To restore peace to the people of Anyang, I, Su Ji, would willingly shorten my lifespan by a thousand years

Su Ji paid no heed to Lord Anyang's startled shriek.

He merely raised his hand slowly.

The Yinfeng Sword let out a cheerful hum, its blade trembling lightly.

It was like a rented wife who had been stuck with an impotent tenant; having been left unsatisfied for so long, she had finally encountered the sweet rain of relief.

Lord Anyang shuddered violently, instinctively taking half a step back.

He was afraid.

He smelled the scent of true death emanating from Su Ji's body.

"Kill him! Kill him for me!"

Lord Anyang screamed like a madman, desperately spurring on the city full of black thralls.

Above the plaza, black water surged.

Monsters—more numerous, massive, and terrifying in aura than before—drilled out of the ground. Like a black tsunami, they swept toward Su Ji once again.

However, this time, Su Ji did not remain on the defensive.

His figure moved.

A beam of azure sword light suddenly illuminated the dim world.

That newborn power roared and surged within his body; having accumulated for so long, once released, it was unstoppable.

Wherever the sword light reached, ripples undulated through space itself.

Those black water monsters, baring fangs and brandishing claws as they pounced before him, did not even have time to let out a mournful wail. They were instantly vibrated into nothingness by the violent wave of energy, leaving not even a single drop of black water behind.

In just the snap of a finger, a large swath of that arrogant tide of monsters was forcibly wiped out.

In the dim space between heaven and earth, Su Ji's figure was revealed once more.

He stood exactly where he had been, arms spread wide, his robes fluttering without wind. Within his dark golden pupils, there was not a ripple of emotion.

On the high platform, the wild joy on Lord Anyang's face had long since solidified, replaced by a look of terror, as if he had seen a ghost.

...

Meanwhile, in the streets and alleys of Anyang City.

The commoners who had luckily escaped the plaza were crying and screaming, rushing toward the city gates like madmen.

They ran with all their might, as if malicious ghosts were chasing them from behind.

The hope of survival was right before their eyes.

However, when the first person rushed to the foot of the gate and reached out to push the heavy doors, he slammed headfirst into an invisible wall, bouncing back with blood streaming from his head.

Subsequently, others refused to believe in this evil and tried several times.

Without exception, no one could pass through the city gate.

A thought that drove everyone to despair emerged...

"We can't get out!"

"We are trapped to death!"

The hope that had just risen was ruthlessly crushed in this instant.

From great ups to great downs, from great sorrow to great joy.

And now, they turned to an even deeper despair.

Some elderly people, unable to withstand such stimulation, rolled their eyes back and fainted on the spot.

There were also those who refused to give up. They pounded against the invisible barrier, ramming it with their bodies until they were exhausted and their hands were dripping with blood, yet the barrier remained motionless.

Of course, not everyone chose to flee.

Some merchants who had taken root in Anyang City for decades looked at their life's blood—those shops, those family assets—with endless struggle and reluctance on their faces.

If they left this place, they would have nothing.

How was that any different from killing them?

Whether fleeing or staying, after a brief period of chaos, everyone stopped their movements.

By coincidence or unspoken agreement, they all turned around and cast their gazes toward the direction of the city center plaza.

That was their only hope.

"Immortal Master..."

"The Immortal Master must win..."

"Heavens protect us..."

"Heavens protect the Immortal Master..."

An old woman knelt on the ground, palms pressed together, praying with all her might toward the plaza.

Her voice seemed to carry a strange, infectious power.

More and more people knelt down.

They no longer cried, they no longer fled. They simply used the most pious posture to entrust their final hope to the Sword Immortal who had arrived riding the wind.

...

Su Ji felt the surging, majestic power within his body and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

He raised his head, his dark golden pupils piercing through layers of obstruction to finally land on the terrified figure atop the high platform.

Lord Anyang also knew that he had reached the point where he must play his final trump card.

"Haa... Haa..."

Meaningless rasps escaped his throat as two clumps of pitch-black, viscous filth slowly flowed out from his seven orifices.

The two clumps of filth landed on the ground, squirming and rolling, until they finally coalesced into two human shapes before him.

They were the two from the Puppet Heaven Sacred Land.

Now, their faces were pale and green, their eyes hollow. There was no longer any aura of the living on them; only those signature Sacred Land robes remained to prove their former identities.

Come to think of it, wasn't it somewhat ironic?

