"The Nine Cauldrons Sect’s Foundation Building sword cultivators!"

"How could this be?!"

As they watched the vast, razor-edged tide that blotted out the sky at the horizon, the remaining sixty-or-so spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators of the Xuanming Sect couldn't help but despair.

Whether they were primordial psyche or spell cultivators at the Foundation Building stage, all of them reached the same conclusion. Elder Song did not exist! Everything just now had been nothing more than tactical deception! The people on Fangyuan Island had been completely toyed with by the enemy’s Heavenly Palace cultivators.

They had split the sword cultivators from the primordial psyche cultivators and drawn the sword cultivators away, forcing spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators to face the enemy’s sword cultivators head-on despite not being skilled in close combat...

A chain of disastrous commands had utterly driven their side into the most perilous situation imaginable. And this all-encompassing deception had originated from the psyche...

"No! No! This isn’t right! Heavenly Palace cultivators don't possess this kind of power! This goes beyond Heavenly Palace cultivators!" The primordial psyche cultivator in the lead raised his head in horror, sensing the crushing tide of psychic thought bearing down on them. His eyes widened as disbelief filled his face. "Dharma Form!"

A Dharma Form cultivator! This is unmistakably Dharma Form power! The reason our dozen or so primordial psyche cultivators have been beaten without the slightest ability to fight back, unable even to see our opponents clearly, is because of one thing alone—Dharma Form! He thought.

After realizing where they truly stood, that primordial psyche cultivator felt no joy at uncovering the truth. Instead, his despair deepened. The suffocating pressure on his spirit thought, coupled with the torrential sword light already sweeping in like a violent storm, instantly shattered his psychic mind.

He cried and laughed at the same time, letting out a howl that made everyone’s psychic mind tremble. "The Nine Cauldrons Sect... has a Dharma Form cultivator!"

Boom! In an instant, the sword formation consisting of 108 flying swords of the Nine Cauldrons Sect pierced into the flying vessels carrying dozens of Foundation Building spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators. Protective light from defensive artifacts and futile spell counterattacks filled the void.

"No! No! No!"

"I don’t want to die! I can’t die here... My family is still waiting for me to return!"

"Nine Cauldrons Sect! The rest of my Xuanming Sect will never let you go!"

Blood mist spread through the air! Shrill screams, despairing wails, and unwilling roars erupted from their mouths, their psychic thoughts, and their psychic consciousness. That extreme outpouring of emotion felt as though they were trying to leave behind the last trace of their existence in this world.

But all the screams and wails lasted only a few seconds. Under the assault of 108 great sword cultivators, it wasn't just the Foundation Building spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators being killed: Even the spirit artifacts and treasured artifacts they carried and the flying vessels they had been riding were destroyed, leaving nothing behind.

Even the blood mist was entirely scattered by the sword qi erupting from the flying swords. In the blue sky above, only the clouds that had been shredded into pieces testified that a fierce battle had just taken place.

***

Elsewhere, Lyu Ming remained completely unaware that his side’s Foundation Building spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators had already been wiped out.

He was controlling his flying sword at full speed, circling as he tried to reach the strategic position as quickly as possible to join forces with Grand Elder Song Xuan and carry out a pincer attack against this Nine Cauldrons Sect detachment. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

If he succeeded in annihilating over a hundred great cultivators of the Nine Cauldrons Sect, he would become famous throughout Cangwu, forcing all factions of the Great Cangwu World to recognize the Xuanming Sect’s strength, and allowing the Xuanming Sect to establish itself in the East Sea. He was already considering what to do after taking control of the entire East Sea, or at least the one-third of the East Sea they were currently in.

The territories held by the Great Sun Sword Sect and other sects would be difficult to seize. At most, they could secure the fifty thousand kilometers of sea they already occupied. Yet even just an additional fifty thousand kilometers of sea, combined with the Xuanming Sect’s original territory of eighty thousand kilometers, would still be enough to give the sect the foundation to challenge the ranks of large sects.

After developing for a few more generations, the Xuanming Sect would truly possess the strength to contend with major sects like the Nine Cauldrons Sect, Great Sun Sword Sect, and First Yang Sect. In the future, it might even seize the entire East Sea and use it as a springboard to dominate the entire Heavenly Star Continent, becoming the overlord of the Heavenly Star Continent.

At that thought, Lyu Ming’s heart burned with excitement. It was at this moment that a sword cultivator at his side could not help but lean in and speak. "Hall Master, the more I think about it, the more it feels like something about this operation is off."

The sword cultivator paused for a moment, then added, "Even if this was an order from the sect master and the grand elder, and even if we were to ignore other aspects, the personnel arrangement alone is clearly unreasonable. It’s one thing for us sword cultivators to conduct a rapid strike without primordial psyche cultivators, but leaving the Foundation Building spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators without any sword cultivator to protect them makes no sense. What if the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s sword cultivators fight to break out and, using their speed advantage, strike at those unguarded spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators?"

Those words made Lyu Ming frown. That possibility did exist. However...

"Since Elder Song issued this order, he should be confident he can completely seal off the Nine Cauldrons Sect," Lyu Ming replied.

