The world darkened.
The instant the masked Silver Core cultivator ignited the crimson talisman, the sky above Jade Sword Mountain bled into scarlet. Clouds twisted unnaturally, swirling around an ominous, moon-shaped vortex. Disciples staggered as demonic pressure crushed the air from their lungs.
Liang Chen gasped, knees nearly buckling. Even with his Bronze Sword Core circulating desperately, it was nowhere near enough to resist a Silver Core's spiritual weight.
Feng Lian clenched her teeth as frost spiraled around her, but even her Frozen Dew physique trembled under the aura.
Su Mei nearly collapsed, caught by two nearby disciples.
Ling snarled, fur bristling violently, silver eyes blazing with primal fury. The Nether Shadow Wolf was a Mystic Beast, strong for his rank, but the Silver Core's presence pushed him to the edge of instinctive submission.
Only Zhou Yu stood unmoved.
His sword hummed faintly—a resonance that felt like it came from the mountain itself.
The masked figure stepped forward, voice carrying a strange echo beneath the dark hood.
"Zhou Yu… descendant of the Heavenly Sword Saint… your fate was sealed the moment you returned to this mountain."
Zhou Yu's eyes narrowed.
"I thought the Scarlet Moon would send a commander."
He tilted his head slightly.
"But I see they sent one of their masked corpses instead."
Several disciples stifled nervous gasps.
The masked figure chuckled. It was a hollow sound, as though coming from somewhere else entirely.
"I wonder how long your bravado will last once your little sect is ground into dust."
His Silver Core flared.
The mountain shook.
Cracks split across the courtyard, trees snapped like twigs, and even the Grand Perimeter Array flickered under the sudden spiritual pressure.
Liang Chen cried out as his connection to the three integrated arrays destabilized violently.
"Master—it's—breaking—I can't hold—!"
Zhou Yu didn't look back.
"Hold it."
Liang Chen gritted his teeth. Blood trickled from his nose as Sword Qi wildly surged through his meridians.
The Silver Core commander vanished.
Liang Chen barely blinked before—
BOOM
—a crater appeared where he had been standing.
Zhou Yu intercepted with a single step, sword clashing against a blood-forged dagger that seemed to distort the very air around it.
The impact sent a shockwave tearing through the surrounding forest. Several Scarlet Moon disciples were flung aside, shredded by the raw force of the collision.
The masked commander slid back half a step.
Zhou Yu didn't move.
"That all?" he asked lightly.
The commander's masked eyes narrowed.
"So he truly lives up to his reputation."
The commander flicked his wrists—
Blood-colored runes spiraled outward, igniting the surrounding demonic Qi. A crimson haze crawled across the battlefield, corrupting spiritual energy itself.
Feng Lian gasped. "He's… altering the environment!"
Han Xiang shouted, voice strained. "Master—the formations can't circulate clean Qi! They're being overwhelmed by demonic impurities!"
Liang Chen felt the backlash immediately.
His formation links trembled—violently.
No—no no no—if it collapses here—
His Bronze Sword Core pulsed erratically, pain lancing through his chest as the formation tried to pull more Sword Qi than his body could handle.
The Silver Core commander's voice rolled like thunder.
"Let's see how long a Bronze Core brat can support your precious defenses."
The demonic haze thickened.
And the strain on Liang Chen became unbearable.
The Tri-Array Integration cracked.
Sword Qi veered unpredictably, arcs sparking violently through the courtyard. One stray arc sliced through a boulder, another cut a crater into the courtyard floor.
Liang Chen screamed as the backlash struck him full-force. His arms spasmed, meridians burning as the formation's feedback struck like molten steel.
"Liang Chen!" Feng Lian cried, rushing toward him.
But she wasn't fast enough.
The backlash detonated—
BOOM
—hurling Liang Chen backward, smashing him into a stone pillar. He spat blood, vision blurring.
"No… not now… Master needs me…"His voice was faint, almost lost in the chaos.
Zhou Yu's head snapped toward him—only for the Silver Core commander to launch another attack, forcing Zhou Yu back into combat.
"You cannot spare attention for your disciples," the commander mocked. "Focus on me—or they all die."
Frost exploded across the battlefield.
Feng Lian landed beside Liang Chen, ice swirling violently around her hands as she stabilized the erratic Sword Qi surging through his meridians.
"Liang Chen, breathe! Focus your core!"
"I—I'm trying—!"
The puzzle of demonic corrosion, Sword Qi, and formation feedback was tearing his body apart from the inside.
Ling appeared beside him, eyes glowing fiercely.
He pressed his forehead against Liang Chen's chest.
A pulse of beast essence flowed into him—cool, stabilizing, clearing the haze.
Liang Chen gasped, clarity returning for a moment.
"Ling… thank you…"
Ling growled softly, nudging him again, urging him to continue.
But the masked commander wasn't finished.
He raised his hand—and the demonic haze condensed into hundreds of spear-like spikes.
