World's No. 1 Swordsman-Chapter 563: How Dare You Use That Name?!

The metallic, piercing scraping echoed back and forth through the cluster of planet fragments. It seemed as though it could drill straight into a Dao Heart.

Wang Sheng and Lishang couldn't find where it was coming from or sense any other aura. However, their spiritual perception was screaming warnings at them that something extremely dangerous was in the region.

The Shadowless Shuttle hovered quietly in place as they exchanged a glance. Over the past two years on the road, they had developed a good understanding of each other. They immediately understood the simple conclusion that the other had reached: the array wasn't part of Lishang's homeland.

The scrapings of iron chains rang out near their ears more clearly. They could also hear the stiff and dry noises of things hitting each other.

Seemingly coming to a realization, Lishang said softly, "The Celestial Wind Sect's war slaves are here."

How was our location exposed? Wang Sheng questioned.

Only he, the sect master, and Lishang knew about their plan. Yao Xingzi wouldn't betray them. Even if he wanted the Xinghai Sect to join the Celestial Wind Sect, both Lishang and he were valuable to the Xinghai Sect.

Enough. This isn't the time to think about this.

"Break the array," Wang Sheng ordered.

He made the Shadowless Shuttle slowly retreat and hide itself once more. Afterward, he removed his Daoist robe, put on his immortal armor, tied up his long hair, and strapped the Dragon Sword to his back. Having already sensed the situation, the sword spirit voluntarily appeared as a small azure dragon that was one chi long. It slowly coiled and circled its owner.

Wang Sheng and the Dragon Sword had become one, causing his aura to slowly rise from the early stage to the middle stage of the True Immortal Realm.

With his left hand, he grabbed a bottle of alchemical pills from his ring and swallowed them. He then enveloped them in immortal power, preventing them from dissolving until he needed them. Right after, a small sword appeared between the fingertips of his right hand. A simple but deep and mysterious Dao Rhythm spread and enveloped him.

Lishang also took out several treasures. She slipped off her cloak and put on a golden half mask that covered her mouth, nose, and chin.

The two simultaneously gathered their qi and calmed their minds. Standing in the Shadowless Shuttle, they spread their immortal perception in all directions.

The region had a somewhat eerie atmosphere. Massive fragments of a ruined planet floated everywhere, telling ancient stories.

They could still hear iron chains relentlessly hitting each other and approaching the Shadowless Shuttle. Lishang's immortal perception first caught five shadows slowly closing in from all directions. Wang Sheng soon sensed them as well.

"Are those the Celestial Wind Sect's war slaves?"

"People say the Celestial Wind Sect was formed only a few thousand years after the great battle at the ancient battlefield. At the time, its sect master and two of its elders were not yet Heavenly Immortals. However, while they were searching for treasures in the area, they found many immortals at death's door. They turned them into war slaves, which catalyzed the rise of their sect."

Immortals at death's door? Could Heavenly Court immortals be among those war slaves?

Wang Sheng unknowingly clenched his left fist. In a deep tone, he instructed, "Let's attack the same point and see if we can break the array. On three."

"Alright." The aura around Lishang immediately began to surge, a sign that she was about to use her innate ability.

"One... Two... Three!"

The two rushed out of the shuttle, which was only dozens of meters from the barrier that had blocked them earlier. A sweep of golden light burst out first, and then a figure moved at very high speed through the air.

Lishang returned to her original form. Her golden serpentine tail swayed as golden light blazed around her, making her look like a deity from the Primal Era. With her gloves shining golden, she sent out twelve palm phantasms to the front one after another, each one stronger than the last.

The palm technique was extremely powerful. The first phantasm was equal to eighty percent of Lishang's power, while the third was already at her full power. Meanwhile, the twelfth had almost doubled the might of her ability. Moreover, the palm phantasms didn't have to slowly accelerate. They flew in one smooth flow at their top speed.

The targeted part of the barrier rippled, outlining it a little. Though Lishang's attack shattered many of the nearby planet fragments and made the barrier tremble, it couldn't even scratch the latter.

By the time the phantasms had passed, Wang Sheng had already appeared in front of Lishang. He flipped several times in the air, his afterimages trailing behind him like lotus petals. It looked as though he had scattered multiple sword phantasms in the sky, but in truth, he only commanded one sword.

Within his sword, a green, three-meter-wide lotus appeared and rotated slowly. Its petals gradually opened, firing a fully charged beam of sword radiance.

In that moment, heaven and earth seemed to flip. The light outshone the stars around them, making it seem as though the empty space had suddenly gained life. However, nothing but destruction came after it.

Life was destroyed as soon as it was created. When the Green Lotus Ultimate ended, only Wang Sheng's sword remained.

Ting~

The sharp ring echoed through the nearby vacuum, and the barrier rippled slightly. Light and shadow moved across it as if a gap were about to tear open.

