Ding Hao immediately reacted. He forcefully executed the Qi inside his body and madly circulated it, steadying his body.

But Ding Hao at this moment was upside down with his feet pointing up, as though hanging in the sky. Even more bizarrely, his clothes and hair were not drooping, but were falling towards the sky.

“The energy field here has totally reversed.”

Ding Hao did not feel the least bit discomfort, since within this distorted energy field, heaven had become earth and earth heaven. Gravity was coming from the sky.

Waves and waves of light irradiated outwards in all directions.

These were the fallout waves of the Martial Sage experts’ battle.

The clothes on Ding Hao’s body tore immediately under the assault of these waves. They completely disintegrated.

Not an inch of clothing remained on Ding Hao’s body. He had become naked instantaneously. His streamlined muscles and slim body seemed to have been carved out of jade. His skin, translucent as jade, scintillated with purplish and silvery brilliance, gushing with strange power. The Jade in Stone inscription on his rib cages and spine were shimmering, undergoing great pressure.

Very soon, there were the loud crackles of shattering bones coming from Ding Hao’s body.

“Bones that haven’t been remolded by the Jade in Stone can’t withstand such power. They are shattering…” Ding Hao frowned.

Lowering his head, he saw that every pore on the skin of his body was exuding bloody beads under great pressure. Soon, his entire body was shrouded in a film of bloody mucus.

It was a sort of masochism, but Ding Hao enjoyed it.

A six-apertured Great Grandmaster could vaguely sense the grand rules governing the heavens and the earth. Such distorted energy field could not only train the body, it could also allow him to experience the operating power of the rules and relocate its rhythms.

Time passed.

The battle in the sky had become progressively more intense.

Especially that battle between the Martial Sage expert of the Blue Cloud Sect and the leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect. It had reached a stage of bleak, horrific proportions.

They were both bathed in blood, their limbs shattered. The older warrior had one arm torn out, while half the head of the leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect was bleeding. Horrific Qi flames scintillated around their bodies, and as they recovered swiftly, they continued to exchange blows. Spurts of Martial Sage expert blood fell from the sky…

“Old die-hard, even if I die today, I must exterminate you!” The leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect bellowed.

He knew his defeat was near and his demise at hand. He had this immediate death wish. Four inky light balls gyrated around his body like tiny black holes, surging and fluctuating with unimaginable energy.

“Young fellow, being mad can’t change your fate.” The old Martial Sage expert recovered his limb gradually, while his other palm released silvery sword rays. The sword brilliance enveloped the leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect in its midst.

BOOM!

Another horrific exchange of blows.

One of the four inky light balls struck the elder, almost penetrating his body. He threw up a large mouthful of blood.

Several hundred sword radiance had also pierced through the body of the leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect. The lower half of his body had become minced meat, sparkling with blackish light. Yet he still did not retreat, intending to fight to the death.

“Sigh. My Qi and blood are on the wane. The body fears youthful brawn…” The elder was coughing out large mouthfuls of blood, as though he could not pick himself up. His left arm seemed unrevivable, surrounded by wisps of black vapors. It was decomposing rapidly, as the bloody flesh melted into black fluid, dripping onto the ground.

The leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect looked grotesque, with black vapors twirling around his body.

If one observed carefully, one could see that these black vapors were made up of dense, minute black swords. The lower half of his body had been shattered, yet it was slowly recovering. These black swords adhered to where his torn limb once was, like black warts growing slowly.

“Old creature, I have already told you you would die in my hands. After killing you, I will slay your two juniors. Haha, in order to seize the Blue Cloud Formation-Shattering Cauldron and the White Jade Sword, so what if the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect is destroyed? The world is so big, I can go anywhere.” The leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect looked vicious, his arrogance soaring.

“I didn’t expect you to have mastered such heretical sword skills. No wonder those old creatures from the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect did not turn up today. You must have assassinated them. Did you use their blood, essence and spirits to forge this Black Demon Sword?” the old man asked calmly.

The leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect guffawed loudly. “Yes indeed. Those old creatures had no reason to live. Might as well use them to practice my swordsmanship. Haha, old die-hard, your myth shall end today. I will use your blood, body and soul to feed my Black Demon Sword.”

“You can’t continue on such a heretical path for long,” the old man said no more.

His expression stern, he suddenly released silvery flames from his entire body. The light rays around his body distorted, and his skin seemed enveloped by a coat of mercury. It assumed a metallic texture, as instantaneously, keen Sword Qi streaked out. In the next instant, a large handleless sword blade the height of a man appeared. It trembled and tore through the vacant sky.

The old man’s body had transformed itself into a large, silver sword.

“The Divine Sword Body? You have mastered this skill?” The leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect’s complexion changed and he blanched. He seemed to have encountered something thoroughly horrific. After a mad scramble and raging roars, countless dense, Black Demon Swords were about to form a protective shield before his body…

“Swoosh!”

