Nihility Heaven was deathly silent.
Lu Fan’s white robes fluttered as he leaned back in the Thousand-Blade Chair, advancing unhurriedly.
His pace was leisurely, yet the pale-faced, kidney-deficient mighty one’s expression changed drastically.
“Brother! What are you doing?!”
Seeing Lu approach Zuo Xu, who was focused on breaking the formation, the man panicked.
Zuo Xu’s success determined whether the trapped mighty ones could escape and whether they could carve up the newborn high martial origin.
BOOM!
His primordial spirit surged. Terrifying pressure roiled the void.
A Body Integration cultivator possessed a primordial spirit—the equivalent of Lu Fan’s Primordial Unity Realm. They were called “mighty ones” precisely because of their overwhelming primordial spirit oppression.
It was similar to Lu Fan’s own Spiritual Pressure, but on a higher level: a suppression that higher realms exerted over lower ones.
“Stop!”
The pale expert roared in fury.
Moments ago they had been chatting amiably; now this youth dared interfere with his interests?
BOOM!
A deafening roar shook the void.
Lu Fan’s white robes and hair whipped in the wind, but his advance never slowed.
A Body Integration mighty one’s primordial spirit oppression piqued his interest.
“So once a primordial spirit forms, it’s a new realm entirely.”
Lu Fan smiled faintly.
On the upgraded system panel, his Primordial Spirit Power was listed at 99 yuan.
How strong was 99 yuan?
He had no reference point. Aside from the reincarnated venerable from the high martial Buddha world, this was his first true encounter with a mighty one.
“Then let’s test it.”
Lu Fan decided.
He activated his primordial spirit.
Once mere divine sense, it had evolved into a true primordial spirit.
BOOM!
It was as if an ancient demon god had awakened. The void trembled violently; invisible ripples formed a storm.
The pale expert’s face twisted in horror.
He felt as though he had slammed into an endless primordial spirit wall.
The pressure nearly stopped his breath.
This aura!
This power!
This youth… was terrifying!
Pfft!
Blood sprayed. His primordial spirit suffered massive damage, as though scorched by flames.
He let out a wretched scream. His freshly restored body exploded.
His nearly extinguished primordial spirit fled in terror, streaking out of Nihility Heaven without looking back.
He had to escape!
As far as possible. Nihility Heaven was too horrifying!
“This child… could he be from a Seventh Tier or higher high martial world?!”
“His presence rivals a Holy Lord!”
With his primordial spirit crippled, he fled.
Some fortunes were only fortunes if you lived to claim them. Otherwise, they were death warrants.
He abandoned all claim to the Five Phoenixes’ origin.
Lu Fan calmly withdrew his gaze.
The man’s body destroyed, primordial spirit wounded—he would never dare return.
Lu Fan’s attention settled on Zuo Xu, who was wholly focused on dismantling the formation.
Above Zuo Xu’s head, the “Assemble” Secret Word hovered, radiating profound fluctuations.
One glance was enough. Lu Fan looked past him to the withered Qi Liuma seated atop the Myriad Pattern Cauldron.
Qi Liuma’s essence, energy, and primordial spirit were completely bound to the cauldron. If the formation broke, he would die.
Zuo Xu, who understood the formation best, was fully aware of this.
Yet he still chose to break it.
He was prepared to kill his own master without hesitation.
“What kind of disciples did he raise?”
Lu Fan shook his head, lamenting the coldness of the world.
Whether the giant Ninth Brother or Zuo Xu before him, none seemed to have any affection for Qi Liuma.
The old man was truly pitiful.
“Since you chose to shield Five Phoenixes from calamity, I, Lu Ping’an, am not unreasonable. I’ll save your life.”
His voice was soft, yet it thundered like heavenly decree.
Rules faintly shimmered in the Ninth Heaven.
Zuo Xu, focused on the formation, jolted. Array patterns swirled around him.
He opened his eyes and saw Lu Fan.
