Chapter 251: Supreme Identity

[This beam of sword light moved without a sound, effortlessly slicing open space wherever it passed to lay bare deep spatial rifts.]

["Extreme Sword, you?!"]

[Heavenly Monarch Qingcang's scalp prickled. He manifested his Heavenly Monarch true body without hesitation, his surging qi and blood intertwining to similarly shatter space.]

[Facing that strike from Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword, Heavenly Monarch Qingcang could no longer care about suffering the backlash of heaven and earth. He immediately unleashed his full power to block the incoming slash of sword light.]

[At the same time.]

[The Grade 5 Guarding Great Array of the Extreme Dao Pavilion roared to life in an instant, sending down streams of array power to shelter Heavenly Monarch Qingcang.]

[However, because Heavenly Monarch Qingcang was located outside the mountain gate on the array's outer perimeter, he could only mobilize one-tenth of its power in that split second.]

[The next moment.]

[The sword light descended, tearing through layer after layer of array power as the entire mountain gate of the Extreme Dao Pavilion shook with a deafening roar.]

[Finally, the sword light struck Heavenly Monarch Qingcang's barrier of qi and blood, shattering it completely.]

[Heavenly Monarch Qingcang staggered back dozens of steps, his face draining of color as his aura plummeted sharply.]

["Extreme Sword, you lunatic! You actually attacked me over this brat..."] [Heavenly Monarch Qingcang stared at Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword in disbelief, his voice thick with astonishment.]

[True, he was indeed no match for Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword.]

[Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword was a Sword Cultivator, naturally specializing in slaughter. Having also cultivated the heritage left behind by the Sword Lord, he fully deserved his title as the Heavenly Monarch with the highest combat power in the Human Realm.]

[Yet even if he was outmatched, the two of them were still Heavenly Monarchs of the same level.]

[To wound him, Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword had to strike at full strength, drawing upon power that completely surpassed the combat limits of the Human Realm.]

[Under the environmental restrictions of heaven and earth in the Near-Ancient Era, even a Heavenly Monarch would suffer the world's backlash for wielding such power.]

[Setting aside Heavenly Monarch Qingcang's own injuries, Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword must have endured the backlash of heaven and earth for that slash just now, suffering a certain degree of injury himself.]

[It was tantamount to killing a thousand enemies at the cost of losing eight hundred of one's own.]

[That was precisely what Heavenly Monarch Qingcang could not wrap his head around. He had no feud with Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword.]

[The only reason the man had struck at him was because of you.]

[But how could that possibly be?]

[You were merely a Nascent Soul Stage true lord. How could you possibly make the dignified Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword risk the backlash of heaven and earth to strike at him?] ["What happened?"]

["Why did I feel the sect shaking?"]

[The many body cultivation disciples of the Extreme Dao Pavilion trembled with unease. That single slash from Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword had shaken the outer perimeter of the Grade 5 great array to a certain extent, causing minor ripples throughout the entire formation.]

["It's a Heavenly Monarch! The Sword Cultivator Heavenly Monarch of Heavenly Sword Peak!"]

[Grand Cultivator Mangyan was struck with sheer terror. Just moments ago, he had caught a faint glimpse of his sect's Heavenly Monarch being forced back dozens of steps by a single slash from Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword.]

...

[His expression indifferent, Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword paid no heed to Heavenly Monarch Qingcang. Instead, he looked down at the Extreme Dao Pavilion below and spoke slowly, his voice riding the power of heaven and earth to echo throughout the entire sect.]

["For the next 10,000 years, the Extreme Dao Pavilion is forbidden from producing a Rank 5 Heavenly Monarch, as punishment."]

[Having spoken, Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword glanced toward you. You gave a nod, and the two of you vanished on the spot.]

[It took nearly half a shichen before the many body cultivation disciples inside the Extreme Dao Pavilion finally came back to their senses.]

["Who was that just now? Why... why did he say our Extreme Dao Pavilion isn't allowed to produce a Heavenly Monarch for the next 10,000 years?"]

["It was... that Sword Cultivator Heavenly Monarch from Heavenly Sword Peak... We're doomed..."] [Despair colored the voices of the Extreme Dao Pavilion's disciples, especially the Fourth-Order Late Stage body cultivation true lords—they were the ones qualified to make a push for Rank 5.]