They had played with puppets all their lives, only to end up being made into new puppets themselves.

But it had to be admitted that the strength of these two puppets was far beyond that of the black water monsters from before.

The man from the Puppet Heaven Sacred Land mechanically turned his neck and pulled open the giant coffin on his back.

The white jade woman drifted out, hovering quietly by his side.

Immediately after, a incredibly stiff smile pulled across the man's dead face, and he spoke in a dry, hoarse voice that sounded like sandpaper rubbing together.

"I have found you to be an eyesore for a long time, kid."

Su Ji raised an eyebrow.

This guy actually retained a portion of his consciousness?

"Likewise."

Su Ji's response was concise.

On the other side, the woman named Li Xi stood quietly in place, not saying a word.

Su Ji's gaze fell upon her, discovering that the familiar options above her head were actually still stuck there, swaying slightly with her movements.

This made him unable to figure out for a moment whether she was dead or not.

However...

This was perfect.

Originally, winning might have been a bit difficult.

After all, his cultivation of the Golden Core Late Stage was not supported by a true Golden Core.

It was hollow and insubstantial.

But since you insisted on summoning Li Xi.

Then things were about to get interesting.

A Golden Core Late Stage cultivation combined with the Sacrificial Sword strike from the "Yinfeng" sword...

Looking across the entire Great Xia, who would dare say they could catch this sword strike?

Thinking of this, the corners of Su Ji's mouth uncontrollably curled upward slightly.

Thus, under Lord Anyang's bewildered and uncertain gaze.

Su Ji said something inexplicable.

"I really didn't turn on hacks!"

The next moment.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of commoners in the city.

Su Ji's body slowly floated upward.

The ground beneath his feet seemed to lose its gravity as he hovered in thin air, rising continuously.

One zhang, three zhang, ten zhang...

Until he was level with the high platform.

Finally, he was higher than Lord Anyang.

He, Su Ji, had a bad habit: he didn't like craning his neck to look at others.

The Golden Core Late Stage spiritual energy within Su Ji's body was no longer held back in the slightest; it swept out crazily like a dam-breaking flood.

Hundreds of azure sword edges condensed from spiritual energy instantly surged out of his body, hovering in mid-air and rotating madly around him.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz—"

In the air, a dense, tooth-aching sound of sword resonance rang out.

More and more sword edges gathered around Su Ji.

A hundred, a thousand, ten thousand!

In less than the span of ten breaths, over ten thousand sword blades glinting with a chilling coldness had gathered behind him, their numbers multiplying at a terrifying speed.

The scene resembled an azure storm composed of swords, blotting out the sky and obscuring the sun.

Atop the high platform, Lord Anyang watched with his jaw agape, his mind reeling from the shock.

What kind of terrifying technique was this?

Was this truly a method a cultivator was capable of unleashing?

However, Su Ji's subsequent actions left him feeling even more baffled.

Su Ji took a deep breath and infused his spiritual energy into his voice. It rolled out like thunder, resonating through the entire city of Anyang.

"To restore peace to the people of Anyang, I, Su Ji, am willing to sacrifice a thousand years of my lifespan!"

His voice boomed like a great bell, his tone imbued with a tragic determination that allowed no turning back.

"Today, I shall slay this evil!"

As these words fell, the commoners in the city, who had been kneeling in prayer, looked up. Seeing such a spectacle, how could they not realize that the scales of victory had tipped in their favor?

The crowd instantly erupted.

They did not know the limits of an Immortal's lifespan...

But a thousand years...

Surely, such a sacrifice would inflict grievous damage to his vitality...

To think he would go to such lengths for a group of mortals he had never met...

It was unclear who took the lead, but soon, people began to prostrate themselves toward Su Ji's lofty figure.

"Immortal Master!"

"The Immortal Master is merciful!"

Countless people, their eyes brimming with hot tears, used every ounce of their strength to kowtow in Su Ji's direction.

In their eyes, Su Ji's figure at this moment was no different from the legendary gods and buddhas who delivered the world from suffering.

Su Ji himself, however, turned a deaf ear to the tsunami of gratitude roaring from below.

He merely secretly split off a thread of his divine sense to observe the commoners bowing to him behind his back.

The corners of his mouth could not help but creep upward.

Who cares if it was an act?

Just ask yourself: did I save them or not?

He, Su Ji, was worthy of this praise.