The black and gold sword ki filled the entire region, reaching a thousand meters and enveloping Gu Qingyao and her pair of butterflies. They were besieged by the Imperealm Sword Formation. Worst of all, for them, the icy snow beneath their feet suddenly transformed into a stretch of ocean.
The two butterflies were Windshadow and Frostsnow Butterflies. The moment the Azure Oceanic Purgatory appeared, the Frostsnow Butterfly froze the ocean in the blink of an eye.
But when Lan Huang collided with the ice, it turned into water once more. The ocean then began transforming between ice and water.
Lightning started gathering in the sky and flames swept across the horizon. When the Sixpath Infernal Lotus came out, Ying Huo disappeared with the Infernal Haze and became an assassin on the battlefield.
A strange howling noise came from the wind, and it seemed to be coming from the Windshadow Butterfly flapping its wings. The noise produced by the butterfly flapping its wings was weird, almost like a lullaby. That was its ability, Dream Enchantment.
Many opponents had fallen asleep under this ability and died to Gu Qingyao’s sword. Gu Qingyao had a high position among the Dragonmight Faction, and she was one of the strongest chiefs who was proficient with illusions.
The ability had a limited effect on Ying Huo and the others. The Windshadow Butterfly wasn’t just executing its ability, but another ability that required it to work together with the Frostsnow Butterfly, the Shadowless Aroma.
A sea of flowers suddenly appeared in the snow, emanating a refreshing fragrance that made Tianming and the rest think of the fourth egg. The flowery fragrance could also make people feel sleepy, and it combined with Dream Enchantment to form a two-pronged attack.
Ying Huo, Lan Huang, and Meow Meow were affected by it. But Tianming had the Soul Tower, so he was immune to it. He executed the Ninesilver Astral Art, Nine Stardust. While he was gathering the Imperealm Sword Formation to deal with Gu Qingyao, the Three-Thousand Starfield attacked the Windshadow Butterfly.
The Three-Thousand Starfield shot a few hundred meters out like countless meteors and descended onto the Windshadow Butterfly as it was in the middle of executing its ability. What made Tianming smile was that a crimson bolt of lightning also shot over along with an arrow, piercing the Windshadow Butterfly’s eye.
A violent storm gathered before the Windshadow Butterfly and it blocked Tianming’s Three-Thousand Starfield with its wings, but it neglected Lin Xiaoxiao’s arrow!
The arrow drew blood. Gu Qingyao had never expected that it would be her lifebound beast shedding blood first. The Windshadow Butterfly cried out and began rolling around to remove the arrow. But it never thought that the lightning contained in the arrow would explode, destroying its compound eye.
“You’re courting death!” Gu Qingyao was furious and wanted to kill Lin Xiaoxiao. After all, how annoying was it to allow Lin Xiaoxiao to launch sneak attacks from the side?
But just as her sword appeared before Lin Xiaoxiao, a silhouette appeared in the middle and knocked it away. It was naturally Tianming who blocked that attack. Condensing countless sword ki from the Imperealm Sword Formation and the Grand-Orient Vortex, Tianming had appeared before Gu Qingyao in a flash.
“A piece of trash!” Gu Qingyao executed the Thirteen Blizzard Sword, and the power behind her sword was growing stronger and stronger. Snow began gathering on her sword, forming a splendid flower.
“Hey beauty, pay attention to your perky… butt!” Ying Huo suddenly appeared and purposely dragged his words out.
“Get lost!” Gu Qingyao changed targets and turned around to charge Yin Huo. However, she was still underestimating Tianming. Right at that moment, Tianming roared and infused his sword ki into the Grand-Orient Sword.
He combined three sword techniques into one—the Myriad-Demise Sword, Imperealm Sword Formation, and Shenxiao Sword Art’s fourth move. Gu Qingyao, who was going after Ying Huo, suddenly turned around with a sneer, “Bah… how wea—”
Her Frost Yang Sword was knocked out and plunged into the snow. The icy sword ki from the sword froze half of Tianming’s body. He couldn’t move, although he was still firmly holding the Grand-Orient Sword.
Then again, his Myriad-Demise Sword had also left half of Gu Qingyao’s body covered in blood. Time seemed to have frozen right at that moment, and the two of them reacted swiftly. Gu Qingyao slammed her palm at Tianming’s chest while Tianming executed the Ninenether Fiendgod Claw with his black arm.
The soul servant was in his left arm, and the eye in his palm opened up when the crimson claw image flashed past and shot into Gu Qingyao’s soul.
“Arggggh!!” Gu Qingyao screamed out.
Using his claw, Tianming tore Gu Qingyao’s arm from her body, which made her scream out in pain. She was dumbfounded, and couldn’t figure out how she had lost when she was holding the upper hand in this battle.