At that moment, a thick arm appeared from outside the barrier. Its massive hand pressed down on the part that the sword radiance had hit, quickly stabilizing the barrier.

Wang Sheng fully digested the pills inside him. The small sword at his fingertips disappeared on its own and returned to him.

Outside the array, an extremely burly man showed himself. He was over two meters tall, and he donned a suit of rusty battle armor. Sticking out of his messy and unkempt hair were a pair of sharp, gray ears and sunken eyes. Though he wasn't ugly, he did look very intimidating.

Most striking of all was the large scar on his left cheek. Anyone who had seen it would have trouble forgetting it.

The large man slowly stepped forward and entered the array with ease. Only then did Wang Sheng notice his coldly glowing, sharp wolf claws. They were as strong as divine weapons.

Lishang's expression turned deeply serious. "This is bad."

She looked around and saw that the five shadowy figures had already surrounded them.

Wang Sheng fully agreed that they were in a bad spot. The person blocking their path was at, or at least close to, the late-stage Heavenly Immortal Realm. He was putting a lot of pressure on him.

At that moment, Wang Sheng remembered that the Celestial Wind Sect's banner had an azure dragon and an azure wolf.

The azure dragon was Long Aotian—a terrifyingly strong cultivator with a powerful true form. Now, the azure wolf was right in front of them.

Lishang looked at Wang Sheng, then asked, "What does the Celestial Wind Sect want from me, Elder Tan Lang? Considering people have been saying that you haven't fought in ten thousand years, I certainly didn't expect you to come all the way here just for me."

Instead of replying to her, the wolf fiend stared at Wang Sheng. In a deep tone, he remarked, "You're quite skilled with the sword. Sign a contract with the Celestial Wind Sect, and I'll allow you to cultivate with us."

His words reverberated right inside their ears.

The light in Lishang's eyes dimmed a little. Still, she firmly urged, "Accept his offer."

The only one the enemy wanted to recruit was Wang Sheng, which meant that they had already decided to kill her. Hence, all she could hope for right now was for at least one of them to survive.

Wang Sheng just smiled and calmly replied, "Don't worry, I'm hard to kill. I do have a question that I'd like the elder to answer."

The wolf fiend frowned slightly. He hated being further inconvenienced when he already had full control of the situation.

"Speak."

Wang Sheng's mind raced. The danger they were in was precisely the calamity that Yao Xingzi's divination had warned them about.

Still, a dangerous situation didn't necessarily mean certain death. Lishang was at his side, and the five war slaves around them only seemed to be True Immortals. If he could keep Tan Lang busy for a while, Lishang could quickly deal with the five war slaves. They could then fight Tan Lang together.

Tan Lang... Tan Lang?

He frowned slightly and looked the wolf fiend up and down. Making up his mind, he gathered the courage to ask, "What's your name, Elder?"

Assuming that Wang Sheng had already agreed to join them, the tall man's tone became softer. "Tan Lang."

"Do you know the meaning of your name?"

"Of course."

Wang Sheng nodded. He then suddenly pointed at the wolf fiend. "How dare you use that name?!"

Not only Tan Lang but even Lishang was shocked.

Before the fiend could reply, Wang Sheng quickly added, "You think you can just call yourself Tan Lang and claim to know what the name means?! How shameful! Tan Lang is the greatest general under Emperor Ziwei of the Heavenly Court!

He governs the Tianshu of the Big Dipper and is a Star Deity himself!

"He led three thousand warriors to fight in the Northern Sky Region and killed many foreign deities and devils! In contrast, you're just a wolf fiend who turned into a human. You only managed to reach the Heavenly Immortal Realm thanks to a battlefield that the war had left behind!

"You haven't even become a Golden Immortal yet or done anything for the Three Realms. What makes you think you can call yourself Tan Lang? You can't just use that name because you want to!"

The wolf fiend's eyes turned red as he focused his killing intent on Wang Sheng. "You know about the Heavenly Court?"

With pride in his eyes, Wang Sheng calmly answered, "You might not be aware of it, but my master sent me here to train. The old man could not stand seeing the bodies of his old friends left unburied. Hence, he instructed me to come here, reach the Heavenly Immortal Realm, and collect the remains of the Heavenly Court's generals.

I did not expect you, an elder of the Celestial Wind Sect, to call yourself Tan Lang. I'm sure my master would be very happy to meet an old friend."

Unaware that Wang Sheng was just lying, the wolf fiend grew extremely cautious.

The Celestial Wind Sect had been in the ancient battlefield for a long time. They had likely found information about the Heavenly Court and its past.

The wolf fiend started to think about what Wang Sheng had said. Unfortunately, just as he was about to be tricked, he laughed coldly instead. "If you're telling the truth, then I can't let you leave this place alive."

Wang Sheng shrugged and slowly pulled the Dragon Sword from his back.

"Then I shall protect the name of Star Deity Tan Lang!"