Hengyun..... Hammer Marks

Hengyun Sword City.

"Did Elder Zeng overlook someone just now?"

"That girl named Ying Bing comprehended a martial art so astonishing that even the Sword City might be trying to conceal it..."

"Or perhaps the Rain Pavilion assassins attacked suddenly, and the elders didn’t have time to question her?"

"If only Sword Immortal Li hadn’t been on the Sword Tower earlier—those assassins didn’t even number eight hundred, and he took care of them all single-handedly."

"Of course, comprehending the sword-marked mystic stone is more important!"

The crowd below buzzed with chatter.

After all, it was common knowledge that Sword Immortal Li was a refined and benevolent gentleman, full of memorable quotes during the three-day tournament.

Lines like, "This sword strike will be dashing," "Want to learn? I’ll teach you," and "May all swordsmen under heaven ascend to immortality," had already been compiled into Sword Immortal Li's Quotations, widely circulated by storytellers.

These quotes, paired with their striking imagery, spread like wildfire and became the talk of the town.

Countless swordsmen had already crowned Young Hero Li as the top rising swordsman of Yunzhou.

If he had truly gleaned something from the mystic stone, given his nature, he might very well share it with everyone.

"Comprehend? Those sword marks were his doing in the first place!"

"Exactly! He might even add a new mark to the stone if he’s had another epiphany!"

"Wait... have you all noticed something?"

"Hm?"

"How can we see stars in broad daylight? And why does the sky seem... closer?"

Indeed.

As the mystic stone pulsed, everyone felt as though the heavens were pressing down, looming terrifyingly close.

Every star was visible at noon, their shimmering light pulling the firmament downward as if to crush the earth.

The sky was falling.

Three figures stood atop the high platform.

One was a handsome young man draped in exquisite water-cloud silk robes, his hair stark white despite his youthful appearance.

Another was an elder with the face of a child—though they looked like grandfather and grandson, both were actually Dharma Body experts.

The last was the wandering disciple of the Yantian Sect, her eyes filled with increasingly obscure intersecting lines, much like the astrolabe before her.

At this moment, all three gazed at the sky, their expressions grave.

"What in the world is that kid comprehending?" the child-faced elder muttered, squinting.

They had only appeared because the sword marks vanished, intending to investigate Ying Bing.

Yet now, after her, such a bizarre phenomenon had emerged.

The white-haired youth shook his head.

"No idea. But... it’s definitely not a sword technique."

Before they could exchange more words—

Splat!

A mouthful of pale golden blood sprayed out, and the jade astrolabe clattered to the ground, rolling several times.

"Ah... she’s vomiting blood again."

"Sometimes I want to advise the Yantian Sect to learn a few blood-refining martial arts..."

The two Dharma Body experts were unfazed—this was a routine occurrence.

With a casual wave, they summoned a chair to catch the woman before she collapsed.

Vomiting blood at the drop of a hat? A classic Yantian Sect tradition.

BOOM—

Before the spectacle of the star-dragged sky could fade—

The earth suddenly quaked violently.

The two Dharma Body experts exchanged a glance, horror flashing in their eyes.

Again?!

We told you to comprehend the stone, not dismantle the city!

With resigned sighs, one vanished into the skies above the Sword City while the other plunged into the depths of the earth’s veins.

Both unleashed their Dharma Bodies, their self-contained inner realms propping up the collapsing heavens and earth around Hengyun Sword City.

The panicked crowd finally calmed.

...

Meanwhile, within the mental space where Li Mo’s consciousness touched the mystic stone—

The turmoil here dwarfed the outside world’s chaos.

"Sky-Overturning Style..."

In a daze, Li Mo realized this was the incomplete technique he had grasped.

Its momentum was clearly unfinished.

Yet his consciousness was already wavering, on the verge of collapse.

Hurriedly, he visualized the Frozen Ascension Transcendence Diagram to stabilize his mind.

It worked—barely.

Though his consciousness didn’t shatter, his head throbbed as if pierced by needles.

Continuing his comprehension seemed nearly impossible.

"Good thing I saved some martial insights..."

Young Li had a good habit: keeping his dreams and reality separate.

He had stored away three centuries’ worth of martial insights for emergencies.

Now was the perfect time to use them!

[100 years of martial insights successfully infused!]

RUMBLE—

The vast land beneath the starry sea trembled.

Deep within the earth, a heartbeat-like pulse surged as countless vein-like ley lines contracted and swelled.

The primordial earth cracked, volcanoes erupted, and all life perished.

Heaven and earth alike plunged into annihilation, as though the world itself was dying.

The devastation grew unbearable—

Even for the one unraveling its secrets.

[100 years of martial insights exhausted. You have comprehended the second style.]

[When the Earth Awakens, Dragons and Serpents Rise!]

"Earth-Upheaving Style..."

After grasping this fragment of truth, Li Mo’s clarity slipped further.

A storm raged in his mental world.

Only the eager tremors from his Pangu’s Star-Shattering Hammer jolted him awake.

[200 years of martial insights successfully infused!]

Uncertain how much more he needed, he poured in everything he had.

The moment the insights merged—

Li Mo felt the world mute, colors draining away.

A lone figure appeared in the crumbling realm.

His wild black hair writhed like furious dragons. Though his frame was ordinary, he radiated the presence of a colossus holding up heaven and earth.

His face was indistinct.

"I can’t... I can’t see..."

As Li Mo’s thoughts blurred—

The figure raised his hammer.

And brought it down.

BOOM!

Turbid and pure energies clashed, merging into primordial chaos before being split apart by the hammer’s descent.

This strike sundered creation.

This strike overturned the cosmos.

[When Man Awakens, Heaven and Earth Reverse!]

[Martial insights exhausted. You have fully comprehended this hammer art’s true intent, completing its incomplete form.]

[Congratulations, Host. You have mastered The Heaven-Overturning, Earth-Upheaving, Humanity’s Killing Hammer!]

"The Heaven-Overturning, Earth-Upheaving, Humanity’s Killing Hammer!"

His flickering consciousness shattered completely the instant this thought formed.

Li Mo opened his eyes—

And found the elders of Hengyun Sword City surrounding him, staring as if he were a ghost.

"What’s wrong?"

Still dazed, he instinctively glanced at the mystic stone.

Then froze.

The once-smooth stone, freshly wiped clean of sword marks by Ying Bing, now bore a new imprint.

A hammer’s indentation sat squarely at its center, matching the shape of a certain treasured weapon.

It exuded an aura of world-splitting majesty, striking the mind like thunder upon sight!

Far more shocking than the sword marks it had once carried.

Li Mo: "?!"