A white-robed youth that made his heart tremble.
“Who are you?”
Zuo Xu demanded.
Where was the pale expert?
He stared warily at Lu Fan. The youth seemed harmless, yet an inexplicable dread rose within him.
“Lu Ping’an.”
“Lord of Bai Yujing.”
Lu Fan answered.
Bai Yujing?
Zuo Xu frowned—which high martial sacred ground was that?
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
But before he could think further, Lu Fan raised a hand.
Hum…
A character condensed from nothing—the Secret Word “Qian.”
“A Secret Word?!”
“No… not one of the Nine Secret Words!”
Zuo Xu’s heart raced, then relaxed when he saw it clearly.
He had thought it was a Nine Secret Word. In his mind, the Nine were supreme. Using some random word against him?
Foolish.
“Don’t interfere with my formation-breaking. Once it’s down, we can all share this newborn high martial origin.”
Zuo Xu said coldly.
His black robes flapped. The “Assemble” word above him trembled.
A beam of light shot out, colliding with Lu Fan’s “Qian.”
Pfft!
Zuo Xu screamed in agony—a despairing wail of an ant trying to topple a mountain.
His primordial spirit was wounded. He staggered back, blood streaming from his eyes.
“Who… are you?!”
For the first time, he was crushed in a contest of Secret Words.
“A disciple who betrays his master.”
Lu Fan said indifferently.
White robes fluttering, he steered the Thousand-Blade Chair closer.
Zuo Xu stared through bloody tears. He had come to break the formation—now he wasn’t sure he could even escape.
“Damn it!”
Death loomed.
He formed seals with both hands.
“Rise!”
Like thunder from a clear sky, a killing formation spiraled into existence around him, engulfing Lu Fan.
A formation he was proud of—even late-stage Body Integration experts would suffer inside.
Once it was complete, Zuo Xu turned to flee.
He could break Qi Liuma’s formation, but with this monster blocking him, he had no chance.
He had never guessed Lu Fan was the very master of this newborn high martial world.
Wiping blood from his eyes with a handkerchief—
He hadn’t finished when his body shook.
Within his killing formation, white robes emerged.
“How?!”
Lu Fan strolled out as if taking a leisurely walk.
Zuo Xu’s mind went blank.
Run!
He no longer cared about anything and shot toward the edge of Nihility Heaven.
Lu Fan watched calmly.
“You came. Don’t leave.”
He raised a hand and gently pushed.
The palm grew enormous in the void, becoming a heaven-covering hand that reached for Zuo Xu.
Terrifying danger enveloped him. Zuo Xu could not resist.
“Holy Consort! Save me!”
His roar echoed through the void.
Outside Five Phoenixes.
The woman whose sacred armor had been shattered by Lu Jiulian’s punch, coughing blood, paled.
“Zuo Xu still hasn’t broken the formation?”
She, a Body Integration mighty one, stalled by a Spirit Severing cultivator—it was humiliating.
Now something had gone wrong on Zuo Xu’s end too.
She turned, her gaze piercing the distance.
She saw Zuo Xu captured by a giant palm.
“Insolence!”
She was furious.
Zuo Xu was Black-White Sacred Ground’s most important array master, bearer of the “Assemble” Secret Word. The Holy Lord valued him greatly.
If Zuo Xu died here, the consequences were unthinkable!
Lu Fan glanced at her.
His expression grew cold.
Enough.
It was time to end this.
The system upgrade was complete. Five Phoenixes had fused into a true high martial origin.
The low-key Lu Fan no longer needed to hide.
Two fingers pressed against the armrest and slid.
A phoenix cry resounded through the void.
Blazing flames erupted, distorting the emptiness.
A streak of sword light flashed across the vast distance.
The woman’s heart seized.
Death closed in.
Above the blood-colored battlefield, Lu Jiulian, covered in blood, watched the fleeting, world-shaking sword radiance.
A crimson sword soared like a phoenix taking flight.