"Die."
The spikes shot toward the disciples like blood-forged rain.
Zhou Yu moved.
Everything froze for a moment.
The blood spikes hung in midair, suspended by an invisible force—Sword Intent.
But this was no ordinary Sword Intent.
Silver-white light erupted from Zhou Yu's sword, brighter than sunlight piercing storm clouds.
The masked commander staggered back. "This aura—how can a Nascent Soul cultivator—!"
Zhou Yu didn't answer.
He swung his sword once.
Just once.
SHING
The suspended blood spikes shattered, dissolved, and vanished entirely.
The sword light didn't stop.
It carved a line across the mountain, through the sky, slicing a distant cloud in half with surgical precision.
The Scarlet Moon soldiers froze in terror.
Even Feng Lian stared, breath caught in her throat.
"Master… that wasn't… mortal swordsmanship."
Liang Chen, despite the pain, forced his eyes open. What he saw was beyond words.
Zhou Yu stood amidst swirling Sword Qi—not of the Nascent Soul realm.
Not of Soul Transformation.
But something deeper.
Older.
Ling whimpered softly, instinctively recognizing the power.
The masked commander's voice trembled.
"You—You're using—Sword Intent from before the Great Cataclysm—"
Zhou Yu looked at him calmly.
"Finally noticed? Took you long enough."
The commander's anger flared. "Impossible. The Heavenly Sword Saint's legacy was destroyed—your sect should possess nothing but scraps!"
Zhou Yu's expression turned cold.
"Your Scarlet Moon Sect is the one who destroyed it."
The commander froze.
And for the first time—showed fear.
The masked commander roared, demonic Qi exploding outward. He shed his cloak, revealing a twisted mantle of blood-marked armor pulsing with unnatural veins.
"Fine. If the Saint's legacy lives in you… then today I will erase it entirely!"
He activated his Silver Core fully.
The sky split with crimson lightning.
Zhou Yu immediately pushed Liang Chen and Feng Lian back with a wave of Sword Qi.
"Fall back. If you stay close, his Silver Core Qi will crush you."
Liang Chen protested through blood-stained lips. "Master—I can still—"
"No."
Zhou Yu's voice softened, but carried iron beneath it.
"You've done enough."
Liang Chen's vision blurred—but the words burned in his chest with pride.
Zhou Yu stepped forward.
The commander's Silver Core aura surged like a collapsing star, pulling oxygen from the air, turning the ground black beneath his feet.
"Zhou Yu!" the masked man roared. "Face me with everything you have!"
Zhou Yu raised his sword.
Silver-white light rippled across its surface.
"I wasn't planning to use everything."
The commander lunged.
The sky rumbled.
The mountain cracked.
And Zhou Yu met him head-on.
Their clash illuminated the battlefield in blinding light and roaring shadow.
Their battle transcended mortal martial arts.
Each strike from the Silver Core commander warped the air, distorting space as demonic laws threatened to erode the ground itself.
Each counter from Zhou Yu stabilized the world around him, his Sword Intent cutting through demonic Qi as if slicing through rotten wood.
BOOM.BOOM.BOOM.
Shockwaves tore across the mountain.
Scarlet Moon disciples were thrown screaming off cliffs. Trees uprooted. Boulders shattered.
Liang Chen watched through blurred vision, awe and fear mixing in equal measure.
"Master is… monstrous…"
Feng Lian whispered, "This is the Heavenly Sword Sect's true power…"
But the commander wasn't finished.
He stabbed his hand into his own chest, pulling out a dark crimson orb.
Liang Chen's eyes widened.
"Demonic Blood Core… he's using a forbidden technique!"
Feng Lian paled. "He'll—he'll burn his own life to kill Master—!"
The commander swallowed the orb.
His aura skyrocketed.
The very mountain groaned.
Zhou Yu didn't flinch.
The commander's eyes glowed blood-red.
"DIE WITH YOUR SECT!"
He launched a world-shattering slash.
Space warped.
Reality bent.
Liang Chen screamed, "MASTER—!"
Zhou Yu stepped forward—
And the world fell silent.
His Sword Intent rose again.
But this time—it was different.
Older.
Colder.
And infinitely sharper.
A phantom silhouette appeared behind him—a figure with long robes, hair like silver starlight, and a sword that seemed to divide heaven and earth.
Liang Chen froze.
"That silhouette—"
Ling whimpered and bowed his head instinctively.
Feng Lian whispered,
"…the Primordial Immortal Sword Saint…"
Zhou Yu's voice echoed with ancient resonance.
"You want to see everything?"
He swung his sword.
Just once.
The blade cut through the commander's demonic slash like paper.
It carved through his armor.
It split his mask.
It severed his core.
It erased him.
The masked commander exploded into crimson mist.
Silence descended as the demonic haze evaporated.
Zhou Yu lowered his sword.
But his expression tightened.
"This was only the beginning."