After All, Our Qingxuan Sect’s Foundations Are Too Thin

After the momentary shock and greed passed, the true struggle turned white-hot within the span of a breath!

“This scripture belongs in the hands of the South Domain!”

With a domineering roar, the South Domain Demon Lord remained motionless, yet a massive claw covered in azure scales and wrapped in chaotic demonic energy tore through the void.

Ignoring the distance between spaces, it appeared directly above the stone platform. Its five fingers closed like the bars of a prison as it viciously clawed down toward the dark-gold Imperial Scripture!

Wherever the demonic claw passed, the laws wailed, as though it intended to rip that entire stretch of space—and the Imperial Scripture along with it—right out of existence!

“Hmph! Insolent demon!”

Almost the instant the demonic claw appeared, several ferocious attacks arrived first despite being launched later!

A vast and majestic surge of imperial dragon qi, carrying the weight of the realm and its people, lashed toward the claw’s wrist like an enraged dragon sweeping its tail.

A clear, frigid radiance of lunar essence, freezing the void itself, transformed into an invisible tide of cold that slowed the claw’s attempt to close.

Several more sword energies, palm strikes, and talismanic lights came from different directions, each carrying its owner’s fury and resolve as they rained down upon the demonic claw like a violent storm!

“Boom—!”

The claw shook violently. Its scales burst apart, and its chaotic demonic energy scattered in all directions.

The South Domain Demon Lord grunted and was forced to withdraw his hand at lightning speed. His attempt had come to nothing, and he had even suffered a minor setback.

In the fleeting gap when the demonic claw retreated and the aftershocks of the attacks had yet to dissipate—

The Grand Zhou Emperor seized the moment. Divine light burst from the crown atop his head, and a condensed imperial dragon, seemingly cast from pure red gold, roared into existence.

With astonishing speed, its tail swept around, attempting to pull the Imperial Scripture into the emperor’s embrace!

The dragon qi carried the domineering will of an imperial sovereign, temporarily suppressing the surrounding energy until it became faintly sluggish.

“Your Majesty is being rather hasty. Such supreme inheritances should go to whoever is fated to obtain them!”

An aged Buddhist invocation rang out, causing the imperial dragon’s movements to inexplicably slow for an instant.

At some point, the Western Region Buddha had produced a string of ancient prayer beads. With a gentle swing, he attacked the Grand Zhou Emperor.

Sacred Lord Lingxiao, Ling Canglan, slashed out a dazzling sword light of extreme concentration between the imperial dragon and the Imperial Scripture!

This strike was aimed at severing the faint connection drawing the Imperial Scripture toward the imperial dragon qi!

The imperial dragon let out an angry, unwilling roar. Its body was disrupted and struck by several forces, forcing it to release the scripture and coil protectively around its master.

The Grand Zhou Emperor’s expression darkened. His second attempt to seize the scripture had failed as well.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion Master sent an ancient compass flying from his sleeve. It spun rapidly, instantly fixing one region of space and time as he attempted to snatch the scripture amid the chaos.

“Roar—!”

Immediately afterward, an Ancient Family Patriarch brought forth the phantom of an ancestral weapon, manifesting visions from primordial times in an attempt to isolate an area and forcibly draw the scripture away.

There were also hidden recluses who employed strange evasion techniques. Like ghosts, they slipped close to the stone platform, only to be locked onto by several divine senses. Divine abilities struck them head-on, forcing them to retreat in disarray, coughing up blood…

The scene had completely descended into chaos, yet it also displayed a strange balance.

Everyone wanted to seize the scripture, but each person kept a death grip on their attention, watching all the others.

The moment anyone tried to truly touch the Imperial Scripture, they would become the common enemy of everyone else, facing the combined attacks of at least three or four beings of the same realm!

Attacks and defenses, snatching and interception, unfolded within a space no wider than a few feet at a speed that dazzled the eyes.

Energy collided and annihilated itself in a frenzy, yet the Imperial Array firmly confined everything to the core region, making the pressure here terrifying beyond compare.

The Imperial Scripture still lay quietly upon the stone platform. Yet the area within a few feet of the platform had already become the most dangerous, most violently turbulent forbidden zone in the entire Xuanhuang Great World!