The woman’s shattered armor reformed, thin as cicada wings.
Energy surged, forming a protective barrier.
On the battlefield, Jiang Li looked up with difficulty.
Ni Chunqiu, Ye Shoudao, and Du Longyang exclaimed in joy.
“Young Master Lu!”
“That sword… Phoenix Feather!”
“Brother Lu has made his move!”
The exhausted, blood-soaked soldiers stared in awe at the magnificent scene.
BOOM!
The crimson sword crossed the void and struck the invincible woman.
The Phoenix Feather Sword Soul trembled with excitement.
Her first battle as a complete sword—she had to make it beautiful, to erase her earlier poor impression.
Pfft!
The woman’s wretched scream rang out.
Her primordial spirit spread to suppress the sword, but the flames threatened to incinerate it.
Her sacred armor cracked inch by inch.
The sword pierced straight through her.
The terrifying force hurled her toward the blood-colored battlefield.
Smoke and clouds parted before the blade.
She crashed onto the plain, wailing.
BOOM!
Mountains collapsed, rivers reversed.
The battlefield was cleaved in two.
Her pendant shattered. Her primordial spirit burned.
Agonizing pain tore screams from her throat.
Across the Five Phoenixes continent, countless people looked up.
Many felt as though a second sun had risen.
On Mount Tai, in the Great Xuan Palace.
Tantai Xuan stood in the corridor as snow scattered.
He gazed at the falling sun and laughed. The gloom over his heart vanished.
Young Master Lu had returned.
The skies of Five Phoenixes cleared.
BOOM!
The woman, carried by the Phoenix Feather Sword, continued plummeting.
She smashed into the Boundless Sea.
Scorching heat boiled the water, raising thick steam that veiled the surface.
The world’s protective barrier, Nihility Heaven’s rules, and the sword’s murderous intent overwhelmed her.
She lost all strength and sank to the seabed.
At the bottom, her body twisted lifelessly.
The Phoenix Feather Sword blazed even underwater, then split into nine crimson blades that shot skyward.
Only the woman’s corpse remained, all life extinguished.
Above the sea, inside the ice pagoda—
The holy sons and saintesses collapsed as the nine swords streaked past.
That had been the Holy Consort of Black-White Sacred Ground—a mighty one armed with countless sacred treasures!
Yet they had just witnessed a single sword pierce and kill her without its master even appearing.
The golden boy and jade girl stared blankly.
Then they pounded the ice walls in despair.
“Mother!”
“Don’t die! Save us!”
Their only hope—gone.
The burly holy son felt ice in his veins.
This newborn high martial world… could kill mighty ones?
…
Silence fell across heaven and earth.
One sword had slain a fully-armed mighty one.
Zuo Xu’s heart filled with terror.
He hadn’t seen the Holy Consort’s fate, but that stunning sword had shattered all his hope.
Pfft!
The heaven-covering palm seized him.
He tried to resist, but with his primordial spirit wounded and endless pressure crushing his body, bones shattered.
“Don’t kill me!”
“I’ll give you my Secret Word!”
Zuo Xu roared in panic.
A Venerable!
This person was at least Holy Lord level!
Only such a being could kill the Holy Consort with one strike!
Zuo Xu gave up resistance—he only wanted to live.
With a scream as though his soul were torn, he forcibly stripped the “Assemble” Secret Word from himself.
“Senior, this word is tied to the ancient Emperor’s tomb! I offer it—only spare my life!”
Lu Fan raised a brow.
He beckoned.
The Secret Word flew toward him.
Zuo Xu’s face twisted into an obsequious smile.
But the instant the word neared Lu Fan’s hand, madness and murder exploded in Zuo Xu’s eyes.
“DIE!”
His primordial spirit surged.
The “Assemble” word erupted with unparalleled killing intent—ancient Emperor might unfurled!
Zuo Xu trusted no mercy. He refused to become a prisoner.
BOOM!
Terrifying power engulfed Lu Fan.
