Chapter 128: The Fall of the Azure Sect

“Not good! Scatter and flee!” Qingfeng shouted, shooting off in one direction. He was so fast that he seemed like a streak of light, an arrow of lightning.

The three men accompanying Xiyu were not slow either. They fled in directions opposite to Qingfeng, splitting into four paths as they raced into the distance.

“You will not escape.” Bihan’s face remained utterly expressionless as he spoke those words in a calm voice. At once, countless threads began to spread from his palm.

They formed something like a vast net, and in the blink of an eye, the web caught up with the four men and enveloped them.

“Wind Moves Across the Nine Provinces!”

In desperation, Qingfeng let out a furious roar. The true energy within him surged forth without restraint, and azure currents transformed into countless vortices that swept across the sky.

At the same time, the other three each unleashed their strongest techniques, hoping to withstand Bihan’s attack and create a slim chance of escape.

But everything was futile. The difference between them and Bihan was no smaller than the gap between Long Yun and themselves—a chasm that could never be crossed.

The luminous web Bihan had created left no opening. It pierced through the radiance of their techniques, infiltrated their attacks, and forcibly dismantled all four of them.

A moment later, the four men felt their entire bodies tighten. The web had already fallen over them, and no matter how desperately they struggled, they could not move it even slightly. Their faces went pale with terror.

Long Yun narrowed his eyes. Even when he had still been in the Metamorphosis realm, he had already sensed Bihan’s strength. But now, it seemed that he had still underestimated him.

Bihan’s cultivation was likely no weaker than Zhong Xuan’s. Long Yun could not imagine what realm the man had actually reached.

Above the Innate realm were four major realms: the Yin-Yang realm, the Profound Connection realm, the Heavenly Grotto realm, and the Void Transformation realm. As for what lay beyond those four realms, Long Yun knew nothing.

There were said to be other realms as well, but they were beyond his understanding. Perhaps only the powerhouses of the eight supreme sects of the Central Province possessed strength at that level.

Each of these four major realms was divided into the early, middle, late, and perfected stages. The difference between each stage was equivalent to the gap between two successive realms among the eight levels of the Innate realm.

The Azure Sect’s Master, Feng Wuji, and Xu Xian were both at the middle stage of the Yin-Yang realm, while Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning were at the late stage. They were only half a step away from reaching the perfected Yin-Yang realm.

Yet Bihan had captured all four of them in the space of a finger snap. His cultivation was likely at least at the Void Transformation realm—perhaps even beyond it.

No wonder he had blamed Long Yun the moment he appeared. With such an enormous disparity in strength, it truly was beneath him to take action personally. Thinking of this, Long Yun was filled with regret. He had wasted such a precious opportunity for nothing.

“Senior, please spare us!” Bound from head to toe, Qingfeng could now truly feel Bihan’s overwhelming power. He was completely unable to move or resist, leaving him no choice but to beg for mercy.

“He said that you were to be killed. Therefore—”

Bihan gave a faint smile. True energy passed through his palm, and Feng, Yu, Lei, and Dian exploded almost simultaneously into clouds of blood. Not the slightest trace of them remained.

Seeing four late-stage Yin-Yang experts killed in the space of a finger snap, Feng Wuji’s heart trembled violently. Though he had held the four men’s previous actions in utter contempt and felt little grief at their deaths, he regretted revealing that secret and summoning such a terrifying expert, thereby cutting off every possible path of survival.

Feng Wuji did not consider any other possibility. He assumed that Bihan, too, had come from the Reincarnation Space within the Reincarnation Mirror. Thus, a sorrow deeper than death itself rose from the depths of his heart.

“Long Yun, I have done what needed to be done. If there is nothing else, I am going back to sleep. Do whatever you must. No one else will come to disturb you.”

Bihan let out a low laugh.

Before Long Yun could thank him, his figure gradually faded away. He had come swiftly and departed just as swiftly, revealing only a glimpse of his formidable power—enough to intimidate everyone present.

Long Yun’s gaze was remarkably calm. There were now only a little more than thirty Fusion of Power experts at his side, but that was still sufficient to deal with the people of the Azure Sect.

A cold glint flashed through his eyes. Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning had killed more than a dozen of his subordinates, and he would naturally settle that debt with Feng Wuji. If Feng Wuji had not exposed the secret of the Reincarnation Mirror, the four men would never have attacked.

