A Sliver of Hope Remains, the Great Army Descends
A Sliver of Hope Remains, the Great Army Descends
“The celestial phenomena have changed again. It seems the Otherworldly Sky Demons attacking this time will be even more terrifying.”
“I wonder if we can still hold them off.”
“We can only pray that hope appears.”
At the center of the Profound Sword World, within an extremely magnificent and towering pavilion, many incomparably powerful figures stood gathered.
Surrounding these figures were numerous altars.
The altars were built from Wondrous Stones of various colors, flowing with divine radiance, divine glows interweaving. On the stone walls to the side, quite a few blurry stone carvings were engraved.
Though blurry, they could still be made out clearly—they were left behind by the ancient ancestors when they resisted the Otherworldly Sky Demons.
Such records were very few. Especially since millions of years had passed, only a scant few words could be found, utterly unable to recreate the tragic heroism of that time.
For them to find a solution from these was an impossible task.
“Are we really just going to sit and wait for death, waiting for the day we fall and are destroyed?”
Someone among these figures spoke, their gaze calm, yet containing a terrifying will like wind and thunder.
“Until the final moment, who can say for certain?” Another figure spoke. Her voice was gentle, her figure graceful, though she wore a mask over her face, revealing only clear, cold eyes.
“What the Snow Sword Immortal says is also reasonable. Until the final moment, who can say for certain? After all, judging from this divination, there is still a sliver of light.”
A trembling white-haired old man spoke. He wore a simple, plain Daoist robe, his hair tied in a bun, and in his hand he held a wooden sword, looking as though a gust of wind could blow him away. Yet no one present dared to underestimate him.
In the Profound Sword World, there was a saying: all the Sword Immortals under heaven come from the Shu Sect.
And the white-haired old man before them was precisely an Old Sword Immortal of the Shu Sect. Years ago, in the depths of the boundless ocean, he had slain an Earth Sword Immortal Realm beast with a single strike, shocking all Thirteen States.
Though his vitality and blood had now declined, his strength was still extremely formidable, unfathomable.
“The few fellow Daoists who went to eradicate the source of the calamity have not returned, and there has been no word from them at all. It seems their fate is grim. We must still prepare to fight those Otherworldly Sky Demons to the death.”
Another person spoke. His face was rugged, with an extremely conspicuous scar, but within his eyes one could see threads of sword light circulating, making others afraid to look directly at him.
Without a doubt, this group of people were the only remaining Earth Sword Immortals in the Profound Sword World today, standing at the very peak.
Although there were still some Earth Sword Immortals hidden too deeply who had never shown themselves, their numbers would not be many either.
It could be said that they were the Profound Sword World’s last hope and strongest fighting force.
Though the other sword cultivators were numerous, they still could not play a decisive role in determining victory or defeat. If the final great battle erupted, hope would still have to be placed upon these people.
“According to what this divination shows, in this time of crisis, someone will step forward and turn the tide. But just who will that person be?”
The Old Sword Immortal of the Shu Sect murmured, his gaze falling upon the altar.
This was an altar left behind by the ancient ancestors. It contained the undying will of heroic spirits, and at critical moments it could have miraculous uses.
Now they used this altar to divine, wanting to glimpse the road ahead. The result they obtained was that though the road ahead was bleak, it contained a faint glimmer of light.
This faint glimmer of light had also become the conviction that kept them going.
“Summon the great army. First gather at the battlefield. I feel that heaven and earth’s suppression of those Otherworldly Sky Demons is gradually weakening.”
“The strongest among them will very likely take this opportunity to descend from the Outer Territory.” The Old Sword Immortal sighed, then his figure drifted lightly, transforming into a breeze as he left this place.
The other experts were also extremely silent, leaving one after another. Only a few had flickering gazes, harboring other thoughts.
More than half a year ago, a terrifying rift stretching boundlessly across the sky suddenly appeared beyond the heavens. From that rift, an endless stream of Otherworldly Sky Demons descended, bringing them enormous calamity.
But the one fortunate thing was that the will of this world was resisting those Otherworldly Sky Demons, making it difficult for the powerful among them to descend upon the land. They could only watch all this coldly from beyond the domain.
If they erupted with overwhelming pressure and aura here, they would be suppressed by the world’s rules at the first instant.
They were very cautious, worried about accidents, so they had never descended in their true bodies.
And just at this moment, all living beings in the entire Profound Sword World felt an incomparably terrifying aura descending from beyond the heavens, as if an ancient azure sky was about to collapse down, as if the great will of a universe was crushing down, making one’s whole body feel like bursting, filling one with dread.
All living beings felt bone-chilling cold, trembling to the extreme, looking toward the sky beyond in terror.
