All Nine Swords Defeated The Evil Blade Emerges

The Fifth Sword—Shattered!!!

But there was no time to dwell on the sorrow of its loss.

"The Sixth Sword! The Seventh Sword! Twin Blades Unite!!!"

Duan Jiujian's hair and beard bristled as he roared, summoning two more swords.

The two spirit swords instantly intertwined into a storm of annihilation.

The sheer force of the sword energy shook the battlefield below, sending tremors through the earth and mountains!

Su Muwan frowned, pausing for a brief moment in thought.

"Hmph."

"Now this is getting interesting."

She deliberately took half a step back, feigning intimidation.

Duan Jiujian's eyes sharpened.

As expected!

He would need to unleash his final three swords to match her strength!

"Domain Lord Su!! I have three swords left!! If you can withstand them all... I will willingly concede!!"

"Too much talk."

Su Muwan sneered, forming a single-handed seal.

Buzz—!!

Countless waves of frigid energy gathered behind her.

First, they condensed into over a dozen ice-moon rings, then the rings merged, spiraling together.

In mere moments—

They coalesced into a colossal glacial sword that spanned the heavens and earth!!!

Su Muwan soared into the sky, swinging the sword down with one hand.

[Absolute Frost—Divine Judgment]

At the same time—

Duan Jiujian slashed with his twin swords.

BOOM!!!

The next instant—

The glacial sword descended, and with a resounding CRACK—

The twin-blade storm lasted only half a second before being cleaved apart.

"Guh—!!"

Duan Jiujian vomited blood violently, sent flying thousands of feet back!

The spectators across the Great Thousand Worlds erupted into chaos.

[Holy shit! Seven swords, and Su Muwan is still dominating?!]

[Duan Jiujian, hang in there! I’ve bet my entire fortune on you!]

[No way! How can the Sovereign of Eastern Glory Heaven lose?! Go all out already!]

[Wait—look! Su Muwan isn’t unscathed either!! She’s... sweating!!]

All eyes turned to Su Muwan.

For the first time, her composed expression faltered after executing that strike.

She was... sweating!!

Duan Jiujian steadied himself, his aged face grave.

So... he would have to unleash the Eighth and Ninth Swords after all.

No—this wasn’t a choice.

He had to.

He wanted to see—was there truly someone who could defeat him at the same realm?

"Eighth Sword—Dao-Severing!"

This strike did not target the flesh—it severed the very foundation of one’s Dao!

The sword light was formless, yet it aimed straight for Su Muwan’s Frost Origin!

A Sovereign Realm expert could devour another’s origin to empower themselves!!

Su Muwan’s expression shifted slightly as she raised a hand to block.

Her Frost Origin surged forward, clashing against the Eighth Sword.

BOOM—!!

The shockwave sent her stumbling back another half-step.

Clutching her chest, she glanced at Duan Jiujian, now pale and weakened.

"Heh... not bad."

She smirked, summoning an ice sword into her grip. "Come on. Show me your Ninth Sword."

The Ninth Sword...

Duan Jiujian clutched his chest, his breath ragged. Only he knew the true state of his body.

Years ago, during the invasion of the Great Thousand Worlds by the Abominations, he had sustained lasting injuries while slaying their leader.

Thankfully, breaking through to the Sovereign Realm had extended his lifespan.

But...

Using eight swords had already drained his vitality to the brink.

If he unleashed the Ninth... he might...

Yet—

"NINTH SWORD—!!"

Duan Jiujian threw his head back and roared. His life had been dedicated to the path of the sword—this strike could not go unused!

As his voice echoed—

The remaining eight swords returned to their scabbards, then—

"NINE BLADES AS ONE—GODSLAYER!!!"

The nine swords merged into a single golden greatsword that pierced the heavens.

Its might was so overwhelming that even the distant spectators felt their hearts tremble.

Ling Long arched an eyebrow at the sight.

This sword...

Carried the faint aura of a Half-Step Eternal Realm.

Had three thousand years of accumulation brought Duan Jiujian’s swordsmanship to such heights?

"This sword once felled the Abomination’s leader—and has not been drawn in three millennia!!"

"Domain Lord Su—be warned!!"

Blood seeped from Duan Jiujian’s seven orifices as he swung the golden greatsword with all his might.

Su Muwan finally discarded her earlier mockery.

Her hair billowed without wind as her Frost Origin surged at full power.

Though she had yet to go all-out, she acknowledged one thing—

Her opponent was a true swordsman.

And so—

Su Muwan took a deep breath, dispersing her ice sword.

Then—

Buzz—!!

An overwhelming wave of frost erupted from her body. Her hair and eyes crystallized into pure ice.

