I shall go to the crossroads of the underworld to warm the wine, awaiting our shared drink...

Atop the high platform, Lord Anyang’s face was so gloomy it looked as if water could be wrung from it.

He stared with a deathly gaze at the figure suspended in mid-air, clustered around by thousands of sword edges.

The expression in his eyes was gradually replaced by a venomous spite.

"Mere posturing!"

He roared.

"Do you think my two late-stage Golden Core cultivators and a city full of dark thralls cannot defeat you alone?"

He thrust both hands violently forward.

The two puppets, refined from the bodies of Holy Land disciples, received their command. Their hollow eyes suddenly flared with a crimson glow.

The male puppet struck first.

The white jade female puppet behind him drifted forth; moving in tacit coordination, they split left and right, transforming into two streaks of light that converged on Su Ji in a pincer attack.

Upon seeing this, Su Ji showed not a trace of panic.

He did not even move a muscle; he simply shifted his intent.

The storm of sword qi behind him, which blotted out the sky, split into two torrents. Like two azure dragons in a rage, they roared as they surged forward to meet the attackers.

"BOOM—!"

A deafening explosion resounded through the clouds.

Violent shockwaves rippled outward, shaking the buildings surrounding the plaza until they hummed and trembled.

The male puppet and his white jade counterpart were forcibly halted in mid-air by the torrents of sword wind, unable to advance a single inch.

The supposedly indestructible spiritual light barriers protecting the puppets rippled violently under the relentless barrage of countless blades, looking as though they would shatter at any moment.

Lord Anyang’s pupils constricted once more upon seeing this.

To think his attack had been blocked so effortlessly?

"What are you waiting for?!"

Lord Anyang let out a desperate, exasperated roar, pinning his final hope on the other puppet.

The female puppet refined from Li Xi received the command. Her figure flickered, vanishing silently from her spot.

In the next instant, she appeared like a phantom in mid-air.

Her fingers hooked into claws, carrying a chilling aura of death as she struck directly at Su Ji.

Su Ji did not hesitate for a moment.

A vast and desolate will descended upon the world.

"With your puny life, I make an offering to my Supreme Sword Dao."

The voice seemed to come from the highest heavens, yet also resonated within the depths of everyone's heart.

The male puppet, still entangled with the torrent of blades, suddenly froze. A trace of very human fear emerged in its hollow eyes.

Atop the high platform, Lord Anyang did not understand what was happening.

Yet his body stiffened instinctively, a chill shooting from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.

Behind Su Ji, the azure storm comprised of over ten thousand blades came to an abrupt halt.

Then.

With inconceivable speed, every single blade began to converge toward the ancient sword at the center—the sword known as "Singing Wind."

Ten Thousand Swords Unite as One!

"Hum—"

A sword resonance capable of tearing through the soul rang out across the sky.

The azure radiance reached its zenith in that moment.

It was so blinding that everyone subconsciously closed their eyes.

When the light faded.

Only a single sword remained in mid-air.

It was an ancient azure blade, wreathed in chaotic currents of wind.

It hovered there in silence.

Gone was the earth-shattering presence of the myriad blades from before.

Yet, it caused a shudder to rise from the depths of the hearts of all who looked upon it.

It was not merely a sword.

It was "The End" itself.

Death is the ultimate destination of all things in this world.

Su Ji slowly raised his hand and grasped the hilt.

A sense of exhilaration surged through him.

Su Ji did not know why others practiced cultivation.

If it was merely to pursue eternal life, the end of that road would surely be too lonely.

For him, this was what he pursued.

To display his sanctity before the masses, to have the entire city worship him.

With a beauty by his side and a perfect view.

If it was vulgar, then let it be vulgar.

He never claimed to have any lofty ideals, did he?

The Singing Wind sword rejoiced.

Su Ji’s dark golden pupils calmly regarded Li Xi, who was treading upon the air.

Yet, she could no longer advance a fraction of an inch.

An invisible force had locked onto her completely.

Su Ji wasted no words.

He simply raised his sword.

And swung.

There was no earth-shattering boom.

There were no shockwaves to destroy the heavens and raze the earth.

There was only an azure gleam of sword light, impossibly fast, flashing by in an instant.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

Between heaven and earth, only that azure trajectory remained.

Lord Anyang’s eyes widened as he watched helplessly while the azure light pierced through Li Xi’s chest.

Is it over?

The thought had barely flashed through his mind.

"Squelch—"

A soft sound.

A sword wound appeared on Li Xi's chest, passing clean through her body.

Immediately after, centering on the wound, fine cracks spread rapidly like a spiderweb.

"Crack... Crack..."

Crisp sounds of fracturing rang out in rapid succession.

Under Lord Anyang’s horrified gaze.

Li Xi’s body disintegrated inch by inch, turning into fine powder that scattered with the wind.

Body and soul, both extinguished.

No.

Not even a trace of her existence remained.

Such was the terror of this single strike!

Yet, this was not the end.

The azure sword light, which seemed to have exhausted its power after slaying Li Xi, did not dissipate.

Like a drop of ink falling into a still lake, it silently sent out a visible ripple.

Wherever the ripple passed, absolute silence reigned.

The man from the Puppet Heaven Holy Land, who had been fighting madly against the torrent of blades, suddenly froze.

The beautiful white jade puppet beside him lost his control and suddenly embraced him.

Then, the ripple of sword qi swept over her.

The spiritual light barrier on her body, strong enough to withstand the onslaught of a Golden Core cultivator, shattered silently like a fragile bubble without making a sound.

Next was her body, carved from thousand-year-old white jade.

A tiny crack appeared on her smooth arm, and in an instant, spiderweb fractures covered her entire form.

"Crack—"

A soft sound.

"Brother, I will go to the entrance of the Yellow Springs to warm the wine and wait for you to drink with me..."

The white jade puppet dissolved into a shower of crystalline powder, drifting down from the sky.

The crimson savagery in the eyes of the man from the Puppet Heaven Holy Land was replaced in that moment by pure regret...

The path of cultivation...

He had walked it for too long...

So long that he had forgotten why he had set out in the first place...

In the beginning, it was clearly just so that he and his sister would no longer be bullied...

Later, in the pursuit of greater strength, he had refined his own sister into a puppet with his own hands...

At the time, he had been complacent; with a puppet that shared his bloodline, how could his fellow disciples ever compete with him?

In the end, he had risen above the rest, just as he wished...

He reached out, trying to grasp the drifting powder.

He opened his mouth, wanting to utter a final sound.

But the sound never left his throat.

His body followed the fate of the white jade puppet.

From head to toe, he disintegrated inch by inch, turning into flying ash.

The ripple continued to spread.

The tide of blackwater monsters, which Lord Anyang had painstakingly cultivated by devouring countless living souls, melted away like snow under the blazing sun the instant the ripple touched them.

There were no screams, no struggles.

Thousands upon thousands of hideous monsters were simply erased from the world in total silence.

In merely the snap of a finger.

The hellish scene of dancing demons was gone.

All that remained was a scene of devastation, and atop the high platform, that utterly stupefied figure.