Sword of Light

Han Ming turned his gaze toward the airships that were slowly approaching him. His eyes were cold and devoid of emotion. He raised his finger and pointed in that direction.

At the tip of his finger, rays of light began to gather around him, gradually transforming into countless swords of light that hovered and spun around his body in the blink of an eye.

The sharp sound of swords cutting through the air rang out.

Fiu, fiu, fiu, fiu!

A wave of millions of swords erupted from Han Ming, sweeping forward and obliterating everything in their path. The people aboard the flying ships immediately sensed the overwhelming force rushing toward them. Alarmed, they swiftly gathered their power in preparation for a counterattack. Wu Wen, who stood at the forefront of the lead warship, wore a grim expression and shouted loudly.

"Combine all attacks!! Don't let it break through!!"

In an instant, over a hundred Supreme-level Great Emperor auras surged into the sky, forming a tempest of spiritual energy that nearly tore the heavens apart. Countless elemental powers were unleashed.

Flames, eternal ice, thunderous storms, spiritual blades, sacred swords, spears of annihilation, and overlapping Daoist incantations rained down in a barrage upon Han Ming's wave of sword light with full force.

However... the result was far from what they expected. In just a fleeting moment, all the attacks vanished without a trace not even a residual spark of power remained.

Wu Wen's eyes widened in shock, and then his voice thundered across the sky.

"Everyone, retreat immediately!!"

Some of the Great Emperors who reacted swiftly released their power and fled from the airships in terror, their bodies shooting out of the vessels at full speed.

But those with lower cultivation levels… didn't even have the chance to hear Wu Wen's warning.

Fiu, fiu, fiu, fiu, fiu!

The swords of light tore through the sky at terrifying speed, smashing through the airships one after another. Though those vessels were protected by Great Emperor-level defensive barriers, Han Ming's swords of light pierced through them with ease, followed by deafening explosions.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The flying ships that once projected overwhelming power had now been reduced to worthless debris, exploding into fragments without resistance. Those who failed to escape were crushed to nothingness, not even ashes left behind to be remembered. One Great Emperor desperately tried to grab his son, who still stood dazed on the deck of the ship.

"Son! Grab my hand! I'll get you out of here—"

Shlk!

A sword of light pierced straight through his forehead. The head of that Great Emperor exploded in an instant, his blood and soul vanishing together without a trace.

"Father!!" the young man cried out at the top of his lungs. But before he could take even a single step

Shlk! Shlk!

His body was ripped apart midair by two crossing swords. His scream was devoured by the howling wind, leaving behind only silence.

Not far away stood Ye Lin. His eyes widened in horror, the scene before him blending nightmare with reality. He couldn't find any words. His hands trembled. His body felt unbearably heavy. His mind went blank. He could no longer think or comprehend what was happening.

In the time it took for a single blink an entire fleet of airships carrying hundreds of Great Emperors had been completely annihilated. There wasn't even a glimmer of hope left behind.

He no longer knew whether what he was seeing was real or merely a dream.

Wang Fangxian, the senior disciple of Pure Bamboo Peak, stared at the man who had nearly taken her life just moments ago. And yet, in her eyes, there wasn't the slightest hint of panic or fear.

She thought back to a few years ago. She had never once spoken to Han Ming. From the day he first stepped into the Holy Land of the Immortal River until this very moment—he had become something far beyond what could be called human.

In her eyes, he had once been just an ordinary man. Nothing stood out about him. He seemed dull, uninspired, without aura or charm, without any sense of presence. There was nothing intriguing about him in the slightest. And yet in just a few short years, he had surged ahead, leaving her far behind... and deep down, she had to admit that there was no way she could ever match his strength, not even if she reached the realm of a Great Emperor.

"A perfectly ordinary man… yet extraordinary beyond compare," she muttered flatly, biting her lip hard as her eyes remained fixed on Han Ming.

Mei Jingya, the third direct disciple of Pure Bamboo Peak, was also staring at Han Ming. She had never seen him before, only knew his name. Everything she had heard about this man came from Wang Fangxian.

"This is the one? The guy senior sister said was completely unremarkable?" came the sweet voice of Shangguan Tingting.