In that next instant, a streak of light penetrated the as-yet unformed black barrier.

BOOM!

The intense energy fluctuations exploded. The entire sky resembled a big busted watermelon, on the brink of caving in.

The body of the leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect was instantly shredded into pieces.

Several thousand meters below, Ding Hao could feel a tremendous suction power surging out. It seemed that he would soon give in, so he hurriedly executed the power of the rusted sword to steady himself. Raising his head, he saw that at the spot where the leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect once was, space was beginning to collapse as black flames dispersed, forming a gigantic vortex, seeming to engulf everything.

“Swoosh!”

Another silvery flash.

It was that silver sword which was the old man’s embodiment again. It made a gigantic slash in vacant space, as its suction power engulfed like a black hole, drawing in all the terrible energy instantaneously as the leader exploded at his demise. Under the power of the rules, the shattered virtual space recovered.

In that very instant, the distorted energy field immediately vanished. Everything returned to normal.

Ding Hao’s body gyrated as he landed on the earth.

He shattered the thick casing of bloody mucus around his body, and immediately took out his emergency robe, putting it on. When he raised his head, he saw that the heavens had already resumed their former calm. There was not even a trace of the former incident. The blackish flames had long vanished totally. The sky was completely clear, as though rinsed by water, cerulean and lovely. Plumes of white clouds resembling cotton candy floated across the sky.

The granular pebbles drifting about due to the distorted energy field returned to their former positions on earth.

A silvery ray flashed. A hunchbacked figure appeared beside Ding Hao.

In that instant, all the minute hairs on Ding Hao’s skin stood on end. Instinctively, he sensed extreme danger, as if Death intended to have him. He immediately grasped his rusted sword and devil saber, drifted dozens of meters away, and spun around, preparing to fight.

It was that old Martial Sage expert from the Blue Cloud Sect.

“Boy, don’t be scared…” The old man had resumed his physical body, and was vomiting blood by the large mouthfuls. He looked extremely weak, yet the Qi permeating around his body was horrifically intense. He was like a divinity bathed in blood.

And so it was with a Martial Sage expert. Though badly injured, he could still easily defeat Ding Hao at this moment.

“Senior, are you alright?” Ding Hao asked. He calmed down after detecting no murderous intent from the elder.

“Cough, cough… I’m no good now… too old. Had it been in the past… cough cough, I wouldn’t have needed such efforts…” The old man coughed out blood again. Shreds of his internal organs could be seen in the bloody mucus. He was in a terrible state. His left limb and heart had been completely shattered. One could see his internal organs through the broken ribs, so deformed as to not seem human.

“Senior, I have a Reviving Elixir with me…” Ding Hao took out a top-grade Reviving Elixir. It was concocted from the divine herbs picked on the Sage Battlefield. It could put flesh back on the bones and resuscitate the body.

This old warrior from the Blue Cloud Sect had sustained such grievous injuries thanks to his showdown with the leader of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect. Ding Hao felt somewhat apologetic.

The old man took the elixir, placed it on his palm, and carefully scrutinized it. He praised with a sigh. “It’s indeed a Reviving Elixir. You have reached the alchemist stage. What a treasure… Boy, you’re so generous. Did you concoct this elixir yourself?”

Ding Hao was startled and then nodded.

The old man looked meaningfully at Ding Hao, and sighed with deep emotion. “The era of old creatures like us will soon draw to a close. A newer generation with bright talents will hog the limelight for the next few centuries. I can’t pretend I’m young anymore.” Saying this, he raised his arm and put the Reviving Elixir back into Ding Hao’s hand.

“Senior, but you…” Ding Hao was perplexed.

“I won’t survive. The Black Demon Sword is a murderous weapon. My life essence has been shattered, and on top of that, I had also executed the Divine Sword Body. I have exhausted all my vitality. Even if a god were to descend, he could not have saved me. Don’t waste this precious elixir!” The old man’s face recovered its equanimity. He seemed calm about his coming demise, and did not fear it.

For a moment, Ding Hao did not know what to say.

“Ho ho, old fellow, when you were young, you were so arrogant and domineering. You never submitted to anyone. Yet you have to admit defeat today.” A voice rang out. It was that old Martial Sage expert from the Extermination Swordsmanship Sect, who had just slain the Highest Elder of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect. His figure whizzed and he appeared beside the two.

“Age is merciless, even to the proud sons of Heaven. Even War Gods and Demon Gods will grow old. Unless one becomes immortal, we will have to die in the mortal realm someday.” The old man shook his head, looking desolate. He seemed not to mind his old sparring partner’s jibe. “Old creature, you have forcefully channeled your inner essence too. Although you have won, your demise must be near as well.”

The old warrior from the Extermination Swordsmanship Sect gave a bitter smile. “I’m old, and won’t make it. Rather than lingering on with my dying breath, I might as well use the remainder of my energy to slug it out. It may help build a brighter future for my descendants.”