But the most lethal attack had come from the claw, which caught her by surprise. The profundities of a samsara-ranked battle art had far surpassed her understanding.
“Li—!” Gu Qingyao lost it when her arm was torn off. But just as she was about to block Tianming’s sword, a crimson bolt of lightning pierced her chest. An arrow exited through her back and plunged into the snow with lightning remnants flickering on it.
“Uhhh…” Gu Qingyao held her chest and looked at Tianming with a pale face. Lin Xiaoxiao was behind her, keeping her bow aimed at her. Gu Qingyao’s hand was trembling as she pointed at Tianming, “Y-y-y-you!”
“Are you still going on with the pretense?” Tianming asked.
“You... die….”
“Are you thinking that we won’t dare to kill you because we’re weak?” Tianming picked up the Frost Yang Sword from the ground.
“Tianming, Lin Xiaoxiao, the two of you will die a terrible death!” Gu Qingyao said with all of her strength as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her two lifebound beasts ran away, looking for help.
“Gu Qingyao, everyone in the world needs to be psychologically prepared to be killed when deciding to kill. This has nothing to do with good or evil, it just means that you’re incapable. The world is fair. Now, goodbye!” Tianming plunged the Frost Yang Sword into Gu Qingyao when he finished speaking.
Gu Qingyao widened her eyes before her head dropped down. She still remained in her kneeling posture on the ground. Her death brought Tianming’s conflict with the Dragonmight Faction onto a path of no return.
This place was no paradise. Tianming reunited with his lifebound beasts and besieged the two butterflies. Butterflies were gorgeous, but not so much when they were decapitated.
“Let’s go.” Tianming wiped the blood off his body.
Lin Xiaoxiao shook the snow off her body and followed behind Tianming.
……
The banquet in the Dragonmight Hall was already coming to an end. It was an extravagant night, and there was rubbish left everywhere on the ground. The wine brewed with spiritual herbs was strong, and many people were drunk with their cheeks flushed; they were strongly intoxicated.
Outside the hall where the snow and wind intersected, the singing and dancing resumed back in the hall.
“Come, let’s continue!” Xuanyuan Yufeng smiled and placed his arm over a gorgeous female deacon’s shoulder while his other hand was drinking with another stunning disciple.
“Haha, you’ll belong to me after finishing this cup,” Xuanyuan Yufeng smiled, which made everyone laugh together.
“Faction lord, you’re drunk,” the lady said anxiously.
“I’m not drunk. You’re drunk.” Xuanyuan Yufeng gave her a wink, and he asked, “My room tonight?”
“The sun will already be out soon,” said the lady.
“How can there possibly be any sun when it’s snowing?” Xuanyuan Yufeng said.
“Haha!” Everyone laughed when they heard what he said.
The lady felt helpless, and when she raised her head, she saw Gu Shaoyu standing behind Xuanyuan Yufeng, looking at her with a smile.
“It’s fine. We’re just here to recite poems tonight, and I’m a pure person. Don’t overthink it. We’re elegant people, and we’ll only interact with poems,” said Xuanyuan Yufeng.
“Yes, faction lord.”
“Haha!” Another burst of laughter sounded out.
The few hall lords were also surrounded by beautiful female disciples. “Faction lord, leave some for us!”
“You already have eight women. Can you even manage it?” They were all feeling happy today. The girls had their heads lowered and were occasionally looking outside; their lovers and boyfriends were still waiting in the snow, pacing back and forth as their lips turned purple.
“Hall Lord Gu!” Right at that moment, someone came in looking anxious.
“Get lost!” Gu Shaoyu said in a drunken tone.
“Hall Lord Gu, there’s a problem!”
“Wait here for me.” Gu Shaoyu said to the girls in his arms and stood up. He might be fat, but he was tall. Anyone who knew him would know that his figure was due to a unique body refining battle art he practiced, and he had a body of a beast.
Lifting the person who came in to disturb him off the ground, Gu Shaoyu threw him toward the corner and asked, “Speak! What is it?!"
“Chief Gu Qingyao was killed!” the person reported. He had seen the corpse and saw how terrible Gu Qingyao died.
“What?” Gu Shaoyu let out a long breath.
“She died a terrible death, and you must take revenge for her!”
“Did you see who did it?” Gu Shaoyu asked.
“No. She was already dead when I found her, and the murderer was nowhere to be seen. Hall Lord Gu, do we need to report this matter to the Judgement Hall?”
“No need. We’ll deal with it ourselves. We’re the Judgement Hall of the Human Branch,” said Gu Shaoyu.
“Understood.”
“Get lost!”
“Yes!”