["Extreme Sword!"]

[Heavenly Monarch Qingcang felt fury blazing in his chest as his terrifying qi and blood intertwined, tearing space open once again.]

[Heavenly Monarch Qingcang had the urge to charge out and fight Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword to the bitter end, but after thinking it over again and again, he abandoned the thought.]

[At the Extreme Dao Pavilion, backed by the Grade 5 great array, he could weaken even Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword's attacks by more than half.]

[Out in the open, however, that advantage would be gone. Facing Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword, Heavenly Monarch Qingcang had no confidence whatsoever.]

[If tempers truly flared and the two Heavenly Monarchs clashed at full strength, victory and defeat aside, the resulting backlash from heaven and earth would be more than enough to make them suffer.]

[Besides, that single slash from Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword had left Heavenly Monarch Qingcang severely wounded. Even as a body cultivation Heavenly Monarch, he would need a considerable amount of time to recover, and he could not fight at full strength during that period.]

...

[Word of what had transpired at the Extreme Dao Pavilion quickly spread among the many top forces of the Central Continent.]

["For the sake of True Monarch Golden Face, Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword personally went to the Extreme Dao Pavilion, wounded Heavenly Monarch Qingcang with a single slash, and decreed that the Extreme Dao Pavilion may not produce a Rank 5 Heavenly Monarch for 10,000 years..."]

["The Extreme Dao Pavilion really got the worst of it..."] ["Indeed. This is the very first time Heavenly Sword Peak has stepped forward openly to suppress a top force of the Central Continent."]

[Late Nascent Soul Stage Great Cultivators exchanged views with one another. The many top forces harbored not a single doubt regarding Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword's decree that the Extreme Dao Pavilion would not produce a new Rank 5 Heavenly Monarch for the next 10,000 years.]

[Over the 100,000 years of the Near-Ancient Era, all fifteen top forces had produced Heavenly Monarchs, yet aside from Heavenly Sword Peak, not a single top force had a Heavenly Monarch standing watch over every generation.]

[Let alone every generation, even having a Heavenly Monarch for two consecutive generations was exceedingly rare. Three consecutive generations? That had only happened three or four times. As for four consecutive generations, it had never once occurred outside of Heavenly Sword Peak.]

[Under such circumstances, if a Heavenly Monarch of Heavenly Sword Peak wanted to stop a top force from producing a Heavenly Monarch, it was all too easy.]

[All he had to do was use his status as a Heavenly Monarch to suppress and interfere with that top force's Great Cultivators whenever they attempted to break through to Deity Transformation.]

[At the very beginning of the Near-Ancient Era, the fifteen top forces of the Central Continent had reached a consensus forbidding anyone from interfering when a core Great Cultivator of their respective factions attempted to break through to Deity Transformation.]

[However, that consensus had been spearheaded by Heavenly Sword Peak, and it restricted only the other fourteen top forces—Heavenly Sword Peak itself was exempt.]

[For 100,000 years, the Heavenly Monarchs of Heavenly Sword Peak had never resorted to such measures, whether against the top forces or against Late Stage Great Cultivators outside them.]

[Heavenly Sword Peak disdained doing such things. No matter what kind of Heavenly Monarch emerged, under the world's suppression in the Near-Ancient Era, none could possibly rival a Heavenly Monarch of Heavenly Sword Peak.]

["True Monarch Golden Face must hold extraordinary significance for Heavenly Sword Peak and Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword."]

["Indeed. To think Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword would treat the Extreme Dao Pavilion like this for the sake of True Monarch Golden Face, striking the reigning body cultivation Heavenly Monarch without a second thought."]

["Just what is this True Monarch Golden Face's background? Could he be Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword's illegitimate son?"]

["Heh, a being at the level of a Heavenly Monarch couldn't care less about illegitimate children. Besides, making the entirety of Heavenly Sword Peak submit is something no single generation's Sword Cultivator Heavenly Monarch could pull off alone."]

["We must not offend him, we absolutely must not offend him—this True Monarch Golden Face is someone we cannot afford to cross under any circumstances..."]