With that thought, Long Yun swept out his hand and said coldly, “Kill!”

All the experts surged forward at once, charging toward the terrified warriors of the Azure Sect.

For a time, cries of agony rose one after another. Fierce collisions and brutal slaughter left every sect present dumbstruck. At some unknown point, however, Hua Chengfeng, Master of the Huaying Sect, had already led his people away in secret.

That day would be recorded forever in the annals of the Azure Mountain region. Every disciple and elder of the Azure Sect, including Feng Wuji, died in battle. Not a single one survived.

In truth, there had been no shortage of people among them who lacked arrogance and had knelt to beg for mercy. But Long Yun had not given them the slightest chance.

He had never been a merciful man. The Dragon Island had forged his decisive nature: when cutting down the grass, one had to remove the roots as well.

After the complete destruction of the Azure Sect, Long Yun once led his people to the Huaying Sect. The Huaying Sect had unquestionably been the Azure Sect’s hound, and with the Azure Sect destroyed, there was no reason for the Huaying Sect to remain.

What surprised Long Yun was that by the time he arrived, the Huaying Sect’s experts had already left. Hua Chengfeng and the other powerhouses had all vanished without explanation.

Long Yun frowned slightly. Allowing the Huaying Sect to escape was hardly a wise choice. Although the Jade Sword Sect had overthrown the Azure Sect, everything still needed to be rebuilt, and the sect required time to stabilize.

If the former experts of the Azure Sect emerged at such a moment, it would be disastrous news for the Jade Sword Sect.

But matters had already come to this point, and there was nothing else he could do.

The Jade Sword Sect took the Azure Sect’s place. Long Yun also deliberately summoned fifty Fusion of Power experts, making them the sect’s central force rather than sending them back into the Reincarnation Space.

The Jade Sword Sect did not occupy the Azure Sect’s former mountain gate. The Yin-Yang Spring had been corrupted by demonic energy, and when the calamity occurred, the branch of the spiritual vein had changed as well.

The spiritual vein beneath the Azure Sect had vanished completely. It had been the foundation of the sect, and its disappearance meant that the Azure Sect would never exist again. It had lost even the chance to rise once more.

By contrast, the mountain range where the Jade Sword Sect stood was crossed by the largest spiritual vein of all. The concentration of spiritual energy was several times greater than before, which greatly delighted the elders of the Jade Sword Sect.

Since the Jade Sword Sect had replaced the Azure Sect, it was bound to recruit a large number of disciples. After Shangguan Yu discussed the matter with the other five Seal-Holding Elders, the Jade Sword Sect was expanded once again.

More than ten surrounding peaks were incorporated into the sect and assigned among the five major branches. The fifty Fusion of Power experts brought by Long Yun were also distributed evenly among those branches.

They would ordinarily instruct the disciples in their cultivation. From the moment the expansion of the Jade Sword Sect began, its mountain gate had been trampled by the righteous sects of the Azure Mountain region. The Jade Sword Sect had now become the undisputed leader of the region.

Its strength surpassed that of the former Azure Sect, and the various sects declared their loyalty one after another, leaving the elders of the Jade Sword Sect exceedingly busy.

After this battle, the Jade Sword Sect’s prestige increased tenfold, even a hundredfold. Many talented youths came from far and wide, drawn by its fame, and were selected by the various branches to be nurtured as future disciples.

For a time, the Jade Sword Sect flourished beyond all measure.

This continued for nearly two months before things gradually settled down. During those two months, Long Yun completely stabilized his cultivation, and he could faintly sense that another breakthrough was approaching.

His nine apertures had now all vanished, but every pore throughout his body had become an acupoint. With every breath, endless spiritual energy poured into him through his body, making his cultivation speed far greater than before.

The Heart Sword branch became the most popular branch of the Jade Sword Sect, and its number of disciples increased day by day. As the Seal-Holding Elder of the Heart Sword branch, Long Yun naturally had no shortage of work. Fortunately, more than a dozen fellow disciples helped him, saving him considerable effort.

On this day, Long Yun was instructing several disciples in their cultivation when a figure suddenly rushed over at high speed. Before he had even drawn near, he shouted in alarm, “Long Yun, something terrible has happened! Junior Brother Xiao Leng has disappeared!”