The moment that streak of red light appeared, more figures followed—several silhouettes surging out from the Upper Riverlands toward the checkpoint like meteors.
"It's people from the Upper Sect. Hurry, go welcome them!"
The two Hongwei Sword Sect guards spoke quickly—then turned and barked at Lin Ye's group.
"Order from the Upper Sect: the pass is sealed. Turn back the way you came."
Luo Gui frowned. A full shutdown was rare—ridiculously rare. And yet somehow, it happened right as they arrived.
"Wait!" Xia Wei shouted. "What about our spirit crystals?!"
Beside her, the Wu-Gang Leopard let out a low, threatening roar.
They had taken the money and now wanted to kick them out. If no one was allowed through, then the toll should be returned. Otherwise, what was the difference between them and bandits?
The two guards' faces hardened.
"The pass is sealed by Upper Sect order. Not our decision. If you have the ability, go ask the Upper Sect for your refund."
In other words: the crystals are already in our pockets—dream on.
They turned to leave.
But then both of them froze.
The air around them… tightened.
Space itself felt locked, compressed by a powerful wave of profound energy.
"What do you think you're doing?!" one guard snapped, killing intent flashing in his eyes.
"This is Hongwei Sword Sect territory. Think carefully!"
Before the last word even fell—
Lin Ye flicked two fingers.
Two sword-lights erupted like silent thunder.
Boom! Boom!
The two guards were blasted apart on the spot.
Their storage rings flew—caught midair and pulled back into Lin Ye's hand as if by an invisible hook.
He calmly retrieved the spirit crystals.
Luo Gui's heart dropped.
Ah… damn it. I knew it.
His legs almost went soft. Lin Ye didn't do "polite" once someone crossed the line.
Or rather—Lin Ye had already been polite.
They demanded a toll? He paid.
They secretly raised the price? He still paid.
But take the money, refuse the service, and refuse a refund?
In what world was that allowed?
In this world, it cost you your life.
Xia Wei inhaled sharply and glanced up at the fortress gate. No alarms yet. No obvious reaction.
She lowered her voice urgently.
"Should we run? There are other entrances into the Upper Riverlands… it's just farther."
Luo Gui nodded hard. Killing guards at a checkpoint—consequences would be ugly.
Lin Ye didn't even blink.
"No need. We cross."
He had already endured enough delay. The journey was long, and his patience was thin. Asking him to turn around and take a longer route?
Not happening.
Up on Phoenix-Feather Suppression Pass, the Hongwei Sword Sect duty elder—Tian Baishou, a Moonwheel Fifth Realm expert—received the sealing order and stood stunned for a breath.
They had "extra inspections" before. They had "tightened control."
But a full seal?
Never.
Then three figures came streaking in from above, and Tian Baishou's nerves tightened even more.
Was something massive happening in the Upper Riverlands?
The true sect controlling Phoenix-Feather Suppression Pass was not Hongwei at all.
It was the Upper Riverlands powerhouse: Sky-Piercing Sword Sect.
Sky-Piercing Sword Sect possessed two major divisions: Phoenix-Feather Hall and Dragon-Scale Hall.
This checkpoint belonged to Phoenix-Feather Hall.
And the people arriving now were three field enforcers from Phoenix-Feather Hall.
The leader—Chief Enforcer—was named Su Yuncang.
The trio landed.
"No need for formalities," Su Yuncang said coldly. "Drop the gate immediately. Watch every direction. No one enters. And no one inside leaves."
"Yes!" Tian Baishou answered at once.
But as he moved to activate the mechanism, a ripple of profound energy surged from outside the pass.
Su Yuncang's eyes sharpened. A faint scent of blood drifted up on the wind.
"What happened?"
"Drop the gate!" Tian Baishou shouted, urgently channeling the formation.
A colossal slab—the Dragon-Severing Stone, weighing tens of millions of tons—began to descend into the river. As it sank, it sealed Phoenix-Feather Suppression Pass like the jaws of a giant beast.
If someone wanted to break in now, the only route would be from the sky.
But even the sky was guarded: a flight-restriction formation could be activated at any moment. Once triggered, the air would become like thick mud—every movement consuming enormous amounts of energy until flying became impossible.
It wasn't active yet.
Tian Baishou's gaze fell on the corpses below, and rage flared.
"They killed Hongwei Sword Sect men!"
He wanted to move.
But Su Yuncang didn't.
This checkpoint was effectively under Sky-Piercing control now; Tian Baishou could only swallow his anger and wait.