“The great army of the Otherworldly Sky Demons has descended again, and it’s even more terrifying than before.”
A powerful figure rose into the sky, two terrifying divine beams shooting from his eyes, piercing through heaven and earth as he gazed beyond the domain, speaking with utmost gravity.
From every corner of the Thirteen States, boundless Sword Qi surged skyward, transforming into figure after figure, gazing at the scene beyond heaven and earth, their expressions heavy.
“Those are the Ancient Battleships of the Otherworldly Sky Demons, covered in figures, with even more people behind them.”
“The number of Otherworldly Sky Demons descending this time is unimaginable.”
One expert, enduring the pain of his body about to shatter, could not help but roar in a low voice, his voice filled with despair.
“Those who submit may be spared death.”
As everyone trembled, a divine sense vast as an abyssal sea swept over from beyond heaven and earth, carrying a cold intent, transmitting these words.
This fluctuation swept across tens of millions of miles, rolling in from an endless distance, chilling one to the bone, making one’s skin feel about to burst.
Ordinary Cultivators even bled from all seven orifices, their souls collapsing, utterly unable to withstand these aftershocks.
“Rest assured, our world is resisting them. They cannot descend right now.”
“Don’t be frightened by them.”
One expert roared, his eyes red, transmitting his words so that many of the surrounding beings who had nearly fallen unconscious awakened.
“Heh heh, truly a bunch of ants. If you obediently surrender, you can still live.”
Beyond the domain, enormous Ancient Battleships appeared one after another, exuding cold and bloody fluctuations.
A figure like a crimson divine phoenix emerged, its whole body bathed in monstrous divine flames, speaking coldly, its incomparably powerful aura sweeping across heaven and earth.
However, just as it was about to charge down toward the land below, crimson glows suddenly interwove between heaven and earth. Strands of rules and order transformed into heavenly blades, slashing toward it, blocking it.
It snorted coldly, understanding that this world was protecting the beings below, and could only give up.
Seeing this scene, the many experts of the Profound Sword World breathed long sighs of relief. When they had seen so many Ancient Battleships descending just now, their whole bodies had been drenched in cold sweat.
It was a despair-inducing sight, but fortunately those supreme beings feared the will of this world and dared not continue their attack.
“Kill!”
Subsequently, from the Ancient Battleships one after another, large numbers of knights and soldiers charged out, some riding fierce beasts, some steering magical artifacts, rushing toward the land below.
There, an enormous battlefield had already turned into scorched red earth.
Spatial fluctuations spread across the sky, ripples visible spreading out, as large numbers of Cultivators and beings from the Beyond descended and arrived.
Because this world had a terrifying will reviving that could resist the fluctuations of supreme beings, the leaders of the various orthodoxies and powers were all very cautious and did not descend in their true bodies.
Below, the battle was extremely brutal.
Endless beast-riding knights charged, their spear tips snow-bright, piercing into their opponents’ bodies, spraying strings of blood flowers, carrying corpses forward for great distances.
Further away, long sabers hacked down, furious roars shook the wilderness, saber light flashed like lightning, Sword Qi surged to the heavens, men shouted and horses neighed, blood flowed in rivers, corpses lay everywhere—the beings of two worlds were fighting a battle of life and death.
Not far away, ancient cities stood majestically.
But the city walls had already cracked, bloodstains everywhere. In the sky, powerful Cultivators activated ancient treasures, bombarding relentlessly.
Though the city walls glowed, they could not hold out. The protective light barrier had long since cracked, on the verge of being breached.
At the critical moment, a strand of Sword Qi descended from the sky, shaking hundreds of Cultivators into mincemeat. Several young sword cultivators appeared atop the city wall, divine swords in hand, like divine soldiers descending from heaven, slashing out incomparably powerful Sword Qi, sweeping away enemies in all directions.
“Are you going home first now?”
Not far from the city wall, looking at the young girl Ah Qing’s silent and complicated expression, Gu Changge had a faint, barely perceptible smile at the corner of his mouth as he spoke casually, strolling through this battlefield as if walking in a leisurely courtyard.
Behind him followed Ah Da. The three of them walked casually through this place, blood flowers blooming on both sides, furious roars shaking the sky, corpses strewn everywhere.
But everyone around them seemed to turn a blind eye to them. Even the Cultivators from the Beyond could not notice this scene.
“Mm, I want to go home first to see my mother.”
“She must be very worried about me running away from home.” Ah Qing finally came back to her senses from her silence and nodded.
The scenes before her made her feel dazed. It was clearly her own compatriots being slaughtered by the Cultivators of the Beyond, yet she felt as if she were detached from it all.
The last time she left the Profound Sword World, the war had not yet been this brutal.
She had never imagined that when she once again set foot on this familiar homeland, it would be under such circumstances.