishment.

  No matter how many, they were insects she could crush with a wave of her hand.

  In the cultivation world, strength was absolute. Cruel, but absolute.

  “My children’s soul tablets remain intact. They live—imprisoned somewhere in this world…”

  Her eyes turned icy.

  Those were her precious darlings. She had sent them to plunder the fortune of this newborn high martial world, armed with sacred treasures.

  Yet disaster had struck.

  “Damn them all!”

  “If a single hair on their heads is harmed, I will slaughter every living soul on this continent!”

  Murder blazed in her gaze.

  Boom!

  She moved.

  Like a meteor, she plunged toward the Five Phoenixes.

  Her pendant could only shield her for so long. She had to act fast.

  The Heaven-Covering Formation activated. Mist billowed, turning into an impenetrable fog.

  Array patterns writhed like great fish, slamming against her from every direction.

  Though they lacked killing power, they frustrated her to the point of spitting blood.

  “An Earth-tier formation?!”

  “That damned old Qi Liuma!”

  Fury exploded within her. She struck out wildly, only to be hurled backward by the rebound.

  On the battlefield, Jiang Li exhaled in relief.

  “This woman must be the ‘great power’ those Sons and Saintesses spoke of.”

  In the distance, Lu Jiulian stood quietly in his green lotus robes.

  After the world’s transformation, Lu Jiulian had become even more unfathomable.

  “No need to worry,” he said calmly. “The stronger they are, the more restrictions they face. She is powerful, but if she forces her way onto the battlefield, the backlash will be severe.”

  “If she stays outside—fine. If she descends… perfect. I’ve been itching for a real fight.”

  He smiled at Jiang Li, bright and sunny.

  “General Jiang, I’ve always been curious about military formations. Mind if I borrow your army for a test?”

  Jiang Li blinked, then felt a spark of excitement.

  Even against such a terrifying foe, Lu Jiulian remained utterly composed.

  What a monster.

  And what a terrifying talent—no bottlenecks, as though the heavens themselves cleared his path.

  Borrow the army?

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  Jiang Li’s eyes gleamed.

  Boom!

  The mist parted as if swept aside by an invisible hand.

  The woman blazed with radiant light, beautiful and deadly as a charmed star.

  She raised a jade tablet containing a wisp of her children’s soul signatures.

  First—locate them.

  The tablet shattered. Two beams of light shot skyward, piercing straight into the Five Phoenixes continent.

  Over the Boundless Sea.

  The calm surface suddenly churned.

  Outside the floating ice pagoda, the Infant Transformation guards felt their hearts seize.

  “Quick! Inform the City Lord!”

  One shot toward Martial Emperor City, parting the sea in his wake.

  Inside the pagoda—

  The despairing Sons and Saintesses jolted.

  The burly holy son opened his eyes; twin beams of sharp light locked onto the golden boy and jade girl.

  Two jade tablets rose from their bodies, shattered, and sent soul signatures soaring through the tower’s seal, tearing the clouds apart.

  The golden boy and jade girl—who had been slumped lifelessly on their black-and-white crane—froze, then erupted into ecstatic tears.

  “Mother! It’s Mother!”

  They flew to the top of the tower, pressing their faces against the ice.

  “Mother’s coming to save us!”

  Within the pagoda, a faint projection formed.

  The palace-robed woman floated in the void, her pendant glowing azure.

  “It really is the Holy Consort of Black-White Sacred Ground…”

  Even the drooping immortal crane lifted its head.

  “The Holy Consort is a mighty one. With her here, we’re saved…”

  “And if I recall correctly, one of Black-White Sacred Ground’s elders is Qi Liuma’s own disciple—a master of the Nine Secret Words.”

  Hope reignited in every captive heart.

  …

  In the void.

  Joy flashed across the woman’s face.

  Her gaze pierced the battlefield, through mountains and rivers, locking onto the ice pagoda floating above the Boundless Sea.

  “My babies are inside!”

  “Mother is here!”

  She took a deep breath.

  “The world’s protective barrier hasn’t fully dissipated yet. Ideally, I should wait… but I can’t!”

  Fear gripped her—if the natives harmed her children while she hesitated, she would never forgive herself.

  Those twins were her greatest treasure—and the reason the Holy Lord doted on her.

  She opened cherry lips and spat out a tiny black sword resting on her tongue.

  Whoosh!

  The sword shot forth, expanding into a colossal blade that tore the sky.

  BOOM!

  The Heaven-Covering Formation shuddered violently.

  On the battlefield, winds howled and the earth cracked.

  The black greatsword plunged down, carving a miles-long chasm.

  Jiang Li paled, cold sweat beading on his brow.

  Even through the formation, a single strike carried such devastation.

  This was the power of a mighty one.

  Terrifying.

  Lu Jiulian’s eyes gleamed.

  “A sacred-tier weapon—Earth-tier high-grade, at least.”

  He laughed lightly, hair whipping in the wind, and shot toward the descending sword.

  “You—”

  Jiang Li’s expression changed. He feared Lu Jiulian was courting death.

  But seeing the eager tremble in the man’s back, he understood the hunger for battle and did not stop him.

  Instead, he raised a fist.

  “Form ranks!”

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  Drums thundered.

  Ten days of refinement had perfected Jiang Li’s formations. The army moved as one organism.

  Ten thousand cultivators—weakest at Body Storage Realm—charged.

  Xu Chu led the vanguard, swinging his spiked iron ball.

  Beside him, Zhao Zixu gripped his spear, face cold.

  He stared at Lu Jiulian’s back with complicated emotions.

  Once, they had been peers.