...

[Even as the top forces of the Central Continent and the overlord factions of the four great regions reeled in shock, they also realized that Heavenly Sword Peak truly was under your command now. Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword's intervention this time was the clearest proof.]

[All at once, you stood at the very pinnacle of the Human Realm. Commanding Heavenly Sword Peak and driving a Sword Cultivator Heavenly Monarch, what force in the Human Realm could defy your will?]

...

[At Heavenly Sword Peak, Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword had already brought you back.]

[Your mind was still rippling with emotion. A dignified body cultivation Heavenly Monarch had been severely wounded just like that? And along with it, the Extreme Dao Pavilion had been stripped of the right to produce a Rank 5 Heavenly Monarch for the next 10,000 years?]

["Shuiyue has roughly one or two hundred years of lifespan left. Does fellow Daoist Qingyuan intend to wait until Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue passes away in meditation before attempting to break through to Deity Transformation?"]

[Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword thought for a moment. "If fellow Daoist Qingyuan is in a hurry, I can have Shuiyue pass away in meditation ahead of time to vacate the spot."] [Having Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue pass away in meditation ahead of time did not mean striking to kill the other party, but rather negotiating so that Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue would willingly pass away in meditation.]

[Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue did not have much lifespan left. If a few promises from Heavenly Sword Peak could be secured to preserve the future glory of the Xuantian Sect, passing away in meditation one or two hundred years early would not be unacceptable.]

[To a Heavenly Monarch, dying a hundred years earlier or a hundred years later made little difference.]

["There's no need for that."]

[You quickly replied, feeling once again just how domineering Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword was.]

[Your refusal wasn't out of kindness or a desire to let Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue live out a natural lifespan.]

[Rather, thanks to your experience from the previous simulation, you knew the exact time node after Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue passed away in meditation when attempting to break through to the Deity Transformation Stage would be the easiest.]

[If Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue passed away in meditation ahead of time, wouldn't that time node become useless? With the new time node uncertain, what a headache it would be if some other Late Nascent Soul Stage Great Cultivator stole the breakthrough right out from under you!]

[In theory, with Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword around, as long as he kept watch, he could cause any Late Nascent Soul Stage Great Cultivator to fail their breakthrough.]

[Yet nothing was absolute. In the fifth simulation, Heavenly Monarch Purple Eye had been a Great Cultivator of the Northern Plains, yet he had managed to break through smoothly. Had he bypassed the suppression and interference of the Heavenly Monarchs?]

[Of course, it was also possible that the Heavenly Monarchs simply hadn't stepped in to suppress him, or that Northern Plains Great Snow Mountain had struck a deal with the reigning Heavenly Monarchs ahead of time.]

[Even so, the possibility remained.] [You directly assumed that either the Purple-Eyed True Monarch or the Demon Abyss Realm possessed a method to bypass a Heavenly Monarch's suppression and interference.]

[Therefore, keeping everything as it was and letting events unfold according to the fifth simulation remained the most favorable situation for you.]

[This remained true even though your actions in this simulation had already caused the development of the Central Continent and the entire Human Realm to diverge greatly from the fifth simulation.]

[But as long as the time when Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue passed away in meditation remained unchanged, the optimal time node to attempt Deity Transformation would most likely still be nearly a hundred years after that passing.]

["Still, even though the Purple-Eyed True Monarch is dead, there's no guarantee the Demon Abyss Realm won't prop up a new Late Nascent Soul Stage Great Cultivator from Great Snow Mountain. What if they compete with me after Heavenly Monarch Shuiyue passes away in meditation..."]

[You mulled it over for a while. "Great Snow Mountain cannot be spared."]

[You looked at Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword before you and said directly, "I suspect Great Snow Mountain is colluding with the Demon Abyss Realm. That Purple-Eyed True Monarch I slew was none other than Grand Cultivator Powang of Great Snow Mountain, and inside his storage treasure, I found many items from the Demon Abyss Realm."]

[Finding items from the Demon Abyss Realm was, of course, a fabrication on your part, but as long as it pinned the crime of colluding with the Demon Abyss Realm on Great Snow Mountain, the process did not matter.]

