I’m done for!
Zhou Tong could not help but hold his breath. All of the blood in his veins seemed to freeze. If the Soaring Locust King wanted to kill him, it would be as easy as breathing. He would only need a single moment.
However, the Soaring Locust King only swept past him with his cold, emotionless compound eyes before flapping its wings and descending rapidly, parting the clouds.
Zhou Tong caught his breath again and wondered in confusion, Why is the Soaring Locust King in such a hurry?
He could vaguely see the hideous image of a demonfolk printed on the Soaring Locust King’s wide, yellow back, with sinister demon qi within his daemon qi. He could not afford to think about the reasons for this. He bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed a mouthful of blood onto the Lightning Slaughter sword, flying away as quickly as he could.
“The Soaring Locust King!” The Elders of Heaven and Earth cried out together. Why has it come here?
The Sword Collection peak was the core of the Sword Formation of Heavenly and Earth, able to suppress the Immortal Relinquished sword while drawing on its power to fend off the enemy. Originally, it was an extremely ingenious design, but for the sake of refining the Immortal Relinquished sword, elder Tian had entered a stalemate with the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished, making the formation lose its core.
The Soaring Locust King overcame the sword formation with ease. Buzzing its wings, it hovered above the Sword Collection palace, deflecting the sky full of rain and wind.
The Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished said, “A damned insect like you sure has taken your time, making me waste so much effort to control the timing!”
“Shut up! Do you want to remain trapped here?” the Soaring Locust King roared angrily.
“Then do you want to be burdened with your hatred forever? A weak, useless little insect like you needs my power, so no matter how I insult and humiliate you, you’ll put up with it, as this bit of disgrace is absolutely nothing in comparison to true hatred! However, we have both served as prisoners, so even I cannot help but feel a hint of sympathy towards you. Hehehehe, come, release me and make everyone in the world pay!”
The Soaring Locust King gritted his teeth. Unless he had absolutely no choice, he refused to release that sword, but right now, he could see the Golden Cicada Spirit King undergoing the heavenly tribulation through countless compound eyes, with billions of images overlapping and assembling together. He roared out, “Golden Cicada!”
The fierce winds created by his wings uprooted countless large trees. The roaring lightning ripped through the sky.
“Junior brother, stop him, quick! Without his insect swarms, he can’t be much stronger than a regular Daemon King!” elder Tian said.
“Myriad Sword technique!”
Elder Di formed a seal with his hands and stared straight at the Soaring Locust King. Thousands of streaks of light appeared around him, on the brink of shooting forth.
“Piss off!”
The Soaring Locust King let out a roar, and demon qi erupted from within him. His tremendous body grew even larger, and his withered, yellow skin became covered in a layer of pitch-black. Boney spines protruded out, making him seem even more ruthless and hideous.
With a flap of his wings, he did not lunge towards elder Di, but the closest chain. He opened his sharp mandibles and took a vicious bite. Half of the chain split open.
“Quickly, junior brother!” Elder Tian urged him. Compared to the Soaring Locust King, now this was true horror.
However, elder Di did nothing. The light around him gradually dispersed, and he said sternly towards elder Tian on the Sword Collection peak, “Senior brother, you’ve lost your gamble!”
If he were to clash with the Soaring Locust King, then perhaps he would stand a chance, but if he wanted to stop the Soaring Locust King from biting through the chains and destroying the sword formation, that was impossible.
“Save me!” Elder Tian extended his hand, but elder Di flew away without even looking back.
The Soaring Locust King’s sharp mandibles opened and closed forcefully, and the chain snapped loudly, swinging into the Heaven Leaning peak. Countless structures were reduced to ruins as rubble scattered through the air.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The chains broke one by one, swinging around madly like tendrils and slamming into the mountains that once kept it tethered.
The Sword Formation of Heaven and Earth was on the brink of collapse. All of the swords on the Sword Collection peak began to resonate. In the further depths of the Sword Collection peak, an eerie, strange sound began to spread, making all the swords in the Sword Collection palace thrum.
In the blink of an eye, only a single chain attached to the Heaven Leaning peak remained, leading straight into the air.
“Alright, there’s still one last chain, and your mission will be complete!” the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished said.
“You can break free from this chain yourself!” The Soaring Locust King turned around and flew away.
“Hehe, how clever!” The Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished communicated with elder Tian. “Now, all that’s left is you and me. Don’t refine me, alright? Let’s go!” A frenzied sword intent rushed into elder Tian’s sea of consciousness, tearing through everything in its path. It was unstoppable.
“Stop! Let me go, or I’ll blow up my sword nascence!” elder Tian called out.
“Are you asking me to be a little gentler? Don’t worry, I’ll be very gentle!” the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished said slowly, and the frenzied sword intent vanished.
Before elder Tian could even catch his breath, the vanished sword intent erupted once more, having infiltrated the depths of his sea of consciousness unbeknownst to him. He suddenly widened his eyes, and resplendent light poured out from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. His limbs were fully outstretched as his robes became filled with sword qi.
“Though, I still prefer it a little more violent. It’s just a pity that this body is too weak, nowhere close to that of Li Qingshan’s. I’ll just forge it a little then!” the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished said.
At that instant, all the lightning in the sky gathered on the Sword Collection peak, on elder Tian.
Elder Tian’s consciousness was like a candle in the wind, ready to be put out at any moment. Blowing up his sword nascence had already become a fantasy. He glanced past a mountain from the corner of his eye and abruptly recalled something that someone had once said to him a thousand years ago.
“Tian’er, obtaining a renowned sword isn’t all good fortune. Even a mortal can wield a metal sword, but a renowned sword is much more dangerous… Remember, the sword is not your friend, nor is it your lover. The sword is cold and emotionless. You have to grip the hilt firmly, or you’ll be injured by the sword!”
That was his first master, the person who taught him the most basic swordsmanship. However, after he had undergone the heavenly tribulation and pulled out a renowned sword, he no longer had the right to guide him. In the end, he gifted him with that word of advice, but it had already become blurred.
He had never taken that seriously. What right did an old man who had never even undergone the second heavenly tribulation in his entire life possess to lecture the successor of a renowned sword like him? Instead, he believed this caution would only affect his cultivation.
“Was I wrong?”
“No, you weren’t wrong. You were just not strong enough!” the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished answered.
Elder Tian could not hear it anymore. His consciousness had been completely destroyed by the wild sword qi. The light from his face gradually subsided, and his face twisted. His bearing changed drastically, now filled with a warped aura. He swung his arm in a dramatic manner.
With a flash, the final chain was severed silently. Even the curtain of rain was sliced apart in the process. The sun beamed with golden light, but even it could not match the glory of that sword.
All the swords on the Sword Collection peak sung. The Sword Collection peak fell like a broken kite, slamming straight into the Sword Collection pavilion.
Boom!
The entrance to the Sword Collection pavilion collapsed, and the Sword Collection peak twisted as if it had forced its way through the door, vanishing from sight.
At this moment, the swordmasters and elders all returned to their senses. The demonic thoughts in their minds had subsided drastically. Controlling the minds of people through demonic seeds could not be sustained for long after all. They gazed at the horrific sight of the Sword Collection palace, unable to completely recover from their fright.
Under the glow of the white sun, the Sword Collection peak rose up slowly again, but what rose up with it was the entire Sword Domain of Heaven and Earth.
