Chapter 84: The Annihilation of the City

In Bright Moon City, a Sword Debate Tournament was held every two years. The time for the next gathering was only a few days away, attracting a great many martial artists, especially when news spread that Jiang Ming, the demonic overlord from beyond the realms, was about to arrive. United by a common enemy, they brimmed with anticipation, yet beneath their excitement lay a measure of fear.

After all, the tales about him were truly terrifying—a grandmaster and a monstrous beast had both been slain by his hand.

Jiang Ming halted fifty meters away. Behind him trailed Yun Shuang, Yan Hongyi, and Liuli. As for the coachman? He was sighing in the distance. He had only intended to earn a little money by driving the carriage, but now, escape was impossible. All he could do was watch, helpless yet enthralled, as these combatants fought like immortals—the spectacle was truly extraordinary!

“Elder Brother!” Yun Shuang stepped forward, clasping her hands in salute to the man at the forefront.

“Grandmaster!” Yan Hongyi bowed slightly.

Liuli, however, stood still. She did not recognize the man.

A sigh escaped Shen Zui’s lips. Though middle-aged in appearance, his temples were flecked with white. Dressed in a white robe, he exuded an air of refined elegance, a longsword strapped to his back, his eyes shining with sword intent.

He gazed at Jiang Ming. “Are you truly the demonic overlord from beyond our world?”

“If I said I wasn’t, would you believe me?” Jiang Ming replied with a smile. “Once a prejudice is formed, it is hard to dispel. You people have only heard from a demon and a monster that I am such a being, and already you have convicted me.”

“You are the demonic overlord!” declared a white-robed man, sword in hand, pointing accusingly. “Jiang Ming, if you’re not that fiend, if you have the power to slay a grandmaster, then why has no one ever heard of you?”

“Think what you like,” Jiang Ming said lightly.

“You certainly are!” the young man shouted. “Who could have foreseen the return of another world-ending demon to our realm? Fortunately, you were discovered early—had you been allowed to grow unchecked, the land would be drenched in blood. Fellow heroes, our chance to act in Heaven’s name has come!”

“In Heaven’s name?” Jiang Ming laughed. “Do you even know what Heaven is?”

“Heaven is our land, our people!” the white-robed youth replied firmly.

“Well said,” Jiang Ming remarked with a strange look. “But if you claim to act for Heaven, why have you not destroyed Ghost City? Why leave the myriad demon mountain unscathed? Why not sweep away the bandit hordes or root out the traitors in the court?”

“Whatever their faults, they are still our people, born of this land,” the youth replied.

“Reasonable!” Jiang Ming smiled faintly. “Then tell me: what heinous crimes have these so-called demonic overlords from beyond committed?”

“The great Wuxiang Temple was destroyed.”

“The Ghost King razed a city, countless innocents perished—whose crime is greater?”

“There was one time a demon from beyond split a city with a single sword.”

“Impressive! But I heard that in the demon mountain, several cities are kept as human farms, their inhabitants fed to beasts, their blood drunk. Is that not more wicked than any demon from beyond?”

Back and forth they went, their verbal sparring leaving the white-robed youth flushed and breathless.

“No matter what you say, you demons from beyond are destined to bring doom to the world,” the youth insisted stubbornly.

“See? When you cannot win the argument, you resort to groundless accusations,” Jiang Ming said calmly. He no longer looked at his opponent, but swept his gaze over the assembled martial artists, raising his voice. “Demons devour mankind, and you turn a blind eye. Ghosts annihilate cities, and you do not interfere. Bandits rampage, and you remain indifferent. Yet I, who have no quarrel with you, who have slain monsters, killed fiends, destroyed bandits, and never harmed an innocent—you cannot let me go.”

“How senseless!”

“And, whatever else, I am still human, am I not? That much you ought to see with perfect clarity!”

He sighed. “You cannot awaken those who pretend to sleep. Like you, it is not about demons from beyond or evil overlords—it is all an excuse for the Immortal Scripture.”

“Wrong!” Shen Zui stepped forward, his gaze sharp as a blade. “You are a demon wearing human skin, merely hiding your nature for the sake of your own power. If you are allowed to reach your full potential, you will bring calamity to the world.”

“Yun Shuang! Hongyi! Liuli!” he shouted, “Come here, now!”

Yun Shuang sighed. “Senior Brother, I always thought you were fair and upright. I never imagined you would become so blind to right and wrong. I am truly disappointed.”

She longed to go to him, truly she did.

But she could not! To go was to die. There was only one path left—to see it through to the end.

“Grandmaster,” Yan Hongyi bowed again, “Our master was killed through the machinations of Vice Palace Mistress Yun Lu, who conspired with demons. Now, instead of avenging her, you persecute the one who protected her daughter?”

“You have all been seduced by the demon, your will twisted, your hearts enslaved. You are now his thralls!” Shen Zui’s face darkened. “Yun Lu was right—the demon’s methods are inscrutable and cruel. Today, if I do not annihilate you all, one day the whole martial world will fall under his dominion, and our homeland will be lost.”

“Yun Lu? I see,” Yan Hongyi realized, her gaze at Shen Zui filled with hatred. “My master always said you were a peerless genius, especially astute. When Rama and Tiger Dali tried to kill us, you should have suspected Yun Lu was behind the Palace Mistress’s death. Perhaps it was understandable you did nothing at first, but as things escalated and you still did not intervene, I should have known. I just kept hoping…”

She sighed softly. “Liuli and I always saw you as our last hope. Who could have guessed you would let Yun Lu subdue you?”