The sword cultivator took a deep breath. "Even setting aside the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s combat strength, which should be superior to ours... Even if we truly held the advantage, how could we possibly restrict and encircle all of their sword cultivators? They would only need ten sword cultivators to break through to inflict enormous damage on our spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators...

"Besides, we shouldn’t underestimate the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Since they mobilized enough power to break through Fangyuan Island's defenses, logically speaking, that force should absolutely exceed the strength of the men Elder Song brought with him. The one truly being suppressed should be Elder Song himself."

Lyu Ming’s expression changed. He had to admit that the sword cultivator’s reasoning made sense.

Heavenly Palace cultivators?! That thought flashed through his mind.

"They’re trying to draw us in and annihilate the reinforcements!" The sword cultivator voiced the same conclusion at exactly the right moment.

"Detach twenty sword cultivators skilled in sword control and return at full speed with me. The rest of the sword cultivators proceed according to the original plan!" Lyu Ming made a decision on the spot.

Since things had reached this point, they naturally had to try to mitigate the damage. Every primordial psyche cultivator was a priceless asset. Very soon, twenty sword cultivators stepped out of the group. Following Lyu Ming, they headed back toward where the spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators were supposed to regroup.

They had not flown for long before what greeted them was a sword formation formed by 108 life-bound flying swords. Those life-bound flying swords surged forward like a tsunami, with unstoppable momentum. That overwhelming, majestic pressure instantly caused Lyu Ming and the others to pale.

Especially because the direction from which the sword formation was charging was precisely the direction where the Xuanming Sect’s spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators should have been.

The Nine Cauldrons Sect’s sword formation was actually coming from the direction of the Xuanming Sect’s spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators. As for the fate of those spell cultivators and primordial psyche cultivators, there was no need to guess.

"How is this possible... How could things turn out like this!" Lyu Ming’s eyes filled with shock, rage, and fear. He simply could not comprehend how the situation had deteriorated to such an extent.

"Hall Master, the sword formation!" The reminder from the sword cultivators beside him snapped Lyu Ming back to reality.

Feeling the vastness and sharpness of the enemy’s sword formation, the Xuanming Sect’s Warfare Hall Master shouted without hesitation, "Retreat!"

In the next instant, he controlled his sword at full speed, fleeing back the way they had come, intending to rendezvous with the sect’s sword cultivators.

At that moment, there was only one thought in his mind. We’ve been tricked. All of us have been tricked. Both the sect master’s order and the grand elder’s reports were part of a trap carefully laid by the Nine Cauldrons Sect through their Heavenly Palace cultivators. They want to wipe out this entire group of our sect’s strongest combatants in one stroke. And it's not necessarily just us! If things go badly, the Xuanming Sect will be forced to withdraw from the East Sea completely.

Lyu Ming retreated quickly, but the pursuit led by Shen Qinglian and the other Nine Cauldrons Sect sword cultivators was even faster. In the blink of an eye, sword light filled the sky and had already closed in on them. With no path left to retreat, Lyu Ming let out a fierce shout. "Break through at full speed!"

He fused with the sword, igniting a surge of sword light as he charged straight out. However, figures at the level of a Warfare Hall Master like him had long been marked by Yaoguang as priority targets.

Under the combined encirclement of Shen Qinglian, a fourth-tier sword cultivator, and several third-tier sword cultivators, Lyu Ming’s sword light only clashed with theirs for a brief moment before being crushed head-on.

"Third-generation flying swords?!" Lyu Ming cried out in shock and fury.

As a top-tier sword cultivator, he instantly judged just how advanced the flying swords Shen Qinglian and the others were using. The instant the two sides clashed, the exploding sword light tore apart the clouds in the sky and split open the ocean below.

Sword qi swept across the sea surface, constantly raising colossal waves hundreds and even thousands of meters high. At times, it even carved chasms dozens or even hundreds of kilometers long across the sea.

The shockwaves spread outward in all directions, eventually forming terrifying tsunamis that quickly spread in all directions. Those waves could travel as far as five hundred kilometers. If islands lay in their path, they would be mercilessly submerged.

Even though this was merely the aftermath of a battle between top-tier sword cultivators, it still stirred the ocean like a natural disaster. If this place were instead a planet like the Yaoguang World, with a diameter of ten to fifteen thousand kilometers, these tsunamis would have been enough to erase most nations from existence.

Amid the violent clash, Lyu Ming, struggling to hold on, let out an unwilling roar. "No!"

Along with a burst of sparks, his life-bound flying sword was cleaved in two by Shen Qinglian. At the instant his life-bound flying sword was severed, the precisely coordinated attacks of two other sword cultivators followed immediately, striking his body with brutal force.

Sword qi erupted! One flying sword smashed down with thunderous might, shattering Lyu Ming’s protective artifact into powder. The other flying sword followed closely behind, piercing through him.

Blood mist exploded outward. Before it could even disperse, it was vaporized into nothingness by the violent power contained in the sword edge.

As the two flying swords shot off into the distance, guided by Yaoguang’s psychic thought toward new targets, this major figure who had ranked among the top ten of the Xuanming Sect fell in the skies above the sea.

After taking down Lyu Ming, Shen Qinglian let out a long howl, "Those who seize the East Sea shall be slain without mercy!"

The sword light did not pause for even a moment amid the howl, surging once more toward other targets.

"Leave none alive!" Shen Qinglian shouted.