Lin Ye stood at the bow as their ship glided to within two hundred meters of the pass.
Su Yuncang's voice carried across the water, calm and icy.
"Sky-Piercing Sword Sect is acting under orders to seal this checkpoint. Turn back immediately. Otherwise—kill without mercy."
The order had come suddenly. Su Yuncang didn't want extra trouble.
Something big was clearly happening in the Upper Riverlands. That was why every checkpoint was being closed.
Lin Ye had killed two Hongwei guards—Su Yuncang didn't care.
Their lives meant nothing to him.
If Lin Ye didn't try to enter, everything could be ignored.
Lin Ye's eyes were flat and cold.
Then he spoke—slowly, clearly.
"I'll give you three breaths."
"Open the gate yourselves… or I break your checkpoint."
Su Yuncang's eyes flashed with murderous light.
"What did you just say?"
He was from Sky-Piercing Sword Sect. The fact he even spoke to them was already "mercy."
And this man dared threaten to break the pass?
Ridiculous.
The entire Phoenix-Feather Suppression Pass infrastructure had been built by Sky-Piercing Sword Sect.
Even if they let Lin Ye bombard it, he might not scratch it.
And they weren't letting him bombard anything.
"Impudent! How dare you disrespect an Upper Sect lord!"
Tian Baishou moved first.
This was a golden chance to perform in front of Su Yuncang. If he impressed him, even a casual promotion could change Tian Baishou's destiny.
He shot into the air, gathered power, and slammed a palm down toward the ship like a raging bull charging off a cliff.
BOOM—!
Lin Ye released his aura and answered with a palm of his own.
Luo-Sheng Palm!
The two forces collided, detonating a violent shockwave.
Tian Baishou's heart sank instantly.
Lin Ye's palm was terrifying—worse, a hidden surge of force slipped through the impact and invaded Tian Baishou's body like poison in the bloodstream.
He tried to circulate energy and force it out.
Too slow.
That hidden force spread insanely fast—
BANG!
Tian Baishou exploded into fragments, ripped apart into blood mist and flying meat.
Eight-Desolations Blood-Slaughter Force.
As Lin Ye's cultivation rose, the technique grew more vicious. If you weren't prepared and the force entered you, it would ride the blood through every vein and detonate from within.
Many experts looked down on "hidden force." They believed that at higher realms, any foreign energy would be noticed instantly—protected by internal profound energy—impossible to invade.
That logic failed here.
Lin Ye's Eight-Desolations technique wasn't ordinary hidden force.
It was a nightmare.
Chunks of flesh splashed into the river.
Xia Wei and the others didn't even blink anymore.
Luo Gui, however, sucked in a breath. During these days on the ship, Lin Ye's strength had surged again.
One palm—killing a Moonwheel Fifth Realm expert.
Savage.
Su Yuncang's gaze sharpened.
"You have some strength," he said coldly. "But this is Sky-Piercing Sword Sect territory. You don't get to run wild here."
He could ignore dead Hongwei guards.
But Tian Baishou dying in front of him?
He couldn't pretend not to see it.
Otherwise who would dare work for Sky-Piercing again?
Su Yuncang moved—and the other two enforcers moved with him.
BOOM!
Three waves of sword intent erupted at once.
In an instant, they formed a killing formation—Upper Sect style: decisive, merciless, overwhelming.
Once they chose to kill, they killed with full force. No hesitation. No breathing room for the enemy.
"Triple-Stack Wave-Cleaving Slash!"
Su Yuncang led with the first strike.
His aura surged—
Moonwheel Ninth Realm.
The other two followed immediately—
both Moonwheel Eighth Realm.
Three sword currents slammed forward like stacked tidal waves, one after another.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Facing the combined sword pressure, Lin Ye gripped the Sinister Ghost Sword and let out a cold snort.
A thread of Sun-Force bloomed.
Heat—absolute, tyrannical—wrapped around his sword aura.
In an instant, it burned through their momentum and devoured their killing intent like dry grass.
"Sun… Sun aura?!" Su Yuncang cried out in shock.
He didn't even care about backlash. He forcibly cut off his own technique and retreated immediately.
But the other two weren't so lucky.
Lin Ye's sword swept.
That blazing Sun-Force swallowed both Sky-Piercing enforcers whole.
The Sinister Ghost Sword ripped them apart—like hundreds of invisible hands tearing flesh, organs, and bone into shreds.
Su Yuncang watched, and his face went deathly pale.
"Sun… Sun Radiance Realm…"