“Subdue? More like seduced!” Yun Shuang realized. She looked at Shen Zui with disdain. “Back then, you pursued the Palace Mistress but never fought for her, leaving in silence. I thought you were a true gentleman—now I see you are but a hypocrite, a petty man.”

“A demon is always a demon—resorting to every possible means, twisting the will to the utmost!” Shen Zui suddenly shouted, “Comrades, join me in acting for Heaven!”

He charged first.

With a spring of his foot, he leapt into the air, his longsword ringing as it left its sheath, sword energy radiating an icy brilliance.

The other martial artists surged forward as well.

“Ruthless sword intent—interesting!” Jiang Ming watched Shen Zui and shook his head.

Perhaps he truly had been seduced by Yun Lu, or perhaps his aim was to kill Liuli and sever his old obsession, so as to transcend his own limitations and break through to the Celestial Phenomenon realm.

As Jiang Ming considered this, the energies of yin and yang surged forth, transforming into boundless sword qi, easily blocking Shen Zui’s attack.

Sword qi spiraled and clashed, in the blink of an eye stretching a hundred meters, enveloping all the advancing martial artists.

This was sword qi infused with the intent of yin and yang.

No one below a grandmaster could withstand it.

In an instant, screams rent the air, blood mist spread—sheer slaughter.

“How can this be?” Shen Zui landed, sword energy swirling around him, barely fending off the onslaught. But looking back, his pupils contracted in shock and his whole body trembled.

Within the carnage, even many master-level fighters had been wiped out in a mere instant.

“Comrades! If not now, when?” Shen Zui shouted.

Suddenly, a blade flashed in the distance, a ribbon of steel cleaving the sky, a torrent of blade energy splitting the heavens.

“Die!”

At the same moment, a long spear, wrapped in a raging gale, hurtled toward Jiang Ming with crushing force. The spearhead glimmered with a power that could pierce anything.

“Man and sword become one!”

Shen Zui soared aloft, his sword radiance fusing with his body into a single, straight line. Man wielding sword, sword wielding man—they became one, making his swordsmanship peerless.

A blade, a spear, a sword attacked from three directions, trapping Jiang Ming—an ambush clearly planned in advance, designed to be a killing blow.

All three wielded the power of grandmasters.

But that was not all.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared under Jiang Ming’s feet. A chilling aura, like the heart of winter, seemed to freeze the soul.

“Curse Soul—Restrain!”

The shadow merged with his own, and as a hoarse voice sounded, an icy power invaded his blood, seeping into his very spirit.

“A Ghost General!” Jiang Ming realized at once.

The cold power made even him shudder.

“They spare no effort to defeat me!” He sneered.

In his mind, his divine soul spun and transformed into a blazing sun, its edges wreathed in flames. The golden crow within opened its eyes and fixed its gaze on the shadow, letting out a piercing cry.

The sound, imbued with the purest, fiercest yang energy, instantly annihilated the invading force within his consciousness, then spread outward, enveloping the shadow and setting it ablaze.

A wretched scream rang out, full of venomous hatred, but under the blazing sun’s fire, it quickly melted away.

“A thousand ghosts eclipse the sky—perish!”

The hoarse voice, now tinged with terror and rage, exploded as the shadow unleashed a torrent of cold, ghostly energy—only to be utterly suppressed and purified by the yang fire.

Resistance was futile.

“Damn it! How can you be a cultivator, even wielding yang magic?” the Ghost General roared, but his voice grew ever weaker.

Meanwhile, the attacks came.

“Yin and yang, revolve, revolve, revolve!” Jiang Ming split his attention, channeling power to deal with the Ghost General while defending against the three grandmasters.

The sword qi of yin and yang spiraled outward, layer upon layer, forming a rotating defense that was also an endless assault.

The blade light tore through nine layers of sword qi, but was eventually worn away, shattering without ever coming within three feet of Jiang Ming.

The spear, focused into a single point, pierced through the barriers, stopping just a foot away.

Shen Zui’s man-and-sword-as-one pressed ever forward, radiating sharpness, inching closer—but the nearer he came, the slower he moved. The sword light faded, his protective energy was quickly shredded.

“What kind of sword technique is this? How can it be so terrifying?” Shen Zui’s expression was one of utter despair—worse than facing a Celestial Phenomenon master.

“Golden brilliance pierces the heavens!”

Jiang Ming raised his hand, pressing his forefinger and middle finger together to form a sword. With a single strike of his fifth sword form, he pierced Shen Zui’s brow.

“It’s not that I am strong—you are simply too weak,” he said, seizing his opponent’s longsword.

This was the Bright Moon Sword, a famed weapon.

“You little ghost, dare to ambush me?”

“A sword brings forth the light!”

“Die!”

Unleashing his power fully, Jiang Ming spun, and the Bright Moon Sword shone with radiance—yes, radiance.

This was a sword technique he had created after comprehending the concept of light within the Tower of Heaven, fusing it into his myriad swords technique.

Ninth sword—A Sword Brings Forth the Light.

The Ghost General, already suppressed by Jiang Ming’s blazing yang manifestation, was obliterated by a single stroke.

Of all his adversaries, the Ghost General would have been the most troublesome.

Unfortunately for him, Jiang Ming was his perfect counter—whether with divine arts or his mastery of the sword of light, he was utterly restrained.

“Trying to escape?” Jiang Ming turned to the other two. Seeing him slay Shen Zui and the Ghost General, they nearly died of fright, and fled in panic.

The first chapter ends here!