Zuo Xu laughed maniacally, coughing blood.
He glanced at Qi Liuma atop the cauldron.
“Master! To think you set a trap for your own disciple! You even invited a Venerable to kill me! How ruthless!”
His gaze was venomous ice.
“I’ll be back!”
He spat through clenched teeth. He would return, break the formation, and scatter Qi Liuma’s soul!
BOOM!
He shot away, planning to escape Nihility Heaven.
He had forced the Secret Word to unleash Emperor-level power—he believed it would wound even a Venerable.
It had been his trump card against the Black-White Holy Lord.
Now it was spent.
He fled at top speed.
Then his body froze.
Behind him, the void shattered inch by inch under overwhelming force.
When the dust settled—
He turned and saw…
The raging “Assemble” word floating tamely in the white-robed youth’s palm like an obedient kitten.
“How?!”
Zuo Xu was horrified.
Who was this person that he could control a Nine Secret Word?!
Crackle…
Lightning arced through the void.
The white-robed youth sat in his Thousand-Blade Chair, becoming thunder as he instantly closed the distance.
A casual palm struck out.
Countless strands of spiritual energy condensed into a crystalline giant hand.
It slapped Zuo Xu back into Nihility Heaven.
BAM!
Zuo Xu crashed onto a cold, dead continent.
Knees smashed into the ground, hair disheveled, blood pouring from mouth and nose.
“Your fate will be decided by Qi Liuma, traitor.”
Lu Fan said indifferently, watching Zuo Xu suffer the rules’ blade-like cuts to his primordial spirit.
He stored the “Assemble” word without activating it.
Zuo Xu laughed brokenly in despair.
He had lost.
Qi Liuma had screwed him again.
“You can’t save him… The Myriad Pattern Cauldron guarantees his death!”
“You cannot decide my fate!”
He roared through bloody laughter.
Lu Fan merely glanced at him.
“You don’t know shit.”
The Spiritual Pressure Chessboard appeared before him.
Lines crisscrossed, projecting the Myriad Pattern Cauldron.
Lu Fan’s eyes flickered as he searched.
“You’ll only kill him faster!”
Zuo Xu kept shouting.
But Lu Fan found what he wanted.
BOOM!
He reached out and picked up a chess piece.
Plop.
The piece fell, shaking heaven and earth.
In the void, a spiritual energy hand formed and placed a piece on the cauldron.
BOOM!
Zuo Xu’s laughter grew more manic.
Even a Venerable couldn’t reverse fate!
He wanted to watch Lu Fan kill Qi Liuma!
Lu Fan’s white robes fluttered, peerless and elegant.
One hand held a glazed, radiant divine medicine seed.
The other formed the “Lin” Secret Word—accelerating time.
Origin qi poured into the seed.
Under accelerated time, it sprouted, grew, and bore a vermilion fruit that swayed with divine light.
An intoxicating fragrance filled the void.
Zuo Xu’s laughter died abruptly.
The “Lin” Secret Word?!
And… a divine medicine?!
Lu Fan clawed Qi Liuma’s withered body from the cauldron.
Then he forced the divine fruit into the old man’s mouth.
The medicine dissolved into boundless life energy.
Color returned to Qi Liuma’s corpse-like flesh.
BOOM!
With a flick, Lu Fan shattered the Myriad Pattern Cauldron.
Figures shot out from the top, laughing madly.
The mighty ones who had been sealed inside!
“Qi Liuma, you will die for this!”
Killing intent boiled.
They saw Zuo Xu kneeling in despair on the dead continent.
And Lu Fan in white.
They realized someone had broken the formation to free them.
Then they cupped fists toward Lu Fan with broad smiles.
“Many thanks for freeing us, Your Excellency!”
Leaning back in his Thousand-Blade Chair, Lu Fan gazed at them coolly.
“Don’t thank this young master just yet…”
“Did you really think I released you out of kindness?”
In the void.
The smiles on every mighty one’s face slowly froze.
