The golden dragon soared into the sky, baring its fangs and claws, its mouth spewing rolling purple energy. Though its scales shimmered with golden light, they appeared distinctly dim. With a furious roar, it transformed into an imposing purple thunderbolt, crashing forth!

The purple thunderbolt, like a colossal sword tearing through heaven and earth, suddenly thrust forward. Along its path, houses collapsed and crumbled, accompanied by bursts of dragon energy—a magnificent spectacle!

In the horizon, the one-armed woman wielded her fingers into a sword technique, issuing a single swift slash.

Sword Qi erupted!

The Ghost City dimmed several shades, and in an instant, sword light exploded like an unstoppable tide, advancing to meet the purple thunderbolt!

The collision between the purple thunderbolt and the sword light birthed arcs of electricity, resonating outward like ripples across water. The explosion shook Yama Hall, pushing it further into collapse. Already on the brink of splitting in half, Yama Hall sank deeper into the earth. Who knows how King Chujiang might react upon witnessing such destruction? For now, Chen Yi could only feel the fierce gusts crash against him, disorienting his figure.

The sword light shattered in an instant, yet by the time the purple thunderbolt approached the three, it had also reached its final stretch. Yu Zhen lifted her hand—a single swipe brought forth radiant energy from the ground, dispersing what remained of the purple thunderbolt until it dissolved completely.

Chen Yi couldn't help but gasp at the awe of that resounding strike. The chaotic, dissipating gusts of energy nearly made him lose control of his flight and sent him tumbling into the depths of the Ghost City.

He truly hadn't imagined that even now, with her Ruoque Sword broken and her realm degraded, Zhou Yitang could still be so fearsome.

To be honest, during their time in the capital, Chen Yi had occasionally indulged in despicable fantasies—thinking that since Zhou Yitang had suffered a significant drop in her cultivation level, perhaps with careful planning, he could engineer a situation to bring her to ruin at his hands. But fantasies were just that—fleeting ideas that he never acted upon. Only now, after witnessing this Sword Immortal's strike firsthand, did he realize how absurdly naive those thoughts had been.

Did you imagine yourself defeating your master?

Your master was merely toying with you.

Amid Chen Yi's astonishment, Yu Zhen, who was riding the celestial crane, furrowed her brows.

Though the sword stroke was undoubtedly brimming with Sword Intent and towering sword light,

nevertheless...

It fell short of her former radiance.

And the pale complexion of Yin Sword Mountain's Sword Armor betrayed slight fatigue.

Yu Zhen inwardly cursed.

If Zhou Yitang were at her peak, she alone could hold the line—one sword followed by another, unstoppable strikes. But now, with her cultivation impaired, fighting the ancestral dragon vein tied to the former Emperor likely wouldn't last even half an hour before her strength gave out.

When that moment came, as long as they remained in this Underworld, no matter how far they fled—even to the ends of the earth—they could never escape the relentless pursuit of this Yama Hall and its ghostly soldiers.

It must be known that the King Yan rules as King Yan precisely because every inch of mountain and soil in this Underworld is home to his enslaved ghosts and ghost soldiers.

The might of the Tianlong was unmatched, and the former Emperor's immense ghostly sword was still in hand. His face twisted in malice, resolute in his vow to annihilate all four of them here.

Thunder rolled and rumbled.

Yu Zhen decided swiftly, shouting to Yin Weiyin:

"Prepare the Altar Ritual!"

Her voice was short and urgent, and as it reached Yin Weiyin's ears, her thoughts buzzed for a moment before she rapidly understood.

Taihua Mountain, as the Taoist sect upon the mountain, cultivated a reclusive immortality—unperturbed by the chaos of worldly music, nor wearied by the toil of official documents. Thus, day and night, its disciples pursued various Taoist skills solely to aid their cultivation.

For this reason, destructive techniques like Thunder, True Fire, and Water—notable for their efficacy against demons—were not practiced much at Taihua Mountain. Instead, protective practices like Golden Light Protection, Bean-Soldier Summoning, and Divine Invocation were prevalent.

And Yu Zhen's current move was to establish an altar for protective blessings.

Thirty-six celestial cranes answered her call, gusts of air rising to form flowing white threads, traced intricately like the patterns of an array. The yin-yang fish began to revolve.

The former Emperor naturally took notice of this development:

"I am the Emperor, and you dare invoke divinities?!"

With a furious roar, he slashed forward—a sword momentum vast as an ocean tide.

How could the Sword Armor allow this strike to land? With his blade in hand, he rose to meet it.

The two swords collided, and the Ghost City trembled in turmoil under layers of ghostly energy, shaking apart wrecked buildings while fierce winds rushed through, like wails of tortured spirits echoing everywhere.