[Absolute Frost Mode—Activated!!]

She raised a finger, pointing delicately.

Not a sword this time—

But a spear!!!

A glacial spear materialized.

Su Muwan’s voice was icy.

"Perish."

Precisely because he was a true swordsman—she would grant him death with her full strength.

BOOM—!!!

The two ultimate Sovereign Realm techniques collided.

The ice barrier isolating the battlefield shattered instantly.

A blinding white light swallowed everything.

Below—

Qin Luo, having finished his own cleanup, watched with a faint smirk.

The real opponent... was about to arrive.

Time crawled.

Smoke cleared.

Su Muwan hovered silently in the air.

Duan Jiujian’s figure gradually became visible—

Kneeling midair, his body wreathed in a mist of blood, his gaze vacant.

He was... on the verge of death.

Had he... lost?

Only now did the spectators across the Great Thousand Worlds realize—

The voting had been justified all along!

Su Muwan’s combat prowess was truly on par with the Eastern Glory Heaven Alliance!!

No wonder the Great Thousand Worlds had pinned these two forces against each other!

Just look—

Half-Step Sovereigns fell to Su Muwan in an instant.

Yet Duan Jiujian had forced her to go all-out.

This battle wasn’t about the rest of Eastern Glory Heaven—

It was about Su Muwan and Duan Jiujian alone!

The sheer intensity of this clash left the Eastern Glory Heaven bettors trembling with exhilaration and dread.

Truthfully, whether they were ascenders or natives of the Great Thousand Worlds—

They lived under constant tension.

The Great War loomed over them like an executioner’s blade.

Defeat meant annihilation.

And so, over time, they sought thrills wherever they could.

Games of chance, high-stakes wagers—these were their escapes.

Now, with half their fortunes on the line, they oscillated between terror and euphoria.

[Duan Jiujian!! WIN!!]

[Duan Jiujian! Don’t you dare lose!]

[Duan Jiujian! Our hopes rest on you!]

[Duan Jiujian!! GET UP!!]

Ling Long of the Ling Long Heavenly Domain shot to her feet.

Her eyes burned into the screen, fixed on Duan Jiujian’s battered form.

Duan Jiujian... defeated?

No! He couldn’t fall now!

Would the Ling Long Heavenly Domain’s thirty-thousand-year destiny... end like this?!

Get up! Fight to the death!!

Meanwhile—

Duan Jiujian’s mind wandered.

He remembered his first time holding a sword—the joy it brought.

His first victory in a duel—the exhilaration.

And...

The future where he stood atop the pinnacle of the sword path...

From across the void, countless threads of faith surged toward him.

"I..."

Duan Jiujian's voice came out hoarse.

Su Muwan furrowed her brows, feeling utterly exasperated.

Seriously?

Not another protagonist power-up moment, right?

"Young Mistress."

At that moment, Qin Luo floated up as well, standing beside her. He leaned in with a faint smile and said, "Young Mistress, as expected of you—you’ve forced him into his second phase."

"??"

Su Muwan blinked. "What do you mean? Is he really about to power up?"

"Something even worse than a power-up."

"What’s it called?"

"A mutation."

"??"

Before Su Muwan could respond—

"I... cannot lose."

Duan Jiujian’s voice twisted unnaturally, no longer human.

Instead, it was the screeching of countless blades grinding against each other.

His body began to crack apart, his skin peeling away like rusted scabbards, revealing a form entirely composed of swords beneath.

Crimson mist churned within him—every inch of flesh had morphed into writhing blades, his bones warped into sword spines, his veins spreading like engraved patterns on steel.

His head split open, replaced by a towering crimson longsword standing vertically in its place.

Embedded in the hilt was a murky, unblinking eye, fixed unwaveringly on Su Muwan.

"The sword... is me..."

"I... am the sword..."

Nine corrupted spirit swords hovered behind him, their forms no longer whole.

Instead, they squirmed and multiplied like living things, their edges splitting open into jagged, fanged maws dripping with pus that corroded the void itself.

Before the observation screens across the Great Thousand Worlds, countless cultivators shuddered in horror.

This was unmistakable.

Anyone who had witnessed—or even heard of—that ancient war would never forget.

This was...

The Tianji Sacred Domain.

Tianjizi stared fixedly at the screen displaying Duan Jiujian. "An abomination... the Sword Abomination?!"

To think... it had reappeared?!

Behind him, a disciple paled. "Master... Senior Duan has turned into an abomination?!"

Tianjizi took a deep breath, his tone grave. "Indeed. But there’s good news..."

"What is it?"

"Our Tianji Sacred Domain’s all-in gamble of a hundred thousand years of fortune might still be salvageable."

Disciple: ??