  Now, Lu Jiulian was a mountain he could only look up to.

  “I’m not jealous. The stronger you are, the safer Five Phoenixes will be. You fight—I’ll back you up!”

  Zhao Zixu grinned.

  BOOM!

  The army’s collective aura surged, condensing into a terrifying wave of bloodlust and righteous qi that poured into Lu Jiulian at the front.

  Lu Jiulian’s body shuddered.

  He glanced back—ten thousand strands of will braided into a single rope.

  A smile curved his lips.

  He stepped before the black greatsword.

  Lotuses bloomed beneath his feet with every step.

  BOOM!

  He threw a punch.

  The colossal sword was sent flying back toward the void.

  In the emptiness, the woman was still marveling at the formation’s resilience when her own sword came hurtling back.

  And behind it walked a figure in green lotus robes, stepping calmly out of the array.

  “Courting death!”

  Cold fury flashed across her beautiful face.

  “If you hid inside the formation, I might have let you live. But you dare step out?”

  “Then die—and vent my anger for my imprisoned children!”

  She seized the returning sword.

  Demonic beauty twisted into a sneer.

  Lu Jiulian ascended step by step on blooming lotuses, eyes blazing.

  Righteous qi exploded around him.

  His Yang God hovered above his head, sweeping the void with overwhelming presence.

  Behind him, the blood-colored will of ten thousand warriors coalesced into a towering phantom that merged with his aura.

  …

  In the origin space.

  Lu, fresh from his system upgrade, narrowed his eyes.

  He sensed the disturbance outside.

  The woman intrigued him.

  “Nice gear. Far better than those eighteen trapped in the cauldron.”

  Whether the pendant or the black sword, both were far beyond ordinary Earth-tier treasures.

  “Lord Sword Master, shall we strike? With your power guiding me, one slash would kill her! Seventy percent chance!”

  The Phoenix Feather Sword Soul vibrated excitedly beneath his seat—she had become very humble after meeting her temperamental owner.

  Lu tapped the armrest.

  “Fair point. Once the world’s protective barrier fully fades, more trouble will come. Might as well clean house early.”

  The sword soul practically cheered.

  But just as Lu prepared to move—

  His gaze condensed.

  Threads danced across his pupils.

  He saw Lu Jiulian, carrying the will of ten thousand soldiers, striding out like a war god to meet the Body Integration expert without fear.

  “You want to fight?”

  Lu smiled, eyes gleaming with interest.

  Yang God Realm versus Primordial Spirit Unity Realm.

  Now that’s exciting.

  “Sword Master! Let’s go!”

  The sword soul quivered eagerly.

  “Shut up.”

  Lu propped his chin lazily.

  Phoenix Feather Sword Soul: “…”

  What happened to fighting?

  Men’s words are lies!

  Lu ignored the sulking sword soul—he still hadn’t forgiven her for calling him “lowly.”

  If Lu Jiulian wanted battle, let him have it.

  So Lu shifted his attention elsewhere.

  Something far more interesting had caught his eye.

  “Qi Liuma’s disciple…”

  A smile tugged at his lips.

  According to Bu Nanxing, those disciples had all been plants from high martial sacred grounds, sent to steal the Nine Secret Words and tear the Six Armor Array Sect apart.

  No wonder Qi Liuma’s life was so tragic.

  His dream of creating a high martial world—shattered.

  His sect—dismantled.

  Yet the old man had endured on that dead continent, clinging to a faint, impossible hope.

  Perhaps Lu should do something for him.

  …

  “This is the Myriad Pattern Cauldron,” Zuo Xu explained, hands clasped behind his back. “Master derived it from ancient sect records. It cannot fully replicate the ancient Emperor’s weapon, but combined with Nihility Heaven’s rules, trapping these mighty ones is child’s play.”

  The pale expert smiled. “Then, Master Zuo—can you break it?”

  “Without breaking it, we cannot descend. And if we delay, the Black-White Holy Consort might claim the entire origin for herself…”

  Zuo Xu glanced at him and chuckled coldly.

  “Difficult. Any other array master would be helpless. Among my fellow disciples, only three could break this—Eldest Brother, Sixth Junior Brother, and me.”

  The pale expert’s eyes flickered, but he said nothing.

  Zuo Xu paid him no mind and sighed softly.

  “Master… why couldn’t you just live out your days in peace? Why force yourself into eternal damnation?”

  After a long moment, he raised his hand. His black robes billowed.

  His eyes blazed.

  Array patterns emerged around him, clashing like steel on steel.

  “Ha!”

  He shouted.

  A secret word slowly materialized above his head.

  The pale expert retreated, heart pounding with awe and envy.

  “The ‘Assemble’ Secret Word of the Nine Secret Words!”

  Anything tied to the ancient Emperor Hao was extraordinary.

  BOOM!

  Deafening rumbles shook the void.

  Zuo Xu focused entirely on the cauldron, the word above him glowing brighter.

  The pale expert backed away further.

  Suddenly, his body stiffened.

  Unnoticed, a figure had appeared behind him.

  White robes purer than snow. A youth seated calmly in a wheelchair of a thousand blades.

  “?”

  No aura at all—yet able to stand in Nihility Heaven. No ordinary person.

  “Another mighty one drawn by the newborn high martial origin?”

  Competition was growing fierce.

  But the pale expert rolled his eyes and put on a friendly smile.

  “My friend, you’re here for this world’s newborn high martial fortune too, aren’t you?”

  Lu blinked—This guy doesn’t recognize me?

  He returned an equally warm, sincere smile.

  “Indeed.”

  “What a coincidence.”