After the strike, only lingering, restless malevolent energy prowled the air.

Chen Yi moved between lightning and fire, alternating his techniques. When the residual ghostly energy approached, the mix of lightning and fire crushed most of it to near nothingness. Whatever remnants remained were obliterated by his Golden Light Protection.

The golden dragon, apparently aware that Zhou Yitang posed the greatest challenge, unleashed another blast of purple thunder, electrical arcs crackling while six thunder pillars roared furiously through the Underworld.

Zhou Yitang faced opponents on two fronts. Layer after layer of sword energy emerged, desperately resisting.

Upon Yu Zhen's magic platform, yin-yang fish alternated rotations, radiant energy surged like waves, and thirty-six celestial cranes occupied positions to serve as attendants, while Yin Weiyin stood on the yin side of the platform as Yu Zhen claimed the yang side.

In ancient times, the earliest humans practiced shamanistic rituals. Over time, these evolved into the Taoist Altar Ritual. Its initial function was purely to slay demons, and prayers for blessings, wealth, and peace were later applications that developed from it.

The altar Yu Zhen now summoned was set for demon-slaying—its origins trace back to True Martial Mountain, rooted in an era of chaos when heavenly soldiers descended to rectify the mortal realm upon Emperor Zhenwu's orders.

As the altar activated, mist rose between the ghostly streets of the Underworld. Yin Weiyin saw the winds gather strongly—it felt identical to her breakthrough into the Nascent Soul Realm, only larger and broader in scope.

Within her Heart Lake, her Nascent Soul held steady. As she stood on the yin side of the altar, the intricate patterns of its array extended rapidly—even Yu Zhen couldn't help but express admiration.

Thankfully, Yin Weiyin had successfully condensed her Nascent Soul.

Otherwise, the altar ritual would have taken far longer.

The altar neared completion, radiating intensely. Centered on the pair, volumes of clouds drifted in, resembling white embroidered patterns on clothing, endlessly majestic.

"Chen Yi!"

Yin Weiyin called out from afar.

Chen Yi turned, immediately comprehending without needing further explanation.

"I'm coming!"

He responded succinctly.

Now that Zhou Yitang was holding back two adversaries to buy time, she couldn't possibly divide her focus. That left Chen Yi as the only suitable beneficiary of the ritual's protective blessing.

On the altar, Yu Zhen and Yin Weiyin wielded their swords in unison, their blades dancing through the air as they drew intricate patterns:

"To our Ancestor, Emperor Fu Mo of the Demon-Suppressing line, of the Taoist Three Realms, ranked among the Nine Divine Purities, sovereign of the Central Heavens, presiding over the destinies of mortals below.

In the calamities of Longkang, during the year of Jiawu, demonic forces wreaked havoc and caused death among the people."

Their voices harmonized. The Peach Wood Sword's radiance grew subdued, yet the brilliance surrounding Chen Yi intensified with every passing moment.

"First bow to Emperor Fu Mo, grant the armor of day and night and the North Star."

"Second bow to Emperor Fu Mo, grant a million Demon Suppressing Swords."

"Third bow to Emperor Fu Mo, grant vats of molten destruction, golden axes, and ghost-killing techniques to vanquish the malevolent spirits."

...

With each chant, the radiance surrounding Chen Yi grew increasingly magnificent, absorbing even the Buddha Light emanating from the Shariputra relic—a swirling mix of golden and red brilliance. Concepts such as the million swords, vats of molten destruction, golden axes—these were intangible and unseen, but Chen Yi could feel his perception rapidly expanding ever farther.

The world seemed to slow.

From south to north, precisely 1,116 feet and three inches away, a damaged Scripture Pavilion corner could be seen clearly. Among its fragments, the 679th blue jade tile counted from left to right was in mid-fall...

Everything became vivid as if witnessed down to the minutest detail.

In his Heart Lake, the Heavenly Eye now shone with blinding clarity!

Chen Yi raised his hand, astonished by the transformation within himself.

Then, as he turned to Zhou Yitang, he seemingly observed a sword speeding toward her...

It felt like an illusion.

But in the blink of an eye, Zhou Yitang remained standing.

In the next moment, Chen Yi realized it was merely a manifestation of Heavenly Vision.

The Heavenly Eye was warning him.

In the distance,

the former Emperor, furious, sensed the altar's protective spell and split his focus toward unleashing a strike.

The overwhelming force of Yin Ming energy surged forward like crashing waves.

The protective blessing from the altar was yet incomplete, and if Chen Yi chose to counter it at this stage, the brilliance encasing his body would shatter, rendering the ritual's blessing far less effective.

