Chapter 120: A Saber Across the Azure Plains

Gu Yuan remained in the sky, watching as the others brought this Demonic Beast Tide to its conclusion.

Ji Yan was using the pair of daggers he had given her for her ten-million-year birthday, mowing down demonic beasts at a pace several times faster than he could manage with his Nine Swords and One Saber technique.

Ruxi, no longer needing to worry about demonic beasts breaking through the sect’s defenses, had also joined the fight.

Not far from her, Lin Hao was seemingly determined to make his presence known. He was going all out, displaying his strength in the hopes of catching her attention.

Meanwhile, Du Qinghe, the master of Myriad Beast Peak, was busy capturing as many demonic beasts as he could, to send them later to the Demonic Beast Garden.

Luo Yunjin and the other seven Peak Masters, finally relieved of the work of stalling the Stormfang Wolf, were trying to catch their breath.

Everyone had something to do. Everyone, that was, except him.

Gu Yuan watched the scene below, feeling a little left out.

His temporary power wouldn’t last long. It seemed a waste not to make use of it.

No. Honestly, it was more simple. He wanted to show off a little to his women.

It wasn’t every day that he’d be stronger than them. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been given the chance.

The battlefield down there, were already being wrapped up.

Perhaps it didn’t have to be the Black Desolation Sect... the thought suddenly came, and Gu Yuan extended his divine sense until it covered nearly the entirety of the Azure Plains Region.

His sect wasn’t the only place under attack. Sects, cities, and villages throughout the region were facing their own battles against the demonic beasts. Although the scale of those attacks couldn’t compare to the tide sweeping over Black Desolation Sect, people were still fighting for their lives.

Holding the Heavenfall Saber, Gu Yuan took a deep breath before swinging it through the air.

Blood Moon Severance.

The crescent that could sever anything.

This had once been an ultimate technique focused entirely on blood, its full power best displayed against a single enemy. But after a hundred thousand years of development, it had become something entirely different.

Blood was no longer its only domain. Space had become part of it, too.

And rather than delivering a single, absolute severing strike, the technique could now multiply that strike without end.

The first crimson crescent split into two. The two became four, and the four multiplied again, each blade dividing into countless others until the sky around Gu Yuan seemed to hold a sea of blood-red moons.

Then, without a sound, the countless crimson blades vanished.

They crossed the distance through space, each heading toward its own intended target.

"What is the Twin-Star Consort doing?" the disciples who noticed him wondered.

"Trying to intimidate what’s left of them?"

"Maybe."

None of them had any idea what had just happened.

They didn’t know that thousands of miles away, far beyond the borders of the Great Han Kingdom, demonic beasts were falling dead across the Azure Plains Region.

In a border town, a woman crouched behind a ruined wall, holding her child tightly against her chest. A demonic wolf had been closing in on them, its jaws opening for the final bite. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the inevitable.

But the attack never came.

When she dared to look again, the wolf had been cut apart. A thin red line lingered in the air for an instant before vanishing, leaving her staring at the lifeless beast in bewilderment.

She had no idea what had saved them, much less that the same scene was unfolding across the entire region.

Only Ji Yan seemed to understand what her husband had done.

A thousand? Two thousand?

Gu Yuan sensed the number of enemies he had killed, yet he couldn’t help feeling dissatisfied. Compared to the countless demonic beasts ravaging the Azure Plains Region, the number was barely worth mentioning. Even with his current strength, a single saber technique could only accomplish so much.

Fortunately, he had another option.

Gu Yuan put away the Heavenfall Saber and took out a small flame. The Crimson Fire flickered in his palm, its light seemingly insignificant compared to the power he now wielded.

He closed his hand around it.

In the next instant, countless wisps of crimson flame burst from between his fingers, shooting in every direction like a storm of fiery arrows. They spread across the region, seeking out the places where demonic beasts were still wreaking havoc.

Some descended upon mortal villages on the verge of being wiped out. Others swept through cities where desperate citizens had already begun to lose hope. Still others reached sects whose defensive formations had been shattered and whose disciples were struggling to hold back the remaining beasts.

The flames arrived before another life could be lost.

Demonic beasts that had been tearing through buildings, slaughtering cultivators, and chasing fleeing mortals were reduced to ash before they could take another step. Those that had seemed unstoppable only moments earlier vanished beneath the Crimson Fire, leaving behind no chance for the tide to continue.

It took less than a breath.

In that brief moment, the demonic beast tide that had swept across the Azure Plains Region came to an abrupt end at Gu Yuan’s hands.

And an act on such a scale could hardly pass unnoticed... especially not by those who had set the entire scheme in motion.

-----

Deep underground, beyond the reach of any sun, lay a vast cavern of black stone. In its center spread a dark pond made of blood, as wide as a lake and as still as glass, with slow, thick ripples that moved against the surface as if something breathed beneath it. Pillars of bone, carved with demon faces, held up the ceiling, and thousands of channels cut into the floor carried more blood into the pond in thin, endless streams. The air reeked of iron.

Above the pond, a small orb of blood hung in the air, turning slowly. It pulsed like a heart, and with every pulse it drew a thin red thread up from the pond below and absorbed it, growing a little denser, a little darker, a little more alive.

This was where the blood they had gathered was refined: the domain of the Netherblood Palace.

A man stood before this gruesome sight, watching the process with a grin of barely contained zeal. Beside him stood an old man whose overbearing aura made even the chamber seem cramped.

Suddenly, the old man’s expression changed.

"The demonic beasts in the Azure Plains Region have all been killed by an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator. Do you have any idea who would descend into this world and interfere at a time like this?"

The Netherblood Palace Master was shocked at first. Then, after thinking it over carefully, he said, "Could it be the Heavenly Sword Sect? Perhaps an Ascendant of theirs descended after sensing the crisis in the Cangchen World?"

"No. That doesn’t sound like their style." The old man shook his head. "More importantly, the culprit clearly knows that this world is hidden from prying eyes. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have acted so openly."

The man frowned. "I can’t think of any powerful sect in the Azure Plains Region besides the Heavenly Sword Sect that could have such a cultivator."

Then, as though a thought had suddenly occurred to him, he took out a jade talisman and examined it. A faint light pulsed across its surface, confirming that the person connected to it was still alive.

The old man noticed the movement. "What is that?"

"I thought it might be the Black Desolation Sect. Those mysterious Heavenly Twin Stars have attracted quite a bit of attention lately, so I wondered whether they might be involved. But the subordinate I sent there is still alive. It probably wasn’t them."

"Heavenly Twin Stars?" the old man asked.

"The twin daughters of the Ji Clan Patriarch. They’re playing sect masters in the Azure Plains Region, and they’ve become quite famous lately."

The Netherblood Palace Master said nothing more. He didn’t mention the sealed treasure, nor did he reveal that he had ordered the demonic beasts to send stronger forces against Black Desolation Sect.

The old man considered the matter briefly before speaking again.

"For now, stop interfering with them. Completing one more Blood Orb is more important than getting entangled in an unnecessary conflict."

The Netherblood Palace Master nodded, though a calculating gleam flashed through his eyes. "Understood."