"I think big sister must've gone blind."

Feng'er currently in the form of a duck perched on Shangguan Tingting's shoulder tilted her little head and chirped in a clear voice, "Oh, so this is the guy big sister said was just plain-looking and nothing special… but he doesn't look anything like how she described, does he?"

Before the playful teasing even had time to fade, a strange beam of light shot straight at Shangguan Tingting's head with terrifying speed, powerful enough to tear through the very fabric of space.

But in that split second, a man in black darted forward and blocked the attack just in time. A powerful aura radiated from his body as he spoke in a low, oppressive voice.

"Easy now, kid… if something happens to my young lady, your leader of the Holy Land of the Immortal River might just...."

Slice!

His head was cleanly severed before he could finish his sentence.

Han Ming stood exactly where he was, an aura of utter nothingness flowing silently from his body. And yet, the shockwaves it generated caused the ground beneath him to fracture like a web of spider cracks.

Shangguan Tingting's voice trembled with fear.

"Grandpa!"

As the man's head fell, his body didn't collapse. Instead, his left hand reached down, grasped his own severed head, and slowly lifted it back up, pressing it back into place as though Han Ming's attack had done nothing at all.

A deep voice, laced with a faint smile, rose from the now whole body of the old man.

"Looks like you… aren't from the Lower World either, are you?"

In that instant, waves of void energy erupted from the old man's body as well. It might not have been as overwhelming as Han Ming's, but it was far from something that could be taken lightly.

Han Ming remained motionless as the old man caught sight of something strange behind him—bright red liquid scattering in the air.

Elsewhere, several Great Emperors who had narrowly survived Han Ming's sword storm looked utterly pale, their former arrogance nowhere to be seen. They stood in a daze, unable to grasp what had just happened. Their original plan had been to head to the Holy Land of the Immortal River to reinforce their strength, especially after the Wu Clan had just formed new alliances with the Holy Land of the Eternal Bloom and the Ten Thousand Oceans Trade Hall.

Suddenly, someone muttered with a trembling voice.

"...This is... the power of a Great Emperor? Impossible... There's no way it's within the bounds of a Great Emperor's cultivation."

Wu Wen, still among the living, silently stared at Han Ming. His gaze remained calm, yet at that very moment, a voice echoed in his mind. It was Su Zimeng's voice.

At the same time, some of the Great Emperors hiding deeper in the shadows began to look at Han Ming with a new expression. It was no longer just fear. A glint of greed began to surface in their eyes.

What if they discovered the secret behind Han Ming's power?

What if they could seize it for themselves? The mere thought caused the sealed path before them to seem as though it was beginning to open.

"...It might... change everything..." one of them murmured to himself, eyes gleaming. But before fantasy could consume reality, his body began to twitch strangely.

Everything around him started to warp like heat haze in the air. His vision blurred, the world tilted, spinning as though he were drunk.

...Shlick! ...Shlick! ...Shlick!... Shlick!... Shlick!... Shlick!

Bright red blood burst from his body before he even realized what had happened. Arms, legs, torso, head all were silently and cleanly severed. No sound. No shape. No warning. He died without ever knowing what had struck him.

And he wasn't alone.

Several other Great Emperors nearby were also torn apart into pieces simultaneously, their bodies shredded without cause or explanation. No one had heard an attack. No warning was given. Nothing at all.

Only afterward did they come to understand… that they were already dead. And by then, it was far too late to do anything.

The old man who had just emanated that void aura looked at Han Ming once more. This time, his eyes wavered slightly, no longer as steady as before. He remained silent for a moment.

"This boy… is dangerous."

He took a deep breath and spoke in a calm voice.

"How about this, young man? Why don't we sit down and talk for a..."

But before the old man could finish his sentence

Cough!

Blood burst from his mouth as one of his arms was severed cleanly, flung into the air without a sound. There hadn't even been a ripple of energy to warn him.

A shrill cry rang out from Shangguan Tingting.

"Grandfather!! Your arm?!"

The old man looked down at his now-empty shoulder, seeing nothing but void where his arm had once been. Then he let out a soft chuckle. His expression didn't change, and his voice remained as calm as ever.

"I'm fine, young miss."