Seeing Zhou Yitang preparing to redirect her sword mid-fight,

just then,

a milky-white Guanyin manifestation emerged abruptly.

Unexpected assistance arrived.

The lotus-seated Guanyin image collided intensely with the Yin Ming energy. The Guanyin form shattered almost instantly, sending shockwaves through the air. A long-haired nun retreated violently amidst Ghost City's tumult.

The one-armed woman furrowed her brows.

Another woman? Again?

Before she could contemplate further, the Tianlong entwined with purple energy burst forth in a tempest of storm winds, lightning flashes, and ominous ghostly wails!

Clouds thickened, lightning shattered throbbing layers of mist, while Zhou Yitang raised her fingers slightly, unleashing several streams of sword energy to clash and tangle with the raging thunder.

The former Emperor amassed his strength, commanding the ghostly energy across the entirety of Yin Capital under his will. His immense ghostly sword surged with the winds, generating waves of power that swept sand and debris before it.

Under this mounting pressure, Yama Hall sank further into the ground.

"Attack!"

This overwhelming strike was aimed squarely at the one-armed swordswoman defending against the Tianlong!

Zhou Yitang raised her sword, preparing to unleash her next attack, only to see the colossal golden dragon tail—like a towering mountain—descending mercilessly upon her.

Faced with dual threats, she had to choose: withstand a sword strike or bear the crushing force of the dragon tail.

Amid the raging winds, nearly half the Ghost City had already fallen into ruin, with no tall buildings higher than six feet spared. Amid the split-second chaos, Zhou Yitang made her decision, directing her sword at the descending dragon tail.

Of the two harms, she chose the lesser.

She was a Sword Armor practitioner—even if Sword Qi pierced through Golden Light Protection, her sword-heart-connected spiritual domain might still diffuse the residual Sword Qi's power.

The ghostly sword's blade surged forward like a mountain toppling over!

The deep purple Sword Qi instantly shattered through Nascent Soul Realm's protective Golden Light. Zhou Yitang's form retreated step after step, trails of blood at the corners of her mouth revealing her struggle against the sword's sharp momentum.

Her face pale as she attempted to use her sword-heart domain to brunt the impact of the Sword Qi,

Suddenly, the winds stopped.

In an instant,

a resplendent golden thread streaked across the skies, appearing before Zhou Yitang.

The ghostly sword abruptly halted—the shockwave generated reached heights of a hundred feet!

Pavilions, terraces, towers, and mansions swayed under the impact before collapsing entirely amidst the second wave of sweeping air.

Countless buildings fell.

A figure stood unmoving, riding the winds as if walking upon Yin Capital itself.

The former Emperor's visage twisted further. Having fought this long and waited for the opportune moment to strike a severe blow against the Sword Armor, suddenly, his plans were thwarted.

"You were once part of the Jinyiwei! How dare you betray your station?!"

The Emperor roared hoarsely, pressing his sword momentum heavily downward.

Chen Yi resisted the overwhelming strike, golden brilliance encasing him radiantly: "What does the empire's fate have to do with me?"

The deafening scrape of stone echoed as Yin Ming energy corroded the brilliance surrounding Chen Yi, weakening it blow after blow.

The Emperor, unwilling to let his ghostly sword endure erosion to the point of ineffectiveness, released his grip slightly, pulling the sword back.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yitang's strike landed against the golden dragon's tail. Blood sprayed in torrents as the dragon roared in agony, dissolving into crimson mist that stained the Ghost City red.

Chen Yi retreated slightly, increasing the distance between himself and the enemy.

Zhou Yitang turned her face toward him, his radiant brilliance enveloping him—a gift from the two Taihua Mountain Goddesses conducting the altar ritual—"Day and Night North Star Armor." His hair scattered wildly, yet within the encasing brilliance, he exuded indomitable might.

He didn't even look back as he asked:

"How did I do?"

"Just pretending to be a hero."

The one-armed woman responded indifferently, not casting her gaze aside.

"Facing two adversaries alone—quite impressive," Chen Yi turned to smile and asked. "If you can show off, why can't I?"

Zhou Yitang responded, her tone unwavering as still waters, "Even without you, I can still manage."

Chen Yi chuckled, "Then you'd come out with half your life left."

"Even if half my life were lost," the one-armed woman replied.

Chen Yi spoke gently, "But you're fine now, aren't you?"

Finally, Zhou Yitang turned her face toward him. All she saw was Chen Yi raising his sword, stepping forward to shield her. Facing an imposing ghostly sword as majestic as a mountain.

In comparison, his sword appeared minuscule like a mustard seed.

But it was…

A heavy, restrained sword.

A sword… forged for protecting life!

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