["Great Snow Mountain? The Demon Abyss Realm?"]

[Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword's expression shifted slightly.]

[As the strongest force in the Human Realm, Heavenly Sword Peak was also the main force resisting the Demon Abyss Realm.]

[Crushing any plot by the Demon Abyss Realm to continue invading the Human Realm was likewise Heavenly Sword Peak's duty.] ["I'll go take a look myself right now."]

[With those direct words, Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword vanished on the spot.]

["That fast?"]

[Watching Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword depart, you could not help but marvel inwardly.]

[In the fifth simulation, after you exposed Great Snow Mountain to Heavenly Sword Peak, a full ten years had passed before Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword finally moved against Great Snow Mountain.]

[During those ten years, Heavenly Sword Peak had undoubtedly verified the matter again and again, using methods that included, but were not limited to, Divination by a Fourth Tier High Grade Divination Great Grandmaster, along with various other probes.]

[Only at the very end had they awakened Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword, finally wiping Great Snow Mountain off the map.]

[Yet in this simulation, you had merely mentioned it once, and Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword had immediately set off for Great Snow Mountain. The difference between then and now was beyond imagination.]

...

[Several days later, you faintly sensed earth-shattering fluctuations coming from the direction of the Northern Plains and realized that Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword had made his move.]

["The Demon Abyss Realm really hasn't given up..."]

[You thought to yourself. In truth, you had not been entirely certain of what you told Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword. If the Demon Abyss Realm had seen the fall of Heavenly Monarch Purple Eye and completely abandoned their line in Great Snow Mountain, cutting off all contact, then even if Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword went to investigate, he likely would have found nothing.] [Yet now that Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword had actually struck, he must have uncovered ironclad proof.]

[The destruction of Great Snow Mountain came much faster than in the fifth simulation. In the fifth simulation, Grand Cultivator Powang had stepped into the Deity Transformation Stage and ascended as a Heavenly Monarch, allowing him to at least hold off Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword for a brief while.]

[In this simulation, however, Great Snow Mountain had no Heavenly Monarch standing watch. On the contrary, the fall of the Purple-Eyed True Monarch had dealt Great Snow Mountain a heavy blow. Facing Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword, the foremost Heavenly Monarch in the Human Realm, the outcome was a foregone conclusion even with all their Rank 5 foundations.]

[Half a day later, Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword returned to Heavenly Sword Peak, which subsequently announced to the public that Great Snow Mountain had colluded with the Demon Abyss Realm and had been erased from the Human Realm.]

["Had fellow Daoist Qingyuan not warned me, the consequences would have been unthinkable if the Demon Abyss Realm's scheme had succeeded. The entire Northern Plains would have been torn open, turning into the front line for countless demonic creatures to descend from the Demon Abyss Realm."]

[Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword's expression was icy. "Great Snow Mountain deserved death!"]

["It was that serious?"]

[You felt a jolt of surprise. In the previous simulation, you had only known that Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword took action and wiped out Great Snow Mountain.]

[You had not known the details in between.]

["Yes."]

[Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword nodded. "Beneath Great Snow Mountain, the spatial rift connected to the Demon Abyss Realm had already been torn open at a deep level. The moment Great Snow Mountain produced a Heavenly Monarch, that Heavenly Monarch's means would be more than enough to widen the spatial rift drastically—perhaps even enough to let Fourth-Order Late Stage or even Quasi-Tier-5 demonic creatures enter the Human Realm."]

["I see."] [Only now did you realize just what kind of peril you had brushed past in the last simulation.]

[Had you not reported them in time, you might well have lived to see countless demonic creatures from the Demon Abyss Realm descend upon the Human Realm.]

["By the way, since fellow Daoist Qingyuan intends to attempt Deity Transformation, you might as well pay a visit to our Heavenly Sword Peak's 'Book Mountain'. It houses countless inheritances, secret arts, and classics from the Ancient Era and the Near-Ancient Era alike... as well as insights and experiences on breaking through from Nascent Soul to Deity Transformation..."]

[Heavenly Monarch Extreme Sword said.]

["Book Mountain?"]

[Your interest was thoroughly piqued.]