Without overwhelming strength, an impeccable sense of timing, and the confidence to survive the combined assault of everyone present, no one could truly take it away!

While the numerous Sovereigns and giants battled with enough force to make heaven and earth collapse over the Imperial Scripture, three figures had gathered in a shadowy corner farther out, where the energy currents were relatively thin.

Their auras had been restrained to the utmost, and they were dressed like ordinary wandering cultivators in their twilight years.

They were none other than the three ancestors of the Azure Mystic Sect.

The Third Patriarch narrowed his eyes as he watched the battle in the distance and smacked his lips.

“Tsk, what a lively fight. Who do you think will end up with that treasure?”

The Second Ancestor swept his gaze over the crowd.

“Hard to say, hard to say. Not one of these old monsters is easy to deal with. But I think that old schemer from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion has a pretty good chance.”

He gestured toward a certain figure in the sky, who was holding a compass and drifting unpredictably.

“Look at him. He slips away too easily. Every time he makes a move, he picks the critical moment. It doesn’t look like he’s trying to seize the treasure. More like he’s stirring up trouble. He might be plotting something nasty.”

The Fourth Patriarch folded his arms and said in his deep, booming voice, “I think the Yaochi Sovereign is pretty formidable too. If she really fights to the death, it’s hard to say who would win.

“Her heart just seems a little too soft. She actually spared a moment earlier to block the shockwaves from reaching the low-level cultivators below.”

He was referring to Ji Qingyi’s earlier act of casually protecting an area of stone walls where the weaker cultivators had gathered.

“Who cares who gets it!”

The Third Patriarch’s eyes widened as he lowered his voice.

“We just need to keep watch! Once we see which direction the treasure flies, we’ll be ready…”

He made a chopping motion with his hand.

“We’ll ambush them halfway!”

Hearing this, the Fourth Patriarch glanced at the faint, heart-stirring traces of supreme imperial might surrounding the figures in the sky and spoke in a muffled voice.

“That’ll be difficult.

“Didn’t you notice that several of those old monsters have already drawn out the auras of their Imperial Weapons without releasing them? They’re just waiting for the critical moment to use them for protection—or for a decisive strike. The three of us are just a bunch of old bones. How are we supposed to ambush someone carrying an Imperial Weapon? We’d only be throwing our lives away.”

The Second Ancestor looked up at the phantoms of Imperial Weapons that appeared and vanished in the sky, as well as the world-shattering power unleashed by the Sovereigns as they fought. In the end, he shook his head and let out a low sigh filled with stark reality.

“When all is said and done, our Azure Mystic Sect’s foundation is still too shallow. We haven’t been established for long. Without a supreme Imperial Weapon to hold down the fort, we’re ultimately missing the hardest bone in our backbone.

“Look at them. No matter how fiercely they fight over the scripture, they all have something to fall back on. Once things truly reach the point of life and death, their Imperial Weapons awaken—and that becomes an entirely different battlefield.”

“That’s right.”

The Fourth Patriarch also sighed, his deep voice heavy.

“Without an Imperial Weapon, even if we really spot an opportunity and want to make a move—cough, I mean, want to accomplish something—we’d still have to constantly guard against them flipping the table. We simply don’t have enough confidence.”

The Third Patriarch said nothing. His eyes flickered as he clearly pondered the fatal weakness of having no Imperial Weapon.

Without that ultimate deterrent, the risk factor of pulling off any underhanded maneuver would skyrocket.

The three of them could only silently abandon the idea. They absolutely refused to do anything without certainty.

At the same time, in a corner of the great hall, Gu Changge casually glanced at the three ancestors, who had given up on competing because they lacked the protection of an Imperial Weapon.

He then looked at the Sovereigns in the sky, who were fighting to the death over the Imperial Scripture, before turning his gaze toward the mountain of supreme Imperial Weapons piled up in his system space.

“It’s rare to see these three old fellows so dejected. Forget it. I’ll ‘find’ a couple of weapons for them later so they can protect themselves. That way, they won’t have to worry all day long.”